Carolina Moliner

Relationships Between Organizational Justice and Burnout at the Work-Unit Level

Relationships between organizational justice and well-being are traditionally investigated at the individual level. This article extends previous efforts by testing such relationships at the work-unit level. Three corridors of influence were examined. First, the level (work units’ average scores) of justice is related to the level of burnout. Second, justice climate strength (level of agreement among work-unit members) moderates the predictability of the level of burnout. Third, justice strength is related to burnout strength. The authors interviewed 324 contact employees from 108 work units in 59 service organizations. Findings showed the predominance of interactional justice over distributive and procedural justice in all 3 corridors.

Organizational justice and extrarole customer service: The mediating role of well-being at work

The purpose of this article is to propose and test a model of extrarole customer service (ERCS). We propose that organizational justice (distributive, procedural, interpersonal, and informational) promotes well-being at work (low burnout and high engagement). Well-being at work, in turn, engenders more effective ERCS. Thus, well-being at work is considered a mediator of the relationships from organizational justice to ERCS. This fully mediated model was compared to an alternative fully direct model. The sample consisted of 317 contact employees who were working in the Spanish service sector. The results of structural equation modelling supported the importance of the mediating role of the positive side of well-being at work (engagement) in the relationship between organizational justice and ERCS. The article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications.

Unit-level fairness and quality within the health care industry: A justice–quality model

We test a justice–quality model in which peer justice and justice climate are related to the service quality provided by the work unit. Based on the effort–reward imbalance model, we propose that units perceiving fair treatment provide better delivery of the core service (functional service quality) and better relational service beyond the core service (relational service quality). We also test whether the cross-level relationship of high service quality delivered by work units translates into high customer ratings of the service quality they receive. Furthermore, we propose that high service quality increases the work unit’s influence on their customers’ quality of life (QoL). We test these hypotheses using hierarchical linear modelling with 724 employees and 1,137 customers nested in 89 health care organizations providing services to persons with intellectual disabilities (PID). Customers’ ratings were assessed by the legal guardians of the PID. Results showed that justice climate is related to functional service quality, whereas peer justice is related to relational service quality. Additionally, results showed that high service quality delivered by work units relates to high customer ratings, which, in turn, are associated with the perceived influence of work units on customers’ QoL. We discuss the implications for justice and service research.

Survey feedback improves service quality perceptions among employees of an NGO: an organizational-level positive intervention

ABSTRACT The goal of this research study is to examine whether employees’ service quality perceptions improve after they participate in survey-feedback sessions. We tested an organizational-level positive intervention with the participation of 49 small organizations pertaining to an NGO for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Data were collected from employees (n = 430) and family members (n = 625), then informing employees about service quality perceptions. We hypothesized that, compared to family members, employees would underestimate the service quality they deliver, and that survey-feedback sessions would help to improve employees’ perceptions. We conducted a randomized controlled trial study, analyzing data at the organizational level. Randomly selected participants – employees and family members – were asked to assess functional and relational service quality (T1). One month later, 25 organizations participated in a survey-feedback session. Data were collected again 4 months after the first assessment (T2) in both the survey-feedback and control conditions. The t-test and ANOVA analyses showed that employees underestimate their service quality, and that survey feedback improves their relational service quality perceptions. The manuscript concludes with theoretical and practical implications of the study.

Intergroup Conflict and Rational Decision Making

The literature has been relatively silent about post-conflict processes. However, understanding the way humans deal with post-conflict situations is a challenge in our societies. With this in mind, we focus the present study on the rationality of cooperative decision making after an intergroup conflict, i.e., the extent to which groups take advantage of post-conflict situations to obtain benefits from collaborating with the other group involved in the conflict. Based on dual-process theories of thinking and affect heuristic, we propose that intergroup conflict hinders the rationality of cooperative decision making. We also hypothesize that this rationality improves when groups are involved in an in-group deliberative discussion. Results of a laboratory experiment support the idea that intergroup conflict –associated with indicators of the activation of negative feelings (negative affect state and heart rate)– has a negative effect on the aforementioned rationality over time and on both group and individual decision making. Although intergroup conflict leads to sub-optimal decision making, rationality improves when groups and individuals subjected to intergroup conflict make decisions after an in-group deliberative discussion. Additionally, the increased rationality of the group decision making after the deliberative discussion is transferred to subsequent individual decision making.

Linking Employees’ Extra-Role Efforts to Customer Satisfaction

Our main goal was to test the moderating role of customer complaints (“presence” vs. “absence”) in the links from extra-role customer service (ERCS) to customer satisfaction. To this end, we conducted two independent survey studies in two service settings: hotels and service-centers for individuals with intellectual disability. A total of 571 hotel customers and 876 legal guardians of individuals with intellectual disability participated in the studies. We found that the magnitude of the relationship between ERCS and customer satisfaction was higher for presence of complaints than for absence in both service settings. Results are discussed in terms of compensation-seeking, reciprocity, generous behavior, and characteristics of service encounters between employees and customers.

The Moderating Role of Performance in the Link From Interactional Justice Climate to Mutual Trust Between Managers and Team Members

The main goal of this study was to examine the interaction between team members’ performance and interactional justice climate in predicting mutual trust between managers and team members. A total of 93 small centers devoted to the attention of people with intellectual disability participated in the study. In each center, the manager (N = 93) and a group of team members (N = 746) were surveyed. On average, team members were 36.2 years old (SD = 9.3), whereas managers were 41.2 years old (SD = 8.8). The interaction between interactional justice climate and performance was statistically significant. Team members’ performance strengthened the link from interactional justice climate to mutual trust.

Dialogue between workers and family members is related to their attitudes towards self-determination of individuals with intellectual disability

ABSTRACT Background: This study focused on attitudes of workers and family members towards self-determination of individuals with intellectual disability. First, we compare their self-determination attitudes. Second, we test the link from mutual communication (workers and family members perceive that the other party openly dialogues about self-determination) to individual attitudes. Finally, we examine the relationship between mutual communication and affinity in attitudes. Method: We conducted a survey study with 111 organisations (914 workers and 845 family members). Results: Workers have more positive attitudes than family members. In addition, high mutual communication was associated with individual positive attitudes towards self-determination and shared attitudes between workers and family members. Conclusions: When both workers and family members perceive that the other party is accessible and willing to engage in open dialogue about self-determination issues, their attitudes converge.

Under-over benefitting perceptions and evaluation of services

Purpose – In the context of service exchanges, the purpose of this paper is to examine the form of the link from under-benefitting (customers receive less than they invest) vs over-benefitting (customers receive more than they invest) perceptions to customer service evaluations. The authors assess three competing hypotheses: maximization, fairness, and the asymmetric hypotheses. Design/methodology/approach – Linear and nonlinear relationships between under-over benefitting perceptions and service evaluations are examined following a test-retest approach. These relationships are investigated in four samples from two survey studies: hotels (Time 1, n=591; Time 2, n=512) and restaurants (Time 1, n=536; Time 2, n=473). Findings – Results confirmed the existence of asymmetrical curvilinear relationships. Service evaluations improve sharply when perceptions move from under-benefitting perceptions to balanced situations. However, service evaluations do not improve in high over-benefitting situations. Practical i...

An Integrated International Learning Model for Internationalizing I/O Psychology Programs

Today’s companies that employ industrial/organizational (I/O) psychologists typically have international linkages, whether the company is itself multinational or the company has international partners, vendors, or consumers. These companies would benefit from having I/O psychology (IOP) professionals who are knowledgeable about IOP practices that transcend national boundaries or constrained by them. Therefore, it behooves IOP graduate programs to prepare their students to provide services that benefit an international workforce. In this chapter, we present the integrated international learning (IIL) model. This model forwards different ways of designing international IOP programs by combining didactic and experiential approaches in traditional or virtual instructional environments and international or stationary settings. We present pedagogical approaches to internationalize programs that range from simple reinforcement that IOP theories might not cross cultural boundaries to entire programmatic curricula that infuse an international or cross-cultural component throughout all coursework. In particular, we recommend that IOP programs consider the modern work environment, which struggles with both a physical and a virtual workspace, by featuring at a minimum a virtually abroad program (an international program deployed through the web with international partners) at maximum incorporating all learning approaches i.e., an entire degree program. Activities that would support the variety of possible instructional methodologies include hosting an international cadre of faculty from around the globe both via the web and in person, research collaborations between host and visiting students and faculty, team projects across the globe, study abroad, and more. We argue that by educating graduate students to understand global and cross-cultural issues related to IOP, they will be able to design and implement IOP interventions across national and organizational cultures with refined cross-cultural competence.