Does Organizational Image Matter? Image, Identification, and Employee Behaviors in Public and Nonprofit Organizations
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12338 |
| Published date | 01 May 2015 |
| Date | 01 May 2015 |
Eunju Rho is assistant professor in the
Department of Public Administration and
Urban Studies at The University of Akron,
with expertise in public management.
Her research focuses on several aspects
of public management, including interor-
ganizational management, government
contracting, managerial behavior, and
communication. She received her PhD in
public administration from The University
of Georgia.
E-mail: erho@uakron.edu
Taesik Yun is program manager in
the Carl Vinson Institute of Government,
The University of Georgia. He manages
international training and educational
programs for the institute and develops new
partnerships with government agencies in
South Korea. Before coming to the institute,
he worked at the Seoul Institute and the
United Nations Educational, Scientifi c and
Cultural Organization, Korea. He received
a doctoral degree in public administration
from The University of Georgia and has
coauthored several articles published in
peer-reviewed international journals.
E-mail: tyun@uga.edu
Kangbok Lee is assistant professor of
business analytics in the Department of
Aviation and Supply Chain Management at
Auburn University. His research focuses on
dynamic models, consumer behavior, and
bank regulation. He received his PhD in
business administration from the University
of Tennessee at Knoxville.
E-mail: kb10009@auburn.edu
Does Organizational Image Matter? Image, Identifi cation, and Employee Behaviors in Public and Nonprofi t Organizations 421
Public Administration Review,
Vol. 75, Iss. 3, pp. 421–431. © 2015 by
The American Society for Public Administration.
DOI: 10.1111/puar.12338.
Eunju Rho
The University of Akron
Taesik Yun
The University of Georgia
Kangbok Lee
Auburn University
Abstract: Organizational image, identity, and identifi cation are powerful concepts in terms of understanding mem-
bers’ behaviors and beliefs. In particular, the term “image” has frequently been used to describe the overall impression
of the organization, but most scholars have only focused on organizational image as it is perceived by external audi-
ences. However, organizational image as perceived by members within an organization is critical for determining its
impact on individual employees’ motivation, work behaviors, and further performance at work. is article explores
the roles of organizational image and identifi cation in explaining organizational behaviors—extra-role behavior
and absenteeism—in public and nonprofi t organizations. A series of seemingly unrelated regressions were used to
analyze survey data from 1,220 respondents. Results show that organizational image is positively related to employee
identifi cation, and identifi cation has a signifi cant infl uence on promoting extra-role behavior and lowering employee
absenteeism.
Practitioner Points
• Organizational image as perceived by members of an organization is an aggregate of individual employees’
perceptions of the organization based on their own experiences and judgments (perceived organizational
identity) and outsiders’ judgments about the organization (construed external image).
• Both perceived organizational identity and construed external image infl uence the extent to which employees
are likely to identify themselves as part of their organization.
• e higher an employee’s level of identifi cation, the more he or she is likely to engage in extra-role behavior.
• Managing organizational image and identifi cation in a positive way can signifi cantly reduce costly voluntary
employee absences, which are reasonably avoidable absences.
However, in the fi eld of public administration and
management, most scholars have focused on only one
aspect of organizational image, which is that perceived
by external audience members. ey often refer to this
as organizational reputation (e.g., Carpenter 2010).
It is noteworthy that another side of organizational
image—image as perceived by members within an
organization—is particularly critical when consider-
ing its impact on each individual employee’s motiva-
tion, work behaviors, and further performance at
work (Dutton, Dukerich, and Harquail 1994). In
other words, FEMA employees’ worries and thoughts
concerning their own organization after the hur-
ricanes need to be considered as much as external
constituents’ thoughts about FEMA in such instances.
To fi ll this gap in the public management literature,
this article focuses on how employees view their
organization (image), how they link organizational
image and their defi nition of themselves (identifi ca-
tion), and how this cognitive process in turn aff ects
their organizational behavior (outcome). e present
Does Organizational Image Matter? Image,
Identifi cation, and Employee Behaviors
in Public and Nonprofi t Organizations
After the 2013 government shutdown, polls
reported that the shutdown produced major
damage to the GOP’s image in the nation
and, by extension, to the nation’s image in the world
(Balz and Clement 2013; Dugan 2013). Likewise, the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
now holds one of the worst reputations for a bureau-
cracy ever, especially after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
in 2005. Researchers frequently use the term “image”
to describe the overall impression of an organization,
an institution, or people. Public administrators in par-
ticular need to maintain a wide range of support from
various stakeholders, and managing organizational
image among various constituencies becomes a critical
goal in public agencies (Carpenter and Krause 2012).
Organizational image refers to the perceptions that
diff erent people hold of an organization. is con-
ceptualization covers both the way an organization is
perceived by external constituents as well as the way
it is perceived by internal organizational members.
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