The Relationship Between Psychological Contract Breach, Organizational Identification, and Organizational Agility Among Nursing Faculty Members

Abstract

Psychological contract is defined as the unwritten or hidden agreement between both the employers and the employees to ensure reciprocity and safe productive work environment. The concept of the relationship between Psychological Contract Breach (PCB) as one of many recognized antecedents of organizational identification has been emphasised for years. Organizational Identification (OI) is defined as the extent to which both the organisation and the employee's identities are overlapped. Organizational Identification (OI) has many benefits. For instance, it has a robust effect on the employees' cognitive abilities, attitude, and behavior including their organizational agility and acceptance to the external and internal environmental forces that induce changes rapidly. Organizational agility (OA) requires rapid adaptation of new services, technologies, and personnel in order to react successfully to sudden shifts or changes in the market. Aim: To determine the relationship between Psychological Contract Breach (PCB), Organizational Identification (OI), and Organizational Agility (OA). Design: A descriptive correlational research design is used. Setting: Faculty of Nursing, Damanhur University. Subjects: The study includes all faculty members N=200, (56) academic staff, (85) non-academic (TA and Instructors), and (59) employees. Instrument: A questionnaire of 40 statements on a 5 point-Likert scale to measure (PCB), (OI) and (OA). Results: The highest mean percent score (86.10±12.86) was for Organizational Identification (OI), while the lowest percent score (66.68±12.0) was for overall PCB dimension. Overall PCB has a negative significant correlation with OI where (r=-0.609) and p=<0.001. In relation to OA, it has significant negative correlation with transactional PCB (r=-0.225), relational PCB (r=-0.169), and OI (r=-0.256). Recommendations: 1. To conduct a qualitative study about Psychological Contract Breach in order to generate more information about employees' expectations. 2. To develop a training program for all the Faculty of Nursing staff members, which can enhance their cognitive abilities to be able to respond rapidly to any sudden changes in the market.