The influence of financial participation and participation in decision-making on employee job attitudes

This study investigates the direct and indirect effects of financial participation (FP) and participation in decision-making (PDM) on employee job attitudes. The central premise is that both financial participation and participation in decision-making have effects on job attitudes, such as integration, involvement and commitment, perceived pay equity, performance-reward contingencies, satisfaction and motivation. After reviewing the theoretical and empirical literature and testing two theoretical frameworks, developed by Long (1978a) and Florkowski (1989), a new model was constructed to consider a combined effects of both FP and PDM, herein referred to as employee participation (EP). The underpinning of the model is based on the assumption that both (a) the combination of financial participation and participation in decision-making (‘employee participation’), and (b) participation in decision-making produce favourable effects on employee job attitudes. The test of the new model showed that employee participation does not produce more favourable effects on employee job attitudes, than does participation in decision-making on its own. The data were gathered from a questionnaire study administered in a large British retail organization that operates two types of ownership schemes – profit-sharing and SAYE schemes.     

Inherent constraints and creative possibilities: employee participation in Kenya

We present findings from a study of employee participation in seven International NGOs (INGOs) operating in Kenya. The inherent constraints of hierarchy and the need to accommodate a range of stakeholder interests imposed a strict ceiling on the degree of participation even in this propitious environment. Being headquartered in a liberal market economy, the low salience of trade unions among Kenyan employees and/or individual management styles within the INGOs meant that some of the agencies fell short even of that ceiling. Contrary to the normative aspirations of both the HR and international development literatures, our study suggests that the co-determination and employee control styles of participation are undesirable and unrealistic goals. On the other hand, a consultation style of participation was appropriate to the seven INGOs, and may also be in other sectors and countries.     

The impact of varying types of performance-related pay and employee participation on earnings

Using matched employer-employee data from a nationally representative sample of British establishments, the paper examines the impact of different types of performance-related pay (PRP) on earnings and whether this is moderated by the presence of employee involvement and financial participation schemes. It supports previous work that has suggested that there are strong and complex interactions between employee involvement schemes and compensation mechanisms. In particular, the results indicate that employees' earnings are highest where both individual and work-group PRP schemes are present at a workplace, and where there are congruent PRP and employee participation schemes.     

The role of institutional and intermediary forces in shaping patterns of employee involvement and participation (EIP) in Anglo-American countries

Most studies of employee involvement and participation (EIP) focus on organisation level, which is understandable given that employers have plenty of choice about how it should be implemented. However, even the most lightly regulated economies do not operate in a complete institutional void as some forms are regulated while government-funded initiatives also promote EIP. Employers' organisations, professional associations and other specialist organisations also operate as intermediary forces between the state and individual employers to shape EIP. However, these forces have not been analysed, an omission which seems strange given the ‘space’ available for occupation in lightly regulated economies. This paper compares the role these different forces play in shaping patterns of EIP at organisation level in four Anglo-American countries (the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand) through interviews and documentary evidence at national, intermediary and organisation levels. While ‘hard’ institutional forces have some influence on representative EIP, ‘soft’ institutional and intermediary forces are more likely to shape EIP because they allow employers choice and flexibility in implementation and fit with national business systems in these countries. However, given such interventions are voluntary, they are also susceptible if government priorities change or employers are attracted by the next management fad.     

How and when matter: Exploring the interaction effects of high‐performance work systems,employee participation,and human capital on organizational innovation

Existing research on the relationship between high‐performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational innovation has paid insufficient attention to the boundary effects of employee participation and human capital. Bridging the human resource management (HRM) and employment relations literature, this study contributes to the contingency view of HRM and China‐specific research by investigating how human capital and employee participation, direct voice mechanism, and corporate governance participation jointly moderate the relationship between HPWS and organizational innovation. We test our three‐way interaction model using a sample of 108 firms and 1,250 employees in China. The results suggest that HPWS are positively associated with organizational innovation when employees with relatively less human capital are coupled with more direct voice mechanism or less corporate governance participation. In contrast, HPWS are negatively related to organizational innovation when employees possessing greater human capital are coupled with more direct voice mechanism. The theoretical and managerial implications and future research directions are discussed.     

The ‘reach’ of employee participation in decision‐making: exploring the Aristotelian roots of workplace democracy

This article examines the ‘reach’, or the distribution, of employee participation in decision‐making (PDM) within organisations. It makes a unique contribution to the wider employee voice literature by asking what types of employees have a ‘say’ in strategic decision‐making and, in similar vein, what types of employees are denied participation, and why. In order to answer this under‐investigated research question, the article presents an Aristotelian analysis of the concept of citizenship in the ‘best regime’. In the light of this analysis, the article concludes that some groups of employees are excluded from PDM on the basis of a perceived lack of ‘excellence’.     

The role of green innovation and hope in employee retention

Green innovation is increasingly receiving attention in organisational behaviour and strategic management literature. However, understanding employee's preferences for organisations that have adopted innovative environmental practices have received little attention. This study tests a framework that examines the relationship between employees' preferences for innovative green organisations, hope, and intentions to stay. Data were collected from 403 employees in Australia. Results show that employees' preferences for green innovation drive the emotional state of employee hope, which has a positive effect on employees' intentions to stay with the organisation. This study offers implications for academics and managers, advancing the literature on green innovation, recruitment, retention, and organisational behaviour.     

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.     

High-performance work systems and organizational performance: testing the mediation role of employee outcomes using evidence from PR China

This research investigates the relationship between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational performance, and the mediating effect of employee outcomes. The paper is based on a sample of 168 firms of six ownership types and in various business sectors operating in China. The results of data analysis support the hypotheses. Organizational performance is positively predicted by HPWS and employee outcomes, and employee outcomes positively mediate the relationship between HPWS and organizational performance. This paper supports the theory that HPWS positively impacts organizational performance and explains the mechanisms through which HPWS enhances organizational performance. It also responds to the long-standing call for stressing the importance of employee-related factors in the HRM–performance linkage.     

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.     

The influences of new employee development practices upon role stressors and work-related attitudes of temporary employees

Understanding what influences temporary employee attitudes toward their work is becoming an increasingly significant managerial concern in organizations employing temporary workers. In this empirical study, we examine the relationship between new employee development (NED) practices, role stressors and employee work-related attitudes. It was hypothesized that NED practices will be negatively related to the role stressor variables and that the role stressor variables will be related to employee work-related attitudes. It was further hypothesized that role stressors will mediate the relationship between NED practices and temporary employee work-related attitudes. Since temporary employees receive new employment practices at both the client organization and the temporary agency, the relationships were hypothesized to exist for both the client organization and temporary agency. Data were collected from temporary employees (N = 1,261) across the United States. Results indicate that NED practices at the temporary agency and client organization were both negatively related to role ambiguity and role conflict. Role stressors were positively related to intention to quit and negatively related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment in relation to both client organization and temporary agency. Role ambiguity and role conflict partially mediated the relationship between NED practices and temporary employee work-related attitudes for both the client organization and temporary agency. Theoretical and practical implications for managing temporary employees are discussed.     

Well‐being‐oriented human resource management practices and employee performance in the Chinese banking sector: The role of social climate and resilience

Drawing upon positive psychology and a social relational perspective, this article examines the relationship between well‐being‐oriented human resource management (HRM) practices and employee performance. Our multilevel model examines relationships among collectively experienced well‐being‐oriented HRM practices, social climate (characterized by trust, cooperation, and shared codes and language that exist among individuals within the organization), employee resilience, and employee (in‐role) performance. Based on the two‐wave data obtained from 561 employees and their managers within 62 bank branches in 16 Chinese banks, our multilevel analyses provide support for our four hypotheses. First, we found a positive relationship between well‐being‐oriented HRM practices and social climate. Second, social climate mediated the relationship between well‐being‐oriented HRM practices and employee resilience. Third, we found a positive relationship between resilience and employee performance. Finally, employee resilience mediated the relationship between social climate and employee performance. This study is one of the first to unpack the social mechanisms through which well‐being‐oriented HRM practices increase development of resilience and subsequent employee performance at the workplace, namely through influencing group feelings of social climate.     

The impact of large-scale employee share ownership plans on labour productivity: the case of Eircom

Large-scale employee share ownership plans (ESOPs) have been a distinctive characteristic of Irish public enterprise reform, with shareholdings of 14.9% being allocated to employees as part of firm restructuring and privatisation programmes. This paper presents a case study analysis of a large-scale ESOP in Eircom, Ireland's former national telecommunications operator. We identify changes in labour productivity (LP) during 8 years before and after the establishment of the company's ESOP and use a framework based on Pierce, Rubenfeld and Morgan (1991, The Academy of Management Review, 16, 121–144) and Pierce, Kostova and Dirks (2001, Academy of Management Review, 26, 298–310) to explore the role played by the ESOP. The ESOP was found to play a key role in enabling firm-level reform through concession bargaining and changes in employee relations, and thereby indirectly affecting LP. However, despite the substantial shareholding and influence of the ESOP, we find that it has failed to create a sense of psychological ownership among employees, and thereby further impact on productivity.     

Innovation and productivity: insights from Malaysia's logistics industry

Efficient logistics is critical to a country's trade competitiveness. This paper uses the Data Envelopment Analysis Malmquist Index that includes an innovation component comprising three dimensions (input, process, and output), to assess the impact of innovation by third-party logistics (3PL). We treat the panel data of asset-based 3PL in Malaysia from 2007 to 2012. Three findings hold. First, innovation is not always accompanied by productivity gains. Second, innovation is still lacking in the logistics industry in Malaysia. Third, 3PL need to invest more in technology and stay financially healthy to accelerate the diffusion of innovation under a more competitive cost structure. This paper has two contributions. First, we offer an enhanced methodology for total factor productivity by including an innovation component and apply it for the first time to the logistics industry. Second, we augment the performance measurement literature specific to the logistics industry and our research suggests that the antecedents of productivity in logistics companies are investment and financial strength. These productivity–innovation findings provide insights into Malaysia's logistics industry and may be helpful for economies similar to Malaysia.     

Mapping the relationships between high-performance work systems,employee resilience and engagement: a study of the banking industry in China

Abstract

There is now growing interest in employee resilience in the organizational context and its contribution to organizational performance. However, little is known the extent to which high-performance work systems (HPWS) contributes towards enhancing employee’s resilience as well as their levels of engagement. This study examines the relationships among HPWS, employee resilience and engagement, using a sample of 2040 employees in the Chinese banking industry. Drawing on the job demands-resources model and strategic/high-performance human resource management theory, we develop three hypotheses to test the relationship between HPWS and employee resilience, resilience and employee engagement, and the mediating effect of resilience on the relationship between HPWS and engagement. All hypotheses are supported and suggest that HPWS can be used as a job resource to positively affect resilience and subsequently employee engagement. The key message of the paper is that employee resilience can be viewed as a set of skills and attributes that can be developed through the effective use of HPWS to benefit both individuals and the organization.     

Tracing the effects of employee involvement and participation on trust in managers: an analysis of covariance structures

Using data from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey of Employees, this article employs structural equation modelling in order to trace the effects of employee involvement and participation on the extent to which British workers trust reciprocally in management. The results point to a series of organizational benefits of participation, including increased job influence, a greater sense of job satisfaction and improved levels of commitment and trust in managers. However, increased job influence was paradoxically linked to lower levels of organizational commitment and trust. The findings generally confirm that employee voice is ‘good’ in principle for building trust, but that the effects of employee voice may work against trust development.     

The cross‐cultural study of LMX and individual employee voice: The moderating role of conflict avoidance

This article examines the role of national culture, measured by conflict avoidance, on the relationship between leader–member exchange (LMX) and individual employee voice. Using data collected from automotive industry employees in the United States and Korea, the findings show that conflict avoidance is negatively related to employee voice and also moderates the relationship between LMX and employee voice in the Korean sample. In particular, the relationship between LMX and voice becomes less positive when conflict avoidance is high. On the other hand, conflict avoidance does not have a direct effect on employee voice as well as an interactive effect with LMX on employee voice in the U.S. sample. This study, therefore, highlights the importance of the national culture in the comparative study of employee voice.     

The role of knowledge management practices in supporting employee capacity for improvisation

This study examines the role of knowledge management (KM) practices in fostering the improvisational capacities of employees. A survey data-set of 593 responses of employees in a city organisation was tested with partial least squares modelling. The results indicated that KM practices positively affect employee improvisation. The study suggests that organisations should pay conscious attention to KM practices that foster the utilisation of employee creativity for organisational success.     

Effectiveness of organizational efforts to lower turnover intentions: The moderating role of employee locus of control

In the current career climate characterized by change and turbulence, employees may demonstrate limited psychological attachment to their employers. Rousseau (1998) suggested that organizations can elicit psychological attachment from employees by reinforcing perceptions of organizational membership and demonstrating care and support for them. The effectiveness of these strategies, however, may depend on individuals' personality traits. In this study, we examined the moderating effect of locus of control in the relationship among four valued aspects of the work environment—information sharing, job significance, opportunity for learning, and availability of rewards for performance—and employees' intentions to stay. In two empirical studies, we found that information sharing, job significance, and locus of control interacted to positively affect intentions to stay and that opportunity for learning, availability of rewards for performance, and locus of control also interacted to increase intentions to stay. Implications of these results for theory building and practice are discussed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The contours of employee voice in SMEs: the importance of context

This article develops a context‐sensitive approach to analyse how and why voice operates in small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), an area that remains under‐theorised and under‐researched. By building on a priori frameworks with proven ability to unpack complexity and take account of the wider context of SMEs, this article explores how resources (human and social capital) and constraints (product market, labour market and strategic orientation) interact to shape voice practices. The article finds significant differences between ‘reported’ compared with ‘actual’ practices in situ, and identifies different types of firms (‘strategic market regulation’, ‘strategic market‐led’ and ‘non‐strategic market‐led’) along with the factors that influence the form and practice of voice. Overall, the article argues that researchers should further pursue research that appreciates the layered nature of ontology and the role played by firm context to explain complex organisational phenomena, if we are to advance our understanding of voice practices in SMEs and beyond.