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The competing influences of national identity on the negotiation of ideal worker expectations : insights from the Sri Lankan knowledge work industry

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Croft, Charlotte and Fernando, Dulini (2018) The competing influences of national identity on the negotiation of ideal worker expectations : insights from the Sri Lankan knowledge work industry. Human Relations, 71 (8). pp. 1096-1119. doi:10.1177/0018726717733530 ISSN 0018-7267.

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726717733530

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Abstract

How does national identity influence the way individuals respond to the demands of their work? Despite an increasing awareness of the complex interplay between intersecting social identities and work demands, our understanding of how they are influenced by national identity is underdeveloped. This paper presents the accounts of employees from two Sri Lankan knowledge work industries, who were attempting to align work demands associated with ideal worker expectations, with the social demands associated with their national identity. Conceptualizing the empirical setting of Sri Lanka as a collectivist national context, we offer two theoretical contributions. First, by showing how a shared national identity significantly influences divergence from, and conformity to, ideal worker expectations in Sri Lankan organizations, we generalize understandings of individuals’ negotiation of ideal worker expectations (Reid, 2015). In doing so we build on and extend the prevailing ‘individualistic’ assumptions in collectivistic settings. Second, we show how ideal worker expectations enabled individuals to fulfill and refine demands associated with their non-western national identity, contesting assumptions that non-western national identities are challenging or constraining in global organizations. These findings lead us to propose a reciprocal influence between ideal worker expectations in global organizations, and expectations associated with national identities.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Management
Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Operational Research & Management Sciences
Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Knowledge workers -- Sri Lanka, National characteristics -- Sri Lanka, Group identity -- Sri Lanka, Performance standards, Performance -- Management, Identity (Psychology) -- Sri Lanka
Journal or Publication Title: Human Relations
Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd.
ISSN: 0018-7267
Official Date: 1 August 2018
Dates:
DateEvent
1 August 2018Published
10 November 2017Available
31 August 2017Accepted
Volume: 71
Number: 8
Page Range: pp. 1096-1119
DOI: 10.1177/0018726717733530
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Date of first compliant deposit: 4 September 2017
Date of first compliant Open Access: 5 September 2017

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