Social Exchange Relationships Research Articles

Theorizing the relationship between discretionary employee benefits and individual performance

The literature on compensation has devoted little attention to the relationship between discretionary employee benefits and individual performance, perhaps because benefits are allocated equally to large groups of employees, are not tied to individual performance, and are viewed as entitlements. Discretionary benefits include all the benefits an employer provides to employees voluntarily (i.e., not legally required). Employees can use internet search tools to make comparisons between focal and referent firms of their expenditures on discretionary benefits, which can symbolize employer support for employee well-being or invoke perceptions of equity. In our paper, we provide a novel insight into the relationship between discretionary benefits and employee individual performance through a theoretical lens that combines insights from organizational support theory and equity theory shaped by perceptions of social and economic exchange relationships. In our conceptual model we develop theoretical logic that explains that perceived discretionary benefits, moderated by benefits satisfaction and mediated by perceived organizational support and perceived equity, are linked to individual performance. The paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical implications and directions for future research.

Helicopter helping in the organization: its conceptualization, key characteristics and possible antecedents and consequences

PurposeSince its inception, helping behavior has been viewed as a cooperative and affiliative behavior with prudent employee involvement. The paradox of employee involvement, however, implies that helping behavior can be intrusive and obstructive. The primary purpose of this article is to conceptualize helicopter helping as an intrusive and obstructive type of discretionary workplace behavior. In addition, the authors discuss possible antecedents and consequences of helicopter helping.Design/methodology/approachTo conceptualize helicopter helping, the authors utilized the ABI/INFORM Global, Academic Search Complete, Business Source Complete, PsycARTICLES and JSTOR Archive Collection databases focusing on the helping behavior and helicopter parenting research. In particular, the authors applied the hovering nature of helicopter parenting to the conceptualization of helicopter helping exhibited by an employee in the organization. Additionally, the authors discuss antecedents and consequences of helicopter helping by integrating the bright and dark side of helping behavior research.FindingsThe authors conceptualize helicopter helping as an employee's excessive involvement in and interference with coworkers' task environment. Based upon the conceptualization of helicopter helping, the authors further propose that the need for achievement, Type-A personality, group rewards, high-performance group norms, a hierarchy organizational culture and strong social ties are possible antecedents of helicopter helping. Furthermore, the authors suggest that helicopter helping can result in reduced organization-based self-esteem, general self-efficacy, group creativity and innovation, quality of social-exchange relationships, learning and development and increased organizational vulnerability.Originality/valueThis article is one of the few studies exploring helping behavior from an intrusive and invasive perspective. Theoretically, the authors advance the dark side of helping behavior literature. Drawing upon the propositions, the authors offer some managerial recommendations that help managers mitigate the intrusive and obstructive type of helping in the organization.

The Relationships among Authentic Leadership, Social Exchange Relationships, and Trust in Organizations during COVID-19 Pandemic

Purpose: Trust is essential for organizations' cooperative relationships during COVID-19. Authentic leadership and social exchange relationships are required to increase trust during a crisis. However, leader behaviors during COVID-19 have effects on the relationships among authentic leadership, social exchange relationships, and trust in organizations to understand their effects. The moderating effects of leader behaviors during COVID-19 on the relationships among authentic leadership, social exchange relationships, and trust in organizations are investigated. Design/ Methodology/Approach: Hierarchical multiple regression with interaction terms is used to examine interactions of leader behaviors during COVID-19 on the relationships between variables. Moreover, bootstrapping is performed to explore the mediating role of social exchange relationships between authentic leadership and trust in organizations. Findings: The findings indicate that authentic leadership positively affects social exchange relationships and trust, whereas social exchange relationships positively affect trust. Moreover, a social exchange relationship has a mediating effect between authentic leadership and trust. Both leader behaviors are regrading (a) managerial ability with ethics and (b) a positive working relationship based on work from home as moderators, positively influencing authentic leadership, social exchange relationships, and trust. Practical implications: This paper suggests that authentic leadership increases the quality of social exchange relationships and trust. Leader behavior qualities and leader-follower relationships based on social exchange theory are essential for improving trust even after post-COVID-19. Finally, based on the social exchange theory, leader behavior qualities and leader-follower relationships can motivate positive relationships in organizations. The chief executive officers (CEOs) and the organizational management teams benefit from the outcomes of this paper to comprehend which factors affect relationships and trust changes in organizations. Keywords: authentic leadership (AL); trust; social exchange relationships (SERs); Leader behaviors during COVID-19 JEL: D23, D91, M14

Realization of a Sustainable High-Performance Organization through Procedural Justice: The Dual Mediating Role of Organizational Trust and Organizational Commitment

To achieve sustainable growth and ensure competitive advantage in response to rapidly changing industries, companies have recently focused on creating new values based on innovative organizational composition and various personnel management systems. Social exchange theory suggests that stronger social exchange relationships increase trust between people and their level of commitment. From this perspective, organizational justice has its own significance. This study empirically analyzed the dual mediation effect of organizational trust (OT) and organizational commitment (OC) to examine an influential relationship between procedural justice (PJ) and work engagement in an organization. The following analytic results were obtained. First, PJ had positive effects on OT, OC, and work engagement. Second, OT had significantly positive effects on OC, whereas it did not have significant effects on work engagement. Third, OC had significantly positive effects on work engagement. Fourth, OC had significant mediation effects with regard to the influence of PJ on work engagement. In addition, organization trust and OC had significant dual mediation effects. The results verified the importance of PJ in an organization. Furthermore, these results provided theoretical and practical implications that PJ can increase OT, OC, and ultimately organizational performance.

Linking employee perceptions and employee attitudes through their levels of organizational identification: a field investigation in India

PurposeDespite organizational socialization and support, contemporary managers often perceive employees to be less engaged and attached to their workplace, multiplying their workload with unsolicited vexations and worries. In this connection, the purpose of this paper is to explore and possibly confirm the ameliorative role of organizational identification as a mediator between employees' perceptions of organizational support and justice and their favorable association to their levels of engagement and attenuation of their intentions to quit.Design/methodology/approachSuitable theories such as the social exchange and fairness heuristics theories were examined to select and support the study constructs. Accordingly, the literature was reviewed to formulate the study hypotheses and connect them through a conceptual latent variable model (LVM). Data were collected from 402 full-time managerial executives all over India. The data thus collected were subjected to structural equation modeling (SEM) procedures.FindingsAll the measures used in this study had acceptable reliabilities as indicated by their Cronbach's Alpha values. Based on the SEM procedures all the study hypotheses and one of the competing LVMs labeled as LVM5 was finally accepted.Originality/valueThe distinctive feature of this study is the theoretical compilation of all the study constructs in one LVM and subsequent empirical verification of the same. This study is, perhaps, the first of its kind to examine the implications of such justice-based perceptions of social exchange relations between employees and their organizations in India more so, since it considers support and justice to complement each other as an interactive whole.

Mediating role of trust in the relationship between public governance quality and tax compliance

This paper examined the mediating role of trust in government on the influence of public governance quality indicators (accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption) on tax compliance in Africa. Cross-country data obtained from 38 African countries for 2015 was used and analyzed using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis. The study found that accountability, political stability, control of corruption, and trust have a significant influence on tax compliance among the sampled African countries, but government effectiveness, regulatory quality, and the rule of law and have insignificant influence on tax compliance. The result of the mediating effects revealed that trust mediates the influence of accountability and political stability on tax compliance in Africa. However, it failed to mediate the influence of government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption on tax compliance among sample African countries. The study offers theoretical insights on the role of trust as a mediator on social exchange relationships from the context of public governance quality on tax compliance. It also implies to the policymakers that building trust is an important mechanism through which the impact of public governance on tax compliance would be more pronounced. The study further calls for replication of its findings in other continents such as the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

ПОКАЗНИКИ РЕКРЕАЦІЙНОЇ ЦІННОСТІ ТА ПРИДАТНОСТІ МІСЬКИХ ЗЕЛЕНИХ ЗОН ДЛЯ ОЦІНКИ КУЛЬТУРНИХ ЕКОСИСТЕМНИХ ПОСЛУГ

The purpose of the work is to determine indicators of recreational importance and suitability, as well as to develop a system of indicators of the recreational potential of green areas for their further use in the assessment of CES: aesthetic, recreational, and social exchange services and relationships. The method of work involves the application of previous experience of domestic and foreign research in the areas of resource assessment of territories for the purposes of organization and development of recreation. Evaluation and categorization of green zones according to the recreational opportunities defined in the system of values is carried out according to 5-point scales with clearly defined criteria of recreational qualities. The overall recreational importance and suitability of green zones for the provision of cultural ecosystem services is objectively determined as the total score of their recreational evaluation based on a set of indicators. Recreational value and suitability, characterized by parameters of medical and biological favorability, aesthetics and landscaping, form the overall recreational potential of urban green areas. The first group of parameters reflects the recreational usefulness of the green zone, and includes values of: phytoncide, dust and gas resistance, air ionization. The second group of parameters includes the value of the diversity of the dendrological composition of the plantations, visibility and uniqueness of the landscape, which generally determine its aesthetics. The third group of parameters reflects the general improvement of urban green zones and includes the value of infrastructure development, the presence of water bodies, historical-cultural/architectural/natural monuments, points of landscape discovery, etc. Recreational potential directly affects the overall capacity of green areas to provide cultural ecosystem services (CES). Scientific novelty. The work analyzed approaches to the assessment of recreational resources, based on the results of the analysis of previous experience, 10 values of the recreational potential of urban green areas were determined, which are important in the formation of the CES proposal. The offer of CES in urban ecosystems is formed not only thanks to the subjective perception of city residents, but also depends to an equal extent on a set of objectively existing conditions and factors of the territory, which is capable of providing cultural ecosystem services. Practical meaning. The determined values of the recreational potential of urban green zones will allow more objective consideration during the evaluation of all the recreational properties of the green zone, which determine its potential in providing CES. It is advisable to use such indicators in CES evaluation to reduce subjectivity in determining their offer.

Good soldiers in implementation: validation of the Implementation Citizenship Behavior Scale and its relation to implementation leadership and intentions to use evidence-based practices

BackgroundImplementation citizenship behavior (ICB) describes extra-role behaviors performed by employees to support evidence-based practice (EBP) implementation. Such behaviors can be measured using the Implementation Citizenship Behavior Scale (ICBS), which divides ICB into two dimensions, namely helping others and keeping informed. The current study extends the use of the ICBS to a context outside the USA and adds to the literature by investigating how leader-perceived ICB relates to practitioner-perceived implementation leadership and practitioners’ intentions to use EBPs.MethodsParticipants were 42 leaders and 152 practitioners in Norwegian mental health services implementing EBPs for post-traumatic stress disorder. Leaders rated each practitioner on ICB, and each practitioner rated their leader on implementation leadership and reported on their own intentions to use EBPs. The psychometric properties of the ICBS were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis and internal consistency reliabilities. The relationships between ICB, implementation leadership and intentions to use EBPs, were investigated through a series of bivariate correlation analyses and a path analysis of the total scales.ResultsThe ICBS showed excellent psychometric properties. The hypothesized two-factor model provided an excellent fit to the data, and both subscales and the total scale were internally reliable. Leader-perceived ICB was positively and significantly correlated with both practitioner-perceived implementation leadership and practitioners’ intentions to use EBPs. Correlations with intentions to use EBPs were stronger for the subscale of keeping informed than for the subscale of helping others.ConclusionsResults indicated that practitioners who rated their leader higher on implementation leadership received higher ICB ratings from their leader and reported higher intentions to use EBPs. The results provide evidence of a reciprocal social exchange relationship between leaders and practitioners during EBP implementation and a link to an important proximal implementation outcome (i.e., intentions to use EBPs). Results also suggest cultural differences in how ICB is perceived and relates to other phenomena. Scientific and practical implications are discussed.Trial registrationRetrospectively registered in ClinicalTrials with ID NCT03719651.

Are adaptable employees more likely to stay? Boundaryless careers and career ecosystem perspectives on career adaptability and turnover

AbstractEmployees with higher career adaptability (CA) have been shown in previous research to be more likely to build high‐quality social exchange relations with current employers, thereby displaying a lower intention to leave. Based on boundaryless careers and career ecosystem perspectives, this study aimed to challenge and enrich the extant understanding of this important question by examining the mixed effects of CA on turnover behavior. Results from a three‐wave survey study with 179 Chinese employees show that after controlling the baseline turnover intention (Time 1), CA (Time 1) predicted both affective commitment and relative deprivation at Time 2 (6 months after Time 1), which in turn produced opposite effects on voluntary turnover behavior at Time 3 (12 months after Time 1). Moreover, the boundaryless career mindset positively moderated the relationship between CA and relative deprivation and strengthened the indirect positive effect of CA on turnover behavior via relative deprivation. These results offer a more comprehensive and balanced view of the mixed role of CA in employees' turnover behavior and carry important implications for human resource management.

Trust, Perceived Support and Organizational Citizenship Behavior Among Undergraduate Students in Universiti Sains Malaysia

Most research on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has been conducted in industrial or organizational environments. This paper explores the concept of OCB among undergraduate students in Universiti Sains Malaysia. This paper investigates the link between trust, perceived support, and OCB. The findings indicate that students with high-quality social exchange relationships with their lecturers, classmates, and university are more likely to develop OCB. This indicates that trust and perceived support lead to OCB among undergraduate students. This study provides important insight to university management and academic staff about how trust and perceived support can boost their students’ OCB. The survey was carried out through Google Form. These data were analyzed using SPSS.

Desirable or deceitful? How social exchange dynamics shape responses to pro‐coworker unethical behavior

AbstractThere is substantial evidence that employees build relationships with coworkers who provide them with assistance and distance themselves from coworkers who behave unethically. We consider how employees respond when coworkers provide them with benefits that violate ethical standards—a phenomenon we refer to as pro‐coworker unethical behavior (PCUB). Building on social exchange theory, we explore how recipients of PCUB may simultaneously experience both a sense of increased indebtedness toward their coworker, given the beneficial nature of PCUB, and reduced perceptions of their coworker's integrity, given the unethical nature of PCUB. We theorize that these diverging reactions will have countervailing indirect effects on the social exchange relationship between the recipient and PCUB provider. In turn, these effects on the social exchange relationship will influence whether the recipient responds favorably toward the provider, in the form of interpersonal citizenship. Our theoretical model incorporates the PCUB provider's prosocial versus self‐interested motives as a critical contingency that shapes recipients’ perceptions of indebtedness and integrity. The results of a multi‐wave field study of employee–coworker dyads and an experimental study provide converging support for our hypothesized model.

Flexible working arrangement and job performance: the mediating role of supervisor support

PurposeThis study's main objective is to investigate the influence of flexible working arrangements (FWAs) on employee job performance. In addition, this research studies the mediating role of supervisor's support on the relationship between FWAs and job performance.Design/methodology/approachTo test the hypothesised model, cross-sectional data were collected from 214 employees working in 46 service firms in India. The data were analysed by structural equation modelling.FindingsThe supervisor's support mediated the relationship between FWAs and job performance. The study’s results show that role of supervisors shapes the collective social exchange relationship between the organisation and employees. These findings highlight the importance of shared experiences, values and norms, which reciprocate with change-supportive behaviours and abilities. Moreover, supervisors’ support transmits signals through which employees feel more valued and eventually affect their job performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is confined to India's service industries settings only.Practical implicationsService firm management recommended implementing FWAs with appropriate organisation level planning, which directly benefits employees' well-being, improves work–life balance, reduces the rate of employee turnover and leads to increased employee productivity.Originality/valueThe study's result is that supervisor's support has a significant influence on employee uptake of FWAs, and understanding how the service firm's context shapes supervisors’ support is critical to improving FWAs implementation.

A Study on the Sustainable Structural Relations between Social Exchange Relationship Characteristics and Social Contagion Effect in Beauty-Related One-Person Media

This study examined how members of beauty-related one-person media networks build sustainable ties with other members through various exchange activities and diffuse information based on the social contagion effect. Accordingly, social exchange relationship characteristics of beauty-related one-person media were specified and structural relations through which these characteristics affect group cohesiveness, conformity-based collective intelligence, and fad-like behavior were identified. A sample of 529 users with experience of consuming information on beauty-related one-person media was selected, and research hypotheses were tested via reliability testing, validity testing, measurement model analysis, and path analysis using SPSS ver. 23.0 and AMOS ver. 23.0. First, the path analysis between social exchange relationship characteristics of beauty-related one-person media and group cohesiveness revealed that relational characteristics significantly affected social cohesion, but situational characteristics and personal characteristics did not. Additionally, situational characteristics and personal characteristics significantly affected task cohesion, but relational characteristics did not. Second, the path analysis between group cohesiveness (social cohesion, task cohesion) and conformity-based collective intelligence in beauty-related one-person media revealed that social cohesion and task cohesion significantly affected conformity-based collective intelligence. Third, the path analysis between conformity-based collective intelligence and fad-like behavior in beauty-related one-person media clarified that conformity-based collective intelligence significantly affected fad-like behavior.

LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

People with disabilities (PWD) view the issue of employment as one of endless concern as they are continuously evaluated based on their disability per se. It is reported that that PWDs have to face challenges in finding jobs that suit their capability but they usually eventually quit from their job after struggling with the challenges that come with it. The increasing trend of a high employment turnover among disabled employees in Malaysia has spurred the direction in this study toward examining the concept of leader-member exchange (LMX) which examines the quality of supervisor-subordinate relationships. This study is important because it will bring new insights on how managers can integrate PWDs at the workplace by enhancing their social exchange relationship (dyadic), especially their leadership skills. It was discovered that all components of LMX namely affect, professional respect, contribution and loyalty are all important factors that ensure a good relationship between supervisors and PWDs. In addition, it was found that types of disabilities and PWD working sectors has no mean difference toward the LMX components that influence this dyadic relationship.

Working With More Creative Coworkers and New Product Development Team Performance

This study proposes that working with colleagues who have similar levels of open personality can enhance a person’s social exchange relationship with teammates, which then inspires the person’s creativity. This study also draws on the idea-journey model of creativity and innovation to propose that the positive relationship between team members’ aggregated similarity in openness personality with teammates and the performance of the new product that the team develops is stronger when members of the team possess low levels of openness personality in aggregate. Examining data collected from Taiwanese new product development team engineers, we find support for these arguments.

Predictors of employees’ strike attitudes in multinational corporations in China: a multilevel relational model

China experienced an unprecedented increase in labor strikes until the mid-2010s, and the country continues to experience considerable strike activity. Therefore, it is important to study what predicts Chinese workers’ attitudes toward strikes. The study applies social exchange theory as an overarching framework to investigate the contributions of three forms of social exchange relations in organizations—employee-employer relations, labor-management relations, and leader-member relations—to account for Chinese employees’ attitudes toward strikes in multinational corporations (MNCs) based in China. Using a matched employee-employer sample of more than 1,600 employees in 41 China-based MNCs, the results obtained from hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis show that individual-perceived employee-employer relations indicated by a negative reciprocity norm is positively related to employees’ strike attitudes. Labor-management relations indicated by the organizational-level cooperative industrial relations (IR) climate is negatively related to employees’ strike attitudes. Leader-member relations indicated by leader-member exchange (LMX) is not significantly related to employees’ strike attitudes. Overall, the results indicate that at the individual level, it is more important for companies not to do bad (to engage in negative reciprocity with workers) than to do good to reduce employees’ strike attitudes.

Line managers' perceptions of diversity management: insights from a social exchange theory perspective

PurposeDrawing on the social exchange theory, this study aims to explore line managers' perceptions of diversity management, as well as their perceptions of their role and responsibilities in shaping and implementing diversity practices. The senior management's leadership support, as it is perceived by line managers, in assisting them to manage diversity successfully is also examined.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews with 51 line managers across different sectors in the UK were conducted to address the following three research questions. First, how do line managers perceive diversity management? Second, what are the actual roles and responsibilities of line managers in shaping diversity practices' implementation? Third, how do leadership interactions within the organisation influence line managers' perceptions of diversity practices?FindingsLine managers present high levels of personal determination and commitment towards diversity supplemented by a consensus on the strategic role of leadership in relation to diversity management. In addition, poor levels of organisational support, leadership values and style are identified; all highly related to their ability to deliver results and, most importantly, to form effective relationships in the workplace.Research limitations/implicationsData included line managers' views but not senior managers' perspectives, thus limiting the study in identifying the holistic impact of social exchanges in shaping effective relations. In addition, quantitative research could test and enhance the generalisability of existing findings.Practical implicationsInvesting in social relationships can positively influence line managers' ability to deliver results. Action is required at the organisational level by senior management to support and recognise line managers' critical roles to enable them to apply and promote diversity management.Originality/valueThese findings address a theoretical gap relating to the evaluation of the critical role played by line managers in the delivery of diversity practices. The study further demonstrates how social exchange relationships can influence line managers' perceptions of diversity management, an unexplored area within the diversity literature.

A Study on the Network Effectiveness of Sustainable K-Fashion and Beauty Creator Media (Social Media) in the Digital Era

With the convergence of various media in the digital era, the influence of Korean fashion/beauty on popular culture is growing rapidly. This study examines the sustainable relationship between the content and community characteristics of Korean fashion/beauty creator media, the associated social exchange relationships, and the effectiveness of the network among international consumers. In total, 614 international consumers who had made Korean fashion product purchases, viewed Korean fashion creator media, and shared information related to Korean fashion at least once were selected as a sample. Frequency analysis, reliability and validity analysis, measurement model analysis, and path analysis were conducted using SPSS and AMOS. The results showed that, first, content uniqueness had a significant effect on perceived similarity, although content continuity did not. In addition, content uniqueness and content continuity both had a significant effect on emotional expectations. Second, community scalability and community cohesion both had a significant effect on perceived similarity, and community scalability and community cohesion had a significant effect on emotional expectations. Third, perceived similarity had a significant effect on both emotional expectation consciousness and parasocial interaction, and emotional expectation consciousness had a significant effect on parasocial interaction. Finally, parasocial interaction had a significant effect on fad-like behavior. Through this, this study expanded the scope of academic research by linking the contents and community characteristics of Korean fashion/beauty creator media with research problems in the field of social exchange from the perspective of network effectiveness. Integrating this with the existing studies on consumer acceptance of Hallyu culture is expected to lead to the development of a more descriptive theoretical model for the formation of attitudes and purchase intentions toward Korean fashion/beauty products.

Ask and you shall receive? Linking leader development proactivity to developmental opportunities

The leader development literature has long implied that the source of leader development lies either with the employee or organization. Challenging this implicit dichotomy, we propose that leader development proactivity (LDP; an employee’s request for leader development opportunities and resources) is evaluated by decision makers in allocating developmental resources. Integrating social exchange theory and implicit leadership theory, we propose that LDP leads employees to be perceived as psychologically entitled to the extent that the employee and decision maker have a low-quality social exchange relationship. Meanwhile, LDP should increase perceptions of the employee as prototypical of the leader role, conditional on the degree of deep-level similarity between the employee and decision maker. In turn, both perceptions of psychological entitlement and leader prototypicality should be negatively and positively associated, respectively, with the receipt of leader development by the focal employee. Results from both an experimental and a field study provide broad support for our theoretical model.

Navigating the COVID-19 Threat: Organizational Justice Matters More under Mortality Salience

Studies have shown that fairness is a functional quality, particularly when people are uncertain about fundamental aspects of human life, such as mortality salience (Van den Bos & Miedema, 2000). However, the role of organizational justice in mortality salience has been underexplored in field studies. COVID-19 has caused tens of thousands of deaths across the world. Does justice within an organization matter more to employees exposed to the threat of death from COVID-19? Based on social exchange theory and uncertainty management theory, we hypothesize that organizational justice and COVID-19 trigger mortality salience and jointly influence employee trust in their organizations and their work performance. We tested our hypotheses through a 16-day daily diary study using a sample of Chinese employees (N = 75, 831 total observations) and a three-wave study using a sample of American employees (N = 262). The results of the two studies showed that mortality salience consistently strengthened the effects of justice, as organizational justice was associated with higher levels of trust in the organization and work performance when the mortality salience triggered by COVID-19 was high (versus low). These findings replicate and extend other laboratory studies that apply uncertainty management theory and suggest that organizational justice matters more to employee trust and performance under the threat of COVID-19. Our research also advances social exchange theory by identifying personal uncertainty (i.e., mortality salience) as an important boundary condition through which justice can establish social exchange relationships in organizations.