Organizational Identification (Ch 5)

While I was an undergrad student, I worked part-time for a non-profit organization. I wanted to contribute somehow to a good cause. I cared about certain things and I defined myself by where I worked. I initially completely identified and embraced my organization’s identity. However, as time went by, I saw things that made me uneasy and heard about decisions that I was not completely agreeing with. For example, the way we functioned, like most non-profit organizations, was based on donations. As we expanded and received more donations, the need for hiring more people became obvious and as consequence we needed to find a bigger location. I agreed with the principle but I did not agree with the specific location chosen. My management decided to go with a very fancy office location that, to me, looked more like a small business than a small non-profit organization. A lot of money was spent in decoration and fancy offices. Eventually, I stopped identifying with the organizational identity and left to find another place to work.