Organizational Identification Research Articles

Resolving the adaptive performance problems in the public sector using purposeful leadership: an empirical investigation in Ghana

PurposePerformance problems in the public sector (PS) necessitate adaptation due to the sector’s uniqueness. Purposeful leadership (PL) may resolve PS adaptive performance (AP) problems. However, there is a paucity of research on the influence of PL on AP. Using data from three large PS organisations in Ghana, this research explores the relationship between PL and AP through job satisfaction (JS) and organisational identification (OI). It also explores the moderating effect of organisational integrity (IN) on the PL–JS and PL–OI relationships.Design/methodology/approachThis paper created and tested a research model using the responses of 875 public servants in Smart PLS 4. Contract fulfilment and perceived organisational support functioned as control factors influencing JS (an intervener). Perceived procedural justice and psychological need satisfaction serve as control factors for OI (another intervener). Age, sex, tenure, education and job position were used as control variables in AP. To assess the role of moderation, we utilised the product indicator approach, and to estimate the role of mediation, we used variance accounted for (VAF). A significance level of 5% was established.FindingsAs anticipated, this study found that PL and AP had a significantly positive connection (t = 2.229, p = 0.000, β = 0.138). Both JS (VAF = 27.37%) and OI (VAF = 39.21%) partially mediated this connection. IN positively moderated the PL–JS (t = 4.249, p = 0.000, β = 0.165) and PL–OI (t = 3.704, p = 0.002, β = 0.099) connections.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper provides a theoretical and empirical understanding of the PL–AP relationship, how this relationship is facilitated and how the PL–JS and PL–OI relationships are strengthened. It provides a roadmap for upcoming scholars to test the hypotheses in diverse PS contexts globally to broaden the field of leadership. It will be insightful to show how JS and OI jointly mediate this relationship and the potential mediating role of job embeddedness in further studies.Practical implicationsHuman resource (HR) practices in PS organisations, such as selecting, leadership enhancement initiatives, promotions, training and performance evaluations, must be guided by a “values-driven strategy” if leadership is to find, cultivate and keep employees capable of devising innovative strategies to manage unforeseen circumstances at work. The leaders are required to demonstrate the values of their organisations in order to set up a role model.Social implicationsThis study highlights the obstacles that purposeful leaders have the potential to mitigate, as well as the prospects that they might offer. It shows the essence for PS organisations to uphold and maintain high integrity standards as their hallmark.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to create and test a research model that shows the relationship between PL and AP. It also shows the different mechanisms (JS and OI) that make this effect possible, as well as the good work environment (i.e. IN) that allows the PL–JS and PL–OI relationships to grow.

Organizing logic multiplicity in hybrid organizations: The role of organizational culture

AbstractHybrid organizations must deal with institutional complexity and find ways to manage conflicting demands in their organizational environment to engage in their required, day‐to‐day activities. The objective of this qualitative research is to elaborate on the mechanisms that hybrid organizations use to mitigate the destabilizing effects of such institutional logic multiplicity in their value creation processes. By combining value configuration analyses and the hybrid organizing concept as a theoretical background, the authors conduct a case study with 14 nonprofit microfinance organizations (MFOs) that illustrates the importance of an integrative organizational culture as a core foundation that can align and integrate social and economic demands. Successful nonprofit MFOs align competing institutional logics in a hierarchy of goals, explicitly defining their means and objectives. Independent of the type of logic multiplicity they face, they use the hierarchy to define their organizational identity and transfer it to a corresponding organizational culture that can balance diverse institutional demands. From a theoretical perspective, this study advances institutional logic approaches; it also identifies effective mechanisms hybrid organizations can use to cope with logic multiplicity by applying a value configuration perspective.

Unlocking sustainability: the dynamic nexus of organizational support, identification, and green HRM practices in cultivating pro-environmental excellence

Purpose There is a growing need to promote and practice sustainable HRM to foster greener organizations with trained employees who have an attitude and behavior to preserve depleting resources. The purpose of this study is to highlight the importance of sustainable green human resource management (Green HRM) practices along with organizational identification (OI) as a mediating factor and perceived organizational support (POS) as a moderating factor. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative methodology was used, and the data were collected from 311 employees working in telecommunication organizations located in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan. Results of the study are based on the structural equation modeling technique using Smart-PLS. Findings Findings revealed that OI proved to be a significant positive mediator between Green HRM and organizational citizenship behaviors for the environment. POS also proved to be a significant moderator on the relationship between Green HRM and OI. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to the two cities of Pakistan; future studies can focus on more cities so that the results can be more generalized. Practical implications This study will especially be useful for HR practitioners to develop mechanisms to initiate and encourage sustainable HR practices. Social implications Organizations’ positive position is established through the inculcation of green activities among their employees. Thus, a sense of responsibility and attachment among employees toward green behavior makes them good citizens. It also works well for their organization as well as for the environment. Moreover, it preserves environmental resources and helps ensure sustainability. Originality/value The research paper was aimed at exploring the importance of sustainable Green HRM practices in a developing country like Pakistan.

How Teachers Contribute to the Sustainability of the University Brand: Evidence from China

A brand strategy is a powerful guarantee for a university to enhance its reputation and sustainable development. An internal brand is the foundation of a university brand. Based on three variables—internal market orientation, teachers’ organizational identity, and teachers’ brand support behavior, a research model is constructed on a university’s internal brand formation mechanisms. To summarize how teachers support the university’s internal brand building, we analyzed the relationship between the three variables. This study used a three-stage sampling survey method to distribute 500 questionnaires and recovered 419 valid samples. The data from the valid questionnaires were statistically analyzed using two software programs—SPSS 24.0 and Mplus 7.2. This survey and analysis found that the three internal market orientation dimensions (internal information collection, internal communication, and feedback) are significantly positively correlated with teachers’ organizational identity and brand support behavior. Teachers’ organizational identity is not only significantly positively correlated with brand support behavior, but also mediates the relationship between the three dimensions of internal market orientation and brand support behavior. Universities should pay attention to the key roles of teachers in brand building and regard internal market orientation as an important tool for internal brand building.

A fairy tale with an unhappy ending: the organizational regulation of “Latina accountant identity” in Spain

PurposeIdentity regulation is part of a management control package. Organizations regulate employees’ self-identity to influence their behaviors. The success of this regulation depends on its trade-off with employees’ work identities and personalities. Organizational discourse nurtures this dynamic and interactive process. We focus on the regulation of an (undesired) organizational identity that is born at the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, sex and migrant discrimination in accounting-related positions. We aim to analyze how Latina accountants who migrate to Spain perceive that their triple status as Latina, women and migrants affects their careers as accountants and interpret whether this triple intersectional discrimination aims to create a Latina accountant’s self-identity.Design/methodology/approachThis critical study follows a phenomenological approach to analyze the experiences of women born in Latin America who migrated to Spain to occupy accounting-related positions. A thematic analysis of their semi-structured interviews allowed us to examine the challenges faced by Latina accountants in their accounting careers in Spain.FindingsOur interviewees' narratives display an internalization of, even resignation to, a self-identity that we label “Latina accountant identity.” This identity is based on explicit discrimination discourses that cause them to suffer from the intersection of racism, sexism and migrant conditions and is nurtured by the discourses of their senior managers, co-workers and subordinates.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to frame the regulation of an intersectional discriminatory identity that is used to control Latina accountants from the inside, acting on the triple condition of Latinas, women and foreigners, influencing their self-perceptions regarding work and personal lives.

Protean Career Orientation and Organizational Commitment: The Role of Organizational Identification

Protean Career Orientation and Organizational Commitment: The Role of Organizational Identification

The Effect of Perceived Quality, Student Life Social Identification on Student Satisfaction with Moderator Role of Organizational Identification

Universities worldwide have a difficult time keeping students enrolled, so it is essential to identify the factors that could potentially improve retention rates. Several important factors that affect student satisfaction, as well as students' intentions to remain and support the institution, are investigated in this research. The extent to which student satisfaction and behaviors are influenced by organizational identification and the institution's reputation is a topic that interests researchers in particular. Covariance-based structural equation modeling was utilized to develop and test a conceptual model. The information was gathered by surveying undergraduate students in Libya. According to the study's findings, although the perceived quality of teaching does affect student satisfaction, the influences of organizational identification and the institution's reputation are significantly more significant. Based on the findings, it is recommended that educational institutions engage in activities that enhance student-university identification and institution reputation. This is because these factors can significantly impact students' attitudes and behaviors. This paper discusses various strategies educational institutions can implement to cultivate and sustain organizational identification among students.

Restoring trust in employers: Diagnosing and treating the perception that an organization has “multiple personalities”

Maintaining employee trust is essential for the success of an organization. Employees who trust their employers perform better and are more likely to stay in their jobs. We have identified a phenomenon that we call organizational dissociative identity disorder that tends to erode employee trust. The phenomenon is somewhat analogous to the psychiatric diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder, in which a person appears to have multiple personalities. In the case of organizations, it is the perception of employees that dealing with their organization is like dealing with a person who has multiple personalities. Employees tend to experience this perception when they receive directives that seem inconsistent with one another or with previous directives, leading the employees to doubt the ability, the benevolence, the integrity, and often the fairness of their employer. This perception is most likely to occur after a period of organizational change. We propose ways to identify this situation and ameliorate its effects through carefully crafted communications of various types involving stakeholders at all levels of the organization.

“I don't think anybody’s ever been to scale:” the imperative for growth and the implications of scale for Community Land Trusts in Minnesota, USA

ABSTRACT This paper examines the scalar logics of Community Land Trusts, nonprofits that work to facilitate affordable housing and promote community control of local development. Like many nonprofits, CLTs face a tension between assumed efficiencies that come with larger size on one hand, and the assumed responsiveness to community stakeholders that comes with smaller size on the other. Through an examination of CLTs in Minnesota, USA that included over 100 interviews with CLT stakeholders, we explore how CLTs understand and operationalize scale as they attempt to grow. Various CLT stakeholders adopt distinct (sometimes implicit) functional scalar logics for CLTs. This leads to growth strategies which are articulated as scalar but which are not clear about which registers of scale will be altered. In particular, we identify four key registers of scale for CLTs: organizational, jurisdictional, service area, and community identity. These do not always shift in lock-step; but because CLTs are trusts that own portfolio properties in perpetuity, we suggest that changes in the relationships between these registers pose larger risks for CLTs than for many other kinds of nonprofit service organizations.

Navigating identity through social media: Twitter use of Muslim-American nonprofits

Social media enables nonprofits to communicate with stakeholders. Literature has primarily focused on the social media communication of mostly large and secular nonprofit organisations. This study contributes to this literature by looking at nonprofits’ social media activity belonging to religious minorities, specifically the Muslim-American nonprofit sector. Using Lovejoy and Saxton’s (2012) Hierarchy of Engagement framework, we find that Muslim-American nonprofits conventionally use social media for information, community, and action messaging. However, these nonprofits also utilise social media to encourage religious practices and strongly advocate for Muslim rights. We also find that organisational identity affects social media framing as organisational type affects the type of topics these organisations pick to advocate on social media. Moreover, organisational size also affects social media activity, as smaller organisations are more likely to use social media for fundraising purposes.

THE EFFECT OF WORKPLACE INCIVILITY, PERCEIVED SUPERVISOR SUPPORT, JOB SATISFACTION ON ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION THAT RESULTS EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE AND TURNOVER INTENTION

Purpose: This study analyses the influence of Workplace Incivility, Perceived Supervisor Support, Job Satisfaction on Organizational Identification and its implications for Employee Performance and Turnover Intention.   Theoretical Framework: Workplace incivility is related to a range of work attitudes, stress indicators, and behaviours, both for the person experiencing incivility as well as for those engaging in uncivilised behaviour. The incivility experienced is closely associated with low job satisfaction and sub-optimal employee performance, high levels of stress and burnout, and a strong desire to leave the job. Perceived supervisor support refers to the perception among employees of how much their supervisors value their contributions and care about their well-being.   Design/Methodology/Approach: Determination of the sample using purposive sampling method involving employees who work in the renewable energy industry in Jakarta as many as 210 respondents. Analysis tool is Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using AMOS version 22.0.   Findings: It was found that Workplace Incivility does not affect Organizational Identification but, Perceived Supervisor Support and Job Satisfaction have an influence on Organizational Identification. The implication of Organizational Identification has an influence on Employee Performance and Turnover Intention, but Employee Performance does not affect the Turnover Intention of employees working in renewable energy in Jakarta.   Research, Practical & Social Implications: From the results of this study, management can get used to the culture that superiors should pay more attention to the performance of employees. In addition, management can consider that employees are part of the company, with this, employees will be more confident in their identity in the company which will increase Organizational Identification. High Organizational Identification is proven to improve Employee Performance and reduce Turnover Intention of employees.   Originality/Value: The addition of turnover intention variables is the difference between this research and the previous one. The research was conducted in renewable  energy company in Jakarta, Indonesia. This is the uniqueness and originality of this research.

From image to identity icon: Discourses of organizational visual identity on Australian university homepages

This article explores how universities construe organizational identities and engage digital audiences through images on web homepages. Combining visual content analysis and a discourse-analytic approach informed by social semiotics, I interpret the discourses of identity in 400 images from organizational homepages of four top-tier public universities in Sydney, Australia – University of Sydney, University of New South Wales, University of Technology Sydney, and Macquarie University. Based on the social semiotic interpretation of images, I identify eight identity icons, each deploying a combination of semiotic resources to represent a specific organizational identity. The analysis suggests that universities prioritize featuring people, which results in an augmented sense of social presence on the homepage. Lastly, four identified strategies for digital audience engagement in images – proximation, alignment, equalization, and subjectivation – point to how these are instrumental in representing university life as both individual and shared experiences.

The curvilinear relationship between moral identity and unethical pro-organizational behavior: moderating role of organizational identification

PurposeThis study proposes that the relationship between the employee's moral identity and unethical behavior might sometimes differ from linearly negative, given certain contextual variations, such as unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB). The pro-organizational motivation of UPB may appeal to individuals' morality to perform unethical behavior for their organization. Herein, using the social identity perspective, the present study hypothesizes a curvilinear relationship between moral identity and UPB with the moderation of organizational identification.Design/methodology/approachData collected in two field studies, from 316 and 185 executives in Study 1 and 2, was analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis.FindingsThe results affirmed an inverted U-shaped relationship between moral identity and UPB. Further, organizational identification moderated the relationship such that an increase in organizational identification augmented the UPB tendency for low moral identity individuals while inhibiting the UPB tendency for high moral identity individuals.Originality/valueThe current study uniquely demonstrates how moral identity might promote unethical behavior in pro-organizational contexts. Further, this research shows how high moral identity might mitigate the negative outcomes of high organizational identification.

Effects of socialization mechanisms on managers’ desire to have a significant impact through work: evidence from the banking sector

Purpose This study aims to analyze the effects of socialization mechanisms (belief system and peer mentoring) on managers’ job engagement and their desire to have a significant impact through work, that is, the desire to substantially improve or facilitate the lives of others by performing their work. The study also examines the moderating role of organizational identification. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted with middle and lower-level managers at one of the largest banks in Brazil, the BankCo. The authors obtained a sample of 201 respondents and tested the research hypotheses with structural equation modeling. The authors also performed a complementary data analysis with fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Findings The results suggest that belief systems and peer mentoring directly promote job engagement and indirectly promote desire to have a significant impact to a better world through work (through full mediation of job engagement). The effects of job engagement on desire to have a significant impact through work are even greater when managers have high organizational identification. Finally, several causal combinations are sufficient for high levels of desire to have a significant impact through work. Social implications Beyond studies that examine how organizational mechanisms influence employee outcomes (e.g. performance), this study explores how socialization mechanisms can promote desire to have a significant impact through work. Thus, the authors demonstrate how organizational core values, mission statement and peer mentoring collaborate for managers to develop altruistic behavior, that is, directly related to other human values, such as empathy and ethics, being able to contribute to a world better. Originality/value This study developed and empirically tested a model that connects socialization mechanisms, job engagement, organizational identification and managers’ desire to have a significant impact through their work. Therefore, the paper provides insights into the relevance of socialization mechanisms for orchestrating managers’ proactive and altruistic behaviors.

Overcoming the Challenges Faced by Leaders of Purpose-Led Medium-Sized Businesses: The Role of Corporate Communication and its Interplay with Corporate Reputation and Organisational Identity

Overcoming the Challenges Faced by Leaders of Purpose-Led Medium-Sized Businesses: The Role of Corporate Communication and its Interplay with Corporate Reputation and Organisational Identity

Exploring Relationship of High-performance Work System with Knowledge Workers' Work engagement through Indirect and Indirect Effects

This research work was undertaken to examine how the implementation of a high-performance work system (HPWS) affected the level of work engagement in Indian knowledge workers by observing the both direct and indirect effects. Research was carried out involving 202 knowledge workers from India. The study employed an online survey to gather information from the participants, and the data was obtained through a structured questionnaire. According to the study's findings, Indian knowledge workers recognized and valued the advantages of an HPWS (High Performance Work System) that embraced employees’ participation in important decisions, receive ongoing training and development, access pertinent information and knowledge, and have access to a well-structured performance evaluation system. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that Indian knowledge workers also acknowledged their level of engagement in their work, indicating a willingness to take on challenges, voluntarily assist colleagues and supervisors, and fully engage with their tasks. In general, HPWS reported for 35 per cent of the variability in job engagement and exhibited a positive connection with work assignment. The study's findings also showed that HPWS reported for 31 per cent of the alteration in psychological contract fulfillment, 22 per cent of the variance in workers' perceived organizational support in terms of resources, and 33 per cent of the variance in organizational identity among Indian knowledge workers. Notably, constructs like ‘psychological contract fulfillment,’ ‘organizational identity’ and ‘perception of job resources’ influenced the Indian knowledge workers’ ‘work engagement.’ Also, findings showed that in the context of Indian knowledge workers, factors such as the ‘psychological contract fulfillment,’ ‘perception of job resources,’ and ‘organizational identity’ played a role as partial mediators between High-Performance Work Systems (HPWS) and knowledge workers’ ‘work engagement.’ Moreover, 'job satisfaction' acted as a perfect intermediary or mediator between 'fulfillment of psychological contract' and 'work engagement'.

Building Buying-in: Understanding the Anticipatory Socialization Phase of Workers in a Full-Life Organization

This qualitative investigation explored the anticipatory socialization phase of volunteers in the missionary program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a full-life organization. Constant comparative analysis revealed that participants experienced three phases of organizational identification within their anticipatory socialization phase: exposure, exploration, and engagement. In the exposure phase, participants were presented with socializing messages that taught participants the rules, expectations, and values of the organization. In this phase, participants accepted the organizational identity largely without reservation. In the exploration phase, participants questioned their organizational identity and explored alternative, varied, and competing identities. In this phase, participants pushed their organizational identity to the periphery of their social identity. Finally, in the engagement phase, participants recentered their organizational identity and committed to their membership in the organization. Identifying these phases assists organizations and individuals in understanding and developing organizational engagement.

Employee perceptions of hotel CSR initiatives and job satisfaction: exploring organizational identification, psychological contract fulfillment and attachment styles

PurposeThis study offers an empirical framework for how hotel employees CSR perceptions affect their job satisfaction by incorporating the parallel mediating roles of organizational identification and psychological contract fulfillment. In addition, it examines the moderator effects of employees' CSR-induced attributions on the constructed mediated model, providing a powerful lens through which to evaluate when and how employees' CSR perceptions influence organizational identification and psychological contract fulfillment.Design/methodology/approachThe study use PLS-SEM techniques to analyze a sample of 520 employees from 49 luxury hotels with 4–5 stars in Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam.FindingsThe results show that CSR positively influences job satisfaction through the mediating role of psychological contract fulfillment and organizational identification. Besides, attachment styles also play moderator role in the relationship between CSR and psychological contract fulfillment/organizational identification.Practical implicationsThe discoveries elucidated within this research endeavor proffer actionable discernments to be earnestly contemplated by professionals entrenched in the hotel industry, earnestly aspiring to ameliorate the contentment of their workforce and, concomitantly, augment the overarching efficacy of their organizational operations.Originality/valueThis study provides human resource departments with insights and suggestions for maximizing the efficacy of CSR implementation in the hotel industry.

DYNAMICS AND CONSTRAINTS OF THE START-UP LEGITIMATION PROCESS: THE ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION

From inception, start-ups are torn between two opposing legitimacy pressures: the need to differentiate from competitors and the need to conform to stakeholders’ expectations. In this study, we adopt an organizational identification perspective, coupled with a legitimacy-seeking lens, to explore the start-up legitimation progress for entrepreneurs who identify with their ventures either intrinsically or instrumentally. Applying a longitudinal multi-case study design and using rich interview data, we track the decisions and actions of ten Russian high-tech start-ups over a twenty-month period. Our findings reveal that start-up legitimation is a dynamic process guided by the organizational identification of the founders and bounded by identity tensions. The study extends the literature on new venture legitimation and its constraints. Theoretical and practitioner implications are discussed.

Development and validation of the employer anti‐unionism scale based on data from US workers

AbstractLabour union organizing has experienced a resurgence of interest in the United States. However, a series of unionization drives have spotlighted the hostility of employers toward unionization. Despite numerous studies examining employer anti‐unionism from a qualitative perspective, a significant gap remains as there is currently no available instrument to quantitatively measure this phenomenon. This study, therefore, develops and validates a scale that measures employee perceptions of employer anti‐unionism. Based on data gleaned from US workers (N = 55, N = 200, N = 225, N = 250 and N = 158) at two points in time, it follows a multi‐step scale development procedure. The 10‐item unidimensional scale, which provides a micro‐level snapshot of workplace realities, is characterized by internal consistency and composite reliability, as well as indicates face, content and construct validity. The study also confirmed the instrument's predictive and nomological validity. The results indicate that there was a negative relationship between employer anti‐unionism and organizational identification, and that attitudes toward unions moderated this relationship. We also found that employer anti‐unionism was negatively associated with workers’ job satisfaction, intention to quit and positively with intention to join unions. The study concludes by discussing its theoretical contributions and practical implications.