Differentiating HR systems' impact: moderating effects of age on the HR system–work outcome association

Combining the macro perspective of strategic human resource (HR) management with applied psychology's micro approaches, this paper helps to differentiate the effects of HR practices on individual‐level outcomes by introducing two distinct HR practice bundles. We draw on social exchange theory to hypothesize (i) main effects of both growth‐enhancing and maintenance‐enhancing bundles on affective organizational commitment and in‐role behavior and (ii) moderating effects of age and maintenance‐enhancing practices on work outcomes, such that increasing employee age attenuates the positive impact of HR practices. The results of a multilevel study comprising 600 employees and their direct supervisors in 64 business units provide support for the hypothesized main effects on affective commitment and the interaction between age and maintenance‐enhancing practices on work outcomes. We discuss the results, theoretical contributions, and practical implications of the study, as well as future research directions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Redesigning computer call center work: a longitudinal field experiment

Computer technology call centers provide technical assistance to customers via the telephone to solve computer hardware and software problems. The simultaneous demands for technical and customer service skills often place strain on call center employees, frequently producing poor job attitudes. We utilized a field experiment (N = 149) with a randomly assigned pretest–posttest and control group design to compare three interventions' effectiveness on employee job attitudes in a computer technology call center: Intervention 1 focused on aligning organizational structures; Intervention 2 focused on increasing employee involvement in work processes (high‐involvement); and Intervention 3 implemented autonomous work teams. We found that high‐involvement work processes produced the most potent effects on job satisfaction and organizational commitment attitudes, as well as on performance (i.e., improved customer satisfaction scores, increased closed problems, reduced problems escalated, and fewer repeat calls). Further, we found that group work preference moderated the results between the group‐oriented interventions and employees' job satisfaction. Under high involvement and in autonomous work teams, high preferences for group work resulted in greater job satisfaction than when employees had lower preferences for group work. However, preferences for group work were not associated with increased organizational commitment in either intervention. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Antecedents and consequences of satisfaction with work–family balance: A moderating role of perceived insider status

This study developed a moderated mediation model to investigate how family‐supportive paid leave and supervision affect employees' satisfaction with work–family balance and in turn their affective organizational commitment and supervisor‐directed organizational citizenship behavior depending on their perceived insider status in the organization. Our analysis of data collected from 118 employee–supervisor dyads in Korean organizations revealed that satisfaction with work–family balance mediated the linkages from family‐supportive supervision to affective organizational commitment and supervisor‐directed organizational citizenship behavior, and the linkage from family‐supportive paid leave to affective organizational commitment. Results further showed that the entire mediational process for family‐supportive supervision was more pronounced for those who perceived themselves to be an insider of their organizations, while the same pattern was not found for the meditational process related to family‐supportive paid leave. Our findings provide theoretical implications for work–family balance research and offer practical suggestions to make employees satisfied with work–family balance.     

Perceived organizational support and affective commitment: the mediating role of organization‐based self‐esteem in the context of job insecurity

Research on the relationship between perceived organizational support (POS) and affective organizational commitment (AC) has primarily adopted a social exchange perspective. In this study we considered complementary socio‐emotional explanations of the POS–AC relationship. We focused on the mediating role of organization‐based self‐esteem (OBSE) and tested competing models of the POS–OBSE‐AC relationship separately on data from two Korean banks that experienced different levels of downsizing following the 1997 Korean financial crisis. We further extended the analysis by examining the extent to which the relationship between POS and OBSE and AC, respectively, was affected by employees' perceived sense of job insecurity in the two banks. The results showed that OBSE was a significant mediator of the POS–AC relationship in both organizations. POS, however, also retained a strong independent direct effect on commitment. Moreover, as expected, perceived job insecurity tended to attenuate the POS–OBSE relationship, but augmented the direct relationship between perceived organizational support and affective commitment. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The moderating effects of political skill on the perceived politics–outcome relationships

Previous research has established that perceptions of organizational politics are associated with negative organizational outcomes. However, this may not hold true for all individuals. We offer subordinate and supervisor political skill, the ability to understand interactions at work and to use that understanding to effectively influence others, as possible moderators. Specifically, this study investigates the impact of both employees' self‐rated political skill and their managers' political skill on job satisfaction, job performance, and manager‐rated commitment. We examined these relationships in an organizational sample of 106 matched dyadic pairs and found mixed support for the joint moderating effect of self and manager political skill on the politics perceptions‐outcome relationships. Strengths, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The mediating effects of multidimensional commitment on job satisfaction and intent to leave

Structural equation modeling is used to estimate the mediating effects of affective, continuance, and normative commitment on the relationship between job satisfaction and intent to leave. Several competing configurational models are tested to determine whether the best fitting model is one whereby multidimensional commitment fully mediates, partially mediates, or does not mediate the relationship between job satisfaction and intent to leave. The results suggest that contrary to Meyer and Allen's (1991) fully mediated three‐component model of organizational commitment, a partially mediated model fits the data best for this study. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding organizational embeddedness and career success: Who and what you know

Integrating job embeddedness theory with the sponsored and contest mobility perspectives, we developed and tested a model linking organizational embeddedness with two indicators of career success within the organization (promotion and career satisfaction), via the mediating roles of employees' organizational sponsorship network and job-related human capital development. Data from 188 employees and their supervisors over a 1-year period showed that, after controlling for employees' initial levels of career satisfaction and job performance, only job-related human capital development transmitted the positive effects of organizational embeddedness on promotion and career satisfaction. Supplemental analyses revealed that organizational sponsorship network's positive effects on promotion and career satisfaction were transmitted indirectly, via job-related human capital development. Our findings illustrate the importance of integrating sponsored and contest mobility perspectives and contribute to research on organizational embeddedness by extending its outcomes to include career success within the organization and specifying the process through which organizational embeddedness is related to career success within the organization.     

The role of perceived system knowledge in predicting appraisal reactions,job satisfaction,and organizational commitment

There is a very large research base in Applied Psychology on the importance of affective reactions on organizational functioning. Likewise, performance appraisal has been a heavily researched area within the field. The present field studies attempt to bridge our understanding of these two areas by studying the relationship between performance appraisal process variables and employee affective reactions. In particular, the current studies examine the effects of a relatively new performance appraisal variable, Perceived System Knowledge (Williams and Levy, 1992), on appraisal reactions and job attitudes. In both studies, there was a strong relationship between employees' levels of perceived system knowledge and their appraisal reactions and job attitudes. In Study 1, when controlling for performance rating, PSK was positively related to appraisal reactions, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The findings from Study 1 were replicated in the second study which employed a longitudinal design. In addition, Study 2 found a relationship between PSK and fairness perceptions. Implications for these results and suggestions for approaching performance appraisal from an organizational perspective are proposed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Employee judgments of and behaviors toward corporate social responsibility: A multi‐study investigation of direct,cascading, and moderating effects

Do employee judgments of their organization's corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs relate to CSR‐specific performance and in‐role job performance? Can middle managers influence the formation of such judgments and what factors might moderate such cascading influences? To answer these yet unaddressed questions, we conduct three studies. Study 1 takes an organizational justice perspective and tests our baseline model. Results show that employees' CSR judgments trigger their affective commitment and performance on extra‐role CSR‐specific behaviors; however, extra‐role CSR‐specific performance is unrelated to in‐role job performance. Study 2 replicates Study 1's findings while, in addition, applies a social information processing approach and offers novel insights by demonstrating the cascading effects of managers' CSR judgments on employee CSR judgments. Investments made in CSR programs in order to improve employee judgments and behaviors may be unsuccessful if employees' CSR judgments are based on social information that remains unchanged. In addition to replicating the findings from studies 1 and 2, study 3 draws from middle management involvement and leadership theories to show that leadership styles and managers' involvement in implementing deliberate strategy can strengthen or weaken these cascading effects. This highlights the important role of middle managers as “linking pins” in the CSR strategy implementation process. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Antecedents and consequences of role stress: A covariance structure analysis

An earlier model of the consequences of role conflict and role ambiguity is expanded to incorporate antecedent job conditions and the outcome of organizational commitment. This newer model clarifies the impact of role stressors on commitment and other established outcomes (i.e. tension, job dissatisfaction, and turnover intention). The antecedent job conditions are added in consideration of research indicating that role conflict and ambiguity do not directly influence affective and behavioral reactions when other perceptions of the work environment are included in the analysis. A LISREL analysis of this model with cross-validation on an independent sample indicated that the direct effects of participation and co-worker social support on job satisfaction may account for the direct effects of role conflict and role ambiguity on satisfaction and turnover intention observed in previous studies. In addition, organizational commitment appeared to mediate the effects of other variables on turnover intention. Implications for theories of role-related variables and directions for future research are discussed.     

The role of affective traits and affective states in disputants' motivation and behavior during episodes of organizational conflict

This study investigated the effects of individuals' affective traits (i.e., affect intensity and affect disposition) and affective states (i.e., positive and negative mood) on their motivations and behavior during episodes of organizational conflict. Two hundred and twenty‐three student employees from a variety of jobs and organizations kept daily records, for a three day period, of their conflict experiences at work. The results of hierarchical linear modelling indicated that employees' affective traits and affective states had parallel effects on the conflict management process. Subsequent analyses revealed the source of this parallelism: employees' moods on the day of the conflict fully mediated the effects of their affective disposition on the conflict process variables. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical significance and practical implications. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Overqualification and counterproductive work behaviors: Examining a moderated mediation model

The current study examined the effect of employees' perceived overqualification on counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). Building on person–job fit theory and prior research on such organizational phenomena, we conceptualized overqualification as a type of poor person–job fit. Drawing on the dual‐process model, we further suggested that in processing their person–job misfit, overqualified employees might cognitively appraise themselves as less worthy organizational members and experientially feel angry toward the employment situation. We also suggested that to the extent that overqualified people are sensitive to justice, they may react more or less strongly to being overqualified. We tested our predictions using time‐lagged data from a sample of 224 workers and their supervisors employed in a large manufacturing company in China. Consistent with our theoretical framework, we found that organization‐based self‐esteem (OBSE) and anger toward employment situation mediated the positive relationships between perceived overqualification and both self‐rated and supervisor‐rated CWBs. In addition, justice sensitivity moderated the relationship between perceived overqualification and the mediators (i.e., OBSE and anger) and the indirect relationship between perceived overqualification and CWB. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings as well as future research directions are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Beyond the mean: Understanding firm‐level consequences of variability in diversity climate perceptions

We develop and test an organizational‐level model of the consequences of diversity climate for company performance. Drawing from affective events theory and the organizational climate literature, we highlight the role of idiosyncrasies in employees' diversity climate perceptions. Specifically, we consider diversity climate strength (i.e., agreement in employees' climate perceptions) as a boundary condition of diversity climate's organizational‐level effects and expect high climate strength to be particularly beneficial in demographically diverse organizations. Moreover, we introduce collective positive affect as an underlying mechanism of diversity climate's conditional effects on company performance. Hypotheses are tested in a study of 82 German small‐and‐medium‐sized companies with 13,695 surveyed employees. Results show a moderated mediation relationship where diversity climate is only positively related to organizational performance (via collective positive affect) at relatively high diversity climate strength. Although this finding holds for both demographically diverse and homogeneous organizations, post hoc analyses provide initial evidence that a strong climate only helps to realize the effects of diversity climate on collective positive affect when members of age‐ and gender‐related demographic subgroups converge in their climate perceptions. Our study contributes to a better understanding of diversity climate as an effective lever for managing diversity.     

Dynamic effects of personal initiative on engagement and exhaustion: The role of mood,autonomy, and support

Researchers have neglected dynamic effects of proactive behavior on occupational well‐being. We investigated effects of change in personal initiative over 6 months on changes in emotional engagement and exhaustion over the following 6 months. On the basis of the control‐process theory on affect, we hypothesized that changes in positive and negative moods mediate these effects conditional upon employees' level of perceived organizational support. On the basis of action regulation theory, we assumed that change in job autonomy also acts as a mediator. Data came from 297 employees who responded to 3 surveys separated by 6‐month intervals. Results of latent change score modeling showed that change in personal initiative negatively predicted change in positive mood and, when perceived organizational support was low, positively predicted change in negative mood. In addition, change in personal initiative positively predicted change in job autonomy. Change in personal initiative had negative indirect effects on change in emotional engagement, and positive indirect effects on change in emotional exhaustion through changes in positive and negative moods (but not through change in job autonomy). A reverse causal model did not yield significant indirect effects. Overall, these findings suggest that an increase in proactive behavior can have detrimental effects on occupational well‐being.     

A test of value congruence effects

This study investigated value congruence effects on organizational commitment and job satisfaction. We used the competing values framework to measure values, and response‐surface methodology employing polynomial regression equations to investigate congruence effects. Our sample, 1,358 hospital employees, made judgments about their personal preferences for the four competing value sets—internal process, open systems, rational goal, and human relations. They also rated how much the same values were operating in the organization. We predicted that organizational commitment and job satisfaction would be maximized when a ‘match’ or ‘congruence’ occurred between the two component value measures. We evaluated congruence effects using the following criteria: (1) the proportion of variance explained by the overall equation was significant; (2) the quadratic and interaction terms were significant individually and as a set, and their signs were in the right direction; (3) the implied constraints were valid; and (4) no higher‐order terms beyond those indicated by the model were significant. The results indicated that although quadratic and interaction components were present in all eight models, they were weak in their support for congruence. The study's findings suggested that congruence effects were relatively unimportant compared to main effects in explaining variance in organizational commitment and job satisfaction, at least in the large organization we investigated in this study. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dispositional affectivity as a predictor of work attitudes and job performance

Previous research has shown that dispositional negative affect (NA) is associated with lower levels of job satisfaction. Little research has been conducted, however, on other organizational implications of negative affect or on the potential effects of dispositional positive affect (PA). The present studies examined the relationship of both positive and negative affectivity to organizational commitment, turnover intentions, global job satisfaction and performance. In the first study both NA and PA were associated with organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Additionally, commitment mediated the relationship between dispositional affectivity and turnover. Finally, PA and tenure interacted to predict job performance, such that PA and job performance were positively related, but only for high tenure employees. In Study 2 the findings were generally similar, but not identical. Both NA and PA were related to global job satisfaction and turnover intentions. However, only PA was related to affective organizational commitment. Moreover, both job satisfaction and affective commitment mediated the relationship between dispositional affectivity and turnover intentions. Finally, unlike Study 1, PA was not related to job performance. Rather, NA and tenure interacted such that when individuals were lower in tenure, NA was negatively related to performance.     

Relationships of gender,family responsibility and flexible work hours to organizational commitment and job satisfaction

Psychological contract theory (Rousseau, 1995) suggests that women and those with family responsibilities may negotiate new psychological contracts that include family-responsive benefits such as flexible work hours. Relationships of gender, family responsibility, and flexible work hours to organizational commitment and job satisfaction were examined among 160 matched male and female managers in a cross-organizational study. Results revealed that women who perceived their organizations offered flexible work hours reported higher levels of organizational commitment and job satisfaction than women who did not. Also, flexible work hours were related to higher organizational commitment and job satisfaction for those having family responsibilities. Implications of these results for future research and organizational policy are discussed. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of age on the associations between HR practices and both affective commitment and job satisfaction: A meta-analysis

Research on the association between high commitment Human Resource (HR) practices and work-related outcomes at the individual level rarely focuses on age differences. To fill this knowledge gap, a meta-analysis has been conducted to examine how the relationships between the availability of high commitment HR practices, as perceived by employees, and affective commitment and job satisfaction change with age. Drawing on Selection, Optimization, and Compensation (SOC) theory and on Regulatory Focus theory, we identify a bundle of maintenance HR practices and a bundle of development HR practices, and hypothesize that the association between maintenance HR practices and work-related attitudes strengthens with age, and that the association between development HR practices and work-related attitudes weakens with age. Our meta-analysis of 83 studies reveals that, in line with social exchange and signaling theories, employees' perceptions of HR practices are positively related to their work-related attitudes, and that calendar age influences this relationship largely as expected. These results are discussed in light of the above mentioned theories. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationships between psychological contract breach and employee well‐being and career‐related behavior: The role of occupational future time perspective

Relationships between psychological contract breach and employee well‐being and career‐related behavior cannot sufficiently be explained by social exchange and reciprocity theories, yet the alternative mechanisms underlying these associations are currently not well understood. Based on the psychological contract perspective on careers, the goal of this study was to examine indirect effects of psychological contract breach on emotional engagement, emotional exhaustion, and career‐related behavior through two dimensions of occupational future time perspective (i.e., focus on opportunities and focus on limitations). Data came from 405 employees in Australia, who responded to three surveys across 12 months. Results showed that psychological contract breach had indirect effects on emotional engagement and exhaustion through focus on opportunities and focus on limitations, respectively, and on career‐related behavior through focus on opportunities. Another mechanism, psychological contract violation, was only related to employees' organizational deviance. These findings highlight the important role of occupational future time perspective dimensions as employees' evaluations of future career‐related opportunities and limitations. These evaluations may change in response to psychological contract breach and, in turn, might impact on employee well‐being and career‐related behavior.     

The effects of transformational leadership on teacher attitudes and student performance in Singapore

Transformational leadership theory was examined in 89 schools in Singapore using a split sample technique (N = 846 teachers). The study sought to examine the influence of transformational leader behavior by school principals as it related to organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, teacher satisfaction with leader, and student academic performance. Attitudinal and behavioral data were collected from both teachers and principals; student academic performance was collected from school records. School level analyses showed that transformational leadership had significant add-on effects to transactional leadership in the prediction of organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and teacher satisfaction. Moreover, transformational leadership was found to have indirect effects on student academic achievement. Finally, it was found that transactional leadership had little add-on effect on transformational leadership in predicting outcomes. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.