Organizational identity, employee's organizational identification and well-being

Abstract

Purpose: The topic of identity has developed primarily around the concept of organizational identity (emphasizing the role of internal processes in defining a collective and shared understanding of the distinctive values of an organization: e.g., Albert & Whetten, 1985), and the personal-level construct of organizational identification (a perceived oneness with an organization and the experience of the organization’s successes and failures as one’s own: Mael & Ashfort, 1990). The present research aims to investigate the relationship between organizational identity and organizational identification, arguing that a specific organizational identity type affect organizational and individual well-being. Design/Methodology: Three companies have been evaluated starting from their identity (mission, vision and others identities issues) and image artefacts (representations of how the company projects itself to outsiders), through a qualitative analysis of formal and informal organizational documents finalized to establish specific identity typologies. Also, the Organizational and Psychosocial Risk Assessment survey (a self-report survey evaluating individual and organizational well-being around several dimension: Magnani, Mancini, & Majer, 2009) was administered to employees of the three organizations involved in this study. Results: Overall, results indicate that organizations with a specific and clear organizational identity reveal specific profiles of organizational well-being. Research/Practical implications: The findings underlines that the coherence in organizational identity has not only an impact on corporate reputation, but also affects the level of organizational well-being and organization employee's identification.