Construed External Image and Organizational Identification in a Virtual Workplace

Abstract: The current study presents a first step in investigating the relationship between organizational identification and its proposed antecedents: construed external image and perceived work-based social support, in a completely virtual setting. Additionally, the study examines work-based social support as a moderating variable of the relationship between construed external image and organizational identification. Using an electronic survey of 63 employees of an international virtual company, data showed the construed external image to be positively related to organizational identification. Work-based social support was not related to organizational identification, and it did not appear to moderate the relationship between organizational identification and construed external image. Because construed external image can be shaped organizationally and managerially, these findings suggest an important way in which organizational identification can be enhanced in virtual settings, thereby strengthening the virtual organization as a whole. The study provides a basis for future research in the field of virtual work through development and testing of the model of organizational identification antecedents, designed to explore and improve the growth and operations of exclusively virtual companies of the future.