Robert J. Blomme

Different or alike? : Exploring the psychological contract and commitment of different generations of hospitality workers

Purpose – This study aims to explore generational differences in the psychological contract of hospitality employees and work outcomes such as commitment and turnover intention.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected in 20 hotels (n=359) from a four‐star hotel chain in The Netherlands using a self‐administered questionnaire. Data were analysed using MANOVA and post‐hoc analysis.Findings – Findings suggest that opportunities for development and challenge, variation and responsibility are more important to younger generations of hospitality workers. Generation X placed high value on work‐life balance, autonomy and job security. No differences were found for work atmosphere, salary and task description. Significantly lower commitment and higher turnover intention was also found for Generation Y.Practical implications – The findings provide insight into generational differences in expectations that hospitality workers have of their employers. This helps managers in developing management styles as we...

Work-Family Conflict as a Cause for Turnover Intentions in the Hospitality Industry

This study examines the work-family conflict approach to the turnover intentions of highly educated employees within the hospitality industry. The purpose was to investigate the relation between workplace flexibility, organizational support, work-family conflict and the intention to leave among highly educated male and female employees working in the hospitality industry. The research study conducted among this specific group worldwide provided a corpus of 247 respondents. The results show that work-family conflict and organizational support can explain a substantial amount of variance among highly educated employees regarding their intention to leave an organization. This study also found that for men work-family conflict could be explained by lack of organizational support, while for women work-family conflict could be explained both by dissatisfaction with workplace flexibility and lack of organizational support. In addition, with regard to women, the study has shown that organizational support has a moderating effect on the relation between workplace flexibility and work-family conflict. This study suggests that maintaining a good organizational climate and offering the possibility of flexible work hours to improve the balance between work and family are important factors when it comes to retaining highly educated staff.

One job, one deal...or not: do generations respond differently to psychological contract fulfillment?

This paper investigates generational differences in the relations between psychological contract fulfillment and work attitudes. Data were collected from a sample of 909 employees in the Dutch service sector. Structural equation modeling analyses were used to test the moderating effects of generational differences on the influence of psychological contract fulfillment on affective commitment and turnover intention. The relationship between psychological contract fulfillment and these work outcomes was moderated by generational differences. Furthermore, results indicate that different generations respond differently to different aspects of psychological contract fulfillment, such as career development, job content, organizational policies, social atmosphere and rewards. The study provides evidence that generational differences impact the reciprocal relationship between employer and employee. Results from this study suggest that Baby Boomers and Generation X may be more motivated by social atmosphere, whereas Generation Y may be more motivated by job content and career development. Fair organizational policies are particularly motivating to Generation X, and providing rewards, though more important to Generation Y, seem mostly unrelated to work outcomes. This article is the first to study the moderation of generational differences in the relationships between psychological contract fulfillment and work outcomes.

Positive and Negative Spillover from Work to Home: The Role of Organizational Culture and Supportive Arrangements

For todays managers, striking a sound work−home balance is an important matter. In this paper we investigate the relationship between organizational culture and work-to-home spillover. Two types of organizational culture, supportive and innovative, were compared with regard to work-to-home spillover. We measured work-to-home spillover with the help of positive and negative work−home interference measures: negative work−home interference was divided into strain-based negative work−home interference and time-based negative work−home interference. A total of 418 alumni of two Dutch business schools completed a questionnaire. The data were analysed by means of confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Findings showed that a supportive culture explained most of the variance in positive work−home interference and strain-based negative work−home interference. The relationships between a supportive culture and positive and strain-based negative work−home interference were fully mediated by flexible work−home arrangements. Flexible work−home arrangements explained the variance in time-based negative work−home interference, while no relationship was found between supportive culture and time-based negative work−home interference. Innovative culture was positively related to positive work−home interference and time-based negative work−home interference. The outcomes suggest that a supportive culture, expressed in flexible work−home arrangements, can enhance positive spillover from the work domain to the home domain and diminish negative spillover. We suggest that improving the work−home interface may attract and retain valued managers.

Leadership complex adaptive systems, and equivocality : The role of managers in emergent change

When managers are confronted with the necessity to change their organization owing to a turbulent and unpredictable environment, their change efforts are often not very successful. As managers are part of the change context itself, they have to act in a way that is different from the traditional role of the administrative leader to become successful change leaders. This article attempts to redefine organizational change using complexity theory and the work of Karl Weick and Ralph Stacey as a basis. Organizational change can be defined as emergent change in complex adaptive systems and is based on self-organizational principles. One important attractor that guides the process of emergence is equivocality. This article expounds the concept of equivocality as a main attractor for emergent change and how managers can make use of this attractor to make change successful. Research directions are also discussed.

The Influence of Organizational Culture on Negative Work-Home Interference Among Highly Educated Employees in the Hospitality Industry

An issue which has recently come to the fore in studies conducted among hospitality industry employees is the effect of negative work-home interference on the turnover of highly educated employees. This article examines the role of organizational culture with regard to negative work-home interference. The study was conducted among 418 respondents from the hospitality industry and non-hospitality industries. The results show that the experienced organizational culture, expressed as the number of hours worked overtime, the availability of work-home arrangements, and a supportive culture, was different for hospitality and non-hospitality employees. In addition, the results show that overtime, lack of support with work-home arrangements, and the absence of an experienced clan culture contribute to negative work-home interference. The results give an indication as to what hospitality organizations can do to minimize negative work-home interference and employee turnover.

Leadership style and negative work-home interference in the hospitality industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of leadership styles on negative work-home interference among highly educated employees in the hospitality industry. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted among a sample of 126 highly educated hospitality employees working in various different companies. Hierarchical regression analyses were carried out to examine the effects of leadership styles, work-home arrangements and overtime on perceived negative work-home interference. Findings – Autocratic leadership style, working overtime and a lack of work-home arrangements contributed significantly to negative work-home interference. Research limitations/implications – The study was conducted with a limited sample in a relatively limited part of the sector. Further research is needed in other layers of hospitality organisations. Practical implications – The findings provide insight into the impact of leadership on negative work-home interference. A variety of studies have identified ...

Existentialism and organizational behaviour: How existentialism can contribute to complexity theory and sense‐making

This article aims to develop a conception consisting of insights from complexity theory and additional notions from Weick’s sense-making theory and existentialism for examining organization behaviour.Purpose – This article aims to develop a conception consisting of insights from complexity theory and additional notions from Weicks sense‐making theory and existentialism for examining organization behaviour.Design/methodology/approach – This paper carries out a literature review of Karl Weicks theory of sense‐making and some notions from existentialism to discuss the possible contributions to complexity theory and with this a further comprehension of organizational behaviour.Findings – Four existential conditions, namely death, freedom, existentialism and meaninglessness, give a further comprehension of Weicks concept of equivocality. Equivocality is an important input for organizing processes. The complexity of organizing processes is an object for examining organizational behaviour from a complexity scientific standpoint. The authors argue that the concept of equivocality and with this the states of equilibrium in an organization can be approached with examining the states of the mentioned four exi...

Manager responses to employee dissent about psychological contract breach : A dyadic process approach

Communication scholars have made significant headway toward understanding the upward dissent process, conceptualizing different types of upward dissent strategies and investigating the use of these strategies. However, scholars have hardly considered the dyadic process associated with upward dissent strategies and manager responses to these strategies, or how the nature of dissent may influence the dissent process. We describe the dissent process in relation to personal-advantage dissent. We focus on a specific trigger—psychological contract breach (PCB)— because this negative workplace event is regularly experienced among employees and employees are likely to express their dissatisfaction about PCB to their managers. We present a dyadic process model that explains how employee–manager interactions following an employee’s initial dissent about PCB evolve over time.

How to Create an Effective Venture Capitalist-Entrepreneur Relationship: An Entrepreneur's Perspective

This study investigated the relationship between venture capitalists and entrepreneurs from an entrepreneur’s perspective. Its goal was to examine how perceived justice affects psychological contract breach (PCB) and how PCB evokes reactions in the venture capitalist–entrepreneur relationship. The study was performed according to the grounded theory method. After a literature review, six entrepreneurs were interviewed who had founded a venture that received venture capital investment. Results indicate that distributive justice, formal procedures, informational justice, and interpersonal justice, among others, are important factors that can influence responses to the breach. This article discusses implications for both venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to make better decisions concerning ways to manage an effective relationship. In addition, a conceptual model is presented as a suggestion for future research.