Ressourcen und Risiken im Umgang mit der Arbeitsplatzunsicherheit: Eine Untersuchung des Effekts von Konflikttypen, dem Führungsstil und dem chronischen Regulationsfokus auf den Zusammenhang zwischen der Arbeitsplatzunsicherheit und erfolgsrelevanten Einstellungen und Verhaltensweisen von Mitarbeitenden in der schweizerischen MEM-Industrie

Today's world of work is characterised by significant economic, political and technological changes. An increasing number of people are faced with insecure employment relationships, while companies increasingly rely on employees who work for their companies beyond what is required and contribute to competitiveness with their innovative strength. The main objective of the present study was to identify practical implications that can represent a resource in times of increased job insecurity in order to mitigate the negative impact on employee attitudes and behaviours that are relevant for success. The overall objective was achieved by means of a qualitative preliminary study and a quantitative main study. The investigation was carried out in companies within the Swiss engineering, electrical and metal industries. First, a qualitative preliminary study was used to identify attitudes and behaviours relevant for success as well as possible resources that are of major importance to the research field. This was followed by a quantitative main study in which the assumptions from the preliminary study were examined. The results of the analysis show that teams' innovativeness, organisational commitment and retaliatory behaviour have emerged as relevant to success. Conflict types, regulatory focus and a transformational leadership style were able to be identified as possible resources. The quantitative results further show that conflicts can represent both a resource and a risk, depending on whether they relate to the person as such or to the task. Here, it is not only cognitive conflicts that develop one’s positive impact. Emotional conflicts can also be considered a resource when they relate to the task and not the person. In addition, focus on prevention shows a strengthening of the relationships between job insecurity and attitudes and behaviours that are relevant to success, which is to be classed as negative, while a focus on promotion reveals positive impacts. With regard to transformational leadership style, facilitation is mostly insignificant; to be classed as positive, a transformational leadership style shows only a weakening of the connection between job insecurity and retaliatory behaviour. After a discussion of the results, the study ends with implications for future research and practice.