Mental Models of Employment and the Psychological Contracts of Indonesian Academics: an Exploratory Study
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MENTAL MODELS OF EMPLOYMENT AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACTS OF INDONESIAN ACADEMICS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY LINDA LAMBEY SE. Ak (Bachelor in Accounting) MBA in Management MA in Economics Grad Cert of Business Research A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Newcastle, Australia March, 2015 DECLARATION This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institutions and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to the final version of my thesis being made available worldwide when deposited in the University’s Digital Repository**, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. **Unless an Embargo has been approved for a determined period. _______________________________________ Linda Lambey March 27, 2015 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to men who enjoy His favour’, I would like to extend my greatest gratitude to God for His blessings and mercy. I wish to thank my supervisors, Dr Jennifer Waterhouse and Dr Brendan Boyle who have provided excellent advice, support and help. My gratitude also goes to Professor David Guest for his valuable comments and inputs during ANZAM Conference 2013. A massive thank you goes to the Directorate General of Indonesian Higher Education (DIKTI), the University of Newcastle and Associate Professor Suzanne Ryan for providing me with scholarships and research funding. In particular, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Dr Marcus Rodrigs, Dr Tod Moore and Dr Jo Hanley for giving me the opportunity to teach their courses throughout these years. My sincere thankfulness goes to Michael Chen, Dunyu Liu and Bronwyn McCredie who helped me to believe in my own potential and voice. My thanks also go to my friends Elni, Selfy, Puritud, Hawzhin, Sarah, Muqqadas, Kumar, Rungnapa, Sidsel, Ly, and my other beloved Indonesian friends who were alongside me throughout this time. My sincere appreciation is extended to Sister Anne and Sister Mary in Saint Patrick’s Church Wallsend for your friendships and continuous prayers, and also to the Ministry in Indonesian Bethel Church Newcastle. Finally, I have to acknowledge a great debt to my wonderful son Bobby, my late parents who had taught me with their values of life and loved me unconditionally, my brothers and their families for their constant prayers, support and love. iii MENTAL MODELS OF EMPLOYMENT AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACTS OF INDONESIAN ACADEMICS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ABSTRACT 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 findings demonstrated that academics had a long working memory of the personal relationship and employment relationships with their supervisors. It also highlighted that cultural value of obedience was in the form of obedience to employers because it was a part of their cultural value to obey employers and or because the obedience to employers was instructed by regulations - TUPOKSI (government requirements on academic work). In addition, religion and beliefs in God influenced academics’ cognitive schemas of their employment relationship by a mutual iv understanding that employees and employers are there to serve God. Finally, education influenced academics’ mental models in relation to how they perceived and understand their employment and the psychological contracts. The study also highlighted academics’ employment and psychological contracts were significantly impacted by government legislation i.e. Pancasila and the work duties outlined in 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. In terms of the content of the psychological contracts, this study found that because of the longevity of the employment relationship, expectations arose about the relationship between employer and employee in that it should be considered to be one of friendship or partnership. The cultural and legal context also gives rise to a hierarchical employment relationship within which agreeableness and harmony are prized. Trust is expected to develop and was identified as a product of the longevity of the employment relationship, and more importantly, it is also created through long term evidence of obedience to rules. Furthermore, four primary reasons were identified to explain with whom academics established their psychological contracts: hierarchical and/or decision- making power, friendship, expertise and agreeableness/harmony of relationship. Finally, the study found that the university system changes may not affect their employment relationships because of academics’ obedience to regulations, good relationships with their supervisors and their faculty’s ability to generate income. Academics believed that their employment relationships would not change as long as they continued to obey the v rules and do their teaching. Management would take care of the changes and that they have faith and trust in their leaders. 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. Finally, this research is the first study to explore the mental models of psychological contracts and the contents of academics’ psychological contracts in Indonesia. 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. vi PRESENTATION AND PAPER RELATED TO THIS THESIS 1. Lambey, L., Waterhouse, J., & Boyle, B. (2013) Understanding Relationships in the Psychological Contracts of Indonesian Academics, Conference Publication, 27th Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM), Hobart, Tasmania, December 4-6, 2013. 2. Lambey, L., Waterhouse, J., & Boyle, B. (2014) Mental Models of Psychological Contracts of Indonesian Academics in changing times, Presented at The Employment Relations (ER) & Human Resource Management (HRM) Group at the University of Newcastle, August 1, 2014. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION………..………………………….………………………….. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………………………….………………………….. iii ABSTRACT………………………………………….………………………… iv PRESENTATION AND PAPER RELATED TO THIS THESIS …………….. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………….………………………… viii LIST OF TABLE…..………………………………….……………………….. xi LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………….…………………….… xii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW…………………….. 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………….. 1 Background to the research…………………………………………….. 1 Conceptual Framework……………………………………………….… 5 Research Design………………………………………………………... 9 Mental Models of employment and the Psychological Contracts……… 12 Psychological Contracts………………………………………………… 13 Discussion, Implications and Conclusions..…….……………………… 15 CHAPTER TWO: CONTEXT…………………………………………………. 19 Introduction…………………………………………………………….. 19 Indonesia at a glance…………..….…………………………………….. 20 Indonesian State Philosophy………………………………………….… 22 Education in Indonesia…………………………………..……….……... 24 Types of Indonesian Higher Education………………………….……… 27 Indonesian Academics’ Career Advancement..………………………… 28 Indonesian Academics’ Main Tasks and