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A new issue of Human Relations is available online:  Human Relations December 2016; 69(12) − we hope you enjoy reading these articles. 

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DECEMBER ISSUE ARTICLES

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Temporal issues in person–organization fit, person–job fit and turnover: The role of leader–member exchange

Corine Boon and Michal Biron

Human Relations, December 2016, 69(12): 2177-2200

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/69/12/2177?etoc

Abstract

Person–environment fit has been found to have significant implications for employee attitudes and behaviors. Most research to date has approached person–environment fit as a static phenomenon, and without examining how different types of person–environment fit may affect each other. In particular, little is known about the conditions under which fit with one aspect of the environment influences another aspect, as well as subsequent behavior. To address this gap we examine the role of leader–member exchange in the relationship between two types of person–environment fit over time: person–organization and person–job fit, and subsequent turnover. Using data from two waves (T1 and T2, respectively) and turnover data collected two years later (T3) from a sample of 160 employees working in an elderly care organization in the Netherlands, we find that person–organization fit at T1 is positively associated with person–job fit at T2, but only for employees in high-quality leader–member exchange relationships. Higher needs–supplies fit at T2 is associated with lower turnover at T3. In contrast, among employees in high-quality leader–member exchange relationships, the demands–abilities dimension of person–job fit at T2 is associated with higher turnover at T3.

Keywords: leader–member exchange, person–environment fit, person–job fit, person–organization fit, turnover

Compositions of professionalism in counselling work: An embodied and embedded intersectionality framework

Maria Adamson and Marjana Johansson

Human Relations, December 2016, 69(12): 2201-2223

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/69/12/2201?etoc

Abstract

This article explores the embodied compositions of professionalism in the context of the counselling psychology profession in Russia. Specifically, we develop an embodied intersectionality framework for theorizing compositions of professionalism, which allows us to explain how multiple embodied categories of difference intersect and are relationally co-constitutive in producing credible professionals, and, importantly, how these intersections are contingent on intercorporeal encounters that take place in localized professional settings. Our exploration of how professionalism and professional credibility are established in Russian counselling shows that, rather than assuming that a hegemonic 'ideal body' is given preference in a professional context, different embodied compositions may be deemed credible in various work settings within the same profession. An embodied intersectionality framework allows us to challenge the notion of a single professional ideal and offer a dynamic and contextually situated analysis of the lived experiences of professional privilege and disadvantage.

Keywords: embodiment, intercorporeality, intersectionality, professional work, professionalism, Russia

Mixed feelings, mixed blessing? How ambivalence in organizational identification relates to employees' regulatory focus and citizenship behaviors

Sebastian C Schuh, Niels Van Quaquebeke, Anja S Göritz, Katherine R Xin, David De Cremer, and Rolf van Dick

Human Relations, December 2016, 69(12): 2224-2249

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/69/12/2224?etoc

Abstract

Recent conceptual work suggests that the sense of identity that employees develop vis-a-vis their organization goes beyond the traditional notion of organizational identification and can also involve conflicting impulses represented by ambivalent identification. In this study, we seek to advance this perspective on identification by proposing and empirically examining important antecedents and consequences. In line with our hypotheses, an experimental study (N = 199 employees) shows that organizational identification and ambivalent identification interactively influence employees' willingness to engage in organizational citizenship behavior. The effect of organizational identification on organizational citizenship behavior is significantly reduced when employees experience ambivalent identification. A field study involving employees from a broad spectrum of organizations and industries (N = 564) replicated these findings. Moreover, results show that employees' promotion and prevention focus form differential relationships with organizational identification and ambivalent identification, providing first evidence for a link between employees' regulatory focus and the dynamics of identification. Implications for the expanded model of organizational identification and the understanding of ambivalence in organizations are discussed.

Keywords: ambivalence, ambivalent identification, expanded model of organizational identification, OCBI, OCBO, organizational citizenship behavior, organizational identification, prevention focus, promotion focus, regulatory focus

Social influence and the invocation of rights: The effects of accountability, reputation and political skill on legal claiming

Angela T Hall, Wajda Wikhamn, and Robert Cardy

Human Relations, December 2016, 69(12): 2250-2273

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/69/12/2250?etoc

Abstract

Issues relating to litigation and other forms of employee legal claiming are at the forefront of the practice of human resource management. However, organizational scholars have paid scant attention to this important aspect of organizational life. Underrepresented in this collective research have been investigations into how social influence variables impact the legal claiming process. We add to the understanding of legal claiming by evaluating how perceived levels of accountability, reputation and political skill affect individuals' willingness to engage in contentious and non-contentious legal claiming. We also investigate the impact that social influence has on individuals' advice to other potential claimants. This study employed a longitudinal design utilizing both scenarios and survey data collection. Results from our study partially support the conclusion that individuals are more risk-averse in their own legal claiming considerations than they are in the advice they offer to similarly-situated others. Furthermore, accountability, reputation and interpersonal influence (one aspect of political skill) were found to significantly influence the likelihood of legal claiming. The pattern of results indicates that social influence variables play a role in determining whether legal claiming will be pursued and what type of claiming will be chosen.

Keywords: conflict, employee rights, employee voice, employment law, social influence

The indeterminacy of 'temporariness': Control and power in neo-bureaucratic organizations and work in UK television

Jonathan Morris, Catherine Farrell, and Mike Reed

Human Relations, December 2016, 69(12): 2274-2297

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/69/12/2274?etoc

Abstract

Whereas historically the UK television industry has been characterized by hierarchy and vertical integration of programme production within a few large broadcasters, new neo-bureaucratic temporary organizational forms have proliferated in the industry in the past 20 years. This has been a product of a variety of factors, including globalization, technological change in the industry, deregulation and cost-cutting. This article draws on research involving 75 participants working in the large broadcasters, independents and as freelancers. The temporary form in the industry is an extreme case, in that they can be of very short duration (under a week). This has far-reaching implications for industry coordination and control. However, these forms are far from 'one-offs' and they are continuously reinvented and recast. This neo-bureaucratic form is controlled and regulated by the major producers through a set of powerful normative methods, based partly on an evolving custom and practice, but also in the extreme familiarity of people in the industry, across the large broadcasters, the independents and freelancers. The article evaluates how the structures, processes and coordination of these organizations through the manipulation of social capital in the industry are used to regulate and control a set of confused and 'messy' temporary arrangements.

Keywords: contingent work, neo-bureaucratic organizational forms, social capital, temporary television industry

Reviewer of the Year Award 2016 and thanks to our reviewers

Human Relations, December 2016, 69(12): 2298-2308

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/69/12/2298?etoc

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NOVEMBER FREE ACCESS ARTICLE

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Free to access until 30 November 2016:

What motivates entrepreneurial entry under economic inequality? The role of human and financial capital

Emanuel Xavier-Oliveira, André O Laplume,  and Saurav Pathak

Human Relations July 2015 68: 1183-1207, doi: 10.1177/0018726715578200

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/68/7/1183.full.pdf+html

Abstract

Based on a multilevel analysis of nearly 120,000 observations across 31 countries between 2001 and 2008, we provide novel insights into the moderating effects that economic inequality may have on the distinct roles that human and financial capital play on different types of entrepreneurship. As inequality increases, both forms of capital become weaker deterrents of entry into necessity entrepreneurship, whereas for opportunity entrepreneurship, only financial capital becomes a stronger predictor of entry. We also show that, regardless of inequality levels, both human and financial capital exhibit decreasing marginal returns on the likelihood of entry into necessity entrepreneurship, and that in the case of opportunity entrepreneurship, financial capital exhibits increasing marginal returns. However, inequality does impact the magnitude of marginal returns. Additionally, our statistical analysis provides quantitative support to extant literature arguing that higher levels of economic inequality foster both types of entrepreneurship albeit having a stronger impact on necessity entrepreneurship, and that human and financial capital have distinct effects on entry into necessity versus opportunity entrepreneurship. All these findings have pertinent policy implications and shed light on the under-researched role of inequality on entrepreneurship.

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RECENT ONLINE FIRST PREVIEW ARTICLES

Access all OnlineFirst articles here: http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/recent

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Beneath the white gaze: Strategic self-Orientalism among Chinese Australians

Helena Liu

Human Relations, first published on November 14, 2016 as doi:10.1177/0018726716676323

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/11/08/0018726716676323?papetoc

Abstract

This article analyses the ethno-cultural identities of Chinese Australian professionals through a postcolonial lens. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 21 participants, it explores how they engaged in self-Orientalism; casting themselves as exotic commodities for the benefit of white people and institutions. In particular, they enacted Chinese stereotypes through 'mythtapping' and 'mythkeeping' in order to secure recognition under the white gaze. As mythtappers, professionals presented themselves as custodians of an ancient and mysterious culture that offered organizational wisdoms for 'the West.' As mythkeepers, the professionals allayed white anxieties by surrendering themselves to white Australians as pathways into their communities. However, the professionals' Orientalized identities are not passively determined, but are in some cases tactically and strategically resisted through 'mythbusting.' The article contributes to postcolonial theorizing by demonstrating how imperialist ideologies constrain the lives of people beyond the colonizer/colonized dichotomy and by illuminating the potential for their resistance against Orientalization.

Keywords: Australia, Chinese, culture, ethnicity, Orientalism, postcolonialism, race

Is it ok to care? How compassion falters and is courageously accomplished in the midst of uncertainty

Jason Kanov, Edward H Powley, and Neil D Walshe

Human Relations, first published on November 14, 2016 as doi:10.1177/0018726716673144

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/11/08/0018726716673144?papetoc

Abstract

This article elaborates the organizational literature's process theory of compassion – an empathic response to suffering – which falls short of adequately explaining why and how compassion unfolds readily in some workplace situations or settings but not in others. We address this shortcoming by calling attention to the basic uncertainty of suffering and compassion, demonstrating that this uncertainty tends to be particularly pronounced in organizational settings, and presenting propositions that explain how such uncertainty inhibits the compassion process. We then argue that understanding the accomplishment of compassion in the midst of uncertainty necessitates regarding compassion as an enactment of courage, and we incorporate insights from the organizational literature on everyday courageous action into compassion theory. We conclude with a discussion of implications in which we underscore the importance of organizational support for the expression of suffering and the doing of compassion, and we also consider directions for future research.

Keywords: compassion, courage, organizational context, relational process, suffering, uncertainty

A realist alternative to meta-analysis: Two papers

Paul K Edwards

Human Relations, first published on November 14, 2016 as doi:10.1177/0018726716673442

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/11/08/0018726716673442?papetoc

Abstract

Meta-analysis (the statistical combination of a set of studies in a given area, with the aim of establishing an overall or average effect of something) is increasingly common in work and organization studies. Critiques of meta-analysis are now common. There is also a well-known alternative based in realism. The purpose in bringing together the two papers by Nielsen and Miraglia and by Vincent and colleagues is not to rehearse the critiques or simply explain realism or realist evaluation. The two papers certainly perform these functions in setting out problems with meta-analysis and also identifying when and to what extent it remains valid. The goal, however, is to move forward by showing what a realist synthesis would look like and illustrating how it works. Vincent and colleagues lay out the principles, while Nielsen and Miraglia take the case of intervention studies to show how realist evaluation works.

Keywords: critical realism, Critical Realist Synthesis, CRS, meta-analysis, realism or realist evaluation

Critical Essay: Meta-analysis: A critical realist critique and alternative

Matthew J Brannan, Steve Fleetwood, Joe O'Mahoney, and Steve Vincent

Human Relations, first published on November 11, 2016 as doi:10.1177/0018726716674063

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/11/08/0018726716674063?papetoc

Abstract

Meta-analysis has proved increasingly popular in management and organization studies as a way of combining existing empirical quantitative research to generate a statistical estimate of how strongly variables are associated. Whilst a number of studies identify technical, procedural and practical limitations of meta-analyses, none have yet tackled the meta-theoretical flaws in this approach. We deploy critical realist meta-theory to argue that the individual quantitative studies, upon which meta-analysis relies, lack explanatory power because they are rooted in quasi-empiricist meta-theory. This problem, we argue, is carried over in meta-analyses. We then propose a 'critical realist synthesis' as a potential alternative to the use of meta-analysis in organization studies and social science more widely.

Keywords: aetiology, critical realism, epistemology, meta-analysis, meta-theory, ontology, open and closed systems, tendencies

What works for whom in which circumstances? On the need to move beyond the 'what works?' question in organizational intervention research

Karina Nielsen and Mariella Miraglia

Human Relations, first published on November 11, 2016 as doi:10.1177/0018726716670226

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/11/08/0018726716670226?papetoc

Abstract

A debate has arisen out of the need to understand true intervention outcomes in the social sciences. Traditionally, the randomized, controlled trial that answers the question of 'what works' has been considered the gold standard. Although randomized, controlled trials have been favoured in organizational intervention research, there has been an increasing interest in understanding the influence of context and intervention processes on the outcomes of such interventions. In the present critical essay, we question the suitability of trials and meta-analyses to evaluate the effectiveness of organizational interventions and we suggest that realist evaluation that seeks to answer the questions of what works for whom in which circumstances may present a more suitable framework. We argue that examining the content and process mechanisms through which organizational interventions are effective, and the conditions under which these are triggered, will enable us to better understand how interventions achieve the desired outcomes of improved employee health and well-being. We suggest that organizational intervention content and process mechanisms may help bring about the desired outcomes of improved employee health and well-being and that contextual factors determine whether these mechanisms are triggered.

Power, corruption and lies: Mis-selling and the production of culture in financial services

Matthew J Brannan

Human Relations, first published on November 1, 2016 as doi:10.1177/0018726716673441

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/10/12/0018726716673441?papetoc

Abstract

The extent of recent misconduct in retail financial services questions assumptions that mis-selling is perpetrated by rogue traders dealing in sub-prime markets. Yet we know little about the organizational dimensions of mis-selling and specifically how new employees are introduced to and subsequently enact mis-selling behaviour when not explicitly encouraged to do so. This article seeks to understand the mechanics of mis-selling through an ethnographic account of the opening of a new retail financial services call centre, and analysis of the ritual nature of the sales interaction. The study documents the training, induction and initial work of direct sales agents to better understand the complexity, social relations and organization of mis-selling, together with the way in which regulation and management regimes shape sales practice and consequent employee behaviour. The critical analysis of sales rituals allows us to explain how mis-selling becomes embedded in organizational practice and contributes to our understanding of the everydayness of mis-selling in contrast to approaches that focus either on individual decision-making or on cultural explanations.

Keywords: culture, ethnography, mis-selling, regulation, retail financial services, risk

The relationship of social support with well-being outcomes via work–family conflict: Moderating effects of gender, dependants and nationality

Suzie Drummond, Michael P O'Driscoll, Paula Brough, Thomas Kalliath, Oi-Ling Siu, Carolyn Timms, Derek Riley, Cindy Sit, and Danny Lo

Human Relations, first published on November 1, 2016 as doi:10.1177/0018726716662696

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/10/12/0018726716662696?papetoc

Abstract

The impact of work–family conflict on well-being outcomes is well established, as is the role of social support in buffering perceptions of conflict. What is less well understood is how these relationships vary for different groups of respondents. Using a two-wave longitudinal design with a 12-month time lag and samples of employees (total N = 2183) from Australia, New Zealand, China and Hong Kong, the present research investigated whether the mediating relationships between social support, work–family conflict and well-being outcomes were moderated by gender, geographical region and the presence of dependants in the household. Supervisor support and family support were associated with lower work–family conflict, and hence reduced psychological strain and increased job and family satisfaction, for women and for employees in China and Hong Kong, but not for employees in Australia and New Zealand. However, the presence of dependants was not a significant moderator. Our findings illustrate the importance of exploring gender and national differences in work–family conflict research, particularly the investigation of cross-domain effects.

Keywords: cross-national research, dependants, gender, moderated mediation, social support, well-being, work–family conflict

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CALLS FOR PAPERS

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Special issue: Organizing feminism: Bodies, practices and ethics – submit by 30 November 2016

http://www.tavinstitute.org/humanrelations/special_issues/Organizing%20feminism.html

Special issue: The changing nature of managerial work – submit by 31 January 2017

http://www.tavinstitute.org/humanrelations/special_issues/Managerial%20work.html

Special issue: Inserting professionals and professional organizations in studies of wrongdoing: The nature, antecedents, and consequences of professional misconduct – submit by 30 April 2017

http://www.tavinstitute.org/humanrelations/special_issues/Professional%20misconduct.html

Human Relations welcomes critical reviews and essays:

- Critical reviews advance a field through new theory, new methods, a novel synthesis of extant evidence, or a combination of two or three of these elements. Reviews that identify new research questions and that make links between management and organizations and the wider social sciences are particularly welcome. Surveys or overviews of a field are unlikely to meet these criteria.

- Critical essays address contemporary scholarly issues and debates within the journal's scope. They are more controversial than conventional papers or reviews, and can be shorter. They argue a point of view, but must meet standards of academic rigour. Anyone with an idea for a critical essay is particularly encouraged to discuss it at an early stage with the Editor-in-Chief.

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WHY PUBLISH IN HUMAN RELATIONS?

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Human Relations is an A* journal – the highest category of quality – in the Australian Business Deans Council (ABCD) Journal Quality List 2013. It is also ranked 4 in the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) Academic Journal Guide 2015 and included in the FT50 list of journals (effective from January 2017) used by the Financial Times in compiling the FT Research rank, included in the Global MBA, EMBA and Online MBA rankings.

Human Relations is a top 5 interdisciplinary social sciences journal (Source: 2015 Journal Citation Reports® (Thomson Reuters, 2016): 

2-year impact factor: 2.619 Ranked: 4/93 in Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary and 37/192 in Management

5-year impact factor: 3.544 Ranked: 2/93 in Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary and 40/192 in Management

Best wishes,

Claire Castle

Managing Editor, Human Relations 

Tavistock Institute of Human Relations

Email: c.castle@tavinstitute.org

Twitter: @HR_TIHR

Website: www.humanrelationsjournal.org