Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Idiosyncratic Deals and High Performers’ Organizational Commitment

  • Published:
Journal of Business and Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

We argue that idiosyncratic deals (or i-deals), as objective conditions in employment arrangements that employees negotiate with their employer to meet particular individual needs, attenuate the indirect negative effect of a psychological contract breach on affective commitment via trust.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted via a questionnaire sent to high performers working at the director level of a large Canadian company. These employees were in a privileged position to bargain i-deals for themselves (n = 136).

Findings

We used models of mediated moderation to test the research hypotheses. Findings indicate that trust fully mediates the relationship between psychological contract breach and affective commitment of high performers. This relationship is moderated by i-deals, such that the relationship is weaker when i-deals are high.

Implications

This study provides a deeper understanding of the theoretical mechanisms explaining how i-deals compensate for breaches in the employment relationship. We show that i-deals do not prevent the loss of trust following a breach, but compensate for it in maintaining the bond between high performers and their organization.

Originality/value

This study explores the role of i-deals for a population traditionally well treated by organizations because of their status of stars: high-performing directors. In contrast with previous research that conceptualizes i-deals as building trust, this study shows that i-deals may act as substitutes for trust, in maintaining a bond with the organization in a context of trust loss.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anand, S., Vidyarthi, P. R., Liden, R. C., & Rousseau, D. M. (2010). Good citizens in poor-quality relationships: Idiosyncratic deals as a substitute for relationship quality. Academy of Management Journal, 53(5), 970–988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bal, P. M., Chiaburu, D. S., & Jansen, P. G. (2010). Psychological contract breach and work performance: Is social exchange a buffer or an intensifier? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25(3), 252–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bal, P. M., De Jong, S. B., Jansen, P. G. W., & Bakker, A. B. (2012). Motivating employees to work beyond retirement: A multi-level study of the role of i-deals and unit climate. Journal of Management Studies, 49(2), 306–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bal, P. M., De Lange, A. H., Jansen, P. G., & Van Der Velde, M. E. (2008). Psychological contract breach and job attitudes: A meta-analysis of age as a moderator. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 72, 143–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentein, K., Stinglhamber, F., & Vandenberghe, C. (2002). Organization-, supervisor-, and workgroup-directed commitments and citizenship behaviours: A comparison of models. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 11, 341–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blau, P. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. New York, NY: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colquitt, J. A., LePine, J. A., Piccolo, R. F., Zapata, C. P., & Rich, B. L. (2012). Explaining the justice–performance relationship: Trust as exchange deepener or trust as uncertainty reducer? Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(1), 1–15.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conway, N., & Briner, R. B. (2005). Understanding psychological contracts at work: A critical evaluation of theory and research. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Coyle-Shapiro, J. A., & Kessler, I. (2000). Consequences of the psychological contract for the employment relationship: A large scale survey. Journal of Management Studies, 37, 903–930.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cropanzano, R., & Mitchell, M. S. (2005). Social exchange theory: An interdisciplinary review. Journal of Management, 31(6), 874–900.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dirks, K. T., Lewicki, R. J., & Zaheer, A. (2009). Repairing relationships within and between organizations: Building a conceptual foundation. Academy of Management Review, 34(1), 68–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dulac, T., Coyle-Shapiro, J. A.-M., Henderson, D. J., & Wayne, S. J. (2008). Not all responses to breach are the same: The interconnection of social exchange and psychological contract processes in organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 51(6), 1079–1098.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, J. R., & Lambert, L. S. (2007). Methods for integrating moderation and mediation: A general analytical framework using moderated path analysis. Psychological Methods, 12, 1–22.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fulmer, R. M., Stumpf, S. A., & Bleak, J. (2009). The strategic development of high potential leaders. Strategy & Leadership, 37(3), 17–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grossman, R. J. (2011). The care and feeding of high potential employees. HR Magazine, August, pp. 34–39.

  • Guseva, A., & Rona-Tas, A. (2001). Uncertainty, risk and trust: Russian and American credit card markets compared. American Sociological Review, 66, 623–646.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ho, V. T., Weingart, L. R., & Rousseau, D. M. (2004). Responses to broken promises: Does personality matter? Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65, 276–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hornung, S., Rousseau, D. M., & Glaser, J. (2008). Creating flexible work arrangements through idiosyncratic deals. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(3), 655–664.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hornung, S., Rousseau, D. M., & Glaser, J. (2009). Why supervisors make idiosyncratic deals: Antecedents and outcomes of i-deals from a managerial perspective. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 24(8), 738–764.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hornung, S., Rousseau, D. M., Glaser, J., Angerer, P., & Weigl, M. (2010). Beyond top-down and bottom-up work redesign: Customizing job content through idiosyncratic deals. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31, 187–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiewitz, C., Restubog, S. L., Zagenczyk, T., & Hochwarter, W. (2009). The interactive effects of psychological contract breach and organizational politics on perceived organizational support: Evidence from two longitudinal studies. Journal of Management Studies, 46(5), 806–834.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, P. H., Dirks, K. T., & Cooper, C. D. (2009). The repair of trust: A dynamic bilateral perspective and multilevel conceptualization. Academy of Management Review, 34(3), 401–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lai, L., Rousseau, D. M., & Chang, K. T. T. (2009). Coworkers as interested third parties to idiosyncratic deals. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 547–556.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lapalme, M.-È., Simard, G., & Tremblay, M. (2011). The influence of psychological contract breach on temporary workers’ commitment and behaviors: A multiple agency perspective. Journal of Business and Psychology, 26(3), 311–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, C., & Hui, C. (2011). Antecedents and consequences of idiosyncratic deals: A frame of resource exchange. Frontiers of Business Research in China, 5(3), 380–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lester, S. W., Turnley, W. H., Bloodgood, J. M., & Bolino, M. C. (2002). Not seeing eye to eye: Differences in supervisor and subordinate perceptions of and attributions for psychological contract breach. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23, 39–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewicki, R. J., McAllister, D. J., & Bies, R. J. (1998). Trust and distrust: New relationships and realities. Academy of Management Review, 23, 438–458.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lind, E. A. (2001). Fairness heuristic theory: Justice judgments as pivotal cognitions in organizational relations. In J. Greenberg & R. Cropanzano (Eds.), Advances in organizational justice (pp. 56–88). Stanford, CA: University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lind, E. A., & Tyler, T. R. (1988). The social psychology of procedural justice. New York, NY: Plenum Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Malhotra, D., & Murnighan, J. K. (2002). The effects of contracts on interpersonal trust. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47, 534–559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, J., & Schmidt, C. (2010). How to keep your top talent. Harvard Business Review, 88, 54–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709–734.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J. P., Allen, N. J., & Smith, C. A. (1993). Commitment to organizations and occupations: Extension and test of a three-component conceptualization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 538–551.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J. P., Barak, I., & Vandenberghe, C. (1996). Revised measures of affective, continuance, and normative commitment to organizations. Unpublished manuscript. London, ON: Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario.

  • Meyer, J. P., Stanley, D. J., Herscovitch, L., & Topolnytsky, L. (2002). Affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization: A meta-analysis of antecedents, correlates, and consequences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 61, 20–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molm, T., Takahashi, N., & Peterson, G. (2000). Risk and trust in social exchange: An experimental test of a classic proposition. American Journal of Sociology, 105, 1396–1427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, E. W., & Robinson, S. L. (1997). When employees feel betrayed: A model of how psychological contract violation develops. Academy of Management Review, 22, 226–256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ng, T. W., & Feldman, D. C. (2010). Idiosyncratic deals and organizational commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 76, 419–427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ng, T. W. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2012). Breaches of past promises, current job alternatives, and promises of future idiosyncratic deals: Three-way interaction effects on organizational commitment. Human Relations, 65(11), 1463–1486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parzefall, M.-R., & Coyle-Shapiro, J. A.-M. (2011). Making sense of psychological contract breach. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 26(1), 12–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879–903.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2004). SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 36, 717–731.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Preacher, K. J., Rucker, D. D., & Hayes, A. F. (2007). Addressing moderated mediation hypotheses: Theory, methods, and prescriptions. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 42, 185–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Restubog, S. L., Bordia, P., Tang, R. L., & Krebs, S. A. (2010). Investigating the moderating effects of leader–member exchange in the psychological contract breach–employee performance relationship: A test of two competing perspectives. British Journal of Management, 21, 422–437.

    Google Scholar 

  • Restubog, S. L., Hornsey, M. J., Bordia, P., & Esposo, S. R. (2008). Effects of psychological contract breach on organizational citizenship behaviour: Insights from the group value model. Journal of Management Studies, 45(8), 1377–1400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, S. L. (1996). Trust and breach of the psychological contract. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41(4), 574–599.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, S. L., & Morrison, E. W. (2000). The development of psychological contract breach and violation: A longitudinal study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21, 525–546.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, S. L., & Rousseau, D. M. (1994). Violating the psychological contract: Not the exception but the norm. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 15(3), 245–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousseau, D. M. (2001). Idiosyncratic deals: Flexibility versus fairness? Organizational Dynamics, 29(4), 260–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousseau, D. M., Ho, V. T., & Greenberg, J. (2006). I-deals: Idiosyncratic terms in employment relationships. Academy of Management Review, 31(4), 977–994.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousseau, D. M., Hornung, S., & Kim, T. G. (2009). Idiosyncratic deals: Testing propositions on timing, content, and the employment relationship. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74, 338–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousseau, D. M., & Kim, T. G. (2006). When workers bargain for themselves: Idiosyncratic deals and the nature of the employment relationship. Paper presented at the British Academy of Management Conference, Belfast.

  • Schriesheim, C. A., & DeNisi, A. S. (1981). Task dimensions as moderators of the effects of instrumental leadership: A two-sample replicated test of path-goal leadership theory. Journal of Applied Psychology, 66, 589–597.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sitkin, S. B. (1995). On the positive effect of legalization on trust. In R. J. Bies, R. J. Lewicki, & B. H. Sheppard (Eds.), Research on negotiations in organizations (pp. 185–217). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sitkin, S. B., & Roth, N. L. (1993). Explaining the limited effectiveness of legalistic “remedies” for trust/distrust. Organization Science, 4, 367–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanley, D. J., Meyer, J. P., & Topolnytsky, L. (2005). Employee cynicism and resistance to organizational change. Journal of Business and Psychology, 19(4), 429–459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turnley, W. H., Bolino, M. C., Lester, S. W., & Bloodgood, J. M. (2003). The impact of psychological contract fulfillment on the performance of in-role and organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Management, 29(2), 187–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van den Bos, K. (2001). Uncertainty management: The influence of uncertainty salience on reactions to perceived procedural fairness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 931–941.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van den Bos, K., & Lind, E. A. (2002). Uncertainty management by means of fairness judgments. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (pp. 1–60). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B. (1986). An attributional theory of motivation and emotion. New York, NY: Springer Verlag.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Zagenczyk, T. J., Gibney, R., Kiewitz, C., & Restubog, S. L. (2009). Mentors, supervisors and role models: Do they reduce the effects of psychological contract breach? Human Resource Management Journal, 19(3), 237–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, H., Wayne, S. J., Glibkowski, B. C., & Bravo, J. (2007). The impact of psychological contract breach on work-related outcomes: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 60, 647–680.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zucker, L. G. (1986). Production of trust: Institutional sources of economic structure, 1840–1920. Research in Organizational Behavior, 8, 53–111.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of ORH, University of Quebec at Montreal, CP 8888, succ. Centre-ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada

    Sylvie Guerrero, Kathleen Bentein & Marie-Ève Lapalme

Authors
  1. Sylvie Guerrero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kathleen Bentein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marie-Ève Lapalme
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sylvie Guerrero.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Guerrero, S., Bentein, K. & Lapalme, MÈ. Idiosyncratic Deals and High Performers’ Organizational Commitment. J Bus Psychol 29, 323–334 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-013-9316-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-013-9316-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation