The ‘country-of-origin effect’ in employee turnover intention: evidence from China

The increasing presence of foreign direct investment in China has boosted the competition for talent among different multinational corporations (MNCs) from diverse national backgrounds. This article investigates the differences in the human resource management (HRM) approaches adopted by the US, European, and Japanese MNC subsidiaries operating in China and explores the relationships between employees' perceptions toward the HRM approaches and turnover intention. Significant differences in the HRM approaches and employees' level of turnover intention were found, indicating a ‘country-of-origin effect’ in HRM approaches that subsequently influences employees' attitudes. In addition, this article produces evidence suggesting that the perception of HRM characteristics predicts employees' intentions to quit. Implications for HRM convergence or divergence debate are discussed.     

Committed to the organization or the job? Effects of perceived HRM practices on employees' behavioral outcomes in the Japanese healthcare industry

This paper attempts to document how employees' perceptions of organizations' human resource management (HRM) practices influence their work behavior and outcomes, including the level of turnover intentions and job quality improvement, in a Japanese organizational and management context. In particular, an examination was made to clarify the mediating role of person–environment (P–E) fit and multiple aspects of work commitment to reach possible explanations of the relationships between perceived HRM practices and employees' behavioral outcomes, following recent work that studied the above linkages. The results of structural equation modeling using a sample of 1052 healthcare service employees in Japan provided basic support for the idea that the effects of HRM practices and employees' behavioral outcomes are neither direct nor unconditional. Moreover, employees' evaluations of their fit and commitment to their organizations were found to be the important mediators of the relationships between perceived HRM practices, while their evaluations of their fit to and involvement in their jobs were not. The findings are used to discuss why the specific forms of P–E fit and work commitment appear salient in Japanese organizations. The generalizability of the findings and the limitations of the study are discussed.     

Harmony and organizational citizenship behavior in Chinese organizations

From the divergence perspective in human resource management (HRM), this paper develops an indigenous framework exploring the mechanisms between the prominent cultural characteristic of harmony originating from Confucian ideology, and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) as well as job satisfaction in the Chinese context. By employing structural equation modeling, our findings demonstrate that the degree of harmony is positively related to employees' OCB and job satisfaction, and that job satisfaction positively mediates the relationship between the degree of harmony and OCB. This research – that examines the relationships between Chinese harmony grounding in an art-based view and employees' display of OCB derived from Western theories – is a response to the recent calls for introducing valid context-specific measures and considering the cultural impact on individual behaviors in HRM. This study suggests that firms in China may encourage employee OCB and job satisfaction by boosting harmonious level at workplace. It provides a useful guideline for multinational enterprises eager to effectively manage Chinese employees, and enriches non-Chinese managers' understanding of the values of harmony in China.     

Variability in HRM implementation among line managers and its effect on performance: a 2-1-2 mediational multilevel approach

Over the last few decades, a substantial body of research has examined the relationship between human resource management (HRM) and performance. However, little attention has been given to the implementation of HRM, although an HR policy can be implemented in various ways within an organization. In addressing recent calls in the literature to examine this issue more closely, we study the role of line managers in implementing HRM and the influence of employees' perceptions of HRM. In a multilevel study of 315 employees and 41 line managers drawn from various work-units of a Dutch municipality, we tested whether HR practices, as implemented by line managers, affect employees' perceptions of HRM and whether these perceptions in turn relate to perceived unit performance. The analysis shows that implemented HR practices differed between work-units. More specifically, our study shows that these differences can be explained by a line manager's leadership style. Moreover, our findings indicate that employees' perceptions of the HR practices implemented mediate the relationship between the HR practices implemented by line managers and perceived unit performance. These findings contribute to our understanding of how HRM affects performance.     

The effects of labour costs and workplace constraints on foreign direct investment among highly industrialized countries

Drawing on economic propositions underlying theories of foreign direct investment and organizational propositions underlying international human resource management strategic decision making, the theoretical model developed herein integrates two distinct but interrelated strategic HRM assessments. In deciding where to invest, multinational companies (MNCs) assess both (1) the net comparative labour cost advantages associated with alternative host-country IR systems and (2) the comparative flexibility afforded them by alternative IR systems to either transfer or create preferred HRM strategies abroad. The results of the present study indicate that, on average, MNCs from the major investor countries of the world give substantial weight to differences in national IR systems in deciding how much to invest across alternative high-skill, highwage countries. In particular, the evidence indicates that MNCs have invested more in countries with higher skills, lower compensation costs and lesser government and collective bargaining constraints on MNCs' flexibility to set the terms and conditions of employment or otherwise deploy preferred HRM practices abroad.     

The relationship between employees' perceptions of human resource management and their retention: from the viewpoint of attitudes toward job-specialties

The purpose of this study is threefold. The first one is to investigate the relationship between employees' perceptions of human resource management (HRM) based on the commitment model and their turnover intentions (retention). The second one examines the relationship between employees' attitudes toward job-specialties and retention. The third one analyzes the impact of attitudes toward job-specialties on the relationship between employees' perceptions of HRM and retention. The facts and conclusions presented in this paper were obtained from a study of 400 employees. For the first one, the results of a multiple regression analysis showed that perceptions of rewards based on fair appraisal and job security have an effect on retention and moreover, overall perceptions of HRM increased retention. For the second one, results of a multiple regression analysis showed that inter-organizational career self-efficacy has a negative effect on retention. On the other hand, no relationship was observed between specialty commitment and retention. For the third one, inter-organizational career self-efficacy did not have an effect on the relationship between perceptions of HRM and retention but specialty commitment improved the relationship. As a whole, the importance of employees' attitudes toward job-specialties on the multi-step process model of retention and its diverse impacts and relationships were clarified.     

The influence of collectivist human resource management practices on team-level identification

In this study, we investigate how a culturally specific human resource management (HRM) approach influences employees' relational identification at the team level, which may in turn influence the behavior of team members. Given the boundary condition of a collectivistic societal culture, collectivist HRM helps improve employees' team-level identification and their performance. Collecting empirical data from firms in different regions of China, we found that the collectivism-oriented HRM approach has a positive effect on employees' team-level relational identification. This team-level identification, in turn, can significantly improve the job satisfaction of team members and reduce their turnover intention. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our findings for academic researchers and practitioners.     

Mind the Intended‐Implemented Gap: Understanding Employees’ Perceptions of HRM

This study aims to shed light on the implementation of HR practices as a key piece of the human resource management (HRM)–performance puzzle. Although the literature suggests that discrepancies between the organization's intended and implemented HR practices are essential to understanding employees’ perceptions of and reactions to HRM, little attention has been devoted to this issue. Drawing upon a multiple‐case study of German health and social services organizations, we therefore explore the linkages (and potential gaps) between intended, implemented, and perceived HR practices. Our study provides new insights into the underlying mechanisms of this relationship, highlighting an organization's ability to leverage its resources as playing a crucial moderating role in implementing intended HR practices, while employees’ expectations of HRM moderate the link between implemented and perceived HR practices. We advance a set of propositions that contributes to a more nuanced, multilevel understanding of the complex phenomenon of HRM implementation. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

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

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

Unionised employee's reactions to the introduction of a goal‐based performance appraisal system1

While performance appraisal research has a rich history, we sought to address a long‐noted void in the human resource management (HRM) literature, namely an investigation of employees' reactions to a newly introduced performance appraisal. Specifically, we examined the reaction of 408 unionised employees to a newly introduced performance appraisal system. Reactions examined included appraisal satisfaction, job satisfaction, appraisal fairness, goal setting and the perceived purpose of the system. Satisfaction with the appraisal system was higher when (a) employees perceived it as being fair, (b) it was used primarily for developmental purposes and (c) it allowed them to participate in goal setting. Of additional importance, perception of a developmental focus in the appraisal partially mediated the relationship between appraisal satisfaction, and each of job satisfaction, appraisal fairness and goal setting.     

The influence of human resource management on knowledge sharing and innovation in Spain: the mediating role of affective commitment

The aim of this paper is to explain and to test empirically how human resource management (HRM) practices contribute to knowledge sharing and innovation through employees' affective commitment. Results show that HRM practices do not influence knowledge sharing in a direct way, but they do have a positive effect when affective commitment mediates the relationship. We also find a positive relationship between knowledge sharing and innovation performance. That is, HRM practices contribute to knowledge creation and innovation through the generation of the affective commitment necessary for employees to be willing to share their knowledge. The relationships identified have been tested by applying structural equation models to a sample of 87 R&D departments of Spanish innovative companies.     

MNC responses to the legal environment of international human resource management

Comparative management studies have not examined the complex regulatory forces that govern transnational employment relationships nor assessed their potential impact on multinational companies (MNCs). A model is presented to assess the effects that indigenous law, transnational law and organizational policies will have on the human resource management (HRM) function in MNCs. Several propositions are developed as well to guide future research in this area.     

HR's strategic role within MNCs: helping build social capital in Latin America

In this article, we adopt a holistic perspective in considering the impact of the country's environment as well as the multinational corporations (MNCs) strategy on human resource (HR) practices. More importantly, we argue that within MNCs human resource management (HRM) is playing a central role in the process of balancing local and global forces. HR can be critical in helping MNCs' deal with local differences while also helping the company implement practices that are critical for its global strategy. Specifically, we argue that HR plays a key role in developing social capital, which may provide the necessary ‘substitutes’ for formal control that would otherwise be neglected. Our contribution lies primarily in outlining how this new role of creating human capital confers on HR the task of filtering mission-critical practices through a ‘localization mesh’ that ensures success. In addition, given the importance of social capital as an informal mechanism that allows MNCs to coordinate and integrate activities, we suggest ways in which an MNC can build social capital within the context of the Latin American pan-regional cultural values.     

Performance benefits of reward choice: a procedural justice perspective

Reward choice – employees' ability to exercise control over the formal rewards they receive from work – is an important part of many HRM strategies. Reward choice is expected to increase employee performance, but conflicting findings highlight the need to better understand how and when it will do so. Based on fairness heuristic theory, we predicted that procedural justice mediates reward choice's influence on performance, and that choice attractiveness moderates that influence. A field study and an experiment both had similar results, supporting our predictions. Reward choice can increase performance by as much as 40 per cent, but only when the available choices are attractive to employees.     

How does the availability and use of flexible leave influence the employer–employee relationship?

In this article, we develop, and empirically test, a moderated mediation model of the effects of flexible leave on employees' organizational attachment. Drawing on a social exchange framework and signaling theory, we explore how the material and non-material nature of exchange between the employer and employee shapes their relationship. First, we show that the relationship between the availability of flexible leave and organizational attachment is shaped by two competing mediators, perceived organizational support (POS) and perceived flexibility stigma. Second, we delineate between availability and use of the policy, to show how the effect of POS is enhanced and perceived flexibility stigma reduced, with use. Our findings demonstrate that the relationship between the availability of flexible leave and organizational attachment is complex, but is enhanced through use of flexible leave. We contribute toward HRM scholarship about the relationship between employees' experience of HR practices and their corresponding impact on employees' subsequent behavior.     

Exploring the factors associated with employees' perceived appraisal accuracy: a study of Chinese state-owned enterprises

Western employment practices have increasingly been used in emerging markets, but little is known about the factors influencing non-Western employees' views regarding Western employment practices. This paper presents a study that investigates the factors associated with Chinese employees' perceived appraisal accuracy. Based on the extant literature, the study tests six aspects of a performance appraisal (PA) system: employees' perceptions of distributive justice, procedural justice, interactional justice, administrative purpose, developmental purpose and the use of multiple raters. A mixed methods approach was used to collect the data; quantitative data collected from a survey were used to test the hypothesized relationships and qualitative data collected from interviews were used to help explain the underlying logic behind the relationships. The results of the hypotheses testing show that employees' perceived accuracy of PA is positively associated with the three types of justice and the two purposes of PA. The findings from the interviews indicate that employees' perceptions of appraisal accuracy are influenced by certain Chinese cultural characteristics and management traditions. The implications of the findings for research and practice are discussed.     

The management of professional employees: linking progressive HRM practices,cognitive orientations and organizational citizenship behavior

Abstract

The present research examines the relationships between progressive HRM practices and the organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) of professional employees. Drawing on recent HRM literature, our research model includes a perceived organizational support (POS)-commitment mediation hypothesis. Taking into account previous studies on professional employees, a job satisfaction-commitment pathway is also integrated. We tested both mediational pathways as part of a single structural equation model using a sample of 329 professional employees. Our results show that the relationship between recognition and OCB is mediated by the POS-commitment pathway, while the relationships between fairness of rewards, skills development and OCB are mediated by the job satisfaction-commitment pathway. The specificities of the HRM of professional employees related to their multiple cognitive orientations are discussed.     

Trust in management: the role of employee voice arrangements and perceived managerial opposition to unions

This study examines the relationship between employee voice arrangements and employees' trust in management using data from the 2007 Australian Worker Representation and Participation Survey of 1,022 employees. Drawing on social exchange theory and employee relations literature, we test hypotheses concerning the relationships between direct and union voice arrangements, perceived managerial opposition to unions and employees' trust in management. Consistent with our predictions, after controlling for a range of personal, job and workplace characteristics, regression analyses indicated that direct voice arrangements were positively related to employees' trust in management. Union voice arrangements and perceived managerial opposition to unions were negatively related to trust in management. The article concludes by highlighting the study's implications for management practice and avenues for further research.     

Fairness perceptions and work attitudes revisited: roles of employee specialty,hospital level and ownership

Compensation is widely acknowledged as an important job element in the eyes of employees. Health care is a special industry in which compensation received by employees differs greatly. This study examines empirically the relationships between hospital employees' perceptions of compensation fairness and their work attitudes, taking into account the roles of employee specialty, hospital level and ownership. Using data from 2,938 employees of thirty hospitals in Taiwan, the results indicate that fairness perceptions and work attitudes differ significantly among hospital employees according to their specialties. Hospital level and ownership exert impacts on employees' fairness perceptions, although not on their work attitudes. A positive relationship is observed between fairness perceptions and work attitudes of hospital employees.     

Extrinsic motivation as a determinant of knowledge exchange in sales teams: A social network approach

This paper investigates extrinsic motivation as a determinant of knowledge exchange among employees in sales teams. Applying a social network approach, we study different forms of knowledge-exchange behaviors from the perspective of a focal employee and from the perspective of the dyad. From the focal employees' perspective, we disentangle knowledge seeking from knowledge providing, and argue that these two behaviors are affected differently by employees' extrinsic motivation. From the dyad perspective, we take similarity in motivation of tied-to employees and reciprocity of exchange ties into account. To test our hypotheses, we apply exponential random graph models to data gathered from 138 employees in five different sales teams distributed across three companies in Central Europe. The results of our analysis from the focal employees' perspective show that extrinsically motivated employees generally engage in less knowledge exchange. The dyad perspective further highlights that sales employees proceed purposefully when they exchange knowledge with coworkers. For instance, two employees' relative levels of extrinsic motivation determine their willingness to engage in reciprocal knowledge exchange. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on the microfoundations of organizational knowledge management and draw conclusions concerning HRM practices used to foster extrinsic motivation, thereby affecting knowledge exchange.