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This paper aims to examine the relationship between perceived investments in employees’ development (PIED) on work engagement and the moderating effects of psychological capital on this relationship for liquid knowledge workers, employed in the Indian cutting and polishing of diamond industry (CPD).

A questionnaire composed of established scales was administered to 134 liquid knowledge workers. Having established convergent and discriminant validity using structural equation modelling, the model was further analysed using the Process macro to check for direct and moderating effects.

The research findings suggest that the perceived investment in employee development and psychological contract enhancement (relational and transactional) made by CPD units for liquid knowledge workers positively influenced their work engagement level. The study also finds that relational contract (not transactional contract) positively moderates the relationship between perceived investment in employee development and work engagement.

This is a cross-sectional single source study; future studies could look at longitudinal and multisource perspective.

The study presents a “star matrix of engagement” that guides the application of the two strategies of perceived employee development and psychological contract enhancement for liquid knowledge workers. This has implications for design and implementation of human resource management practices and policies for employee management.

The study makes significant contributions to existing literature on antecedents of work engagement of liquid knowledge workers by examining the direct and moderating influences.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the relationship between perceived investment in employee development (PIED) and taking charge is moderated by perceived job autonomy.

Self-report data were obtained from 737 employees. In addition, manager ratings of taking charge were obtained for 154 employees from their respective managers. Hierarchical moderated regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses.

The results revealed a positive relationship between PIED and both self-reported and manager-rated taking charge only for employees who perceived high levels of job autonomy.

Given the cross-sectional nature of the data, no causal inferences can be drawn.

Managers and organizations may benefit from providing work conditions that facilitate a felt obligation to reciprocate, but at the same time provide sufficient levels of perceived job autonomy to actually do so with respect to increasing the levels of employees’ voluntary and constructive efforts to improve work situations.

Greater levels of employee taking charge behaviors may offset the decline of businesses and thus aid in reducing long-term unemployment in the society at large.

This study contributes to a more complete understanding of how job characteristics may facilitate or inhibit the influence of antecedents for taking charge.

Interest has been generated for a while in unpacking the “black box” and providing a contingency approach to understanding the effects of human resource management (HRM) practices. This study aims to investigate the possibility that the relationship between human capital development and task performance is mediated by work self-efficacy and work engagement – and that this mediation depends on the degree of perceived investment in employees’ development.

Based on a synthesis of theories –systems, social cognitive and social identity theories – a moderated mediation model is tested using data from 220 academic employees and Heads of Departments from multiple Higher Educational Institutions in Ghana. AMOS and Hayes Conditional Process analysis were used to analyze the data.

The study finds support for a bundle of human capital investments boosting work self-efficacy and motivating work engagement, as well as task performance. Consistent with expectations, the mediation in human capital investments to task performance via work self-efficacy is conditional on the degree of perceived investment in employees’ development.

The study provides the first attempt at studying a conditional process model in human capital development by addressing whether, how and when human capital system functions more or less effectively, and provides knowledge on the “black box” in HRM.

Owing to business uncertainty, it is prudent for organizations to rely on temporary employees to achieve numerical flexibility. This paper investigates the effect of perceived investment in temporary employee development (PITED) on organizational performance (OP) through the mediation process of organizational identification (OI), work engagement (WE) and the moderation process of perceived human resource policies (PHRP). A conceptual framework was built on social exchange theory and job demands-resource theory.

Data was collected from skilled temporary employees deputed at client organizations in the information technology business process management (IT-BPM) industry. Analysis was done using the partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) method using SmartPLS 3.0 software.

The study established a significant association between PITED, OI and OP, in which OI acts as a partial mediator. In contrast, the mediating relationship of WE between PITED and OP was insignificant. PHRP moderated the relationship between PITED and OP.

This research suggests to top management and human resource leaders that PITED makes temporary employees identify with client organizations, resulting in increased OP.

This research builds on theoretical assumptions to adopt a temporary employee perspective on organizational initiatives and performance in the IT-BPM industry, which is uncommon.

In response to the call for deeper investigation of abusive supervision (Martinko et al., 2013), the purpose of this paper is to examine perceived supervisor competence and perceived employee mobility (an individual’s perception of his/her ability to obtain new employment) to better understand contextual and individual factors that potentially influence the degree of harmful supervisory behaviors experienced by employees.

Responses from 749 survey participants were analyzed to determine the impact of perceived supervisor competence and perceived employee mobility on perceptions of abusive supervisory conduct. A bootstrapping-based mediation analysis (Hayes, 2012) was used to test for mediation by the variables of interest.

The authors found that perceived supervisor competence is associated with weakened perceptions of abusive supervision, and that this relationship is partially mediated by respondents’ perceived occupational mobility.

The data are cross-sectional and were collected with a self-report questionnaire and compiled utilizing student-enumerators. The sample was also regional in scope and lacked information that would indicate if respondents were also supervisors.

These results imply that perceptions of abusive supervision can be mitigated by building stronger competencies in supervisors, which translates into greater individual employee perceived mobility. Human resource (HR) professionals can implement practices to decrease the likelihood of abusive supervisory conduct by ensuring that supervisors are competent in their jobs, facilitating a coaching/mentoring process between supervisors and subordinates and establishing/maintaining an effective developmental performance feedback process for supervisors.

Since perceived supervisor competence is one element of reducing abusive conduct, while also enhancing subordinate perceived mobility, selection and training efforts should focus on hiring and preparing individuals to be effective work supervisors. Enhancing worker capabilities and marketability may result in greater perceived occupational mobility and reduced perceptions of abuse by supervisors.

These results lend support to the argument that perceptions of abusive supervision can be mitigated by building stronger competencies in supervisors, which translates into greater perceived mobility among employees. Organizations may benefit through lowered employee turnover, employees may enjoy more harmonious, supportive relationships with their supervisors and HR staff may benefit by having competent supervisors who do not generate employee complaints and intentions to quit.

Although social exchange theory has long been used to explain employees’ positive work attitudes in response to perceived investment in employee development (PIED), few studies have examined this theoretical mechanism by introducing a direct measure of social exchange between employees and their personified organization. Furthermore, most studies have focused solely on one type of exchange (i.e. social exchange) and have ignored another type of exchange characterized as economic exchange. The purpose of this paper is therefore to uncover the process by which PIED affects employees’ attitudes, including affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction, by examining the mediating roles of both social and economic exchanges.

To test the hypothesized mediating model, this study conducted a three-phase, time-lagged questionnaire survey and collected data from 545 full-time employees. The model was tested based on structural equation modeling with a bootstrap test of indirect effects.

In line with social exchange theory, the findings showed that social exchange perceptions positively mediated the relationships between PIED and affective commitment/job satisfaction, whereas economic exchange perceptions negatively mediated them. Additionally, social and economic exchange perceptions were found to partially mediate the relationship between PIED and affective commitment but fully mediate the relationship between PIED and job satisfaction.

These results suggest that employers would benefit from investing in employee development, provided workers see the training investment as the employer’s side of social exchange, which in turn leads to increased affective commitment and job satisfaction. When employers do not achieve the expected returns from the training investment, they should check not only hard data (e.g. training attendance rate, hours of training, etc.) but also soft data (e.g. employees’ perceptions of training investment, social exchange, etc.) by conducting employee surveys and communicating with line managers.

The main contribution of this study is that it provides important empirical support for social exchange theory in the context of organizational training investment and employees’ attitudinal outcomes, by directly testing the positive mediating role of social exchange and the negative role of economic exchange.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between home-to-work spillover, measured as positive and negative home–work interference (HWI) and turnover intentions, as well as the mediating role of perceptions concerning training and development practices.

Data were collected among 418 respondents who were working at two business schools. A confirmative structural equation modeling analysis was conducted for the analysis.

As expected, positive HWI showed negative relationships with turnover intentions, while negative HWI related positively to turnover intentions. Training and development practices mediated the relationship between positive HWI and turnover intentions; the mediation effect was stronger for women than it was for men. Training and development practices did not mediate the relationship between negative HWI and turnover intentions, however.

The outcomes suggest that helping employees to balance their work and home lives can be beneficial for employees, as well as for employers in terms of reducing turnover intentions.

As contributions, additional insight into the relationship between positive and negative non-work factors and turnover intentions by examining the ways in which both positive as well as negative HWI are related to turnover intentions. Furthermore, the research considers the mediating role played by perceptions concerning human resource (HR) practices, and particularly training and development practices as perceived by the employee, in the relationship between positive and negative HWI and turnover intentions.

Whether expatriate cross-cultural training programs significantly influence expatriate adjustment has been debated for more than two decades. The purpose of this paper is to examine a pivotal variable not yet addressed in the literature: the expatriate's perceptions of the employer's investment in the training (termed “perceived corporate training investment”: PCTI).

Completed surveys were collected from 71 hotel expatriate managers stationed around the globe.

When an expatriate manager perceives that his/her company's investment in expatriate training (PCTI) exceeds industry standards, it leads to enhanced work adjustment. Interestingly, PCTI is also found to significantly influence the expatriate's general adjustment in the foreign culture. A firm's organizational learning climate mediates the relationship between PCTI and both forms of adjustment (work and general).

It could prove informative for future research to model additional variables in these relationships, such as an expatriate's spousal support.

These findings suggest that firms should not only invest in expatriate training, but should also communicate to their expatriates the extent and importance that they assign to investment in training to foster a positive learning climate that in turn improves adjustment.

This research is the first to examine perceived corporate training investment (PCTI). Since PCTI is found to ultimately influence an expatriate's work adjustment and general adjustment, it is a key variable that should be considered by multinational hotel firms.

To examine the association between talent management (TM) and perceived subsidiary performance. Focus is given to the development of one key talent group – line managers – in subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNCs). Specifically, the paper examines: whether there is a positive relationship between Management Development (MD) and perceived subsidiary performance; and whether national context mediates any link between MD and perceived subsidiary performance.

A multi‐respondent survey was undertaken generating a sample of 143 UK‐owned MNCs. For each organisation, interviews were completed with the Head of HR at corporate Head Quarters; the HR Manager/Specialist and a line manager in both the domestic and foreign subsidiaries of the sample organisation. A total of 5 respondents per organisation is used in the analysis.

The link between the MD variables and perceived subsidiary performance is consistently positive and robust in all of the models estimated. HR having a strategic role in the organisation is positively associated with perceived subsidiary performance; the interaction between strategic HR and the level and extent of MD and perceived subsidiary performance is also highly significant and positive. National context significantly mediates the relationship between MD and perceived subsidiary performance.

Investing in talent management, specifically the development of the key talent group of line managers, is positively associated with perceived subsidiary performance. The national context in which this investment is undertaken is found to affect the associated returns. The sample analysed is for UK owned MNCs only and, thus, the potential for “country of origin” effects is not examined.

In previous economic downturns, training and development budgets have often been drastically reduced. While any such slashing in MD budgets will reduce expenditure – given the positive association found in this analysis between the level and extent of MD and perceived subsidiary performance – this approach is likely to only have short‐run benefits and could jeopardise future competitive advantage. Continued investment in talent is likely to be pivotal for sustained competitive advantage.

The multi‐respondent and multi‐location methodology used is highly original and the findings contribute to the expanding literature on the relationship between MD and performance/perceived performance of organisations.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of perceived investment in employee development (PIED) on knowledge sharing (KS) behavior by examining the mediating role of psychological capital and moderating role of organizational identification.

Questionnaires were used to collect data from 340 employees from largest MNCs working in Kazakhstan.

The results show that psychological capital mediates the relationship between PIED and knowledge sharing behavior (KSB). Moreover, it was found that organizational identification moderates the association between individuals’ psychological capital and their KSB. The mediated moderation analyses supported the hypothesized model.

This paper contributes to a more complete understanding of how investment in employee development may support or build employees’ psychological capital which in turn facilitates KS.