Critical Review (Researching Organisation and Management)
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THE RELATIONAL ECOLOGY OF IDENTIFICATION: HOW ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION EMERGES WHEN
INDIVIDUALS HOLD DIVERGENT VALUES
MARYA L. BESHAROV Cornell University
This research builds on theory about how identification develops when members differ in which organizational values they hold to be important. It is relatively well estab- lished that conflict and dis-identification arise under such conditions. In the socially responsible retail company I studied, in contrast, I found identification as well as dis-identification. Both outcomes emerged from members’ interactions with others whose values and behaviors differed from their own. Identification arose when man- agers interpreted and enacted organizational values for frontline employees by devel- oping integrative solutions, removing ideology, and routinizing ideology. Dis-identifi- cation developed in the absence of these practices. The resulting process model suggests a relational ecology of identification, in which identification emerges from the combination of bottom-up interactive processes among organizational members and top-down interpretations and enactments by managers. This model advances under- standing of the relational dynamics of identification, offers new insight into how organizations can benefit from multiple identities, and illuminates the double-edged sword of ideology in organizations.
Extant research provides strong evidence of the central role that identification plays in organiza- tional action (Albert, Ashforth, & Dutton, 2000). Identification occurs when members perceive their own identity to overlap with their organization’s identity, leading them to define themselves in terms of the organization and place a high value on organizational membership (Ashforth & Mael, 1989; Ashforth, Harrison, & Corley, 2008; Dutton, Dukerich, & Harquail, 1994). Research has shown that identification is positively associated with or- ganizational citizenship behaviors, work effort, and cooperation (Bartel, 2001; Dukerich, Golden, &
Shortell, 2002; Mael & Ashforth, 1992; O’Reilly & Chatman, 1986), as well as organizational commit- ment (Foreman & Whetten, 2002) and lower turn- over (Mael & Ashforth, 1995). Other studies have linked identification with helping behaviors and social support, information sharing, job satisfac- tion, creativity, and organizational control (Ash- forth et al., 2008). In all these ways, identification leads to behaviors that help organizations accom- plish their objectives.
However, the benefits of identification are much more elusive when members differ in which attri- butes of an organization’s identity they hold to be important. Identity attributes are the values, goals, beliefs, traits, and abilities that constitute an organ- ization’s central, enduring, and distinct features (Ashforth et al., 2008). Even organizations with rel- atively coherent identities have multiple and po- tentially conflicting values that form the basis of their identity (Gioia, 1998; Kreiner & Ashforth, 2004). Indeed, in their seminal work on organiza- tional identity, Albert and Whetten (1985) argue that, over time, many if not most organizations develop identities that include incompatible attri- butes. In such situations, tensions may emerge be- tween sub-groups associated with divergent values (Ashforth & Reingen, in press; Pratt & Rafaeli, 1997). Conflict also often arises within individuals,
I would like to thank Associate Editor Adam Grant for his guidance throughout the review process, as well as three anonymous reviewers for their constructive feed- back and suggestions. I also wish to acknowledge the comments and advice received on earlier versions of this manuscript from Michel Anteby, Shelley Brickson, Diane Burton, Robin Ely, Richard Hackman, Peter Marsden, Kathleen McGinn, Lisa Nishii, Siobhan O’Mahony, Mike Pratt, Wendy Smith, Spela Trefalt, and Michele Wil- liams, as well as participants in the ILR writing group and the May Meaning Meeting. I thank Bhadrinath Vaid- hyanathan for his research assistance. Finally, I am in- debted to the employees and managers at Natural Foods for sharing their time and experience.
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� Academy of Management Journal 2014, Vol. 57, No. 5, 1485–1512. http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.0761
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who grapple with how to resolve contradictory im- plications for action that stem from different organ- izational values (Golden-Biddle & Rao, 1997). Ulti- mately, mutual dis-identification and intractable conflict can emerge (Glynn, 2000), and organizational performance suffers (Battilana & Dorado, 2010).
Given the prevalence of divergent values within organizations and the challenges this poses for identification, it is critical to understand how iden- tification emerges when members differ in which organizational values they hold to be important. Existing research, however, has either focused on how multiple identity attributes manifest and are managed at the organizational level (e.g., Clark, Gioia, Ketchen, & Thomas, 2010; Pratt & Foreman, 2000; Pratt & Kraatz, 2009), or has emphasized the potential for conflict and mutual dis-identification among members (e.g., Glynn, 2000; Golden-Biddle & Rao, 1997; Pratt & Rafaeli, 1997). We know less about the processes through which identification emerges when members hold different organization- al values to be important. I seek to address this gap. To do so, I draw on a qualitative, inductive study of a socially responsible retail company, “Natural Foods” (a pseudonym), whose identity includes economic values of profit and growth, as well as societal values of environmental sustainability, health, and community welfare.
My analysis of Natural Foods illuminates how identification can emerge in the presence of diver- gent values and behaviors among members. This occurs when managers who hold both economic and societal values to be important interpret and enact these values for frontline employees through practices of developing integrative solutions, rou- tinizing ideology, and removing ideology. In con- trast, dis-identification arises in the absence of these practices. The model that emerged from these findings expands understanding of how relational processes among members influence identification, and shows how these bottom-up dynamics are con- nected to top-down identification management strategies. It also offers new insight into how organ- izations can benefit from multiple identities, and into the role of ideology in organizations.
ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY AND MEMBER IDENTIFICATION
Two streams of research are relevant for under- standing how identification emerges when mem- bers differ in which organizational values they hold to be important. The first stream focuses on the
nature and management of organizational identity. Organizational identity refers to the central, endur- ing, and distinct features of an organization that differentiate it from other organizations (Albert & Whetten, 1985; Whetten, 2006). Identity scholars have long recognized that organizational identities include multiple, and sometimes incompatible, at- tributes (Albert & Whetten, 1985; Dutton & Duke- rich, 1991; Gioia, 1998; Pratt & Foreman, 2000). This can occur when organizations take on the characteristics of more than one organizational form, adopt multiple and inconsistent goals, or make incompatible commitments to different stake- holder groups (King, Felin, & Whetten, 2010; Kraatz & Block, 2008; Whetten, 2006). It can also occur when members’ shared sense of what is central, enduring, and distinct about their organization in- cludes inconsistent attributes (Gioia, Schultz, & Corley, 2000: 74; Golden-Biddle & Rao, 1997), or when members disagree about which attributes are central, enduring, and distinct (Glynn, 2000; Pratt & Rafaeli, 1997).
Empirical examples of such “multiple identity” organizations (Pratt & Foreman, 2000) abound. In the non-profit sector, research universities (Albert & Whetten, 1985), symphony orchestras (Glynn, 2000), cooperatives (Foreman & Whetten, 2002), hospitals (Pratt & Rafaeli, 1997), and other health- care organizations (Dukerich et al., 2002) have identities that combine societal values emphasiz- ing cultural or ideological principles with eco- nomic values. For example, Dukerich et al. (2002) find that physicians described the healthcare organ- izations with which they were affiliated as having values as varied as compassionate and aggressive, stable and constantly changing, and committed to employee well-being as well as being concerned with the bottom line. Public sector organizations also frequently incorporate multiple values into their identities (e.g., Dutton & Dukerich, 1991). In the last several decades, identities that combine divergent values have become common in the for- profit sector as well, with the rise of business or- ganizations that explicitly address social and envi- ronmental problems (Hoffman, Badiane, & Haigh, 2012; Margolis & Walsh, 2003; Smith, Gonin, & Besharov, 2013). Even traditional corporations in- creasingly have identities that include multiple and potentially contradictory values, as they oper- ate in global markets, incorporate a diverse em- ployee population, and engage in exploration of new products alongside exploitation of existing products (Smith & Lewis, 2011).
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In addition to providing strong evidence of the prevalence of organizations with multiple and po- tentially conflicting values, research on organiza- tional identity has shed light on how these different attributes of an organization’s identity can be man- aged and potentially unified. Pratt and Foreman (2000) suggest appropriate management strategies depend on the number of different attributes and on the synergies between them. Pratt and Corley (2007) build on this framework by considering how different identity management strategies create benefit or harm for individual members, although they do not consider the effect of these manage- ment strategies on members’ identification. Other studies focus specifically on how organizations can combine multiple identity attributes into a single overarching identity. Clark and colleagues (Clark et al., 2010) show how the creation of a “transitional identity” enabled two merged organizations to unify their previously distinct identities. In a sim- ilar vein, Pratt and Kraatz (2009) introduce the concept of an “organizational self” to explain how organizations with multiple identity attributes can integrate them into a coherent whole. Taken to- gether, the studies within this first stream of re- search offer valuable insights into how multiple identity attributes emerge at the organizational level. Research within this stream also illuminates organizational practices and processes through which multiple identity attributes can be managed. However, this research tells us little about the im- plications that multiple identity attributes have for individual members and, in particular, for mem- bers’ identification with their organization.
The second stream of research that is relevant focuses on identification among individuals who differ in which organizational values they hold to be important. This work emphasizes negative con- sequences of divergent values, but does not explain how identification can emerge in such a context. As noted above, identification occurs when individu- als define themselves in terms of the central, en- during, and distinct features of their organization (Dutton et al., 1994; Pratt, 1998), leading them to place a high value on organizational membership (Ashforth et al., 2008). Identification scholars rec- ognize that the content involved in members’ iden- tification— both the content of one’s self-identity and that of the organization’s identity— can vary, even within a single organization or collective (Brickson, 2013; Elsbach & Cable, 2012; Foreman & Whetten, 2002; Kreiner & Ashforth, 2004). Other research suggests that when members hold differ-
ent identity content (e.g., different values) to be important, conflict and tension are rampant (Fau- chart & Gruber, 2011; Golden-Biddle & Rao, 1997; Pratt & Rafaeli, 1997) and organizational perfor- mance suffers (Anteby & Wrzesniewski, 2014; Bat- tilana & Dorado, 2010; Voss, Cable, & Voss, 2006). In her study of a symphony orchestra, for example, Glynn (2000) finds that musicians identified with the organization’s artistic values, while administra- tors identified with its economic values. When sal- ary negotiations highlighted these differences, con- flict erupted and ultimately became intractable, resulting in a musicians’ strike and, later, the forced resignation of the music director.
A few studies offer suggestions for how organi- zations or individual members might be able to address the challenges that arise when members hold different organizational values to be impor- tant. Fiol, Pratt, and O’Connor (2009) develop a model for overcoming intractable identity conflict. However, their theorizing focuses on how to over- come conflict between sub-groups once it has be- come intractable, not on ongoing work practices and behaviors that enable members to develop and maintain positive organizational identification. Elsbach (2001) and Gutierrez, Howard-Grenville, and Scully (2010) examine coping strategies ad- opted by individuals within multiple identity or- ganizations, showing that members use “schizo” or “split” identification to maintain positive self-iden- tities even as they dis-identify with some attributes of their organization. These two studies shed light on how members preserve a positive sense of self in organizations whose values they do not entirely share, but they tell us little about the processes through which members come to positively iden- tify with such organizations. Thus, while this sec- ond stream of research makes it clear that identifi- cation based on divergent values creates challenges for organizations and their members, much less is known about the processes through which identi- fication develops in the face of these challenges.
In summary, prior research has either focused on how divergent values manifest and can be managed at the organizational level, or has emphasized the potential for conflict and dis-identification to erupt when members differ in which organizational val- ues they hold to be important. However, the pro- cess through which identification emerges in such situations remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to expand insight into identification by building theory about how iden-
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tification emerges when members differ in which organizational values they hold to be important.
RESEARCH SETTING AND METHOD
My exploration of identification based on diver- gent values is grounded in a qualitative, inductive study of frontline employees and managers at Nat- ural Foods, a socially responsible retail company. A qualitative, inductive approach was appropriate because my goal was to build theory about a phe- nomenon that is not well explained by the existing literature (Edmondson & McManus, 2007; Pratt, 2009)—in this case, the phenomenon of identifica- tion based on divergent values. Natural Foods rep- resents an extreme case of identification based on divergent values. Extreme cases are useful for de- veloping theory because the dynamics being stud- ied are more visible than they would be in other settings (Eisenhardt, 1989). First, Natural Foods’ identity includes economic values of profit and growth, as well as societal values of environmental sustainability, health, and community welfare. As described below, I found that members for whom only economic values were highly important and those for whom only societal values were highly important held competing beliefs about how to be cooperative and help Natural Foods succeed. Be- haviors that one member believed to be cooperative were sometimes interpreted by another member as unimportant, counterproductive, and even morally wrong. Second, despite these differences, Natural Foods did not experience intractable conflict or low performance. Indeed, the company grew steadily since its founding in the late 1970s, held an initial public offering in the early 1990s, and continued to expand during and beyond the time of my data collection. Together, these factors make Natural Foods an excellent setting for developing theory about how identification emerges in the presence of divergent values.
Data Collection
I conducted a pilot study at two Natural Foods stores in the northeast United States, collecting in- terview data (n � 21) to develop a preliminary understanding of the company’s identity and the attributes of this identity that members valued. Data for the main study, which was collected over a 15-month period, consisted of interviews (n � 92) and observations (174 hours) from eight additional stores located in the northeast region of the United
States. These stores were selected based on purpo- sive criteria (Miles & Huberman, 1994) related to the emphasis placed on Natural Foods’ societal and economic values. Five to ten years before I col- lected my data, Natural Foods acquired two re- gional grocery chains: one that resembled a coop- erative and one that more closely resembled a conventional supermarket. The pilot study and early interviews for the main study indicated the identities of these acquired companies, which re- spectively emphasized societal and economic val- ues, were still evident in the stores. In addition to these acquired sites, Natural Foods had opened new stores with identities that were more balanced in their emphasis on societal and economic values. In order to capture this variation, I composed the sample to include three former “coop” stores, two former “conventional” stores, and three newly built Natural Foods stores. Data collection proceeded se- quentially across the eight sites and, within each site, I conducted interviews and observations over the same time period. I collected more data at the first site than at subsequent sites because I wanted to gain an in-depth understanding of the identity dynamics within one store before proceeding to additional stores. I stopped collecting data once theoretical saturation had been reached (Strauss & Corbin, 1998).
Interviews. I conducted 92 semi-structured in- terviews with Natural Foods employees and man- agers. Interviewees were identified from employee lists provided to me by store managers. In selecting interviewees, I used two purposive sampling crite- ria (Miles & Huberman, 1994). First, because man- agers have more responsibility for the organiza- tion’s business operations, I expected they might place greater importance on Natural Foods’ eco- nomic values. In order to examine the implications this could have for developing identification, I composed the interview sample to include roughly equal numbers of managers (n � 47) and non-man- agers (n � 44). Second, because the pilot study and initial interviews for the main study suggested members of different departments differed in which organizational values they held to be impor- tant, I also constructed the interview sample to include members from each of the 11 departments in each store—administration (e.g., accounting, marketing) (n � 12), bakery (n � 7), customer ser- vice (n � 17), grocery (n � 9), meat (n � 5), pre- pared foods (n � 11), produce (n � 9), seafood (n � 2), specialty (e.g., cheese, chocolates) (n � 5), and nutrition (n � 5)—in addition to at least one store
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manager or assistant store manager at every store (n � 10). Tenure among the interviewees ranged from a low of one month to a high of 20 years, with an average of 5.8 years and a standard deviation of 5.1 years. 54% of interviewees were female. Inter- views took place on store premises, typically in an empty office or conference room, and they lasted between 30 and 80 minutes each. I used a semi- structured protocol covering prior experience, rea- sons for joining Natural Foods, daily work activi- ties, organizational mission and values, personal interests and values, and future professional plans. All interviews were tape recorded and transcribed. In reporting the interview data, I identify partici- pants by assigning them a number between 1 and 92 and include the prefix E for employee and M for manager.
Observation. I engaged in 174 hours of non- participant observation. I used these data to con- textualize the interview accounts and provide a richer framework in which to understand the man- agement of identification at Natural Foods. In par- ticular, the observation data enabled me to under- stand members’ behavior and the practices through which Natural Foods mitigated conflict and fos- tered identification. I observed up to three depart- ment manager meetings and one to four storewide meetings at each site.1 Department manager meet- ings were held bimonthly and were approximately two hours long. One hour store meetings were held every four to six weeks, and were mandatory for all store employees. I also observed group interview sessions in which four manager candidates were interviewed, one at a time, by a group of 10 em- ployees and managers. In addition, I observed em- ployees and managers on the floor as they interacted with customers, stocked shelves, and performed other duties, as well as in back areas off-limits to customers.
Archival data. I supplemented the interview and observation data with archival data on Natural Foods’ history, store operations, employee policies, and stated mission and values. Much of this infor- mation was publicly available on the company’s website. A few documents were provided by Natu- ral Foods managers, such as the company’s em- ployee handbook, as well as evaluation forms and criteria used to assess store and department perfor- mance. In addition to providing background infor- mation on the company, the archival data offered
insight into practices that fostered identification. I initially identified these practices through inter- views and observation, and then used the archival data to verify and add detail to my understanding.
Data Analysis
Consistent with the tenets of grounded theory, I started to analyze the data as I collected it, iterating back and forth between the data and the emerging theoretical arguments (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1998; see also Suddaby, 2006). The analysis involved three major steps (see Pratt, Rockmann, & Kaufmann, 2006), in which I catego- rized raw data into empirical themes, abstracted and consolidated empirical themes into conceptual categories, and aggregated conceptual categories into a theoretical framework that explains the pro- cess of managing identification based on divergent values. These steps are described below and sum- marized in Figure 1, which connects empirical themes to conceptual categories and shows how the categories aggregate into theoretical dimensions. Throughout the analysis process, I used the ATLAS.ti research software to record, group, and re-group codes, as well as to compare and contrast codes across documents. I also repeatedly returned to the literature to ground my emerging interpretation of the data in existing theories of identification and value conflict.
Step 1: Identifying empirical themes. In step one, I sought to develop first-order codes that de- scribe dominant empirical themes using language that was as close to the data as possible (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). As themes emerged, I compared them within and across transcripts and field notes in order to refine the boundaries of each one. Once a stable set of themes had emerged, I went back through all relevant passages of the transcripts and field notes to see if they fit the themes. When they did not, the coding scheme was revised. Two early themes concerned what members valued about Natural Foods. Statements reflecting these themes came from many different parts of the interviews, but they most frequently occurred in response to questions about the company’s mission and values, and their meaning to the respondent. I initially created the themes of “importance of Natural Foods’ values of health, community welfare, and/or environmental sustainability” and “importance of Natural Foods’ values of growth and profits” to reflect what members valued about Natural Foods. As I compared statements reflecting these themes, a
1 At one of the eight sites, observation of department manager meetings was not permitted.
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further distinction arose around the intensity with which members valued these attributes of Natural Foods. I therefore revised these themes to distin- guish “low to moderate” from “high” levels of im- portance. Quotations indicating “low to moderate” importance involved negative statements about the attribute and statements in which the respondent accepted the attribute, but did not indicate it was core to their personal identity or values. Quotations indicating “high” importance involved only posi- tive statements about the attribute, and included
language linking the attribute to the respondent’s personal identity or values.
Other themes concerned members’ behavior. Data on behavior came primarily from my observa- tion field notes, particularly those on managers. Since there were fewer managers (versus employ- ees) per store and because I had intentionally over- sampled managers in my interviews, I had obser- vation data for the majority of managers who were interviewed. I supplemented the manager observa- tion data with self-reports of behavior from the
FIGURE 1 Overview of Data Structure
Empirical Themes Conceptual Categories Aggregate Theoretical Dimensions
Identification
Dis-identification
Developing Integrative Solutions
Divergent Work Behaviors
Divergent Individual Values
Removing Ideology
Routinizing Ideology
Identity Confirmation
Identity Conversion
Identity Violation
• Incorporating health, environmental and ethical considerations into operational decisions vs. improving efficiency and financial performance
• Educating customers about health, natural foods, environmental sustainability, and community involvement vs. meeting customer needs (proactive and reactive)
• Promoting products that advance both business and social missions
• Implementing work practices that advance both business and social missions
• Emphasizing “choice” and “service,” not ideological principles, in customer interactions
• Emphasizing taste and quality, not ideological purity, of products
• Developing formal policies and work procedures to implement social mission
• Encouraging member involvement in formal policies and work procedures for implementing social mission
• Placing more importance on NF’s values of health, community welfare, or environmental sustainability over time
• Perceiving NF’s values of health, community welfare, or environmental sustainability to be morally violated
• Valuing being a part of NF
• Importance of NF’s societal values of health, community welfare, and environmental sustainability (low to moderate, high)
• Importance of NF’s economic values of profit and growth (low to moderate, high)
• Distancing oneself from NF and describing NF negatively, in opposition to one’s own values
• Perceiving NF’s societal and/or economic values to be upheld
Individual Values and Behavior
Identification Management
Practices
Identification Processes
Identification Outcomes
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interviews. For example, I observed, and members described in their interviews, different types of cus- tomer interactions. Some members tended to talk at length with customers about how and why Natural Foods promoted health and environmental sustain- ability, while others proactively and efficiently helped customers find products. I captured this distinction with the themes “educating customers about health, natural foods, environmental sustain- ability, and community involvement” and “meet- ing customer needs.” I also observed different approaches to store operations. Some members ini- tiated, became involved in, and promoted sustain- ability, health, and community initiatives, while others focused on initiatives to improve financial performance. I created the themes “incorporating health, environmental, and ethical considerations into store operations” and “improving efficiency and financial performance” to capture these differ- ent behaviors.
Step 2: Constructing conceptual categories. In the second stage of analysis, I used axial coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) to consolidate and abstract empirical themes into higher-level conceptual cat- egories. To do so, I engaged in constant compari- son, continually comparing instances of empirical themes in the data to one another and to my emerg- ing conceptual categories (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; see also Glaser, 2002). As categories emerged, I wrote memos to elaborate the dimensions of these categories and the relationships between them (Miles & Huberman, 1994; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). For example, looking at statements about which attributes of Natural Foods members valued led me to combine the themes of “importance of Natural Foods’ values of health, community welfare, and/or environmental sustainability” and “importance of Natural Foods’ values of growth and profits” into the conceptual category “divergent individual val- ues.” Similarly, comparing themes about members’ behavior in customer interactions and store opera- tions led me to see that a critical feature of these behaviors was their differences—the fact that mem- bers approached the same task in different ways. I therefore consolidated these themes into the cate- gory of “divergent work behaviors.”
Step 3: Developing a process model. In the final stage of the analysis, I sought to aggregate the con- ceptual categories into an empirically grounded model that represented the process through which identification emerged in the presence of divergent values. In this stage, I considered the role that the conceptual categories played in the development of
identification. Approaching the data from this per- spective, I saw that divergent individual values and behaviors formed the starting point for two pro- cesses, one leading to identification, the other to dis-identification. Identification emerged when managers engaged in three practices— developing integrative solutions, routinizing ideology, and re- moving ideology—that confirmed and expanded members’ identities. The absence of these practices led to dis-identification.
I took several steps to ensure the trustworthiness of my analysis. First, after my initial coding was complete, a research assistant independently coded the interview transcripts and observation field notes. I provided him with all passages to which I had assigned an empirical theme (with my theme codes removed), then gave him descriptions of the themes and asked him to independently assign a theme to each passage. We compared our coding of passages, discussed disagreements, and adjusted the empirical themes based on these conversations. The research assistant and I repeated this process several times as I refined the theoretical model. Second, I performed “member checks” (see Nag, Corley, & Gioia, 2007) at several points during the analysis process by describing my findings to store and regional managers, as well as to Natural Foods’ CEO. These conversations provided valuable feed- back on the emerging framework and helped ensure my interpretations were consistent with the expe- rience of organizational members.
FINDINGS
Individual Values and Behaviors
Members understood Natural Foods’ identity to include both societal and economic values, but they varied in how important each type of values was to them personally. These differences were reflected in members’ work behaviors, particularly between members for whom only societal values or only economic values were important. Below, I de- tail how members’ values and behaviors diverged. Table 1 provides additional supporting evidence.
Divergent individual values. Four different combinations of values were evident among mem- bers. First, “idealist” members placed high impor- tance on Natural Foods’ societal values of health, natural foods, community, and environmental sus- tainability, but low to moderate importance on Natural Foods’ economic values. Some idealists were health advocates with a deep commitment to
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T A
B L
E 1
R ep
re se
n ta
ti v e
D a ta
fo r
In d
iv id
u a l
V a lu
es a n
d B
eh a v io
rs
D iv
er ge
n t
In d
iv id
u a l
V a lu
es D
iv er
ge n
t W
o rk
B eh
a v io
rs
Id ea
li st
m em
b er
s H
ig h
im p
o rt
a n
ce o f
N F
’s so
ci et
a l
va lu
es “G
ro w
in g
u p
in a
fa m
il y
th at
w as
re al
ly co
n ce
rn ed
w it
h th
e en
v ir
o n
m en
t an
d li
v in
g h
ea lt
h y
an d
ea ti
n g
w el
l. [P
eo p
le in
m y
fa m
il y ]
ex er
ci se
an d
st ay
in v o lv
ed in
th e
co m
m u
n it
y .
I th
in k
th at
’s re
al ly
im p
o rt
an t.
A n
d I
th in
k th
e co
m p
an y
th in
k s
th at
th in
gs li
k e
th at
ar e
re al
ly im
p o rt
an t”
(i n
te rv
ie w
E 0 4 ).
“I t
m ea
n t
a lo
t to
m e
w h
at N
at u
ra l
F o o d
s w
as p
u ll
in g
o ff
, o ff
er in
g an
ti b io
ti c
h o rm
o n
e- fr
ee m
ea t
an d
se af
o o d
, n
o p
re se
rv at
iv e
fo o d
s, su
p p
o rt
in g
o rg
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s, an
d ju
st n
at u
ra l
fo o d
s in
ge n
er al
, al
l o f
th o se
sm al
l v en
d o rs
. T
h at
’s so
m et
h in
g I
k n
ew th
at I
w o u
ld b e
h ap
p y
to h
el p
su p
p o rt
” (i
n te
rv ie
w M
7 7 ).
L o w
to m
o d
er a te
im p
o rt
a n
ce o f
N F
’s ec
o n
o m
ic va
lu es
“I d
ef in
it el
y d
o n
’t id
en ti
fy w
it h
th e
so rt
o f
th e
fe st
iv e
at ti
tu d
e to
w ar
d s
b re
ak in
g th
e sa
le s
re co
rd ”
(i n
te rv
ie w
E 7 5 ).
“[ T
h e
m is
si o n
] is
to p
ro m
o te
an al
te rn
at iv
e p
ro d
u ct
an d
m o re
h u
m an
e an
d en
v ir
o n
m en
ta ll
y fr
ie n
d ly
w ay
s o f
p ro
d u
ci n
g th
e p
ro d
u ct
. B
u t
so m
eh o w
p ro
m o ti
n g
it ,
I ju
st d
o n
’t h
av e
th e
h ea
rt fo
r it
. [M
y ]
cy n
ic is
m co
m es
fr o m
th e
fa ct
th at
th e
w h
o le
p u
rp o se
is to
gr o w
an d
m ak
e m
o n
ey ”
(i n
te rv
ie w
E 8 5 ).
In co
rp o ra
ti n
g h
ea lt
h ,
en vi
ro n
m en
ta l,
a n
d et
h ic
a l
co n
si d
er a ti
o n
s in
to o p
er a ti
o n
a l
d ec
is io
n s
D ep
t. m
an ag
er cr
ea te
s “z
er o
tr as
h ”
st o re
m ee
ti n
g (o
b se
rv at
io n
M 7 7 ).
E m
p lo
y ee
s p
ar ti
ci p
at e
in cr
o ss
-d ep
ar tm
en ta
l te
am s
ta sk
ed w
it h
re d
u ci
n g
th e
en v
ir o
n m
en ta
l im
p ac
t o
f st
o re
o p
er at
io n
s (i
n te
rv ie
w s
E 4
, E
5 2
, M
6 8
).
E d
u ca
ti n
g cu
st o
m er
s a
b o
u t
h ea
lt h
, n
a tu
ra l
fo o
d s,
su st
a in
a b
il it
y ,
a n
d co
m m
u n
it y
in v o
lv em
en t
R es
p o
n d
in g
to cu
st o
m er
s w
h o
sa y
N F
is to
o ex
p en
si v
e: “I
f y
o u
th in
k b
u y
in g
h ea
lt h
y fo
o d
is ex
p en
si v
e, tr
y ig
n o
ra n
ce .
If y
o u
ig n
o re
h ea
lt h
y fo
o d
s, th
at w
il l
co st
y o
u a
w h
o le
lo t,
go in
g in
to a
h o
sp it
al to
ta k
e ca
re o
f y
o u
rs el
f. It
’s go
in g
to co
st y
o u
m o
re th
an ju
st sp
en d
in g
a fe
w d
o ll
ar s
o n
so m
et h
in g
h ea
lt h
y ”
(i n
te rv
ie w
E 7
1 ).
“A lo
t o
f p
eo p
le d
o n
’t k
n o
w th
at w
h en
y o
u ta
k e
an ti
b io
ti cs
, it
k il
ls th
e go
o d
fl o
ra as
w el
l as
th e
b ad
b ac
te ri
a. S
o if
y o
u ta
k e
an ti
b io
ti cs
, y
o u
sh o
u ld
ta k
e p
ro b
io ti
cs .
C u
st o
m er
s w
il l
co m
e in
an d
sa y
‘I ’m
h av
in g
p ai
n s.
I ca
n ’t
p as
s fo
o d
.’ T
h e
fi rs
t th
in g
y o
u [r
ec o
m m
en d
] is
p ro
b io
ti cs
” (i
n te
rv ie
w E
4 1
).
C ap
it al
is t
m em
b er
s L o w
to m
o d
er a te
im p
o rt
a n
ce o f
N F
’s so
ci et
a l
va lu
es “I
’v e
al w
ay s
b ee
n a
co n
v en
ti o n
al gu
y .
I b u
y co
n v en
ti o n
al p
ap er
to w
el s.
I b u
y n
o rm
al b le
ac h
. I
d o n
’t b u
y S
ev en
th G
en er
at io
n b le
ac h
. It
re al
ly h
as n
’t ch
an ge
d m
e to
o m
u ch
, m
ay b e
a li
tt le
in m
y d
ie t.
” (i
n te
rv ie
w M
2 4 ).
“D o
I ca
re ab
o u
t th
e en
v ir
o n
m en
t? Y
es .
D o
I th
in k
th at
w h
at w
e’ re
d o in
g h
er e
is gr
ea t?
Y es
. D
o I
tr y
to li
v e
a gr
ee n
li fe
? I
d o ,
b u
t I
d o n
’t go
o v er
th e
to p
w it
h it
” (i
n te
rv ie
w M
1 5 ).
H ig
h im
p o rt
a n
ce o f
N F
’s ec
o n
o m
ic va
lu es
“K n
o w
in g
at th
e en
d o f
th e
w ee
k th
at w
e’ v e
ex ce
ed ed
sa le
s an
d w
h y
w e’
v e
ex ce
ed ed
sa le
s. T
h at
is th
e ex
ci ti
n g
p ar
t o f
th e
jo b ”
(i n
te rv
ie w
M 2 4 ).
“I li
k e
se ei
n g
th at
I am
d o in
g a
go o d
jo b ,
th ro
u gh
b re
ak in
g sa
le s
re co
rd s
o r
ge tt
in g
a la
rg e
b o n
u s
b ec
au se
m y
d ep
ar tm
en t
is ru
n n
in g
v er
y w
el l.
I ta
k e
p ri
d e
in th
at ”
(i n
te rv
ie w
E 6 6 ).
Im p
ro vi
n g
ef fi
ci en
cy a
n d
fi n
a n
ci a l
p er
fo rm
a n
ce D
ep ar
tm en
t m
an ag
er b u
il d
s la
rg e
d is
p la
y s
to p
ro m
o te
sa le
s— re
fe rr
ed to
as “g
o in
g b ig
” (o
b se
rv at
io n
M 2 4 ).
A ss
is ta
n t
st o re
m an
ag er
s ar
ri v e
at d
ep ar
tm en
t m
an ag
er m
ee ti
n g
co v er
ed in
re d
d o t
si gn
s th
ey w
an t
m an
ag er
s to
u se
to p
ro m
o te
sa le
it em
s (o
b se
rv at
io n
M 1 5 ,
M 1 9 ).
M ee
ti n
g cu
st o m
er n
ee d
s (p
ro a ct
iv e)
M an
ag er
o rd
er s
p ro
d u
ct s
fe at
u re
d in
th e
fo o
d se
ct io
n o
f th
e lo
ca l
n ew
sp ap
er ,
b ec
au se
th ey
ap p
ea l
to cu
st o
m er
s an
d se
ll w
el l
(i n
te rv
ie w
M 4
0 ).
“I h
ad th
is o
n e
w o
m an
th at
w o
u ld
co m
e in
at [c
lo si
n g
ti m
e] ,
an d
sh e
sa id
, ‘I
’m re
al ly
so rr
y I’
m h
er e
so la
te .
C o
u ld
I h
av e
[a p
ar ti
cu la
r cu
t o
f fi
sh ]?
’ A
n d
I’ d
go in
th e
b ac
k an
d ge
t h
er a
p ie
ce .
I d
id n
’t ca
re w
h at
ti m
e sh
e ca
m e
in o
r w
h at
sh e
w an
te d
; I’
d ge
t it
fo r
h er
” (i
n te
rv ie
w E
1 1
).
T A
B L
E 1
(C o n
ti n
u ed
)
D iv
er ge
n t
In d
iv id
u a l
V a lu
es D
iv er
ge n
t W
o rk
B eh
a v io
rs
P lu
ra li
st m
em b
er s
H ig
h im
p o rt
a n
ce o f
N F
’s so
ci et
a l
a n
d ec
o n
o m
ic va
lu es
“[ T
h e
m is
si o n
is ]
to p
ro v id
e th
e b es
t fo
o d
p o ss
ib le
to th
e m
o st
p eo
p le
p o ss
ib le
an d
to h
av e
th e
le as
t im
p ac
t o n
th e
en v ir
o n
m en
t w
h il
e d
o in
g so
. It
’s so
m u
ch a
p ar
t o f
m e.
It ’s
v er
y m
u ch
w h
at I
b el
ie v e
in ”
(M 3 5 ).
“T h
e co
re v al
u es
ar e
re al
ly ab
o u
t st
u ff
th at
I w
as lo
o k in
g fo
r in
a co
m p
an y .
B ei
n g
in v o lv
ed in
th e
co m
m u
n it
y an
d th
e en
v ir
o n
m en
t— I
w an
te d
to fi
n d
a gr
ea te
r p
u rp
o se
. I
lo v e
th e
fa ct
th at
o u
r co
m p
an y ,
b y
se ll
in g
lo ca
l p
ro d
u ct
s an
d b y
se ll
in g
o rg
an ic
p ro
d u
ct s,
w e’
re en
co u
ra gi
n g
lo ca
l fa
rm er
s an
d w
e’ re
h av
in g
an ec
o n
o m
ic im
p ac
t o n
o th
er gr
o ce
ry st
o re
s an
d o th
er d
is tr
ib u
to rs
. T
h e
o th
er v al
u es
, p
ro fi
ta b il
it y —
I w
an te
d to
b e
in a
co m
p an
y th
at w
an te
d to
gr o w
. I’
m h
er e
to b e
a p
ar t
o f
th e
in te
rn at
io n
al ex
p an
si o n
” (M
4 5 ).
In co
rp o ra
ti n
g h
ea lt
h ,
en vi
ro n
m en
ta l,
a n
d et
h ic
a l
co n
si d
er a ti
o n
s in
to o p
er a ti
o n
a l
d ec
is io
n s,
a n
d im
p ro
vi n
g ef
fi ci
en cy
a n
d fi
n a n
ci a l
p er
fo rm
a n
ce “W
it h
o u
t u
s w
h o ’s
go in
g to
ta k e
ca re
o f
th e
fa rm
er ?
I’ v e
go t
a lo
t o f
p at
ti es
in th
e fr
ee ze
r [f
ro m
a n
at io
n al
su p
p li
er ]
th at
w er
e h
er e
w h
en I
go t
h er
e. W
h en
th ey
’r e
go n
e, I’
m go
in g
to b ri
n g
in [a
lo ca
l co
o p
er at
iv e]
. [T
h e
n at
io n
al su
p p
li er
] is
a b ig
co m
p an
y .
T h
ey ’r
e ta
k in
g ca
re o f
th em
se lv
es .
B u
t I
d o n
’t th
in k
[t h
ey ]
ar e
ta k in
g ca
re o f
an y b o d
y el
se (i
n te
rv ie
w M
3 2 ).
” M
an ag
er d
ev el
o p
s “r
o ck
y o u
r m
ar gi
n ”
p ro
gr am
to h
el p
d ep
ar tm
en ts
in cr
ea se
sa le
s o f
p ro
fi ta
b le
p ro
d u
ct s.
E ac
h w
ee k
a p
ro d
u ct
fr o m
th e
se le
ct ed
d ep
ar tm
en t
is fe
at u
re d
n ex
t to
th e
ca sh
re gi
st er
s (o
b se
rv at
io n
M 1 6 ).
E d
u ca
ti n
g cu
st o m
er s
a b o u
t h
ea lt
h ,
n a tu
ra l
fo o d
s, su
st a in
a b il
it y,
a n
d co
m m
u n
it y
in vo
lv em
en t
a n
d m
ee ti
n g
cu st
o m
er n
ee d
s (p
ro a ct
iv e)
E m
p lo
y ee
ex p
la in
s to
a cu
st o m
er th
e h
ea lt
h b en
ef it
s o f
ca n
e su
ga r
o v er
h ig
h fr
u ct
o se
co rn
sy ru
p (i
n te
rv ie
w E
2 ).
“[ C
u st
o m
er s]
co m
e to
th e
co u
n te
r an
d sa
y ,
‘H o w
co m
e y o u
d o n
’t h
av e
X ?’
T h
at ’s
w h
y I
li k e
to b e
o n
th e
fl o o r,
to se
e w
h at
th ey
ar e
b u
y in
g, w
h at
th ey
d o n
’t li
k e,
is th
er e
so m
et h
in g
w ro
n g
w it
h th
e in
gr ed
ie n
ts ”
(i n
te rv
ie w
M 5 7 ).
In d
if fe
re n
t m
em b er
s L o w
to m
o d
er a te
im p
o rt
a n
ce o f
N F
’s so
ci et
a l
a n
d ec
o n
o m
ic va
lu es
“O b v io
u sl
y I
h av
e b
ig ge
r w
o rr
ie s
in m
y li
fe ,
w it
h m
y ad
d ic
ti o n
s an
d m
y li
fe st
y le
. I
h av
e to
co n
si d
er st
ay in
g o ff
th e
st re
et b ef
o re
I st
ar t
ea ti
n g
o rg
an ic
eg gs
, y o u
k n
o w
. I
gr ew
u p
o n
re gu
la r
m il
k an
d I
am fi
n e”
(i n
te rv
ie w
E 7 4 ).
“I d
o n
’t re
al ly
th in
k ab
o u
t [t
h e
so ci
al m
is si
o n
]. I
li k e
th e
n at
u ra
ll y
ra is
ed m
ea t,
b u
t ev
er y th
in g
el se
, it
st il
l d
o es
n ’t
re al
ly cl
ic k
w it
h m
e. I’
d ra
th er
ge t
st u
ff I
ca n
af fo
rd .
S o
it ’s
n o t
re al
ly a
b ig
d ea
l. ”
(i n
te rv
ie w
E 2 8 ).
M ee
ti n
g cu
st o m
er n
ee d
s (r
ea ct
iv e)
“I ’m
ju st
w o rk
in g
m y
jo b .
I gi
v e
th e
cu st
o m
er w
h at
ev er
th ey
w an
t ev
en if
it ’s
th e
m o st
ri d
ic u
lo u
s re
q u
es t
o r
w e
w o u
ld en
d u
p lo
si n
g m
o n
ey o n
it .
W h
at ev
er th
e cu
st o m
er w
an ts
” (i
n te
rv ie
w E
2 8 ).
“T h
ey p
ay m
e to
b e
n ic
e. W
h en
p eo
p le
ar e
b ei
n g
p ai
n s,
y o u
ca n
’t b e
li k e
‘h ey
y o u
ar e
b ei
n g
re al
ly ru
d e,
li k e
ch il
l o u
t. ’
I m
ea n
th at
’s go
in g
th ro
u gh
m y
h ea
d ,
b u
t I
d ef
in it
el y
d o n
’t sa
y th
at ”
(i n
te rv
ie w
E 6 7 ).
eating and promoting natural, organic, and lo- cally produced food. Others were environmental- ists for whom sustainability and green living were of paramount importance, and still others were dedicated to promoting animal rights or supporting local communities. Many represented a combination of these types. For example, an employee explained:
I believe in [Natural Foods’] giving back to the com- munity philosophy, I believe in their environmental philosophy, and I’m a food junkie. It just seemed like a perfect fit for me. At this moment in my life I want to give back. I want to make a mark that leaves this world a better place, and I’m able to do that by being part of this company, and that’s really impor- tant to me. (E09)
Idealists were often aware of the company’s social mission before being hired, and reported it to be one of the main reasons for joining the company. For example, a department manager with a back- ground in natural foods and macrobiotics had sought out Natural Foods because it “was true to my core values and what I was interested in at that time of my life and still today” (M87). Some ideal- ists accepted economic values, but they were not of high personal importance. Admitted one employee: “I might feel differently [if I were in charge], but from the ground level it’s like, good for the store, they made more money this week than I am going to make in two years” (E75).
Second, “capitalist” members placed high impor- tance on Natural Foods’ economic values of profit and growth but low to moderate importance on societal values. For example, a store manager was excited to work at Natural Foods because he was able and encouraged to help the company make money. “It sounds corny,” he admitted, “but it’s what [I] wanted to do” (M44). Many capitalists came to Natural Foods from conventional grocery stores and initially had little knowledge of natural foods or environmental sustainability. As another store manager explained:
A lot of us came from conventional markets, and I don’t think we bought into the whole natural foods thing at that point. To us it was just sort of the same old thing where you have a job and you’ve got to make the company profitable. The natural foods as- pects of it were secondary to us. I was learning bits here and there. But I have to admit I wasn’t that interested. (M91)
Capitalists tended to accept Natural Foods’ social mission, but the values on which it was based
were not of high personal importance. An assistant store manager explained: “I support recycling and composting. But it’s not going to be my entire life, no. I have bigger priorities” (M19).
Third, “pluralist” members placed high impor- tance on both Natural Foods’ societal and economic values. A department manager explained:
[The mission] means a lot to me, it is huge for me. I live my life in a way that I can have a positive impact on the environment, on people around me, and [I] try to get back to a more natural way of living. I live in a town that has [made] all its public spaces free. I built a log home from sustainable forests, in order to not have the impact of a conventional home that [emits gases]. It’s very important to work for a company that values those things that I value, [that] values people, values the environment, and still val- ues being successful in the world. Because even though I like to have my life as natural as possible, I also like being successful financially and [taking] pride in my work. Working for a company that has those same values is just part of my life. (M88)
Pluralists also tended to perceive societal and eco- nomic values as mutually reinforcing, rather than conflicting. In this respect, they can be understood as having a complementary identity structure (Dutton, Roberts, & Bednar, 2010), similar to in- dividuals high on bicultural identity integration (Benet-Martinez, Leu, Lee, & Morris, 2002). As a department manager explained:
It all works together, and it’s pretty clear. We’re here to make money. We’re here to make customers happy. We’re here to make our employees happy. We’re here to be involved in the community. And we’re here to sell the best product. [Those core val- ues] are part of my life everyday here. I live them every day. And they’re natural. They fit. (M14)
Finally, “indifferent” members placed low to mod- erate importance on both Natural Foods’ societal and economic values. As one employee explained, “I have never really paid too much attention to [the values]. Something like organic food and happy people and making the world a better place, I don’t really know” (E78). Another stated:
The company’s mission is to provide good organic quality food products and non-organic food prod- ucts too— basically higher quality food. They also want to make money doing so, and they have an environmental component. I mean, it’s a nice place to work for, but their mission doesn’t really influ- ence other parts of my life. It doesn’t resonate very much with me. (E67)
1494 OctoberAcademy of Management Journal
As these examples illustrate, indifferent members were often aware of the company’s mission and sometimes made positive statements about it. How- ever, the societal and economic values underlying this mission were not personally meaningful or central to their identities. Perhaps not surprisingly, indifferent members tended to be newer employ- ees, with an average tenure of 3.3 years compared to the overall average of 5.8 years.
While I have described the four types of members as conceptually distinct, in practice boundaries be- tween types were sometimes blurry. Idealists for whom economic values were of moderate impor- tance resembled pluralists, as did capitalists for whom societal values were of moderate impor- tance. Similarly, indifferent members for whom either societal or economic values were of mod- erate importance bordered on idealists and capi- talists, respectively, and those for whom both economic and societal values were of moderate importance resembled pluralists. In addition, the types were not static. Members sometimes de- scribed their values changing over time. This oc- curred as managers’ enactment of Natural Foods’ ideology altered the identity attributes members valued, a process I describe in the section on identity conversion below.
Divergent work behaviors. Differences in values manifest in members’ discretionary work behav- iors. When members had choices over how to con- duct their work, they emphasized the attributes of Natural Foods that were personally important to them. These differences were evident in two areas: store operations and customer interactions. In store operations, idealists focused on carrying out the company’s commitment to natural foods, health, community, and the environment, while capitalists focused on promoting profits and growth. One ide- alist employee went out of her way to obtain a composter for her store long before composting be- came standard practice across the company (E04). An idealist department manager gave detailed in- structions to employees at a storewide meeting about how to recycle and compost waste so the store could achieve a “zero trash” store meeting (food and drinks were routinely provided at meet- ings). This manager also secured funds to purchase extra compost and recycling bins, and placed the bins in high-traffic areas of the store to make it easier for both customers and employees to reduce waste (M77). Capitalists approached store opera- tions differently. They brought food samples from their departments to share at manager meetings,
selecting high-margin items and urging their fellow managers to buy the products by explaining how doing so would help the store financially. They also frequently called attention to financial perfor- mance at manager and storewide meetings, proudly announcing that their department had outper- formed comparable departments at other Natural Foods stores. In a manager meeting, one capitalist publicly mocked another department for its poor sales and profit record, commenting that with a new assistant manager in place, “hopefully, we can start making some money there” (M40).
Differences between idealist and capitalist mem- bers were also evident in customer interactions. Idealists proactively educated customers about the health and environmental benefits of Natural Foods’ social mission, and associated products and policies. For example, an idealist employee de- scribed guiding customers toward products she deemed healthy and steering them away from those she considered less healthy:
We sell [a particular brand of] jams, jellies, sauces, and chutneys, and they have sugar in them. Even though it’s pure, raw cane sugar and not refined sugar, [it is] still sugar. I would [not] recommend to [customers] to buy [that brand], because sugar is not good for you and today people eat too much sugar. I am not saying you have to give it up, but limit it. (E60)
In contrast, capitalists focused on meeting cus- tomer needs. Many described this in positive terms, as something they sought out and enjoyed. A de- partment manager explained:
If I see someone standing there, I’ll go up to them and say, “Can I help you find something?” Or if I notice that they’re reading something, I’ll ask, “Do you have any questions on that? Do you need any help?” If they’re here to pick up seven things for a recipe, I might show them where all seven are, and they’ll thank me because they didn’t have to spend an hour trying to find stuff. I’m on the floor and I’m doing tasks, but I’m always looking around for customers. (M46)
Capitalists also emphasized the sales benefits of meeting customer needs. A manager in the spe- cialty department, which sold profitable but not necessarily healthy products, explained:
You might have a customer who says, “I am having this party and I want to get a selection of cheeses.” We sell hundreds of different types of cheese, so it is up to us to direct where they go. There are always things they didn’t think about that we can convince
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them they need. Something to go with the cheeses— different spreads or maybe just another food item like olives or crackers. The idea is always to ask them, “Would you like fries with that” —that type of thing. (M66)
Unlike idealists and capitalists, indifferent mem- bers engaged in few behaviors beyond what was formally required, and they interpreted these re- quirements relatively narrowly (on the distinction between narrow versus broad definitions of in-role behavior, see Morrison, 1994). In this respect, their behavior differed from the more expansive, proac- tive approaches of idealists and capitalists. In store operations, they rarely worked to improve effi- ciency and financial performance, or to implement Natural Foods’ social mission on their own initia- tive. In customer interactions, they did not proac- tively educate customers about the social mission (as idealists did), nor did they seek out customers to help them find products or promote sales (as capitalists did). Instead, indifferent members met customer needs in a limited and reactive fashion, engaging in surface acting (Hochschild, 1983) to present a positive face for customers. As one em- ployee admitted: “I put this smile on my face and I sweet talk [customers] because this is my job, but then the minute they leave I am like . . .”, and she made a face indicating frustration (E63).
Differences in members’ values and behaviors created the potential for conflict and mutual dis- identification, particularly between idealists and capitalists. Idealists criticized capitalists for being driven by money, power, and status. A department manager explained:
There are some people who are more a part of the mission. You can feel they are excited to be with the company and help out with community service and talk to customers. Then there are people who are just looking for the sales. They are looking to move up with the company and mean more in the com- pany. I think right now the true foodies are still outnumbering the corporate guys. (M21)
Meanwhile capitalists sometimes regarded ideal- ists as overzealous and unreasonable. As a capital- ist manager in the meat department admitted:
I don’t want to pick on [the nutrition department], but there are some people over there [who say], “Oh my God he’s eating a cheeseburger.” [They get very upset] knowing there are dead animals in the [meat] case. I’ll be walking through back corridors with my coat on and there is blood all over [from cutting meat] and they are running the other way. (M31)
The potential for conflict was further exacerbated by differences in members’ hierarchical position. As shown in Table 2, most idealists and indifferent members were employees, while most capitalists were department and store managers. From the idealists’ perspective, capitalists’ values and be- haviors appeared to be privileged by the organi- zation, making them even more reprehensible. For example, one idealist described with frustra- tion a former department manager who “wouldn’t recycle anything. You’d find everything in the trash. He just didn’t care, and he would fully admit that he was in this job because of the pay” (M13). Despite this behavior, however, the per- son in question had been promoted to a regional management position.
In the face of these differences, pluralists served as the glue that held members together, mitigating ten- sions among them and enabling identification to emerge. Consistent with the importance they placed on both societal and economic values, pluralists’ be- havior in store operations and customer interactions involved a combination of the behaviors found among capitalist and idealist members. More impor- tantly, most pluralists were managers at either the department or store level (see Table 2), and as man- agers they interpreted and enacted organizational policies in ways that fostered identification among other members. I detail these practices in the next section.
TABLE 2 Tenure and Position of Interviewees, by Type of Member
n Avg. Tenure (yrs) Store Managersa Department Managersa Non-managers
Idealist 32 5.6 1 11 20 Capitalist 16 7.9 4 10 2 Pluralist 24 6.9 5 16 3 Indifferent 20 3.3 0 1 19 All employees 92 5.8 10 38 44
a Includes assistant managers.
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Identification Management Practices
Pluralist managers’ interpretation and enactment of Natural Foods’ ideology enabled identification to emerge despite members’ divergent values and be- haviors. This occurred through three practices: de- veloping integrative solutions, removing ideology, and routinizing ideology. While some of these prac- tices stemmed from formal policies at the regional and corporate levels, it was pluralists’ enactment of these policies at the store level that fostered iden- tification. In this respect, pluralists served as local leaders, interpreting organizational policies to cre- ate meaning for employees (see Podolny, Khurana, & Hill-Popper, 2005; Smircich & Morgan, 1982). Below, I elaborate on how they accomplished this. Table 3 provides additional supporting evidence.
Developing integrative solutions. Consistent with the CEO’s, and their own, view that Natural Foods’ societal and economic values were mutually
reinforcing, pluralist managers emphasized prod- ucts and work practices that incorporated both types of values. Rather than promoting highly prof- itable products that were not consistent with the social mission or less profitable items that were consistent with this mission, pluralist managers promoted products that met both social and busi- ness criteria. Locally produced products were a common focus. As a pluralist department manager explained, “I pay attention to a lot of the [local] cheeses because we’re trying to support local farm- ers. And I use that a lot in the sales pitch with customers in saying, “You know, if we don’t sup- port local farmers, they’ll [be put out of business by] Wal-Mart.” I try to feature a [local] farm every month and get my team interested in that” (M30).
Pluralist managers also developed integrative ap- proaches to operational issues. The way in which two pluralist store managers implemented a com-
TABLE 3 Representative Data for Identification Management Practices
Conceptual Categories Empirical Themes and Representative Data
Developing Integrative Solutions
Promoting products that advance both business and social missions Store managers encourage department managers to promote local products and help them come up with
ideas for doing so effectively (observation M24, M35, M92). At storewide meeting, store manager promotes newly available baskets made by artisans in a developing
country; emphasizes to employees that sales of the product will help the artisans and also help the store make money (observation M92).
Implementing work practices that advance both business and social missions Store manager proposes a region-wide “zero waste” competition as a means of implementing NF’s
commitment to environmental sustainability. In addition to touting the environmental benefits of the competition, the manager promotes it as a cost-savings measure (interview and observation M76).
Store manager advocates extensive use of new “red dot” sale signs but, at the request of an employee concerned about waste, agrees to create only a limited number of the signs and encourages re-use (observation M92).
Removing Ideology Emphasizing “choice” and “service,” not ideological principles, in customer interactions “Customer service is giving people a choice. If our customers want plastic bags, they should be able to get
plastic bags and they shouldn’t have to feel bad. A customer shouldn’t be made to feel bad because they’re buying meat. It just should not happen” (interview M34).
Employee thinks customers should use reusable bowls and plates at the salad bar, but she does not advocate this because “management might have something to say to me. I don’t think that’s part of the routine to approach customers” (interview E52).
Emphasizing taste and quality, not ideological purity, of products Ingredient standards altered to allow white flour, coffee, and sugar (interviews E03, M80, M88). One suburban store promotes natural marshmallow fluff, another features a large chocolate fountain (store
observation). Routinizing Ideology Developing formal policies and work procedures to implement social mission
Standards for humane treatment of animals (archival data). “Local forager” position established at regional and store levels in order to increase sourcing of local
products (archival data, store observation, interview M80). Encouraging member involvement in formal policies and work procedures for implementing social mission
To increase participation in voluntary training programs about NF’s social mission, store manager allows trainer to offer prizes to participating employees (observation E03, M92).
To increase involvement in community activities, store managers institute competition to see which store’s employees can sell the most food bank coupons (observation M34, M92).
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pany mandate to hold farmers markets in store parking lots provides an illustration. When the CEO announced that all stores would hold farmers markets in their parking lots, idealists responded enthusiastically. One manager effused: “It’s amaz- ing. It’s awesome. [The CEO] admitted that it wasn’t going to be the best thing for the sharehold- ers, but it’s going to be a great thing for the com- munity” (M13). However, capitalists were skepti- cal, noting that allowing farmers to sell produce outside the store could cannibalize in-store sales in Natural Foods’ own produce department. The two pluralist store managers I observed grappling with this issue developed implementation plans that up- held idealists’ desire to help farmers and capital- ists’ desire to enhance profits. One store manager held the markets and simultaneously featured the farmers’ produce in prepared food dishes sold in- side the store. The other helped capitalists interpret the initiative more positively by emphasizing the boost in image and customer traffic that farmers would bring to the store, even while acknowledg- ing that their presence might hurt sales in the short term. Ultimately, the produce department manager at this store, who had initially complained about the initiative, decided he could profit from the positive image the farmers would promote to customers.
Removing ideology. Even as they developed in- tegrative solutions that incorporated the social mis- sion, pluralist managers discouraged explicit pro- motion of the ideological principles underlying this mission. Indeed, they actively sought to re- move ideology, and ideologically driven behaviors, from day-to-day store operations. Removing ideol- ogy is similar to “normative subtracting” (Sonen- shein, 2006), which occurs when individuals make fewer normative arguments about an issue in pub- lic justifications than they do in private reasoning. However, while normative subtracting involves only rhetoric and language, removing ideology also involves material practices. In addition, removing ideology involves replacing ideological language and behavior with more neutral practices that em- phasize choice and service, whereas normative subtracting involves a gap in the number of norma- tive arguments in public relative to private dis- course but not necessarily their replacement with alternative language.
In a lengthy discussion I observed during a store meeting, for example, a pluralist store manager ex- plained that customer service was about “providing a service to our community” (M76). His reference to
“our community” appealed to the many idealists at the store, who had resisted earlier efforts to im- prove customer service that had been framed in terms of sales. At the same time, because it did not explicitly incorporate ideological claims, the mes- sage was also well received by capitalists. At an- other store meeting, a pluralist store manager told employees to “keep the dogma out of the work- place,” then detailed how to do this:
Say I’m very conservative about recycling and a customer at my register asks for separate bags for her items and wants them double bagged as well. You just do it for them, even if that would not be your personal choice. And you don’t make any comments or give them a look that suggests you disapprove. Or say you’re a vegan and someone asks you about a product you don’t eat. You say, “Well, that’s not my personal choice.” Our job is not to judge what peo- ple want to buy. (M92)
Routinizing ideology. While they removed ex- plicit discussion of ideological principles, pluralist managers simultaneously routinized those princi- ples by implementing formal policies to carry out Natural Foods’ social mission. Some policies af- fected daily work tasks and required employee in- volvement. For example, there were strict proce- dures for maintaining the “integrity” of organic products, regular audits to ensure compliance, and a formal system for customers to report possible violations of these practices. Whether or not mem- bers cared about promoting natural foods and healthy eating, these practices had to be followed. Employee involvement in other practices was vol- untary. For example, Natural Foods sponsored community events such as food festivals or benefits for local non-profits, and employees were asked to help prepare for and staff these events. In addition, employees were eligible for a 20% discount on store purchases, a policy that encouraged people who had not previously tried natural or organic food to do so.
In part because they cared deeply about the un- derlying societal values, pluralist managers en- sured required policies for implementing the social mission were followed, and they actively encour- aged employees to become involved in voluntary programs. One store manager explained:
We do things to get people more involved. There’s a breast cancer walk [next month], and we’re also part of [a food and wine festival]. That’s a fun thing to get people involved in because they can see our really good quality, delicious food and [see] people appre- ciating it. (M34)
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Pluralist managers also recognized and accepted that different types of involvement were appropri- ate for different individuals, and they customized their efforts accordingly. When a department man- ager learned of an employee’s interest in recycling, for example, she directed him to the person in charge of establishing composting programs at each store. “I think he’s talked with her a couple of times now,” the manager explained, “and she’s coming to the store to meet with him. I’m going to sit in with him” (M45).
Identification Processes and Outcomes
The practices described above influenced identi- fication through three intervening processes. When pluralist managers developed integrative solutions, removed ideology, and routinized ideology, this validated the identities of idealists, capitalists, and pluralists through a process of “identity confirma- tion” in which members perceived the identity at- tributes they valued to be upheld. In addition, when pluralist managers routinized ideology, this altered the identities of capitalists and indifferent members through a process of “identity conver- sion” that led these members to place greater im- portance on Natural Foods’ societal values. In con- trast, the absence of these practices led some members to experience “identity violation” as they interpreted others’ behavior as sacrilegious. I de- scribe these processes below, showing how identity confirmation and conversion led to identification, while identity violation gave rise to dis-identifica- tion. Table 4 provides additional examples.
Identity confirmation. Identity confirmation oc- curred when members perceived the values they cherished to be upheld. It was fostered by all three identification management practices. First, integra- tive solutions confirmed and validated the values that idealists, capitalists, and pluralists held to be personally important, by directing members’ atten- tion to products and work practices that advanced both societal and economic values. Local products, for example, appealed to idealists’ and pluralists’ desire to support small-scale producers, who they perceived as more authentically organic and sus- tainable than large “industrial organic” producers. At the same time, local products resonated with capitalists’ and pluralists’ desire to generate profits and growth because they were popular with cus- tomers and tended to be more profitable. As a cap- italist department manager noted, “a lot of people like to try local products” (M46).
Second, removing ideology helped capitalists and pluralists feel welcome within Natural Foods by conveying an open, inclusive vision of the social mission. It sent a message that one did not have to be in the purist natural foods club in order to pos- itively contribute to the company. An incident de- scribed by a capitalist department manager illustrates this process. When one of his employees criticized him for not being knowledgable about natural foods:
My boss told him that if you take people like [me] out of this company, you’re not going to have a company because you can’t fill a company of this size with just foodies. It’s not going to work. You need conventional people [like me] who don’t eat everything on the shelves. (M40)
This type of behavior signaled to the manager in question that his own values and behaviors were appreciated and would be upheld, and it validated the contributions he made to Natural Foods.
Finally, when managers routinized ideology by enforcing formal procedures for enacting the social mission, this sent a powerful symbolic message to idealists and pluralists, who interpreted routiniza- tion as a signal that the values they cherished were being upheld. For example, an employee described with reassurance the company’s organic integrity procedures: “In produce, they have an organic side and a non-organic. If you mix that stuff up together you are in hot water, so you really have to know what you are talking about and what you are doing” (E82). A department manager emphasized, “There are so many safeguards in place along the path that the food travels. I know most places do not take that much care” (M22).
Identity confirmation in turn enabled identifica- tion. This occurred as idealists, capitalists, and plu- ralists saw their values reflected in the organiza- tion, leading them to feel a sense of belonging and to value organizational membership. As an idealist employee explained:
I see that they’re trying real hard to do something so great, and I believe in that. I reflect off of them and I reflect to them. It’s all one big circle. It’s like a big chain. I would love to stay here for as long as I can to build myself. This is actually helping me and my insides come out. (E07)
Similarly, for capitalists, perceptions that Natural Foods was upholding the economic values they held to be important led them to value being a part of the organization. Discussing Natural Foods’ so- cial and business missions, a department manager told me with pride, “We can talk about core values
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and integrity and all that we want, but it’s also a company who, bottom line, has made a lot of money and employs a lot of people” (M24). It was that fact that Natural Foods delivered on its com- mitment to being a successful business that enabled him to positively identify with the organization. “The most important thing that [Natural Foods] does is run a great company and employ a lot of people,” he explained. “It has got to be the best company to work for in this industry.” Pluralists also depicted instances in which their identities were confirmed as contributing to their identifica-
tion. Talking about what it meant to work at Natu- ral Foods, a pluralist employee described the com- pany as “an oasis,” providing “an environment where I feel 100% accepted and supported” (E02). A pluralist store manager explained:
[Working at Natural Foods] is not just a job, it defi- nitely is more than a job. It’s one of the ways that I can make a difference in the world—not just by being a profitable store and helping the company make good decisions about what we spend money on, but also in day-to-day life where I am interacting with people and trying to help people grow and develop in
TABLE 4 Representative Data for Identification Processes and Outcomes
Conceptual Categories Empirical Themes and Representative Data
Identification Processes Identity Confirmation Perceiving NF’s societal and/or economic values to be upheld
CEO decides to ban the sale of live lobsters because the only available storage tanks do not allow for the crustaceans to be treated humanely. Idealist employee interprets this as evidence that leaders are “sticking to our values about the humane treatment of animals” (interview E04).
“In the stores that I’ve been in, the store managers go by the mission. They make sure that department managers do the same for their employees. It’s like a domino effect. Regional is always making sure that the stores are going by it, and store leadership does the same to department managers, to employees. So it is what it is. We walk our talk” (interview M33).
Identity Conversion Placing more importance on NF’s values of health, community welfare, or environmental sustainability over time
“Because we are talking about [environmental sustainability] all the time and doing that at work. It becomes something important. You realize how important it is” (interview M73).
“Five-years ago. I was a Coke and Twinkies [guy]. It’s just different. It changed. I mean, your diet changes” (interview M44).
Identity Violation Perceiving NF’s values of health, community welfare, or environmental sustainability to be morally violated
“[An employee] would come to me and tell me how upset he was that he saw someone put cardboard in the trash. He would hide out above the trash compactors and see someone and report it to me” (interview M56).
“The products we carry do not meet the same standards they used to. [The company] started out as a place where they didn’t have products with sugar in them. Now they sell chips from Frito Lay, for a while we had Huggies diapers, we have Heinz ketchup. I think you owe it to the public [to sell healthy food] if you are presenting yourself as Natural Foods and not processed foods. It’s a deception that is hurting people’s health. It’s actually ruining people’s health. It’s huge. That’s what [Natural Foods is] supposed to be all about, and I think that’s the biggest lie” (interview E84).
Identification Outcomes Identification Valuing being a part of NF
“I want to be here, and it’s because I am passionate about it. I drive up here every day, I walk through these doors, and I feel good about what I’m doing. So I take a lot of pride in it” (interview E10).
“[Natural Foods] means a great deal to me. I sleep a lot better at night knowing that I’m working for good folks who are doing good things. It’s one of the things that keeps me here without question. I’m always proud to say that I work for this company. Any time that [Natural Foods] is mentioned, people always associate [doing good] with this company. So it’s a good association. I’m so happy to be a part of something like that” (interview M22).
Dis-identification Distancing oneself from NF and describing NF negatively, in opposition to one’s own values “Things like that [an incident with a store manager] get me really disillusioned. Our customers come
in and think it’s the most wonderful store and it’s a great place to work and a great place to shop. But I keep thinking I need to find another job” (interview E41).
“I kind of withdrew. I go in, I do my job, and I do it the way I am supposed to do it. I do it well, I think, but I don’t feel the same way about the company. I don’t feel like I represent Natural Foods or it represents me” (interview E84).
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ways that are meaningful to them. I think it kind of helps me to bring a lot of my own philosophy together. I can make a living, and I can also do something where I feel like I am making difference. (M76)
Identity conversion. Identity conversion in- volved a change in the identity of members who were initially capitalist or indifferent. It was prompted by the routinization of ideological val- ues, which exposed members to the social mission and involved them in carrying it out, regardless of whether or not they had initially found this mis- sion to be personally important. Indifferent mem- bers, for example, described in detail how they maintained organic integrity in the produce and meat departments by using separate sinks and cut- ting boards for organic and conventional produce, and by placing organic produce on the highest stor- age shelves so that it would not be contaminated by water dripping from conventional produce. Over time, such exposure and involvement led members to develop a greater appreciation of Natural Foods’ societal values and to incorporate them into their own identity. One employee explained: “I’ve be- come, not a health food nut, but I’ve become more conscious of what I eat now” (E90).
Capitalists also described changes to their iden- tity as a result of their involvement with the social mission. One employee, who was initially a capi- talist but over time became a pluralist, explained: “I’m much more aware of what goes on around me since I’ve been working for this company. My core values have completely changed” (E18). A compa- ny-sponsored trip to a meat supplier, part of a pro- gram to help employees learn more about Natural Foods’ products, was a critical turning point for him:
We went on a cattle drive. [We saw] the difference between naturally raised and conventional meats. We [saw] conventional cattle that were emaciated and didn’t have any water or food. The difference was night and day. The cattle from [the company we visited] were really well taken care of. We went to the slaughterhouse, we saw the whole operation. I was amazed. The facility was more user-friendly for the cattle. They didn’t have to suffer as much. (E18)
When members came to value aspects of Natural Foods’ identity that they had not previously val- ued, being part of the organization became more important to them, fostering their identification. For example, an employee explained how working at Natural Foods had prompted her to reflect on the importance of health and humane treatment:
I came from the conventional way of doing things to the more healthy way. After I’d thought about their mission and read it, everything made sense to me. I wouldn’t have thought about it if I didn’t work here, about the compassion standards and foods without pesticides and all that. My husband and I have done a dietary change too, so it helps to be working for a place that makes it easier to stay away from pro- cessed foods, because we don’t eat any of that stuff anymore. (E08)
As a result, she valued being part of the company: “It’s nice to be able to be proud of what you sell and be able to stand behind it as being healthy and the animals aren’t mistreated and there are not a lot of pesticides and things like that.”
One might have expected identity conversion to occur among idealists as well, to the extent that they were exposed to and involved in Natural Foods’ business operations. Idealists who were pro- moted to manager positions, for example, were given responsibility for economic outcomes, and this could have led them to better appreciate the importance of profits for maintaining the social mission (i.e., Lieberman, 1956). There was little support for this type of identity conversion in the data, however. Pluralist managers did not describe having previously been idealists, and the managers who were idealists did not show signs of starting to embrace economic values. In contrast, several ide- alist managers chose or were asked to step down from their management positions, and one left the company.
Identity violation. In the absence of pluralist managers’ emphasis on integrative solutions, re- moving ideology, and routinizing ideology, some members experienced “identity violation,” a pro- cess in which they interpreted others’ behavior as morally violating the values they cherished. Iden- tity violation is similar to “organizational sacri- lege” (Harrison, Ashforth, & Corley, 2009), defined as an action that “directly contradict[s] sacred ide- als, values, beliefs and so on espoused by the or- ganization” (page 225). Unlike organizational sacri- lege, however, identity violation does not necessarily involve organizational acts. It can occur in re- sponse to the behavior of a specific individual, not just in response to the behavior of employees or management in general. Identity violation is also similar to perceived violation of a psychological contract (Morrison & Robinson, 1997; see also Thompson & Bunderson, 2003), but it involves ex- pectations about who we are and what we do as an organization, which may or may not include expec-
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tations about the psychological contract, defined as reciprocal obligations between members and the organization (Rousseau, 1989).
Identity violation was often prompted by capital- ist managers’ tendency to emphasize one-sided rather than integrative solutions. For example, an idealist department manager described her frustra- tion at the product promotion choices made by other managers. These individuals had promi- nently displayed “unhealthy” products near cash registers and had been supported in their actions by store managers “looking to promote sales.” From her perspective, this behavior violated the compa- ny’s commitment to promoting natural and organic foods. When she raised the issue at a manager meet- ing, however:
I could feel that everybody was uncomfortable with what I was saying. They really didn’t want to hear it. Don’t ever talk bad about the wine and the cheese and the fancy crackers, don’t ever do that. Any- where that the wine buyer wants to put stacks of wine, she’s got it. She can put them on top of the register if she wants to. [Store managers] will let that happen, because they know that will make money. There are ethics involved there that I don’t agree with. (M77)
Identity violation also arose when ideological prin- ciples were not routinized or when routinization was not enforced, as occurred under some capital- ist managers. In the absence of routinization, mem- bers for whom Natural Foods’ societal values were not important did little to enact them in their daily work, an omission that idealists interpreted as sacrilegious. For example, an idealist employee working in a store run by a capitalist manager ex- pressed disappointment that the environmental mission was not being implemented:
My understanding is that it used to be higher on the list of priorities, that it’s gone down [as Natural Foods became] part of the stock market and more interested in profit. Profit, profit, profit, profit. [Em- ployees are] just throwing out their bottles of water in the trash. It’s not emphasized to employees that [sustainability] is what we’re trying to do and if we’re doing it, then the customer will notice and maybe make more of an effort too. Every morning when I come in, there are plastic bottles thrown out from the night before. (E52)
As these examples illustrate, some identity viola- tions involved instances in which employees per- ceived cherished values to be sacrificed in favor of other organizational values, as in the case of man-
agers promoting profitable products instead of healthy products. Other identity violations in- volved instances in which cherished values were simply not enacted, as in the case of employees throwing away rather than recycling plastic bottles. What all these incidents had in common was the perception that others’ behavior violated sacred values.
Notably, identity violation occurred only among idealists. When capitalists and pluralists perceived other members to behave in ways that were incon- sistent with their own values— either by failing to enact those values or by trading them off for com- peting values—they accepted these differences rather than interpreting them as moral violations. Capitalists sometimes perceived profitability to be compromised in favor of the social mission, for example, but offered positive interpretations, con- cluding that Natural Foods was a company with integrity. As a store manager explained, “It’s kind of neat to work for a company that will lose some sales for what they believe in. That’s not normal. Or if items are being carried by a mass merchandiser, to cut them out of here. Is that a great short-term business decision? No. But is it going by what they believe in? Yeah” (M44). Similarly, when pluralists perceived societal values to be compromised in favor of profits, they tended to accept these in- stances. Talking about the introduction of more profitable but arguably less healthy products, a plu- ralist department manager explained, “Do I think we should be selling them? We still have to make money, you know” (M16). While this person per- ceived the new products to be inconsistent with the spirit of the social mission, he accepted regional managers’ decision to sell them, in large part be- cause he recognized, and valued, the economic benefits they would bring to the company.
Identity violation led to dis-identification, as members became disillusioned and distanced themselves from the organization. This process is well illustrated by the experience of a department manager (M79) in a store that had initially empha- sized the social mission but had come under in- creasing pressure from regional management to fo- cus on profits and growth. As part of this new focus, a group of regional managers were stream- lining the number of products offered and stan- dardizing product mix across all stores in the region. The department manager acknowledged the eliminated products were low in sales vol- ume, but also perceived them to be more natural and healthy than the remaining products, and he
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found this privileging of financial over social concerns problematic. “Obviously it’s going to change my approach to the job. I am not going to continue to fight for products, because they don’t want to hear it.” He also expressed frustration that many of his co-workers did not shop at Nat- ural Foods. How could the store be genuinely committed to promoting health and sustainabil- ity, he asked, if it was not even convincing its own employees to shop there? When I returned to this site several months after conducting inter- views, he told me he had given his two weeks’ notice and accepted a job at a natural foods co- operative, explaining that continual compromis- ing of the social mission in the name of profits had simply become unacceptable to him.
A MODEL OF IDENTIFICATION WHEN MEMBERS HOLD DIVERGENT VALUES
Taken together, the findings described above sug- gest a model of how identification develops when individuals hold divergent values. As shown in Figure 2, values are enacted through work behav- iors, resulting in divergent and sometimes conflict- ing behaviors among organizational members. In such a context, the presence of pluralist managers and their enactment of three organizational prac- tices contribute to the emergence of identification,
whereas the absence of these practices allows dis- identification to emerge.
The presence of pluralists in management posi- tions is critical, as the nature of their personal identity combined with their managerial authority enables them not only to accept an organization’s divergent values but also to foster such acceptance among others. As they recognize and embrace con- flicting values, pluralists have “paradoxical cogni- tion”—they adopt mental frames and processes that enable them to simultaneously enact contradictory goals and values (Smith & Tushman, 2005). They also engage in integratively complex thinking (Tet- lock, 1986), recognizing the distinct value of mul- tiple perspectives on an issue while integrating these multiple perspectives into a coherent whole. These characteristics insulate pluralists as individ- uals from experiencing identity violation and be- coming dis-identified. They also help pluralists foster identification among other members. As plu- ralists value multiple organizational identity attri- butes and perceive these as mutually reinforcing and not conflicting, they have a “complementary identity structure” that enables them to build high- quality relationships with diverse groups of people (Dutton et al., 2010). At Natural Foods, for example, pluralists were respected by both idealists and cap- italists, and they helped members of each type to understand and appreciate one another’s contribu-
FIGURE 2 A Process Model of Identification Based on Divergent Values
Individual values and behaviors
Divergent individual
values
Divergent work
behaviors
Identification processes
Identity confirmation
Identity conversion
Identity violation
Identification management
practices
Removing ideology
Developing integrative solutions
Routinizing ideology
Identification outcomes
Identification
Dis- identification
Idealists
Pluralist managers
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tions, mitigating dis-identification and promoting identification among individuals holding divergent values.
Pluralists foster identification by interpreting and enacting the organization’s ideology in ways that confirm and expand members’ identities. As shown in the middle of Figure 2, this involves three specific identification management practices. First, integrative solutions enable both sides of conflict- ing demands to be upheld (Suedfeld, Tetlock, & Streufert, 1992). As they embody multiple sets of values simultaneously, integrative solutions allow idealists and capitalists to see that there is not necessarily a zero-sum competition between their values and the values of the other group. Members observe the values they cherish being enacted, and their identity is thereby confirmed. Integrative so- lutions could also foster identity conversion, al- though I did not find evidence of this at Natural Foods. As members recognize that other values support rather than conflict with their own, they may develop greater appreciation for those values, incorporating them into their personal identity.
Second, removing ideology enables identity con- firmation. Ideological principles are seen as invio- lable by those who cherish them (Harrison et al., 2009). This can create an environment in which non-believers are unwelcome. At Natural Foods, for example, the prohibition on adding white flour and sugar to baked goods alienated employees with a conventional grocery background. Likewise, giv- ing dirty looks to customers who bought meat or who asked for plastic rather than paper bags may have alienated co-workers as well as customers. By removing ideology, pluralist managers created an open and inclusive environment, one that con- firmed the identities of members for whom these ideological principles were not of high importance.
Finally, routinizing ideology fosters both identity confirmation and identity conversion. Routiniza- tion protects ideological principles by enshrining them in an organization’s operational procedures. As Selznick recognized, values depend on “mun- dane administrative arrangements” in order to be sustained (Selznick, 1957). At Natural Foods, rou- tines for maintaining organic integrity, as well as the creation of environmental teams, quality stan- dards, and “local forager” positions (formal roles with responsibility for increasing the number of local products in each store) all served to maintain values of health, environmental sustainability, and community welfare. Absent such procedures, val- ues become precarious and the identification of
members for whom they are important is at risk. Routinization preserves the sacred, by making en- actment of sacred values part of the organization’s standard operating procedures. This fosters iden- tity confirmation among members for whom these values are important, as they perceive their cher- ished values to be upheld and confirmed by the organization. At the same time, routinization neu- tralizes the ideological component of sacred values. Enacting these values is no longer an expression of individual ideology; it is simply a required work task. Because it makes enactment of ideological principles part of standard work routines, thereby involving members for whom these principles are not initially important in the act of carrying them out, routinization fosters identity conversion. Similarly, Fiol (2002) argues that engaging employ- ees in new roles and projects that are specific and concrete can shift their self-conceptions.
In turn, identity confirmation and identity con- version lead to identification (see the upper right hand side of Figure 2). These relationships can be understood in terms of two identity comparisons that have been shown to be involved in identifica- tion. In one identity comparison, members implic- itly or explicitly compare their own identity with the organization’s identity (Ashforth & Mael, 1989; Dutton et al., 1994). Identity conversion leads members to value identity attributes that were not previously important to them, thereby increasing the overlap of self-identity with organizational identity. This overlap meets members’ need for self-continuity by enabling them to experience con- sistency between themselves and their enacted role within the organization (see Brickson, 2013). As a result, they value membership in the organization, experiencing identification. The relationship be- tween identity confirmation and identification can be understood in terms of the second comparison, in which members’ compare their expectations for the organization’s identity with their perceptions of its actual identity (e.g., Foreman & Whetten, 2002; Reger, Gustafson, Demarie, & Mullane, 1994). When members see the values they cherish being confirmed—that is, when their expectations for the organization are confirmed by their perceptions of its actual behavior—this helps to fulfill their need for esteem, enabling them to feel worthy and “good” because expectations about identity attributes that are important to them have been met (see Brickson, 2013). As a result, they value membership in the organization, experiencing identification.
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In the absence of pluralist managers, divergent values and work behaviors lead members to expe- rience identity violation, which in turn leads to dis-identification (see the bottom portion of Fig- ure 2). At Natural Foods, identity violation oc- curred only among members for whom societal val- ues alone were of high importance (i.e., idealists). Societal values have the potential to engender iden- tity violation because they are terminal as opposed to instrumental values (see Rokeach, 1973) and, unlike economic values, they are also ideological rather than technical in nature. They represent vir- tues and ideals seen as morally correct, and are therefore held to be sacred (Harrison et al., 2009; Selznick, 1994). Attempts to translate sacred values into a common utility metric and trade them off against non-sacred objectives are likely to be inter- preted as morally wrong, or “taboo,” and people respond to these taboo trade-offs by expressing moral outrage (Douglas, 1966; Tetlock, Kristel, El- son, Green, & Lerner, 2000). As pluralists also placed high importance on societal values, one might have expected them to experience identity violations as well. However, when individuals hold competing values to be equally important, they engage in integratively complex thinking (Tet- lock, 1986), which may enable them to accept in- stances in which societal values are traded off for economic values.
The experience of identity violation in turn leads to dis-identification. In the present study, members who experienced identity violation came to define themselves in opposition to the organization, even as they continued to support the social mission Natural Foods espoused. They became disillu- sioned, reduce their work effort, and, in some cases, left the organization. Similarly, Cha and Ed- mondson (2006) show how employees of an adver- tising agency became disillusioned with the com- pany when they perceived the CEO to violate the values they held dear. Gutierrez et al. (2010) show how members of the Catholic Church dis-identified with the Church as an organization following sex- ual abuse scandals, although they continued to support the normative values that it espoused.
DISCUSSION
This research builds theory about how identifi- cation emerges when members differ in which or- ganizational values they hold to be important. It is relatively well established that conflict and dis- identification develop under such conditions. In
contrast, the process model developed in this paper shows how identification as well as dis-identifica- tion arise amid divergent values. The model un- packs how pluralist managers’ practices of devel- oping integrative solutions and simultaneously removing and routinizing ideology foster identifi- cation, and it shows how the absence of these prac- tices creates conditions under which member inter- actions lead to dis-identification. In doing so, the model advances understanding of the relational dy- namics of identification, offers new insight into how organizations can benefit from multiple iden- tities, and illuminates the double-edged sword of ideology in organizations.
The Relational Dynamics of Organizational Identification
This study contributes to theories of organiza- tional identification by offering insight into the re- lational and interactive processes that underpin identification. While identification as a state is de- fined in terms of the relationship an individual has with their organization (Ashforth & Mael, 1989; Ashforth et al., 2008; Dutton et al., 1994; Elsbach, 1999), processes of identity formation and identifi- cation are fundamentally relational—they involve interactions with and cues from others both within and beyond the boundaries of the organization (Gioia et al., 2000). Consistent with social informa- tion processing theory (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978), extant research shows that cues from others can affirm (or disaffirm) members’ understanding of their organization’s identity (Dutton & Dukerich, 1991) and their self-identity (Wrzesniewski, Dut- ton, & Debebe, 2003), and this can in turn influence identification. In addition, identification with other organizational members can lead individuals to identify with the organization as a whole (Sluss & Ashforth, 2008). Nevertheless, this research has largely neglected to consider what happens when members differ in their values and behavior, and therefore provide potentially conflicting cues to in- dividuals about organizational and self-identity. Meanwhile, research that does emphasize value differences suggests they lead to conflict and dis- identification but does not explain the emergence of identification (e.g., Glynn, 2000).
The present study builds on and extends this work by contributing an empirically grounded model that explains how interactions among mem- bers who hold divergent values can lead to both identification and dis-identification. The model in-
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dicates that in the presence of conflicting values and behaviors, whether interactions among mem- bers lead to identification or dis-identification de- pends on how managers interpret and enact organ- izational identity for frontline employees. When managers develop integrative solutions, remove ideology, and routinize ideology, this enables iden- tification to emerge despite the presence of con- flicting values and behaviors among co-workers. In contrast, when managers do not engage in these practices, interactions among co-workers with con- flicting values give rise to dis-identification.
Interactions among members may be particularly important to identification processes in organiza- tions whose identities include divergent values, and whose members differ in the importance they place on these values. In such settings, differences across members create the potential for dis-identi- fication, not just identification. However, interac- tions among members are likely to be critical to identification even in organizations that do not have divergent values, because it is through inter- acting with others that individuals perceive the organizational values they cherish to be confirmed, and incorporate additional organizational values into their self-identities. These processes of iden- tity confirmation and identity conversion are, in turn, what enable identification.
In showing how identification can arise from in- teractions among members who hold divergent val- ues, this study makes a second contribution to theories of identification: it connects top-down ap- proaches to managing identity and identification (e.g., Clark et al., 2010; Gioia, Price, Hamilton, & Thomas, 2010; Pratt & Corley, 2007; Pratt & Fore- man, 2000) with bottom-up processes among front- line employees (e.g., Golden-Biddle & Rao, 1997; Gutierrez et al., 2010; Pratt & Rafaeli, 1997). Prior research tends to focus on one or the other of these approaches. The present study brings these steams of work together, showing how identification arises from the combination of particular relational dy- namics among members with particular manage- ment practices. An important implication is that to fully understand identification, researchers must consider top-down and bottom-up processes jointly, rather than in isolation.
Finally, by connecting top-down and bottom-up approaches to identification, this study offers a new way of understanding the management of identification. Whereas extant research focuses on managing identification by altering the nature of the relationship individuals have with their organiza-
tions (e.g., Pratt, 2000), the model that emerged from the present study suggests organizations can also manage identification by influencing the nature of members’ interactions with one another. Practices of developing integrative solutions, removing ideology, and routinizing ideology enable interactions among members to foster identification rather than dis-iden- tification. In this way, the present study shifts the focus of extant theorizing about how to manage iden- tification, from organizational practices that influ- ence individual members directly to those that facil- itate interactions among members.
How Organizations Can Benefit from Multiple Identities
This study also contributes to our understanding of multiple identities in organizations. Existing re- search tends to treat multiple identities as problem- atic. Studies emphasize the potential for conflict and mutual dis-identification to emerge among members, leading to declining organizational per- formance (Anteby & Wrzesniewski, 2014; Glynn, 2000; Golden-Biddle & Rao, 1997; Pratt & Rafaeli, 1997; Voss et al., 2006). Research in other domains of organizational theory similarly depicts multiple identities, values, and other dualities—defined as simultaneous and seemingly contradictory ele- ments (Ashforth & Reingen, in press)—as sources of tension and conflict. At the group level, value di- versity within workgroups is associated with lower cohesion (Harrison, Price, & Bell, 1998; Harrison, Price, Gavin, & Florey, 2002) and increased conflict (Jehn, Chadwick, & Thatcher, 1997; Jehn, North- craft, & Neale, 1999). At the organizational level, research on ambidexterity highlights the challenges that arise when organizations attempt to explore new capabilities while simultaneously exploiting existing ones (Andriopoulos & Lewis, 2009; Smith & Tushman, 2005). Research on organizational par- adox emphasizes the tendency for contradictory yet interrelated elements to lead to defensive reactions and vicious cycles in organizations (Smith & Lewis, 2011). At the societal level, institutional research suggests uncertainty and contestation arise when organizations confront multiple logics that offer in- compatible prescriptions for action (Besharov & Smith, 2014; Greenwood, Raynard, Kodeih, Mice- lotta, & Lounsbury, 2011; Kraatz & Block, 2008).
The present study enriches our understanding of multiple identities and other dualities within or- ganizations by showing how they not only create challenges, but also can offer benefits for organiza-
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tions. It further illuminates the central role plural- ist managers play in enabling organizations to at- tain these benefits. Pluralists are valuable not only because they accept trade-offs between conflicting values, which enables them as individuals to main- tain identification, but also because of their influ- ence on other members. Pluralists foster identifica- tion among others by combining practices that integrate divergent values with those that differen- tiate and uphold the distinct contributions of each type of value. At Natural Foods, pluralists inte- grated divergent values by developing work prac- tices and promoting products that simultaneously embodied societal and economic values. They up- held each type of value as distinct by recognizing and acknowledging the contributions made by capitalists and idealists, and by simultaneously removing and routinizing ideology. Removing ideology upheld Nat- ural Foods’ economic values, eliminating one-sided behavior in which societal values were enacted at the expense of economic. Routinizing ideology upheld Natural Foods’ societal values, ensuring they were enacted in required work practices. Although they operate at a different level of analysis, these practices are similar to organization-level strategies for manag- ing multiple identities discussed in prior research, which also involve integrating and differentiating (e.g., Pratt & Foreman, 2000).
By illuminating the role that frontline manag- ers play in enabling organizations to benefit from multiple identities, the present study comple- ments and extends ideas that have been put forth in other domains of organizational theory. Bene- fiting from multiplicity and pluralism is not just a matter of institutional position (Seo & Creed, 2002), organizational design (Battilana & Lee, 2014; Pache & Santos, 2013), or senior leadership (Smith, in press; Smith & Tushman, 2005), nor does it require that all members hold all organi- zational values (Gibson & Birkinshaw, 2004). Or- ganizations can also benefit from multiplicity through the on-the-ground practices of frontline managers who hold conflicting values and who bridge potential faultlines between them. This insight implies that to fully understand multiple identities and other dualities in organizations, we need to examine internal dynamics and prac- tices among members (e.g., Smets, Jarzabkowski, Burke, & Spee, 2014), not just factors operating at the level of the institutional environment, the organization, or the senior team.
The Double-Edged Sword of Ideology in Organizations
This study also offers insight into the role of ideology in organizations. Some research suggests organizations that appeal to ideology benefit from providing a context in which members can realize deeply held values. Doing so enhances motivation (Shamir, 1990), cooperation (Barnard, 1938), and commitment (Kanter, 1972; O’Reilly & Chatman, 1986). In addition, organizations that embody ide- ological values can make significant contributions to society as a whole, leading some scholars to advance normative arguments for incorporating such values into organizations and organizational theory (Selznick, 1994; Margolis & Walsh, 2003). However, other research indicates a dark side to ideology, showing how disillusionment and dis- identification can arise when members perceive violations of ideological values (Ashforth & Rein- gen, in press; Thompson & Bunderson, 2003).
The present study brings together these disparate streams of research, explicating how the downsides of ideology evident in the latter studies can be overcome to achieve the organizational and societal benefits of incorporating ideological values. It fur- ther indicates that these benefits are achieved in part by removing explicit discussion and promo- tion of ideological values from day-to-day work. This finding may at first appear counterintuitive, particularly given that organizations with strong and relatively unique identities, such as those based on ideological values, tend to trumpet those identities in order to keep them vibrant (Elsbach & Kramer, 1996; Gioia et al., 2010). When coupled with routinization, however, removing ideology from day-to-day work enables organizations to ap- peal to a wider range of members—routinization of ideology reassures idealists that the values they cherish are being upheld, while removing ideology allows other members to feel welcome within the organization.
Limitations and Future Directions
As with any qualitative research that develops theory from a single case, this study has limita- tions, several of which suggest directions for future research. One fruitful area for further investigation concerns the role that direct contact among mem- bers who hold divergent values plays in identifi- cation and dis-identification. At Natural Foods, idealists, capitalists, pluralists, and indifferent
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members encountered one another frequently in their daily work, providing opportunities for them to see first hand the differences in their behaviors. However, one of the stores in the present study had previously been isolated from other stores due to its remote location. Most staff members at that loca- tion were idealists, they were not in frequent, direct contact with non-idealists, and they reported expe- riencing few instances of identity violation during that time. This offers suggestive evidence that di- rect contact among members creates greater poten- tial for dis-identification, and increases the need for pluralists and the identity management prac- tices they enact. However, the retrospective inter- view data on which this conclusion is based make it tentative at best, calling for further research on the extent to which the relational ecology of iden- tification depicted in this study depends on direct contact with others. Addressing this issue will re- quire ethnographic and longitudinal studies that investigate how interactions among members un- fold over time.
A second area for future research concerns how organizations attain pluralist members. Under- standing this issue is particularly important, given the central role these individuals play in the iden- tification process. At Natural Foods, pluralists ap- peared to be favored for promotion to department and store manager positions, suggesting selection plays at least some role. The data also indicated capitalist members could be socialized to incorpo- rate ideological values into their identities through exposure to, and involvement in, the social mis- sion, thereby becoming pluralists. Yet, there was no evidence of socialization leading idealists to incor- porate economic values, although prior research suggests this could occur when idealists become managers and are given responsibility for economic outcomes (e.g., Lieberman, 1956). Taken together, these findings suggest the presence of pluralists is likely to be influenced by both socialization and attraction–selection–attrition processes (e.g., Chat- man, 1991; Schneider, 1987; Sidanius, Pratto, Van Laar, & Levin, 2004). However, the qualitative and cross-sectional nature of the data precludes draw- ing firm conclusions about the relative importance of these processes. Future studies with larger sam- ple sizes and longitudinal designs are needed to develop a more robust understanding of how plu- ralists emerge, and specifically to investigate how and to what extent this process involves socializa- tion versus attraction, selection, and attrition.
Practical Implications
Organizations with divergent values face critical questions about who to hire—people who endorse multiple values, those who adhere to just one type of value, or “blank slates” not tied to any organiza- tional values—and how to socialize and promote these individuals. Prior research suggests organiza- tions can overcome conflict and dis-identification by hiring “blank slates” and socializing them to identify with a neutral organizational identity rather than one based on divergent values (Batti- lana & Dorado, 2010). However, the “blank slate” approach may not be feasible for many organiza- tions, particularly older and larger ones whose em- ployees are already committed to particular values. The present study suggests an alternative: organi- zations can hire people who adhere to just one type of value or the other, provided they also develop managers who support both types of values. The presence of these pluralist managers, and the prac- tices in which they engage, enables organizations to foster identification among employees despite dif- ferences in their values.
Given the central role that pluralist managers play, it is tempting to conclude that organizations with divergent values should hire and promote only pluralists. However, something may be lost when organizations lack distinct representation of the values they embody. In group decision making, for example, the absence of formal practices, roles, or structures that represent alternative perspectives can lead a single, initial point of view to dominate (Nemeth, 1986; Schweiger, Sandberg, & Ragan, 1986). Similarly, when firms lack distinct representatives of an innovative new technology, their efforts to pursue innovation are likely to fail, as the existing technol- ogy remains dominant (Tripsas & Gavetti, 2000). In the same way, when organizations embody diver- gent values, the absence of distinct representatives of each value may lead a single value to prevail. To the extent that organizations want or need to uphold divergent values, hiring people who rep- resent all those values together, but also people who represent each individual value, may there- fore be the most effective approach.
CONCLUSION
As organizations operate in global markets, in- corporate diverse employee populations, combine exploitation of existing products with exploration of new products, and pursue social goals alongside
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financial success, they will increasingly develop identities that combine divergent values. This study proposes a model of how identification de- velops in such a context. It unpacks the relational ecology of identification, showing how identifica- tion can arise from interactions among members who hold divergent values. It further highlights the central role played by pluralist members, who em- brace not just single values within an organiza- tion’s identity but all those values together. By integrating divergent values while also maintaining their distinctions, pluralists enable members who might otherwise succumb to dis-identification to achieve identification. In this way, the study pro- vides a critical foundation for further exploration of how organizations can attain the benefits of identi- fication even as their identities include divergent values.
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Marya Besharov ([email protected]) is an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the ILR School at Cornell University. She received her doctorate in organ- izational behavior and sociology from Harvard Univer- sity. Her research focuses on how organizations manage divergent values, identities, and logics.
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