Psychological Contract Breach
Assignment 3
Individual research paper
Psychological contract breach
Nowadays managing the psychological contract is the main goal for organizations that strive for a ‘people building’ rather than a ‘people using’ organization (Guest & Conway, 1999). The concept of the psychological contract is complex but it provides a framework for the understanding of the employment relationship (Zhao et al., 2007). A widely accepted definition of the psychological contract is defined by Rousseau (1995); she defined the psychological contract as ‘individual belief, shaped by the organization, regarding terms of exchange agreement between individuals and their organization’ (Rousseau, 1995, p. 9). Several researches discuss the psychological contract and the measures that should be used to prevent psychological contract breach. Robinson (1996) concluded from a longitudinal field study that there is a strong relationship between trust and psychological contract breach and that the relationship is multifaceted. The relationship is multifaceted because of the fact that the psychological contract breach is a subjective experience based on an individual’s perception in a particular social context. This individual’s perception is greatly influenced through one’s trust toward another social entity. According to Robinson (1996), one’s trust lies in his or her expectations, assumptions and beliefs about the likelihood that another’s future actions will be beneficial, favorable or at least not detrimental to that individual’s interest (Robinson, 1996, p. 576). Therefore trust influences greatly the individual’s experience of the psychological contract breach. In order to the assignment question, a necessary capability for a manager should be knowing and understanding one’s trust to prevent possible psychological contract breach. To get to know more about the trust of employee in the manager or in the organization the manager should arrange personal (informal)
Individual research paper
Psychological contract breach
Nowadays managing the psychological contract is the main goal for organizations that strive for a ‘people building’ rather than a ‘people using’ organization (Guest & Conway, 1999). The concept of the psychological contract is complex but it provides a framework for the understanding of the employment relationship (Zhao et al., 2007). A widely accepted definition of the psychological contract is defined by Rousseau (1995); she defined the psychological contract as ‘individual belief, shaped by the organization, regarding terms of exchange agreement between individuals and their organization’ (Rousseau, 1995, p. 9). Several researches discuss the psychological contract and the measures that should be used to prevent psychological contract breach. Robinson (1996) concluded from a longitudinal field study that there is a strong relationship between trust and psychological contract breach and that the relationship is multifaceted. The relationship is multifaceted because of the fact that the psychological contract breach is a subjective experience based on an individual’s perception in a particular social context. This individual’s perception is greatly influenced through one’s trust toward another social entity. According to Robinson (1996), one’s trust lies in his or her expectations, assumptions and beliefs about the likelihood that another’s future actions will be beneficial, favorable or at least not detrimental to that individual’s interest (Robinson, 1996, p. 576). Therefore trust influences greatly the individual’s experience of the psychological contract breach. In order to the assignment question, a necessary capability for a manager should be knowing and understanding one’s trust to prevent possible psychological contract breach. To get to know more about the trust of employee in the manager or in the organization the manager should arrange personal (informal)
References: Conway, N. & Briner, R.B. (2002). A daily diary study of affective responses to psychological contract violation and exceeded promises Guest, D.E., Conway, N. (2002) Communicating the psychological contract: An employer perspective Robinson, S.L. (1996). Trust and breach of the psychological contract. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41, 574-599. Rousseau, D.M. (1995). Psychological contracts in organizations : Understanding written and unwritten agreements. Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage Publications. Thomas, D.C., Au, K. & Ravlin, E.C. (2003). Cultural variation and the psychological contract Turnley, W.H. & Feldman, D.C. (1999). A discrepancy model of psychological contract violations Zhao, H., Wayne, S.J., Glibkowski, B.C., Bravo, J. (2007). The impact of psychological contract breach on work related outcomes: A meta-analysis