The concept of organizational identity
has its roots in the exploration of identity in an individual level. The concept of organizational identity was introduced by Albert and Whetten
in 1985. They suggested that organizational identity embodies the characteristics of an organization,
that its members perceive to be central, distinctive, and enduring (or continuing) in an organization when past, present and the future is taken into account. Organizational identity seeks to answer to the question
of “who are we as an organization”.
Researchers have explored the characteristics of organizational identity. Especially the features “distinctive” and “enduring” as characteristics describing organizational
identity has been subjects of critical investigations. At the individual
level, identity research has been conducted rather extensively in the fields of psychology, social psychology, symbolic interactionism, and psychodynamics. Recently more and more research has been conducted
at the organizational level. However the concept itself still has varying meanings and interpretations
to it. Conceptually, two levels (that have a reciprocal relationship) of an organizational identity can be recognized, the inner level and outer level. The levels limit the main interest area of the researcher and the study in hand. In addition, differing
statements among organization
theorists and researchers trying to analyze organizational identity arise from differing paradigmatic assumptions about the ontology and epistemology of organizations.