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1 – 10 of over 82000The purpose of this conceptual study is to explain the way in which employees influence social innovation in the employee–organization relationship, such as job crafting, i-deals…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this conceptual study is to explain the way in which employees influence social innovation in the employee–organization relationship, such as job crafting, i-deals, New World of Work, talent management, or high performance work practices.
Methodology/Approach
This study applies a practice perspective in order to explain how employees affect their employee–organization relationship and thus influence the outcomes of social innovation.
Implications
The theoretical exploration suggest that employees can engage in the enactment of the employee–organization relationship in three ways: enacting employment relationships, enacting employment practices, and enacting employment practices’ outcomes. In doing so, they can draw on interpretive schemes, resources, and norms for realizing the benefits of social innovation for themselves and/or their employer.
Originality/Value
Although organizations have started social innovation initiatives that allow employees to actively shape the employee–organization relationship, existing studies still treat employees as inactive recipients in the relationship with their employer. As a result, it remains unclear how social innovation in employee–organization relationships is implemented in practice and thus, how social innovation provides benefits to the employee and the organization. The originality of this study is its focus on how employees, as (pro-)active constituents, shape the employee–organization relationship, for finding better explanations of the outcomes of social innovation initiatives.
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Lynn M Shore, Lois E Tetrick, M.Susan Taylor, Jaqueline A.-M Coyle Shapiro, Robert C Liden, Judi McLean Parks, Elizabeth Wolfe Morrison, Lyman W Porter, Sandra L Robinson, Mark V Roehling, Denise M Rousseau, René Schalk, Anne S Tsui and Linn Van Dyne
The employee-organization relationship (EOR) has increasingly become a focal point for researchers in organizational behavior, human resource management, and industrial relations…
Abstract
The employee-organization relationship (EOR) has increasingly become a focal point for researchers in organizational behavior, human resource management, and industrial relations. Literature on the EOR has developed at both the individual – (e.g. psychological contracts) and the group and organizational-levels of analysis (e.g. employment relationships). Both sets of literatures are reviewed, and we argue for the need to integrate these literatures as a means for improving understanding of the EOR. Mechanisms for integrating these literatures are suggested. A subsequent discussion of contextual effects on the EOR follows in which we suggest that researchers develop models that explicitly incorporate context. We then examine a number of theoretical lenses to explain various attributes of the EOR such as the dynamism and fairness of the exchange, and new ways of understanding the exchange including positive functional relationships and integrative negotiations. The article concludes with a discussion of future research needed on the EOR.
Alvaro López‐Cabrales, Ramon Valle and Jose L. Galan
This paper seeks to analyse whether the firm model of employment relationships is associated with functional flexibility and organisational learning (exploratory versus…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to analyse whether the firm model of employment relationships is associated with functional flexibility and organisational learning (exploratory versus exploitative). It also aims to assess the mediating effect of functional flexibility in the relationship between a specific employment mode (mutual investment) and organisational learning.
Design/methodology/approach
This research was conducted using a sample of Spanish companies in the food industry, from which data from HR managers and production managers in each firm were collected. Cluster analyses, MANOVA and regression analyses were applied to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results suggest that those firms developing a mutual investment employment relationship outperform other firms in terms of functional flexibility and organisational learning (both exploitative and exploratory learning). The paper also finds a mediating effect of one dimension of functional flexibility (range‐number of activities) between mutual investment and exploitative learning.
Research limitations/implications
The principal limitation of this paper is the cross‐sectional study design, because the dynamic character of learning would require a longitudinal study design. The main research implications are derived from the combination of employment relationships, variety of dimensions of flexibility and learning, and identification of a model of direct and mediating effects among variables.
Practical implications
The results of this paper suggest that a model of employment relationships (mutual investment) favours not only functional flexibility but also ambidextrous learning. Thus, the findings not only provide a broader understanding of the variables associated with HRM, employment relationships and/or flexibility, but also reinforce the strategic role of HRM through its contribution to the development of such a relevant organisational capability that learning represents.
Originality/value
The paper combined a series of variables that previous studies have rarely treated in combination: employment relationships, functional flexibility and exploitative versus exploratory learning. This paper also discusses different dimensions of functional flexibility (range‐number of activities, heterogeneity, mobility, and uniformity), demonstrating the association of some of these dimensions with exploratory or exploitative learning.
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Most research on employment relationship has been done on the Anglo‐Saxon context, the results of which may not be totally valid for India. The emerging employment relationship in…
Abstract
Purpose
Most research on employment relationship has been done on the Anglo‐Saxon context, the results of which may not be totally valid for India. The emerging employment relationship in India is best viewed through the lens of psychological contracts. Psychological contract has significant influence on valuable workplace outcomes. This paper seeks to propose a model for understanding employment relationship through the concept of psychological contracts.
Design/methodology/approach
With the help of published case studies in the Indian context and based on social exchange theory, this paper proposes a model wherein trust mediates the relationship between the perception of breach of the psychological contract and HR systems.
Findings
As more and more employees come under non‐unionized workforce, the non‐formal aspects of employment through the lens of psychological contracts becomes an important lever to manage employment relationships. The model presented in this paper suggests that depending on the HR system an organization adopts, the perception of breach of psychological contract gets affected. Based on the notion of consistency of HR practices, it is argued that HR systems across organizations form two archetypal extremes and each of these give rise to a different perception of breach of psychological contract.
Originality/value
As HR managers are faced with a range of choices in implementing HR systems, it becomes difficult to narrow down the available options. This study would provide some guidelines to do so, by highlighting the process through which HR systems impact the perception of breach of psychological contracts and the resulting employment relationship.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine potential differences in identity commitment and career success perceptions between casually and permanently employed nurses. Specifically…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine potential differences in identity commitment and career success perceptions between casually and permanently employed nurses. Specifically, it aims to investigate whether casually employed nurses have lower levels of commitment to their professional identity, as compared to permanently employed nurses, and whether this in turn negatively affects their perceptions of career success.
Design/methodology/approach
Role identity theory was used to predict the career success perceptions of casually employed (n=181) versus permanently employed (n=476) nurses. Data were collected via a self‐report questionnaire.
Findings
The data revealed that casual nurses had lower levels of identity commitment and more negative career success perceptions. Affective commitment fully mediated the relationship between employment status and subjective career success.
Research limitations/implications
Future studies should test the replicability of these findings with longitudinal data.
Originality/value
This paper provides novel insights to the temporary employment and careers literatures. Given the previously uncharted territory of understanding the role of identity in the career success perceptions of different categories of workers, it opens avenues for future research, while also answering theoretical questions about the identity and career consequences of temporary employment.
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Marianna Giunchi, Maria José Chambel and Chiara Ghislieri
Temporary agency workers (TAWs) have a double employment relationship: one with the agency that hires them with a formal contract, either temporary or permanent; and another with…
Abstract
Purpose
Temporary agency workers (TAWs) have a double employment relationship: one with the agency that hires them with a formal contract, either temporary or permanent; and another with the client organization where they actually perform their work. As the social-exchange theory assumes that TAWs respond to the support they receive from both organizations with affective commitment toward the respective organization. The purpose of this paper is to propose that the type of contract with the agency moderates these relationships, specifically that permanent TAWs present a stronger relationship between perceived organizational support (POS) and affective organizational commitment (AOC) toward the agency and, to the contrary, that temporary TAWs show a greater relationship between POS and AOC toward the client.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses were tested with a sample of 522 Portuguese TAWs, of which 265 were temporaries and 257 were permanents. Data were collected with a self-report questionnaire and analyzed with multigroup analysis using the AMOS program.
Findings
The authors verified that POS from both the employment agency and the client organization were related to the TAWs’ affective commitment to each respective organization. Furthermore, the relationship between POS from the employment agency and the affective commitment to this organization was stronger in permanent than in temporary TAWs. However, contrary to the expectations, the contract with the agency did not moderate the relationship with client organizations: temporary and permanent TAWs showed a similar relationship between POS from this organization and their affective commitment toward it.
Practical implications
These findings show the important organizational role of both the employment agency and the client in supporting their TAWs and attending to the type of contract they have with the employment agency.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the analysis of the TAWs’ double employment relationship and highlights the role of the agency contract in the explanation of these relationships.
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Sílvia Lopes, Maria José Chambel and Francisco Cesário
This research focused on agency work. Previous studies highlighted the importance of motivations to understand workers’ attitudes, behaviors and well-being. Thus, the purpose of…
Abstract
Purpose
This research focused on agency work. Previous studies highlighted the importance of motivations to understand workers’ attitudes, behaviors and well-being. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the contribution of perceptions of support from organizations to autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment, the relationship of motivations with workers’ well-being and the mediating role of motivations between perceptions of organizational support (POS) and workers’ well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses were tested with a sample of 3,983 temporary agency workers and using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The authors verified that POS from the agency contributed to both autonomous motivation and controlled motivation for temporary agency employment, whereas POS from the client company only contributed to autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment. Moreover, autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment was positively associated with workers’ well-being. Contrary to expectations, controlled motivation for temporary agency employment was not significantly associated with workers’ well-being. As predicted, autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment was a mediator in the relationship between POS and workers’ well-being.
Research limitations/implications
The study relies on self-reported data, and it does not have a longitudinal design.
Practical implications
An important implication of this research study is that organizations, through the support provided to the workers, may contribute positively to increase workers’ autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment, and, in turn, more autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment relates to higher levels of workers’ well-being.
Originality/value
The study innovates by including in the same model variables that may contribute to workers’ motivation for temporary agency employment as well as the outcomes that may arise from workers’ motivation for temporary agency employment.
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Irit Alony, Helen Hasan, Andrew Sense and Michael Jones
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel direction of enquiry into predictions of employee turnover through the application of a qualitative method adapted from marital…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel direction of enquiry into predictions of employee turnover through the application of a qualitative method adapted from marital research. This method focuses on diagnosing the relationship, and has been able to predict divorce with an accuracy of over 90 per cent, as opposed to existing turnover prediction methods’ modest success of about 30 per cent. By demonstrating that the method can be applied to turnover research, this study completes a seminal step in developing this promising direction of enquiry.
Design/methodology/approach
The Oral History Interview method for predicting divorce is adapted to employment settings, and tested on Australian legal and healthcare employees. A qualitative analysis of their responses maps the results from this inquiry onto separation-predicting processes identified in marital research. The results are compared to turnover data collected two years later.
Findings
Similar relational processes exist in marital and employment relationships when the marital relationship diagnostics method is applied to organisational settings, demonstrating the utility of this tool in the employment context. Preliminary turnover data indicate that some relational processes are significantly associated with employee turnover.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should examine the predictive power of this tool on a larger sample, and apply it to a wider range of professions, tenure, and positions.
Practical implications
The results indicate that it is viable to diagnose an employment relationship using this diagnostics method developed in marital research.
Social implications
The novel perspective offered in this paper has potential to greatly improve this employment relationship across jobs and organisations, thus improving organisational productivity and individual wellbeing.
Originality/value
Researchers of employee turnover and practitioners seeking to understand and manage it can benefit from this novel and practical perspective on employment.
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This paper aims to examine the long‐run and dynamic behaviors of real wage‐employment‐productivity relationship, using Malaysian manufacturing data, and to determine which related…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the long‐run and dynamic behaviors of real wage‐employment‐productivity relationship, using Malaysian manufacturing data, and to determine which related labor theories are supported.
Design/methodology/approach
Time‐series econometric techniques, which include stationarity and cointegration tests, vector error correction model, impulse response function and variance decomposition, are applied to analyze the relationships of real wages, employment and productivity.
Findings
A long run relationship exists between real wages, employment and real productivity, with real wages being the main variable that adjusts to maintain cointegration. The theory that real wages inversely affect employment is not supported, while the performance‐based pay scheme theory, and not the efficiency wage theory, is validated.
Research limitations/implications
Although the data used to measure wages and employment account for most of the production in the various manufacturing sectors, they do not include all the manufacturing industries. The analysis is also limited in time span since data for earlier periods are not available.
Practical implications
The findings can provide assistance to policy makers in their implementation and evaluation of labor policies.
Originality/value
The real wage‐employment‐productivity relationship is examined in the framework of the Malaysian manufacturing sector, and the study includes both the long‐term and short‐run behaviors of the variables.
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Claudia Susana Gómez López and Karla Susana Barrón Arreola
This paper aims to study the relationship between employment and tourism activities as well as economic variables for the 32 states of Mexico for the period 1999-2014.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the relationship between employment and tourism activities as well as economic variables for the 32 states of Mexico for the period 1999-2014.
Design/methodology/approach
To study the case of Mexico, the authors use panel data and cointegration panel data. They also use geographic information systems to observe changes over time between the variables, which is useful in the empirical evidence.
Findings
The main results obtained by the models are as following: domestic tourism is the variable with the greatest impact on the generation of direct employment in the tourism sector, a finding supported by both methodologies; economic growth (measured by state gross domestic product) also directly impacts the generation of employment; and the cointegration of the panels causes a long-term equilibrium among the states and some variables.
Research limitations/implications
The model used leaves out other variables that may influence the performance of the tourist activity. In addition, given the availability of official and homogeneous information, it only covers what has been documented up to 2014.
Social implications
The aim is to measure the impact of tourism on the variables at the state level, where the economic activities could be based on public policies, as well as the importance of tourism activities in generating employment. In this sense, the impact would be in channeling efforts to support the main economic activities and could serve as a starting point for the evaluation of programs to promote domestic tourism.
Originality/value
This paper reviews the relationship that exists between tourism activity and its effect on other variables, especially employment. It is the first time that these topics are studied for the Mexican economy.
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