Ideological Foundations of Perceived Contract Breach Associated With Downsizing: An Empirical Investigation

Abstract

This paper explores the effects of three managerial ideologies on the degree of psychological contract breach perceived in connection with a downsizing event. Results from surveys conducted in the U.S. and Singapore suggest that a strong belief in the ideologies of market competition or shareholder interest reduces the perceived contract breach associated with a downsizing, while strong belief in the third ideology, the ideology of employee worth, has the opposite effect. Theoretical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Managers' well-being and perceptions of organizational change in the UK and Australia

“…Additionally, this control prevents shocks to the directors' relational contracts and enables them to manage the demands of change in a way not possible for other managers. Directors, like others, also manage change in a manner consistent with their ideological foundations (Rust et al 2005). For example, other research suggests an ideological foundation in which top managers underestimate lower level managers (van der Velde, Jansen and Vinkenburg 1999), viewing them as 'slack' to be removed through delayering or redundancies (e.g.…”

A Longitudinal Study of the Impact of Organizational Change on Transactional, Relational, and Balanced Psychological Contracts

“…(Silvester & Chapman, 1997, p. 1). How employees attempt to explain the change is important because the way in which individuals explain events is related to how they respond to the events (Fincham & Jaspers, 1980;Rust, McKinley, Moon, & Edwards, 2005). A key application of sensemaking theory is describing and understanding organizational life from the employee's perspective (Weick, 1995), and this resonates with the description of the PC as a mental model guiding employees in understanding their exchange relationship with the organization (Rousseau, 2001).…”

A Generational Change: An Empirical Exploration of the Gen Y’s Workplace Expectations

“…First, it is important for organizations to recognize that several entities contribute to the creation, such as recruiters, managers, and coworkers (Rousseau, 1995). Specifically, explicit promises are communicated prior to hiring, such as expressions of organizational policies (Ho et al, 2006), or post-hire when managers and supervisors communicate promises of pay raises and promotions to subordinates, during times of turmoil or change (e.g., downsizing and layoffs; Rust et al, 2005). Additionally, workers develop and possess pre-employment beliefs based on implicit promises that initiate the desire to be employed with a specific organization (Rousseau, 1995) in addition to promises realized through their perception of interpersonal treatment from their employers once they are hired (Saunders and Thornhill, 2006).…”