Abstract

The present study attempted to (1) identify the contents of psychological contract (PC) in Korean companies, and (2) investigate the effects of the violation of PC on organizational commitment, intention to turn over, and perception of organizational fairness. 27 white collar workers participated in the individual interviews and 165 ones in the survey questionnaire study. It was found that Korean workers had several unique components of PC: In the part of organization obligation, pay parallel to other comparable companies, broad range of fringe benefits, management by positive reward rather than exception, family-like organizational climate and fair performance evaluation and task assignment were identified, while in the part of employee obligation, harmonious interpersonal relations, task-focused support for other members, and employee's self development were included. With regard to position, the higher position employees held, the less perceived violation of organization obligations they tended to experience, whereas there existed no significant difference among the positions in the perceived violation of employee obligation. Organizational commitment, intention to turn over and organizational fairness were significantly related to the violation of organization obligation, but not to that of employee obligation. Finally. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings and several directions for future research were discussed.