Navigating Multiple Identities Across Multiple Boundaries

Abstract

Much of the existing research on organizational identification presumes a singular, central organizational identity with which individuals may come to identify rather than explicitly recognizing the multiple dimensions of identity likely embodied in the organization as well as the multi-dimensional nature of individual identity. In this cross-level, multi-method research, we provide a boundary perspective on identity and identification to illuminate the complex processes by which an organization manages a hybrid identity and individuals manage multiple personal identities within a hybrid identity context, and the impact this process has on organizational identification and member loyalty. The results show that organizational actions to integrate the hybrid identity create high-and low-status factions resulting in different levels of identification and member loyalty.

The process of organizational identification in social enterprises: The role of coalitions

“…This shows the importance of micro translation or “an understanding of how macrocategories get inside the heads of individuals” (Powell & Colyvas, 2008: 278) while also paying attention to the meso level, as preconized by Harmon et al (2019). Identification is thus the result of the interplay between the multiple identities of individuals taking part in coalitions that adhere to two different institutional logics within a social enterprise (MacLean & Webber, 2015). It should also be noted that when talking about organizational identification in social enterprises, the literature mainly refer to value‐based identification.…”

Individual and Organizational Identities in Merger Contexts: A Boundary Perspective

“…Few studies have simultaneously analyzed multiple identities at the individual and organizational levels of analysis, and even fewer have done so considering the interfaces between identities within and between individuals and organizations (Horton, Bayerl, & Jacobs, 2014;Kreiner et al, 2009;MacLean & Webber, 2015). In this study, we propose to apply the multi-level (individual and organizational) and multiple identity (delimited by internal and external boundaries) perspectives at each level of analysis in the context of mergers.…”

“…Other studies have adopted a more differentiated perspective by analyzing the influence of status differences between the former organizations and the resulting coexistence of different and simultaneous identities in the new organization (Cho et al, 2014;Rouzies, 2011). In addition, some studies have been conducted to understand the boundary dynamics between the group identities in a post-merger organization (Terry, Carey, & Callan, 2001) and between the multiple identities of a hybrid organization and its members (MacLean & Webber, 2015).…”