TY - JOUR
T1 - Us and them: Disentangling forms of identification in MNCs
AU - Vora, Davina
AU - Sumelius, Jennie
AU - Mäkelä, Kristiina
AU - John, Sofia
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation ( Tekes ) (No. 40325/14 ) and the Academy of Finland (No. 298225 ) for their generous support for this research.
Funding Information:
We would like to thank Corwin Senko and Alexei Koveshnikov for their methodological feedback and assistance. We also wish to acknowledge members of the original data collection team: Wilhelm Barner-Rasmussen, Ingmar Bj?rkman, Mats Ehrnrooth, Alexei Koveshnikov, Eero Vaara, and Linn Zhang. We are grateful to the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes) (No. 40325/14) and the Academy of Finland (No. 298225) for their generous support for this research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Inc.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - When employees identify with both the subsidiary and multinational corporation (MNC), they are likely to make decisions and engage in behaviors that benefit both. Previous work has concentrated on strength of identification, but we know much less about form – how the two identification foci relate to each other in employees' minds. Introducing an innovative methodology focusing on pronoun usage, we identify three empirical forms: single, extended, and coupled. Single refers to when individuals only identify with one entity (in this case the subsidiary). Extended is similar to single in that there is no separate MNC identification, but some MNC identification is intertwined with subsidiary identification. Coupled occurs when individuals identify with both the subsidiary and the MNC separately, and these identifications are also intertwined. We also explore some work-related factors that may provide tentative insights into ways MNCs might manage the development of form of identification. Preliminary results indicate that expatriation, prior within-firm international mobility, prior within-firm role mobility, job interdependence with headquarters, and job interdependence with other units are associated with the coupled form of identification. This research demonstrates differences from previous theoretical work and provides insight into how MNCs might manage the development of form of identification.
AB - When employees identify with both the subsidiary and multinational corporation (MNC), they are likely to make decisions and engage in behaviors that benefit both. Previous work has concentrated on strength of identification, but we know much less about form – how the two identification foci relate to each other in employees' minds. Introducing an innovative methodology focusing on pronoun usage, we identify three empirical forms: single, extended, and coupled. Single refers to when individuals only identify with one entity (in this case the subsidiary). Extended is similar to single in that there is no separate MNC identification, but some MNC identification is intertwined with subsidiary identification. Coupled occurs when individuals identify with both the subsidiary and the MNC separately, and these identifications are also intertwined. We also explore some work-related factors that may provide tentative insights into ways MNCs might manage the development of form of identification. Preliminary results indicate that expatriation, prior within-firm international mobility, prior within-firm role mobility, job interdependence with headquarters, and job interdependence with other units are associated with the coupled form of identification. This research demonstrates differences from previous theoretical work and provides insight into how MNCs might manage the development of form of identification.
KW - 512 Business and Management
KW - Form of organizational identification
KW - MNC
KW - Subsidiary
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097444652&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.intman.2020.100805
DO - 10.1016/j.intman.2020.100805
M3 - Article
SN - 1075-4253
VL - 27
JO - Journal of International Management
JF - Journal of International Management
IS - 1
M1 - 100805
ER -