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

Croft, Charlotte ORCID: 0000-0002-9672-7567 and Fernando, Weerahannadige Dulini Anuvinda (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.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0018726717733530

Abstract

<jats:p> 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 article 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. 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. </jats:p>

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Management
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	06 Sep 2022 08:04
Last Modified:	09 Nov 2023 00:36
DOI:	10.1177/0018726717733530
Open Access URL:	https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320411414...
Related URLs:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3163600