Organisational Entity, Personhood and Identity: A Critical Enquiry

The Concept of Organisational Culture versus Organisational Identity, 2018

Several models of organizational culture have been adapted from Schein's (1985) model and Albert & Whetten (1985) model of collectivism and/or organizational identity which has seen many scholars view and use these terms interchangeably. Various organizational, anthropologist and sociologist psychologists researching the field of organizational culture and organizational identity assigned organizational identity to be the aspect of organizational culture which is implied in the artefacts of the organization (such as the organization's logo/colour, its staff, furniture, and its layout of its structure, that is unique and enduring and how the organization members view and see them. In that, every organization has a culture and every organization has an identity. The significant existence of an organization is present in its identity. Organizational psychology research has looked at organizational culture in a different light. In that, organizational culture originates from two major disciplines (Anthropology and Sociology). The essay will look at organizational culture in these two fields and see how these disciplines perceive organizational culture. Furthermore, the essay will focus on Hatch & Schultz's model of organizational identity, culture and image, and how from the authors view related and differentiated these two terms 'organizational culture' and 'organizational identity', and how organizational identity interlinks to organizational culture-while also, extensively reviewing different organizational culture, identity and change process theorists who have referenced this model.

This paper presents the results of a data research on the issue of organizational identity, the aim of which was to explore the current state of the discussion on organizational identity based on the analysis of papers published in 10 of the world's leading organizational and management journals between 2000 and 2011, in order to identify paradigms, subjects, and trends. After a first selection of 5509 papers, 92 articles dealing with the specific issue of organizational identity were classified for analysis. Identity is not only an important perspective of study within the organizational field, but it has also become a relevant reference to bear in mind in order to understand phenomena related to organizations. The concept of identity is not new in the human and social sciences. Philosophy has approached it from different perspectives and in different historical contexts. Identity seems to be the result of a certain line of reasoning that reduces what is real to what is identical, that is, to sacrifice the multiplicity of identity in order to explain it and to use it as a base for any theorization on the human condition. Additionally, during the last century, psychology and psychoanalysis gave identity a crucial role in the study of individual processes, and it became a key element in understanding the development of personality. Anthropology has had to produce a body of theory regarding the issue of social identity. Of course, it is also important to consider the contributions of other disciplines such as sociology, political science, and linguistics. Identity has played an important role in the theorizing of the social and human sciences, which contribute to and have an effect on organizational studies (Corley et al., 2006), the field of knowledge of this paper. Notwithstanding the academic interest the term arouses, its study in the organizational field is relatively recent (Hatch & Schultz, 2004). The conceptualization proposed by Albert and Whetten (1985), who claimed that organizational identity (OI) implied organizational aspects meeting the criteria of centrality, distinctive character, and continuity in time, has given way to new approaches. This influential work has inspired a wave of research and theorizing continuing to the present. Nevertheless, a little more than a quarter of century after its conceptualization, the definition of the term OI is not complete, and the discussion on its scope and proposed models is far from finished. Within the organizational field, definitions have abounded, ranging from the individual level to perceptions of what an organization actually is, based on institutionalist or essentialist perspectives aimed at identifying the features

2010

Conducive organisational culture has been identified as an essential organisational stabiliser and growth driver. Organisational culture represents the assumptions, beliefs and norms of an organisation shared by members of the organisation. However, cultural values of an organisation are difficult to be examined. Organisational scholars conceived that organisational culture can be expressed in a number of ways described as manifestations. Identity is one of the informing artifacts. This paper examines the notion of identity in the context of organisational culture. How identity affects the propensity to leave the organisation is illustrated by a study with quantity surveyors.

Human Relations, 2001

2006

Montenegrin Journal of Economics

Organizational identity is mentioned in different contexts, linked to organizational behavior and culture, company mission, image and communication and as a result, there emerge some problems in terms of definition of its concept and boundaries. Purpose of the article: highlighting of the research fields in organizational identity and creation of a model and methodological base for the conduct of the component empirical research in organizational identity. Research methodology: Two surveys of customers and employees, dealing with them, which enable the assessment of the model relevance for empirical research and the expression of organizational identity components in the selected company. The developed evaluation model of the components for organizational identity unites not only separate components, but also two methodological levels of evaluation, distinguishing the evaluation of identity under employees' level in an organization and the evaluation of identity under the client's level in an organization. The developed evaluation model for the components if organizational identity is relevant to the empirical research.

The Oxford Handbook of Identities in Organizations, 2020

Conceived as the meanings that individuals attach to their selves, a substantial stockpile of identities-related theorizing, accumulated across the arts, social sciences and humanities over many decades, continues to nourish contemporary research on self-identities in organizations. Moreover, in times which are more reflexive, narcissistic and liquid the identities of participants in organizations are increasingly less fixed, less secure and less certain, making identities issues both more salient and more interesting. Particular attention has focused on processes of identity construction (often styled ‘identity work’), how, why and when such processes occur, and their implications for organizing and individual, group and organizational outcomes. Seemingly intractable debates centred on the nature of identities – their relative stability/fluidity, whether they are best regarded as coherent or fractured, positive (or not) and how they are fabricated within relations of power – combined with other conceptual issues, continue to invigorate the field, but have led also to some scepticism regarding the future potential of identities research. As the chapters in this handbook demonstrate, however, there are considerable grounds for optimism that identity, as root metaphor, nexus concept and means to bridge levels of analysis, has significant generative utility for multiple streams of theorizing in organization and management studies.

IAEME PUBLICATION, 2020

This paper highlights the origin of organizational identity. Most studies tackle the issues of identity during organizational change. This paper particularly focuses on the formation of organization identity. A dynamic view of organizational identity is presented in the paper, wherein, the labels of organizational identity could be static but the interpretation of the meaning of organizational identity as a collective negotiated exercise of the stakeholders. Thus, this paper posits the idea that organizational identity as both a sense making and a sense giving process.

Academy of Management Review, 2000

Identity and icJentification are powerful terms. Because they speak to the very definition of an entity-an organization, a group, a personthey have been a subtext of many strategy sessions, organization development initiatives, team-building exercises, and socialization efforts. Identity and identification, in short, are root constructs in organizational phenomena and have been a subtext of many organizational behaviors.

2012

This conceptual paper is guided by three objectives: First, to bolster the argument for organizational identity as a defined concept, as compared with a metaphor or paradigmatic perspective. Second, articulate a clearer and more fully developed connection between the concepts of individual identity and organizational identity. Third, specify a distinctive, defensible conceptual domain for the concept of organizational identity and align the definition of organizational identity with that domain. Guided by these objectives, we argue that the tension between being similar and different is a fundamental and distinguishing feature of identity – and that this “identity paradox” exists at both the individual and organizational levels. We then propose a two-dimensional form of this identity paradox and suggest that the resulting framework serve as the conceptual domain of organizational identity. In the end, we examine the implications of the proposed conceptual space for Albert and Whette...