Premium
More than a Metaphor: Organizational Identity Makes Organizational Life Possible
Author(s) -
Haslam S. Alexander,
Postmes Tom,
Ellemers Naomi
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
british journal of management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.407
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1467-8551
pISSN - 1045-3172
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8551.2003.00384.x
Subject(s) - organizational identity , organizational studies , identity (music) , sociology , social psychology , metaphor , organizational commitment , construct (python library) , epistemology , social identity approach , social identity theory , psychology , social group , computer science , linguistics , philosophy , physics , acoustics , programming language
Recent papers by Cornelissen (2002a, 2002b) and Gioia, Schultz and Corley (2002a, 2002b) have debated the utility of organizational identity as a metaphor for understanding organizational life. In the present paper we argue that this debate is limiting because it frames issues of organizational identity purely in metaphorical terms and fails to explore the social psychological basis and consequences of the discontinuity between personal and organizational identity. Extending this debate, we argue that the power of organizational identity as a theoretical and applied construct derives from the fact that it has the capacity to be both an externally shared and negotiated product and an internalized aspect of the collective self. Consistent with recent research informed by the social identity approach to organizational psychology, we discuss how an appreciation of the identity‐based dynamic between the social facts of organizations and the socially‐structured psychology of organizational members is essential for both theoretical and practical understanding of organizational life.