Expressions of Identifications: The Nature of Talk and Identity Tensions Among Organizational Members in a Struggling Organization

Abstract

This study investigates how organizational members communicatively enact identification and more specifically how tensions in identification are expressed through members’ talk and behaviors. Using a case-study approach, we explored the experiences of members in an organization in turmoil. Semi-structured interviews, questionnaires given at two times, and observations of organizational events were used to understand the identification tensions these individuals negotiated and ways that identification, disidentification, and ambivalent identification were enacted. The study provides empirical evidence of changing identifications and articulates their communicative manifestations. The findings not only support the notion that identification is a complex and dynamic process but also contribute to the identification literature by illustrating specific ways that various forms of identification tensions are enacted and communicated in response to organizational change.

Keywords:

• Ambivalent Identification
• Disidentification
• Identification
• Longitudinal Study
• Multiple Methods
• Struggling Organization

Notes

Elsbach and Bhattacharya (2001) looked at similar identification struggles but their study examined the responses of members of the general public to an organization, rather than members who were enmeshed within the organization.

Admittedly, this survey instrument has been an object of concern for some scholars (Miller et al., 2000) who have cited the scale's conflation between organizational identification and commitment as an issue. However, this study adheres to the original purpose of the OIQ, using it as one part of a multimethodological approach. Kuhn and Nelson (2002) acknowledge that the OIQ will provide only a baseline measure of a participant's commitment to the organization (i.e., one of the products of identification). Since the purpose of utilizing the OIQ in this study is to see if there is a difference between identification at two points in time, the instrument was able to provide quantifiable data that were then compared to determine if a change in identification had occurred. Please contact the first author for the survey instrument and the interview protocol.

Membership in this organization is bounded in that members are considered active collegiate members during the time they are enrolled at the university (i.e., a fixed period of time).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth A. Williams

Elizabeth A. Williams is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Colorado State University.

Stacey L. Connaughton

Stacey L. Connaughton is an Associate Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies at the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University.