Organizational identification among virtual workers: the role of need for affiliation and perceived work-based social support

Organizational identification, which reflects how individuals define the self with respect to their organization, may be called into question in the context of virtual work. Virtual work increases employees’ isolation and independence, threatening to fragment the organization. This study finds that...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of management 2001-03, Vol.27 (2), p.213-229
Main Authors: Wiesenfeld, Batia M., Raghuram, Sumita, Garud, Raghu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Human acts
Human behavior
Management
Management theory
Methods
Organization theory
Psychological aspects
Social support
Studies
Telecommuting
Work at home
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Organizational identification, which reflects how individuals define the self with respect to their organization, may be called into question in the context of virtual work. Virtual work increases employees’ isolation and independence, threatening to fragment the organization. This study finds that virtual workers’ need for affiliation and the work-based social support they experience are countervailing forces associated with stronger organizational identification. Furthermore, perceived work-based social support moderates the relationship between virtual workers’ need for affiliation and their strength of organizational identification. Thus, when work-based social support is high, even workers with lower need for affiliation may strongly identify with the organization.
ISSN:0149-2063
1557-1211
DOI:10.1177/014920630102700205