The management paradox

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -This paper aims to investigate associations between self-rated employability (SRE) and affective organizational commitment and performance to probe the so-called management paradox, namely the idea that SRE relates to performance, but also to reduced commitment. SRE concerns the workers' perception about all available (quantitative SRE) or instead better (qualitative SRE) job opportunities on the internal (internal SRE) and/or the external (external SRE) labour market. This leads to four types of SRE: internal quantitative SRE; internal qualitative SRE; external quantitative SRE; and external qualitative SRE. Design/methodology/approach -Analyses were based on a sample of 551 workers from nine organizations: a large Belgian organization providing human resource services, and eight schools. Hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling, accounting also for sector differences. Findings -Internal quantitative SRE associated positively with affective organizational commitment -directly as well as indirectly -through internal qualitative SRE. External quantitative SRE associated negatively with affective organizational commitment through external qualitative SRE. However, a direct and positive relationship was established between external quantitative SRE and affective organizational commitment. Finally, affective organizational commitment associated positively with performance. Originality/value -This study is among the first to empirically test and prove false the management paradox. Another strength is that this study advanced SRE as a multi-dimensional construct.

The winner takes it all, the loser has to fall: Provoking the agency perspective in employability research

“…Outcome-based approaches of employability do not focus on aspects that increase the chance of a job, but they instead aim to directly assess this chance, mostly by looking at the window of employment opportunities that the individual perceives and considers within reach and attractive (Gunz, Peiperl, & Tzabbar, 2007) and in the internal and/or external labour market (De Cuyper & De Witte, 2011;Rothwell & Arnold, 2007). This has been coined selfperceived or self-rated employability (Acikgoz, Sumer, & Sumer, 2016;Berntson et al, 2006;Nelissen, Forrier, & Verbruggen, 2017;Wittekind, Raeder, & Grote, 2010).…”

“…Employability is often seen as the result of individual merit and effort (Assumption 1). Rather ironically, another illustration is studies probing the employability management paradox: Employer investments in employability are beneficial for the organisation, for example, in productivity gain, but also risky when employable workers are more likely to quit (Acikgoz et al, 2016;De Cuyper & De Witte, 2011;Nelissen et al, 2017;Philippaers et al, 2017). Though those studies concern the employer's perspective, they study individuals and their decision on whether or not to stay with the organisation (Assumption 2).…”

Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Work-Related Learning

“…Related to employees' current job, research has demonstrated that participation in work-related learning enhances job satisfaction, both because they are developing competences that potentially make their job easier and because employees get the opportunity to learn (Baert, 2018;Rowden and Conine, 2005;Sahinidis and Bouris, 2008). In relation to future jobs, work-related learning is considered to contribute to one's perceived employability, being an individual's estimation of his/her chance of finding new employment elsewhere (De Cuyper and De Witte, 2011). Theoretically, human capital theory states that learning is key to feed an individual's employability (Berntson, Sverke, and Marklund, 2006), which has been established in empirical studies (e.g., Berntson et al, 2006;Nelissen, Forrier, and Verbruggen, 2017).…”

Competences development and affective Commitment: mediation through employability and moderation by generation.

“…De Cuyper, Bernhard-Oettel, Berntson, De Witte and Alarco (2008), and Forrier and Sels (2003) all underline the importance of competences development for the employee to develop a better perception of employability. When the developed competences are specific and are related to the improvement of their performance in the organisation, the employee develops a greater perception of their internal employability, which means that they will be more likely to maintain their current job, reinforcing their affective commitment to the organisation (De Cuyper & De Witte, 2011;De Witte, 2005). This is the reason why, in this study, the perception of internal employability is considered as the mechanism that explains the relationship between the organisational practices of competency development and affective commitment, which, in tur, exerts a mediating effect.…”