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Firms face the challenge of working with other firms in their business network so as to increase the value of products and services offered to end customers and consumers. This often requires managers to invest in developing strong and effective business‐to‐business relationships. While an extensive literature examines the different dimensions of successful business‐to‐business relationships, little research examines how perceived corporate identity is likely to influence market relationships. This paper aims to explore how a buyer and supplier draw on their own identities and the identities of each other in ways that enable them to develop a basis on which to conceptualise and operationalise a strategic sourcing relationship. Specifically, the paper seeks to investigate the emergent relationship identity that results from buyer‐seller interactions.

The paper uses an in‐depth, longitudinal case study of a buyer‐supplier relationship which involves an engineering buyer and design services supplier.

The study suggests that the corporate identity of companies involved in a relationship has a prominent role in informing and moulding the relationship. Further, the strategic scope of the analysed business relationship adds to the significance of corporate identity in informing the relationship and, ultimately, the business policy. Finally, a key contribution is the notion of “relationship identity”. Relationship identity conveys the idea that when companies develop a continuous relationship, the relationship itself has a unique identity.

The research findings are based on a single case study. Additional research across multiple case studies is needed in order to verify the findings reported.

This paper addresses a gap in the literature concerning the areas of the role of corporate identity in business relationship development. The findings are important to research and practice with regard to how companies develop successful business‐to‐business relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how corporate associations emerge in business networks focusing on mutually attributed identities in customer-supplier relationships. The role of the mutually perceived identities for interaction behaviours of the parties is examined and consequences of multiple emergent identities for management are discussed.

The paper is a conceptual one starting from an overview of prior research on corporate associations in marketing, findings on distinctive features of business markets and review of studies on identity in interaction processes.

Departing from various strands of research on the origin and role of corporate associations in the literature the authors argue that corporate associations, in business networks are relationship specific and continuously emergent, and that businesses acquire multiple identities in relation to main stakeholders as customers and suppliers. The relationship specificity, emergent nature and multiplicity of relationship-specific identities have consequences for management.

This study is among the few that explore the role of corporate associations in business-to-business context. It results in two propositions: first, that corporate associations are relationship specific and continuously emergent and, second, that businesses operating in business networks have to cope with multiple relationship-specific identities. Both propositions are original and contribute to the understanding of dynamics of business relationships and networks.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships of personality traits and interpersonal relationships with vocational indecision and the mediating role that identity construction plays in the development of those relationships.

Data are collected from 202 college students in Hong Kong at four points in time over a five‐month period.

Personality traits (e.g. locus of control and positive affectivity) and interpersonal relationships (e.g. with parents and peers) are related to the intensity of college students' search for their overall identity, positive anticipation of the work role, and level of identification with the student role. These role identification processes, in turn, are related to lower levels of vocational indecision. The results here support the idea that identity variables do serve as mediators of those relationships.

A more complete identity approach to studying vocational indecision that focuses on both vocational and non‐vocational identities is warranted. Cultural differences in vocational indecision are in need of more research attention, too.

In addition to the common practice of assessing the development of students' vocational interests, another way to prepare individuals for the start of their careers is to assess the development of multiple role identities.

This paper extends the vocational indecision literature by examining how the search for identity, the degree of positive anticipation of the work role, and the development of identification with the student role may mediate the effects of personal dispositions and interpersonal relationships on vocational indecision.

The legalization of same-sex marriage changed the parenting landscape for LGBTQ parents in a variety of ways. Parenthood is presumably different now that same-sex marriage is officially legal. Experiences among LGBTQ couples in the post-legalization of same-sex marriage era raise questions about the context of growing recognition and cultural acceptance of same-sex relationships. I conducted in-depth interviews with LGBTQ parents to learn how they navigate parenting and the construction of parenting roles in the context of a society that has legalized same-sex marriage, yet still is rooted in heteronormative notions of family and parenthood. Specifically, I ask: How do LGBTQ couples construct and make sense of their roles as parents, particularly within the contemporary context of the legalization of same-sex marriage? Understanding the contexts that shape LGBTQ parents’ experiences aids in not only understanding the lives of LGBTQ parents and their families better, but also developing a deeper understanding of contemporary parenting identities and experiences more broadly.

This study aimed to examine factors associated with volunteer role identity in mentors of school-based mentoring programmes.

Drawing on established theoretical models of volunteerism (the Role Identity Model), and research and theory on mentoring programmes, an integrated model of predictors of mentor volunteer role identity was tested. Seventy-one mentors (63 females, mean age 36 years) completed a survey with measures of habit, subjective norms, satisfaction with the mentor-mentee relationship, relationship closeness, social skills and mentor role identity. Path analysis was used for data analysis.

Fit indexes revealed an acceptable fit to the data. There were six significant paths. Habit and subjective norms were directly related to role identity. The association between mentor role identity and two further predictors, satisfaction with the mentor–mentee relationship and social skills was respectively fully and partially mediated by relationship closeness.

Findings can inform mentoring programmes in supporting mentors to develop a close relationship with their mentees and promote the development of a role identity as a volunteer among mentors. A stronger role identity is in turn expected to enhance mentor retention in the programme.

An important and novel finding of this study is that relationship closeness contributes to mentors developing a volunteer role identity. Also, for the first time, the importance for mentors of support from significant others in fostering sustained volunteer engagement has been examined.

The purpose of the paper is to discuss whether or not an acquisition changes the network identity of an acquired firm and, if so, how. This study aims to bring new insights to the corporate marketing field, as it examines corporate identity in the context of how a company is perceived because of its relationships with other firms. The focus of this research is acquired innovative firms.

This paper adopts a multiple case study approach. Data on four acquisitions of innovative firms were collected using 41 interviews, which were supplemented with secondary data.

Based on the case studies, it can be concluded that the network identity of the acquired firms does change following an acquisition. The acquired firms inherited the acquirers' identity, regardless of whether or not the companies were integrated. Previous, present and potential business partners regarded the innovative firms as being more solvent, but distanced themselves. In addition, some of them regarded the innovative firms as competitors.

Changes in the way a firm is perceived by its business partners, following an acquisition, will influence the future business operations of the firm. Expected changes to business relationships should ideally be considered part of due diligence. Acquirers need to consider how they can minimise the risks associated with business partners' changed perceptions of acquired firms.

This paper contributes to the research on identity, through discussion of the consequences of an acquisition for the identity and relationships of a firm. It also contributes to the existing corporate marketing literature, through consideration of perceptions at a network level. Furthermore, this paper contributes to merger and acquisition literature, by highlighting the influence of ownership on relationships with external parties.

Shame is a common, yet seldom acknowledged emotion. Shame signals a threatened social bond in which the claim of as what one wants to be seen (i.e., the claim for a certain relational identity and relative status positioning) is neglected by the other party. Using a case study approach, this chapter provides insights into how shame shapes the relationship and leadership structure in organizations. The case used is based on a documentary TV show; hence this chapter also provides insight in the use of visual/TV material to gain insight in relational leadership dynamics.

Gay men in the New York City metropolitan area were interviewed from 1990 to 1991, during the period of the AIDS epidemic. Using an interview schedule, they were asked questions about “coming out of the closet” and other identity issues: their experiences of “difference,” beliefs about monogamous or “open” relationships, and their views about sex and commitment. The study's focus was on the men's “moral discourse” or their relationship to the “good,” including ideas of the self, other(s), friendship, love, sex, and commitment. The study yielded a consistency in the men's responses: they did not wish to impose on other gay men their own convictions about being gay, sex, and intimate relationships. Their talk was tentative, localized, highly personal, and “nonjudgmental” on a range of identity and moral issues. These findings are discussed by relating the men's life experiences to the gay culture they shared: their unwillingness to judge others reflects their own formative experiences of “coming out” in a society that judged gay men harshly and who, in later years, lived at the time of the AIDS crisis.

Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) employees constitute one of the largest, but least studied, minority groups in the workforce. This article examines what we know, and what we need to know, about the career and workplace experiences of this understudied population. The construct of sexual identity is defined, followed by a review of the research on sexual orientation in the workplace. Then an analysis of the differences between LGB employees and other stigmatized groups is presented. Three unique challenges facing LGB employees are identified, and conceptual models are developed that explain underlying processes. Finally, career theories are critically analyzed, and an identity-based longitudinal theory of LGB careers is presented.

The purpose of this paper is to expand the criterion domain of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), by examining the relationship between high-quality relationships (HQRs) and OCBs, with identity freedom as a mediator. In addition, the study also tries to highlight the role of gender as a moderator, whereby female (vs male) employees deferentially evaluate the importance of HQRs while engaging in OCBs.

The authors conducted survey research by collecting data from 160 working adults and performed both basic mediation and mediated-moderated regression analysis with bootstrapping to determine the authors’ findings.

Results of the study establish HQRs as important antecedents of employee citizenship behaviors, clarify the role of identity freedom as an important underlying psychological mechanism that mediates the relationship between HQRs and OCBs and position gender as an important boundary condition in the relationship between HQR and identity freedom, whereby female employees are more likely to enjoy identity freedom in the presence of HQRs, as opposed to males.

The present study illustrates the importance of HQRs and identity freedom as precursors of OCBs and in doing so expands the nomological net of OCBs, especially with respect to the antecedents of OCBs. The study also expands the scope of social identity theory by highlighting, in addition to social identity, the importance of identity expression.

This study provides guidance to organizational practitioners to focus on building HQRs at work as HQRs, by making employees feel safe, pave the way for OCBs. In addition, the study also highlights the importance of gender as a moderator, whereby employees with different gender affiliations react differently to organizational contexts.

Very little research has examined the relationship between HQRs and OCB. Antecedents of OCBs have been grouped into four categories: individual (or employee) characteristics, task characteristics, organizational characteristics and leadership behaviors. Clearly, the role played by the quality of interpersonal relationships in fostering OCBs has not been fully examined. By highlighting HQRs and identity freedom as antecedents of OCBs, the study informs the OCB literature by introducing interpersonal-relational and attitudinal elements as criterions of OCBs.