Organisational anthropomorphism and its antecedents: a literature review and proposed framework

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to understand the phenomenon of organisational anthropomorphism, a psychological process in which employees attribute personality characteristics to organisations. Anthropomorphism, a psychological concept, after making its mark in consumer behavioural studies, is emerging into the domain of organisational behaviour. This less deliberated concept is explored through the lens of psychological cues and motives leading to the identification of its managerial antecedents of organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) and their confluence into organisational culture. Further, the relationship between organisational culture and organisational anthropomorphism is established through literature review with a number of propositions and a framework. Design/methodology/approach This paper explores the available literature on organisational anthropomorphism and the constructs of organisational culture by employing literature review methodology. On the basis of selected research studies sourced from high ranked journals from Web of Science, Scopus and journal homepages, domain-based and theory-based reviews were performed to comprehend the concept of organisational anthropomorphism. Findings This study identifies OCB and CSR as the antecedents of organisational anthropomorphism through the psychological cues and motives, comes out with a number of propositions and recommends a framework based on the same. Practical implications This paper helps managers study employee behaviours and observe the organisation’s connections with society. Moreover, this study benefits organisations to brand themselves better amongst employees and external stakeholders. Originality/value This paper helps managers study employees’ citizenship behaviours through anthropomorphic cues exhibited by employees and improve organisation-employee association. It also suggests organisations to brand themselves using anthropomorphic social traits to stage itself as a socially responsible entity among external stakeholders. The empirical validation of proposed framework through quantitative and qualitative methods is proposed to be the future scope of the study.