Being relatively close to CI definitionally, organizational identity (OI) relies on the actual understandings and claims of employees pertaining to the organization’s unique character rather than being built upon the organization’s expressions of its desired identity. As a theoretical concept, OI is carefully addressed in an article by Whetten (2006) in which the author details and elaborates on his previous OI theory developed in collaboration with S. Albert. Committed to strict quality standards pertaining to theory development, Whetten (2006) seeks to resolve an identity crisis pertaining to OI by instrumentalizing the CED definition of the term, according to which OI’s essential attributes must be central, enduring, and distinguishing.
What this new definition adds to the scientific community’s understanding of organizational theory’s subfields is a thought-provoking question. Two components of the proposed definition, including organizational attributes’ centrality and enduring, could make OI’s essence inseparable from the organization’s unique history and features that have directed its growth and development. This move probably strengthens the idea of OI as something incredibly stable and achieved through suffering and taking risks rather than promoting the perspective that any recent claims can alter the entity’s OI immediately. To be counted as parts of the organization’s OI, enduring/central attributes should “distinguish it from other organizations” (Whetten, 2006, p. 220). The combination of these three factors, including an emphasis on the role of uniqueness promotion in OI development, could further clarify the difference between time-honored and immature identities in business contexts, thus making the OI concept tied to historical reality rather than a desired organizational image. To some degree, this position could support decision-makers in strategic planning by drawing a line between components and features that have already become the elements of their teams’ OIs or only have some potential to gain this status.
References
Whetten, D. A. (2006). Albert and Whetten revisited: Strengthening the concept of organizational identity. Journal of Management Inquiry, 15(3), 219-234.