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The Citizenship Behaviours of Care Givers: When Meaning and Trust Are Crucial
Abstract
Crisis in public finances and growth in the demand for healthcare services are placing increased pressure on hospitals to implement high-involvement work practices (HIWP). Yet, studies on the relationship between these practices and organizational performance are rather scarce in the healthcare sector. In addition, past research has mainly examined the direct relationship between HIWP and organizational performance, leaving unclear the process that leads to this performance. This study aims to fill these knowledge gaps by examining the mediating role played by psychological empowerment (PE) in the relationship between HIWP and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCB), an important predictor of the quality of healthcare delivered. Also, because a collaborative relationship with physicians, based on trust, appears to be crucial for the development of a sense of power among healthcare workers, the moderating effect of trust in physicians on the relationship between HIWP and HP is also explored. Hence, the study tests a model depicting specific relationships between HIWP (autonomy, training, sharing information, recognition) and the cognitions associated with PE (competence, selfdetermination, meaning, impact), these relationships being moderated by trust in physicians. Lastly, the study aims to verify if the cognitions associated with PE, which are proposed to be related to OCB, interact with each other according to a specific sequence. On the basis of a survey conducted among 176 healthcare workers and their immediate supervisors in a hospital located in the province of Quebec, the study shows that the relationship between some aspects of HIWP (autonomy and training) and OCB is a function of meaning and trust in physicians. Also, the cognitions associated with HP appear to be linked with each other according to a particular sequence in which self-determination plays a central role.
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The most commonly used method to test an indirect effect is to divide the estimate of the indirect effect by its standard error and compare the resulting z statistic with a critical value from the standard normal distribution. Confidence limits for the indirect effect are also typically based on critical values from the standard normal distribution. This article uses a simulation study to demonstrate that confidence limits are imbalanced because the distribution of the indirect effect is normal only in special cases. Two alternatives for improving the performance of confidence limits for the indirect effect are evaluated: (a) a method based on the distribution of the product of two normal random variables, and (b) resampling methods. In Study 1, confidence limits based on the distribution of the product are more accurate than methods based on an assumed normal distribution but confidence limits are still imbalanced. Study 2 demonstrates that more accurate confidence limits are obtained using resampling methods, with the bias-corrected bootstrap the best method overall.
In this article, we provide guidance for substantive researchers on the use of structural equation modeling in practice for theory testing and development. We present a comprehensive, two-step modeling approach that employs a series of nested models and sequential chi-square difference tests. We discuss the comparative advantages of this approach over a one-step approach. Considerations in specification, assessment of fit, and respecification of measurement models using confirmatory factor analysis are reviewed. As background to the two-step approach, the distinction between exploratory and confirmatory analysis, the distinction between complementary approaches for theory testing versus predictive application, and some developments in estimation methods also are discussed.
Using a statistical model, this study examined the correlates and consequences of psychological empowerment among a group of 612 technically skilled, professional, and managerial hospital employees (129 men and 483 women). Whereas individual as well as group and organizational characteristics influenced feelings of empowerment, group and organizational variables accounted for more variance in empowerment than did the individual variables. Empowerment perceptions increased with organizational rank and with leader approachability, group effectiveness, and worth of group. Individuals with more tenure in the organization felt more empowered; however, men and women, and Whites and non-Whites reported no significant differences in feelings of empowerment. Empowerment perceptions also were associated with increased job satisfaction and work productivity/effectiveness, as well as a decreased propensity to leave the organization.
Acting on Organizational Levers to Mobilize Personnel: The Role of Vision, Leadership, HR Management Practices and Work Organization
The subject of employee mobilization has generated great interest in the scientific and professional community over the past decade. Numerous publications on this topic look at the role of social exchanges and psychological states in the adoption of discretionary behaviours. In addition to psychological states and personality traits, two categories of variables have an influence on mobilization behaviour – the characteristics of the organization and the behaviour and characteristics of leaders. The main objective of this article is to examine the mobilization model from the organizational perspective – that is, the role of the employer and managers. More specifically, the authors examine the role of four levers of action that together can create the psychological conditions that are conducive to mobilization. Finally, the article examines the main characteristics of mobilized organizations.
Purpose – This paper aims to clarify the meaning of empowerment concept and determine its role in the HRM-performance linkage. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 211 customer-contact employees at 30 upscale hotels in Lithuania was conducted to study organisational empowerment, as a bundle of HRM activities, and its association with employee attitudes and behaviour. Findings – A distinction was made between organisational empowerment, as a bundle of HRM activities, and psychological empowerment, as an employee work-related attitude, and their role in the HRM-performance linkage was defined. Organisational empowerment was positively related to psychological empowerment, job satisfaction, and affective commitment. Psychological empowerment and affective commitment were found to mediate the impact of organisational empowerment on customer-oriented behaviour. Research limitations/implications – Data were collected in a single industry in Lithuania; therefore, further research in other services needs to be conducted to make generalisations on the applicability of the proposed empowerment-performance model to other industries. Practical implications – In the upscale hotel context, where employee turnover reduction and service quality improvement are critical, organisational empowerment can enhance employee job satisfaction, commitment, psychological empowerment and customer-oriented behaviour. Originality/value – The paper provides empirical evidence of the positive effect of employee perceived HRM practices (organisational empowerment) on HR-related performance outcomes - employee attitudes (psychological empowerment, job satisfaction, affective commitment) and customer-oriented behaviour. Besides the role of empowerment in the HRM-performance linkage is defined and empirically tested.
This study addressed the nature and functioning of relationships of interpersonal trust among managers and professionals in organizations, the factors influencing trust's development, and the implications of trust for behavior and performance. Theoretical foundations were drawn from the sociological literature on trust and the social-psychological literature on trust in close relationships. An initial test of the proposed theoretical framework was conducted in a field setting with 194 managers and professionals.
Acontroversial area in covariance structure models is the assessment of overall model fit. Researchers have expressed concern over the influence of sample size on measures of fit. Many contradictory claims have been made regarding which fit statistics are affected by
N. Part of the confusion is due to there being two types of sample size effects that are confounded. The first is whether N directly enters the calculation of a fit measure. The second is whether the means of the sampling distributions of a fit index are associated with sample size. These types of sample size effects are explained and illustrated with the major structural equation fit indices. In addition, the current debate on sample size influences is examined in light of this distinction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Human resource management bundles consisting of multiple complementary practices are typically considered superior to individual best practices in influencing firm performance. This study investigates the relationship between three such bundles (empowerment, motivation, and skill-enhancing) and business outcomes (retention, operating performance, financial performance, and overall performance ratings). A meta-analysis of 239 effect sizes derived from 65 studies reveals that HRM bundles have significantly larger magnitudes of effects than their constituent individual practices, are positively related to business outcomes, and display effect sizes that are comparable to or larger than those of high-performance work systems. These findings reaffirm the case for firm-level investments in synergistic HRM combinations and highlight the importance of investing in complementary practices. copyright 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Human Resource Management is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
This paper provides meta-analytic support for an integrated model specifying the antecedents and consequences of psychological and team empowerment. Results indicate that contextual antecedent constructs representing perceived high-performance managerial practices, socio-political support, leadership, and work characteristics are each strongly related to psychological empowerment. Positive self-evaluation traits are related to psychological empowerment and are as strongly related as the contextual factors. Psychological empowerment is in turn positively associated with a broad range of employee outcomes, including job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and task and contextual performance, and is negatively associated with employee strain and turnover intentions. Team empowerment is positively related to team performance. Further, the magnitude of parallel antecedent and outcome relationships at the individual and team levels is statistically indistinguishable, demonstrating the generalizability of empowerment theory across these 2 levels of analysis. A series of analyses also demonstrates the validity of psychological empowerment as a unitary second-order construct. Implications and future directions for empowerment research and theory are discussed.
The objective of the research is to assess the degree of adoption of high-involvement nursing work practices in long-term care organizations. It seeks to determine the organizational and workplace factors that are associated with the uptake/adoption of ten selected human resource high-involvement employee work practices.
A survey questionnaire was sent to 300 long-term care organizations (nursing homes) in western Canada. Results from 125 nursing home establishments (43 percent response rate) are reported herein.
Of the ten high-involvement nursing work practices examined, employee suggestion and recognition systems are the most widely adopted by homes in the sample, while shared governance and incentive/merit-base pay are used by a small minority of establishments.
The uptake of high-involvement nursing work practices is not adopted in a haphazard fashion. Their uptake is variously associated with a number of establishment and workplace factors, including the presence of a supportive and enabling workplace culture.
The objective of this research is to examine the extent and degree of adoption of high involvement work practices in a sample of long-term care establishments operating in the four provinces of western Canada.
This study sought to understand how high involvement work processes (HIWP) are processed at the employee level. Using structural equation modeling techniques, the authors tested and supported a model in which psychological empowerment mediated the effects of HIWP on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job performance, and job stress. Furthermore, perceived organizational support (POS) was hypothesized to moderate the relationships between empowerment and these outcomes. With exception for the empowerment-job satisfaction association, support was found for our predictions. Future directions for research and the practical implications of our findings for both employees and organizations are discussed.
Normed and nonnormed fit indexes are frequently used as adjuncts to chi-square statistics for evaluating the fit of a structural model. A drawback of existing indexes is that they estimate no known population parameters. A new coefficient is proposed to summarize the relative reduction in the noncentrality parameters of two nested models. Two estimators of the coefficient yield new normed (CFI) and nonnormed (FI) fit indexes. CFI avoids the underestimation of fit often noted in small samples for Bentler and Bonett's (1980) normed fit index (NFI). FI is a linear function of Bentler and Bonett's non-normed fit index (NNFI) that avoids the extreme underestimation and overestimation often found in NNFI. Asymptotically, CFI, FI, NFI, and a new index developed by Bollen are equivalent measures of comparative fit, whereas NNFI measures relative fit by comparing noncentrality per degree of freedom. All of the indexes are generalized to permit use of Wald and Lagrange multiplier statistics. An example illustrates the behavior of these indexes under conditions of correct specification and misspecification. The new fit indexes perform very well at all sample sizes.
Management scholars and practitioners alike have become increasingly interested in learning more about the ability of certain 'progressive' or 'high-performance' human resource management (HRM) practices to enhance organizational effectiveness. There is growing evidence to suggest that the contribution of various HRM practices to impact firm performance may be synergistic in effect yet contingent on a number of contextual factors, including workplace climate. A contingency theory perspective suggests that in order to be effective, HMR policies and practices must be consistent with other aspects of the organization, including its environment. This paper reports on empirical findings from research that examines the relationship between HRM practices, workplace climate and perceptions of organizational performance, in a large sample of Canadian nursing homes. Data from 283 nursing homes were collected by means of a mail survey that included questions on HRM practices, programmes, and policies, on human resource aspects of workplace climate, as well as a variety of indicators that include employee, customer/resident and facility measures of organizational performance. Results derived from ordered probit analysis suggest that nursing homes in our sample which had implemented more 'progressive' HRM practices and which reported a workplace climate that strongly values employee participation, empowerment and accountability tended to be perceived to generally perform better on a number of valued organizational outcomes. Nursing homes in our sample that performed best overall were found to be more likely to not only have implemented more of these HRM practices, but also to report having a workplace climate that reflects the seminal value that it places on its human resources. This finding is consistent with the conclusion that simply introducing HRM practices or programmes, in the absence of an appropriately supportive workplace climate, will be insufficient to attain optimal organizational performance.
The rapid growth of research on organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) has resulted in some conceptual confusion about the nature of the construct, and made it difficult for all but the most avid readers to keep up with developments in this domain. This paper critically examines the literature on organizational citizenship behavior and other, related constructs. More specifically, it: (a) explores the conceptual similarities and differences between the various forms of "citizenship" behavior constructs identified in the literature; (b) summarizes the empirical findings of both the antecedents and consequences of OCBs; and (c) identifies several interesting directions for future research.
Relying on the fact that many organizations exhibit nested organizational structures, we identify several basic principles for understanding what produces different levels of employee commitment to the nested units. The principles identify the importance of the unit's "distance" from the employee, the capacity of the more proximate units to produce positive emotions, and the attribution process whereby employees assign responsibility for their positive emotions to a particular organizational unit. Specific hypotheses are derived from Lawler's argument about nested units. These hypotheses undergo preliminary tests for two nested organizational structures, one more centralized than the other. The hypotheses are generally supported.
This article presents a cognitive model of empowerment. Here, empowerment is defined as increased intrinsic task motivation, and our subsequent model identifies four cognitions (task assessments) as the basis for worker empowerment: sense of impact, competence, meaningfulness, and choice. Adopting an interpretive perspective, we have used the model also to describe cognitive processes through which workers reach these conclusions. Central to the processes we describe are workers' interpretive styles and global beliefs. Both preliminary evidence for the model and general implications for research are discussed.
The construct validity of scores on Spreitzer’s Psychological Empowerment scale was examined. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of data from a sample of 160 nurses showed substantial support for Spreitzer’s four empowerment dimensions: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. In contrast to Spreitzer’s findings, the results of this study indicated that self-determination is a precursor of impact. This finding was cross-validated with data from a subset of the same sample 1 year later, after implementation of a job redesign program. In addition, results from structural equation modeling (SEM) demonstrated job characteristics to relate differentially to the empowerment dimensions, providing evidence for both convergent and discriminant validity of scores on the four empowerment dimensions. Finally, this study found that the four empowerment dimensions differentially related to organizational commitment and career intentions, providing evidence for the predictive validity of the Empowerment scale scores.
Despite increasing attention on the topic of empowerment, our understanding of the construct and its underlying processes remains limited. This article addresses these shortcomings by providing an analytical treatment of the construct and by integrating the diverse approaches to empowerment found in both the management and psychology literatures. In addition, the authors identify certain antecedent conditions of powerlessness and practices that have been hypothesized to empower subordinates.
Purpose
– To develop and test an expanded social exchange model of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) that includes characteristics of the social context (i.e. perceived fairness and leader‐member exchange (LMX)) as well as the capacity (i.e. trust in the supervisor and psychological empowerment) to engage in citizenship behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
– Data were collected from a matched sample of 183 Hong Kong investment‐banking personnel and their supervisors. Multiple regression was used to test direct and mediating effects.
Findings
– Analyses provide strong support for the direct effects of trust in the supervisor and psychological empowerment on all dimensions of OCBs. Trust in the supervisor played an important mediating role in all relationships. Only one dimension of empowerment (i.e. impact) acted as a mediator.
Originality/value
– This study extends the social exchange conceptualization of OCB to include both equity and interpersonal relationship influences. The influence of empowerment on OCBs highlights the importance of providing employees with the motivation to engage in these behaviors.
A set of hypotheses based on emerging theory on high-involvement systems describes expected relationships between social structural characteristics at the level of the work unit (perceptions of role ambiguity, span of control, sociopolitical support, access to information and resources, and work unit climate) and feelings of empowerment. The hypotheses are examined with data on a sample of middle managers from diverse units of a Fortune 50 organization. A work unit with little role ambiguity, strong sociopolitical support, access to information, and a participative unit climate is found to be associated with managerial perceptions of empowerment, as is working for a boss who has a wide span of control.
Taking the social exchange perspective, we examine the process (black box) linking human resource practices and organizational commitment and superior rating performance. Using procedural justice, organizational support and trust, as relational exchange mechanisms, we evaluate which such complex psychological states mediate the relationship between HRM practices and performance. On the basis of a sample of 1,219 employees from a Canadian hospital, our results indicate that HRM practices can stimulate greater in-role and extra-role performance if they are perceived as signs of support and procedural justice. Consequently, we find that that the sole implementation of HRM practices, however innovative they may be, does not suffice to improve behavioral performance. Our study thus contributes to a better understanding of the ‘black box’ phenomenon that links HRM practices to organizational performance indices. Because of the number of psychological states studied, our research enriches knowledge of the social exchange mechanisms.
Research on commitment, procedural fairness, and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) suggests that employees maintain distinct beliefs about, and direct behaviors towards, multiple targets in the workplace (e.g., the organization as a whole, their supervisor, and fellow workgroup members). The present studies were designed to test for “target similarity effects,” in which the relationships between commitment, procedural fairness, and OCB were expected to be stronger when they referred to the same target than when they referred to different targets. As predicted, we found that: (1) the positive relationship between commitment and OCB, and (2) the mediating effect of commitment on the positive relationship between procedural fairness and OCB, was particularly likely to emerge when the constructs were in reference to the same target. Support for these target similarity effects was found among layoff survivors (Study 1) and student project teams (Study 2). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, as are limitations of the studies and suggestions for future research. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Organizational initiatives to strengthen customer orientation among front-line service workers abound, and have led many commentators to speak of the reconstitution of service work. These interventions rest on managers’ assumptions about what engenders the desired customer-oriented behaviours among employees. We evaluate those assumptions in the context of a major change initiative in a supermarket firm. The logic of the programme mirrors key precepts in the contemporary management literature. These are that management behaviour, job design and values-based training can produce a sense of empowerment among employees, and that empowerment will generate prosocial customer-oriented behaviour. Using data from a large scale employee survey, we test the validity of those assumptions. Employees who perceived management behaviour in a positive light and who had participated in values-based training were more likely to feel empowered (i.e. to have internalized prosocial service values and to feel a sense of competence and autonomy on the job). Psychological empowerment was, in turn, positively related to the customer-oriented behaviour of workers. This study, therefore, provides support for key assumptions underlying HRM theory and practice in services.
A quantitative review of 55 studies supports the conclusion that job attitudes are robust predictors of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The relationship between job satisfaction and OCB is stronger than that between satisfaction and in-role performance, at least among nonmanagerial and nonprofessional groups. Other attitudinal measures (perceived fairness, organizational commitment, leader supportiveness) correlate with OCB at roughly the same level as satisfaction. Dispositional measures do not correlate nearly as well with OCB (with the exception of conscientiousness). The most notable moderator of these correlations appears to be the use of self- versus other-rating of OCB; self-ratings are associated with higher correlations, suggesting spurious inflation due to common method variance, and much greater variance in correlation. Differences in subject groups and work settings do not account for much variance in the relationships. Implications are noted for theory, practice, and strategies for future research on OCB.
We examined relations between job characteristics, empowerment, and intrinsic motivation among technical and telemarketing workers. Empowerment was conceptualized as a gestalt of 4 psychological dimensions: autonomy, competence, meaningfulness, and impact. It was hypothesized that the various dimensions of empowerment would mediate the relationship between job characteristics, such as feedback and autonomy support, and intrinsic motivation at work. A path analysis supported the hypothesis, revealing that different job characteristics were predictive of different aspects of empowerment, and that aspects of empowerment differentially affected intrinsic motivation. The results point to the value of considering empowerment as a multidimensional construct.
Because nurses deliver care to patients on behalf of hospitals, hospitals have to enhance first-line nurses' patient-oriented perception and spontaneous organizational citizenship behaviors for the sake of higher patient satisfaction and better patient care.
The purpose of this study was to investigate how patient-oriented perception among nurses could affect their organizational citizenship behaviors and job satisfaction.
SPSS 12.0 and Amos 7.0 (structural equation modeling) statistical software packages were used for data analysis and processing. Of the 500 questionnaires distributed, 232 valid ones were collected, with a valid response rate of 46.4%.
Nurses' patient-oriented perception has a positive influence on organizational citizenship behaviors (γ11 = .795, p < .05), and their organizational citizenship behaviors (β21 = .681, p < .05) have a positive influence on job satisfaction.
Nurses' patient-oriented perception has the most positive influence on interpersonal altruistic behavior but the least positive influence on organizational public welfare behavior.
The aims of the paper are to examine the role of burnout in the relationship between stress factors related to nurses' work and social environment and intention to leave the profession and to investigate the nature of the relationship between burnout and intention to leave the nursing profession.
A postulate of the job demands-resources model is that two distinct yet related processes contribute to the development of burnout. The energetic process originates from demands and is mainly centered on emotional exhaustion; the motivational process originates from resources and is mainly centered on depersonalization. Moreover, we postulated that the two components of burnout are linked indirectly to intention to leave the profession via psychosomatic complaints, associated with the energetic process, and via professional commitment, associated with the motivational process.
The research model was tested on cross-sectional data collected in 2005 from 1636 registered nurses working in hospitals who responded to a self-administrated questionnaire.
Demands are the most important determinants of emotional exhaustion and indirectly induce depersonalization via emotional exhaustion, whereas resources mainly predict depersonalization. Moreover, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization are linked to psychosomatic complaints and professional commitment, which are in turn associated with intention to leave the profession.
The results suggest that a dual strategy is needed in order to retain nurses within the profession: a decrease in job demands, coupled with an increase in available job resources. In particular, nurses' tasks and role should be restructured to reduce work overload and increase the meaning of their work.
Since the early 1980’s the field of HRM has seen the independent evolution of two independent subfields (strategic and functional), which we believe is dysfunctional to the field as a whole. We propose a typology of HRM research based on two dimensions: Level of analysis (individual/ group or organization) and number of practices (single or multiple). We use this framework to review the recent research in each of the four sub-areas. We argue that while significant progress has been made within each area, the potential for greater gains exists by looking across each area. Toward this end we suggest some future research directions based on a more integrative view of HRM. We believe that both areas can contribute significantly to each other resulting in a more profound impact on the field of HRM than each can contribute independently.
Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are essential for effective organizational functioning. Decisions by employees
to engage in these important discretionary behaviors are based on how they make sense of the organizational context. Using
fairness heuristic theory, we tested two important OCB predictors: manager trustworthiness and interactional justice. In the
process, we control for the effects of dispositional factors (propensity to trust) and for system-based organizational fairness
(procedural and distributive justice). Results, based on surveys collected from 120 employee–supervisor dyads, indicate that
manager trustworthiness explains variance in OCBs over and above the variance accounted for by interactional fairness. Implications
for theory and practice are discussed.
Hypotheses involving mediation are common in the behavioral sciences. Mediation exists when a predictor affects a dependent variable indirectly through at least one intervening variable, or mediator. Methods to assess mediation involving multiple simultaneous mediators have received little attention in the methodological literature despite a clear need. We provide an overview of simple and multiple mediation and explore three approaches that can be used to investigate indirect processes, as well as methods for contrasting two or more mediators within a single model. We present an illustrative example, assessing and contrasting potential mediators of the relationship between the helpfulness of socialization agents and job satisfaction. We also provide SAS and SPSS macros, as well as Mplus and LISREL syntax, to facilitate the use of these methods in applications.