The effects of reshoring decisions on employees

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of company decisions to reshore manufacturing activities on employee citizenship behaviors (OCBs). The research considers both company motives for the reshoring decision perceived by employees and gratitude felt toward the organization as antecedents to OCBs.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a survey based on a sample of employees belonging to an Italian manufacturing company that had implemented a reshoring decision.

Findings

The employee attributions of intrinsic motives for reshoring and gratitude are shown to positively affect OCBs. Specifically, intrinsic motives influence both OCBIs and OCBOs through the mediating role of gratitude felt by employees, whereas extrinsic motives do not affect, directly or indirectly through mediation of gratitude, OCBs.

Practical implications

The research illustrates the importance of managing internal communications to employees of company motives for reshoring, which ultimately affect employee gratitude and OCBs.

Originality/value

The research contributes to the knowledge of the effects of reshoring on employees and their relationships with the firms and co-workers and introduces a new area for inquiry.

Citation

Grappi, S., Romani, S. and Bagozzi, R.P. (2020), "The effects of reshoring decisions on employees", Personnel Review, Vol. 49 No. 6, pp. 1254-1268. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-12-2018-0482