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Journal ArticleDOI

I-Deals: Idiosyncratic Terms in Employment Relationships

TL;DR: In this article, the authors distinguish functional i-deals from their dysfunctional counterparts and highlight evidence of i-deal in previous organizational research, and outline the implications of these arrangements for research and for managing contemporary employment relationships.
Abstract: Idiosyncratic employment arrangements (i-deals) stand to benefit the individual employee as well as his or her employer. However, unless certain conditions apply, coworkers may respond negatively to these arrangements. We distinguish functional i-deals from their dysfunctional counterparts and highlight evidence of i-deals in previous organizational research. We develop propositions specifying both how ideals are formed and how they impact workers and coworkers. Finally, we outline the implications i-deals have for research and for managing contemporary employment relationships.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify a range of proactive goals that individuals can pursue in organizations, which vary on two dimensions: the future they aim to bring about (achieving a better personal fit within one's work environment, improving the organization's internal functioning, or enhancing the organisation's strategic fit with its environment) and whether the self or situation is being changed.

1,280 citations


Cites background from "I-Deals: Idiosyncratic Terms in Emp..."

  • ...The desire for flow can therefore prompt proactive action, such as crafting a job to take on more difficult tasks, or striking an i-deal with a supervisor to get involved in new, challenging projects (Rousseau et al., 2006)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors trace the highlights of two emerging viewpoints on work design: relational perspectives and proactive perspectives, focusing on how jobs, roles, and tasks are more socially embedded than ever before, based on increases in interdependence and interactions with coworkers and service recipients.
Abstract: Many scholars assume that the fundamental questions about work design have been answered. However, a global shift from manufacturing economies to service and knowledge economies has dramatically altered the nature of work in organizations. To keep pace with these important and rapid changes, work design theory and research is undergoing a transformation. We trace the highlights of two emerging viewpoints on work design: relational perspectives and proactive perspectives. Relational perspectives focus on how jobs, roles, and tasks are more socially embedded than ever before, based on increases in interdependence and interactions with coworkers and service recipients. Proactive perspectives capture the growing importance of employees taking initiative to anticipate and create changes in how work is performed, based on increases in uncertainty and dynamism. Together, these two perspectives challenge the widely held belief that new developments in work design theory and research are no longer needed....

984 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify three boundary conditions that limit the applicability of this logic and then offer a more comprehensive framework of human capital-based advantage that explores both demand-and supply-side mobility constraints.
Abstract: The strategy literature often emphasizes firm-specific human capital as a source of competitive advantage based on the assumption that it constrains employee mobility. We first identify three boundary conditions that limit the applicability of this logic. We then offer a more comprehensive framework of human capital–based advantage that explores both demand- and supply-side mobility constraints. The critical insight is that these mobility constraints have more explanatory power than the firm specificity of human capital.

554 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is proposed that individuals pursue these unanswered callings by employing five different techniques to craft their jobs and their leisure time and experience these techniques as facilitating the kinds of pleasant psychological states of enjoyment and meaning that they associate with pursuing their unansweredcallings.
Abstract: Scholars have identified benefits of viewing work as a calling, but little research has explored the notion that people are frequently unable to work in occupations that answer their callings. To develop propositions on how individuals experience and pursue unanswered callings, we conducted a qualitative study based on interviews with 31 employees across a variety of occupations. We distinguish between two types of unanswered callings---missed callings and additional callings---and propose that individuals pursue these unanswered callings by employing five different techniques to craft their jobs (task emphasizing, job expanding, and role reframing) and their leisure time (vicarious experiencing and hobby participating). We also propose that individuals experience these techniques as facilitating the kinds of pleasant psychological states of enjoyment and meaning that they associate with pursuing their unanswered callings, but also as leading to unpleasant states of regret over forgone fulfillment of their unanswered callings and stress due to difficulties in pursuing their unanswered callings. These propositions have important implications for theory and future research on callings, job crafting, and self-regulation processes.

521 citations


Cites background from "I-Deals: Idiosyncratic Terms in Emp..."

  • ...As traditional career paths are quickly becoming a thing of the past (Briscoe and Hall 2006, Hall and Mirvis 1995), people are increasingly expecting more from their work than financial rewards and promotions (Rousseau et al. 2006)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors tested a model that links perceptions of organizational politics to job performance and "turnover intentions" (intentions to quit) and Meta-analytic evidence supported significant, b...
Abstract: The current study tested a model that links perceptions of organizational politics to job performance and “turnover intentions” (intentions to quit). Meta-analytic evidence supported significant, b...

491 citations

References
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Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a critique of expected utility theory as a descriptive model of decision making under risk, and develop an alternative model, called prospect theory, in which value is assigned to gains and losses rather than to final assets and in which probabilities are replaced by decision weights.
Abstract: This paper presents a critique of expected utility theory as a descriptive model of decision making under risk, and develops an alternative model, called prospect theory. Choices among risky prospects exhibit several pervasive effects that are inconsistent with the basic tenets of utility theory. In particular, people underweight outcomes that are merely probable in comparison with outcomes that are obtained with certainty. This tendency, called the certainty effect, contributes to risk aversion in choices involving sure gains and to risk seeking in choices involving sure losses. In addition, people generally discard components that are shared by all prospects under consideration. This tendency, called the isolation effect, leads to inconsistent preferences when the same choice is presented in different forms. An alternative theory of choice is developed, in which value is assigned to gains and losses rather than to final assets and in which probabilities are replaced by decision weights. The value function is normally concave for gains, commonly convex for losses, and is generally steeper for losses than for gains. Decision weights are generally lower than the corresponding probabilities, except in the range of low prob- abilities. Overweighting of low probabilities may contribute to the attractiveness of both insurance and gambling. EXPECTED UTILITY THEORY has dominated the analysis of decision making under risk. It has been generally accepted as a normative model of rational choice (24), and widely applied as a descriptive model of economic behavior, e.g. (15, 4). Thus, it is assumed that all reasonable people would wish to obey the axioms of the theory (47, 36), and that most people actually do, most of the time. The present paper describes several classes of choice problems in which preferences systematically violate the axioms of expected utility theory. In the light of these observations we argue that utility theory, as it is commonly interpreted and applied, is not an adequate descriptive model and we propose an alternative account of choice under risk. 2. CRITIQUE

35,067 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a factor analysis of survey data from 127 employees' supervisors supported the distinction between in-role behaviors and two forms of OCBs, and hierarchical regression analysis found two job cognitions variables (intrinsic and extrinsic) to be differentially related to the two types OCB.

5,343 citations


"I-Deals: Idiosyncratic Terms in Emp..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Ostensible steps may be taken to help coworkers who have been harmed in some way because of extra work or other demands necessitated by one’s i-deal, perhaps by helping and doing favors for coworkers or making oneself available by phone if needed—that is, engaging in acts of OCB-I (Williams & Anderson, 1991)....

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  • ...The assistance coworkers provide might be construed as citizenship behavior where the target is the organization (i.e., OCB-O), but, as noted earlier, it often is provided to assist a fellow worker (i.e., OCB-I; Williams & Anderson, 1991)....

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  • ...…steps may be taken to help coworkers who have been harmed in some way because of extra work or other demands necessitated by one’s i-deal, perhaps by helping and doing favors for coworkers or making oneself available by phone if needed—that is, engaging in acts of OCB-I (Williams & Anderson, 1991)....

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Book
01 Jan 1974
TL;DR: In this article, the Second Edition, the authors present a survey of job search and economic theory in the context of information flow and the problem of embeddedness in the job search process.
Abstract: Preface to the Second Edition Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Pt. 1: Toward Causal Models Ch. 1: "Job Search" and Economic Theory Ch. 2: Contacts and Their Information Ch. 3: The Dynamics of Information Flow Ch. 4: The Dynamics of Vacancy Structure Ch. 5: Contacts: Acquisition and Maintenance Ch. 6: Career Structure Ch. 7: Some Theoretical Implications Pt. 2: Mobility and Society Ch. 8: Mobility and Organizations Ch. 9: Comparative Perspectives Ch. 10: Applications Afterword 1994: Reconsiderations and a New Agenda Appendix A: Design and Conduct of the Study Appendix B: Coding Rules and Problems Appendix C: Letters and Interview Schedules Appendix D: Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness References Index

3,814 citations


"I-Deals: Idiosyncratic Terms in Emp..." refers background in this paper

  • ...This would be the case, for example, if John perceived that his employer held him in high regard and was willing to offer him an equally desirable arrangement if he asked for it....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that the relationship between ostensive and performative aspects of routines creates an on-going opportunity for variation, selection, and retention of new practices and patterns of action within routines and allows routines to generate a wide range of outcomes, from apparent stability to apparent stability.
Abstract: In this paper, we challenge the traditional understanding of organizational routines as creating inertia in organizations. We adapt Latour's distinction between ostensive and performative to build a theory that explains why routines are a source of change as well as stability. The ostensive aspect of a routine embodies what we typically think of as the structure. The performative aspect embodies the specific actions, by specific people, at specific times and places, that bring the routine to life. We argue that the ostensive aspect enables people to guide, account for, and refer to specific performances of a routine, and the performative aspect creates, maintains, and modifies the ostensive aspect of the routine. We argue that the relationship between ostensive and performative aspects of routines creates an on-going opportunity for variation, selection, and retention of new practices and patterns of action within routines and allows routines to generate a wide range of outcomes, from apparent stability t...

3,257 citations


"I-Deals: Idiosyncratic Terms in Emp..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Far from being rigid, many organizational routines are influenced by the managers and workers who participate in them (Feldman & Pentland, 2003)....

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Book
01 Jan 1975
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the transaction to be the ultimate unit of microeconomic analysis, and define hierarchical transactions as ones for which a single administrative entity spans both sides of the transaction, some form of subordination prevails and, typically, consolidated ownership obtains.
Abstract: This study analyzes organization of economic activity within and between markets and hierarchies. It considers the transaction to be the ultimate unit of microeconomic analysis, and defines hierarchical transactions as ones for which a single administrative entity spans both sides of the transaction, some form of subordination prevails and, typically, consolidated ownership obtains. Discusses the advantages of the transactional approach by examining three issues: price discrimination, insurance, and vertical integration. Develops the concept of the organizational failure framework, and demonstrates why it is always the combination of human with environmental factors, not either taken by itself, that causes transactional problems. The study also describes each of the transactional relations of interest, and presents the advantages of internal organization with respect to the transactional condition. The analysis explains why primary work groups of the peer group and simple hierarchy types arise. The same transactional factor which impede autonomous contracting between individuals also impede market exchange between technologically separable work groups. Peer groups can be understood as an internal organizational response to the frictions of intermediate product markets, while conglomerate organization can be seen as a response to failures in the capital market. In both contexts, the same human factors, such as bounded rationality and opportunism, occur. Examines the reasons for and properties of the employment relation, which is commonly associated with voluntary subordination. The analysis attempts better to assess the employment relation in circumstances where workers acquire, during the course of the employment, significant job-specific skills and knowledge. The study compares alternative labor-contracting modes and demonstrates that collective organization is helpful in enhancing the acquisition of idiosyncratic knowledge and skills by the work force. The study then examines more complex structures -- the movement from simple hierarchies to the vertical integration of firms, then multidivisional structures, conglomerates, monopolies and oligopolies. Discusses the market structure in relation to technical and organizational innovation. The study proposes a systems approach to the innovation process. Its purpose is to permit the realization of the distinctive advantages of both small and large firms which apply at different stages of the innovation process. The analysis also examines the relation of organizational innovation to technological innovation. (AT)

3,008 citations


"I-Deals: Idiosyncratic Terms in Emp..." refers background in this paper

  • ...These informal negotiations also serve to clarify the inevitably incomplete contracts of long-standing employment (Williamson, 1975)....

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