Obsessively passionate entrepreneurs and firm performance: The role of identity fusion and overwork

Abstract

We examine the relationships between obsessive passion, identity fusion, and firm performance. Based on the theory of identity fusion, the affect infusion model, and the literature on the dualistic model of passion, we argue that obsessive passion is positively associated with firm performance through identity fusion. Specifically, we theorize that obsessively passionate entrepreneurs fuse strongly with their organizations because of positive affect and ego protective behaviors, eventually increasing firm performance through high levels of loyalty and responsibility toward their organizations. We also examine overwork as a moderator between identity fusion and firm performance and assert that extreme time investment in work intensifies the level of identity fusion toward firm performance by increasing the exposure to organizational colleagues. Based on a two-stage survey data collected from 196 Korean firms, we find that the indirect impact of entrepreneurs’ obsessive passion on firm performance through identity fusion is only significant when entrepreneurs overwork.