Predictors & Outcomes of Employee Engagement: Implications for the Resource-Based View Perspective

Resource-based View We extend the resource based view of the firm to employee engagement and try to explore linkages with firm performance. By developing these intangible capabilities of employee engagement, it's antecedents and outcomes, which are path dependant, a firm can stay ahead of it's competitors (Teece et al 1997; Colbert 2004) and leads to VRIN which is difficult for competitors to imitate (Barney 1991). This is in line with the dynamic capability perspective, which extends the RBV (http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net_methods_barney_resource_based_ viewfirm.html/accessed 28th March 2009). It also fills in the lacunae pointed by researchers like Foss et al (1996b). Foss and Ishikava (2006) point out to the shortcomings of RBV and state that process orientation has not made the theory dynamic. Foss (1996b) speculates that various "competence-based," "capabilities," "dynamic capabilities," etc. approaches which all try to highlight dynamics in various ways (e.g., Hamel and Prahalad 1994) in RBV should be the focus of research. The resource-based view suggests that human resource systems can contribute to sustained competitive advantage through facilitating the development of competencies that are firm specific, produce complex social relationships, are embedded in a firm's history and culture, and generate tacit organizational knowledge (Barney 1991). Much work has been done in behavioral perspective, leading to a non-conclusive view that role behaviour may be copied by competing firms (Colbert 2004). HR practices and strategic HR roles on the other hand emanate certain intrinsic motivational effects like Organizational Commitment and lead to high firm performance (Bhatnagar 2007, Bhatnagar 2009a). The motivational basis of employee work attitudes and behaviors is regarded as an important component of research agenda relating to management practices (Aryee, Budhwar & Chen 2002) especially in an employment relationship domain (Bhatnagar 2009a:171). In the current study we explore the processes which emanate in organizations due to certain HR practices in the workplace. We are not studying the HR practices of the organization in this paper, but the processes which serve as an important competitive advantage for the firm. These are captured through the sense of justice and psychological contract and individual feels. The formation of the individual's psychological contract is shaped by company policies related to recruitment, compensation, claims etc along with social cues from the work environment (Boxall & Purcell 2002). This in turn may affect the employee engagement. There may be a positive effect of the Employee Engagement on Organizational Commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour. There may be an interactive effect between these, leading to lower intention to quit. The entire equation may lead to high firm performance which in turn may affect Employee Engagement. We examine this variable in the configurational approach (Delery & Doty 1996) of theorizing SHRM. The configurational school in organization studies follows a holistic principle of inquiry and is concerned with how patterns of multiple interdependent variables relate to a given dependent variable (Meyer, Tsui & Hinings 1993). Researchers gather multiple dimensions of organizations, such as strategies, structures, cultures, and processes, into typologies of ideal types and treat the types as independent variables (Colbert 2004:344). Measurement of Employee Engagement Employee Engagement is a key to retention of talent (Glen 2006) and is an area where lead has been taken by practitioners (Bennett & Bell 2004, Baumruk et.al 2006, Gallup Management Journal 2006, Parsley 2006, Woodruffe 2006). It is an area where rigorous academic research is required (Macey & Schneider 2008, IOP Speical Issue 2008) Employee Engagement (Cartwright & Holmes 2006, Joo & Mclean 2006, Rothbard 2001) is an important mediator variable which research studies in India and globally have not investigated (Bhatnagar 2007a, Saks 2005). …