Impact of interpersonal influences on Employee engagement and Psychological contract: Effects of guanxi, wasta, jeitinho, blat and pulling strings

TL;DR

This paper explores how interpersonal influences like Guanxi, Wasta, and favoritism affect employee engagement and psychological contracts across different cultures, using qualitative analysis and predictive modeling.

Contribution

It introduces a conceptual model linking interpersonal influences to employee engagement and psychological contracts, incorporating cross-cultural perspectives and social exchange theory.

Findings

Interpersonal influences significantly impact employee engagement.

Cultural differences shape the nature of interpersonal influences.

The model predicts relationships between influences and employee outcomes.

Abstract

This study puts forward a conceptual model linking interpersonal influences' impact on Employee Engagement, Psychological contracts, and Human Resource Practices. It builds on human and social capital, as well as the social exchange theory (SET), projecting how interpersonal influences can impact the psychological contract (PC) and employee engagement (EE) of employees. This research analyzes the interpersonal influences of Wasta in the Middle East, Guanxi in China, Jeitinho in Brazil, Blat in Russia, and Pulling Strings in England. Interpersonal influences draw upon nepotism, favoritism, and corruption in organizations in many countries. This paper draws on the qualitative methods of analyzing previous theories. It uses the Model Paper method of predicting relationships by examining the question of how do interpersonal influences impact employee engagement and psychological contract?. It is vital to track the effects of interpersonal influences on PC and EE, acknowledging that the employer can either empower or disengage our human capital.