Differentiation in perceived organizational support and knowledge sharing of outsourced employees – a cross-hierarchy moderating model
| Date | 01 October 2024 |
| Pages | 1648-1665 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-01-2024-0004 |
| Published date | 01 October 2024 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Chuanyan Qin,Pengcheng Wang,Shanshi Liu |
Differentiation in perceived
organizational support and
knowledge sharing of outsourced
employees – a cross-hierarchy
moderating model
Chuanyan Qin
School of Medical Business, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University,
Guangzhou, China
Pengcheng Wang
School of Business, Guangxi University, Nanning, China, and
Shanshi Liu
School of Business Administration, South China University of Technology,
Guangzhou, China
Abstract
Purpose –Outsourcing has become a crucial avenue for companies to acquire external knowledge. To better
understand how dual organizational supports influence the knowledge sharing behavior of outsourced
employees within triangular employment relationships, grounded in social exchange theory, this study
explores the effect and mechanism of differentiation in perceived organizational support (DPOS) on
knowledge sharing of outsourced employees.
Design/methodology/approach –A two-wave survey was conducted to test the hypotheses, and data were
collected from 271 outsourced employees and their leaders (from client organizations) in 52
interorganizational teams.
Findings –Results show that DPOS positively affect the knowledge sharing of outsourced employees and
has a stronger predictive value than that of client organizational support. Outsourced employees’
psychological ownership to the interorganizational team mediates this relationship. Task interdependence
plays a positive cross-hierarchy moderating role in the relationship between DPOS and psychological
ownership to the interorganizational team.
Practical implications –This research provides practical advice for support strategies of client and
supplier organizations.
Originality/value –Results provide further understanding for outsourced employees’ psychological and
behavioral mode in triangular employment contexts.
Keywords Triangular employment relationships, Differentiation in perceived organizational support,
Social exchange theory, Psychological ownership to the interorganizational team, Knowledge sharing
Paper type Research paper
ER
46,8
1648
Funding: This work was supported by the Guangdong Philosophy and Social Science Foundation
Project [Grant No. GD24XGL025]; the Department of Education of Guangdong Province [Grant No.
2023WTSCX039]; Guangxi Human Resources and Social Security Department [Grant No. GXRS-2024-
404]; Guangxi Education Department’s Youth Capacity Enhancement Project [Grant No. 2023KY0002];
the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant No. 71832003]; National Natural Science
Foundation of Youth [Grant No. 72002072; 71902046] and Key Research Base of Humanities and Social
Sciences in Guangxi Universities and the project of Guangxi Development Strategy Institute [Grant No.
2024GDSIYB16].
Disclosure statement: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Data availability statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the
corresponding author, Pengcheng Wang, upon reasonable request.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 2 January 2024
Revised 6 June 2024
9 August 2024
Accepted 27 August 2024
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 46 No. 8, 2024
pp. 1648-1665
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-01-2024-0004
Introduction
With the opening of organizational boundaries, using externalized labor has become a key
strategy for enterprises to address the scarcity of specialized knowledge and respond quickly
to market changes (Deborah and Schmieder, 2017). Among various forms of externalized
employment, interorganizational teams are temporary multi-organizational cooperative
arrangements aimed at achieving project goals (Donati et al., 2020;Wang et al., 2024). The
formation of interorganizational teams involves transferring employees with specialized
knowledge and skills from supplier organizations to the client organization’s workplace,
where they collaborate with client organization employees to achieve the client
organization’s project goals (Qin et al., 2023). Outsourced employees are generally
recognized as an important source for client organizations to acquire external knowledge
and address their own knowledge gaps (Panticdragisic and S€
oderlund, 2020). Therefore,
promoting knowledge sharing among outsourced employees is crucial for client
organizations, as it not only contributes to the completion of project goals but also helps
address knowledge and capability gaps.
Outsourced employees sign labor contracts with the supplier organization but work at the
client organization, thereby forming a triangular employment relationship among the three
parties (Buch et al., 2010;Coyle-Shapiro et al., 2006). How to promote knowledge sharing from
outsourced employees to formal employees in this context remains to be explored. However,
current research on knowledge sharing is primarily conducted within single organizations or
team contexts (Wang and Noe, 2010). On the other hand, the tendency towards high power
distance and uncertainty avoidance in East Asian culture leads people to seek stable jobs and
higher social status (Qian et al., 2020), and the experience of being an outsourced employee
can negatively impact their attitudes and behaviors in the workplace. Therefore, promoting
outsourced employees’ knowledge sharing in interorganizational teams in China presents a
greater challenge.
Organizational support is considered a key factor influencing knowledge sharing (Yang
et al., 2020;Cicellin et al., 2022). In the unique context of triangular employment, outsourced
employees can receive support from both client and supplier organizations. Existing
research has compared the separate effects, interactions and combined effects of these two
types of organizational support (Buch et al., 2010;Wang et al., 2023), but the results are
inconsistent. Some studies suggest mutual enhancement between the two types of support
(Buch et al., 2010;Martini et al., 2019), while others find differing effects (Wang et al., 2023).
Recently, Wang et al. (2024) proposed capturing the combined effects of dual organizational
support from a differentiation perspective, introducing the concept of differentiation in
perceived organizational support (DPOS) as “The relative degree of outsourced employee’s
perception of support from the client organization exceeds that from the supplier
organization in triangular employment relationships” (Wang et al., 2024). This perspective
offers a novel approach for comprehensively evaluating dual organizational support.
However, further exploration is needed to understand how DPOS affects outsourced
employees’ knowledge sharing.
Based on social exchange theory, this study constructs a theoretical model wherein
DPOS affects the knowledge sharing of outsourced employees. According to social
exchange theory, the outcomes of exchange relationships may depend on previous
exchanges (Coyle-Shapiro and Conway, 2004). Buch (2015) also argues that considering the
interactions of complex exchange relationships can better predict the behavior of
outsourced employees under triangular relationships. Therefore, we posit that outsourced
employees’ knowledge sharing depends not only on the level of support from the client
organization but also on the complex interaction between this support and that from the
supplier organization.
Employee
Relations: The
International
Journal
1649
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