The main aim of this thesis is to investigate the processes of the psychological contract during organisational socialisation. Research on psychological contract tends to focus more on the content and breach of the contract. Very little is known about the formative stages of the contract. Very little attention has also been given to investigating the psychological contract together with organisational socialisation. Linking the two research areas would further our understanding of both the dynamic nature of the psychological contract. This is achieved by investigating the temporal changes of the psychological contract of new employees, pre-entry up to six months post entry into employment. The research also investigates the psychological contract from the employer`s perspective. It utilises Weick`s (1995) sensemaking properties as a methodological framework to better understand these processes. Consistent with the research aim and objectives and social constructionism, a qualitative methodology was adopted. The research used in-depth semi structured interviews to collect data supplemented with sitting in during recruitment interviews in one of the organisations, and data were analysed using template analysis. Periodic interviews were carried out every four to six months post entry. The research consists of two organisations, where each provided two groups for analysis. The findings show that after entry into the organisation, the psychological contract changes in a variety of ways influenced by socialisation into the organisation. A model based on the findings is presented and discussed in the discussion chapter. The research also makes a contribution (methodology) by adopting the sensemaking framework.

Globally competitive industries need to keep up with the rigorous technical innovations to ensure that they reach their targets in terms of customer satisfaction. In order to do this, businesses need to ensure that they have the correct skills and capabilities in order to meet their demands. Organisations encounter difficulties as they constantly need to replace lost skills, and once these skills have been replaced, they need to spend additional money to train and equip new employees adequately to perform the jobs that they are employed to do. These days, many companies find themselves in financial turmoil which emerges from large turnover rates. There has been a severe exodus of skilled employees in the utility industry. During the past twelve months, this industry has lost 1 479 critical skills. Scarce skills are expensive to retain and it is important that employee well-being take top priority to keep up with changing labour demographics. This upkeep relates to huge emphasis being placed on customer satisfaction. In order to keep customers happy, companies first need to keep their employees happy. Efforts made by the organisation to improve situational circumstances for its employees, will promote positive individual and organisational outcomes. Two dimensions contribute greatly to a positive employment relationship which is conducive towards promoting positive individual and organisational outcomes, namely a fulfilled psychological contract and fairness in allocating monetary rewards. Money should not be used as a Band-Aid; not everything can be remedied with money. However, money is important, although it is not the most important factor. Fulfilment of the different dimensions of the psychological contract, including, but not limited to opportunities for personal growth and career advancement, and a management-supportive work environment are vital towards establishing and maintaining a positive employment relationship. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of psychological contract breach, job satisfaction and turnover intention in the utility industry and to determine the outcomes thereof. A mixed method approach was used to gather data. In the qualitative study, managers and staff (N = 15) were interviewed and a thematic content analysis was performed. In the second phase of the study, the quantitative part, questionnaires were distributed to employees (N = 251) across all levels of the organisation. The measuring instruments used were the Psychological Contract Inventory, Job Satisfaction Scale and Turnover Intention Scale. The results of Article 1 (Chapter 2) showed that a total of 60% of participants made reference to the importance of money. Emphasis was also placed on other aspects, where 53% of participants made mention of leadership being an important driver of job satisfaction. Other themes also regarded as important toward curbing skills loss were the importance of personal excellence and the need for effective communication as drivers of job satisfaction. Article 2 (Chapter 3) found that a fulfilled balanced psychological contract displayed a strong, positive relationship with job satisfaction and that job satisfaction had a negative impact on turnover intention. These findings support the negative impact of psychological contract breach on job satisfaction and, in relation to this, job dissatisfaction positively impacted turnover intention. It was further found that psychological contract breach of the balanced contract had an indirect positive impact on turnover intent via job satisfaction. Recommendations for future studies were made. / MCom (Labour Relations Management), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Background:  Leader member exchange (LMX) theory focuses on the different associations established by the leaders with their followers through a system of exchanges (high quality and low exchanges), whereas a psychological contract is a tacit agreement between the employer and employee and comprises of employee's beliefs regarding the mutual obligations between the employee and an employer. Since an organization communicates and negotiates through its representatives which indicates people in managerial positions, it is meaningful to draw that the relationship quality between employee and their supervisors may affect the tacit agreement between the employee and organization. Though prior integration of Leader Member Exchange theory and Psychological contract has established the link between these two area of literature, as well as LMX dimensions to Psychological contract fulfilment, there is no empirical study taken place in Asia where Anand, Hu, Liden and Vidyarthi (2011) once observed that LMX and its dimensions may operate differently in more collectivistic and higher power distance cultures. Therefore, this research aims to examine the two main aspects of literature in one of the leading construction management of Asia located in Vietnam.   Research questions: Does LMX improve psychological contracts between the organization and the employees? Sub-research question: What is the effect of LMX dimensions on psychological contract fulfilment? Is there any right mix of LMX dimensions in the organization that positively affects the psychological contract?   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the interaction effects of leader-member exchange (LMX) and its dimensions on psychological contracts in one specific organization, in other words, it investigates to answer if the different quality exchanges between the leaders/managers with employees support to enhance better mutual obligations between them and give negative or positive effects to the psychological contracts. Secondly, it figures out what exactly is the effect of LMX dimensions on psychological contract fulfilment. Practically, it is to help the researchers and practitioners recognize the increasingly important role of psychological contract which is normally unwritten in formal contract but otherwise gives huge negative influence which results in losing employee’s retention and loyalty. Accordingly, by generating “leader-member exchange” more effectively, the leaders will distribute and/or exchange resources toward the employees better which results in better employee retention and talent management strategies, directly contributing to the organization’s long term sustainable development.   Theoretical framework:  Articles were used for this thesis were meticulously chosen, focusing on reliable sources and quality content that cover the theoretical background of both main research area of Psychological contracts and Leader-Member Exchange during their historical research until recent. Particular information of the empirical organization and the related industry were brought from the organization and related reports and professional analysis from industry experts.   Method: This is a cross-sectional study whose methodology choice is a Mixed methods research which inquires the involvement of both quantitative and qualitative data, integrating these two forms of data with narrative analysis. The data was collected from a construction management organization consists of 385 employees. It adopted interpretivism philosophy in order to create new, richer understandings and interpretations of issues related to social worlds and context, in particular exploring the issue of whether LMX theory have an influence on psychological contracts fulfilment. It follows a deductive reasoning as its main approach.   Discussion and Conclusion: Based on the results of respondents’ surveys and the interpretation of the attendants from Focus Group, the discussion was structured and analyzed in line with the structure of the theoretical framework. The study reveals that the psychological contract fulfillment depends not only on the right combination of LMX dimensions and the concern of those most important dimensions but also the distinct characteristics of the organization which concern about their organization behavior and industry features. The study also provides solutions to leaders in order to overcome the problems associated with LMX that can lead to psychological contract breach.   Originality/Value – This is the first study that focuses on examining the effect of LMX and its dimensions on psychological contract fulfilment in an Asian country.

Especially during times of intense change, managers may negatively impact the quality of employee-manager relationships by breaching or violating psychological contract terms and exhibiting unfair treatment (i.e., interactional injustice) in the workplace. A psychological contract is conceptualized as an exmployee's perception or individualistic belief about the reciprocal and promissory nature of the employment relationship (Argyris, 1960; Levinson, Price, Munden, Mandl, & Solley, 1966; Rousseau, 1989, 1990, 1995; Schein, 1965, 1994). Misperceptions surrounding contractual changes and perceived misalignments between managers' words and deeds have contributed to employee perceptions of contract breach and violation, which are linked to negative employee attitudes and behaviors (Andersson, 1996; Morrison & Robinson, 1997; Pate, Martin, & Staines, 2000; Rousseau, 1995). Employees may simultaneously experience interactional injustice when managers act in disparaging ways and fail to provide adequate explanations (Bies, 1989; Bies & Moag, 1986). Leadership literature has provided evidence that high-quality leadership can positively influence employees' behaviors and attitudes and increase perceptions of workplace fairness (Dirks & Ferrin, 2002; Kickul, Gundry, & Posig, 2005; Kouzes & Posner, 2003). However, the relational role of leadership credibility, within the context of psychological contract breach and violation and interactional justice, has not been examined in leadership, psychological contract, and organizational justice literatures. This study was designed to explore the relationships between leadership credibility, interactional justice, and psychological contract breach and violation. The results of the study confirmed that employees' perceptions about leaders' credibility does strongly relate to managerial violation, interpersonal justice, and informational justice. / Ph. D.

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.

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.