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The Paradox of Dueling Identities: The Case of Local Senior Executives in MNC Subsidiaries

Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005-1892, yanzh{at}rice.edu

Jennifer M. George

Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management and Department of Psychology, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005-1892

Tsang-Sing Chan

Department of Marketing and International Business, Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong

This study focuses on how employees cope with dueling social identities when one is of relatively low status compared to the other by studying local senior executives in mulinational corporations’ (MNC’s) subsidiaries who can identify with the local staff and/or headquarters’ management. As hypothesized, perceptions of local staff incompetence are positively related to executives’ turnover intentions. This relationship becomes weaker if they have high-quality communication with, or high levels of trust in, headquarters’ management. Results suggest that employees disidentify with a stigmatized identity group by intending to quit; however, identification with a higher status alternative identity group can mitigate this effect.

Key Words: social identity • turnover intentions • trust • communication • MNC management

Journal of Management, Vol. 32, No. 3, 400-425 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0149206305280999


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