An exploration of the role duality experienced by HR professionals as both implementers and recipients of HR practices: evidence from the Indian railways

This study provides an innovative perspective on empirically assessing HR by focusing on the duality of HR professionals’ experiences as both implementers and recipients or internal customers of HR practices given that they are also employees of the organization. We hypothesize that HR professionals experience HR practices more favorably from an implementer perspective as compared to an internal customer perspective. These differences in experiences are likely to be influenced by HR professionals’ hierarchical position in the HR department. Our analyses of 1,271 HR professionals employed by Indian Railways revealed a number of differences between the two types of experience. Some practices (recruitment and selection, training, and employee welfare) were viewed more negatively from the implementer perspective, whereas others (compensation, benefits, and employment relations) were rated more negatively from the internal customer perspective. Those holding more senior HR positions reported more positive experiences of training and employment relations from an internal customer perspective. Overall our contributions draw on the attribution theory and concepts of intraorganizational power and voice, and have implications concerning the effectiveness of HR practices. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Training and the commitment of outsourced information technologies' workers: psychological contract fulfillment as a mediator

Outsourced workers in information technologies (IT) generally have high skills and a high value on the job market. Their IT outsourcing organizations are likely to provide them with training, in the first place for skill development, but perhaps also as a way to bind the workers to them. This can be understood along the role of the psychological contract. Outsourced IT workers may see training as a fulfillment of their psychological contract. Accordingly, we hypothesize that psychological contract fulfillment mediates the relationship between training and affective commitment to the IT outsourcer. This was tested in a sample of 158 Portuguese outsourced IT workers. The results showed that employees who considered that they were receiving good training opportunities felt a greater affective commitment to their IT outsourcers. This relationship was mediated by the fulfillment of the relational psychological contract.

HR attributions and the dual commitment of outsourced IT workers

Purpose – Outsourced information technology (IT) workers establish two different employment relationships: one with the outsourcing company that hires them and another with the client organization where they work daily. The attitudes that an employee has towards both organisations may be influenced by the interpretations or attributions that employees make about the reasons behind the human resource (HR) management practices implemented by the outsourcing company. This paper aims to propose that commitment‐focused HR attributions are positively and control‐focused HR attributions are negatively related to the affective commitment to the client organization, through the affective commitment to the outsourcing company. Design/methodology/approach – These hypotheses were tested with a sample of 158 highly skilled outsourced employees from the IT sector. Data were analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings – The paper's hypotheses were supported. It can conclude that, if an employee interprets the HR practices as part of a commitment‐focused strategy of the outsourcing company, it has clear attitudinal benefits. The study found that the relationship between HR attributions and the commitment to the client organization is mediated by the commitment to the outsourcing company. Practical implications – These findings hint at the critical role of outsourcing companies in managing the careers of these highly marketable employees. Originality/value – This paper is the first to apply the concept of HR attributions to contingent employment literature in general and to outsourced IT workers in particular.

Nontraditional employment: the careers of temporary workers

This chapter focuses upon the careers of temporary workers. Temporary employment for many workers presents a route to permanent employment. Other workers, however, get trapped into temporary employment or cycle between unstable jobs and spells of unemployment. Predictors of such transitions are multiple. We selected two broad categories, namely perceived employability from the area of career research and health and well-being from the area of occupational health and well-being research. The overall conclusion is that the association between temporary employment and both perceived employability and health and well-being is inconclusive. This suggests that there are boundary conditions that may make some temporary workers successful and others not. Risk factors include dynamics related to the dual labor market, including lower job quality, lower investments on the part of employers, and negative stereotyping of temporary workers as second-class citizens. On the positive side, many temporary workers have learned to manage their careers in the sense that they invest in training and in continuous job search.

Contingencies of contingent employment: psychological contract, job insecurity and employability of contracted workers

Drawing on psychological contract literature, the present study examines the emerging contingent employment relationships, which involve the contracted workers, the employment agency and the client organization on whose premises these employees work. This sample includes eighty-eight white-collar employees working for four Portuguese agencies. The results suggest that the perceived fulfilment of client?s obligations relates positively to the perceived fulfilment of agency?s obligations and that these constructs are independent of one another. Furthermore, as expected, we have found that the perception of job insecurity relates negatively to the fulfilment of agency?s obligations. No relationship was found between employability and the perceived fulfilment of client?s obligations. The results have implications for practitioners and future research.

Resolving the unresolved tribe: a molecular phylogenetic framework for the Merremieae (Convolvulaceae)

Tribe Merremieae, as currently circumscribed, comprise c. 120 species classified in seven genera, the largest of which (Merremia) is morphologically heterogeneous. Previous studies, with limited sampling, have suggested that neither Merremieae nor Merremia are monophyletic. In the present study, the monophyly of Merremia and its allied genera was re-assessed, sampling 57 species of Merremieae for the plastid matK, trnL–trnF and rps16 regions and the nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. All genera of Merremieae and all major morphotypes in Merremia were represented. Phylogenetic analyses resolve Merremieae in a clade with Ipomoeae, Convolvuleae and Daustinia montana. Merremia is confirmed as polyphyletic and a number of well-supported and morphologically distinct clades in Merremieae are recognized which accommodate most of the species in the tribe. These provide a framework for a generic revision of the assemblage.

Trust in the German police

The relative levels of trust in the police are explored, using data from the fifth round of the European Social Survey (ESS) which covered mainly 28 European countries. In this article, the position of Germany is examined within the international context. German trust in the police, for both German natives and ethnic minorities, for those 15 and over is high in comparison to other European countries. The article also tests if it is the fair treatment of citizens by the police, or the high value placed on rule adherence and conformity, that is driving the German citizen’s trust. It shows that the German police is trusted due to their perceived fairness, effectiveness and shared moral values, rather than on value placed on conformity to authority.