The psychological contract concept is a powerful tool to predict individual attitudes and behaviours in the workplace. Abundant research in this area examines the relationship between the psychological contract held by the individuals and their attitudes and behaviours at work. However the majority of this research is contextualised in organisations characterised by traditional dyadic employer- employee relationships. The past two decades has seen a shift away from the traditional dyadic employment relationship in many organisations. Emergence of outsourcing and off shoring has meant the inclusion of a third party in the workplace and employees often find themselves working for 'third parties' who do not employ them directly within such organisations. In this changed context of employment relationship, the psychological contract provides a powerful tool to further understand the individual at work. This thesis contributes to this gap using a three level analysis model with the individual at the core of the analysis. The nature of an individual's psychological contract is examined at the first level, organisational antecedents of multiple parties within the workplace are considered at the second level and finally cultural and labour market explanations are drawn upon at the final level of analysis. Thus culminating in a thorough examination of the psychological contract in the context of an outsourced off shore call centre, which is a characteristic of the triangular employment relationship involving the employer, employee and a third party within the workplace. Significant results include the emergence of a unique transactional nature of the psychological contract amongst the employees' co-existing with high levels of commitment and turnover. Further, empirical evidence establishes existence of 'multi foci' of the psychological contract, thus confirming previous theoretical conceptualisations alluding to the concept of 'multi foci of the psychological contract'. In conclusion the thesis makes significant contributions towards extending the current scope of psychological contract theory especially in the direction of 'multi foci' a previously unexamined aspect of the psychological contract.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:577135 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Bhattacharya, Sudeshna |
| Publisher | University of Bath |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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