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INFORMATION TO USERS This mmudpt has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy suknitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typemiter face, while others may be from any type of computer printar. The quality of this npmiuction k dependent upon the qurlity of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, cobred or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print M88dfhmu~h,s ubstandard margins, and improper alignment In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and them am missing pages, these will be noted. AISO, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a nab will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, cham) are reproduced by U o n i n g the original, beginning at the upper M-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal tecOions with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original Shatteml Work Lives: Older Workers, the Breakdown of Traditional Employment Relatioaships, and the New Corporate Culture of Uncertainty by Heather K. Scott A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Graduate Department of Community Health University of Toronto O Copyright by Heather K. Scott 1999 National Library Bibliothdque nationals l*l of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services selvices bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OnawaON KlAON4 OttawaON KtAON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde me licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive pennettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliotheque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prgter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format electronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent &re imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. SHATTERED WORK LIVES: OLDER WORKERS, TRE BREAKDOWN OF TRADITIONAL EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS, AND TIIE NEW CORPORATE CULTURE OF UNCERTAINTY Heather K-S con Master of Science. 1999 Graduate Department of Community Health University of Toronto Current attempts to target the older worker during company downsizing campaigns have brought to the fore issues concerning how this group may be uniquely affected by the stresses associated with the uncertainty of organizational retrenchment. STUDY OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the present study were: 1 ) to explore contextual features of the downsized workplace and how these are perceived by older workers targeted by the early retirement incentive program (ERIP), and 2) to determine both the type and extent of differences in employer-directed attitudes related to use of the ERIP as a downsizing mechanism. RESEARCH DESIGN: Secondary survey data derived from the University of Toronto's lssues of an Aging Workforce (IAW) Project were used to examine the comparative p e ~ c t i v eosf employees of two large North American financial service institutions. One of the companies had undergone a series of downsizings using the ERiP, while its counterpan had managed to keep its workers relatively insulated from the threat of layoff. Employees at each company were compared on four dimensions of commitment to the 'implicit career contract'. a conception based on the unique life histories of older workers. RESULTS: Downsized employees were significantly more likely to repon the presence of perceptible levels of retirement pressures at their workplace (xk43.37. d+3. p<.OOl). Additional bivariate and multiple regression analyses revealed the level of contract commitment to be consistently and significantly lower among workers at the downsized company. CONCLUSIONS: Organizational pressures to retire that stem from use of the ElUP may cause workers to withhold certain socio-emotional conmbutions to the firm in the form of loyalty and citizenship behaviour. From the perspective of a traditional -best practice' approach to human resource management these tindings suggest that campaigns of organizational downsizing which target the older employee may have deleterious consequences for company function in the long term. A number of people have played roles of vital support toward completion of this thesis. I must first thank my thesis supervisor, Professor Victor Marshall. His mentorship and support has been a constant source of inspiration. I am also grateu to my committee member Professor &nnis Raphael who, in addition to providing key statistical support, has been extraordinarily generous with his time and advice. I must also extend thanks to Professor Ann Robertson for her feedback on an earlier draft, and to Susan Underhill for her assistance with the data Special thanks are extended to my mother, Patricia Scott, whose love and support has helped me to endure, I am also grateful to my friends and colleagues, Ellie Berger and Marcy Facey. I feel remarkably blessed to have been able to share this experience with them. Finally, to my dear friends Shan Khimji, Lee-Ann Wiun, and Lisa Silver, many thanks for your unflagging patience and support while I disappeared into the writing of this thesis. I would like to acknowledge the Innovations Fund of Human Resources Development Canada for fhding the program of research into "Issues of an Aging Workforce" conducted by CARNET:T he Canadian Aging Research Network. Data for this thesis were derived from this larger project. Table of Contents . Abstract i Acknowledgments ii Table of Contents iii List of Tables & Figures vi Introduction viii PART 1 REMEW OF LITERATURE Chapter 1. Age-Neutral Restructuring or Age-Biased Targeting? Older Workers and the New Regime of Corporate Downsizing 1 Chapter 2. The Social Contract, Corporate Culture, and the Implicit Career Contract: Changes and Consequences in the New Global Economy 2.1 The Breach of the North American Social Contract and the Breakdown of Traditional Employment Relationships 2.2 The Organization Man: Corporate Culture and the Implicit Career Contract 2.2.1 The psychological contract and the implicit career contract 2.2.2 The nature of employment contracts 2.3 Broken Promises: The Consequences of Downsizing as a Perceived Violation of the Implicit Career Contract 2.3.1 Perceptions of justice in the post-layoff work environment 2.3.2 Job insecurity in the post-layoff work environment 2.3.3 The psychological consequences of downsizing: a unified perspective 2.4 A Theory of Multiple Contracts 2.4.1 Women and implicit career contract commitment 2.4.2 The male family context iii Chapter 3. Implications for the Present Study 76 3.1 Shifts in The Social Contract as a Determinant of Implicit Career Contract Commitment: The Present Study 78 3.2 Objectives and Hypotheses 81 3.2.1 Employee perceptions of the organizational context 3.2.2 Employee commitment to the implicit career contract 3.3 Company Policy as a Determinant of Implicit Career Contract Commitment: A Case Study Comparison 86 3.3.1 The Sun Life and Prudential case study sites: portraits in brief 87 PART It METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS Chapter 4. Methodology 4.1 The Data 4.1.1 The Sun Life employee sample 4.1.2 The Prudential employee sample. 4.2 Instrumentation 4.3 Descriptive Statistics 4.3.1 Demographics 4.3.2 Study measures 4.4 Bivariate Analyses 4.4.1 Employee perceptions of organizational context 4.4.2 Employee commitment to the implicit career contract 4.5 Multivariate Analyses Cbapter 5. Shifts in the Social Contract, the Breakdown of Traditional Employment Relationships and Employee Commitment to the Implicit Career Contract 5.1 Results from the Present Study 5.1.1 ICC commitment as a function of employee status characteristics 5.1.2 The effects of employee withdrawal on organizational h c t i o n 5.2 Caveats for the Present Results 5.3 The Need for Future Research References Appendices Appendix A. Sun Life and Prudential Employee Surveys List of Tables and Figurn Table 1. Rotated Factor Matrix for Implicit Career Contract Dimension Job Satisfaction 93 Table 2. Unrotated Factor Matrix for Implicit Career Contract Dimension Attitudes Toward the Importance of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour 95 Table 3. Second Order Factor Analysis onto Construct Implicit Career Contract Commitment 96 Table 4. Profile of Sun Life and Prudential Employees 99 Table 5. Mean Scores and Standard Deviations for the Dimensions of Implicit Career Contract Commitment 100 Table 6. Employee Perceptions of Organizational Context as a Function of Company Downsizing Policy Table 7. Means (standard deviations) for the Dimensions of Implicit Career Contract Commitment and Comparisons with F Values from the ANOVAs 104 Table 8. Means (standard deviations) for the Dimensions of Implicit Career Contract Commitment as a Function of Company Policy and Length of Employee Tenure Table 9. Means (standard deviations) for the Dimensions of Implicit Career Contract Commitment as a Function of Company Policy and Occupational Status Table 10. Means (standard deviations) for the Dimensions of Implicit Career Contract Commitment as a Function of Company Policy and Gender Table 1 I . Means (standard deviations) for the Dimensions of Implicit Career Contract Commitment as a Function of Company Policy and Male Family Context Table 12. Hierarchical Multiple Regression of Predictors of Implicit Career Contract Commitment Dimension Intrinsic Job Satisfaction Table 13. Hierarchical Multiple Regression of Predictors of Implicit Career Contract Dimension Extrinsic Job Satisfaction

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