Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT), this research builds a motivation profile typology of contingent workers in the contact center industry, compares outsourcer (OW) and temporary agency workers’ (TAW) profiles, and differentiates their human resources practices (HRP) perceptions and affective commitment. The hypotheses were tested in a sample of 2078 Portuguese contingent workers, through several statistical procedures, including latent profile analysis. Six profiles were identified. As expected, OW were mostly in the more intrinsic profiles, whereas TAW were in the more extrinsic ones. However, the contingent employment format did not moderate the relationship between motivation, HRP perceptions, and affective commitment.
AdomaitienėRSlatkevičienėG (2008) Employee satisfaction and service quality contact centres. Economics and Management13: 770–775.
2.
AlfesKShantzATrussCSoanE (2013) The link between perceived human resource management practices, engagement and employee behavior: A moderated mediation model. The International Journal of Human Resource Management24(2): 330–351.
3.
APCC (Portuguese Contact Center Association) (2015) Estudo de caracterização e benchmarking: Actividade de contact centers [Study of characterization and benchmarking: Contact center activity]. Lisboa: APCC.
4.
AronssonGGustafssonKDallnerM (2002) Work environment and health in different types of temporary jobs. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology11(2): 151–175.
5.
AshforthBESaksAM (1996) Socialization tactics: Longitudinal effects on newcomer adjustment. The Academy of Management Journal39(1): 149–178.
6.
BauerDJCurranPJ (2004) The integration of continuous and discrete latent variable models: Potential problems and promising opportunities. Psychological Methods9(1): 3–29.
7.
Bernhard-OettelCSverkeMDe WitteH (2005) Comparing three alternative types of employment with permanent full-time work: How do employment contract and perceived job conditions relate to health complaints?Work and Stress19(4): 301–318.
BlauP (1964) Power and Exchange in Social Life. New York: John Wiley.
10.
BonetRCappelliPHamoriM (2013) Labor market intermediaries and the new paradigm for human resources. The Academy of Management Annals7(1): 341–392.
11.
BoonCDen HartogDBoseliePPaauweJ (2011) The relationship between perceptions of HRP and employee outcomes: Examining the role of person, organisation and person–job fit. The International Journal of Human Resource Management22(1): 138–162.
12.
BowenDEOstroffC (2004) Understanding HRM–firm performance linkages: The role of ‘strength’ of the HRM system. Academy of Management Review29(2): 203–221.
13.
BoxallPPurcellJ (2011) Strategy and Human Resource Management, 3rd edn. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
14.
BrownDWilsonS (2005) The Black Book of Outsourcing. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
15.
BrownLGansNMandelbaumAet al. (2005) Statistical analysis of a telephone call center. Journal of the American Statistical Association100(469): 36–50.
16.
BrownTA (2006) Confirmatory Factor Analysis for Applied Research. New York: Guilford.
17.
BurgessJConnellJ (2006) Temporary work and human resource management: Issues, challenges and responses. Personnel Review35(2): 129–140.
18.
CeleuxGSoromenhoG (1996) An entropy criterion for assessing the number of clusters in a mixture model. Journal of Classification13(2): 195–212.
19.
ChambelMJ (2013) Centralidade e valores do trabalho [Centrality and values of work]. In: MagalhãesP (ed.) 20 Anos de opinião pública em Portugal e na Europa [20 years of public opinion in Portugal and Europe]. Lisboa: Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos, pp. 26–30.
20.
ChambelMJCastanheiraF (2007) They don’t want to be temporaries: Similarities between temps and core workers. Journal of Organizational Behavior28(8): 943–959.
21.
ChambelMJSobralF (2011) Training is an investment with return in temporary workers: A social exchange perspective. Career Development International16(2): 161–177.
22.
ChambelMJCastanheiraFSobralF (2014) Temporary agency versus permanent workers: A multigroup analysis of associations between human resource management, work engagement and affective commitment. Economic and Industrial Democracy. Epub ahead of print 1October2014. DOI: 10.1177/0143831X14550695
23.
ChambelMJLorenteLCarvalhoVSMartínezI (2016) Psychological contract profiles among permanent and temporary agency workers. Journal of Managerial Psychology31(1): 79–94.
24.
ChambelMJSobralFEspadaMCurralL (2015) Training, exhaustion, and commitment of temporary agency workers: A test of employability perceptions. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology24(1): 15–30.
25.
ChongvilaivanAHurJRiyantoYE (2009) Outsourcing types, relative wages and the demand for skilled workers: New evidence from U.S. manufacturing. Economic Inquiry47(1): 18–33.
26.
ChouSWTechatassanasoontornAAHungIH (2015) Understanding commitment in business process outsourcing relationships. Information and Management52(1): 30–43.
27.
ConnellyCEGallagherDG (2004) Emerging trends in contingent work research. Journal of Management30(6): 959–983.
28.
Coyle-ShapiroJAMKesslerI (2002) Contingent and non-contingent working in local government: Contrasting psychological contracts. Public Administration80(1): 77–101.
29.
Coyle-ShapiroJAMMorrowPC (2006) Organizational and client commitment among contracted employees. Journal of Vocational Behavior68(3): 416–431.
De CuyperNDe WitteH (2008) Volition and reasons for accepting temporary employment: Associations with attitudes, well-being and behavioural intentions. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology17(3): 363–387.
32.
De CuyperNNotelaersGDe WitteH (2009) Transitioning between temporary and permanent employment: A two-wave study on the entrapment, the stepping-stone and the selection hypothesis. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology82(1): 67–88.
33.
De JongJSchalkR (2010) Extrinsic motives as moderators in the relationship between fairness and work-related outcomes among temporary workers. Journal of Business and Psychology25(1): 175–189.
34.
De JongJDe CuyperNDe WitteHet al. (2009) Motives for accepting temporary employment: A typology. International Journal of Manpower30(3): 237–252.
35.
Del BonoAGorjupMTHenryLValverdeM (2013) Call centres’ employment practices in global value networks: A view from Argentina as a receiving economy. Economic and Industrial Democracy34(4): 693–717.
36.
Dimension Data (2015) The Global Contact Center Benchmarking Report. Johannesburg: Merchants.
37.
DiNataleM (2001) Characteristics of and preference for alternative work arrangements. Monthly Management Review124(3): 28–49.
38.
EllramLBillingtonC (2001) Purchasing leverage considerations in the outsourcing decision. European Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management7(1): 15–27.
FabrícioRKoeneBSobralF (2015) The metamorphosis of work and employment in the era of liquid modernity. In: ChambelMJ (ed.) The Self-Determination Theory Applied to the New Work Arrangements. New York: Nova Publishers.
41.
GagnéMDeciEL (2005) Self-determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior26(4): 331–362.
42.
GagnéMPanaccioA (2014) The motivational power of job design. In: GagnéM (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Work Engagement, and Self-Determination Theory. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 165–180.
43.
GagnéMForestJGilbertMHet al. (2010) The Motivation at Work Scale: Validation evidence in two languages. Educational and Psychological Measurement70(4): 628–646.
44.
GonzálezAPaoliniVDonoloDRinaudoC (2012) Motivational and emotional profiles in university undergraduates: A self-determination theory perspective. The Spanish Journal of Psychology15(3): 1069–1080.
45.
GuestD (2004) The psychology of the employment relationship: An analysis based on the psychological contract. Applied Psychology: An International Review53(4): 541–555.
46.
GunasekaranAIraniZChoyKLet al. (2015) Performance measures and metrics in outsourcing decisions: A review for research and applications. International Journal of Production Economics161: 153–166.
47.
HannifZNMcDonnellAConnellJABurgessJ (2010) Working time flexibilities: A paradox in call centres?Australian Bulletin of Labour36(2): 178–193.
48.
HochschildAR (1979) Emotion work, feeling rules, and social structure. American Journal of Sociology85(3): 551–575.
49.
HochschildAR (1983) The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. Berkeley: University of California Press.
50.
HochschildAR (1993) The managed heart. In: JaggarAMRothenbergPS (eds) Feminist Frameworks: Alternative Theoretical Accounts of the Relations Between Women and Men, 3rd edn. New York: McGraw-Hill, pp. 329–345.
51.
KallebergAL (2000) Nonstandard employment relations: Part-time, temporary and contract work. Annual Review of Sociology26: 341–365.
52.
KallebergAL (2001) Organizing flexibility: The flexible firm in a new century. British Journal of Industrial Relations39(4): 479–504.
53.
KatouABudhwarP (2014) HRM and firm performance. In: CrawsbawJBudhwarPDevisA (eds) Human Resources Management, Strategic and International Perspectives. London: Sage, pp. 26–48.
54.
KoçağaYLArmonyMWardAR (2015) Staffing call centers with uncertain arrival rates and co-sourcing. Production and Operations Management24(7): 1101–1117.
55.
KotabeMZhaoH (2002) A taxonomy of sourcing strategic types for MNCs operating in China. Asia Pacific Journal of Management19(1): 11–27.
56.
KrauszM (2000) Effects of short- and long-term preferences for temporary work upon psychological outcomes. International Journal of Manpower21(8): 635–647.
57.
LavigneGVallerandRJ (2010) The dynamic process of influence between contextual and situational motivation: A test of the hierarchical model in a science education setting. Journal of Applied School Psychology40(9): 2343–2359.
58.
LoYMendellNRubinD (2001) Testing the number of components in a normal mixture. Biometrika88: 767–778.
59.
LoganMSFaughtKGansterDC (2004) Outsourcing a satisfied and committed workforce: A trucking industry case study. International Journal of Human Resource Management15(1): 147–162.
60.
LopesSChambelMJ (2014) Motives for being temporary agency worker: Validity study of one measure according to the self-determination theory. Social Indicators Research116(1): 137–152.
61.
LubkeGHMuthénB (2005) Investigating population heterogeneity with factor mixture models. Psychological Methods10: 21–39.
62.
MackyKBoxallP (2008) High-involvement work processes, work intensification and employee well-being: A study of New Zealand worker experiences. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources46(1): 38–55.
63.
Manpower Group (2006) Engaging the Total Workforce: A Manpower White Paper. Milwaukee: Manpower Inc.
64.
Martí-AudíNValverdeMHeratyN (2013) Human resource management in the Spanish call centre sector: The bird cage model of call centre work. The International Journal of Human Resource Management24(2): 308–329.
65.
MeyerJP (2014) Employee commitment, motivation and engagement. In: GagnéM (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Work Engagement, and Self-Determination Theory. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 3–49.
66.
MeyerJPAllenNJSmithC (1993) Commitment to organizations and occupations: Extension and test of a three-component conceptualization. Journal of Applied Psychology78(4): 538–551.
67.
MoranC MDiefendorffJMKimTLiuZ (2012) A profile approach to self-determination theory motivations at work. Journal of Vocational Behavior81(3): 354–363.
68.
MorrisMDSVekkerA (2001) An alternative look at temporary workers, their choices, and the growth in temporary employment. Journal of Labor Research22(2): 373–390.
69.
MuthénB (2004) Latent variable analysis: Growth mixture modeling and related techniques for longitudinal data. In: KaplanD (ed.) Handbook of Quantitative Methodology for the Social Sciences. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, pp. 345–368.
70.
NishiiLHWrightPM (2007) Variability within organizations: Implications for strategic human resource management. CAHRS Working Paper Series.
71.
NylundKLAsparouhovTMuthénB (2007) Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling. A Monte Carlo simulation study. Structural Equation Modeling14(4): 535–569.
72.
PodsakoffPMMacKenzieSBPodsakoffNP (2012) Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology65: 539–569.
73.
PollertA (1988) The ‘flexible firm’: Fixation or fact. Work, Employment and Society2(3): 281–316.
74.
RijoRVarajãoJGonçalvesR (2012) Contact center: Information systems design. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing23(3): 497–515.
75.
RussellB (2008) Call centres: A decade of research. International Journal of Management Reviews10(3): 195–219.
76.
RyanRMDeciEL (2000) Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist55(1): 68–78.
77.
RyanRMDeciEL (2002) An overview of self-determination theory. In: DeciELRyanRM (eds) Handbook of Self-Determination Research. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, pp. 3–33.
78.
SchwarzGE (1978) Estimating the dimension of a model. Annals of Statistics6(2): 461–464.
79.
SheldonKMTurbanDBBrownKGet al. (2003) Applying self-determination theory to organizational research. Research in Personnel and Human Resources22: 357–393
80.
SillaIGraciaFJPeiróJM (2005) Job insecurity and health-related outcomes among different types of temporary workers. Economic and Industrial Democracy26(1): 89–117.
81.
SobralFLopesSChambelMJCastanheiraF (2015) A motivation profile analysis: The case of temporary agency work. In: ChambelMJ (ed.) The Self-Determination Theory Applied to the New Work Arrangements. New York: Nova Publishers.
82.
SpectorPE (2006) Method variance in organizational research: Truth or urban legend?Organizational Research Methods9: 221–232.
83.
TakeuchiRLepakDPWangHTakeuchiK (2007) An empirical examination of the mechanisms mediating between high performance work systems and the performance of Japanese organizations. Journal of Applied Psychology92(4): 1069–1083.
84.
TanHHTanCP (2002) Temporary employees in Singapore: What drives them?The Journal of Psychology136(1): 83–102.
85.
VandenbergRJStanleyLJ (2009) Statistical and methodological challenges for commitment researchers: Issues of invariance, change across time, and profile differences. In: KleinHJBeckerTEMeyerJP (eds) Commitment in Organizations: Accumulated Wisdom and New Directions. New York: Routledge, pp. 383–418.
86.
Van den BroeckALensWDe WitteHVan CoillieH (2013) Unraveling the importance of the quantity and the quality of workers’ motivation for well-being: A person-centered perspective. Journal of Vocational Behavior82(1): 69–78.
87.
Van DyneLAngS (1998) Organizational citizenship behavior of contingent workers in Singapore. Academy of Management Journal41(8): 692–703.
88.
Van JaarsveldDDKwonHFrostAC (2009) The effects of institutional and organizational characteristics on work force flexibility: Evidence from call centers in three liberal market economies. Industrial and Labor Relations Review62(4): 573–601.
89.
WrightPMNishiiLH (2007) Strategic HRM and organizational behavior: Integrating multiple levels of analysis. CAHRS Working Paper Series 468.
90.
ZacharatosABarlingJIversonRD (2005) High performance work systems and occupational safety. Journal of Applied Psychology90(1): 77–93.
91.
ZimmermanTGavrilova-AguilarMCullumP (2013) Rethinking human resource strategies: A shift in the treatment of contingent workers. International Journal of Business and Management48(1): 28–34.
