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Who We Are Affects How We Do: The Financial Benefits of Organizational Identification
Author(s) -
Millward Lynne J.,
Postmes Tom
Publication year - 2010
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.1467-8551.2009.00667.x
Subject(s) - organizational identification , identification (biology) , salience (neuroscience) , superordinate goals , business , strategic business unit , marketing , meaning (existential) , context (archaeology) , value (mathematics) , organizational unit , organizational commitment , economics , psychology , management , social psychology , computer science , paleontology , botany , computer security , machine learning , psychotherapist , cognitive psychology , biology
One ultimate test of the material value of identification in an organizational context is whether it relates to productivity. In this rare study of a business team in a global consumer goods company, we demonstrate a sales benefit of organizational identification when correcting for systematic between‐unit differences in sales. Findings also question the theoretical and practical meaning of ‘proximity’ in accounting for salience variations in identification – the best predictor of sales was the degree of identification with the superordinate business unit. Findings shed light on the scientific as well as managerial and business utility of the organizational identity concept.