Identification with an organisation as a dual construct

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to advance understanding of an individual's identification with an organisation (“organisational identification”) and propose a scale for its measurement, by means of a study drawing on the literature of corporate marketing, and group and corporate identification.

Design/methodology/approach

Factor analysis was applied to data collected by questionnaire from two independent samples of 200 and 525 respondents, in Slovenia, to test the causal‐path relationship of group and corporate identification to “organisational identification”.

Findings

Contrary to the prevailing wisdom, “organisational identification” is not a unidimensional construct, but comprises identification with the organisation both as a collective of individuals, and as a social entity. Results confirm the proposed structure of organisational identification, and the sound quality of the scale for its measurement.

Practical implications

The findings suggest a means for marketing strategists and managers to predict the forms of organisational identification in their organisations, undertake appropriate initiatives for its general enhancement, and thereby strengthen corporate performance.

Originality/value

This study offers two statistically verified scales for measuring group and corporate identification, and thus has important implications for the existing literature of corporate marketing and organisational identification.

Citation

Podnar, K., Golob, U. and Jančič, Z. (2011), "Identification with an organisation as a dual construct", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 45 No. 9/10, pp. 1399-1415. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090561111151826