Comparisons of Performance and Job Insecurity in Union and Nonunion Sites of a Manufacturing Company

Layoffs and employment changes caused by current economic conditions have significant effects on employee work behavior and emotions as well as organizational outcomes. We examined the relationships between measures of job insecurity, organizational commitment, turnover, absenteeism, and worker perf...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of organizational behavior management 2008-11, Vol.28 (4), p.218-237
Main Authors: Filipkowski, Monica, Johnson, C. Merle
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bankruptcy reorganization
behavioral observations
Commitments
Comparative studies
Correlation
Economic Climate
Employee Absenteeism
Employee Attitudes
Employee turnover
Employer Employee Relationship
Employment security
Group Unity
Job insecurity
Job Layoff
Job Performance
Job Security
Labor Turnover
Labor unions
Manufacturers
Manufacturing
Nonunion
Organizational Culture
Outcome Measures
Quasiexperimental Design
Research Design
Unions
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Summary:Layoffs and employment changes caused by current economic conditions have significant effects on employee work behavior and emotions as well as organizational outcomes. We examined the relationships between measures of job insecurity, organizational commitment, turnover, absenteeism, and worker performance within a manufacturer in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A positive relationship was found between job insecurity and intentions to turnover, and a small negative correlation was found between measures of job insecurity and organizational commitment. Unobtrusive observations of union and nonunion performance over 4 months showed that nonunion production workers were on-task more frequently, although on-task behavior was high for both. Productivity and quality measures of different factories favored nonunion locations. Although comparisons between sites were constrained by a quasi-experimental design, repeated behavioral and outcome measures within sites showed differential effects when the company announced a plant closing in another state. Job insecurity appeared to be an establishing operation that produced differential effects between union and nonunion sites as well as among individual employees within sites.
ISSN:0160-8061
1540-8604
DOI:10.1080/01608060802454437