Daniel G. Gallagher

I pledge thee my troth … contingently: commitment and the contingent work relationship

Abstract This paper examines work commitment outside of traditional and ongoing employer–employee relationships. In particular, attention is given to the commitment-related implications associated with the growth of various forms of “contingent” employment contracts. Of specific theoretical and practical concern is the applicability, overlap, and/or relative importance of various commitment foci (e.g., organization, job, occupation, and employment) for workers employed in both traditional arrangements and three illustrative forms of contingent employment. Implications for commitment theory, human resource management practices, and future research needs are discussed.

Fitting Square Pegs into Round Holes: Mapping the Domain of Contingent Work Arrangements onto the Psychological Contract

In this paper, we have endeavored to integrate the literature on psychological contracts with the literature on contingent work arrangements. After reviewing previous work on contingent employment, we illustrate how the dimensions of psychological contracts (stability, scope, tangibility, focus, time frame, particularism, multiple agency and volition) are more useful in highlighting differences and similarities among alternative employment arrangements in a meaningful and parsimonious manner. In doing so, we have sought to avoid the limitations of a typology or categorization of employment arrangements that has, thus far, yielded inconsistent and contradictory research results. In addition, we argue that the dimensions of psychological contracts, rather than the content of contracts, is more generalizable across type of work arrangement, as well as across different types of jobs and across national boundaries.

Emerging Trends in Contingent Work Research

In the past decade there has been growing internationally-based evidence towards a trend in organizational staffing strategies which have placed emphasis upon the direct or brokered hiring of workers on temporary, fixed-term or “contingent” employment contracts in lieu of contracts with the implication of an ongoing relationship. Concurrently, there has been an emergence of research activity concerning individual and organizational-level consequences associated with the increased organizational reliance on fixed-term contracts in the workplace. This paper provides an overview of the contingent work literature and identifies topical themes and research questions which have been the primary focus of attention, as well as the possible causal interrelationships among the diverse constructs which have been examined. The paper highlights aspects of the existing research that may benefit from further exploration, as well as consideration of a number of theoretical and methodological issues which have also emerged.

Contingent Employment Contracts: Are Existing Employment Theories Still Relevant?:

Within most nations there has been growing evidence of a shift from ‘traditional’ or ongoing employment contracts to arrangements which are more ‘fixed-term’ or ‘contingent’ in structure. The growth of contingent employment arrangements raises questions concerning the applicability of existing theories of individual behaviour (e.g. satisfaction, motivation, etc.). Utilizing ‘employment commitment’ as an illustrative example, this article examines potential limitations in the applicability of commitment theory to different forms of contingent employment contracts. It also addresses some implications for union representation in contingent work arrangements.

Impact of early socialization on union commitment and participation : a longitudinal study

New members of a union (N=305) were surveyed twice over a 1-year period to assess the effects of institutional and individual socialization practices on union commitment and participation. Whereas individual socialization practices were found to impact on both affective and behavioral involvement in the union, institutional socialization practices were shown to be ineffective at best and counterproductive at worst. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed

Union commitment and participation: a 10-year longitudinal study.

The authors longitudinally investigated the causal nature of the relationship between union commitment and participation in informal union activities. A total of 134 members of the National Association of Letter Carriers were studied over a 10-year period. Using cross-lagged regression analysis, early union commitment was found to predict the level of informal union participation 10 years later. The reverse and reciprocal relationships were not supported. These findings support and extend earlier research on the causal nature of the short-term relationship between union commitment and participation. The implications of the findings for researchers and labor unions are discussed.

Elasticity in the ‘rules’ of the game: Exploring organizational expedience

The primary objectives of this article are twofold. Our first objective is to introduce the construct of ‘organizational expedience’. We differentiate organizational expedience from a wide range of related constructs in the literature, such as counterproductive work behavior, deviance, pro-social rule-breaking, organizational retaliation behavior, and propensity to withhold effort. Our second goal is to provide a conceptual framework that proposes that role stressors (i.e. ambiguity, conflict, and overload) are antecedents of organizational expedience, which in turn predicts other worker behaviors such as voice, creativity, and cynicism. Details of the mechanisms underlying these relationships are presented as mediators including tension, task conflict, and emotional exhaustion. In addition, behavioral integrity and psychological ownership are discussed as potential moderators of the specified relationships. Based upon our conceptual framework, a series of propositions are provided as a platform for future research on organizational expedience.

Alternative Work Arrangements

In recent years there has been increased employer use of alternative forms of employment contracts to supplement more traditional employment arrangements. Using data from Swedish health-care workers (N=711; 86% women), this study compares full-time and part-time permanent employees with contingent workers and sets out to answer the following questions: Do workers on non-traditional work schedules experience more or less (1) job related role stress, (2) involvement in the organization, and (3) well-being? Contingent workers were found to experience more job insecurity and role ambiguity but also lower levels of somatic complaints as compared to core employees. On a general level, contingent workers expressed levels of job involvement and organizational commitment almost comparable to full-time employees while part-time workers held less favorable work attitudes. The results also revealed gender differences among contingent workers-women on temporary contracts expressed substantially more job insecurity and somatic complaints but also felt more involved in their jobs and more committed to the organization than men. Given that there exists a variety of contingent employment arrangements and that the occupation alstatus of these differ, additional research is needed to increase our understanding of the consequences of different forms of alternative work arrangements.

Validity Evidence for the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire in the Japanese Corporate Culture

This study examined the validity of the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) as a measure of organizational commitment in the Japanese culture. Results of the LISREL analyses indicated that the 3-factor model was a better fit to the data than either the 1-factor or the 2-factor model. Overall, the results provide support for the cross-cultural applicability of the OCQ to Japanese workers.

Impasse Resolution under the Iowa Multistep Procedure

Examination of the effect of impasse procedures on the negotiation process under the Iowa Public Employment Relations Act. Analysis of bargaining activity under the act; Criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the impasse procedure under the act; Convergence effects of final-order arbitration. (Abstract copyright EBSCO.)