Fusing family and firm: Employee perceptions of perceived homophily, organizational justice, organizational identification, and organizational commitment in family businesses

Social identity theory has been applied to many organizational contexts, including family businesses. However, the current study is one of the first to explore the organizational identification of non-family member employees. Based on previous research, it seems likely that, for family business employees, organizational identification mediates the relationship between organizational justice, homophily, and commitment. This study proposes a model of identification for family business employees based on these considerations. Although the current study did not confirm the proposed model, an alternative model is discussed.

Research highlights▶ Employees did not differ in justice, homophily, identification, or commitment. ▶ Justice and homophily were not related to identification. ▶ Identification among family business employees was related to commitment.