In recent years there has been a discernible trend towards the outsourcing and subcontracting of work. However, there has been very little empirical research on employees' attitudes to work in outsourced firms. This study is conducted in the area of call centre services where there has been a substantial growth in the provision of external market suppliers. It examines employees' perceptions of their work and employment arrangements in both an in-house producer and an external service provider and identifies and compares the factors that shape their organizational commitment and intentions to quit. The research found that the character of the internal labour market and the nature of the work regime were more important explanations of organizational commitment and intentions to quit in the external market supplier than in the in-house producer. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for the quality of customer service provided under subcontracting arrangements.

Refashioning organizational boundaries: Outsourcing customer service work

Orientation: Nursing is a noble profession but not always an easy job. Work overload, few resources, limited promotion and development opportunities have a negative impact on the sustainability of the profession. Research purpose: The primary objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between organisational commitment, work engagement and meaning of work amongst nursing staff at various hospitals. Motivation for study: It is important to understand how to optimise the work experience of nursing staff in order to ensure a committed and engaged workforce. Research design, approach and method: A survey design with a cluster sample ( n = 199) was used. The Organisational Commitment Questionnaire, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Work-Life Questionnaire and a biographical questionnaire were administered. Main findings: The majority of the scales showed acceptable reliability. Results indicated that the majority of nursing staff view their work as either a job or a calling. This impacts the organisation in the sense that viewing work as a calling predicts 19% of the variance in organisational commitment and 30% of the variance in work engagement. Practical/managerial implications: Viewing work as a calling will accompany higher levels of engagement and commitment to the organisation. Nurses who feel that they make a meaningful contribution to the hospital are more inclined to stay in the organisation. Contribution/value-add: Strategies can be put in place to focus on experiencing work as a calling, rather than a job. Enhancing this experience and creating awareness could lead to higher levels of organisational commitment and work engagement.

The experience of organisational commitment, work engagement and meaning of work of nursing staff in hospitals

Abstract In the study reported here, hypotheses regarding social determinants of internal motivation and job involvement are generated and tested against data gathered from 522 employees of an assembly and packaging plant. Specifically, it is hypothesized that integration into networks of work-based relationships will be positively associated with internal motivation and negatively associated with job involvement. It is also hypothesized that the strength of these relationships will vary with the employees' orientation toward growth and development. Consistent with the hypotheses, it is found that integration is associated with internal motivation; however, isolates who are growth oriented are more internally motivated than isolates who are not growth oriented. There is no main effect of integration on job involvement; however, isolates who are not growth oriented are more involved in their jobs than are isolates who are growth oriented. It is concluded that internal motivation and job involvement can be alternative sources of meaning and identity, particularly for people who are isolated from work relationships and therefore are unlikely to be highly involved with the organization.

Job involvement, internal motivation, and employees integration into networks of work relationships / BEBR No. 542

Summary 
Building on strategic human resource management literature, this study investigates the effects of various human resource development (HRD) dimensions on organizational performance. We identify four distinct dimensions of HRD that reflect either quantitative or qualitative approaches from either managerial or employee perspectives. Furthermore, we propose that HRD affects organizational performance by shaping employee outcomes, a prevailing but rarely tested assumption. Multi-source data collected from 207 manufacturing companies at three time points over a 5-year period largely support our theoretical propositions. A series of structural path analyses confirm that HRD improves employee commitment and competence, which in turn determine the financial performance of the organization. The quantitative dimensions of HRD (resource investment in HRD) predict only employee commitment. By contrast, the qualitative dimensions of HRD (management support for, and perceived benefits of, HRD) enhance both employee commitment and competence. Our analysis also demonstrates synergistic interactions between the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of HRD in predicting employee outcomes. This study elaborates the distinct values of different dimensions of HRD and highlights the significance of employee outcomes as the mediating mechanism between HRD and firm performance. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

"Multiple dimensions of human resource development and organizational performance": Corrigendum.

Para poder hacer frente al entorno competitivo que actualmente se requiere, las organizaciones en general, y las administraciones publicas en particular, deben adecuar su gestion y regirse bajo los principios de eficiencia y eficacia, que les permiten ser competitivos y proporcionar los servicios que requiere la sociedad actual. La Gestion de las Personas se ha convertido en una herramienta estrategica para conseguir este objetivo y vincular a las personas y el rendimiento de las organizaciones. En esta Tesis doctoral se plantea como finalidad, por un lado conocer las principales practicas de gestion de recursos humanos que tienen lugar en los ayuntamientos, y por otro, establecer las relaciones que existen entre estas practicas y los resultados sobre los comportamientos de los empleados, y su impacto sobre el rendimiento organizativo. El analisis se aplica sobre una muestra de 320 empleados de ayuntamientos catalanes. Para llevar a cabo el estudio se ha trabajado con informacion primaria obtenida a traves de una encuesta realizada en 14 ayuntamientos de Cataluna con una poblacion superior a los 20.000 habitantes. Los resultados obtenidos han sido analizados mediante estadisticos descriptivos, consiguiendo asi una imagen de las principales practicas de recursos humanos del sector y de las percepciones que los empleados tienen de sus comportamientos y del rendimiento organizativo. En una segunda parte se ha realizado un analisis confirmatorio del modelo de relaciones que se plantea, mediante la metodologia de ecuaciones estructurales. Los resultados obtenidos son consistentes con los recogidos en la literatura, aunque cabe destacar la aportacion que significa esta investigacion en el campo de la Administracion Local Catalana, y el estudio de sus propias particularidades. Cabe destacar tambien la importancia del compromiso como variable mediadora entre las practicas de recursos humanos y los resultados en este tipo de organizaciones y la escasa relevancia de la satisfaccion laboral.Con este estudio se abren nuevas lineas de investigacion en el campo del la Gestion de Recursos Humanos y el rendimiento organizacional, tanto en el contexto de la Admisnitracion Local, como en aspectos metodologicos y practicos.

Las prácticas de recursos humanos y el rendimiento organizacional. Un estudio contextualizado en la Administración Local Catalana

Abstract : A study is reported of the variations in organizational commitment and job satisfaction, as related to subsequent turnover in a sample of recently-employed psychiatric technician trainees. A longitudinal study was made across a 10 1/2 month period, with attitude measures collected at four points in time. For this sample, job satisfaction measures appeared better able to differentiate future stayers from leavers in the earliest phase of the study. With the passage of time, organizational commitment measures proved to be a better predictor of turnover, and job satisfaction failed to predict turnover. The findings are discussed in the light of other related studies, and possible explanations are examined. (Modified author abstract)

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Lyman W. Porter

Papers

Organizational Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Turnover Among Psychiatric Technicians. Technical Report No. 16.