Employee Relations: An International Journal

Elamin, Abdallah M ; Tlaiss, Hayfaa A.

2015 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-03-2014-0033

Purpose – Cross-cultural studies suggest that while organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and organizational justice have received considerable attention in Anglo-Saxon contexts, the same cannot be claimed in non-Western, Arab Middle Eastern contexts. The purpose of this paper is to attend to this knowledge gap by exploring OCB in the context of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its relationship with organizational justice. Design/methodology/approach – In cognizance of the extant literature, the study explores the perceptions of Saudi Arabian managers of the five conceptually different dimensions of citizenship behaviour – conscientiousness, sportsmanship, civic virtue, courtesy, and altruism. It also explores their perceptions of distributive justice, procedural justice, and interactional justice. In addition, the current study investigates the relationship between organizational justice and OCB. Using the survey questionnaire method, data was collected from more than 250 Saudi managers at different levels of the managerial hierarchy and working in a wide range of organizations and industries. Findings – The results indicate that Saudi Arabian managers reported exhibiting OCB at work. They also suggest the salience of various forms of organizational justice in Saudi Arabian organizations as motivated by Arab cultural values and Islamic teachings. In regards to the relationship between the two constructs, our results indicate that interactional justice is most frequently associated with various dimensions of OCB for various reasons, including the emphasis that Islam and Islamic teachings give to demonstrating respect and courtesy in dealings with others. Originality/value – The literature on OCB and organizational justice is thin in the Arab world. With that in mind, the current study is the first to explore OCB in Saudi Arabia. It is also the first to investigate the relationship between citizenship behavior and justice in Saudi organizations. The findings of this study highlight the need for academics and human resource experts to account for the role of socio-cultural factors and Islam when examining these constructs in the Arab world. The implications of the findings for academics and practitioners are discussed.

Edvardsson, Ingi Rúnar ; Teitsdóttir, Unnur Dilja

2015 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-11-2013-0168

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the application of outsourcing within Icelandic service companies in the wake of the banking collapse. Design/methodology/approach – Findings are based on comparing surveys conducted in early 2009 (381 answers) and in the summer of 2013 (212 answers). Findings – In general outsourcing did not increase, but most SMEs had extended their outsourcing in almost every area of operation, such as human resource management (HRM), IT and peripheral tasks. Also, more SMEs gave cost-reduction as a reason for outsourcing in 2013, and more respondents in 2013 expressed a positive experience of outsourcing. It is uncommon for companies to outsource human resources or lay off staff. Instead, outsourcing mainly focuses on aspects of information technology as well as administrative and peripheral functions. Research limitations/implications – The research highlights service firms in one country by survey methods. Further research is needed in other sectors and countries, and more varied research methods are recommended. Originality/value – Research on outsourcing in SMEs in the wake of the financial crisis is rare, and very few studies have focused on the HRM implications of outsourcing in SMEs. This study can inform researchers and practitioners on critical aspects of outsourcing.

Williams, Colin C ; Horodnic, Ioana Alexandra

2015 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-06-2014-0074

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate critically the “marginalisation” thesis, which holds that marginalised populations disproportionately participate in undeclared work. Until now, the evidence that participation in undeclared work is higher in marginalised areas (e.g. peripheral rural localities) and marginalised socio-economic groups (e.g. the unemployed, immigrant populations and women) has come from mostly small-scale surveys of particular localities and population groups. There have been no extensive quantitative surveys. Here, the intention is to fill this gap. Design/methodology/approach – To do this, we report a 2007 survey of participation in undeclared work involving 26,659 face-to-face interviews conducted in 27 European Union (EU) member states. Findings – The finding is that the marginalisation thesis is valid when discussing younger people and those living in peripheral rural areas; they are more likely to participate in undeclared work. However, there is no significant association between immigrant populations and participation in undeclared work. Moreover, a reinforcement thesis, which holds that the undeclared economy reinforces the spatial and socio-economic disparities produced by the declared economy, applies when considering those with fewer years in education, women, the unemployed and less affluent European regions; they have lower participation rates than higher educated people, men, the employed and affluent European regions. Research limitations/implications – The outcome is a call for a more nuanced understanding of the marginalisation thesis as valid for some marginalised populations but not others. Whether similar findings prevail at other spatial scales and in other global regions now needs investigating. Practical implications – This survey displays that although it is appropriate to target some marginalised populations when tackling undeclared work, this is not valid for others (e.g. immigrant populations, the unemployed, those living in less affluent EU regions). Originality/value – The first extensive evaluation of whether marginalised populations are more likely to participate in undeclared work.

Yi, Xiang ; Ribbens, Barbara ; Fu, Linna ; Cheng, Weibo

2015 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-01-2014-0005

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare and understand how age, gender and culture affect individual career and work-related attitudes in Chinese and American samples. Design/methodology/approach – Online and printed questionnaires were administered to employees and managers in China, whereas in the USA, faculty, staff and students at a Midwestern university responded to an online survey. Snowball sampling technique was used to collect data. Independent sample t -tests were conducted to test the hypothesis. Findings – The study showed different work values and attitudes in the workplace between Chinese and the US samples, and indicated the specifics influences that national culture has on them. Culture affects generational changes; generational differences in the US sample are bigger than in Chinese sample; work values differ across generations and cultures; traditional gender role differences persist more strongly across generations in Chinese sample than in the US sample. Research limitations/implications – Generalizability issues; cross-sectional data. Practical implications – US-based multi-national corporations need to understand these differences and better manage their diverse employees operating in China. Originality/value – This study compared generation, culture and gender differences simultaneously; parallel groups at similar life stages were used by basing the boundaries of each generation on the distinct cultural events of each nation. This approach is more consistent with generation definitions than by using influential specific events of each country, respectively. Useful to managers, it will provide guidance for understanding work values and attitudes across gender and generations in the USA and China. Most benefit will occur for US based multinational companies that have Chinese operations, and manage employees with cultural, gender and generational differences.

Rodríguez-Ruiz, Óscar

2015 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-03-2014-0029

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the restructuring approach followed by the highly profitable Telefónica in its 2011 redundancy plan, and explores unions’ response to management strategy. Design/methodology/approach – The research follows a case study approach constructing a dataset with information from company reports, committee records, union documents, press releases, and other available sources such as specialized journals and newspapers. Findings – Specifically this case study tries to show how massive job cuts have been implemented through a labour-mediated downsizing strategy that mitigates contestation and industrial conflict. Originality/value – The paper tackles the relevant question of how unions respond to corporate restructuring (involving downsizing) in countries where industrial relations institutions remain relatively strongly embedded and proactive.

George, Christeen

2015 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-10-2013-0151

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate why professional workers actually remain in their organisations. Design/methodology/approach – The design of the study was cross-sectional. A number of factors important for the retention of professional workers were identified from the literature. A 19 item “retention scale” was developed based on the identified retention factors and their characteristics. It was proposed that the retention factors could be divided into two levels: organisational and job. The retention scale was completed by 138 workers form the UK site of a multinational Marketing company. The reliability of the scale was assessed using Cronbach’s α and was found to be 0.80. Findings – Factor analysis supported the division of the retention factors into organisational and job levels with a two factor structure in which organisational levels loaded strongly on component 1 and job level items loaded strongly on component 2. Scores on these two subscales predicted individual workers’ intention to remain within their organisation using both MANOVA and logistic regression analysis. Research limitations/implications – This is a preliminary look at factors important for the retention of professional workers and as such has several limitations. A more comprehensive review of the literature on retention is required and further testing of the model is required with a larger sample size. Links with the literature on the psychological contract also need to be more fully explored. Practical implications – This research has practical implications for practitioners due to the importance of retaining top talent for increased competitive advantage. The factors that have been found here to be important for retaining professional workers have also been observed in high performing companies. Social implications – The retirement of the baby boomer generation means that there has to be a greater emphasis on retaining key employees in organisations to mitigate the loss of key skills and competences. Originality/value – Most previous studies and many HR managers concerned with the retention of professional and other workers tend to concentrate on those aspects of the job or of the organisation that make them leave. This study is concerned with why people stay with their employers.

Windels, Kasey ; Mallia, Karen L.

2015 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-02-2014-0011

Purpose – In the male-dominant creative industries, do men and women have access to the same resources for career learning and development? The purpose of this paper is to examine women’s perspectives of their career trajectories in advertising creative departments. Design/methodology/approach – Situated learning theory views learning as produced through interaction with and increasing participation in a community of practice. Interviews were conducted with 19 female creatives to examine two research questions: first, how do women develop identities as creative practitioners within the male dominated advertising creative department? and second, how are women’s learning trajectories influenced by their gender? Findings – Gendered expectations affected the type of work women were supposed to produce, their ability to sell work, and the types of assignments they received. Women lacked legitimacy and experienced difficulties developing an identity as a master practitioner. They instead emphasized parts of their identity unrelated to the profession. Research limitations/implications – Women were unable to develop identities as full members of the community of practice. The identity formed in conjunction with work was that of a person with lesser talents, fewer opportunities, and less valued contributions, causing them to exit the field or seek positive identity from places other than work. Originality/value – This study was the first study that the authors are aware of to examine empirically the relationship between situated learning theory and gender. It provided evidence from women’s perspectives that gender restricted access to material for forming a positive work-identity, which impeded learning as women realized and accepted they were on a different trajectory than similarly-situated males.

Rieucau, Geraldine

2015 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-03-2014-0022

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare the recruitment practices of the French and UK retail industry. It analyses the influence of specific business constraints, labour market institutions and employment patterns on recruitment practices. It devotes attention to incidences of the shift from classic to web-based hiring methods. Design/methodology/approach – The cases of two leading food retail chains are explored. This research draws on a mixed approach using semi-structured interviews, the analysis of online job-advertisement content and web sites. Findings – According to the literature, local and informal hiring channels (walk-in application, word-of-mouth, in-store adverts) are mainly used to fill low-paid vacancies in food retail chains. They are congruent with the key screening criteria as they allow face-to-face selection and provide candidates from the surrounding area. However, the food retail chains in this research have implemented a centralised and at-a-distance process which contrasts with the classic methods. Based on an “Internet-only scheme” and online testing, it is especially selective in the UK. Research limitations/implications – The number of semi-structured interviews is limited. Additional investigations are needed to evaluate whether the at-a-distance processes are isolated or whether they reflect growing practices. Practical implications – Retail food employers have to maintain a diversity of local hiring channels and not to indiscriminately embrace the at-a-distance scheme, which is not adapted to evaluate the key requirements. Social implications – A centralised and at-a-distance recruitment process decreases unfair face-to-face discrimination in selection but at the same time introduces indirect discrimination. This process may be interpreted as a way to target students; there is a risk that it exacerbates inequalities in low-wage labour markets. Originality/value – The topic is poorly explored. There is a need to understand web-based recruitment.