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.     

Organizational public value and employee life satisfaction: the mediating roles of work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior

Abstract

Building on Meynhardt’s public value concept, which has been developed to make transparent an organization’s contributions to the common good, we investigate the influence of organizational common good practices in the perceptions of employees (measured as public value) on employees’ work attitudes and life satisfaction. The proposed model is tested on a sample of 1045 Swiss employees taken from the 2015 Swiss Public Value Atlas data-set. Study findings reveal that organizational public value is positively related to employee life satisfaction, and that this relationship is partially mediated by work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior. Further, we show that employee common good orientations strengthen the positive impact of organizational public value on employee work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior. Results also provide evidence that the indirect effects of organizational public value on employee life satisfaction via work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior are stronger at higher employee common good orientation levels.     

Discretionary and transactional human resource practices and employee outcomes: The role of perceived organizational support

Utilizing perceived organizational support (POS) as the mechanism linking HR practices to employee behaviors in the workplace, we examine a broad set of HR practices in order to understand the relative importance of each HR practice (i.e., those that explain incremental variance over other practices) in influencing employee behaviors. We differentiate between discretionary and transactional HR practices to test the discretionary investment requisite of POS theory. The results show that of the eight discretionary practices, only participation and decision making directly influenced the extra‐role behaviors that employees exhibit, and only training and development directly impacted the customer‐oriented behaviors. Furthermore, one of the transactional HR practices was found to have a direct effect on organizational citizenship behavior. Our findings indicate that the performance management process, promotional opportunities, participation, and involvement in decision making affect how employees behave toward the customer and the extra‐role behaviors they exhibit. Furthermore, this occurs through the view employees develop of the organization as a place to work. That is, these four HR practices demonstrate to employees that they are valued, and, in turn, this feeling of being appreciated impacts their commitment to delivering high‐quality service to the customer and going beyond their job responsibilities. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Justice and organizational citizenship: A commentary on the state of the science

The present article discusses the state of the science regarding the connection between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) as reflected by the articles included in this issue. The research described in these articles reaches a conclusion in need of further elaboration—namely, that people will behave altruistically toward the oroganizations in which they work when they believe those organizations have treated them fairly. Various conceptual issues are discussed. These include: the willingness of people to express inequity distress by withholding OCB, the relative importance of procedural justice compared to distributive justice as a determinant of OCB (especially the social aspects of procedural justice), and the extent to which a reduction in OCB may reflect a desire to influence another individual, or the organization in general. A variety of methodological issues are also discussed. In this connection, it is suggested that correlational, questionnaire measures be supplemented by open-ended interview studies as well as laboratory investigations. Moreover, if questionnaires continue to be used, then it is recommended that attempts be made to improve the validity of both measures of justice and OCB.     

Theorizing about the deviant citizen: An attributional explanation of the interplay of organizational citizenship and counterproductive work behavior

We present an attribution-based explanation about how helpful organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and harmful counterproductive work behavior (CWB) are positively related under some circumstances. Attributions concerning controllability and locus of causality are important factors. Controllability attributions for OCB-eliciting demands, such as coworker lack of performance, organizational constraints, or supervisor expectations, can lead to CWB. Conversely, controllability and internal attributions for one's own CWB can lead to OCB.     

Linking organizational identification and employee performance in teams: the moderating role of team-member exchange

This study examined the influence of organizational identification on employee performance in teams. Drawing on social identity theory and self-verification theory, we predicted that organizational identification would have positive effects on employee in-role and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) performance. Building on social exchange theory, the study further theorized that the quality of team-member exchange (TMX) would amplify the impacts of organizational identification on both types of performance. Using data from automotive dealer employees in China, we found positive relationships between organizational identification and both types of performance. In addition, TMX altered the impact of organizational identification on OCB.     

Exploring the link between organizational values and human resource certification

We contribute to the discussion of human resource (HR) certification by identifying organizational values as a key antecedent to (1) an organization's use of HR certification and (2) whether organizational members choose to pursue HR certification. Building on research which has looked at the influence of organizational values on the behavior and attitudes of the organization and its employees, we propose that key organizational values will influence the extent to which an organization and its members value HR certification. Specifically, we explore the relationship between the organizational values of innovation, people orientation, and stability and the extent to which an organization uses HR certification for selection purposes. In addition, we propose that these key organizational values will also influence whether the organization's members pursue HR certification. Exploring the link between key organizational values and HR certification is critical to our understanding of an organization's HR practices and the behavior of its employees. By taking a more organization focused perspective, we highlight the top-down effects of organizational values on the value of HR certification and call for additional research on the antecedents of the value of HR certification.     

When Do Employees Cyberloaf? An Interactionist Perspective Examining Personality,Justice, and Empowerment

Cyberloafing—using the Internet for non‐work‐related activities—is a prevalent counterproductive work behavior in the workplace, but researchers have not yet paid sufficient attention to this issue, especially related to the role of personality in cyberloafing. Recognizing such a research gap, and using a trait activation theory framework, this study examines whether conscientiousness and emotional stability negatively relate to cyberloafing. We further investigate how organizational justice perceptions and psychological empowerment moderate the negative relationship between these personality traits and cyberloafing. Based on a sample of 247 employees, we find that those high in conscientiousness cyberloaf less when they perceive greater levels of organizational justice. In addition, highly conscientious individuals cyberloaf less when they have low, rather than high, levels of psychological empowerment. Implications for research and practice as well as future research directions are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Multi-cultural leadership teams and organizational identification in international joint ventures

Many international joint ventures (IJVs) fare poorly. An important factor is that members of an IJV top management team (TMT), which generally comprises people from different cultures, often find it difficult to work together. In this paper we argue that social identity theory and organizational identification processes can help us understand why this is so. We propose that factionalism in a TMT is a significant hazard posed by member identification with different parents. In addition, identification with both the IJV and a parent firm can lead to significant role conflict for IJV top managers. Factionalism and role conflict in turn can result in poor intra-TMT communications and inefficient decision making. Literature in social identity theory and organizational identification suggests that the relative status and power of parents as well as successes of IJVs can affect TMT members' identification with the IJV or the parent company. Preliminary field interviews provide general support for these propositions. Our analysis suggests that organizational identity and identification can be a valuable tool to facilitate the understanding of TMT functioning and IJV performance.     

Counterproductive work behavior as protest

We suggest that counterproductive work behaviors can be viewed as a form of protest in which organizational members express dissatisfaction with or attempt to resolve injustice within the organization. Incorporating the three key predictors (injustice, identity and instrumentality, [Klandermans, B., (1997). The social psychology of protest. Oxford: Blackwell.]) from the protest literature leads us to propose that counterproductive behaviors can be both individual and collective. Crossing this dimension with concepts of organizational and individual deviance leads to a fourfold classification of counterproductive work behaviors.     

HR practices,organizational climate and employee outcomes: evaluating social exchange relationships in local government

This paper reports the findings of a study conducted on UK local government workers in which the effects of social and negative exchanges on work-related attitudes and behaviours were assessed. HR practices and organizational climate were used as measures of social exchange. Negative exchanges were based on measures capturing non-supportive management practice and unfair treatment. The findings suggest that, consistent with social exchange theory, positive exchanges lead to enhanced worker attitude and behaviour, with negative exchanges leading to increased work-related stress, reduced motivation and a greater propensity to quit. Negative exchanges, however, did not result in reduced discretionary behaviour. Disaggregating the exchange practices revealed equitable rewards and organizational morale had consistent effects on worker attitudes and behaviours, with team working, employee involvement and trust in managers having significant effects on employee motivation. The implications of these findings are considered in the concluding section of the paper.     

The organizational environment with its measures,antecedents, and consequences: a review and research agenda

The organizational environment is a focal element of multifaceted managerial decisions. Consequently, research has shown a long lasting and still growing interest in investigating the organizational environment and understanding its impact on a firm. Because it is widely assumed that the business environment will become more dynamic, changes in the organizational environment have drawn the particular attention of many scholars. While the extant research has established valuable knowledge, its fragmentation due to differing definitions and contradictory findings calls for a broad review to establish a foundation for future research. By analyzing 279 studies that have investigated different aspects of the organizational environment between 1958 and mid-2017, we contribute to various research streams that involve this environmental factor. We use a comprehensive research framework to categorize and review the previous work. In particular, we distinguish between studies that define or measure the organizational environment, as well as studies that investigate antecedents, outcomes, and moderating effects of the organizational environments. Among those categories, we discuss our findings, before subsequently synthesizing existing works and deriving an agenda for future research.     

Workgroup Climates and Employees’ Counterproductive Work Behaviours: A Social‐Cognitive Perspective

This research examines employees' anticipation of social and self‐sanctions as a self‐regulatory mechanism linking workgroup climates and counterproductive work behaviours (CWBs) and personality as a limit to these effects. A cross‐level study with 158 employees from 26 workgroups demonstrated that in groups with a high compliance climate – a climate emphasizing the importance of complying with organizational rules – employees anticipate more social and self‐sanctions, leading those low in conscientiousness and low in agreeableness to engage less frequently in CWBs. In contrast, a high relational climate – a climate emphasizing the importance of positive social relations over self‐interest – indirectly unbridles the CWBs of these employees by alleviating the social and self‐sanctions they anticipate for CWBs. Climates did not have indirect effects for employees high in agreeableness and high in conscientiousness. These findings elucidate why workgroup climates do not affect the CWBs of all members in the same way.     

How does a diversity climate shape the relationship between demographic diversity and organizational social capital in the U.S. federal government?

Although intergroup conflict caused by demographic differences in organizations disrupts social interactions between employees, little empirical research has been conducted to understand how to effectively manage demographic diversity in the public workforces. By combining two theories of diversity and inclusion, this article explores the independent and joint effects of three dimensions of demographic diversity (gender, race, and age) and a diversity climate on organizational social capital in the US federal government. Statistical analysis shows a negative relationship between age diversity and organizational social capital and a contrasting positive relationship between a diversity climate and social capital. More important, the diversity climate as a key moderator conditions the impact of racial diversity and age diversity on social capital. The findings suggest the importance of a supportive diversity climate in improving the quality of social relationships within demographically diverse organizations.     

Beyond the organizational ‘container’: Conceptualizing 21st century sociotechnical work

The sociotechnical systems (STS) approach provides a framework that is well suited to grappling with many issues of work in organizations. By conceiving of work systems as mutually-shaping social and technological systems, the STS approach has provided decades of researchers and practitioners with robust analytical tools to consider both the social and the technical elements of organizational contexts. However, we identify two areas where the conceptualization of sociotechnical systems must be updated to reflect the role of information infrastructures as an enabler of trans-organizational work arrangements. First, with its view of nested systems, the STS approach encapsulates work and the infrastructure used to do it within organizations (either explicitly or implicitly) — often leading to a “container” view of organizations as the context of work and a venue for joint optimization of the social and the technical. Second, because work is generally treated as encapsulated within superordinate, nested systems, elements of that work are inherited from those superordinate systems. In this paper we characterize the limitations of industrial age assumptions of organizational encapsulation and inheritance that, rooted in the STS approach, underlie much of traditional information systems scholarship. We then theorize an updated sociotechnical framework (Neo-STS) and apply it to examples of contemporary work situations to highlight the importance and implications of trans-organizational information infrastructures and multidirectional inheritance.     

Predictors of organizational citizenship behavior in relation to environmental and health & safety issues

Abstract

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) in relation to the environment and health and safety, commonly shaped by individual and voluntary initiatives, are essential factors for a smooth and efficient organization in firms. Our research explores the factors affecting OCBs related to environmental and health and safety issues in a Multinational Enterprise (MNE) operating in the oil & gas sector. More in detail, we tested the influence of personal attitudes, self-efficacy, organizational support and social norm on OCBs related to environmental and health and safety issues. The results show that personal attitudes and self-efficacy positively influence OCBs related to environmental and health and safety issues and those factors are influenced respectively by perceived organizational support and social norm. Moreover, we found that attitudes play a full mediation between social norm and OCBs related to environmental and health and safety issues and that organizational support on organization citizenship behavior for the environment and health and safety that is partially mediated through the perceived self efficacy. Finally, the results of our investigation are contextualized in the theoretical and managerial frameworks pointing to a number of avenues for further research.     

How do leaders' perceptions of organizational health climate shape employee exhaustion and engagement? Toward a cascading-effects model

Although researchers and practitioners increasingly focus on health promotion in organizations, research has been mainly fragmented and fails to integrate different organizational levels in terms of their effects on employee health. Drawing on organizational climate and social identity research, we present a cascading model of organizational health climate and demonstrate how and when leaders' perceptions of organizational health climate are linked to employee well-being. We tested our model in two multisource studies (N_{Study 1} = 65 leaders and 291 employees; N_{Study 2} = 401 leader–employee dyads). Results showed that leaders' perceptions of organizational health climate were positively related to their health mindsets (i.e., their health awareness). These in turn were positively associated with their health-promoting leadership behavior, which ultimately went along with better employee well-being. Additionally, in Study 1, the relationship between perceived organizational health climate and leaders' health mindsets was moderated by their organizational identification. High leader identification strengthened the relationship between perceived organizational health climate and leaders' health mindsets. These findings have important implications for theory and practice as they show how the dynamics of an organizational health climate can unfold in organizations and how it is related to employee well-being via the novel concept of health-promoting leadership.     

Strengthening organizational ambidexterity with top management team mechanisms and processes

Abstract

Organizational ambidexterity is the organizational capability to simultaneously pursue explorative and exploitative innovation strategies. Studies have examined the Top Management Team (TMT) actions and decisions with the ambidextrous orientation of a firm. Further, studies have also shown that a behaviourally integrated TMT is positively associated with organizational ambidexterity. However, there has been limited research examining the antecedents to the behaviourally integrated TMT. Anchored in the upper echelons perspective, we have examined the influence of TMT processes and mechanisms on organizational ambidexterity. The TMT is observed to positively influence ambidexterity by enhancing the firm’s ability to meet the differentiation-integration challenges, and by facilitating the effective deployment of ambidextrous Human Resource (HR) architectures for employee learning. Thereby, this investigation examines the effect of TMT processes and mechanisms in enabling structural as well as contextual ambidexterity. The results from a sample of 78 hi-tech Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across different industries were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. We find the mediating role of TMT behavioural integration in the effect of TMT connectedness and TMT cross-functional interfacing mechanisms on organizational ambidexterity. However, our results show that rewards contingent on organizational performance do not motivate the TMT members to facilitate organizational ambidexterity. The results from this study lend support to the upper echelons perspective and add to two distinct streams of literature namely organizational ambidexterity and behavioural integration.     

The effects of internal and external sources of justice on employee turnover intention and organizational citizenship behavior toward clients and workgroup members

Abstract

Organizational justice research tends to focus on the effects of fair treatment from organizations or supervisors on employee attitudes and behaviors. Thus, there is a dearth of research on the effects of fair treatment attributable to other parties that employees interact with at work such as coworkers and clients. Controlling for organization-focused and supervisor-focused justice, results from our field study of employees working in a healthcare organization demonstrate that perceptions of client-focused fairness uniquely predicts supervisor ratings of employees organizational citizenship behavior toward clients and that perceptions of workgroup-focused justice uniquely predicts organizational citizenship behavior toward workgroups. Further, we find that client-focused justice perceptions uniquely predict employee turnover intention.