Leadership Antecedents of Workgroup and Organizational Identification

Abstract

Background: Psychological variables play an important role in functioning of organizations and should be considered by managers when developing strategies and communicating with employees. Organizational identification, constructed on Social Identity Theory was determined to have positive outcomes for organizations. Although the concept was thoroughly investigated by researchers, the literature describing the leadership antecedents of Organizational Identification is scarce. Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of leader prototypicality and superior-subordinate communication on workgroup and organizational identification. The study also verified the influence of workgroup identification on organizational identification. Sample: Data set used in this study consisted of 50 responses to a questionnaire collected among employees of a medical equipment manufacturer. Methods: Questionnaire consisted of measures of organizational identification, workgroup identification, perceived leader prototypicality and superior-subordinate communication. Results: Linear regression models, with least squares personality, revealed that superiorsubordinate communication has a positive impact on workgroup identification and that workgroup identification has a positive impact on organizational identification. Conclusions: The results emphasize the positive influence of superior-subordinate communication on workgroup identification and reconfirm the findings from previous researches which indicated a positive impact of workgroup identification on organizational identification. Managerial implications are discussed.