High‐commitment human resource practices and employee outcomes: The contingent role of organisational identification

• Author: Paul Bottomley,Ahmed Mohammed Sayed Mostafa,Wessam Abouarghoub,Sophie Lythreatis,Julian Gould‐Williams
• Published date: 01 November 2019
• Date: 01 November 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12248

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

High-commitment human resource practices and

employee outcomes: The contingent role of

organisational identification

Ahmed Mohammed Sayed Mostafa

1

| Paul Bottomley

2

|

Julian Gould-Williams

2

| Wessam Abouarghoub

2

| Sophie Lythreatis

3

1

Leeds University Business School, University

of Leeds, Leeds, UK

2

Business School, Cardiff University,

Cardiff, UK

3

School of Economics Finance and

Management, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Correspondence

Ahmed Mohammed Sayed Mostafa, Leeds

University Business School, University of

Leeds, Moorland Rd, Leeds LS6 1AN, UK.

Email: a.mostafa@leeds.ac.uk

Abstract

In this paper, we examine whether the relationship between

high-commitment human resource (HR) practices and two

employee outcomes, quit intentions and organisational citi-

zenship behaviours (OCBs), is contingent on organisational

identification. Incorporating insights from both social

exchange and social identity theories, we propose that the

relationship between high-commitment HR systems, inten-

tion to quit, and OCBs is attenuated when employees

strongly identify with their organisation. This proposition

was tested and supported with employees of a Swedish

relocation company and a Greek shipping organisation. For

high identifiers, as perceptions of HR practices deteriorated

from high to low, they were associated with smaller

increases in quit intentions and smaller decreases in citizen-

ship behaviours. But overall, high identifiers always had

lower quit intentions and higher citizenship behaviours than

low identifiers, which is managerially reassuring.

KEYWORDS

employee work-related outcomes, high-commitment HR

practices, organisational identification, social exchange theory,

social identity theory

Received: 3 March 2018 Revised: 10 April 2019 Accepted: 6 June 2019

DOI: 10.1111/1748-8583.12248

620 © 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrmj Hum Resour Manag J. 2019;29:620–636.

1|INTRODUCTION

For almost 20 years, scholars have examined the effects of high-commitment human resource (HR) practices on

employee work-related outcomes, with social exchange theory (SET) providing the dominant theoretical lens

(Blau, 1964; Whitener, 2001). When organisations invest in high-commitment HR practices, they signal their

long-term interest and concern for employees. In general, empirical evidence suggests that high-commitment

approaches are positively related to desirable work outcomes, such as job satisfaction, organisational commit-

ment, intention to remain, and citizenship behaviours (Boon & Kalshoven, 2014; Kehoe & Wright, 2013; Sun,

Aryee, & Law, 2007). Studies have also begun to identify the processes through which high-commitment HR

practices influence employee outcomes. These include perceptions of organisational support (Allen, Shore, &

Griffeth, 2003), psychological contract fulfilment (Bal, Kooij, & De Jong, 2013), and procedural justice (Meyer &

Smith, 2000).

However, emerging evidence suggests that high-commitment HR practices can sometimes have no effect or

even undermine these same employee outcomes (Conway & Monks, 2009; Gould-Williams, 2004). Therefore, it is

equally important to identify under what conditions high-commitment HR practices are more or less effective.

Although strategic organisational-level research suggests that the effectiveness of the overall HR system and individ-

ual practices are contingent on the organisation's internal and external context, including labour market conditions,

industry, and business strategy (Hauff, Alewell, & Hansen, 2014; Jackson & Schuler, 1995), fewer studies have con-

sidered individual-level employee contingencies.

Specifically, we examine the moderating role of organisational identification (OI) on the relationship between

employee perceptions of high-commitment HR practices and two work-related outcomes, namely, quit intentions

and organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs), which are defined as “individual behaviours that are discretionary,

not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system and that in the aggregate promote the effective

functioning of the organisation”(Organ, 1988, p. 4). By examining OI, we also address van Knippenberg, van Dick,

and Tavares's (2007) call for scholars to integrate social exchange and social identity theories, considering them

jointly when exploring employee–organisation relationships.

Social identity theory (SIT; Tajfel, 1982) considers the extent to which individuals define themselves in terms of

the characteristics of another person or social group. Within workplace settings, OI is defined as the individual's “per-

ception of oneness with or belongingness to an organisation …which he or she is a member”(Mael & Ashforth,

1992, p. 104). When employees strongly identify, they define themselves by similar attributes (e.g., goals, values, and

norms) that define the group (Mael & Ashforth, 1992), and a psychological merging of self and organisation occurs

(van Knippenberg & Sleebos, 2006). Thus, whereas SIT primarily considers the sense of psychological oneness

between employee and organisation, SET focuses on notions of exchange and reciprocity between psychologically

distinct parties (Ashforth & Mael, 1989). Integrating SIT and SET, we anticipate that the outcomes of the exchange

relationships will be contingent on employees' sense of oneness with the organisation.

We make the following research contributions: First, studies have generally focused on organisational-level

assessments of the contingent role of HR practices on performance and work outcomes (see Hauff et al.'s, 2014,

review). We advance current understanding about when high-commitment HR practices are more or less effective

by examining individual-level, employee contingencies. Second, by focusing on employee perceptions rather than

manager opinions, we offer a more accurate assessment of the role of high-commitment approaches on work-related

outcomes. Third, we provide a “more integrated understanding”of psychological relations between employees and

organisations (van Knippenberg et al., 2007, p. 458) by considering SIT and SET together. Finally, we establish the

generalisability of our findings with two distinct sets of employees—maritime officers and relocation company

administrators.

MOSTAFA ET AL.621