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6 - Organizational identity and control: can the two go together?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Elizabeth George  and
Cuili Qian
Edited by
Sim B. Sitkin ,
Laura B. Cardinal  and
Katinka M. Bijlsma-Frankema
Cuili Qian
Affiliation:
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Sim B. Sitkin
Affiliation:
Duke University, North Carolina
Laura B. Cardinal
Affiliation:
University of Houston
Katinka M. Bijlsma-Frankema
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
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Summary

Organizational control theorists traditionally have conceptualized control as any process by which organizations or their representatives channel individuals' and groups' efforts toward the attainment of organizationally desired objectives (Eisenhardt,1985; Flamholtz et al., 1985; Jaworski, 1988; Ouchi, 1977, 1979). The underlying assumption in this conceptualization of control is the divergence of interests between the organization and the individual such that individuals are likely to take care of their own interests ahead of those of the organization. These theorists argue that organizations need to control individuals through either formal mechanisms (Blau and Scott, 1962) or by co-opting them into either the culture or values of the organization (Ouchi, 1979). We argue that this conceptualization of control takes into account only a part of the relationship between individuals and organizations, and it offers a limited view on human motivation. Indeed individuals and organizations might not have divergent interests, and organizational members need not forego their own interests in favor of those of the organization in order to retain their membership in these organizations. In fact, the research on organizational identification suggests that individuals can benefit in many ways from their organizational membership (Dutton et al., 1994; Pratt, 1998), and that organizations play a major role in shaping how individuals define themselves (George and Chattopadhyay, 2005). Furthermore, individuals like Cervantes's Don Quixote might be driven by a strong belief in who they are, and their actions might be shaped by their commitment to this identity rather than external rewards or punishments (March and Weil, 2005).

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Organizational Control , pp. 167 - 190
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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