Neil Conway

Human Resource Management and Corporate Performance in the UK

The relationship between HRM and performance was explored in 366 UK companies using objective and subjective performance measures and cross‐sectional and longitudinal data. Using objective measures of performance, greater use of HRM is associated with lower labour turnover and higher profit per employee but not higher productivity. After controlling for previous years’ performance, the association ceases to be significant. Using subjective performance estimates, there is a strong association between HRM and both productivity and financial performance. The study therefore confirms the association between HRM and performance but fails to show that HRM causes higher performance.

Exchange relationships : Examining psychological contracts and perceived organizational support

The authors surveyed 347 public sector employees on 4 measurement occasions to investigate the conceptual distinctiveness of the psychological contract and perceived organizational support (POS) and how they are associated over time. Results support the distinctiveness of the 2 concepts. In terms of their interrelationships over time, by drawing on psychological contract theory the authors found little support for a reciprocal relationship between POS and psychological contract fulfillment. Under an alternative set of hypotheses, by drawing on organizational support theory and by separating psychological contract fulfillment into its 2 components (perceived employer obligations and inducements), the authors found that perceived employer inducements were positively related to POS, which, in turn, was negatively related to perceived employer obligations. The results suggest that POS and the components of psychological contract fulfillment are more important in predicting organizational citizenship behavior than psychological contract fulfillment.

Peering into the Black Hole: The Downside of the New Employment Relations in the UK

Using a national sample of 1,000 employees, this paper examines the proposition that those working in so-called ‘black hole’ organizations (i.e. where there is neither a set of progressive HRM practices nor a recognized trade union) will report more negative attitudes and work experiences than those in settings where there is either HRM, a trade union presence or both. The results lend some support to this hypothesis with respect to job satisfaction and organizational commitment and in judgements about experiences of fairness of treatment and trust in management. However, the most negative views about employment relations are reported by those who belong to a union in workplaces with little HRM. The findings indicate that it is HRM practices rather than trade union membership that have the major impact on attitudes and experiences. Even in black hole organizations some employees report satisfaction. This can be largely explained by a positive psychological contract between individual and organization. The implications for the role of trade unions in the promotion of fairness at work are discussed.

The impact of HR practices, HR effectiveness and a 'strong HR system' on organisational outcomes: a stakeholder perspective

This paper explores the general hypothesis that effectiveness of human resource (HR) practices will help to explain the well-documented association between human resource management and performance. This paper adopts a stakeholder perspective, hypothesising that the ratings of HR effectiveness of senior line managers will be more strongly associated with the outcomes than those of HR managers. Furthermore, building on Bowen and Ostroffs concept of consensus as part of a ‘strong’ HR system, it is hypothesised that shared perceptions of (high) effectiveness will be associated with higher performance. This study is based on a sample of 237 matched pairs of senior line managers and HR managers, and measures a range of subjective and objective outcomes. The analysis confirms the association both between more HR practices and higher HR effectiveness and a range of performance outcomes. The associations are mostly stronger for HR effectiveness. There are low levels of agreement between HR and line managers about HR effectiveness and where agreement exists, it is not associated with superior outcomes. This study, therefore, confirms the importance of HR effectiveness, but fails to support any impact of consensus.

Organizational Support, Individual Attributes, and the Practice of Career Self-Management Behavior

This article reports the findings of a study, conducted in a UK new media company, that investigated direct and interactive relationships between perceived organizational support (POS), leader—member exchange (LMX), gender, locus of control, and practice of career self-management behaviors. The results show that it is the interactive relationships that have stronger links with internally focused career self-management behavior, whereas the direct associations, with the exception of LMX, are more closely related to externally oriented career self-management activities. POS moderates the relationship between both gender and locus of control and internally focused career self-management behavior, suggesting that it may send out a signal to certain employees about how supportive the organizational environment is of career self-management. Men and women are shown to act in different ways, depending on the level of POS that they receive, whereas POS encourages individuals with an internal locus of control to engage in internal career self-management behavior, in line with trait activation theory. LMX operates more directly, suggesting that it is a source of practical help with career self-management aimed at furthering the career within the organization; interaction results show that, when LMX is absent, men and those with an internal locus of control engage in internal networking behavior, presumably to find other sources of such help.

Corporate Governance and Human Resource Management

This paper investigates the effect of different forms of corporate governance on the structure and nature of stakeholder relationships within organizations and the consequent impact on human resource management (HRM) policy and outcomes. The analysis shows that while performance advantages can be derived from commitment-based HRM systems, a corporate governance regime that privileges remote stakeholders may operate as a constraint on such systems. The empirical analysis is based on the UK Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS98).

Generalizability of career orientations: A comparative study in Switzerland and Great Britain

This study examined the generalizability of types of career orientation. Exploratory latent class analyses were used to examine whether structurally the same career orientations can be found across a large sample of Swiss German (N=737), Swiss French (N=319), and British (N=1,002) employees. The finding showed that the generalizability of career orientations was not supported across the two countries and not even between the German- and French-speaking parts of Switzerland. At least four career orientations were found in all samples. Country-specific inspection of these four career orientations showed that they differed in terms of their combinations of specific components (boundaryless, protean, advancement, and time orientation). Mixtures of types of career orientations exist and make it difficult to identify fully the same type of career orientation across different cultural contexts. Explanations for differences in career orientation are discussed focusing on the cultural and economic context of Switzerland and Great Britain. Implications for organizational career management practices as well as theory of the career orientation concept are discussed.

Generalizability of career orientations

This study examined the generalizability of types of career orientation. Exploratory latent class analyses were used to examine whether structurally the same career orientations can be found across a large sample of Swiss German (N=737), Swiss French (N=319), and British (N=1,002) employees. The finding showed that the generalizability of career orientations was not supported across the two countries and not even between the German- and French-speaking parts of Switzerland. At least four career orientations were found in all samples. Country-specific inspection of these four career orientations showed that they differed in terms of their combinations of specific components (boundaryless, protean, advancement, and time orientation). Mixtures of types of career orientations exist and make it difficult to identify fully the same type of career orientation across different cultural contexts. Explanations for differences in career orientation are discussed focusing on the cultural and economic context of Switzerland and Great Britain. Implications for organizational career management practices as well as theory of the career orientation concept are discussed.

What's the deal? An exploration of career management behaviour in Iceland

This article reports the findings of a longitudinal study that investigated the nature of the career deal in Iceland, chosen as a research setting because it potentially offers a very different career environment to that which exists in the UK and US, where most previous research examining contemporary careers has been conducted. The findings show that certain dimensions of the contemporary career deal shown to exist in the UK are less apparent in the Icelandic context. While a close reciprocal relationship between career self-management behaviour and organizational career management help does exist, other potential aspects of the deal are absent. In Iceland, individuals who get more help with managing their careers are more committed to their employer but this commitment does not imply that they will do more to manage their own careers with their current employer as result. In addition, no links were found between career management activities and job performance. In Iceland individuals do not engage in career self-management behaviour to any great extent and when they do, their behaviour does not seem to have the same kind of focus or meaning that it has been shown to have in the context of the contemporary career deal that exists in the UK.

It's tough hanging-up a call: The relationships between calling and work hours, psychological detachment, sleep quality, and morning vigor

It has been argued that when people believe that their work is a calling, it can often be experienced as an intense and consuming passion with significant personal meaning. While callings have been demonstrated to have several positive outcomes for individuals, less is known about the potential downsides for those who experience work in this way. This study develops a multiple-meditation model proposing that, while the intensity of a calling has a positive direct effect on work-related vigor, it motivates people to work longer hours, which both directly and indirectly via longer work hours, limits their psychological detachment from work in the evenings. In turn, this process reduces sleep quality and morning vigor. Survey and diary data of 193 church ministers supported all hypotheses associated with this model. This implies that intense callings may limit the process of recovery from work experiences. The findings contribute to a more balanced theoretical understanding of callings.