Chapter 4: The Unknown Effects of over–Identification

Taking a look at the contemporary world, two factors, among others, clearly emerge: We live in a world of organizations, and we live in a complex, uncertain, and turbulent world. What is the connection between these two phenomena? We can summarize it all in a word (Anderson, 1999; Morin, 1991; Perrow, 1979): change. Organizations, but also human beings, are operating and living in a world that, taking into account the several scientific and technological discoveries inherited from the previous century and currently carried on, are called upon to reinvent themselves each day.

Organizations, and particularly firms, have to continuously rediscover the best practices to take the road to success. In this engagement to find tools for success, scholars and managers have been unanimous in considering the centrality of the role of human beings within organizations. Human beings are the architects of success and failure of organizations, the determinants in making firms competitive or not in the market, to take the road of innovation or maintain the status quo.