Management of people is based on scientific research and countless theories that focus on individual motivation and behaviour, culminating into a relationship between the manager and the employee. Part of the relationship is a direct outcome of the written contract between the organisation and the individual. However, a significant part of it is an understanding or an unwritten promise by the organisation to fulfil its obligations to the individual. The promise could range from dignity, fairness and respect in interaction to career advancement and confidentiality. This promise, across academic literature, has been termed as the ‘psychological contract’.
The case ‘When salaries aren’t secret’ details a crisis facing a young clothing retailer ‘Right Now’. The case in question is an example of a violation of the psychological contract. While the details of the case allude to a disgruntled departing employee publicising the salaries and bonuses of all the employees in the organisation, the fact is that the organisation did not have adequate safeguards in place to prevent the hacking of their system, thus impacting trust and confidentiality. Furthermore, as the organisation did not follow a scientific compensation differentiation model, the perception of fairness and equity has been called into question in the aftermath of the incident. Overall, the magnitude of the situation has left employees feeling distrustful and resentful. The management team, therefore, needs to formulate
The psychological contract can help both employee and employer to gain awareness on contemporary employment relationships; indeed, it has been debated that perceived obligations within the psychological contract are usually more vital to work related attitudes and behaviour than are the official and explicit elements of contractual acknowledgement (Grant, Branka and David 2010, 6-7).
It can be said that employers have become increasingly concentrated towards controlling employee’s behaviour than endeavouring to attain employee commitment in organisations. Control can be defined as “To exercise authoritative or dominating influence over” . However this can become controversial when applied to working with people therefore as a countermeasure commitment has been introduced to even the balance. This can be defined as “a combination of commitment to the organisation and its values and a willingness to
Ultimately this complication is a relatively new dilemma in the work place, as Guest (1998) considers that only in the past ten years has it emerged as a serious topic for empirical and conceptual analysis, although its origins reside within the work advocated by Argyris on the social exchange theory. Guest (2004), argues that the primary focus of the psychological contract is the employment relationship at the individual level between the employer and the employee. This reinstates the aforementioned notion that over the past twenty five years organisations have transitioned from a collective bargaining hierarchy towards an individualised work environment enabling theories such as the psychological contract to
The article “Note on Managing the Psychological Contract” describes the expectations of a person and the company as portrayed by the management. Each party has its own set of
Firstly, throughout this essay I will be identifying and underlining the fact whether management and psychological theories are arguably the most effective ways to learn how to manage people given the correct tuition and guidance. The background of the debate is exactly how or do managers learn to manage people through theory, or could it be through experiential learning. This is an important debate due to the fact that it will provide an answer on what actually is the most effective way to learn about managing people. It will allow me to demonstrate an understanding of this issue by evidently showing to the readers
The psychological contract is an important topic of discussion in the field of HRM, and a large body of literature has been devoted to understand the nature of the psychological contract in more depth. It can be defined as ones unwritten expectations, values, and promises made between the employee and the organisation (Sturges et al. 2005). This literature review will critique and analyse a number of articles focusing on psychological contract violation. Violation arises when promised agreements and obligations are unmet leaving a taste of dissatisfaction and a sense of breach in trust and loyalty. Robinson & Rousseau (1994) postulated, “employees initially hold unrealistic expectations and when these expectations go unmet, employees may become less satisfied, perform less well, and become more likely to leave their employer” (Rousseau 1994, pp. 247). Therefore, it is crucial to gain a better understanding of how of how it develops and solutions to contract violation as it can have a detrimental impact on ones emotions and wellbeing.
On the other hand, psychological contract consists of employee’s expectations about what they owe their employers such as hard work, loyalty and commitment in exchange of what their employers owe them such as opportunities for skill development, career growth, competitive compensation, healthcare benefits, among others. (Coyle-Shapiro and Kessler, 2000 as cited in Vikalpa, 2013). This psychological contract is unwritten. Now, a breach of this psychological contract can be defined as an employee’s perception that his or her organization has failed to fulfill one or more obligations associated with perceived mutual promises (Gakovic and Tetrick, 2003 as cited in Ballou, 2013).
One of the most important activities of human being is ‘managing’. The twentieth century saw a rise of number of new theories in management which gave it a new shape and which are still used in todays business world. The two main theories were ‘scientific management' and the ‘human relation approach'. Scientific management was founded by F.W. Taylor which explained the systematic things of doing things in a cheapest way (Gupta,2016). “Scientific management is the art of knowing exactly what you want your men to do and then seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way” (Gupta,2016). The human relationship management was an outcome of the ‘exploits' of the scientific management (Bruce & Nyland,2011). Elton mayo noticed the social person and their ‘centrality' in the working environment. Elton mayo’s theory explained that employees were not only motivated by the financial reward but also by a range of social factors such as praise and a sense of belonging.
Commitment models of HRM and high performance work systems (HPWS) are well recognised for their focus on the employee; in shaping their attitudes and behaviours in favour of their own interests to promote a certain quality of work life (QWL). Authors such as Walton (1985) outline the benefits, such as increased autonomy, for employees in these approaches, while Guest (1999, 2008) finds that they are enjoyed by workers. Unsurprisingly the critics of commitment models are as plentiful as the advocates. Where some see this is seen as a win-win approach to managing employees, others such as Willmott see it as nothing more than a new way of controlling and exploiting workers to gain profit. Combining critical management studies, and the faces of power these HRM practices are exposed as unethical, intrusive and oppressive. Lukes (1974) and Flemming and Spicer (2007) unveil the deeper levels of power; power as
The National Institute of Personnel Management (NIPM) of India defined human resource management as “that part of management which is concerned with people at work and with their relationship within an enterprise. Its aim is to bring together and develop into an effective organization of the men and women who make up an enterprise and having regard for the well-being of the individuals and of working groups, to enable them to make their best contribution to its success.” Human resource management always seeks the best theory to fulfill their intent in managing the human resource. Some of the famous theories are scientific management theory and behavioral management theory.
This paper will be expressing a few of the different theoretical perspectives. This paper will be discussing the Scientific Management, Cultural Perspective, Political-Economic Theory, and Human Relations Theory. It will also be discussing each of the key concepts that are associated within each theoretical perspective. I will state some of the strengths and some of the weaknesses of each theory that was mentioned above. Lastly, my opinion for each of these theories would be provided to give you a look on how they are run in the society. I hope to give the reader and inside look on how these organizations are being run.
This paper will be expressing a few of the different theoretical perspectives. This paper will be discussing the Scientific Management, Cultural Perspective, Political-Economic Theory, and Human Relations Theory. It will also be discussing each of the key concepts that are associated within each theoretical perspective. I will state some of the strengths and some of the weaknesses of each theory that was mentioned above. Lastly, my opinion for each of these theories would be provided to give you a look on how they are run in the society. I hope to give the reader and inside look on how these organizations are being run.
Managing people is a complicated field of activity which requires the application of a wide range of knowledge and skill. It is a well known fact that committed employees are key factors in a company’s development and economic success. Torrington (2005) proposed the following evolutionary stages for the development of human resource management:
Several writers and economists have provided a historical background to managerial work’s definition by conducting research in a variety of methods. In other words, nowadays the nature of managerial work can be described as a set of roles with specific functions in order to effectively and efficiently achieve goals. These details will be discussed in the following parts by providing a critical analysis of the studies on managerial work. In addition, the essay will cover the research methods used by Fayol, Mintzberg, Kanter, Gronn, and others, and criticisms to identify and evaluate merits and demerits. There are numerous factors that may influence the future of research on managerial work, but this paper will define the role and an impact
Scientific Management is a theory of management that analyzed and synthesized workflows. Its main objective was improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity.