Employees across the world experience change in the workplace due to a fast-fluctuating environment in which organisations operate. According to Maumo and Kinnunen (1999) a transformation has taken place in the industrialised world of work over the last few decades. Downsizing, right-sizing or restructuring have become familiar terms in difficult economic conditions and implies that rationalising of jobs are inevitable. Organisations attempt to reduce costs, which in turn places pressure on employees to modify their jobs, seek alternative employment (intention to quit) and relocate, all of which are likely to fuel job insecurity (Hartley, Jacobson, Klandermans & Van Vuuren, 1991; Iyo & Brotheridge, 2004). The unemployment rate in South Africa is one of the highest in the world with 36% of its citizens being unemployed in 1999 (Kingdon & Knight, 2001). What's more is that, according to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, 4.1 million people in South Africa were classified as unemployed in 2009. Frequent reorganisation and statements regarding flexibi lity are signals that one's job security is not secure. Even vague signals of downsizing or change may encourage employees to have intention to quit (Iyo & Brotheridge, 2004). When organisations start to downsize, some people may expect to become unemployed. Sverke, Hellgren and Naswall (2002) state that organisational change is an antecedent to job security. Mauna and Kunnunen (1999) agrees that objective circumstances of an insecure job situation can be defined as the experience of job insecurity, while according to De Witte (1999) the growing emphasis on more flexible employment contracts also intensify feelings of job insecurity. Job insecurity has been found to predict stronger intention to quit within the organisation (Ashford, Lee & Bobko, 1989). This means that a flexible, multiskilled, knowledgeable, interchangeable and adaptable workforce are exposed to new management techniques as well as altered labour relations/human resource policies and activities, which in turn influence employers' obligations, employees' obligations, the state of the psychological contract, job insecurity and employees' intention to quit (Ekkerd, 2005). The primary objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between the psychological contract, individual characteristics, job insecurity and the intention to quit of security employees (N=217) in the Vaal Triangle. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Constructs were measured by means of the psychological contract (employer obligations, employee obligations and the state of the psychological contract), an "individual characteristics" questionnaire, a job insecurity questionnaire and an intention to quit questionnaire. The research method for each of the two articles consists of a brief literature review and an empirical study. Factor analyses, as well as Cronbach alpha coefficients were computed to assess the reliability. Validity of the different product moment correlation coefficients, and regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between the constructs employed in this research. Significant differences are found between various individual characteristics and the scores of the psychological contract (employer obligations scale, employee obligations scale and the state of the psychological contract scale), the individual characteristics questionnaire, job insecurity scale and the employee's intention to quit scale. A practically significant correlation was found with a small effect between the state of the psychological contract, employer obligations and employee obligations. Results demonstrate a significant relationship between the psychological contract, type of contract, gender and tenure. No significant relationship was found between the psychological contract and age and qualification of the employees. Multiple regression analysis indicates that employee obligations predicted negative intention to quit. Job insecurity predicted positive intention to quit. Conclusions are made, limitations of the current research are discussed and recommendations for future research are put forward. / MCom. Industrial Psychology, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

This study examines organisational change within the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (DID) “the Department”, focusing on the strategies that should have been implemented in order to reduce the resistance to change and minimise the negative impact change brought to the employees. The study also focuses on employee satisfaction and the impact of change on the psychological contracts from a broad perspective of employees within the organisation.

<p>Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur rekryteringsprocessen vid anställning av chef går till samt vikten av organisatorisk och personlig matchning av chef och företag. Författarna är även intresserade av betydelsen av psykologiska kontrakt i rekryteringssammanhang. Studien är inriktad mot rekryteringsföretag specialiserade på chefsrekrytering som organisationsmässigt skiljer sig så mycket som möjligt från varandra för att få en bredare syn. Undersökningen har delats in i olika områden som består av rekryteringsprocessen, meriter och personlighet samt organisatorisk passform. Studien är utförd genom intervjuer på sju deltagande rekryteringsföretag belägna i Mälardalen. Resultatet visar att det avgörande för rekryteringsprocessen är kravprofilsmötet där rekryteraren möter företaget som ska anställa. Efter en grundläggande kompetens passande uppdraget, är det personligheten som avgör vem som får jobbet.</p>

Employment relations literature is concerned with what is exchanged between the employer and the employee via an employment contract, a social contract or a psychological contract, with perceived mutual obligations (Rousseau, 1995; Capelli, 1999; Kalleberg, 2001). The psychological contract finds its foundation in the perceptions of the employee, that is, what the employee believe the employer has offered the employee in terms of their work relationship and the social contract refers to the expectations and obligations employers and employees have for their work and the employment relationship (Grahl, & Teague, 2009). The new employment contract differs from the old employment contract in that it is largely informal and even unwritten (Gilbert, 1996). This is in line with the new trend of business management as used by people-driven world-class organisations with a globalised focus (Gilbert, 1996). A research need exists to examine the potentially different or redundant effects of promises and expectations on the development of the obligations that are perceived to constitute the employment, the social and the psychological contracts (Martocchio, 2004; Shore, Tetrick, Taylor, Coyle-Shapiro, Liden, McLean-Parks, et al. 2004). The primary objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between the social- and the psychological contracts of private security employees (N=217) in the Vaal Triangle in terms of employability, job insecurity, job satisfaction, life satisfaction and intention to quit. This study is submitted in article form. The research method for each of the two articles consists of a brief literature review and an empirical study. Factor analyses, as well as Cronbach alpha coefficients were computed to assess the reliability of the research. Validity, Pearson product moment correlation coefficients as well as regression analysis were utilised to examine the relationship between the constructs employed in this research. The Employment Contract Scale (ECS) was also utilised as a research instrument, as the questionnaire-method proves to be largely reliable. Reliability analysis confirmed sufficient internal consistency of the subscales. The observed correlations were found to be comparable with the values reported in previous research by Edward and Karau (2007). By using multiple regression analysis, it was established that by investigating the relationship between the social- and the psychological contracts of private security employees (N=217) in the Vaal Triangle in terms of employability, job insecurity, job satisfaction, life satisfaction and intention to quit (the primary objective of this research) that job satisfaction and intention to quit predicted the social contract and that job satisfaction and life satisfaction predicted the psychological contract. No relationship however exists between employability, intention to quit and the psychological contract. Recommendations are advanced for future research. / MA (Labour Relations Management) ,North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

In this thesis, I investigate my professional practice as an independent health adviser in the UK National Health Service. Inclusion and exclusion, power, innovation and rejection in nursing are themes that have emerged from my work within a milieu where the dominant discourse is systems thinking. I have analysed why systems thinking predominates in UK healthcare services, and examine the benefits and limitations of this approach. Similarly, I have studied complex responsive processes theory and assessed the value and drawbacks of this way of thinking. A key focus of this research has been to consider how innovation occurs in organisations. NHS policymakers include examples of good practice in a number of recent policy documents and encourage staff to emulate these examples to improve their services. This overlooks the unique setting in which staff work, and disregards their collective working styles and roles. Power relationships, local ideological perspectives, histories and pertinent environmental factors all render the adoption of established blueprints inadvisable. Nor do such policy documents consider potential unintended consequences of the innovation: for example, reducing the waiting times to access treatment in one area can have a detrimental effect on other services. Using narrative accounts from my professional practice, I critically evaluate the concepts of power, innovation and systems thinking. I draw attention to a number of particular dissonances that I consider many nurses and health care workers to be experiencing as rejection within their work-based relationships. These challenges include a fear of job loss, the difficulty of managing national targets and local service delivery, a loss of consumer confidence in clinicians, the pressures of increased regulation, and tensions between clinical and managerial staff. These concerns led me to examine the nature of the employer–employee relationship. The psychological contract is a way of describing the relationship between employers and employees in terms of optimistic reciprocal agreements and expectations. These positive assumptions tend to underplay or overlook the unpredictability of organisational life, such as financial constraints that might threaten job security. When disruption arises, employees may feel wary of their managers and distressed that their psychological contract has been violated. I argue that trust is a concept requiring continual renegotiation through the ongoing patterning of relationships that emerge through the conversations between people as employees participate in the organisation’s development. My thesis departs from the traditional view of positing the psychological contract as a central feature of employment. Instead, I propose that the complex responsive processes perspective offers a legitimate and useful way of deepening our understanding of employer–employee relations. I have used a reflexive research method, challenging Alvesson and Skoldberg’s (2000, p.250) reflexive interpretation framework for its individualistic approach. I demonstrate that my method is social and iterative, and extend the framework in order to illustrate the way in which I developed my reflexive approach. This framework presents a way of demonstrating the movement of interpretation based on the researchers’ judgment and intuition that guides the research process (Alvesson and Skoldberg, 2000). My original contribution to practice offers a different way of looking at healthcare organisations from that proposed by many healthcare consultants. I engage with staff to analyse their day-to-day relationships by reflecting on their micro-interactions with colleagues as we try to make sense of what is happening in their departments. I introduce the notion of interdependence, and encourage clients to engage in dialogue and seek to influence what occurs through their relationships with their colleagues. There is no blueprint for success: rather than focusing on supposed ‘organisational systems’, we concentrate on what is actually happening in their ongoing work elationships.

Syftet med studien har varit att undersöka upplevelser av psykologiska kontraktsbrott hos arbetstagare. Särskilt intressant har varit att belysa hur kontraktsbrotten har uppstått, hur arbetstagarens känslor och beteenden har påverkats, samt om det har gått att återupprätta brutna kontrakt. Ett målinriktat bekvämlighetsurval gjordes (n=10). Av dessa var fem män och fem kvinnor i olika åldrar. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med arbetstagare från olika organisationer, som på ett eller annat sätt haft erfarenheter av psykologiska kontraktsbrott. En innehållsanalys användes för att analysera det empiriska materialet. Resultatet visade att olika kontraktsbrott orsakats på grund av hög arbetsbelastning och brister i chefens kommunikation samt ledarskap. Konsekvenser av brotten var minskad arbetsglädje, lojalitet och motivation, samt ilska och irritation. Engagemang och effektivitet minskade hos arbetstagarna och de blev mer benägna att söka andra arbeten. Studien visade att chefen hade en central roll i återupprättandet av brutna kontrakt.

This study examines organisational change within the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (DID) “the Department”, focusing on the strategies that should have been implemented in order to reduce the resistance to change and minimise the negative impact change brought to the employees. The study also focuses on employee satisfaction and the impact of change on the psychological contracts from a broad perspective of employees within the organisation.

Changing workplace conditions have resulted in psychological contracts becoming more transactionally oriented. The current study addresses the question of how the `new' psychological contract affects organisational commitment. In particular, it seeks to analyse the relationship between the form of the psychological contract (relational/transactional) and type of organisational commitment (affective, continuance, normative).Data were collected from 210 randomly selected participants using the Psychological Contract Scale (PCS), and the Measure of Affective, Continuance and Normative Commitment Scale (MACNCS). The Career Commitment Scale (CCS) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were administered and information gathered regarding overall job satisfaction, age, gender, contract type, position held, industry sector and length of employment.The major findings from this study is that there are positive relationships between relational psychological contracts and affective commitment (â = .653, p < .05), continuance commitment (â = .222, p < .05) and normative commitment (â = .476, p <.001), and a negative relationship between transactional psychological contracts and affective commitment (â =148, p < .05), after controlling for various background and employment characteristics. This research increases the understanding of how employees commit to an organisation during times of unstable and changing employment conditions.

No description available.

Abstract Innovational behavior is one of the main sources of an organization¡¦s competitive advantage which is verified by many scholars. Peter Drucker¡]1985¡^said that two of the most important issues in knowledge age are knowledge management and innovation. Therefore, organizations have the chance to develop the ability of innovation when they are able to control knowledge. Only with the innovation of product and management skills, hi-tech companies could catch up the changing environment. This study focuses on the relationship between innovative behavior, leadership, absorptive capacity, and psychological contract between units. In the meantime, leadership style contains transactional leadership and transformational leadership; absorptive capacity contains the ability of acquisition, assimilation and exploitation; psychological contract contains transactional, relational and balanced relationship. The result of the research indicates that: 1. The differences of employees¡¦ gender, marriage and the function of occupation have significant difference on innovative behavior 2. In addition to difference analysis, relationship between transactional leadership, transformational leadership, acquisition ability, assimilation ability, exploitation ability and balanced relationship of psychological contract have significant influence on innovative behavior.