Committed to the organization or the job? Effects of perceived HRM practices on employees' behavioral outcomes in the Japanese healthcare industry

Abstract

This paper attempts to document how employees' perceptions of organizations' human resource management (HRM) practices influence their work behavior and outcomes, including the level of turnover intentions and job quality improvement, in a Japanese organizational and management context. In particular, an examination was made to clarify the mediating role of person-environment (P -E) fit and multiple aspects of work commitment to reach possible explanations of the relationships between perceived HRM practices and employees' behavioral outcomes, following recent work that studied the above linkages. The results of structural equation modeling using a sample of 1052 healthcare service employees in Japan provided basic support for the idea that the effects of HRM practices and employees' behavioral outcomes are neither direct nor unconditional. Moreover, employees' evaluations of their fit and commitment to their organizations were found to be the important mediators of the relationships between perceived HRM practices, while their evaluations of their fit to and involvement in their jobs were not. The findings are used to discuss why the specific forms of P-E fit and work commitment appear salient in Japanese organizations. The generalizability of the findings and the limitations of the study are discussed.

High-Performance HR Practices, Work Stress and Quit Intentions in the Public Health Sector: Does person–organization fit matter?

“…This research presents several noteworthy findings. Consistent with the rationale of the ASA framework and evidence from previous research (Boon et al, 2011;Takeuchi and Takeuchi, 2013), the findings of the current study revealed that employee perceptions of HPHRP had a significant positive relationship with P-O fit. This confirms that HPHRP communicate organizational values, goals and expectations to employees which, in turn, facilitates greater congruence between employees and organizations (Boon et al, 2011).…”

“…In fact, Boon et al (2011) found that P-O fit mediated the relationship between HPHRP and both organizational citizenship behaviours and organizational commitment in the Netherlands. Takeuchi and Takeuchi (2013) also found that P-O fit mediated the relationship between HPHRP and organizational commitment in Japan. The focus in this study, as mentioned above, will be on two negative employee outcomes: job stress and quit intentions.…”

“…Furthermore, findings revealed that the positive effects of HPHRP on employee outcomes occur through the degree of congruence between employees' values and goals, and those of the organization (Boon et al 2011;Takeuchi and Takeuchi 2013). P-O fit fully mediated the relationship between HPHRP and both job stress and quit intentions.…”

“…Boon et al (2011) reported that high performance HR practices explained 29% of variance in P-O fit in the Netherlands, whereas Takeuchi and Takeuchi (2013) reported that HPHRP explained 28% of variance in P-O fi in Japan. Thus, the results presented in the current study suggest that high performance HR practices are especially critical in shaping the values and goals of workers in the Egyptian context, as they explained a bigger proportion of variance in P-O fit in comparison to employees in both the Netherlands and Japan.…”

“…Practices such as training and development, job security and promotion communicate organizational values, goals and expectations to employees, which in turn should increase employee perceptions of P-O fit (Boon et al, 2011). Two recent studies considered the relationship between HPHRP and P-O fit, and both reported that employee perceptions of HPHRP were positively related to congruence between employees and organizations (Boon et al, 2011;Takeuchi and Takeuchi, 2013). Accordingly, the following hypothesis is proposed:…”