Business ideologies and perceived breach of contract during downsizing: the role of the ideology of employee self‐reliance

This paper represents an initial effort to explore the empirical relationship between business ideologies and perceptions of organizational downsizing. The results of four studies, two conducted in the US and one each in Singapore and Korea, suggest that respondents' belief in the ideology of employee self‐reliance reduces the degree to which they perceive layoffs as a breach of the psychological contract. This finding appears to generalize to respondents' perceptions of their own layoffs and also to respondents' perceptions of layoffs happening to others. We spell out the implications of these results for the evolving theory of the ideological foundations of perceptions of downsizing. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A daily diary study of affective responses to psychological contract breach and exceeded promises

The psychological contract has been viewed as an explanatory framework for understanding the employment relationship, and is regarded by some researchers as central in understanding employee attitudes and behavior. Despite the importance ascribed to the psychological contract, it remains theoretically underdeveloped and has received limited empirical attention. This study takes a new approach to researching the psychological contract, through the use of daily diaries, and addresses a number of fundamental questions regarding its nature. Results show that both broken and exceeded promises occur regularly and in relation to virtually any aspect of work, that the importance of the promise contributes significantly to emotional reactions following broken and exceeded promises, and that the psychological contract is an important concept for understanding everyday fluctuations in emotion and daily mood. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reactions to psychological contract breach: a dual perspective

This study examined reactions to psychological contract breach from two separate perspectives, that is, employee's reactions to perceptions of employer breach and supervisor's reactions to perceptions of employee breach of the psychological contract. In addition to the main effects, we also hypothesized that the benevolence (or kindness) of the supervisor and the traditional values (or respect for authority) of the employee would attenuate the negative effects of psychological contract breach. We tested these hypotheses with a sample of 273 supervisor‐subordinate dyads from the People's Republic of China. The results showed that employer breach correlated negatively with employee outcomes of organizational commitment (OC), organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and work performance, but this negative relationship was weaker for employees with traditional values. The results also demonstrated that employee breach correlated negatively with responses from the supervisor, in terms of the mentoring provided to the employee and the leader‐member exchange (LMX) quality. However, more benevolent supervisors reacted less negatively in terms of the mentoring than did the less benevolent supervisors. Implications for future research are offered. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predictors of willingness to relocate for managerial and professional employees

This study explored possible determinants, both inside and outside the job sphere, of willingness to relocate. Data were collected from a large sample of managerial and professional employees in one organization. Unlike previous research, this study investigated willingness to relocate for three different purposes: (1) for a better job or career development; (2) to help the organization; or (3) to remain employed. However, only two factors of willingness to relocate emerged: willingness to relocate for career enhancement or company needs, and willingness to relocate to remain employed. Results showed that the strongest predictors of willingness to relocate to remain employed were job sphere variables such as satisfaction with career development opportunities and propensity to remain, while family and community variables were much more important in predicting willingness to relocate for career enhancement or company needs. The implications of these results for both the organization and individuals are discussed.     

Assessing the nature of psychological contracts: a validation of six dimensions

The purpose of this study is to develop a feature‐oriented assessment of psychological contracts, an underdeveloped approach to psychological contracts. Relying on theoretical frameworks in psychological contract research, industrial relations studies, and a cross‐national study on psychological contracts, we identify six dimensions that capture the nature of psychological contracts: tangibility, scope, stability, time frame, exchange symmetry, and contract level. We validate this expanded conceptualization of psychological contracts by developing a nomological network and testing it in a large, representative sample of 1106 employees. The results indicate the significance of formal contract characteristics and HR practices as two antecedents shaping the nature of psychological contracts. In addition, the hypothesized relationships between the three dimensions of time frame, exchange symmetry, and contract level with affective commitment are confirmed as well as the relationships between tangibility, scope and flexibility with personal control. The results further indicate the importance of assessing both employer and employee obligations given the differential effect of the contract makers. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stigma at work: The psychological costs and benefits of the pressure to work safely

Introduction: Workplace accidents and injuries can be quite costly to both individual employees and their organizations. While safety climate (i.e., perceptions of policies and procedures related to safety that should reflect an organization's value of safety) has been established as a predictor of safety behaviors, less research has considered the possible negative pressures that could result from an environment that emphasizes safety. Though organizations may intend to create a positive safety climate, concerns about being treated differently if an employee were to be involved in a safety incident may result in unintended, but detrimental safety and health outcomes. Method: This study investigated the stigma associated with being involved in a safety-related incident in relation to self-reported safety behaviors and psychological health outcomes. The data were acquired through a two-wave prospective design, surveying workers from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk; N = 528) who indicated they were exposed to at least one physical work stressor (e.g., heavy lifting; air quality; standing for extended periods) a few times each month or more. Results: When controlling for safety climate, safety stigma was related to decreased safety compliance and poorer psychological health. There was a marginally significant interaction between safety stigma and safety motivation in relation to safety compliance. Conclusions: These findings suggest that experiencing pressure to work safely, for fear of being evaluated negatively, may actually come at the cost of employees' safety compliance and psychological health. Practical applications: These results may be useful in assessing and intervening to improve an organization's safety climate. Organizations should closely examine the climate for safety to ensure that positive aspects of safety are not undermined by a stigmatizing pressure associated with safety in the work environment.     

The development of psychological contract breach and violation: a longitudinal study

This study examines factors affecting employees' perceptions that their psychological contract has been breached by their organization, and factors affecting whether this perception will cause employees to experience feelings of contract violation. Data were obtained from 147 managers just prior to their beginning of new job (time 1) and 18 months later (time 2). It was found that perceived contract breach at time 2 was more likely when organizational performance and self‐reported employee performance were low, the employee had not experienced a formal socialization process, the employee had little interaction with organizational agents prior to hire, the employee had a history of psychological contract breach with former employers, and the employee had many employment alternatives at the time of hire. Furthermore, perceived breach was associated with more intense feelings of violation when employees both attributed the breach to purposeful reneging by the employer and felt unfairly treated in the process. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Outcomes associated with breach and fulfillment of the psychological contract of safety

IntroductionThe study investigated the outcomes associated with breach and fulfillment of the psychological contract of safety.MethodThe psychological contract of safety is defined as the beliefs of individuals about reciprocal employer and employee safety obligations inferred from implicit or explicit promises. When employees perceive that safety obligations promised by the employer have not been met, a breach of the psychological contract occurs, termed employer breach of obligations. The extent to which employees fulfill their safety obligations to the employer is termed employee fulfillment of obligations. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model of safety that investigated the positive and negative outcomes associated with breach and fulfillment of the psychological contract of safety. Participants were 424 health care workers recruited from two hospitals in the State of Victoria, Australia.ResultsFollowing slight modification of the hypothesized model, a good fitting model resulted. Being injured in the workplace was found to lower perceptions of trust in the employer and increase perceptions of employer breach of safety obligations. Trust in the employer significantly influenced perceived employer breach of safety obligations such that lowered trust resulted in higher perceptions of breach. Perceptions of employer breach significantly impacted employee fulfillment of safety obligations with high perceptions of breach resulting in low employee fulfillment of obligations. Trust and perceptions of breach significantly influenced safety attitudes, but not safety behavior. Fulfillment of employee safety obligations significantly impacted safety behavior, but not safety attitudes. Implications of these findings for safety and psychological contract research are explored. A positive emphasis on social exchange relationships in organizations will have positive outcomes for safety climate and safety behavior.     

从业人员是安全生产的主人——论从业人员的安全生产权利义务制度

人的因素第一,人是最宝贵、最活跃的生产力。生产经营单位的从业人员是各项生产经营活动最直接的劳动者,又是各项安全生产法律权利和义务的承担者。从这个意义上说,从业人员是安全生产的主人。《安全生产法》确立的从业人员安全生产权利义务制度,从基本的权利保障与义务设定两个方面,对从业人员从事生产经营活动中的安全生产做出了明确的法律规定。     

A multi‐level investigation of psychological contract breach and organizational identification through the lens of perceived organizational membership: Testing a moderated–mediated model

Drawing on the perceived organizational membership theoretical framework and the social identity view of dissonance theory, I examined in this study the dynamics of the relationship between psychological contract breach and organizational identification. I included group‐level transformational and transactional leadership as well as procedural justice in the hypothesized model as key antecedents for organizational membership processes. I further explored the mediating role of psychological contract breach in the relationship between leadership, procedural justice climate, and organizational identification and proposed separateness–connectedness self‐schema as an important moderator of the above mediated relationship. Hierarchical linear modeling results from a sample of 864 employees from 162 work units in 10 Greek organizations indicated that employees' perception of psychological contract breach negatively affected their organizational identification. I also found psychological contract breach to mediate the impact of transformational and transactional leadership on organizational identification. Results further provided support for moderated mediation and showed that the indirect effects of transformational and transactional leadership on identification through psychological contract breach were stronger for employees with a low connectedness self‐schema. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Being there: the acceptance and marginalization of part‐time professional employees

Part‐time professional employees represent an increasingly important social category that challenges traditional assumptions about the relationships between space, time, and professional work. In this article, we examine both the historical emergence of part‐time professional work and the dynamics of its integration into contemporary organizations. Professional employment has historically been associated with being continuously available to one's organization, and contemporary professional jobs often bear the burden of that legacy as they are typically structured in ways that assume full‐time (and greater) commitments of time to the organization. Because part‐time status directly confronts that tradition, professionals wishing to work part‐time may face potentially resistant work cultures. The heterogeneity of contemporary work cultures and tasks, however, presents a wide variety of levels and forms of resistance to part‐time professionals. In this paper, we develop a theoretical model that identifies characteristics of local work contexts that lead to the acceptance or marginalization of part‐time professionals. Specifically, we focus on the relationship between a work culture's dominant interaction rituals and their effects on co‐workers' and managers' reactions to part‐time professionals. We then go on to examine the likely responses of part‐time professionals to marginalization, based on their access to organizational resources and their motivation to engage in strategies that challenge the status quo. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Not seeing eye to eye: differences in supervisor and subordinate perceptions of and attributions for psychological contract breach

This study examines supervisor and subordinate perceptions of and attributions for psychological contract breach. The data suggest that supervisor and subordinate perceptions are most likely to differ on the extent to which the organization violated its obligations to provide fair pay, advancement opportunities, and a good employment relationship. In addition, the results indicate that the greater the degree of psychological contract breach reported by subordinates, the less committed they are to the organization and the lower their job performance (as rated by their supervisor). Moreover, when psychological contract breach is perceived, supervisors' and subordinates' attributions regarding the reasons for the breach are likely to differ. Specifically, the findings suggest that subordinates are more likely to attribute breach to the organization's intentional disregard for the commitments that it had made to the employee, while supervisors are more inclined to attribute breach to situations beyond the organization's direct control. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The psychological contracts of violation victims: A post‐violation model

Organizations may fail to keep their commitments to their employees, at times leading to psychological contract violation. Although many victims of violation remain with their employer despite such adverse experiences, little research exists on their responses in the aftermath of violation. This paper develops a post‐violation model to explain systematically how violation victims respond to and cope with violation and the effects this process has on their subsequent psychological contract. Central to post‐violation are the victims' beliefs regarding the likelihood of violation resolution and the factors affecting it. The model specifies how the victim engages in a self‐regulation process that results in an array of potential psychological contract outcomes. Possible outcomes include reactivation of the original pre‐violation contract, the formation of a new contract that may be more or less attractive than the original, or a state of dissolution wherein the victim fails to form a functional psychological contract with the employer. The research and practical implications of this model are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Protestant work ethic,work involvement and the psychological impact of unemployment

This study is an attempt to replicate and extend recent findings concerning the moderating effect of employment commitment on the psychological impact of unemployment. It was carried out in a highly educated population and employed Protestant work ethic endorsement (PWE) and work involvement (WINV) as indicators of commitment to work. Evidence was collected by questionnaires from 432 individuals who had been unemployed and again, six months later, from most of the same individuals. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis shows that individuals with high WINV were likely to suffer more from unemployment and to gain more from finding employment than low work-involved individuals. PWE, on the other hand, did not moderate the relationship between employment status and psychological state.     

A process perspective on psychological contract change: Making sense of,and repairing,psychological contract breach and violation through employee coping actions

Psychological contracts are dynamic, but few studies explore the processes driving change and how employees influence them. By adopting a process approach with a teleological change lens, and drawing upon the sensemaking and coping literatures, this study positions individuals as active and adaptive agents driving contract change. Employing a mixed methodology, with a four‐wave longitudinal survey (n = 107 graduate newcomers) and qualitative interviews (n = 26 graduate newcomers), the study focuses on unfolding events and develops an “adaptive remediation” process model aimed at unraveling contract dynamics. The model demonstrates how breach or violation events trigger sensemaking, resulting in initially negative employee reactions and a “withdrawal” of perceived contributions, before individuals exercise their agency and enact coping strategies to make sense of, and adapt and respond to, these discrepancies. A process of contract “repair” could then occur if the coping actions (termed “remediation effects”) were effective, with individuals returning to positive exchange perceptions. These actions either directly addressed the breach and repaired both it and the psychological contract (termed “remedies”) or involved cognitive reappraisal of the broader work environment and repaired the contract but not the breach (termed “buffers”). The results highlight the unfolding, processual nature of psychological contracting. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New hire perceptions of their own and their employer's obligations: A study of psychological contracts

Psychological contracts are individual beliefs in reciprocal obligations between employees and employers. In a sample of 224 graduating MBA students who had recently accepted job offers, beliefs regarding employment obligations were investigated. Two types of obligation were demonstrated empirically: transactional obligations of high pay and career advancement in exchange for hard work and relational obligations exchanging job security for loyalty and a minimum length of stay. These types of obligations are connected with two forms of legal contracts: transactional and relational. Relational contract obligations for employers correlated with employee expected length of stay with the firm. Transactional contract obligations were associated with careerist motive on the part of new recruits. The relationship between these and other motives of new hires was also investigated.     

Introducing changes at work: How voice behavior relates to management innovation

This multistudy research examines the unit‐level relationship between promotive voice behavior and management innovation. Study 1 utilizes multisource data from 62 work units and reports that willingness to discuss ideas mediates the unit‐level relationship between promotive voice and management innovation. The results of Study 1 also show that the unit's available resources make the relationship stronger between promotive voice and willingness to discuss ideas. Study 2 employs a scenario‐based design to constructively replicate and expand the results of Study 1, utilizing a sample of 100 working adults. The results of the second study also show that resource availability positively moderates the relationship between promotive voice and willingness to discuss ideas. Furthermore, Study 2 shows that the indirect effect of promotive voice on management innovation through willingness to discuss ideas is stronger when more resources are made available to the work units. This moderated‐mediation effect is shown to be significant using two different operationalizations of management innovation. The implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

加强现场管理 保障建筑安全

建筑施工领域安全生产管理点多面广,特殊工种较多,交叉作业较多,作业环境较差,稍有不慎,就会导致建设项目生产事故和施工人员人身伤亡。据住房和城乡建设部网站显示数据统计,2010年,     

Differences in the importance of work outcomes between full-time and part-time hospital employees

This study examined differences in the importance of work outcomes between full-time and part-time hospital employees in a sample drawn from five western hospitals (N = 1,876). Work status was operationalized by classifying respondents into four categories based on hours worked per week. Exploratory factor analysis showed that work outcomes may be classified as extrinsic (pay and fringe benefits) and instrinsic (being informed about the job, participating in decision-making, and doing the job well). Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that this two-factor structure fits the data well for all four work status categories although the factor loadings differed across categories. Multivariate analyses of variance and covariance indicated that statistically significant differences in the importance of extrinsic and intrinsic outcomes exist for full-time and part-time employees and that these differences persist when various social and demographic variables are held constant. Employees who work fewer hours per week tend to assign less importance to the work outcomes measured in this study. The results suggest that theoretical models of variables such as job satisfaction should take into account work status differences in the importance of work-related outcomes. In addition, managers may find that workers respond to different reward structures depending on the degree of their involvement in the organization.     

Thriving at work: Impact of psychological capital and supervisor support

Thriving at work is a positive psychological state characterized jointly by learning and vitality. Conventional wisdom and some initial research indicate that such thriving benefits both employees themselves and their organizations. This study specifically tests thriving at work by linking it to a theoretically important personal outcome variable (self‐development), refining its relationship with agentic work behaviors (task focus and heedful relating), and proposing and testing two new antecedent variables (psychological capital and supervisor support climate). Using structural equation modeling on a sample of 198 dyads (employees and their supervisors), strong support was found for the theory‐driven hypothesized relationships. The results contribute to a better understanding of positive organizational scholarship and behavior in general and specifically to the recently emerging positive construct of employees' thriving at work. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.