The good, the bad, and the ambivalent: Managing identification among Amwaydistributors

An ethnographic study of distributors for Amway, a network marketing organi zation, examines the practices and processes involved in managing members' organizational identification. It shows that this organization manages iden tification by using two types of practices: sense-breaking practices that b reak down meaning and sense-giving practices that provide meaning. When bot h sense-breaking and sense-giving practices are successful, members positiv ely identify with the organization. When either sense-breaking or sense-giv ing practices fail, members deidentify, disidentify, or experience ambivale nt identification with the organization. A general model of identification management is posited, and implications for both theory and practice are of fered.