How do employees conceptualize fit?: development of a multidimensional measure of subjective person-organization fit

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2007
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Abstract
The primary goal of this research was to obtain a better understanding of how employees experience P-O fit. Specific questions investigated in this research were: (1) How many dimensions are associated with subjective P-O fit? (2) Are the different dimensions related to distinct types of work attitudes and behaviours? And (3) do individual differences moderate the relationship between fit dimensions and work outcomes? Using established psychometric procedures for scale development, three multiphase studies were conducted. In Study 1, an initial pool of items was generated using a variety of techniques including qualitative interviews with employees and traditional deductive approaches. These items were then reviewed for content validity by a panel of subject matter experts. In Study 2, the items were administered to a sample of 196 employed undergraduate students and tested in an exploratory factor analysis for the purpose of initial item reduction and examination of the factor structure. In Study 3, the items were tested on a new sample of 226 employees to confirm the factor structure through structural equation modeling and to examine evidence of construct and predictive validity. The results of these studies showed that there are five distinct dimensions associated with subjective P-O fit: needs-supplies, demands-abilities, supplementary employee, complementary, and supplementary-organization. These factors, which comprised 30 items, demonstrated evidence of content validity, consistent factor structures, and reliabilities above the recommended level for new scales. The scales also showed evidence of both convergent and discriminant validity and correlated well with other variables within the nomological network including job satisfaction, job involvement, perceived organizational support, affective organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behaviour, and job search behaviour. Limited support was found for the hypothesis that individual differences in (a) self-esteem, (b) need motivations, and ( c) self-construal would moderate the relationship between fit perceptions and work outcomes.
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Bibliography: p. 137-159
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Citation
Piasentin, K. A. (2007). How do employees conceptualize fit?: development of a multidimensional measure of subjective person-organization fit (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/903
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