New developments in the employee-organization relationship

Greater understanding of the relationship between an employee and his/her employing organization has been the goal of organizational behaviour scholars for decades. Many questions have remained unanswered, and with this view in mind, the articles in this special issue examined the employee-organization relationship (EOR) from multiple perspectives. These articles provided considerable support for social exchange as a basis for understanding the EOR in diverse cultures, for different work arrangements and at the individual, dyadic, and organizational levels of analysis. Furthermore, several articles provided empirical evidence as to the boundary conditions of social exchange as a framework for understanding the EOR. Both conceptual and empirical articles examined distinctions and similarities among exchange related constructs. This special issue extends current thinking on the employment relationship by examining the role of culture and sense making in the formation of the EOR; the value of cognitive processes in the revision and evaluation of the EOR and; the contribution of the employer's perspective to the EOR. Future research should build on this work by focusing more attention on aspects of the context as well as individual differences that may influence EORs. Finally, the employer's perspective warrants greater attention conceptually and empirically to further our understanding of the EOR as a two-way exchange. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.