'Daehan Academy of Management Information Systems'
Abstract
Integrating social learning and career customization theories, in this research we set out to explore a trickle-down model of i-deals- individually negotiated personalized agreements of a non-standard nature between employees and their managers (Rousseau, 2005). We argue that manager i-deals are positively associated with subordinate i-deals which, in turn, also relate positively to employee work performance and career promotability. Moreover, we integrate two types of contextual conditions to underline the social context of i-deals: From a managers’ perspective, we propose that managers’ servant leadership moderates the positive association between manager and subordinate i-deals. In addition, from a focal employee perspective, we propose that employees’ prosocial motives is assumed to moderate the positive association between subordinate i-deals and their outcomes, i.e., work performance and career promotability. Results from a matched employee-manager data set supported our empirical model. This study contributes to i-deals research by: 1) integrating two contextual conditions that emphasize the importance of broader social elements inherent in i-deals; 2) revealing whether and how subordinate i-deals are beneficial both for themselves and for their organization, as predicted in i-deals’ theory. From a practical point of view, if organisations and managers aim to use i-deals as a strategic tool to increase employee work performance and career promotability, they need to be transparent about how they expect these deals to be used
