Employee Relations: An International Journal

Valentine, Sean Robert; Hollingworth, David; Schultz, Patrick

2018 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-10-2017-0240

Focusing on ethical issues when making organizational decisions should encourage a variety of positive outcomes for companies and their employees. The purpose of this paper is to determine the degree to which data-based ethical decision making, lateral relations and organizational commitment are interrelated in organizations.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from business professionals employed at multiple locations of a financial services firm operating in the USA. Mediation analysis (based on structural equation modeling) was used to test the proposed relationships.FindingsResults indicated that employees’ perceptions of data-based ethical decision making were positively related to perceived lateral relations, and that perceived lateral relations were positively related to organizational commitment.Research limitations/implicationsGiven that information was collected using only a self-report questionnaire, common method bias could be an issue. In addition, the study’s cross-sectional design limits conclusions about causality. Another limitation involves the study’s homogenous sample, which decreases the generalizability of the findings. Finally, variable responses could have been impacted by individual frames of reference and other perceptual differences.Practical implicationsResults suggest that information flow enhancements should support or be consistent with horizontal information flow enhancements, and that together these factors should increase employee commitment.Originality/valueGiven the dearth of existing research, this interdisciplinary investigation is important because it fills gaps in the management literature. This study is also important because the results could inform decisions regarding the use of data analysis in ethical decisions and lateral forms of organizational structuring to improve work attitudes.

Hu, Enhua; Zhang, Maolong; Shan, Hongmei; Zhang, Long; Yue, Yaqing

2018 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-10-2017-0245

The purpose of this paper is to offer empirical evidence on whether and how the work experiences of employees in China influence their union-related attitudes and behaviours.Design/methodology/approachThe authors developed a mediated moderation model to examine how job satisfaction and labour relations climate interactively affect union participation and whether union commitment mediates the interactive effects. A total of 585 employees from enterprises in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi and Fujian province of China were surveyed to verify the model.FindingsJob satisfaction was negatively related to union participation and union commitment. Labour relations climate moderated the relationship between job satisfaction and union participation; the relationship was negative and stronger when employees perceived an adverse, rather than a favourable, labour relations climate. Further, the interactive effect of job satisfaction and labour relations climate on union participation was partly mediated by union commitment.Originality/valueBy empirically examining employees’ attitudes and behaviours towards unions in the Chinese context, this study confirms that unions could provide employees with alternative work resources to cope with job dissatisfaction, even in a country where unions play a “transmission belt” role between employees and employers. This study adds value to the existing base of knowledge on union practice and labour relations construction, both inside and outside of China.

Zhang, Yucheng; Frenkel, Stephen J.

2018 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-07-2017-0169

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how part-time waiters perceive and respond to abusive supervision by the owner-manager of a small restaurant.Design/methodology/approachAn ethnographic approach was used to collect data. One of the authors worked as a participant observer for three months. In addition, 13 interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted.FindingsData analysis showed how neutral identification based on a primary identity—liu xu sheng (overseas student)—overshadows employees’ occupational identity (waiter), which helps waiters to cope with abusive supervision.Originality/valueDevelopment and application of the concept of neutral organizational identification orientation encourages emotional suppression and reframing, leading to waiters’ indifference and acquiescence in abusive supervision. Implications are drawn for theory and the practice of managing part-time and temporary workers.

Dibben, Pauline; Wood, Geoffrey; O’Hara, Rachel

2018 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-01-2017-0023

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate existing evidence on whether return to work interventions achieve employment outcomes and are cost effective in order to better inform those needing accommodations at work, as well as their line managers and trade union representatives, occupational health specialists and HR managers.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a systematic narrative review to evaluate the evidence on the employment outcomes and cost effectiveness of return to work initiatives.FindingsEvidence on interventions for musculoskeletal conditions such as lower back pain indicates that certain forms of intervention such as vocational rehabilitation and workplace-based rehabilitation facilitate outcomes such as employment, reduced sick leave and effective return to work. However, there is very little evidence on whether these interventions are cost effective. More generally there are glaring gaps in evidence on cardio-respiratory (heart and breathing) and mental health conditions with regard to both employment outcomes and the cost of interventions.Research limitations/implicationsThis systematic review has critical and timely implications for both knowledge development and practice. While highlighting methodological limitations in the existing research base, it also presents avenues for further research on return work strategies and the factors inhibiting and facilitating their adoption and effective operation.Originality/valueAlthough there is much existent literature on the return to work process, far less attention has been paid to the employment outcomes and cost effectiveness of interventions. This paper highlights the interventions for musculoskeletal conditions such as lower back conditions that may result in positive employment outcomes, with implications for practice. However, it also highlights gaps in evidence on the employment outcomes and cost effectiveness of interventions for cardio-respiratory (heart and breathing) and mental health conditions.

Rai, Arpana; Agarwal, Upasna A.

2018 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-02-2017-0031

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between workplace bullying and employee outcomes (intention to quit (ITQ), job satisfaction and work engagement) with psychological contract violation (PCV) as mediator and workplace friendship as moderator.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 835 full-time Indian managerial employees working in different Indian organizations.FindingsResults revealed that PCV mediated bullying-outcomes (ITQ, job satisfaction and work engagement) relationship and effects of workplace bullying on proposed outcomes were weaker in the presence of high workplace friendship.Research limitations/implicationsA cross-sectional design and use of self-reported questionnaire data are a limitation of this study. As the study did not cover all sectors, the results of this study should be interpreted with caution.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is rare attempts to examine the mediating role of PCV and the moderating role of workplace friendship in bullying-outcomes relationships. This study also contributes in terms of its context and sample.

Jabeen, Fauzia; Isakovic, Adrienne A.

2018 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-02-2017-0038

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of organizational culture on trust in top management and career satisfaction. The concept of culture was split into four types: “clan,” “adhocracy,” “hierarchy” and “market.”Design/methodology/approachA self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 128 mid-level managers in ten public sector organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The questionnaire included demographic questions and three established scales to measure culture type, trust in top management and career satisfaction. Correlation and regression analysis were used to examine relationships between variables.FindingsRespondents from “clan” and “adhocracy”-type organizations tended to have more trust in top managers than those from other culture types. Respondents from “clan”-type organizations also had greater career satisfaction. Only a clan-type organizational culture significantly predicted career satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based on a small number of mid-level managers working in ten public sector organizations. This limits the generalizability of the results. Future studies should examine both public and private sector organizations operating in various industries across the UAE, to increase the generalizability of the findings. The study results will assist organizational policy makers who wish to transform their organizational culture to one that will increase the career satisfaction of managerial staff and their trust in senior managers.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the literature on organizational culture, particularly on the relationship between trust and career satisfaction in the public sector in the UAE.

Heras, Jon Las

2018 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-12-2017-0293

The purpose of this paper is to argue that: in a context of global labour market competition and in the absence of new strategic repertoires, class trade unions are progressively becoming “managers of precariousness”. Thus, the paper challenges the compromise logic as the unique solution to corporate threats to relocation, since it undermines trade union power resources, mainly discursively and organisationally, and hinders trade union capacity to transform the balance of forces to their favour later, when the hegemonic discourse can more easily be challenged in periods of crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws upon the doctoral fieldwork the author undertook in the city and province of Barcelona during Spring–Summer 2015. More than 30 semi-structured interviews to various union delegates and regional metal officials have been accompanied by an exhaustive review of primary and secondary documentation. In so doing, this paper gives a rich and nuanced account on the different “world-views” and strategies that union delegates pursue when bargaining against transnational corporations.FindingsThis paper shows how the conservative position that Spanish trade unions adopted to the 2008 financial crisis in the automotive industry is path-dependent to dynamics established during the 1990s when lean production techniques were implemented in exchange for higher salaries. It draws upon the collective bargaining history of the Nissan–Zona–Franca assembly factory in the outskirts of Barcelona to, crucially, explain how signing micro-corporatist pacts and portraying them as the unique solution to corporate threats to relocation undermines trade union power resources, and has two important drawbacks: that micro-corporatist pacts only postpone the recurring threat to relocation to the future by eroding, not improving, the conditions of the workforce, accepting corporate discourse erodes the solidarity among workers, and it also allows yellow unions to displace class unions.Originality/valueThis paper enriches and updates the literature on micro-corporatism, collective bargaining in transnational corporations, and the erosion of trade union power resources which dates back to the 1990s and early 2000s. Whilst the negative aspects that competitiveness pacts have on workers’ salaries and conditions have been widely reported, this paper provides a rich and updated explanation of how such pacts have negative repercussions on the discursive and organisational power resources that unions have at the workplace level. In that sense, the originality of this paper rests on engaging into a substantiated historical analysis on how trade unions change throughout time as a result, at least partially, of their own strategic choices. Moreover, this paper clearly shows that concessionary positions towards collective bargaining are self-undermining.

Cristiani, Alvaro; Peiró, José María

2018 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-10-2016-0198

The purpose of this paper is to explore varieties of capitalism (VoC) as a moderator of the effect of: the strategic HR function role; and the level of union presence on the adoption of different human resource management (HRM) practices categorized as either person-centered or performance-centered.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use data on both multinationals and locally owned firms from 14 OECD countries, collected through the Cranet 2009 survey. The hypotheses of the proposed model were tested using hierarchical multiple regression analysis.FindingsEvidence shows that the strategic HR function is positively related to the adoption of both types of HRM practices, whereas higher levels of union presence inhibit the adoption of performance-centered practices and promote the adoption of person-centered practices. In addition, although VoC does not show any significant direct effects on HR practices, there is a moderating effect of VoC on the HR function role – HRM practices and union presence – HRM practices relationships.Research limitations/implicationsThe use of survey data with single respondents might produce reliability problems. Additionally, the data used are cross-sectional, which means that causality cannot be determined.Practical implicationsManagers in multinationals corporations and local firms must be aware of the distinct effects of the strategic HR function and trade union presence in different market economies. In particular, special attention must be paid when a firm expands globally, “outside the reach” of the national market economy or type of capitalism, and operates in different VoC.Originality/valueThe present paper contributes to better understanding the influence of VoC, not only on HRM practices, as in previous research, but also on the relationships between the HR function role and the level of union presence and the types of practices promoted.