Coping with organizational crisis: buffering effects of organization sector prototypicality and employee organizational identification

We explored the interactive role of an organization’s sector prototypicality (the extent to which the organization embodies the prototype of its market sector) and employees’ identification with their organization in buffering crises’ negative effects on perceived organizational performance. We propose (1) that highly prototypical organizations are perceived as more able to cope with organizational crisis, because of their capacity to reduce the threat associated with crisis, and (2) that this effect is augmented when employees more strongly identify with their organization, presumably because of a higher trust in the organization’s capacity to efficiently cope with crisis. Findings from two studies confirmed the hypotheses, by manipulating (study 1) and measuring (study 2) organizational crisis and the organization’s sector prototypicality, and by focusing on potential employees (study 1) and on employees of a company facing a financial crisis (study 2). Theoretical and applied implications of results are discussed.