Managing Coworker Assistance Through Organizational Identification

Abstract

This article investigates how different sources of management support promote coworker helping behavior in organizations. We contend that senior management, managers responsible for Human Resource practices, and team leaders contribute to coworker assistance by encouraging employees to identify with the organization. Based on survey evidence drawn from nine Australian (N = 1,349 employees) and six Chinese firms (N = 828 employees), and using structural equation modeling, we show that organizational identification mediates the effects of perceived support from these three sources on coworker assistance. Differences in the strength of relationships between the variables are highlighted and discussed.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This article is partly based on a project funded by the Australian Research Council and the Australian Human Resource Institute. We thank Paul Gollan for his contribution to that project and to Paula Saunders and Suzana Trajkovski for research assistance. Thanks also to Professor Min Li for guiding the data collection and collation process in China.

Notes

¹On account of poor factor loading in both samples, one of the six items in the organizational identification scale was deleted. Reliabilities remained above .8 in both samples.