Perceived Organizational Support in the Face of Algorithmic Management: A Conceptual Model

Abstract

Organizational support theory proposes that employees develop global beliefs concerning the degree to which an organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being. These beliefs, known as perceived organizational support (POS), are related to a number of positive employee outcomes, including: job satisfaction, work effort, performance, etc. Three categories of POS antecedents have been recognized in the literature: perceived supervisor support; fairness of organizational procedures; and organizational rewards and job conditions. In this paper, we explore these antecedent categories in the gig-work context where organizations replace human managers with algorithmic management practices and data-driven procedures. In doing so, we develop a new conceptual model that centers on the role that a gig-organization’s algorithm plays in engendering POS by promoting perceptions of fairness and support, and by managing the provision of performance-based rewards. Contributions and future research avenues are discussed.