Identity and Identification: An Organizational Perspective

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Identity and Identification An Organizational
Perspective

• Konstantin Korotov
• INSEAD

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Identity

• An answer to the Who Am I? question
• Various meanings attached to a person by self and
  others (Gecas, 1982) that are based on peoples
  social roles and membership in various groups
  (social identities) and personal characteristics
  and traits (personal identities) (Asforth Mael,
  1989 Gecas, 1982 Ibarra, 1999)

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Social Identity

• An individuals self-concept stemming from
  membership in a social group (Tajfel Turner,
  1986 Turner, 1985)
• Membership in various groups leads to a variety
  of social identities linked to various
  memberships (Dutton, Dukerich, and Harquail,
  1994)

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Organizational Identification

• One of the forms of an individuals attachment to
  an organization (Bamber Iyer, 2002) As a
  specific form of social identification, it refers
  to seeing oneself as a part of an organization,
  conceptualizing oneself in terms of membership in
  this organization

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Organizational Identification

• Enacting self-perceptions related to the
  organization as a whole and to oneself as a
  member of that organization (Bartel 2003)
• A relatively enduring state that reflects an
  individuals willingness to define him- or
  herself as a member of a particular organization
  (Haslam, 2001)

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Organizational Identification

• The degree to which a member defines him- or
  herself by the same attributes that he or she
  believes define the organization (Dutton,
  Dukerich, Harquail (1994 239)
• The process whereby an individuals beliefs
  about an organization become self-referential or
  self-defining (Pratt, 1998 175)

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Organizational Identification

• The strength of an individual identification
  with an organization is compared with the degree
  of this individuals cognitive, emotional, and
  behavioral investment in his or her organization
  (Chreim, 2001)
• To the extent that individuals identify with a
  group, they experience the successes and failures
  of the group as their own and incorporate the
  dominant attitudes and values of the group as
  their own. (Feldman, 1995 223)

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Foundation of Identification with an Organization

• Knowing that one is a member (Bartel Dutton,
  2001)
• Perceived belongingness to an organization
  (Reade, 2001)
• However, to identify with an organization, one
  doesnt need to belong to it formally (Jenkins,
  1996 Pratt, 1998)
• Identification may be about realizing the degree
  to which one is a member, i. e, perceived
  membership (Bartel Dutton, 2001 Tyler, 1999
  Rafaeli,1997 Bartel, 2003)

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Multiple Identifications

• Identifications are extensions of identities that
  a person is composed of (Mael and Ashforth, 1995)
• Multiple identifications stem from a variety of
  identities that an individual is composed of
  e.g., Kuhn and Nelson, 2002).

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Competing Identities and Identifications

• Identities and identifications of
  boundary-spanners
• Identities and identifications of temporary
  members
• Identities and identifications overlapping in
  tenure (c.f.,Scott, 1997 Korotov, 2003)
• Provisional selves (Ibarra, 1999) and
  identities in play or liminal identities
  (Ibarra, 2003)
• Ambiguous organizational membership and
  self-categorization (Bartel and Dutton, 2001
  Korotov, 2003)

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Research Agenda

• Compatibility of identities and identifications
• Management of competing identities
• Organizational identification maintenance efforts
  and identification development efforts
• Identity defining myself by who I am not
  (Dukerich, 2002)
• Liminal (limen (lat.) threshold) states and
  liminal identities