Organizational Identities of Chinese Contractor Managers: Implication for Safety Perception and Actions

This research aims to explore how socially constructed organizational identities affect managers’ safety perception and actions, which is lacking in existing literature. Informed by sensemaking theory, managers enact to changing environment is grounded in identity construction. Two case studies were conducted to study organizational identities constructed by managers in Chinese contractors. By analyzing collected data from middle managers in two contracting firms in Chongqing, it has been found that managers established organizational identities of “we are market entities” and “we are a state-owned firms.” Managers’ organizational identity of “we are a state-owned firm” facilitates their attention on safety management and actions such as establish safety department have been taken. Future safety promotion initiatives should take into account of the process of organizational identities of managers and consider how safety could be a valued norm by embedding the existing social structure.