What Binds Employees
3
WHAT BINDS EMPLOYEES TO AN ORGANIZATION?
A STUDY OF ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION
IN TWO THAI ORGANIZATIONS
Human beings are social animals and need to make sense of their existence in society. One
aspect of an individual’s sense making can reside in or emerge from his/her chosen occupation and any
work-related or organizational affiliations he/she might have. As argued by Deetz and Mumby (1990), “work
is a central human activity not only in terms of the total amount of time spent in it, but also its relation to
social and personal identity” (p. 18). Essentially, organizational affiliation provides a person with an
“organizational identity.” As a partial definition of self, by internalizing the group or organizational identity,
an individual can gain a sense of meaning and connection (Albert, Ashforth, & Dutton, 2000), and a sense
of status as well as prestige (Cheney, 1983a; Sass & Canary, 1991; Tyler, 1999).
The concept of organizational identification has been recognized as a key determinant of employee
morale and employee work behavior. The significance of identification processes in organizations is to
direct employees’ efforts toward a number of organizationally beneficial outcomes, such as goal
commitment, goal achievement, quality of performance, and job satisfaction (Cheney, 1983a, 1983b;
DiSanza & Bullis, 1999; Likert, 1967; McGregor, 1967; Rontondi, 1975), as well as other critical work
outcomes (Mael & Ashforth, 1995). As a result, organizational identification continues to be an important
area for investigation, especially in contemporary organizations with their dynamic and complex
environments and high levels of competition (see, for example, Albert, et al., 2000; Fontenot & Scott, 2000;
Kilgard, 1999; Scott, Corman, & Cheney, 1998; Scott & Fontenot, 1999).
Corporations, whether product-oriented or service-oriented, promote organizational identification in
order to enhance their bottom line. Both product-oriented and service-oriented organizations share a
common interest, which is a surplus over their investment; therefore, dedicated contributions from
Convention