Organizational identification
It is defined as “the perception of belongingness or oneness to an organization, where individual defines him or herself in terms of an organization in which he or she is a member” [27]. Individuals who have strong OI see the success and failure of the organization in their own image and develop the feeling of belongingness with the organization. If organization is insulted, individuals take it personally and feel as if they were insulted. The distinctiveness of an organization’s practices and values makes organizations unique which in turn lead an individual to identify with the organization. This was tested by [27] among the alumni of college. They found that the distinctiveness enhanced identification with the organization. Thus, a person who works for organizations which is distinct in some manner from comparable organizations is more likely to identify with their organizations.
Perceived organizational support
POS is the belief of individuals that employer is concerned about their well-being and values their contributions [12]. It provides some important information to employees regarding their relationship with the employer. A person who feels that he or she is integrated with other members of the organization is likely to presume that others view him or her as member of organization and therefore may more likely to view him or her as members of organization. Thus, perceived organizational support is important factor in reinforcing organizational outputs. POS was positively associated with related outputs including reward expectancies [12], affective organizational commitment [37], measures of job performance [12], influence techniques designed by employees to make manager aware of their achievement [38] and valuable inputs to employees [12], help coworkers [48]. POS was disassociated with negative outputs such as turnover intention [16] and absenteeism [12].
Job satisfaction (JS)
Since long time it has been identified as a critical construct in the study of organizational behavior. Since 1930 many attempts have been made by scholars to study it. Spector [39] defined Job satisfaction as “an attitudinal variable that reflects how people feel about their jobs overall as well as about various aspects of them”. Locke [22] defined it as “a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experiences”. Although job satisfaction is multi-dimensional construct, its definitions are concerned only with affective component [5]. Job satisfaction is associated with huge number of important constructs, including lateness [8] and job characteristics [47] AND well-being [35].
Knowledge sharing behavior
Knowledge sharing behavior refers to “behavior by which an individual voluntarily provides other social actors (both within and outside the organization) with access to his or her unique knowledge and experiences” [18]. There are two facets of KSB. They are
KSB is categorized into four groups namely:
With respect to type of knowledge, explicit knowledge is easily transferable than tacit knowledge. Information and communications technology are used to share knowledge. Researchers reported that dimensions of culture such as organizational justice, communication and climate influence KSB. Factors such as self-efficacy, helping others, enjoyment motivates to share knowledge. There are numerous empirical studies which have identified the relationship of KSB with other constructs including OI [14], organizational commitment [30], organizational citizenship behavior [29].
Hypotheses development
POS and OI
If employees perceive that employer cares about their well-being and values their contributions, then employees perceive high levels of support from employer. If employees perceive high levels of POS, then they tend to perceive that they are being respected, included and valued by employer, leading to high level of self-enhancement among them [24]. Employees who perceive self-enhancement are more instigated to identify with their organization. According to Organizational support and Social exchange theories, employees who perceive high level of support in the workplace are inclined to pay back to the organization. If employees perceive exchange relationship with the organization, then they strongly identify with the organization. Prior research has found that POS is an important contributor to organizational identification. POS affects the level of attachment to the organization [12]. Therefore, we anticipate that
H1
POS influences organizational identification.
Organizational identification and knowledge sharing behavior
The primary question in recent years is how organization achieves and sustains competitive advantage. In this regard, knowledge sharing is an important source of competitive advantage for the organization [20]. Some employees have fear of losing power, so they are reluctant to share knowledge in the workplace. Organizational identification induces knowledge sharing behavior among members by creating perceptions of belongingness and oneness to an organization. Organizational identification enhances pro-social behavior among members in the workplace by building a sense of a common fate and enhances cooperation among the members in the workplace. Members’ consideration of mutual cooperation and benefit to the organization encourages them to share knowledge in the workplace [14]. Thus, we anticipate that employees who have strong identification with their organization intend to share knowledge with their members in the workplace.
H2
Organizational identification influences knowledge sharing behavior.
Organizational identification influences job satisfaction
Employees who identify with the organization are likely to attach with their organization. These employees demonstrate supportive behavior in the workplace [36]. They define their responsibilities and engage themselves in the activities which benefit the organization. Prior research has demonstrated that identification improves commitment, motivation and job satisfaction and reduces conflict and turnover [33, 45]. Identification prevents employees from being disoriented and enhances job satisfaction [6]. Job satisfaction is driven affectively and cognitively driven. Thus, affective and cognitive dimensions of identification are associated with job satisfaction. Strong identification enhances job satisfaction [26]. Thus, we anticipate that employees who have strong identification with their organization perceive higher job satisfaction.
H3
Organizational identification influences job satisfaction.
Conceptual framework
The social identity theory (SIT) proposed by Tajfel [40] is applicable to see the mediating effect of OI in two aspects
First, in the relationship of POS and job satisfaction.
Secondly, in the relationship of POS and knowledge sharing behavior.
The theory deals with relationship among groups and enables groups to make comparisons. As per the definition, social identity is self-concept that comes from membership and knowledge of groups together with the emotional attachment and value. It suggests that individuals classify themselves into specific groups through social comparisons to create distinctiveness [41]. It assumes that POS have a directly influences OI. Individuals strive to attain or sustain a positive social identity [1], which can be derived by becoming a member in classifying groups [3]. Membership in organizations is one of the important components among these classifying groups [19]. Researcher, e.g., Tyler [42] hinted that individuals use the social standing of their employer to assess their self-worth. They prefer to identify with firms which are prestigious and develop the self-worth and fulfill need for self-enhancement of their employees [41]. OI thus derives from the prestige and image of the organization [44]. Employees’ assessment of the degree of respect with which the firms treats them influences identification [44].
In this context, POS may create positive distinctiveness among group members as it is associated with reputation of organization [4]. Firms must ensure the well-being of their employees. This well-being includes:
If employees perceive that they are being supported by their employer in all spheres of their life, then image of firms get enhanced in the mindset of employees which increases the willingness of these employees to identify with their firms and display work related outcome. Hence, POS can enhance individuals OI, which in turn affects their job satisfaction and KSB. Based on this analysis, a conceptual framework (see Fig. 1) and two mediating hypotheses are framed: