People management rationales and organizational effectiveness: the case of organizational trust repair

Siebert, S. and Martin, G. (2014) People management rationales and organizational effectiveness: the case of organizational trust repair. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 1(2), pp. 177-190. (doi: 10.1108/JOEPP-03-2014-0011)

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Abstract

<i>Purpose</i> –The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate over people management rationales and how they relate to organizational effectiveness.<p></p> <i>Design/methodology/approach</i> – Drawing on the distinction between the “logic of consequences” and the “logic of appropriateness,” the paper explores one aspect of managing people – managers’ attempts to restore trust after an intra-organizational breach of trust. This is done on the basis of a systematic approach to a review of the literature on intra-organizational trust and organizational trust repair.<p></p> <i>Findings</i> – The paper argues that in their trust repair efforts managers socially construct and enact a narrow business agenda for the firm, which is typically justified by a logic of consequences. Instead, the authors suggest that managers may be better advised to follow a logic of appropriateness in restoring trust among employees, which acknowledges the importance of context and managers’ lack of control over employees’ reactions to trust repair strategies.<p></p> <i>Practical implications</i> – A key practical implication of the logic of appropriateness is that, in certain contexts, the most effective strategy for trust repair is inaction (rather than action), a strategy often neglected in people management practice.<p></p> <i>Social implications</i> – The social implications of this paper highlight the social context in which people management strategies take place and the limitations of “one-size-fits-all” HRM prescriptions.<p></p> <i>Originality/value</i> – The value of the paper is bringing a much neglected stream of research on the strengths of inaction as a positive strategy in organizational theory to current HRM scholars as a way of balancing the typical agentive approaches to HRM and intra-organizational trust repair.<p></p>

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Martin, Professor Graeme and Keston-Siebert, Professor Sabina
Authors: Siebert, S., and Martin, G.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
Journal Name:Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance
Publisher:Emerald
ISSN:2051-6614

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