Understanding the Negotiation and Performance Effects of Idiosyncratic Deals

A growing body of research has sought to illuminate our understanding of the negotiation and implementation of idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) as an adaptive HR response to the changing needs and expectations of employees. Contributing to this research stream, this study uses multi-source and multi-wave data obtained from customer contact employees and their supervisors from manufacturing and service organizations in China to examine a cross-level model of the antecedents and outcomes of i-deals. Results of multilevel path analysis reveal that both employee approach motive and supervisor interpersonal competence relate to i-deals. However, high-commitment HR system moderates the relationship between supervisor interpersonal competence (but not employee approach motive) and i-deals such that this relationship is stronger when high-commitment HR system is high but not low. Additionally, i-deals relate to service creativity but indirectly through personal learning suggesting a potential human capital (relative to the predominantly motivational) explanation of the performance implications of i-deals.