Perceived organizational support (POS) across 54 nations : a cross-cultural meta-analysis of POS effects

The authors meta-analyze relationships of perceived organizational support (POS) with attitudinal and behavioral outcomes in Western (i.e., horizontal-individualistic) and Eastern (i.e., vertical-collectivistic) cultures. The social-exchange perspective suggests that POS effects are stronger in Western cultures because employees are more likely to see the self as independent and understand their relationship with the organization in terms of reciprocity. However, the social-identity perspective suggests that POS effects are stronger in Eastern cultures because employees are more likely to see the self as interdependent and are more attuned to organizational support as an identity-related cue. Addressing these competing hypotheses, meta-analytic results from 827 independent samples (n = 332,277) across 54 countries show support for both perspectives. In the West, POS was more strongly associated with social-exchange processes than organizational-identification processes. In contrast, In the East, POS was more strongly associated with organizational-identification processes than social-exchange processes. Overall, POS was more strongly related to job attitudes and performance in the East than in the West. Cultural differences in POS effects on attitudinal outcomes were found to be increasing over time. We discuss the implications of these findings for organizational-support theory and research

The supervisor POS-LMX-subordinate POS chain: Moderation by reciprocation wariness and supervisor's organizational embodiment

We present three studies providing an increased understanding of the interdependence between perceived organizational support (POS) and leader–member exchange (LMX). Using employees from a social service agency and new hires from a variety of organizations, we report evidence for a relational chain leading from supervisors' perceptions of support by the organization (supervisor POS) to the formation of high-quality LMX relationships with their subordinates (first link), who interpret high-quality LMX as support from the organization (subordinate POS, second link) and, ultimately, repay the organization with increased dedication and effort (examined here in terms of reduced withdrawal behavior). The relationship between supervisor POS and LMX with subordinates was strongly moderated by supervisor fear of exploitation in exchange relationships (reciprocation wariness), holding only for supervisors with low reciprocation wariness. Consistent with the view that employees perceive the organization as partly responsible for treatment received from supervisors, LMX was found to be more strongly related to POS when employees highly identified their supervisors with the organization (supervisor's organizational embodiment), and this interaction extended to reduced withdrawal behavior