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Employee Attributions of the “Why” of HR Practices: Their Effects on Employee Attitudes and Behaviors, and Customer Satisfaction

Author
Nishii, Lisa Hisae; Lepak, David P.; Schneider, Benjamin
Abstract
The construct of Human Resource (HR) Attributions is introduced. We argue that the attributions that employees make about the reasons why management adopts the HR practices that it does have consequences for their attitudes and behaviors, and ultimately, unit performance. Drawing on the strategic HR literature, we propose a typology of five HR-Attribution dimensions. Utilizing data collected from a service firm, we show that employees make varying attributions for the same HR practices, and that these attributions are differentially associated with commitment and satisfaction. In turn, we show that these attitudes become shared within units and that they are related to unit-level organizational citizenship behaviors and customer satisfaction. Findings and implications are discussed.
Description
Winner of the Wallace Reins Best Dissertation Award (2005), awarded by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Runner-up for the Academy of Management’s HR Division’s Scholarly Achievement Award for 2008.
Date Issued
2008-02-01Subject
Human Resource Attributions; attitudes; behaviors; HR practices; organizations; employees
Related DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2008.00121.xRights
Required Publisher Statement: © Wiley & Sons. Final version published as: Nishii, L. H., Lepak, D. P., & Schneider, B. (2008). Employee attributions of the “why” of HR practices: Their effects on employee attitudes and behaviors, and customer satisfaction. Personnel Psychology, 31(3), 503-545. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6570.2008.00121.xReprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
Type
preprint