| Author: | Chow, Sin-ping Maria |
| Title: | The consequences of perceived job insecurity and organizational cynicism in a post-merger organisation |
| Degree: | D.B.A. |
| Year: | 2007 |
| Subject: | Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations. Consolidation and merger of corporations -- China -- Hong Kong -- Case studies. Organizational behavior -- China -- Hong Kong -- Case studies. |
| Department: | Graduate School of Business |
| Pages: | viii, 176 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Since the Asian financial crisis in the 1990's, a lot of organizations have gone through restructuring, including mergers and acquisitions and downsizing, in order to maintain or improve competitiveness. Moreover, restructuring has become an ongoing fact of life for many organizations. This has led to an increased sense of job insecurity for many employees. They are worried about the certainty and continuity of their jobs, and the continued stress of job insecurity and uncertainty has meant that those who survive restructuring often have negative attitudes and behavioral reactions, such as reduced affective and normative organizational commitment, reduced OCB and increased withdrawal cognitions. It has also been observed that as time goes by, survivor employees might develop cynicism towards the organization and management, which may further worsen their attitudinal and behavioral reactions. This research investigates whether perceived job insecurity leads to organizational cynicism when organizational restructuring continues over time, and whether this then results in negative attitudes and behaviour. A key concern is with the extent to which organizational cynicism mediates the relationship between perceived job insecurity and attitudinal and behavioural reactions. In addition, the research considers whether the relationship between job insecurity and organizational cynicism, and between cynicism and outcomes, is moderated by having a supportive supervisor (in terms of perceived supervisor support and supervisors' interactional justice) and by the extent to which the individual feels that they have no alternative other than to remain in the current organization (continuance commitment). It was hypothesized that having a supportive leader would reduce or "buffer" such effects, whilst feeling locked into the organization might strengthen the negative effects. The hypotheses were tested in a study of 272 survivor employees in a foreign bank in Hong Kong. Contrary to the hypotheses, there were no significant relationships between perceived job insecurity and its consequences, and organizational cynicism did not mediate the job insecurity-outcomes relationship. Furthermore, the hypothesised moderators did not show the anticipated significant effects on the job insecurity-organizational cynicism relationship. On the contrary, supportive leadership (perceived supervisor support and interactional justice) showed reverse buffering effects here. Post-hoc investigation of the moderating effect of perceived supervisor support, interactional justice and continuance commitment on the relationship between organizational cynicism and behavioral reactions or attitudes found that continuance commitment exercised buffering effects, while supportive leadership (perceived supervisor support and interactional justice) showed reverse buffering effects, such that there was a more strongly negative relationship between organizational cynicism and affective commitment with high levels of perceived supervisor support or interactional justice than with low levels of perceived supervisor support or interactional justice. With respect to these findings, theoretical and managerial implications were discussed, along with the limitations of the study and directions for future research. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
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| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b21459666.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 22.16 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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