Who benefits from independent careers? Employees,organizations, or both?

The traditional organizational career has been depicted as the classic example of how employers and employees can develop a mutually beneficial relationship; but changes in the competitive landscape and in individual work values have challenged its viability. Commentators have argued that a ‘new career’ deal, encapsulated by the notions of the protean and the boundaryless career, has emerged suggesting a shift in control of careers from organizations to individuals. Research has explored the implications for individuals' careers while largely neglecting consequences for organizations. Our paper seeks to remedy this by exploring both the individual and the organizational outcomes of independent career orientations and the extent to which organizations can manage these through high commitment human resource management (HRM) practices. Our study, conducted with 655 employee–supervisor dyads, indicates that a protean career orientation results in gains for both employees and organizations, whereas a boundaryless career orientation is associated with mutual losses. In addition, our findings suggest that high commitment HR practices play an important role in managing the outcomes of employees seeking traditional careers but have only a limited impact on those with a boundaryless career orientation.     

Relating career stage to attitudes towards HR practices and commitment: Evidence of interaction effects?

A dominant theme within the human resource management (HRM) literature concerns the identification of "best practices" that will enhance both organizational performance and employee commitment. Although research exploring the impact of these practices at the level of the individual is considerably limited, it is implied that they may be applied both across and within organizations, yielding favourable outcomes such as higher organizational performance and enhanced employee commitment. This is despite claims that commitment is multidimensional and that certain organizational and individual variables are related to different forms of commitment. It is possible that organizations seeking to promote commitment might need to tailor HR practices to suit employees' needs, thus challenging the best practice perspective at the employee level. This article extends on the literature by examining whether the relationship between attitudes towards HR practices and commitment is moderated by career stage. The empirical research is based on an employee attitude survey within three financial service organizations in Ireland (N?=?288). Using hierarchical regression analysis, the findings show that interaction effects are evident regarding attitudes towards HR practices and affective, continuance, and normative commitment. The implications of these findings for the management of commitment are discussed.     

The relationship between human resource investments and organizational performance: a firm-level examination of equilibrium theory

It is commonly believed that human resource investments can yield positive performance-related outcomes for organizations. Utilizing the theory of organizational equilibrium (H. A. Simon, D. W. Smithburg, & V. A. Thompson, 1950; J. G. March & H. A. Simon, 1958), the authors proposed that organizational inducements in the form of competitive pay will lead to 2 firm-level performance outcomes--labor productivity and customer satisfaction--and that financially successful organizations would be more likely to provide these inducements to their employees. To test their hypotheses, the authors gathered employee-survey and objective performance data from a sample of 126 large publicly traded U.S. organizations over a period of 3 years. Results indicated that (a) firm-level financial performance (net income) predicted employees' shared perceptions of competitive pay, (b) shared pay perceptions predicted future labor productivity, and (c) the relationship between shared pay perceptions and customer satisfaction was fully mediated by employee morale.     

The Role of Human Resource Practices in Reducing Occupational Stress and Strain

The current study examined the occupational stress-strain relationship among a sample of 109 white-collar employees in Singapore. Participants completed a survey that assessed the presence of 8 human resource practices (job training, communication, job redesign, promotional opportunities, employee involvement, family-friendly policies, pay systems, and individual-focused stress interventions [SMIs]), 2 major stressors (role overload and responsibility), 2 types of strain (vocational and interpersonal), and organizational commitment. Results indicate that human resource (HR) practices did not reduce the sources of stress (role overload and responsibility) within the workplace. However, there was a direct negative relationship between HR practices and interpersonal strain. In particular, family-friendly practices, job training, and SMIs reduced interpersonal strain. An examination of vocational strain showed that it was negatively associated with SMIs and job training. In addition, organizational commitment mediated the relationship between HR practices and vocational strain. It was concluded that HR practices may be effective as part of a symptom-directed approach to stress intervention and that further replication of these results in both Asian and Western samples is required.     

Organizational Size and Salesforce Evaluation Practices

This study examines the relationship between organizational size and salesforce evaluation practices of two hundred and sixteen industrial goods organizations. Eight propositions derived from the organizational behaviour and economics literature were tested. The results demonstrate that some managerial activities change in a manner which is consistent with organizational theory. Large organizations use a wider range of quantitative criteria, use more formalized methods of evaluation, and make greater use of pre-determined performance standards than small organizations. The results suggest that attempts to determine theories of sales management practice should include organizational size as a candidate explanatory variable.     

Conflict across organizational boundaries: managed care organizations versus health care providers

This research examined conflicts that occur across organizational boundaries, specifically between managed care organizations and health care providers. Using boundary spanning theory as a framework, the authors identified 3 factors in the 1st study (30 interviews) that influence this conflict: (a) organizational power, (b) personal status differences of the individuals handling the conflict, and (c) their previous interactions. These factors affected the individuals' behavioral responses or emotions, specifically anger. After developing hypotheses, the authors tested them in a 2nd study using 109 conflict incidents drawn from 9 different managed care organizations. The results revealed that organizational power affects behavioral responses, whereas status differences and previous negative interactions affect emotions.     

Resource orchestration and dynamic managerial capabilities: focusing on sales managers as effective resource orchestrators

Resource-based theory (RBT) posits that firms gain competitive advantage through bundles of valuable and rare resources and sustain that advantage over time when such resources are difficult to imitate or nonsubstitutable by competitors. Recent applications of RBT emphasize the role of managers in mobilizing and leveraging organizational resources and capabilities for achieving business objectives. The purpose of this research is to advance the sales literature by applying learning from two specific perspectives based on RBT that focus explicitly on managerial actions pertaining to resources and capabilities: resource orchestration and dynamic managerial capabilities. These perspectives provide insights into the role of sales managers as orchestrators of sales and nonsales resources for achieving sales, organizational, and customer outcomes. Consistent with the stated purpose, this research provides (1) a review of research on resources and capabilities in the sales literature, (2) an overview of resource orchestration and related research, (3) an overview of dynamic managerial capabilities and related research, (4) a research agenda and propositions based on research orchestration and dynamic managerial capabilities for further investigation on the role of sales managers as effective resource orchestrators in sales organizations.     

企业组织变革特征、人力资源策略与变革应对行为的实验研究：组织学习的视角

在快速发展的全球化和知识经济背景下,各类组织急需通过变革创新来适应动态环境和开拓发展。本研究使用基于多案例的实验学习技术,研究与检验了公司组织变革的关键特征和人力资源策略与变革策略,特别关注了组织学习的关键作用。基于110项组织变革案例情节的内容分析,本研究验证了变革的四项主要特征：风险创新性、动态整合性、网络互动性和文化多样性。组织变革过程的有效人力资源策略包括培训发展、招聘配置和绩效薪酬。统计分析结果表明,组织绩效受到多重因素影响和组织学习的中介效应,而组织学习各个维度中,实验尝试学习的效应最显著。组织学习促进了两种变革策略的效能期望,即文化学习策略和团队协同策略。     

The advice and influence networks of transformational leaders

Existing transformational leadership research has focused primarily on the behaviors of leaders and their effects on followers. The authors extended this research by examining the social networks of managers who exhibit transformational leadership behaviors. Their focus was on the network of relationships that managers develop and whether they hold key positions in the organization's informal social networks. In a field study using data from 39 managers and 130 nonmanagement employees of 6 organizations, the authors found that managers who score higher on transformational leadership tend to hold more central positions in organizational advice and influence networks. Furthermore, the direct reports of these leaders were also more central in informal organizational networks. These results illuminate one of the ways that managers who exhibit transformational leadership behaviors may exert influence in organizations.     

Working in the hangar: The impact of psychological capital on work outcomes among army aircraft mechanics

Based on positive organizational behavior, this study aimed to explore the impact of psychological capital (PsyCap) on task performance, organizational citizenship behaviors, affective commitment, and job satisfaction among army aircraft mechanics. Data was obtained from 260 aircraft mechanics working in various Turkish Army aviation units. The hypotheses were tested using a series of hierarchical regressions. The results indicated that those with higher PsyCap are more likely to depict task performance, engage in highly extra-role behaviors, be more committed to their organizations, and be highly satisfied with their jobs that are advantageous to army aviation settings. The authors concluded that promoting the levels of PsyCap could be effective in elevating aircraft mechanics’ work attitudes and behaviors. Military aviation units are encouraged to establish human resource development programs to foster the PsyCap of their soldiers, which in turn, enhances crucial work attitudes.     

HR OUTSOURCING AND ITS IMPACT: THE ROLE OF TRANSACTION COSTS

Although HR activities have traditionally been performed in-house, organizations are increasingly relying on outside contractors to perform these activities. Using a Transaction Cost Economics perspective, this study examined whether organizational-level factors moderated the relationship between the degree of reliance on HR outsourcing and the perceived benefits produced by outsourcing. Moderated regression was performed using data provided by over 300 HR executives on outsourcing levels, organizational characteristics, and the perceived impact of outsourcing. Support was found for a number of the transaction cost hypotheses regarding the impact of organizational characteristics. Specifically, the relationship between the degree of outsourcing and the perceived benefits generated was moderated by reliance on idiosyncratic HR practices, uncertainty, firm size, and cost pressures. No support was found for hypotheses regarding the moderating effect associated with pay level, overall outsourcing emphasis, or strategic involvement by HR.     

A Framework for the Study of Relationships Between Organizational Characteristics and Organizational Innovation

This paper presents a taxonomy of organizational characteristics that was developed as part of a large scale job analysis project conducted for the Department of Labor (DOL). Based on research and theory related to organizations, a hierarchical taxonomy of organizational characteristics was developed with six construct domains at the highest level: organizational structure, leadership, human resources (HR) systems and practices, goals, and organizational values. The taxonomy has been empirically tested using data from over 300 organizations, and a summary of these results is presented. This taxonomy is then used to organize and review research on the relationships between organizational variables and innovation. Implications of the taxonomy for understanding relationships between organizational size, industry type, “high-performance” practices, and innovation are discussed.     

Communicating the utility of human resource activities: A survey of I/O and HR professionals

A national survey of industrial/organizational (I/O) psychologists and other human resource (HR) specialists was conducted to examine experiences with and attitudes about utility estimates. Forty-six percent of respondents who had presented a HR activity to management (N = 192) reported using utility estimates. Results suggest that utility estimation in dollars provides but one of several means of expressing value. Areas for researchers to explore that may aid in the use of utility analysis by I/O and HR professionals are presented.Therese Hoff Macan is affiliated with Department of Psychology, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 8001 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, MO 63121-4499.Scott Highhouse is affiliated with Department of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, Krannert Building 54, 1125 East 38th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46205-2810.Authors contributed equally. The helpful comments of James A. Breaugh, Lee Friedman, theodore L. Hayes, and Mark E. Tubbs on an earlier version of this article are greatly appreciated. The authors also thank Laura L. Heft for entering the survey data.     

HR practices as a mediator between organizational culture and transformational leadership: Implications for employee performance

Studies pertaining to human resource (HR) management in India have revealed a variety of factors that significantly affect employee performance not the least of which are organizational culture and leadership issues. The present study posits firm level HR practices as a mediator between organizational culture and transformational leadership whose outcomes are hypothesized as lower levels of individual employees’ intention to quit the organization and higher level of performance. For this purpose, data were collected from mangers/executives (N=357) and subjected to multivariate analysis. The results reveal that culture and leadership are significant predictors of intention to quit and employee performance. The results also show that HR practices are important mediators in transmitting the influence of the predictor variables to the criterion variables.     

Withholding Effort in Organizations: Toward Development and Validation of a Measure

Field research into the topic of withholding effort and its variants (shirking, loafing, free riding, and job neglect) has been limited due to a lack of measures that are applicable to organizational settings. This study used a multi-phase process to ascertain a measure of withholding effort that can be used in organizational settings. Items were generated through literature review and discussions with practitioners; culled by the authors; and tested in a field study in multiple, diverse organizations. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses found the construct of withholding effort to be multidimensional, but not necessarily as previous theoretical work in the area would suggest. Correlations of the various dimensions of withholding effort scales with existing scales tapping a wide range of employee attitudes were consistent with a priori expectations. Implications for the use of these scales in future workplace research and their practical application in organizations are discussed.     

Leadership and substitutes for leadership among professional and nonprofessional workers.

In this article, the authors discuss their research on similarities and differences between professionals and nonprofessionals in their responses to managerial leadership behaviors and substitutes for leadership. Their study sample comprised workers at many organizational levels in several hospital and contract research organizations in the Southwest, and they used a multidimensional measure of professionalism to create subsamples of professionals and nonprofessionals. The authors used questionnaire data to test hypotheses regarding instrumental and supportive leadership behaviors and their substitutes. They found that role clarification and support from leaders were important predictors of worker's job satisfaction and organizational commitment for both subsamples, and that formal rules and procedures were an important supplement for instrumental leadership behaviors. Professionals differed from nonprofessionals in that intrinsically satisfying work tasks and importance place on organizational rewards were strong substitutes for leaders' support. The authors conclude that worker professionalism is an important moderator variable for research on leadership and substitutes for leadership.     

Reasons for Being Selective When Choosing Personnel Selection Procedures

The scientist–practitioner gap in personnel selection is large. Thus, it is important to gain a better understanding of the reasons that make organizations use or not use certain selection procedures. Based on institutional theory, we predicted that six variables should determine the use of selection procedures: the procedures' diffusion in the field, legal problems associated with the procedures, applicant reactions to the procedures, their usefulness for organizational self‐promotion, their predictive validity, and the costs involved. To test these predictions, 506 HR professionals from the German‐speaking part of Switzerland filled out an online survey on the selection procedures used in their organizations. Respondents also evaluated five procedures (semi‐structured interviews, ability tests, personality tests, assessment centers, and graphology) on the six predictor variables. Multilevel logistic regression was used to analyze the data. The results revealed that the highest odd ratios belonged to the factors applicant reactions, costs, and diffusion. Lower (but significant) odds ratios belonged to the factors predictive validity, organizational self‐promotion, and perceived legality.     

So what do you think of the organization? A contextual priming explanation for recruitment Web site characteristics as antecedents of job seekers’ organizational image perceptions

Although job seekers’ organizational image perceptions can influence attraction to recruiting organizations, little is known about how these perceptions are formed or modified. To address this research gap, the authors drew from research in social cognition theory and demonstrated that recruitment Web site characteristics influenced the development and modification of organizational image perceptions via a priming mechanism. Results of two studies showed that having technologically advanced Web site features and depicting racially diverse organizational members served as contextual primers and influenced participants’ organizational image perceptions. Results also revealed that participants’ familiarity with recruiting organizations moderated the effects of these Web site characteristics on several dimensions of organizational image such that effects were weaker for more familiar organizations. These findings suggest that organizations can manage job seekers’ organizational image perceptions through strategic recruitment Web site design; however, such attempts may be tempered by job seekers’ familiarity with the organization.