Time heals all wounds? HRM and bereavement in the workplace

Over the past two years, there have been many popular press articles about grief in the workplace. Despite this recent COVID-19-related attention, bereavement (i.e., the reaction to a loss by death) has always been a universal human experience. The intention of this short concept statement is to bring attention to and spur HRM research efforts on bereavement in the workplace. Part of the challenge in dealing with bereavement is the empathy-efficiency paradox – the perception that workplace goals often conflict with the needs of bereaved employees. After providing an overview of bereavement, I explain how this potential paradox can make bereavement more difficult – not only for bereaved employees, but for managers and coworkers as well – with formal policies and practices unintentionally disenfranchising grief. I also suggest some ways to address this perceived paradox. Subsequently, several generative research directions are suggested. Given the large role that HRM plays in making the workplace more humane, bereavement seems like a topic worthy of our research attention.     

What is the joint effect of employee satisfaction and customer orientation on the organizational culture in metalworking manufacturing?

It is a known fact that culture is an important element for the organizations. In this context, a research has been carried out in which the main subject is about to investigate the organizational culture depending on the factors of employee satisfaction and customer orientation in metalworking manufacturing firms. To perform the study, we constructed an original model and conducted research with 578 employees of metalworking organizations. After the data analysis, we determined that organizational culture has positive-significant correlation with employee satisfaction and customer orientation (at the 0.000 level). Additionally, the total explained variance of organizational culture – depending on employee satisfaction and customer orientation – has come out as a satisfying value (0.53). According to the results of our research, we are able to conclude that employee satisfaction and customer orientation has a mid-level effect on creating a substantial organizational culture.     

Cultural differences in organizational citizenship behavior: a comparison between Chinese and American employees

The present study examined the differences in the perceptions of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) between Chinese and American employees. Survey responses concerning the presence of OCB in their organizations were collected from a total of 393 employees. Analyses showed that Chinese and American employees reported similar levels of personal support and conscientious initiative in their organizations, but Chinese employees reported higher levels of organizational support in comparison with American employees. In addition, results indicated that perceptions of personal support, organizational support, and conscientious initiative were a function of job/hierarchical level such that management reported lower levels on all three dimensions of OCB. Finally, the results showed that country and job/hierarchical level do not interact to influence perceptions of organizational citizenship behavior. Implications and directions for future research on cultural differences in organizational citizenship behavior are discussed.     

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.     

Mechanisms for sharing knowledge in project-based organizations

Organizations need to effectively combine and utilize knowledge resources that are distributed amongst the employees and groups in the firm. This paper examines the use of knowledge-sharing mechanisms to leverage the learning, experience and expertise of employees accumulated across projects. I specify a framework that classifies the knowledge-sharing mechanisms used by project-based organizations. Prior research tends to examine only one dimension of knowledge-sharing mechanisms – personalization versus codification. Personalization mechanisms are often assumed to be more ad hoc and informal, and codification mechanisms are assumed to be formal and involve the use of electronic databases. In this paper, personalization versus codification and individualization versus institutionalization are highlighted as two distinct dimensions of knowledge-sharing mechanisms. Individualized knowledge-sharing mechanisms are informal and unstructured, while institutionalized knowledge-sharing mechanisms are formal and embedded in organizational routines and structure. A framework is presented to show how the two dimensions interact. Based on empirical case studies in two project-based organizations, the paper examines if there are suitable configurations of knowledge-sharing mechanisms for organizations with different characteristics. The study contributes to research by providing a more nuanced classification of knowledge-sharing mechanisms, and provides guidance to managers about the types of knowledge-sharing mechanisms that should be adopted based on the size, geographical dispersion and task nature of organizations.     

Serving two organizations: Exploring the employment relationship of contracted employees

Although growth has occurred in contract employment arrangements both in the public and private sectors, scant research has been conducted on the organizations and employees affected by these arrangements.This study examines the employment relationship of long‐term contracted employees using a social exchange framework. Specifically, we examine the effects of employee perceptions of organizational support from contracting and client organizations on their (a) affective commitment to each organization and (b) service‐oriented citizenship behavior. We also examine whether felt obligation toward each organization mediates this relationship. Our sample consists of 99 long‐term contracted employees working for four contracting organizations that provide services to the public on behalf of a municipal government. Results indicate that the antecedents of affective commitment are similar for the client and contracting organization. Employee perceptions of client organizational supportiveness were positively related to felt obligation and commitment to the client organization. Client felt obligation mediated the effects of client perceived organizational support (POS) on the participation dimension of citizenship behavior. Our study provides additional support for the generalizability of social exchange processes to nontraditional employment relationships. Implications for managing long‐term contracted employees are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Shocks and final straws: Using exit‐interview data to examine the unfolding model's decision paths

The unfolding model emphasizes the role of shocks (jarring events that initiate exit cognitions) in the turnover process. In contrast to earlier survey‐based research, we used exit interviews to classify organizational leavers along the model's paths. The data provide support for the model but highlight several aspects of shocks not addressed by previous research. Employees on the same path may experience distinctly different shock subgroups (e.g., work or nonwork), some employees require shock combinations (e.g., push and pull shocks) to motivate leaving, and some dissatisfied employees experience shock‐like events (final straws) that confirm previous exit cognitions rather than initiate them. The research demonstrates how organizations can use exit interviews to better understand their employee exit patterns. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

How employee perceptions of HR policy and practice influence discretionary work effort and co-worker assistance: evidence from two organizations

Drawing on social identity theory and organizational justice research, we model the impact of employee perceptions of human resource (HR) policies and practices on two important outcome variables – discretionary work effort (DWE) and co-worker assistance (CWA). Results based on 618 full-time employees in two organizations show that HR practices are positively related to procedural and distributive justice and that organizational identification mediates the relationship between procedural and distributive justice and DWE and CWA, respectively. Distributive justice is also shown to have direct effects on the two outcome variables suggesting the relevance of a social exchange perspective as a complement to social identity explanations. Implications for research and practice are briefly discussed.     

Changing Organizational Forms and the Employment Relationship

This paper draws upon new research in the UK into the relationship between changing organizational forms and the reshaping of work in order to consider the changing nature of the employment relationship. The development of more complex organizational forms – such as cross organization networking, partnerships, alliances, use of external agencies for core as well as peripheral activities, multi‐employer sites and the blurring of public/private sector divide – has implications for both the legal and the socially constituted nature of the employment relationship. The notion of a clearly defined employer–employee relationship becomes difficult to uphold under conditions where employees are working in project teams or on‐site beside employees from other organizations, where responsibilities for performance and for health and safety are not clearly defined, or involve more than one organization. This blurring of the relationship affects not only legal responsibilities, grievance and disciplinary issues and the extent of transparency and equity in employment conditions, but also the definition, constitution and implementation of the employment contract defined in psychological and social terms. Do employees perceive their responsibilities at work to lie with the direct employer or with the wider enterprise or network organization? And do these perceptions affect, for example, how work is managed and carried out and how far learning and incremental knowledge at work is integrated in the development of the production or service process? So far the investigation of both conflicts and complementarities in the workplace have focused primarily on the dynamic interactions between the single employer and that organization’s employees. The development of simultaneously more fragmented and more networked organizational forms raises new issues of how to understand potential conflicts and contradictions around the ‘employer’ dimension to the employment relationship in addition to more widely recognized conflicts located on the employer–employee axis.     

Reform in public organizations: the roles of ambidextrous leadership and moderating mechanisms

Reform in public organizations is vital to the improvement of public services and public trust. The primary aim in this research is to investigate the role of ambidextrous leadership in catalysing organizational reform. The research further seeks an insight into moderating mechanisms for this effect. The research employed a two-wave research design to collect data from 531 employees and 186 department managers working in governmental agencies in Vietnam context. The results from the data analysis shed light on the effect of ambidextrous leadership on organizational reform as well as the mechanisms in which employees’ role breadth self-efficacy and public service motivation moderate such an effect.     

Placing Knowledge Management in Context

ABSTRACT We welcome the increased emphasis on practice‐based theories of knowing as an alternative to the more representational, knowledge‐as‐object approaches which have characterised many organizational attempts at ‘knowledge management’ to date. Building on the findings of a short empirical study into the ‘knowledge management’ initiatives of a global software organization, which highlighted the value of rich context in the generation of meaning, we seek to shed some light on a perceived confusion about the nature of organizational context. We show such context to be an inseparable part of knowing, which it creates and by which it is defined, and re‐use Blackler's (1995 ) taxonomy of ‘knowledge types’ to illustrate the relational interaction between shared and deeply personal components of context. Finally, we use these insights to suggest a way in which organizations may be able to derive more value from their investments in internal initiatives by increasing their ability to support knowing – and hence the generation of meaning – amongst their employees.     

Key human resource strategies in an organization downturn

Increasingly often, executives are being called upon to manage organizations through downturns. Of critical importance to the long-term health of a firm is how its employees are treated during these stressful periods. Human resource strategies must minimize the loss of key personnel needed for organizational survival and turnaround. The purpose of this article is to discuss why key employees leave organizations following a downturn. We propose two reasons: Either employees abandon a sinking ship or upon considering a lack of career opportunities, they take well-timed exits. Then, by considering individual career issues that arise from an organization downturn, ways to counteract ill-timed employee exit are identified. These human resource strategies either reduce organizational uncertainty or increase career opportunity.     

Failure to Mobilize in Reliability‐Seeking Organizations: Two Cases from the UK Railway*

abstract There is a considerable line of research on organizations dealing with large scale, intrinsic hazards. We know a good deal, as a result, about both the causation of catastrophic failure and its avoidance. Past work has explained failure in terms of (for example) structural vulnerabilities and organizational degradation – and reliability in terms of collective mindfulness, rigorous enculturation and high levels of social redundancy. This paper presents a study, based on a qualitative analysis of two disastrous collisions on the UK railway, of organizations that are strongly reliability seeking yet ultimately experience catastrophic failure. It argues that these cases implicated an organizational incapacity to mobilize systemic reform. The possibility of the two failures had been well‐known in the organizations before their occurrence, but this knowledge could not be converted into modification. A model is presented to explain how processes of systemic reform co‐exist with a set of phenomena that tend to undermine them. It is these that need to be the principal focus of efforts at managing catastrophic failure risks.     

Making the link between work-life balance practices and organizational performance

The business case for work-life balance practices, as espoused by many organizations, rests on attracting better applicants and reducing work-life conflict among existing employees in order to enhance organizational performance. This review of the literature provides some evidence for the claim regarding recruitment, but there is insufficient evidence to support the notion that work-life practices enhance performance by means of reduced work-life conflict. We suggest that the business case may therefore need to be modified to reflect the number of additional routes by which work-life balance practices can influence organizational performance, including enhanced social exchange processes, increased cost savings, improved productivity, and reduced turnover. The impact of these processes may, however, be moderated by a number of factors, including national context, job level, and managerial support. The importance of further research into the effects of these practices is discussed.     

Employee voice viewed through a cross-cultural lens

Employee voice may have positive outcomes for organizations, however, encouraging employees to speak out is not guaranteed unless the organization signals that it is safe and effective for employees to do so. In this conceptual paper, we identify core variables that constitute the norms for voice created in organizations across national cultures. Developing a multilevel conceptual framework of employee voice, we explore how organizational norms related to different voice channels provide signals to employees about voice consequences, namely voice safety and effectiveness. Given organizations do not operate in contextual vacuums, we also apply a macro-level consideration of national culture values that influence organizational voice norms to affect safety and effectiveness signals. A conceptual framework and propositions for future research are presented.     

From curse to cure of workplace ostracism: A systematic review and future research agenda

Workplace ostracism is mistreatment in disguise that has spread its roots deep into organizations. This research has a threefold purpose. Firstly, to shed light on its seriousness by highlighting its personal, relational, and organizational impacts. Secondly, to identify buffering mechanisms that nullify its damaging impacts. Finally, to offer novel avenues for future research. The systematic review of 89 articles reveals workplace ostracism causes significant damages to employees, their personal and professional relationships, and organizations. It also reveals that employees' traits, abilities, skills, psychological states, job-related factors, support, culture, and religiousness cushion against ostracism's adverse impacts. Perhaps this is the first review that highlights workplace ostracism's relational impacts and systematically and comprehensively summarizes its buffering mechanisms as the cure to its curse. This review identifies literature gaps and proposes a future research framework and other future research directions for scholars to address them. It concludes with a discussion of practical implications.     

Privacy and Electronic Monitoring in the Workplace: A Model of Managerial Cognition and Relational Trust Development

This paper explores the impact of experience at the current organization, prior experience at other organizations, and individual propensity to trust on workplace electronic monitoring and trust formation between employees and management. Taking a cognitive approach, these relationships are investigated through the lens of cognitive categorization theory. The paper discusses trustworthiness as the category label of a group of traits and behaviors that subsequently leads to lower levels of turnover, increased organizational commitment, and lower levels of electronic monitoring. Organizational and individual level outcomes are explored with respect to electronic monitoring procedures in organizations. The discussion focuses on implications for practice and future research as well as several ethical and managerial implications, and provides recommendations regarding implementation of electronic monitoring systems for managers.     

Does HRM generate ambidextrous employees for ambidextrous learning? The moderating role of management support

During the past decade, organizational ambidexterity has emerged as a central research stream in management science to investigate how organizations manage to remain successful over time. By using the lens of organizational learning, ambidexterity can be defined as the simultaneous pursuit of exploratory learning and exploitative learning. In this study, we attempt to bring human resource management into the forum by introducing and testing how human resource (HR) systems affect the firm's ambidextrous learning. We show how high-involvement HR systems may support ambidextrous learning by stimulating firm employees to behave ambidextrously. We also emphasize the moderating role of management support in sustaining ambidextrous learning through high-involvement HR systems. A field study of 182 companies from Spain showed that high-involvement HR systems were positively related to ambidextrous learning and validated the moderating role of management support.     

The Potential Role of Organizational Setting in Creating “Entitled” Employees: An Investigation of the Antecedents of Equity Sensitivity

Existing research suggests that the equity sensitivity construct has both theoretical significance and applied value. This study investigates the antecedents of equity sensitivity, focusing on the relationships among organizational setting, personal characteristics (age, sex, work experience), organization tenure, and equity sensitivity. Results based on survey data from 613 individuals employed in ten diverse organizations suggest that organizational setting influences equity sensitivity levels among employees, Evidence of a significant relationship between age and equity sensitivity is also found. However, the relationship between organizational tenure and equity sensitivity found in previous studies is not replicated when adequate controls are included. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.