The relationships between person-organization value fit and employee attitudes in a Korean government sector

Abstract

While person-organization (P-O) value fit and its influences on organizations have been widely studied, there is a lack of research focusing on the P-O value fit of employees in a government sector in Korea, and the impact on their attitudes. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between P-O value fit and employee career and job satisfaction, and organizational commitment in a government sector. Based on the data collected from 1211 employees at government agencies in Korea, this study utilized polynomial regression and response surface analyses, and the results demonstrated that P-O fit on all of the values in the study had positive relationships with employees’ career satisfaction. Among the five different values, P-O fit on autonomy had a positive relationship with career and job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Based on the results, this study also provides theoretical and practical implications for future research.     

The impact of the employee-organization relationship on temporary employees' performance and attitude: testing a Singaporean sample

Following the framework proposed by Tsui et al . (1997), this research paper examines the impact of the employee-organization relationship on temporary employees' job performance, turnover intention, overall job satisfaction, affective commitment, perception of fairness and perception of work options. Data were collected from 191 temporary employees from seven employment agencies in Singapore. Analyses conducted revealed that employee responses do vary under the four types of relationship (quasi-spot contract, under-investment, mutual investment and over-investment). In general, both mutual investment and over-investment relationships were associated with higher levels of performance and more favourable attitudes than either the under-investment or quasi-spot contract. Specifically, temporary employees under the mutual investment and over-investment relationships have better job performance, a higher level of affective commitment to the agency, improved overall job satisfaction, higher perception of fairness, higher perception of work options and lower turnover intentions. Furthermore, these finding were obtained even after controlling for the effects of company tenure and job level on employee performance and attitudes. The results highlight the importance of employee-organization relationships in eliciting the desired temporary employee outcomes. Practical implications were drawn for human resource practitioners and employment agencies on how best to manage temporary employees. Some limitations and suggestions for future research were discussed.     

Balancing tensions: Buffering the impact of organisational restructuring and downsizing on employee well‐being

This study examines the impact of employee experiences of restructuring and downsizing on well‐being. The job demands‐resources model was used to develop hypotheses related to job demands in the form of work intensity and job resources in the form of consultation. The job demands‐resources model allows for direct incorporation of employee perceptions and does not assume a singular, predetermined consequence of HRM practices. Hypotheses were tested via structural equation modelling on a nationally representative sample of over 5,110 employees from the Republic of Ireland in 2009. The findings indicate that work intensity serves as a conduit through which experiences of restructuring and downsizing negatively impact employee well‐being. Notably, consultation served as a buffer, diminishing the extent of this negative experience. The findings illuminate the complex pathways that shape how restructuring and downsizing are perceived by employees and the consequences for well‐being. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings.     

Reducing employee turnover through customer contact center job quality

Despite the rapid growth of customer contact centers (CCCs), high-quality jobs for employees of such centers remain a challenge, as evidenced by the high employee turnover rates in this industry. This study, therefore, conceptualizes and operationalizes a CCC job quality construct to determine its impact on job satisfaction, affective commitment and employee turnover, using a sample of 577 CCC employees of B2C service industry organizations in the Netherlands. An extensive quantitative study using structural equation modeling reveals that CCC job quality has a direct, positive impact on job satisfaction and affective commitment and a strong indirect negative effect on employee turnover. Thus, job quality is crucial for reducing employee turnover rates; this study offers managers clear guidelines on how to improve that quality.     

Labor union negotiations: stepping stones or stumbling blocks for a responsible downsizing strategy? Empirical tests in Taiwan

Firms have used organizational downsizing strategies for years. But organizational downsizing not only cannot surely improves firm performance, but also harms thousands of employees and their families. A number of scholars investigating organizational change suggest that ‘a responsible downsizing strategy’ can mitigate or solve this issue. As the major stakeholder in downsizing, labor unions naturally negotiate with firms to protect employee rights and benefits. Their negotiation, therefore, may either enhance or mitigate the effect of responsible downsizing strategy on firm performance. This study used a sample of 154 downsized local firms and multinational corporations in Taiwan to examine the research construct, and invited focus groups to have a further validated explanation. The findings show that labor union negotiation may act as either stepping stones or stumbling blocks. The results indicate that firms employing labor union negotiation experience higher downsizing performance than non-unionized firms do. However, labor union interventions can also become stumbling blocks. Labor union negotiation neutralize the positive effect of employee-caring practices on downsizing performance, leading to a decline in downsizing performance when firms increase employee participation and justice consideration in the downsizing process. The research findings provide implications for further scholarly research and management practices in terms of organization change, stakeholder management and labor–management relationship.     

Person or Job? Change in Person-Job Fit and Its Impact on Employee Work Attitudes over Time

Fit is generally conceptualized as a dynamic construct, but most research on person-environment fit has focused on fit in the current moment. We addressed this oversight by examining the dynamic relationships among person-job (PJ) fit, demand-ability (DA) fit, need-supply (NS) fit, and employee work attitudes over time using a three-wave survey design over a 12-month period. Results from 168 employees revealed that change in PJ fit was significantly related to changes in job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment. In addition, DA and NS fit changes were significantly and indirectly associated with job satisfaction and commitment changes through PJ fit change. We also found that increases in job demands and employee abilities significantly decreased DA fit, and increases in employee needs significantly decreased NS fit whereas increases in job supplies significantly increased NS fit. Finally, we examined age as an important moderator for employees’ reactions to PJ fit changes, and found that younger employees reacted more strongly to increases/decreases in PJ fit than did older employees.     

Investment in staff development within an emergency services organisation: comparing future intention of volunteers and paid employees

Path models were evaluated to explore the impact of job satisfaction as mediator of the relationship between perceived investment in employee development (PIED) and the adequacy and availability of training on turnover intention. Models were compared for volunteers (n = 2,306) and paid employees (n = 274) within the one emergency services organisation. Results indicated that job satisfaction mediated the relationship between PIED and intention to stay for both volunteers and paid employees. PIED was a stronger predictor of job satisfaction for paid employees, while support and recognition was a stronger predictor of job satisfaction for volunteers. Results highlight the indirect role of PIED on turnover intentions. Findings also support the notion of tailored employee development programmes that enhance job satisfaction. Further, PIED may be more salient to the turnover intentions of paid employees, while support and recognition may be a key motivator of volunteers' ongoing commitment to the organisation.     

Analysing mediating effects underlying the relationships between P–O fit,P–J fit,and organisational commitment

Abstract

Person–Organisation fit (P–O fit) and Person–Job fit (P–J fit) are important predictors of employees’ commitment to their organisations. Yet little is known about the underlying mediating variables that account for these relationships. Based on assumptions derived from Social Exchange Theory (SET) and Social Identity Theory (SIT), the present study predicts that the effects of P–J fit and P–O fit on employee commitment are mediated by job satisfaction and organisational identification, respectively. An online survey (N = 432 employees) was used to test the proposed relationships using a series of path models in AMOS. As expected, P–O fit and P–J fit are positively related to affective, normative, and continuance commitment, with P–O fit showing stronger effects than P–J fit. Organisational identification and job satisfaction completely mediate the effects of fit on the commitment facets. Evidence of differential effects for P–O fit and P–J fit suggest that different forms of fit operate in different ways to influence facets of organisational commitment. This knowledge can be helpful for advancing the integration of SIT and SET in the context of the employee–organisation relationship and for designing interventions to foster organisational commitment.     

THE EFFECTS OF EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP ON EMPLOYEE ATTITUDES: AN INTEGRATED CAUSAL MODEL AND PATH ANALYSIS*

Research on employee-owned organizations to date has utilized alternative theoretical perspectives and has examined varying attitudinal outcomes. This study reviews previous research and attempts to integrate the findings into a causal model that combines the results of prior studies. the resulting causal model was tested empirically with a sample (N= 181) of employees from a firm that adopted an employee ownership programme. Financial value of the ESOP was positively related to satisfaction with the ESOP plan, but was not related to other attitudinal variables. Perceived influence from ownership was positively related to ESOP satisfaction, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. ESOP satisfaction, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment were negatively related to turnover intention. ESOP satisfaction and turnover intention were related to actual employee turnover behaviour over an extended time period.     

Examining transformational leadership,job satisfaction,organizational commitment and organizational trust in Turkish hospitals: public servants versus private sector employees

Leadership, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and trust have become important processes for healthcare management in recent years. One of the contemporary human resource management functions in the organizations involves engaging in leadership development, improving organizational trust and organizational commitment and increasing job satisfaction. Considering the rapidly changing healthcare technology and higher levels of occupational complexity, healthcare organizations are increasingly in need of engaging in leadership development in any given area of expertise to address ever-changing nature of the industry and the delivery of quality of care while remaining cost-effective and competitive. This paper investigates the perceptions of both public servants and private sector employees (outsourcing) on transformational leadership, organizational commitment, organizational trust and job satisfaction in Turkish healthcare industry. Additionally, the paper analyzes the predictability of organizational commitment based on employee – both public servants (physicians, nurses, administrative personnel and other healthcare professionals) and private sector employees (outsourcing) (auxiliary services such as administrative assistants, security personnel, kitchen, laundry and housekeeping employees) – perceptions of transformational leadership, job satisfaction and organizational trust. Using a survey instrument with items adopted from the transformational leadership inventory (TLI) [Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Moorman, R. H., & Fetter, R. (1990). Transformational leader behaviors and their effects on followers' trust in leader, satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Leadership Quarterly, 1, 107–142], the organizational commitment questionnaire [Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1997). Commitment in the workplace: Theory, research, and application. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage], the organizational trust inventory (OTI) [Cummings, L. L., & Bromiley, P. (1996). The occupational trust inventory (OTI): Development and validation. In R. Kramer & T. Tyler (Eds.), Trust in organizations: Frontiers of Theory and Research (pp. 302–330). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage] and job satisfaction survey (JSS) [Spector, P. E. (1985). Measurement of human service staff satisfaction: Development of the job satisfaction survey. American Journal of Community Psychology, 13, 693–731], this quantitative study was conducted among 2108 healthcare employees (public servants and private employees) in two large government hospitals in Turkey. The study findings indicate a significant difference between the public servants and private sector employees in terms of their perceptions on two dimensions of transformational leadership (being an appropriate model, providing individualized support), overall transformational leadership and one dimension of job satisfaction (communication). The two dimensions of job satisfaction – operating procedures and communication – as well as organizational trust were the significant predictors of organizational commitment of public servants, whereas the two dimensions of leadership – individualized support and fostering the acceptance – as well as the two dimensions of job satisfaction – promotion and contingent rewards – and organizational trust were the significant regressors of organizational commitment of private sector employees. In addition, there is a significant difference between the predictors of the dimensions of organizational commitment (transformational leadership, job satisfaction and organizational trust) in terms of public servants versus private sector employees. Finally, organizational trust has a significant effect on overall organizational commitment as well as its three dimensions for public servants and private employees.     

Exploring the impact of innovation strategy on R&D employees’ job satisfaction: A mathematical model and empirical research

This study develops a mathematical model to examine the effect of innovation strategy on R&D employee’s job satisfaction and to identify the optimal guidelines of innovation strategy, with conflict and organization performance being treated as the intermediary variables. The study further conducts an empirical survey to illustrate the contributions of this mathematical model. The results indicate that the product innovation has a greater influence on organizational performance, while the process innovation has a greater influence on conflict resolution among R&D employees. The mathematical and empirical results have provided an optimal guideline for determining the allocation of resources, which suggests that firms must focus on product innovation to gain the optimal R&D employee’s job satisfaction. In addition, the types of innovation policies along with rivals’ attitudes influence the advantages to be taken from a firm innovation strategy.     

The role of assessment centers in job satisfaction and organizational commitment: a case of the Korean government

While many studies have shown how assessment centers affect employees’ career success or job performance, these studies do not demonstrate how employees’ attitudes are affected by their perception of assessment centers. This study aims to investigate the influence of employees’ perception of assessment centers on their job satisfaction and organizational commitment, which are the key elements in predicting working behaviors, such as job performance, job involvement, and turnover intentions. To analyze the nature of the influence, 306 employees who had been evaluated by an assessment center in the Korean Rural Development Administration (KRDA) were surveyed. Regression analysis revealed that although there is no influence on their organizational commitment, employees with a positive perception of assessment centers experience higher levels of job satisfaction (p < .01). These results suggest that the positive perception of assessment centers affects the general feeling of organizational members about their work even though it does not affect their emotional attachment to the organization or dedication to organizational values. Thus, assessment centers can be used as a tool not only to select capable candidates but also to yield positive effects on organizational members’ job attitudes.     

Justice and organizational citizenship behavior: What is the relationship?

This study investigates the relationship between perceptions of overall fairness, organizational citizenship behavior, employee attitudes, and the quality of the supervisory/subordinate relationship based on the justice and organizational citizenship literature. Results show that employees do form perceptions of overall fairness and that these perceptions influence job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Relationships are found between altruism and perceptions of overall fairness, job satisfaction and categories of organizational citizenship behavior, and the quality of the supervisory-subordinate relationship and perception of overall fairness and organizational citizenship behavior. Practical implications and issues for future research are discussed.     

Fine‐tuning what we know about employees' experience with flexible work arrangements and their job attitudes

Prior research has generally found positive relationships between flexible work arrangements (FWAs) and employee attitudes. However, we know relatively little about organizational contingencies that affect the strength of these relationships, as there is little multilevel, multicompany research on FWAs. This study explores three aspects of employees' experience with FWAs—perceived availability of the number of FWAs, different types of FWAs, and actual use of FWAs—and their corresponding effects on employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Using a large multicompany data set (1,799 companies, 17,895 workers), we found that employees who perceive more FWAs available to them have higher job satisfaction and organizational commitment, especially in organizations that report offering fewer formal FWA policies. Among different types of FWAs, perceived availability of flexible scheduling is more positively associated with job satisfaction than flexible location and hours, and both flexible scheduling and location are more positively associated with organizational commitment than flexible number of hours. We also found that employees who actually use flexible scheduling have lower job satisfaction and organizational commitment than those who have it available but do not use it. The theoretical contributions and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Challenged and satisfied: the role of organisational ownership and employee involvement

Abstract

This study aims to offer a more fine-grained approach to our understanding of the relationship between job stress and job satisfaction. Building on organisational theory and Job Demand-Control model, we investigated an important institutional characteristic – organisational ownership – as an additional moderator to influence the interactive effects of job demands and control upon job satisfaction. Using data collected from 1838 Chinese retail sector employees, we found that this three-way interaction was strongest for employees working in foreign-invested firms, who experienced higher employee involvement at work and perceived a high level of challenge-related stress. The relationship was weakest for employees in state-owned enterprises who reported low levels of both employee involvement and challenge-related stress. Our study constitutes an early attempt to assess the impact of institutional characteristics such as ownership on aspects of human resources management, and highlights the need for further research to recognise the importance of such characteristics as contextual factors that influence the effect of organisational practices and the work environment upon individual work-related outcomes. The paper’s concluding sections elaborate on the contributions our research makes both to theory as well as to the practicalities faced by human resource managers in contexts such as China.     

Dispositional and organizational sources of job satisfaction: a cross-national study

ABSTRACT

Job satisfaction has proven to be a resilient contributor to employee motivation, productivity, organizational commitment, absenteeism, and turnover. Utilizing cross-national data from five Asian countries/settings and the United States we examine the impact of organizational and psychological factors on job satisfaction. This study contributes to the literature by showing that while organizational factors, such as performance appraisals and leadership behaviours are important sources of job satisfaction, what matters most is whether individuals perceive themselves to be efficacious in their jobs. Self-efficacy was found to be the strongest determinant of job satisfaction in both, the U.S., and the Asian contexts. Based on cultural characteristics of power-distance and collectivism, this study also examines cross-national differences in the level of public employee job satisfaction.     

Job and organizational attitudes in relation to financial performance in Greek retail banking: an exploratory empirical investigation

In an attempt to contribute to satisfaction and commitment research, the current study explores the differential relationships that job attitudes (e.g. job satisfaction) and organizational attitudes (e.g. organizational satisfaction and organizational continuance commitment) may have with financial performance in Greek retail banking. A total of 331 employees completed the standardized questionnaires. Three sets of hypotheses were tested, investigating direct effects, mediation effects, and moderation effects. Findings suggest that financial performance yields increased levels of high-sacrifice continuance commitment, resulting in enhanced employee satisfaction – both with the job and the employing organization. Results are discussed, limitations are considered, and directions for future research are proposed.     

Investigating the incremental validity of employee engagement in the prediction of employee effectiveness: A meta-analytic path analysis

The current study used meta-analytic estimates and path analysis to examine whether the construct of employee engagement (EE) shows incremental validity in the prediction of employee effectiveness (a broad measure of performance-related behaviors) over other job attitudes such as job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment. Meta-analytic estimates between EE and various employee effectiveness indicators were computed from 49 published correlations representing a total of 22,090 individuals. We combined these estimates with published meta-analytic estimates between employee effectiveness and job attitudes to produce a meta-matrix representing 1,161 unique correlations. Using this meta-matrix, a series of path model comparisons produced two results: (1) EE bears low to moderate incremental validity over individual job attitudes (R² change of 0.02 to 0.06), and (2) EE bears low incremental validity over a higher-order job attitude construct representing the combination of other job attitudes in the prediction of a higher-order employee effectiveness construct (R² change of 0.01). Given the brevity of popular EE measures, the results suggest EE is better conceptualized as a higher-order measure of job attitudes that is an effective and concise predictor of employee effectiveness.     

The U-shaped effect of R&D intensity on employee downsizing: evidence from Spanish manufacturing firms (1994–2010)

Abstract

This study explores an empirically untested issue: the relationship between the level of a firm’s R&D intensity and employee downsizing. Basing our conceptual development on the Resource-Based View of the firm, we argue that a linear relationship is a poor approximation of the proposed relationship. Instead, we find theoretical insights supporting the logic that employee downsizing decreases as firms shift from low to moderate levels of R&D intensity but increases as firms change from moderate to high levels. This prediction suggests that a U-shaped link is a better representation of the way in which a firm’s R&D intensity can affect downsizing. This hypothesis is tested and confirmed using a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms during the 1994–2010 period. We also propose a novel empirical tool (i.e. dynamic probit models) that is especially useful for addressing the potential endogeneity and simultaneity problem in studying this relationship. Implications for future research and practice are presented along with the conclusions of our findings.     

Impact of knowledge oriented leadership on knowledge management behaviour through employee work attitudes

Abstract

Despite the acknowledged importance of knowledge management (KM), many employees avoid practicing KM at the individual level. This avoidance often leads to loss of the intellectual capital due to employee turnover. Many potential behavioural remedies are still untapped in the existing literature. This study extends the construct of knowledge oriented leadership (KOL) and examines its role in predicting KM behaviour among employees of the hospitality sector, at the individual level. It also investigates the mediating effect of employee work attitudes including affective commitment, creative self-efficacy and work engagement, by using partial least square for structure equation modelling. This study finds that KOL positively affects KM behaviour, affective commitment, creative self-efficacy and employee work engagement. Work attitudes (affective commitment, creative self-efficacy, work engagement) mediate the relationship of KOL and KM behaviour. Furthermore the direct positive effect of employee affective commitment, creative self-efficacy and work engagement on KM behaviour is also significant. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by extending the construct of KOL, and by investigating the connection between KOL, work attitudes, and KM behaviour among hospitality employees, at the individual level.