Why communication networks might impact employee identification with one or more organizational targets

Abstract

OF THE DISSERTATION Why Communication Networks Might Influence Employee Identification With One Or More Organizational Targets By Corey Liberman Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Marya Doerfel The purpose of this dissertation is to determine whether or not there exists a relationship between communication networks and organizational identification. Using social identity and network theories as the frameworks, the main argument is that communication networks (both social and task) are associated with one’s strength of identification with one or more organizational targets, including one’s profession, one’s organization, one’s department, and one’s work team. The site for investigation was an organization, referred to as FootWorld, whose main responsibility is to sell foot care products to medical facilities, trained professionals, and retailers. A total of 99 employees from the organization participated in this study and results indicate that neither one’s social network, nor task network, is associated with any of the organizational targets. Furthermore, being central in a social or task network was not associated with strong identification with one or more organizational targets, despite previous research (Bullis & Bach, 1991; Corman, 1990; Kuhn & Nelson, 2002). Future research must examine not only why it is that neither of these types of networks influenced organizational identification, but also which types of networks do come to influence identification with one’s profession, organization, department, and/or team.