HR differentiation : a double edged sword?

Abstract

This thesis presents three studies which explore the effects of individualized human resource management (HRM) practices from recipients’ and non-recipients’ perspectives. The first two studies, focusing on the concept of idiosyncratic deals (i-deals), investigate the role of managers’ emotions and employees’ behaviours in translating negotiated i-deals into attainment (Study 1), and how obtained i-deals influence recipients’ work performance positively in the long term (Study 2). In delineating how individualized HRM practices unfold for their recipients, the concept of i-deals is challenged. The third study explores the effects of non-entitlement to flexitime on employees’ overall perceptions of fairness, which in turn shape their affective commitment toward the organization. This study also introduces a contextual condition – the normativeness of flexitime – to understand under what conditions the association between non-entitlement to flexitime and overall fairness perceptions is stronger or weaker. A quantitative methodology is adopted across the three studies. The first two studies draw on two-wave, multi-source data collected in Istanbul, Turkey. The third study is based on the Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS, 2011). This thesis makes important theoretical contributions to research on i-deals, flexitime and, more broadly, to individualized HRM. As a practical implication, this thesis underlines that caution is needed when differentiating certain HR practices for a select group of employees