Perceived human resource system strength and employee reactions toward change: Revisiting human resource's remit as change agent

Although scholars have highlighted human resource's (HR's) important role as a change agent, we know little about the extent to which HR influences the change context to foster positive employee responses and support organizational changes. This study positions perceived HR system strength as an important internal context factor that influences employees' reactions toward change. Drawing on emotion theory and social exchange theory, we analyze the mechanisms through which employees' perceptions of HR system strength lead to positive employee responses to organizational change. Data from 704 employees in a UK police force showed that employees' perceptions of HR system strength were positively related to their ability to cope with organizational change and that this relationship was simultaneously mediated by state positive affect and perceived organizational support. Moreover, our findings demonstrated that coping with organizational change was positively related to employees' change‐supportive behavior. This study is important because it broadens the remit of HR's role as change agent and provides valuable insight into how HR positively influences employee outcomes during organizational change.     

The Effects Of Organizational Context And Teamworking Activities On Performance Outcomes

Abstract

This article seeks to evaluate the effects of organizational context and teamworking activities on the performance outcomes of public sector workers. Ability, Motivation and Opportunity (AMO) theory is used as the basis of this study in which it is predicted that employees' ability, motivation and opportunities to participate will affect organizational performance. Procter and Mueller's (2000) framework is used to identify relevant HR contextual features, namely discretionary rewards, appraisal, training and development, industrial relations and organizational culture. Data based on the 2003 Local Government Workplace Survey (N = 3,165) were used to test six research hypotheses and related sub-hypotheses. The findings show that individually, the effects of organizational context and teamworking activities were as hypothesized and consistent with AMO theory. However, the interaction effects were far less pronounced in that they were either non-significant or negative, with the exception of the interaction term teamworking X appraisal, which positively predicted organizational commitment. However, the teamworking X appraisal interaction also led to increased stress, something we consider to be a ‘sting in the tail’ for workers. Thus we argue that even though the interaction effects of teamworking and organizational context are minimal, the individual effects contribute to enhanced worker attitudes and perceived organizational performance.     

Intercultural competence and expatriates

This study examines the simultaneous effects of employees' fit with their organization, job and supervisor on their job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention in Turkish banks by paying special attention to the moderating role of perceived organizational support (POS) in these relationships. Survey data collected from 213 employees who work in five different banks operating in Istanbul, Turkey, show that employees' value fit with their organization increases their job satisfaction and organizational commitment significantly while having no direct effect on their turnover intention. The results also suggest a positive association between employees' fit with their job (needs–supplies fit) and their job satisfaction along with the negative, direct impact of job fit on turnover intention. The hypothesized relationships between employees' value fit with their supervisor and selected employee outcomes are not supported. With respect to the moderating role of POS, the overall findings indicate that a high level of organizational support suppresses the effects of employees' value fit with their organization on their job satisfaction and organizational commitment as well as reducing the relationship between their job fit and job satisfaction and turnover intention.     

Motivating Employees towards Sustainable Behaviour

Workers engaging in voluntary and unrewarded environmental actions that go above and beyond their job requirements in an organizational setting can crucially contribute to a reduced environmental impact of organizations. This research investigates some of the factors that may contribute to the emergence of such organizational citizenship behaviour directed towards the environment (OCBE). The hypotheses predicted employees' concern for the environment, employees' perceived organizational support for environmental efforts and organizational commitment as antecedents of OCBE. Employees from two organizations (n = 547) completed an online survey. Controlling for organizational tenure, a significant relationship between (a) employees' concern for their environment and OCBE, (b) perceived organizational support for environment efforts and OCBE and (c) organizational commitment and OCBE were found. Furthermore, organizational commitment mediated the relationship between perceived organizational support for environmental efforts and OCBE, but not environmental concern. This study's insights into the factors that can drive employees' engagement in small, voluntary environmental actions at work can guide organizations wishing to encourage such behaviours. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

New evidence on absenteeism and presenteeism

This paper draws from two separate but complementary theories, namely social exchange theory and social identity theory, as a means of understanding the organizational antecedents of organizational commitment. Its purpose is to study the connections between the characteristics of work in the organization (a source of perceived organizational support), the characteristics of the organization (reflected in perceived external prestige), organizational commitment and turnover intentions. We test our assumption using a sample of 249 managers and a longitudinal design. The results show that perceived organizational support and perceived prestige are differently influenced by the characteristics of and in the organization. This suggests that the characteristics of the firm, reflected in the notion of perceived external prestige, play a complementary role to the characteristics of work in the organization, reflected in perceived organizational support, in shaping organizational commitment and turnover intentions.     

The effects of family-friendly practices and gender discrimination on job attitudes: the moderating role of supervisor support

This study examined the effects of family-friendly practices and gender discrimination on female employees' job attitudes and the moderating role of supervisor support. The results of our analysis, based on a sample of 1556 female employees in Korea, indicate that family-friendly practices and workplace environments reflecting gender discrimination are significantly related to their job satisfaction and workplace benefits stress. In addition, supervisor support moderated the effects of family-friendly practices and workplace environments reflecting gender discrimination on Korean female employees' job satisfaction and work stress. These results suggest that perceived organizational support has considerable influence on the job attitudes of Korean female employees through its interactions with supervisor support. Therefore, firms should consider the ‘fit’ between organizational support and supervisory roles to enhance Korean female employees' job satisfaction and to reduce their work stress.     

Linking job insecurity to well-being and organizational attitudes in Belgian workers: the role of security expectations and fairness

The aim of this study was to investigate how perceptions of job insecurity and fairness associate with individual well-being (job satisfaction and general health) and organizational attitudes (organizational commitment and turnover intention), under the condition that the psychological contract as perceived by the employee includes a promise on job security, or not. More specifically, we suggest that (H1) job insecurity is negatively related to individual well-being and organizational commitment and positively related to turnover intentions when job security is expected as part of the psychological contract, (H2) that job insecurity is negatively related to fairness perceptions when job security is expected as part of the psychological contract, (H3) that fairness associates positively with individual well-being and organizational commitment and negatively with turnover intentions and (H4) that the association between job insecurity, individual well-being and organizational outcomes is mediated by fairness under the condition that job security is expected as part of the psychological contract. Thus, we propose a model of mediated moderation. Results based on a sample of Belgian employees (N = 559) supported our hypotheses for organizational outcomes. For individual well-being, the mediation framework was not conditional upon a perceived promise of job security as part of the psychological contract. We conclude that employees' perceptions of job insecurity and fairness are important factors in employees' well-being and their attitudes towards the organization. More importantly, these perceptions can in part be shaped by organizational agents such as managers and supervisors. Additionally, the active utilization of the psychological contract in management strategies seems to have favourable results for the fostering of pro-organizational attitudes among employees.     

Employee Responses to Changing Aspects of the Employer Brand Following a Multinational Acquisition: A Longitudinal Study

This study examines changing employment brands in the context of a multinational acquisition, specifically the implications for current employees. Using a sample (N = 251) from both the acquired and acquiring workforces, employees are tracked across 12 months following acquisition. The study explores predictors of identification with the acquiring organization, intent to quit, and discretionary effort. We focus on employment brand–related predictors, specifically perceptions linked to the provision of unique employment experiences, organizational identity strength, perceived prestige, and judgments of whether the acquiring organization acts in accordance with its corporate identity claims. The study showed that perceptions of prestige immediately after acquisition predict identification 12 months hence, as do judgments of whether the organization acts in accordance with its corporate social responsibility–based corporate identity claims. These judgments also predict subsequent levels of discretionary effort and long‐term intent to leave, as do perceptions linked to the provision of unique employment experiences. Perceived change in these unique employment experiences is also related to change in identification and intent to leave across time. Importantly, these elements have a varied effect on the adjustment outcomes when comparing the two workforces.     

Foreign workers in Saudi Arabia: a field study of role ambiguity,identification, information-seeking,organizational support and performance

A total of 154 foreign workers in Saudi Arabia responded to a web survey that inquired about role characteristics, work attitudes and behaviors. Surveys were matched with 138 supervisor surveys asking about the focal worker's job performance. Results indicated a significant relationship between role ambiguity and job performance, a relationship mediated by organizational identification, which was moderated by both information-seeking and perceived organizational support. This research is one of only a few studies of professional workers in Saudi Arabia (both male and female). Furthermore, this study is one of a handful of studies to explore the attitudes and performance of foreign workers, a worker population often confounded in studies that focus on domestic, expatriate or inpatriate workers.     

When do corporate social responsibility initiatives impact on customer-facing employees? Evidence from India and the Netherlands

The vast majority of the extant literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) has focused on the macro (firm) level of analysis by examining the linkage between CSR and firm-level outcomes. As such, very few studies have focused on the micro (individual) level of analysis. Against this backdrop, the present study focuses on the individual level of analysis thereby contributing to the emerging psychology of CSR literature, which considers employees' perceptions of their employing organizations' social actions as more important than organizations' objective CSR performance (Rupp, Shao, Thornton and Skarlicki (2013), ‘Applicants’ and Employees’ Reactions to Corporate Social Responsibility: The Moderating Effects of First-Party Justice Perceptions and Moral Identity,’ Personnel Psychology, 66, 895–933). Moreover, the study is one of the first examining the role of context in employee attitudes toward CSR. In particular, it builds on the psychology of CSR (e.g. Rupp et al. 2013) literature to propose a research framework that delineates the moderating effects of satisfaction with payment, satisfaction with the job itself and individualism in the relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) perceptions and customer-facing employees' behavioral outcomes. Data are collected from customer-facing employees in two major organizations in the Netherlands and India. Results suggest a complex interplay between CSP perceptions and the two facets of job satisfaction, and that national context is likely to moderate the contingent effects of CSP perceptions on customer-facing employees' behavioral outcomes.     

How do industrial relations climate and union instrumentality enhance employee performance? The mediating effects of perceived job security and trust in management

In this study, we examine the effects of two key variables associated with union effectiveness on the job performance of employees, and the mechanisms that explain such effects. More specifically, we investigate whether employees' perceptions that their union has a constructive relationship with management (industrial relations climate) and is able to act as an agent for their concerns (union instrumentality) promotes their job performance by enhancing their perceived job security and trust in management. Drawing on three waves of data from 303 employees and their immediate supervisors within 17 private enterprises in China, we find employees' perceptions of union effectiveness influence their job performance by enhancing both their perceived job security and trust in management. These findings are consistent with social exchange theory and conservation of resources theory. This article contributes to the literature by improving our understanding of how unions influence employees' work performance and by explaining how employees' perceptions of the industrial relations climate and union instrumentality influence their job performance. It also sheds light on the important issue of the effectiveness of unions in China, a country where the centrality of the Chinese Communist Party is often considered to have reduced the instrumentality of unions.     

Benefits and Disadvantages of Individuals’ Multiple Team Membership: The Moderating Role of Organizational Tenure

Many employees in today’s organizations are involved in more than one team at the same time. Building on the challenge-hindrance stressor framework, this study investigates potential benefits and disadvantages of such multiple team membership (MTM) for individual employees. Furthermore, we extend this framework with insights from the job demands-resources model to propose that, depending on an employee’s organizational tenure, individual MTM will differentially shape his or her perceptions of work challenge and role ambiguity, subsequently influencing the employee’s job performance and absenteeism. We tested our conceptual model using time-lagged multi-source data from a large organization of applied research (N = 1211). Our results demonstrate that, for employees with relatively low organizational tenure, MTM was negatively associated with perceived work challenge and positively associated with perceived role ambiguity, which in turn associated with lower job performance and higher absenteeism. For employees with higher organizational tenure, by contrast, MTM associated positively with their work challenge perceptions and subsequent performance outcomes, whereas MTM was unrelated to perceived role ambiguity as well as absenteeism. These findings identify relevant psychological mechanisms and a key contingency factor that explain when and why MTM may have positive or negative individual-level consequences.     

Factors of internal corporate social responsibility and the effect on organizational commitment

Internal corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an essential part of organizations' social responsibility. Yet, to date, CSR's internal dimension has been widely neglected in the literature. This paper empirically explores the concept of internal CSR and its relationship to employees' affective and normative organizational commitment. For conceptualizing internal CSR, seven factors are theoretically derived based on social exchange theory. The research model is initially tested through a pre-test consisting of 386 respondents from a German company active in the renewable energy sector. The main survey is carried out in an international pharmaceutical company, resulting in 2081 employee responses. The results reveal that the relevant factors constituting internal CSR are present and that the latter has a strong effect on employees' affective organizational commitment and a comparatively low effect on normative organizational commitment. Furthermore, a mediating role of affective on normative organizational commitment is detected.     

High Job Performance Through Co‐Developing Performance Measures With Employees

According to various studies, employee participation in the development of performance measures can increase job performance. This study focuses on how this job performance elevation occurs. We hypothesize that when employees have participated in the development of performance measures, they perceive these measures to be of higher quality, which in turn elevates their attitudes toward, perceived social norms for, and perceived control over performing well in their jobs. Based on the theory of planned behavior, the latter three factors are hypothesized to increase job performance. Survey data from 95 employees as well as 88 of their managers were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Employee participation in developing performance measures is found to be related to job performance, via perceived measurement quality and employees’ perceived control over performing well. We discuss the practical and theoretical implications of these findings, including the limitations of this study's design, and sketch a number of future research paths in this area. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Organizational Identification during a Merger: The Role of Self‐Enhancement and Uncertainty Reduction Motives during a Major Organizational Change

Past research focuses predominantly on self‐enhancement as a motive underlying organizational identification even though there have been several calls for examining multiple motives of identification. Our research explores the interplay of the self‐enhancement and the uncertainty reduction motives in shaping identification during a major organizational change: a merger of a business unit with its parent corporation. Based on analysis of survey responses collected from 751 employees of the merging business unit, we find that the self‐enhancement motive, measured via attractiveness of perceived organizational identity and perceived external prestige, continues to influence identification during this merger. However, its effects are diminished when considering the effect of the uncertainty reduction motive. In particular, in addition to affecting identification directly, this latter motive, measured via agreement with projected identity of the business unit and identification with a distal target (i.e., the parent corporation), decreases the effect of perceived external prestige on business unit identification. Our research answers longstanding calls for understanding organizational identification motives beyond self‐enhancement, and shows how multiple identification motives work during a major organizational change: a time when identification is strongly needed, yet hard to garner.     

Consistency Matters! How and When Does Corporate Social Responsibility Affect Employees’ Organizational Identification?

Despite the increasing attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the management literature, little is known about the mechanisms and boundary conditions explaining employees’ responses to CSR. Drawing on social identity and cue consistency theory, we develop a mediated moderation model that explains how and under which conditions perceived CSR affects employees’ organizational identification. We test the model by carrying out a three‐wave longitudinal study on employees of an international utility company. The findings indicate that perceived CSR interacts with overall justice to predict organizational identification through the successive mediation of perceived external prestige and organizational pride. The study clarifies and advances some of the theoretical foundations surrounding the micro‐level approach of CSR and has key implications for management research and practice.     

Employee organizational commitment: the influence of cultural and organizational factors in the Australian manufacturing industry

The importance of enhancing employee organizational commitment (EOC) is highlighted by the extensive literature revealing its positive impact on employees' job performance, reducing absenteeism and turnover rates, and improving employees' adaptability to organizational change. This study provides an insight into how EOC levels can be enhanced by examining the contextual factors that can influence EOC. Specifically, the study examines the association between cultural, organizational, and demographic factors with the level of EOC in the Australian manufacturing industry. Data were collected by a survey questionnaire from a random sample of 500 managers with the results revealing that two cultural factors (outcome orientation and stability) and three organizational factors (organizational size, perceived organizational support and job satisfaction) were found to be significantly associated with the level of EOC. Further analysis provides a preliminary insight into how to enhance the EOC of specific managers with different cultural and organizational factors found to be associated with the EOC of managers at different levels in the organizational hierarchy. The findings have important implications for practitioners attempting to improve the level of EOC of their employees with the subsequent enhancements in the level of EOC likely to contribute to improvements in productivity and growth in the Australian manufacturing industry.     

Refashioning Organizational Boundaries: Outsourcing Customer Service Work*

abstract In recent years there has been a discernible trend towards the outsourcing and subcontracting of work. However, there has been very little empirical research on employees' attitudes to work in outsourced firms. This study is conducted in the area of call centre services where there has been a substantial growth in the provision of external market suppliers. It examines employees' perceptions of their work and employment arrangements in both an in‐house producer and an external service provider and identifies and compares the factors that shape their organizational commitment and intentions to quit. The research found that the character of the internal labour market and the nature of the work regime were more important explanations of organizational commitment and intentions to quit in the external market supplier than in the in‐house producer. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for the quality of customer service provided under subcontracting arrangements.     

Exploring the role of perceived external prestige in managers' turnover intentions

Employee turnover is an important topic in the human resource management literature. Several researchers have sought to analyse its multiple determinants and to model the turnover process. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of employees' perception of the external image of the company they work for on their intentions to leave. It is based on a questionnaire survey of 801 French managers that attempted to incorporate the notion of perceived external prestige (PEP) within the literature's classical model of turnover. The results show that the impact of PEP on intentions to leave is partially mediated by the two determinants of turnover in the model: organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Yet there still remains a direct effect of PEP on intentions to quit. Our research also attempted to confirm the existence of a possible moderator effect, but was unable to find such an effect.     

Task‐Specific Human Capital and Organizational Inertia

Employees' incentive to invest in their task proficiency depends on the likelihood that they will execute the same tasks in the future. Changes in tasks can be warranted as a result of technological progress and changes in firm strategy as well as from fine‐tuning job design and from monitoring individuals' performance. However, the possibility of a change in tasks reduces employees' incentive to invest in task‐specific skills. We develop a simple two‐period principal–agent model showing that some degree of inertia benefits the principal. We then analyze how organizations can optimally combine several policies to approach the optimal degree of inertia. In particular, we consider the optimal mixture of (abstaining from) exploration, managerial vision, organizational task‐specific investments, and incentive pay. Our analysis yields testable predictions concerning the relations between these organizational policies.