User:Katiejohn/sandbox

project proposal:

Psychological Contract

Team BLANK

Benito Juarez (b_j36)

Lilianna Velazquez (lilianna25)

Andrew Mayer

Natasha Thomas (Natashaliu1993)

Kaitlynn Johnston (Katiejohn)

Summary:

We will be editing and improving the existing page for psychological contract on Wikipedia. The main issue that needs to be fixed is the lack of citations. We will add some additional information to the existing sections that expand the topic and provide more clarity on the history and content of the psychological contract as well as clarifying what it means to breach the psychological contract and the implications of a breach. The final goal of the project is to correct any grammatical errors and present a polished and clear Wikipedia page for the topic with hyperlinks to related Wikipedia pages.

Key Words:

These are the hyperlinks to other Wikipedia pages that are connected to the topic of psychological contract: social exchange theory, industrial relations, Frederick Winslow Taylor, Theory X and Theory Y, Douglas McGregor,

Proposed Revisions
 * 1) Article Overview
 * 2) What are our thoughts on the information presented in the overview at the top of the Wikipedia page? Will we delete information? Add information?
 * 3) Most of the information within the page is useful and will be retained. We are satisfied with the 4 main sections already provided, however it may be possible to add a section for criticism of the concept. This additional section is still under consideration by the group.
 * 4) There are some lengthy direct quotations in the introductory top section that may need to be rewritten in our own words with credit given to the original source.
 * 5) The only information that will be deleted are the sentences under “formation of the psychological contract” the grammar in these two sentences is so poor that it makes little sense.
 * 6) The main problem with the article is the lack of citation. All facts need to be cited properly, all information used must be rewritten in our own language and credit given to the original research to avoid plagiarism. This means we will need to provide citation for the information already found in the article. Our sources probably cover all the facts given here and especially things such as definitions and history will be fairly easy to cite.
 * 7) If we come across information that is not reinforced by our sources then we are unable to determine whether it is accurate or not. Information that cannot be found in our sources, yet is stated within the existing page is contentious and possibly inaccurate. Facts without citation cannot stand and will have to be deleted and replaced with information that does come from a reliable and credited source.
 * 8) How will we approach the use of sources in this section? Will we add sources? Delete those already used? If using/deleting, where and why?
 * 9) Taking a closer look at the article, source #5 is  website link to a paper written entirely in French. This may be valuable information; however, we can’t really know the content without knowing French language. We can ask for Dr. Hank’s opinion on this. The citation is under the section “the employment relationship develops”
 * 10) All other sources appear to be scholarly and will be retained in the article.
 * 11) We will add several of our own sources to provide more in-depth coverage of the article.
 * 12) NOTE: RESEARCH HOW TO CORRECTLY CITE SOURCES ON WIKIPEDIA. Citation format must be uniform
 * 13) Opening section- Kaitlynn
 * 14) Psychological contracts are defined by the relationship between an employer and an employee where there are unwritten mutual expectations for each side.  A contract defined as a philosophy, not a formula or devised plan. Characterizing a psychological contract through qualities like respect, compassion, objectivity,  and trust. (Chapman) Psychological contracts are formed by beliefs about exchange agreements and may arise in a large variety of situations that are not necessary employer-employee. (Rousseau 666) However, it is most significant in its function as defining the workplace relationship between employer and employee. In this capacity, the psychological contract is an essential, yet implicit agreement that defines employer-employee relationships.
 * 15) Things these contracts can cause…
 * 16) Virtuous and vicious circles psychological contracts can cause. Examples…
 * 17) Multiple scholars define the psychological contract as a perceived exchange of agreement between an individual and another party. (Rousseau 665)
 * 18) The psychological contract is a type of social exchange relationship. (Turnley and Feldman 25) Parallels are drawn between the psychological contract and social exchange theory ** because the relationship’s worth is defined through a cost-benefit analysis. (Gautier 151)
 * 19) The implicit nature of the psychological contract makes it difficult to define, although there is some general consensus on its nature. This consensus identifies psychological contracts as “promissory, implicit, reciprocal, perceptual, and based on expectations.” (George 3)
 * 20) These psychological contracts can be impacted by many things like…
 * 21) Mutual or conflicting  morals and values between employer and employee
 * 22) External forces.
 * 23) Nudge theory (expand)
 * 24) Relative forces
 * 25) Adams’ equity theory (expand) (chapman)


 * 1) History- Andrew
 * 2) The pre existing information in this section seems sufficient enough to remain in the article.
 * 3) What will we have to add about this section? Do we need to delete any inaccurate or dated information? Include any new information?
 * 4) What sources will we keep/delete from this section?
 * 5) **Follow the above rules for the following points. Here are some useful starting points that would fit well in this section- Introduction in 1960 by Argyris, follow the development, significance in the workplace
 * 6) The psychological contract came to be identified in 1960 by Argyris as mentioned above. However, only within the last ten to fifteen years has it become more popular and more research been done on the subject. (George 1) As studies in industrial relations developed and grew more complex, it was revealed that employees are more likely to perform better in certain work environments. The early works of Frederick Winslow Taylor** focused on how to enhance worker efficiency. Building upon this, Douglas McGregor ** developed Theory X and Theory Y ** to define two contrasting types of management styles that were each effective in attaining a certain goal. These differing management types hold different psychological contracts between employer and employee, as described in more detail under “formation of the psychological contract.”
 * 7) Works by Denise M. Rousseau (1995) and later went more in-depth on the details and perspectives of the psychological contract (George 2010). Sandra L. Robinson (1996) indicated employees commonly reported a breach of the psychological contract within several years of beginning their position, and that the effects of contract breach negatively effected employee productivity and retention.


 * 1) The Formation of the Contract- Natasha
 * 2) Psychological contract formation is a process whereby both parties develop and refine their mental maps of one another.According to the outline of the phases of psychological contract formation, the contracting process begins before the employment itself, and develops throughout the course of the employment.  As the employment relationship grows the psychological contract also grows and is reinforced over time. (George 19)  However, the psychological contract is effective only if it is consented to on a voluntary basis. (Gautier 152) Gautier also points out that the psychological contract aids in revealing what incentives workers may expect to receive in return for their employment. (Gautier 151)
 * 3) There are two types of contracts depending on the nature; these are relational psychological contracts and transactional psychological contracts. Cite the definitions under Gautier and George. Add the tendencies of relational PC’s to be longer term in nature and transactional to be shorter term. Add to definition of relational PC that in this case, the employer’s commitment is job security while the employee commits organizational loyalty.
 * 4) Transactional psychological contract: focuses more on the explicit elements of the contract without accounting much for intrinsic qualities of workers. These are more common in organizations with authoritative management styles and hierarchal control. (Gautier 151) Transactional contracts are found to be “related to careerism, lack of trust in employer, and greater resistance to change.” (Rousseau 667) They tend to be shorter term in nature. (George 11)
 * 5) Some scholars consider McGregor’s Theory X to be closely related to transactional employer-employee relationships or authoritarian management, which are bound by transactional psychological contracts that aim to keep people working for extrinsic reasons and maintain the status quo. (Gautier 149)
 * 6) Relational psychological contract: stresses interdependence of the organization and level of social exchange. These psychological contracts tend to be longer term in nature. (George 11)
 * 7) McGregor’s Theory Y is seen in participative management that emphasizes leadership and has similarities with relational psychological contracts in their common emphasis on commitment and belief in the intrinsic values of people to want to work for something beyond than monetary reasons. (Gautier 149-150) Relational contracts are found to be associated with trust and increased acceptance of change. (Rousseau 667)
 * 8) Rousseau is credited with outlining these 5 phases of contract formation
 * 9) Pre-employment-  The initial expectations of the employee form through professional norms and societal beliefs that may be influenced by information gathered about the organization and how certain occupations are portrayed by the media.
 * 10) Recruitment- The first instance of two-way communication involving promise exchanges between employer and prospective employee during the recruiting process.
 * 11) Early socialization- Promise exchanges continue with both parties actively continuing their search for information about one another through multiple sources.
 * 12) Later experiences- The promise exchange and search for information processes slow down as the employee is no longer considered new. There may be changes to the psychological contract introduced at this stage.
 * 13) Evaluation- The existing psychological contract is evaluated and possibly revised and it is determined whether revision is needed. Incentives and costs of change impact revision.	 (George 19)


 * 1) The content of psychological contracts varies widely depending on several factors including management style as discussed earlier. It also depends on the type of profession and differs widely based on stage in career; for example, between graduates and managers. (George 2)
 * 2) Transition sentence- the following section looks more closely at the content of the psychological contract and its relationship with workplace relations.

Timetable
 * 1) Stages in Career Development- Lilianna
 * 2) The psychological contract changes over time. The Wikipedia article mentions that there is a career path followed by employees that involves revised psychological contracts, but does not go into specifics about what this entails in different stages. Since an employee’s level of work changes as they advance in their career, the psychological contract that was established when they first began their career changes, too. As an employee is promoted throughout their career they expect more from their psychological contract because they are putting more of themselves into their work. Each stage of a career creates another editing process to the contract. The stages include apprentice, colleague, mentor, sponsor, exploration, establishment, maintenance,and disengagement (Low et al., 1464-1471).
 * 3) Apprentice Stage- Employees are new to the company and are expected to learn what they are supposed to do in this stage under the supervision of people in higher stages. Employees do their best to meet the expectations of the employer.
 * 4) Colleague Stage- Employees in this stage work more independently and handle tasks without supervision. They work harder to prove to the employer they are capable of completing assignments alone.
 * 5) Mentor Stage- Employees in this stage have the ability to oversee apprentices and guide them while also completing their own work.
 * 6) Sponsor Stage- Employees in this stage take on managerial roles and help better the company rather than oversee apprentices like in the mentor stage.
 * 7) Exploration Stage- Employees in this stage are new and have an unclear path in their career and are uncertain if they will stay with the same organization. They search for guidance and motivation from the organization to help them made decisions about their future.
 * 8) Establishment Stage- Employees in this stage want to establish themselves in their organization. Employees want more responsibilities, more opportunities for promotion, and performance-based rewards.
 * 9) Maintenance Stage- Employees in this stage feel as if their role in the organization has reached a stagnation and care to pursue other things in life besides just work.
 * 10) Disengagement Stage- Employees in this stage are nearing the end of their career path. They are close to retiring and take on less work and work at slower paces.
 * 11) Similarities are drawn between the psychological contract and social exchange theory ** in that the relationship’s worth is defined through a cost-benefit analysis. (Gautier 151)
 * 12) The Wikipedia article mentions a “give-and-take” situation that can also be seen in the paper “What’s in it for me? A managerial perspective on the influence of the psychological contract on attitude towards change” by Sjoerd van den Heuvel, René Schalk, Charissa Freese, and Volken Timmerman. Information from this paper can be added to this section to expand on the employee’s attitude toward changes in the company which lead to changes in the psychological contract (van den Heuvel et al,. 2016).
 * 13) This source uses information given from the manager’s perspective instead of the employee’s which is what the majority of the Wikipedia article mentions.
 * 14) Breach- Benito
 * 15) Define breach, what constitutes as a breach, breaches committed by employers and employees
 * 16) The definition of breach is included by the previous authors, as well as what sort of occurrence may cause a breach to occur. While the section seems to include seemingly useful material, there are absolutely no sources included in this section to reinforce the information provided. Because of this, the text of the section must be deleted entirely.
 * 17) A breach is defined as …
 * 18) As touched upon in the definition, a breach may occur when…
 * 19) Consequences for employer contract breaches include …
 * 20) Consequences for employee contract breaches include…
 * 21) Implications of breach, effects on the psychological contract
 * 22) If a breach is occurred, an individual (employee) may respond by…
 * 23) **Benito is responsible for completing this section but still needs to finish researching.
 * 24) Bibliography- Only include sources that are actually used, may or may not be all 5 of the original sources from the annotated bibliography. Can bibliography and references be combined into a single section?
 * 25) References

Annotated bibliography
-Bellou, Victoria. Shaping Psychological Contracts in the Public and Private Sectors: A Human Resources Management Perspective. Vol. 10. Wales: International Public Management Journal, 2007. Ser. 3. Taylor and Frnasis Online. International Public Management Journal, 2007. Web.

This article analyzes results in the impacts that psychological contracts have depending on if an employee works in the public or private sector. This would be very beneficial to our argument, because it can show variances in satisfaction depending on the field in which you work. It often assumed that working in the public sector can be less fulfilling and show more signs of unhappiness in the work life. These studies will help determine whether or not employee/employer relationships can affect the ambition that an employee has for his r her work regardless of the degree, circumstances, or sector in which the job is.

-Chapman, Alan. "The Psychological Contract." , Theory, Diagrams, Definitions, Examples of in Work, Businesses, Organizations and Management. Bussinessballs Corp, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

This article shows insight on the managerial side of psychological contracts, and i find this beneficial to our wikipedia article. This article also highlights the aspects of a psychological contract that make it less of a process and more of a philosophy. This will be a beneficial to our article by debunking common misconceptions of psychological contracts. This makes it possible to more clearly define it so, we can then look at the results more effectively. This article also also discusses the impacts that psychological contracts can have on change in management. This can help us strengthen our argument when discussing loyalties to jobs versus employers.

-Heshmati, Behnam, and Saied Mohamad Musavi Jed. Relationship of Psychological Contract and Employees' Job Engagement (An Investigation of the Millennium Generation and the Impacts of Various Generations). Switzerland: International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 29 Oct. 2015. PDF.

This particular piece cover a completely different culture than the one we are use to dealing with. This article focuses on the impact of psychological contracts at the Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj Branch. It focuses mainly on the impact psychological contracts have on millennials and their dedication and drive toward certain jobs, but also touches on other generations. The results tend to show little to no relationship between psychological contracts and employee engagement. On the generational studies, it shows no difference between generations and dedication to jobs because of psychological contracts. This can add to the wikipedia article because of its sensitivity to cultural and generational research.

-Kladitis, Nektaria. "School of Management University of Surrey." The Psychological Contract and It's Effects on Organizational Citizenship Behavior 1 (2004): 1-42. Academia.edu. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

This article discusses the difference in types of psychological contracts, and the impacts they have on different types of behaviors. This study point points the differences in transactional and relational psychological contracts, and focuses on the impact among organizational citizens. This would greatly improve out wikipedia article because originally the article does not discuss the different types of contracts. It shows results of studies and the impacts transactional and relational psychological contracts have on different organizations and their citizen behavior. It shows the significant difference that is resulted in behaviors from relational rather than transactional contracts. We can use these findings to draw conclusions on which type of psychological contract is more influential in what circumstances.

-Ledwidge, Dorothy. ‘The Psychological Contract in the Public Sector: A Comparative Study of the Dublin Institute of Technology and the National College of Ireland’. Dublin: n.p., 2004. PDF.

This source offers information in how psychological contracts influence the length of a person's stay at one job. Also this article offers insight on the constantly changing impact that psychological contracts have on employees, employers, and company or business and the connections between this and their mental well being. This article shows actual results from experiments that are testing different people and finding the connections between psychological contracts and the impacts. These are based on public institutions so i find that relevant to this class and narrows down the broad scope we will find information about and can benefit our wiki article in that way.

Article evaluation: Psychological contract
Everything is fact checked with a reliable source. However, it seems as if the facts are more vague than needed to be. I became distracted when the topic of the feminization of the workforce. The rest if the points attributed to the article, but I didn't fully understand why they put the point of feminization in. they had no references as to why it was relevant at that moment I the article. It was a slight distraction, but not too much for me to become disinterested. I think that from the limited research I have done so far, that the creation of social contracts is accredited to much to one person. Though Rousseau was a big contributor, I feel that maybe the total credit is not due to just one person.}}