- Title
- Mental models of employment and the psychological contracts of Indonesian academics: an exploratory study
- Creator
- Lambey, Linda
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2015
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- This study explored the mental models of employment and the psychological contracts of Indonesian academics. The objectives of this study were to explore the mental models of employment and the psychological contracts, explore the contents of the psychological contracts including the nature of it, with whom it is held and the impact organisational change and the Indonesian context.This study applies a qualitative exploratory approach as the most appropriate methodology that acknowledges context and the “actors” perception of the research phenomena of interest. It consists of in-depth semi-structured face-to-face individual interviews, drawings and their descriptions, as well as the analyses of documents and field notes. The data were collected from academic staff located at three selected public and three private universities in Manado city, the capital city of North Sulawesi province in Indonesia. The study concluded that academics’ mental models of employment and the psychological contracts were shaped by experience and longevity, cultural values, religion and education. The study also highlighted academics’ employment and psychological contracts were significantly impacted by government legislation i.e. Pancasila and the work duties outlined in Main Tasks and Functions or ‘Tugas Pokok dan Fungsi’ (TUPOKSI). There was a belief in long-term employment from which numerous expectations emerge about the nature of the relationship between superior and subordinate. In terms of the nature of psychological contracts, it was found that the elements of psychological contracts of Indonesian are interrelated and interdependent. Transactional outcomes are anticipated from seemingly relational contracts. This study provided new insights into mental models and psychological contracts field of research. Not only does this study strongly support the extant notion that mental models are socially established through experience, religion, socialisation, culture and educational, but it also reveals that formal regulation in Indonesia has a considerable impact on thought process about ‘how things works’. In terms of psychological contracts field, this study found that relational elements of the psychological contracts are leveraged to achieve transactional outcomes. In addition, this study identifies that there should be an individual to establish reciprocal relationship, with whom academics consider best positioned to fulfil the content of their psychological contracts and consider the supervisor as the university’s representative. The findings of the study are beneficial in terms of the lessons learned for managerial practices. They provide useful knowledge and understanding of the sufficient reciprocity in academics’ employment relationships to increase their productivity and commitment which may improve Indonesian universities’ performances as a stated goal of the Indonesian government.
- Subject
- mental models; psychological contracts; employment relationships
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1300077
- Identifier
- uon:20005
- Rights
- Copyright 2015 Linda Lambey
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Abstract | 213 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Thesis | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |