Organizational Identification in Social Enterprises, A Triptych Unifying Organizational Culture, Identity and Image

Building a coherent identity helps social enterprises to better meet the sometimes conflicting requests of their wide range of stakeholders. However, due to tensions palpable in these organizational forms because of their contradictory organizational logics, staff members will tend to face identity or role conflicts. Therefore, understanding how organizational identification emerges in social enterprises appears to be of major importance. This paper builds a framework summarizing important elements, considered at both the individual and organizational levels, that may favor organizational identification in such organizations. This framework shows that attention should be dedicated to organizational culture and image in order to favor strong organizational identification.