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Identification can be framed and operationalized across levels of social aggregation. In organizations, this takes the form of identification with one's work group, unit or division, and overall organization (Van Knippenberg & Van Schie, 2000). While scholars have examined multi-level identification [MLI] and its effects in the workplace (Ashforth et al, 2008; Riketta & Van Dick, 2005), significant questions and gaps remain. In particular, there is a lack of integrative models that combine multiple levels, research has not examined possible cross-level differences in motives for identification, and scholars have made only limited connections with other organization studies concepts. In this paper, we attempt to address these gaps by developing a conceptual framework of multi-level identification within the unique context of iterative (temporary) organizations—specifically the Olympics. We develop a model of MLI wherein the specific local event and the overarching association act as concurrent targets of identification in a two-dimensional space, leading to four types of identification. We propose different motives, referents, mechanisms, and consequences of identification with the four types, and make connections to other organizational concepts and literatures. We discuss the model's applicability to other types of temporary organizations—and to organizations in general, and we examine the implications of the framework with respect to theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members' relationships to hybrid identity organizations are relatively understudied, especially in terms of the effects of multiple organizational identity elements on individual outcomes. This study draws on theory in organizational identity and identification to examine how multiple identities affect member commitment, and subsequently exit, voice, and loyalty. Specifically, we take the concept of identity congruence (Brickson, 2012; Foreman & Whetten, 2002) and employ it as a measure of identification, whereby members compare perceptions of their organization's current identity with an expected identity. The resultant degree of congruence acts like a person-organization fit measure, such that greater gaps result in lower attachment to the organization, with consequences for other outcomes -- in particular the Exit-Voice-Loyalty framework derived from Hirschman (1970). We examine these relationships within the context of agricultural cooperatives: a hybrid identity organization (Albert & Whetten, 1985) embodying both normative and utilitarian identities. We test a model whereby commitment mediates the effects of identity congruence on exit, voice, and loyalty. Our analyses indicate that both types of identity congruence affect commitment and have significant indirect effects on all three outcomes. Moreover, the utilitarian form of identity congruence has a stronger influence than the normative one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]