A Critical Evaluation of the Psychological Contract as a Determiner of Behaviour in Organisations

Abstract

Due to a perpetual increase in globalisation, it has become more significant to hire employees who believe in the corporate mission and values and to incentivise these employees to help the organisation to grow. This leads to the question whether and to which extent organisations can determine the behaviour of employees. One widely known concept of measuring and predicting the psychological satisfaction of members of an organisation is the psychological contract. Therefore, the aim of this research paper is to evaluate the psychological contract as a determiner of behaviour in organisations. In order to conduct this evaluation, different stages of the relationship between employees and organisations are examined. The evaluation of the psychological contract in regards to these different stages has led to the result that the psychological contract determines organisational behaviour though external influences and through internal communication of an organisation. In addition to that, the critical evaluation has shown that the psychological contract continues to be a field of interest in organisations in the future and for prospective examinations.