This study evaluates employees’ responses (turnover intention and counterproductive work behavior) to different forms of psychological contract breach (relational and transactional), and the mediating role of organizational cynicism between employees’ responses and psychological contract breach. This study used a time lag technique for data collection from 411 bank employees in Pakistan. PLS-SEM and SmartPls software were applied for data analyses. The findings show that relational psychological contract breach has no significant impact on turnover intention but transactional psychological contract breach has a significant impact on turnover intention. However, counterproductive work behavior has a significant association with both forms of psychological contract breach (relational and transactional). Organizational cynicism significantly mediates the relation of relational psychological contract breach and turnover intention, but fails to mediate the relation between transactional psychological contract breach and turnover intention. Contrary to this, organizational cynicism partially mediates the relation between psychological contract breach (relational and transactional) and counterproductive work behavior. The implications and future directions are discussed in the last section of this study.
AbelaFDebonoM (2019) The relationship between psychological contract breach and job-related attitudes within a manufacturing plant. SAGE Open9(1). DOI: 10.1177/2158244018822179
2.
AnderssonLM (1996) Employee cynicism: An examination using a contract violation framework. Human Relations49(11): 1395–1418.
3.
AngwinDNMeadowsM (2015) New integration strategies for post-acquisition management. Long Range Planning. 48(4): 235–251.
4.
BariMWFanchenMBalochMA (2016) Management practices and performance of mergers and acquisitions in Pakistan: Mediating role of psychological contract. SpringerPlus5(1): 1527.
5.
BashirSNasirM (2013) Breach of psychological contract, organizational cynicism and union commitment: A study of hospitality industry in Pakistan. International Journal of Hospitality Management34(1): 61–65.
6.
BauerFStrobiADaoMA, et al. (2018) Examining links between pre and post M&A value creation mechanisms exploitation, exploration and ambidexterity in Central European SMEs. Long Range Planning51(2): 185–203.
7.
BellouV (2008) Exploring civic virtue and turnover intention during organizational changes. Journal of Business Research61(7): 778–789.
8.
BellouVAndronikidisA (2008) The impact of internal service quality on customer service behaviour: Evidence from the banking sector. International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management25(9): 943–954.
9.
BennettRJRobinsonSL (2000) Development of a measure of workplace deviance. Journal of Applied Psychology85(3): 349–360.
10.
BruellerNNCarmeliAMarkmanGD (2018) Linking merger and acquisition strategies to postmerger integration: A configurational perspective of human resource management. Journal of Management44(5): 1793–1818.
11.
CalleaAUrbiniFIngusciEChirumboloA (2016) The relationship between contract type and job satisfaction in a mediated moderation model: The role of job insecurity and psychological contract violation. Economic and Industrial Democracy37(2): 399–420.
12.
ChinP-LHungM-L (2013) Psychological contract breach and turnover intention: The moderating roles of adversity quotient and gender. Social Behavior and Personality41(5): 843–860.
13.
ChirumboloA (2015) The impact of job insecurity on counterproductive work behaviors: The moderating role of honesty–humility personality trait. Journal of Psychology149(6): 554–569.
14.
CollinsMD (2010) The effect of psychological contract fulfillment on manager turnover intentions and its role as a mediator in a casual, limited-service restaurant environment. International Journal of Hospitality Management29(4): 736–742.
15.
CropanzanoRMitchellMS (2005) Social exchange theory: An interdisciplinary review. Journal of Management31(6): 874–900.
16.
DalalRSLamHWeissHM, et al. (2009) A within-person approach to work behavior and performance: Concurrent and lagged citizenship–counterproductivity associations, and dynamic relationships with affect and overall job performance. Academy of Management Journal52(5): 1051–1066.
17.
DeerySJWalshJTIversonRD (2006) Toward a better understanding of psychological contract breach: A study of customer service employees. Journal of Applied Psychology91(1): 166–176.
18.
DegischerDBauerF. (2014) Integrating acquired resources and capabilities: How the strategic exploration and exploitation orientation of targets affects the impact of human and task integration. In: Human Capital without Borders: Knowledge Learning from the Quality of Life. Management, Knowledge and Learning Conference, Portorož, Slovenia, 25–27 June 2014, pp. 257–267.
19.
DuranFBishoppDWoodhamsJ (2019) Relationships between psychological contract violation, stress and well-being in firefighters. International Journal of Workplace Health Management12(3): 120–133.
20.
GriepYVantilborghT (2018a) Let’s get cynical about this! Recursive relationships between psychological contract breach and counterproductive work behaviour. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology91(2): 421–429.
21.
GriepYVantilborghT (2018b) Reciprocal effects of psychological contract breach on counterproductive and organizational citizenship behaviors: The role of time. Journal of Vocational Behavior104(1): 141–153.
22.
HagedoornJDuystersG (2002) External sources of innovative capabilities: The preference for strategic alliances or mergers and acquisitions. Journal of Management Studies39(2): 167–188.
23.
HairJFBlackWCBabinBJ, et al. (2006) Multivariate Data Analysis. Uppersaddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
24.
HairJFJrHultGTMRingleCSarstedtM (2016) A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). London: Sage.
25.
HairJFJrSarstedtMHopkinsLKuppelwieserVG (2014) Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM): An emerging tool in business research. European Business Review26(2): 106–121.
26.
HenselerJRingleCMSarstedtM (2015) A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science43(1): 115–135.
27.
HuLTBentlerPM (1998) Fit indices in covariance structure modeling: Sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification. Psychological Methods3(4): 424–453.
28.
HuangKFDyersonRWuL-YHarindranathG (2015) From temporary competitive advantage to sustainable competitive advantage. British Journal of Management26(4): 617–636.
29.
JacksonN (2018) Organizational Justice in Mergers and Acquisitions: Antecedents and Outcomes. Cham: Springer.
30.
JensenJMOplandRARyanAM (2009) Psychological contracts and counterproductive work behaviors: Employee responses to transactional and relational breach. Journal of Business and Psychology25(4): 555–568.
31.
KarimiKL (2019) Effects of business mergers on employee loyalty in selected companies listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. Global Journal of Management and Business Research1(1): 41–46.
32.
KazíkR (2019) The impact of the corporate culture on the success or the failure of mergers and acquisitions. Acta Academica Karviniensia12(4): 60–70.
33.
KickulJ (2001) When organizations break their promises: Employee reactions to unfair processes and treatment. Journal of Business Ethics29(4): 289–307.
34.
KlendauerRDellerJ (2009) Organizational justice and managerial commitment in corporate mergers. Journal of Managerial Psychology24(1): 29–45.
35.
KraakJMLunardoRHerrbachODurrieuF (2017) Promises to employees matter, self-identity too: Effects of psychological contract breach and older worker identity on violation and turnover intentions. Journal of Business Research70(1): 108–117.
36.
LeeH-WLiuC-H (2009) The relationship among achievement motivation, psychological contract and work attitudes. Social Behavior and Personality37(3): 321–328.
37.
LiLTongWHSChengP (2019) Changes in the incentive contracts of takeover targets after merger failures. Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance. Epub ahead of print 28 February 2019. DOI: 10.1177/0148558X19832484.
38.
LinSHJohnsonRE (2018) Opposing affective and cognitive effects of prevention focus on counterproductive work behavior. Journal of Business and Psychology33(2): 283–296.
39.
LiuCWangLQiR, et al. (2019) Prevalence and associated factors of depression and anxiety among doctoral students: The mediating effect of mentoring relationships on the association between research self-efficacy and depression/anxiety. Psychology Research and Behavior Management12(1): 195–208.
40.
LiuF (2019) Financial risk control and avoidance measures in enterprises mergers and acquisitions. In: The First International Symposium on Management. Beijing: Atlantis Press, pp. 123–126.
41.
LokugeSSederaDGroverVXuD (2019) Organizational readiness for digital innovation: Development and empirical calibration of a construct. Information and Management56(3): 445–461.
42.
MengQWangG (2018) A research on sources of university faculty occupational stress: A Chinese case study. Psychology Research and Behavior Management11: 597–605.
43.
MillwardLJHopkinsLJ (1998) Psychological contracts, organizational and job commitment. Journal of Applied Social Psychology28(16): 1530–1556.
44.
MorrisonEWRobinsonSL (1997) When employees feel betrayed: A model of how psychological contract violation develops. Academy of Management Review22(1): 226–256.
45.
NafeiWA (2013) The effects of organizational cynicism on job attitudes: An empirical study on teaching hospitals in Egypt. International Business Research6(7): 52–69.
46.
NausFVan ItersonARoeR (2007) Organizational cynicism: Extending the exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect model of employees’ responses to adverse conditions in the workplace. Human Relations60(5): 683–718.
47.
NikolaouIVakolaMBourantasD (2011) The role of silence on employees’ attitudes ‘the day after’ a merger. Personnel Review40(6): 723–741.
48.
O’ReillyCChatmanJ (1986) Organizational commitment and psychological attachment: The effects of compliance, identification, and internalization on prosocial behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology71(1): 492–499.
49.
PearceJL (1998) Psychological contracts in organizations: Understanding written and unwritten agreements. Administrative Science Quarterly43(1): 184–186.
50.
PerssonSWasieleskiD (2015) The seasons of the psychological contract: Overcoming the silent transformations of the employer–employee relationship. Human Resource Management Review25(4): 368–383.
51.
PikeB (2017) Mergers: What ethical leaders can do to help ensure success. The Siegel Institue Journal of Applied Ethics4(1): 1–27.
52.
QuratulainSKhanAKCrawshawJR, et al. (2018) A study of employee affective organizational commitment and retention in Pakistan: The roles of psychological contract breach and norms of reciprocity. International Journal of Human Resource Management29(17): 2552–2579.
53.
Randall SchulerSJ (2001) HR issues and activities in mergers and acquisitions. Annales Academiae Medicae Lodzensis19(3): 239–253.
54.
RobinsonSLWolfe MorrisonE (2000) The development of psychological contract breach and violation: A longitudinal study. Journal of organizational Behavior21(5): 525–546.
55.
RousseauDM (1989) Psychological and implied contracts in organizations. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal2(2): 121–139.
56.
SarstedtMRingleCMSmithD, et al. (2014). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM): A useful tool for family business researchers. Journal of Family Business Strategy5(1): 105–115.
57.
ShaheenSBashirSKhanAK (2017) Examining organizational cronyism as an antecedent of workplace deviance in public sector organizations. Public Personnel Management46(3): 308–323.
58.
Shao-PingWMiao-ShengCMou-JianL (2018) Key factors affecting deviant workplace behavior. African Journal of Business Management12(10): 258–266.
59.
ShenYSchaubroeckJMZhaoLWuL (2019) Work group climate and behavioral responses to psychological contract breach. Frontiers in Psychology10(1): 1–13.
60.
SuazoMMMartínezPGSandovalR (2009) Creating psychological and legal contracts through human resource practices: A signaling theory perspective. Human Resource Management Review19(2): 154–166.
61.
SungSYChoiJN (2014) Multiple dimensions of human resource development and organizational performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior35(6): 851–870.
62.
SyedS (2010) Impact of organizational restructuring on psychological contract breach and attitudes of employees working in private commercial banks of Pakistan. Available at: http://essay.utwente.nl/60187/
63.
TianQZhangLZouW (2014) Job insecurity and counterproductive behavior of casino dealers: The mediating role of affective commitment and moderating role of supervisor support. International Journal of Hospitality Management40(1): 29–36.
64.
ToheedHTuriJARamayMI (2019) Exploring the consequences of organizational cynicism. 3(1): 1–7.
65.
WeberYDroriI (2011) Integrating organizational and human behavior perspectives on mergers and acquisitions. International Studies of Management & Organization41(3): 76–95.
WuZWangSZhaoJ, et al. (2014) Synergistic effect on thermal behavior during co-pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass model components blend with bituminous coal. Bioresource Technology169: 220–228.
68.
YangQZhaoXYeungHYJLiuYP (2016) Improving logistics outsourcing performance through transactional and relational mechanisms under transaction uncertainties: Evidence from China. International Journal of Production Economics175(1): 12–23.
69.
ZagenczykTJGibneyRKiewitzCRestubogSLD (2009) Mentors, supervisors and role models: Do they reduce the effects of psychological contract breach?Human Resource Management Journal19(3): 237–259.
70.
Zahra MalikSKhalidN (2016) Psychological contract breach, work engagement and turnover inention: Evidence from banking industry in Pakistan. Pakistan Economic and Social Review54(1): 37–54.
71.
ZhangYRenTLiX (2018) Psychological contract and employee attitudes. Chinese Management Studies13(1): 26–50.
72.
ZhaoHWayneSJGlibkowskiBCBravoJ (2007) The impact of psychological contract breach on work-related outcomes: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology60(3): 647–680.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
