PhD defense: Horizontal psychological contracts in work groups

On Friday 30 November 2012 Therese E. Sverdrup will hold a trial lecture on a prescribed topic, and defend her thesis for the PhD degree at NHH.

23.11.2012 - Ed.

Employees spend more time with other co-workers than with anyone else at work. However, co-worker relationships have received much less attention in the literature than the hierarchical relationship between an employer and an employee. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a horizontal psychological contract (HPC) perspective that can help inform coworker relationships in organizations and work groups.

In the dissertation Sverdrup explores how psychological contracts between team members can explain why some teams function better than others. The psychological contract concerns the reciprocal obligations and expectations that often are not talked about, but nonetheless influence how we think and act toward each other.

In the dissertation Sverdrup develops an understanding for what is typically included in a psychological contract between team members, and further which psychological contract types that influence cooperation, coordination, commitment, team-viability, and performance.

The teams that cooperate better, are less dependent on their leader for coordination, are more committed, have higher team-viability, and perform better have developed contracts that are both relational- and task-oriented, flexible, strong, and more explicit compared to the less functional teams.

The studies in the dissertation are among the first to provide empirical evidence in support of an HPC perspective. They also show that new insights into group functioning can be gleaned by applying an HPC perspective. Implications for theory and practice are discussed, and avenues for future research are presented.

Therese E. Sverdrup (b. 1974) is from Bergen. She received the cand. polit. degree in psychology from NTNU in 1999. Sverdrup has been a PhD student at NHH's Department of Strategy and management.

Prescribed topic for the trial lecture:
The role of psychological contracts in leadership research

Time of the trial lecture:
11:15 in Karl Borch's Auditorium, NHH

Title of the thesis:
The strength of reciprocity: Exploring horizontal psychological contracts in work groups

Time and place for the defense:
13:15 in Karl Borch's Auditorium, NHH

Members of the evaluation committee:
Professor Marcus Selart, NHH, chair
Professor Rene Schalk, Tilburg University
Lecturer Sara Nadin, The University of Sheffield

Supervising committee:
Professor William Brochs-Haukedal, NHH, principal supervisor
Professor Inger Stensaker, NHH