Sumita Raghuram

Organizational identification among virtual workers: the role of need for affiliation and perceived work-based social support

Organizational identification, which reflects how individuals define the self with respect to their organization, may be called into question in the context of virtual work. Virtual work increases employees’ isolation and independence, threatening to fragment the organization. This study finds that virtual workers’ need for affiliation and the work-based social support they experience are countervailing forces associated with stronger organizational identification. Furthermore, perceived work-based social support moderates the relationship between virtual workers’ need for affiliation and their strength of organizational identification. Thus, when work-based social support is high, even workers with lower need for affiliation may strongly identify with the organization.

Factors contributing to virtual work adjustment

We explore factors associated with employee adjustment to virtual work. In particular, we explore structural factors (i.e., work independence and evaluation criteria) and relational factors (i.e., trust and organizational connectedness) as predictors of adjustment to virtual work. Additionally, we explore age, virtual work experience and gender as moderators of the relationships. We find that structural and relational factors are important predictors of adjustment and that the strength of the relationship is contingent upon individual differences. We explore the implications of these findings for future research and for practice.

Communication Patterns as Determinants of Organizational Identification in a Virtual Organization

Recent advances in information technologies provide employees the freedom to work from any place and at any time. Such temporal and spatial dispersion, however, threatens the very meaning of firms. We suggest that organizational identification may be the critical glue linking virtual workers and their organizations. We explore the role that information technologies play in the creation and maintenance of a common identity among decoupled organization members.

Technology Enabled Work: The Role of Self-Efficacy in Determining Telecommuter Adjustment and Structuring Behavior

We explore factors associated with employees ability to cope with the challenges of telecommuting—an increasingly pervasive new work mode enabled by advances in information technologies. Telecommuting can trigger important changes in employees job responsibilities, especially with respect to the degree of proactivity required to effectively work from a distance. Survey responses from a sample of 723 participants in one organizations formal telecommuting program were used to examine the inter-relationships between telecommuter self-efficacy and extent of telecommuting on telecommuters ability to cope with this new work context. Results indicate that there is a positive association between telecommuter self-efficacy and both employees behavioral strategies (i.e., structuring behaviors) and work outcomes (i.e., telecommuter adjustment). Moreover, these positive relationships are accentuated for employees who telecommute more extensively. Implications for research and practice concerning the effect of technology on jobs and careers are presented. 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

Flexible employment practices in Europe: country versus culture

Abstract This paper examines extent to which variances in flexible employment practices across fourteen European countries may be attributed to cultural variances. Data were gathered through a survey of human resource practices in 4,876 companies. The results indicate that national differences between flexible employment practices were explained by cultural differences. Specifically, we find use of part-time work is related to power distance and individualism; contract work is related to uncertainty avoidance and individualism; shift work is related to uncertainty avoidance, power distance and individualism; and telework is related to femininity.

Research Note---Mapping the Field of Virtual Work: A Cocitation Analysis

Interest in the area of virtual work continues to increase with articles being written from different disciplinary perspectives---e.g., information systems (IS), management, psychology, and transportation. In this paper, we map research on virtual work to (a) understand the intellectual base from which this field has emerged, (b) explore how this field has evolved over time, and (c) identify clusters of research themes that have emerged over time and the relationships between them. Specifically, we use cocitation analysis of research published in all social science disciplines to map the field at three points in time---1995, 2000, and 2006. Our results show that the field has grown from 9 research clusters in 1995 to 16 in 2006. A comparison across these maps suggests that research in the cluster of “virtual teams” has gained significance even as research in some earlier clusters such as “urban planning and transportation” has lost ground. Our longitudinal analysis identifies relevant concepts, theories, and methodologies that have emerged in the field of virtual work. This analysis can help interested researchers identify how they may want to contribute to the field of virtual work---by adding to popular clusters, by enriching emerging smaller clusters, or by acting as bridges across clusters.

A Frame for Deframing in Strategic Analysis

Deframing processes are needed to deal with pervasive change. We describe what is meant by a frame and how strategy analysts develop and rely on frames to help their understanding. We also discuss the limitations of frames and the need in a changing world for people to be able to both frame and deframe to facilitate their understanding. We then present a frame for understanding the deframing process.

Identities on call: Impact of impression management on Indian call center agents

Call center agents located in India present themselves at work in a manner that stands in stark contrast to their non-work identities. The impression management tactics they use include using Western names, foreign accents, and scripts that convey physical proximity to customers. This study examines the cognitive demands placed on call center agents as they manage such impressions. The data show that the cultural differences between customers and agents and the use of a telephone as a communication medium intensified demands on agents. In coping with these demands, the agents reassessed their work and non-work identities. At one end of the continuum, some of the call center agents segmented their non-work identities from their work identities. At the other end, call center agents chose to experiment with and incorporate parts of their work identities into their non-work identities, thereby creating hybrid identities. This article discusses implications of these findings for impression management and identity exploration.

Organizational identification among young software professionals in India

Building organizational identification is of importance to the software industry in India which has problems with attracting and retaining talented employees. This article examines the role of internalized organizational values, top management trust, and job challenge on organizational identification. Trust in senior management and organizational values are predictive of organizational identification. Perception of paternalistic management moderates the relationship between job challenge and organizational identification, such that those who perceive a higher level of paternalism exhibit a stronger positive relationship between job challenge and organizational identification. The article extends the nomological net of organizational identification to knowledge workers and paternalistic cultures.

A vision of international HRM research

Abstract This editorial was written as a vision of IHRM research, to be both thought-provoking and to start a conversation that can continue to move the field forward. Starting with a brief outline of the field, the editorial emphasizes distinct research route trajectories charting the landscape and anatomy of HRM in an international context, focusing on HRM in multinational corporations (MNCs) as well as Comparative HRM and the related, but distinct, cross-cultural management thread. Additionally, the editorial accentuates the importance of context in IHRM research, explaining the resultant debate on adopting a universalist vs. a contextual paradigm. The editorial presents a future agenda for IHRM research, focusing on challenges of research sampling, appropriate methodologies, social impact and interdisciplinary research. Finally, the editorial introduces four featured articles from the 2nd Global Conference on IHRM. Each article represents an interesting take on comparative HRM and/or strategic IHRM in MNCs. The studies are clear examples of how context can be used to explain the phenomena being studied.