Needs-Supplies fit and behavioural outcomes: the mediating role of organizational identification.
Purpose:
While it is well known that person-organization fit is an important antecedent of behavioural outcomes
(Hoffman and Woer, 2006), little is known about needs-supplies fit (NS fit) in this relationship.
Indeed, NS fit, which refers to the congruence between the needs and the job characteristics (Kristof-
Brown, Zimmerman and Johnson, 2005), is more strongly related to job-related outcomes, such as job satisfaction, and its relationship with behavioural outcomes is unclear.
Therefore, this study has two main scopes. First, following the new directions about organizational fit theories (Kristof-Brown and Billsberry, 2013), we wanted to understand how NS fit is related to task performance (TP) and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCB). More precisely, because little attention has been paid to the underlying mechanisms linking fit perceptions to these behavioural outcomes (Resick, Giberson, Dickson, Wynne and Bajdo, 2013), we wanted to test the mediating role of organizational identification (OI). In this context, the Cognitive-Affective Personality System theory (Mischel and Shoda, 1995) suggests that OI may plays a mediating role between fit perceptions and behavioural outcomes. According to this theory, if an individual perceives that his environment has personal relevance, a set of cognitive and affective reactions are activated and, in turn, this generates patterns of behaviour. According to Resick et al., (2013), OI is a cognitive mechanism through which fit perceptions are associated with behaviours.
Second, we wanted to extend our knowledge about the three psychological needs (i.e. competence, autonomy and relatedness) highlighted by the Self Determination Theory (SDT, Deci and Ryan, 2000) by presenting specific work-related needs in terms of employment quality. To this end, we followed a subjectivist approach (Brown, Charlwood, Forde and Spencer, 2007) to understand the meaning of needs in this context and to understand how work-related needs fulfilment may results in positive job attitudes. We thus proposed to take into account twelve work-related needs in terms of employment quality (highlighted through a previous qualitative research). We also suggested that a specific NS fit perception (i.e. based on twelve work-related needs) is positively associated with a global NS fit perception (i.e. based on a global job impression).
Design/Methodology/Approach:
To increase our hypotheses’ generalizability, data were collected in two different Belgian companies.
In sample 1, questionnaires were completed online and on-site (through collective sessions) by 525 workers. In sample 2, data were collected online and we have randomly selected 525 respondents from a larger dataset.
We tested our research model using Structural Equation Modelling with Mplus. The indirect effects were tested using bootstrapping technique.
Findings:
Results show that: (a) OI plays a full mediating role between NS fit perceptions and OCB and TP, (b) a specific NS fit perception (i.e. based on twelve work-related needs) is positively related to a global
NS fit perception (i.e. based on a global job perception), suggesting that workers first judge whether their job characteristics fulfilled their specific needs prior having an overall NS fit perception regarding to their job in general.
Limitations:

The two main limitations of this study are: the use of self-reported data (which may lead to common method bias) and the cross-sectional design (which precludes any inference of causality).
Practical implications:
Our results suggest that managers have also to focus on work-related needs fulfilment and not only on good demands-abilities fit for successful job performance. To our opinion, it is thus important for the manager to know one’s team and its specific needs in order to motive workers to engage in OCB and
TP.
References:
Brown, A., Charlwood, A., Forde, C., & Spencer, D. (2007). ‘Job quality and the economics of new labour: a critical appraisal using subjective survey data’, Cambridge Journal of Economics , vol. 31, no. 6, November, pp. 941-971.
Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (2000). ‘The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: human needs and the selfdetermination of behaviour’, Psychological Inquiry , vol. 1, no. 4, November, pp. 227-268.
Hoffman, B.J., & Woehr, D.J. (2006). ‘A quantitative review of the relationship between personorganization fit and behavioural outcomes’, Journal of Vocational Behavior , vol. 68, no. 3, June, pp.
389-399.
Kristof-Brown, A.L., & Billsberry, J (Eds.). (2013). Organizational fit: key issues and new directions .
Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Kristof-Brown, A.L., Zimmerman, R.D. & Johnson, E.D. (2005). ‘Consequences of individuals' fit at work: a meta-analysis of person–job, person–organization, person–group, and person–supervisor fit’,
Personnel Psychology , vol. 58, no. 2, May, pp. 281-342.
Mischel, W, & Shoda, Y. (1995). ‘A cognitive-affective system theory of personality:
Receonceptualizing situations, dispositions, dynamics, and invariance in personality structure’,
Psychological Review , vol. 102, no. 2, April, pp. 246-268.
Resick, C.J., Giberson, T.R., Dickson, M.W., Wynne, K.T., & Badjo, L.M. (2013). ‘Person-
Organization Fit, Organizational Citizenship and Social-Cognitive Motivational Mechanisms’. In
A.L., Kristof-Brown and J. Billsberry (Eds.). Organizational fit: key issues and new directions , (pp.
99-123). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.