The link between HR practices, psychological contract fulfilment, and organisational performance in Greece: An economic crisis perspective

Abstract

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong><strong> </strong>This study examines the impact of HR practices on organizational performance through the mediating role of psychological contract (expressed by the influence of employer on employee promises fulfilment through employee attitudes) and further examines whether this relationship remains stable during periods of external economic crisis.</p> <p><strong>Methodology: </strong>The analysis is based on structural equation modelling using two national samples of a two time study of Greek private and public organizations<strong> </strong>in the manufacturing, services and trade sectors. The first data collection took place in 2008 (treated as a control period) and the second in 2010 (treated as an economic crisis period).</p> <p><strong>Findings:</strong><strong> </strong>The study is providing proof that the employee attitudes of satisfaction, commitment and motivation, constitute a nested mediating epicentre of the HR practices – organizational performance relationship, meaning that employee attitudes are positively influencing employee promises fulfilment and organizational performance and being positively influenced by employer promises fulfilment and HR practices.</p> <p><strong>Research limitations/implications:</strong><strong> </strong>Although data was collected using the same questionnaire at the two time periods of 2008 and 2010, the design of the study is not longitudinal. As a result, the study does not allow for dynamic causal inferences.</p> <p><strong>Value:</strong><strong> </strong>The study supports the view that although the structure of the relationship between HR practices and organizational performance does not change in periods of economic crisis, the strength of this structure is weaker compared to normal economic periods. Additionally, this study provides a greater understanding of the process by which psychological contract mediates the relationship between HR practices and organizational performance, with special reference to economic crisis.</p

From feeding-back to feeding-forward: managerial feedback as a trigger of change in SMEs

“…Greece has been affected since 2009 by a critical debt crisis that has seriously affected peoples’ socio-economic life, causing high levels of unemployment, job insecurity and poverty, as well as impacting on companies’ survival (Wood et al , 2015; Ifanti et al , 2013; Kondilis et al , 2013). SMEs have encountered issues such as liquidity problems (Kouretas and Vlamis, 2010), layoffs (Arghyrou and Tsoukalas, 2010) and increased workload density for staff (Katou, 2013). This situation has pushed SMEs to adopt new management and production practices having as their main target to survive.…”

Individual cultural orientation as a determinant of psychological contract fulfilment

“…Psychological contract (PC) is an unwritten and a covert agreement that consists of employee's expectation about employers' obligations (such as opportunities for career growth, skill development, security, well-being, flexibility and health-care benefits, among others) in exchange of their inputs (such as hard work, loyalty, and commitment) (Coyle-Shapiro and Kessler, 2000). Fulfilment of psychological contract results in greater commitment (Coyle-Shapiro and Kessler, 2000;Katou, 2013;Rousseau, 1990), job satisfaction (Guest and Conway, 2002;Tomprou et al, 2012), organizational citizenship behavior (Coyle-Shapiro and Kessler, 2003;Shih and Chen, 2011), improved task performance (Conway and Coyle-Shapiro, 2012) and decreased intention to quit (Willem et al, 2010), reduced absenteeism, and lower turnover (Blomme et al, 2010). The state of the PC is determined as the degree to which employees' promises and obligations have been met and whether the employees perceive their organization to be fair and trustworthy).…”

An Empirical Study on the Relationship between Psychological Contract and Job Satisfaction of the Cenozioc Employees

“…As a psychological link that can express the two-way needs between the organization and the employees, the psychological contract becomes a good entry point for managers to improve their job satisfaction. For example, Katou [3] pointed out that if the organization can perform its responsibilities in the psychological contract well, the employee's job satisfaction and job performance can be improved. Therefore, clarifying the composition of the psychological contract of the new generation of employees and its relationship with job satisfaction will help managers to take targeted management measures from the perspective of psychological contract fulfillment to improve their job satisfaction and promote them to create value for the organization [4].…”