Article Review Assignment #2 Cheryl Cheong

1. The variables are Perceived Organizational Support (POS), Perceived Supervisor Support (PSS), organization size, employee tenure, supervisors perceived organizational status, and voluntary employee turnover.

POS is the global perceptions formed by employees regarding the organizations valuation of their contribution and concern for their welfare.

PSS is the general perceptions developed by employees regarding the degree to which supervisors value their contributions and care about their well-being.

Organization size is the number of employees in each organization

Employee tenure is the length of time an employee has worked for the organization.

Supervisors perceived organizational status is the degree to which employees identify the supervisor with the organization.

Voluntary employee turnover is when an employee self-willingly leaves the organization. This could be a result of a better job offer, staff conflict, or the lack of opportunities in career development in the current organization.

2. Organizational Support Theory says that employees form a general perception regarding the extent that the organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being (Eisenberger et al, 1986). This is done so as to determine the organizations willingness to reward increased work effort and meet employees socioemotional needs (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002).

This theory is based on the Social Exchange Theory, which posits that employee and employer relationship are based on reciprocity. If one treats another well, the reciprocity norm obliges the return of favorable treatment. Put into the context of employment, effort and loyalty of employees will be reciprocated if the employer gives tangible benefits and social rewards accordingly (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002).

3. All the studies are nonexperiments.

4. The three criteria for inferring causation include:1) Independent variable (X) is related to the dependent variable (Y).2) X precedes Y.3) Confounds that could account for the relationship between X and Y must be eliminated. Eisenberger et al. (2002) attempt to address the first criteria by calculating the intercorrelations between PSS and POS in Table 1. PSS at time 1 has a correlation value of 0.47 with POS at time 1. PSS at time 2 has a correlation value of 0.55 with POS at time 2. This shows that PSS is related to POS, although the values are only moderately strong. Also, in figure 1, the regression coefficient between PSS and POS is 0.54.

Eisenberger addresses the second criteria by using a longitudinal design to see if PSS at time 1 correlates with POS at time 2. In table 1, PSS at time 1 correlates with POS at time 2 with a value of 0.47. This shows that PSS precedes POS and the inference for causality can be made.

Eisenberger addresses the third criteria by using multiple regression, a statistical technique to assess more than 2 variables at once while controlling the effects of tenure and organizational size. The pathway is shown in figure 1. Tenure was not significantly related to Time 2 PSS (=0.5) or Time 2 POS (=0.01). Organizational size was not significantly related to Time 2 PSS (=0.01) or Time 2 POS(=-0.04). This effectively rules out tenure and organizational size as confounds. However, Eisenbergers treatment is limited as there are still other potential confounds that have been left out of the study. They are union negotiations, governmental health and safety regulations, minimum wage law, and labour laws. (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002).

5. Moderator hypothesis: the relationship between PSS and POS depends on the supervisors perceived informal organizational status. POSPSS

Supervisors perceived informal organizational status

Mediator hypothesis: the effect of PSS on voluntary employee turnover operates through POSVoluntary employee turnoverPOSPSS

6. The first hypothesis is that Withdrawal Behavior (WDB) is negatively related to POS. The second hypothesis is that extra-role behaviors should be positively related to POS. 7a. There was a statistical control used for organization size and employee tenure. Standardized regression coefficients, regression lines, standard hierarchical regression analysis, and hierarchical logistic regression are examples of the statistical controls used in the three studies.

7b. Employee tenure.

8a. PSS and POS have an intercorrelation of 0.60, given that p