User:Lilianna25/sandbox

Article evaluation

The Wikipedia group I am in will be working on the Psychological Contract article for this project. After going over the article I will now evaluate the information that has already been provided by the authors of the article. The facts in the Psychological Contract article seem to be referenced with a appropriate and reliable sources. The page itself does not have much information about the subject, but the information it does have has cited sources that are credible. A couple of the sources are old but they are relevant to the information that is taken from them. More recent sources could help with adding information to the article. Overall, everything I read in the article is relevant to the article topic. The information is presented in a logical order and there is not much extra information that distracts from the main subject. However, there is a section in the article that feels to me like it drags out a lot and includes a lot of filler information that is not necessarily relevant to the article. This section does not add much to the overall information presented on the subject and seems to have just been added in order to take up more space since there is not much information in the article to begin with. This section in the article is not distracting enough to take away from the main subject of the article; it is helpful but does not seem crucial to presenting the main idea of the article. The article reads as if it were written with a neutral point of view on the subject being discussed. There are no claims or frames present that appear to be heavily biased toward a particular position. The information that is being presented in this article is coming from journals and papers that are neutral and do not promote a certain view point that reflects their personal beliefs or opinions. The viewpoints in this article seem to be equally represented. There are no viewpoints that are either underrepresented or over represented. The citation links in the article work and I did not see any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in any of the writing. There is no outdated information although as previously stated, some of the sources are old but relevant to the information. As I learn more about this subject I may find there is information that is missing and could be added to the article but for now I think the article has an adequate amount of relevant information about psychological contracts.

Annotated Bibliography

Arshad, Rasidah. “Psychological Contract Violation And Turnover Intention: Do Cultural Values Matter?.” Journal of Managerial Psychology 31.1 (2016): 251-264. PsycINFO. Web. 20

Oct. 2016.

In this source, Rasidah Arshad focuses on the aspect of culture when dealing with the relationship between contract violation and turnover intention. This source states that a relationship between psychological contract violation and turnover intention definitely exists in the relationship between employers and their employees. The relationship between these two things was found to be directly affected by cultural values. Cultural values could cause different interpretations of psychological contracts and lead to violations. This source relates to the Wikipedia article because it examines the aspect of cultural values in the workplace and how they can cause violations in psychological contracts.

Low, Chin Heng, Prashant Bordia, and Sarbari Bordia. "What Do Employees Want And Why? An Exploration Of Employees’ Preferred Psychological Contract Elements Across Career Stages." Human Relations 69.7 (2016): 1457-1481. PsycINFO. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

This article focuses on the changes that happen in employees’ psychological contract throughout the span of their careers. The psychological contract changes at different stages of an employee’s career since the level of work changes while they move up in their career so they expect different things. Employees will put in different things to their work depending on what they believe they will get out of it. This article goes into detail about what type of psychological contract is preferred in every stage of a career. This source adds to the Wikipedia article because it shows the psychological contract as something that is constantly changing and discusses the contract in different multiple stages throughout a career as the needs and expectations change.

Mai, Ke Michael, et al. "Examining The Effects Of Turnover Intentions On Organizational Citizenship Behaviors And Deviance Behaviors: A Psychological Contract Approach."

Journal Of Applied Psychology 101.8 (2016): 1067-1081. PsycARTICLES. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

This is a study by Michael Ke Mai that focuses on the effects of turnover intentions through the scope of psychological contracts. According to Mai, “psychological contract orientations can be transactional, or short-term and economic in nature, and relational, or long-term and socioemotional in nature”. The study focuses on the belief that psychological contracts are affected by turnover intentions. It discusses the two types of psychological contracts which are transactional and relational contracts. The study finds that employees have stronger transactional contracts and weaker relational contracts when they want to leave the place where they are employed. This source relates to the Wikipedia article because it is a study that goes deeper into the two types of psychological contract by conducting an experiment and examining the effects on them when employees want to leave their jobs.

Sverdrup, Therese E., and Vidar Schei. "'Cut Me Some Slack': The Psychological Contracts As A Foundation For Understanding Team Charters." Journal Of Applied Behavioral

Science 51.4 (2015): 451-478. PsycINFO. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

This source examines the psychological contract as a mechanism used to form the base of team charters. In this case, the psychological contracts is viewed as a relationship between team members rather than between an employer and an employee. This article explores how the team’s work outcome is related to the team’s psychological contract. According to the authors, if a team starts off with an understanding and respectful psychological contract then they will cut each other more slack and the end result of their project will be more successful than a team who did not use a psychological contract as a foundation for their team’s charter. This source adds to the Wikipedia article because it takes a more unique approach to examining a psychological contract between equal colleagues rather than a boss and an employee.

van den Heuvel, Sjoerd, et al. "What's In It For Me? A Managerial Perspective On The Influence of the Psychological Contract On Attitude Towards Change." Journal Of Organizational Change Management 29.2 (2016): 263-292. PsycINFO. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

This paper looks at psychological contracts through the eyes of a manager rather than an employee. The view of a manager in this source focuses on how an employee’s attitude toward change in the job is directly linked to the employee’s psychological contract with the manager or employer. An employee’s attitude and mindset about what changes could benefit them in what ways could affect the psychological contract they have with the manager. This source is related to the Wikipedia article because it shows a manager’s perspective on the issue of an employee’s attitude toward changes.

Stages in career development

The employment relationship emerges through the interpersonal relationships formed in the workplace. How employers, supervisors and managers behave on a day-to-day basis is not determined by the legal contract. Employees slowly negotiate what they must do to satisfy their side of the bargain, and what they can expect in return. This negotiation is sometimes explicit, e.g. in appraisal or performance review sessions, but it more often takes the form of behavioral action and reaction through which parties explore and draw the boundaries of mutual expectation. Hence, the psychological contract determines what the parties will or will not do and how it will be done. When the parties' expectations match each other, performance is likely to be good and satisfaction levels will be high. So long as the values and loyalty persist, trust and commitment will be maintained. The map followed by the parties is the development of an individualized career path that makes only reasonable demands on the employee, with adequate support from managers and co-workers, for a level of remuneration that is demonstrably fair for a person of that age, educational background, and experience. Motivation and commitment will be enhanced if transfers and promotions follow the agreed path in a timely fashion.

The psychological contract changes over time. Since an employee’s level of work changes as they advance in their career, the psychological contract that was established when they first began their career changes, too. As an employee is promoted throughout their career they expect more from their psychological contract because they are putting more of themselves into their work. Each stage of a career creates another editing process to the contract. The stages include apprentice, colleague, mentor, sponsor, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and disengagement. The details of each step are as follows:

1. Apprentice Stage- Employees are new to the company and are expected to learn what they are supposed to do in this stage under the supervision of people in higher stages. Employees do their best to meet the expectations of the employer.
2. Colleague Stage- Employees in this stage work more independently and handle tasks without supervision. They work harder to prove to the employer they are capable of completing assignments alone.
3. Mentor Stage- Employees in this stage have the ability to oversee apprentices and guide them while also completing their own work.
4. Sponsor Stage- Employees in this stage take on managerial roles and help better the company rather than oversee apprentices like in the mentor stage.
5. Exploration Stage- Employees in this stage are new and have an unclear path in their career and are uncertain if they will stay with the same organization. They search for guidance and motivation from the organization to help them made decisions about their future.
6. Establishment Stage- Employees in this stage want to establish themselves in their organization. Employees want more responsibilities, more opportunities for promotion, and performance-based rewards.
7. Maintenance Stage- Employees in this stage feel as if their role in the organization has reached a stagnation and care to pursue other things in life besides just work.
8. Disengagement Stage- Employees in this stage are nearing the end of their career path. They are close to retiring, take on less work, and work at slower paces.

Studies from Canadian adjunct professor and psychology researcher Yani Likongo demonstrated that sometimes in organizations an idiosyncratic psychological contract is built between the employee and his direct supervisor in order to create an "informal deal" regarding work-life balance. These "deals" support the idea of a constructivist approach including both the employer and the employee, based on a give-and-take situation for both of them.^[5] Similarities are drawn between the psychological contract and social exchange theory in that the relationship’s worth is defined through a cost-benefit analysis. The employee’s attitude toward changes in the company which lead to changes in the psychological contract . An employee’s attitude toward change in the job is directly linked to the employee’s psychological contract with the manager or employer. An employee’s attitude and mindset about what changes could benefit them in what ways could affect the psychological contract they have with the manager.

If managed effectively, the relationship will foster mutual trust between the parties, matching the objectives and commitments of the organization to those of their employees. But a negative psychological contract can result in employees becoming disenchanted, demotivated and resentful of authoritarianism within the organization. This will result in an increasingly inefficient workforce whose objectives no longer correspond to the organization they work for. The main cause of disappointment tends to be that middle managers are protective of their status and security in the eyes of their superiors, and this can introduce conflicts of interest when they are required to fulfill their obligations to their subordinates.

Stages in Career Development- Lilianna

1. The psychological contract changes over time. The Wikipedia article mentions that there is a career path followed by employees that involves revised psychological contracts, but does not go into specifics about what this entails in different stages. Since an employee’s level of work changes as they advance in their career, the psychological contract that was established when they first began their career changes, too. As an employee is promoted throughout their career they expect more from their psychological contract because they are putting more of themselves into their work. Each stage of a career creates another editing process to the contract. The stages include apprentice, colleague, mentor, sponsor, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and disengagement (Low et al., 1464-1471).
   1. Apprentice Stage- Employees are new to the company and are expected to learn what they are supposed to do in this stage under the supervision of people in higher stages. Employees do their best to meet the expectations of the employer.
   2. Colleague Stage- Employees in this stage work more independently and handle tasks without supervision. They work harder to prove to the employer they are capable of completing assignments alone.
   3. Mentor Stage- Employees in this stage have the ability to oversee apprentices and guide them while also completing their own work.
   4. Sponsor Stage- Employees in this stage take on managerial roles and help better the company rather than oversee apprentices like in the mentor stage.
   5. Exploration Stage- Employees in this stage are new and have an unclear path in their career and are uncertain if they will stay with the same organization. They search for guidance and motivation from the organization to help them made decisions about their future.
   6. Establishment Stage- Employees in this stage want to establish themselves in their organization. Employees want more responsibilities, more opportunities for promotion, and performance-based rewards.
   7. Maintenance Stage- Employees in this stage feel as if their role in the organization has reached a stagnation and care to pursue other things in life besides just work.
   8. Disengagement Stage- Employees in this stage are nearing the end of their career path. They are close to retiring, take on less work, and work at slower paces.
2. Similarities are drawn between the psychological contract and social exchange theory ** in that the relationship’s worth is defined through a cost-benefit analysis. (Gautier 151)
   1. The Wikipedia article mentions a “give-and-take” situation that can also be seen in the paper “What’s in it for me? A managerial perspective on the influence of the psychological contract on attitude towards change” by Sjoerd van den Heuvel, René Schalk, Charissa Freese, and Volken Timmerman. Information from this paper can be added to this section to expand on the employee’s attitude toward changes in the company which lead to changes in the psychological contract (van den Heuvel et al,. 2016).
   2. This source uses information given from the manager’s perspective instead of the employee’s which is what the majority of the Wikipedia article mentions.