Employee participation and outcomes: organizational strategy does matter

• Published in: Employee relations Vol. 37; no. 5; pp. 604 - 622
• Main Author: Park, Rhokeun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bradford Emerald Group Publishing Limited 03.08.2015
• Subjects: Analyzers; Attitudes; Company structure; Decision making; Decisions; Employee attitude; Employee involvement; Employee relations; Employees; HR & organizational behaviour; Incentives; Industrial/labour relations; Job rotation; Labor relations; Multilevel; Organizational aspects; Participation; Quality circles; Strategy; Studies; Variables; South Korea; Participation; Organizational commitment; Perceived organizational support; Organizational strategy; Exchange theory
• ISSN: 0142-5455; 1758-7069
• DOI: 10.1108/ER-09-2014-0107

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of perceived organizational support (POS) in the relationship between employee participation and organizational commitment, and the moderating role of organizational strategy in those relationships. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed hypotheses were tested by multilevel analyses with data from surveys of 1,105 employees and 49 managers in 49 companies located throughout South Korea. Findings – The results demonstrated that POS mediated the relationship between employee participation and organizational commitment, and that participation practices were related more strongly to POS and organizational commitment in companies with a prospector or analyzer strategy than in companies with a defender strategy. Research limitations/implications – Organizational-level variables were measured by one manager in each company. This study provides important implications regarding the fit between participation practices and organizational strategy. Practical implications – Managers in prospector or the most innovative companies should provide employees with more opportunities to make decisions and to receive financial incentives for their contributions. Originality/value – This study is unique in that it simultaneously examined the horizontal fit and the vertical fit while focussing on individual employees’ outcomes rather than organizational performance.