Levels, processes, and social-issues in organizations: Integrative introduction

Social issues have always been a central subject in organizational life (Lukaszewski and Stone, 2012). Nevertheless, the last decade has seen a growing awareness of its centrality. For instance, Journal of Managerial Psychology published various Special Issues dedicated to job loss (Issue No. 8, 2012); facilitating age diversity in organizations (Issue Nos 7/8, 2013); ethnic privilege and power at work (Issue No. 4, 2014). Studying social issues as an important part of organizational life should be analyzed through three different perspectives: level, process, and topics. At the individual level, theory, and research focussed on subjects such as perceptions (Rosopa et al., 2013), attitudes (Ajzen, 2012), and behaviors (Moore et al., 2012). At the group level, theory, and research focussed on subjects such as group climate (Rupp and Paddock, 2010), shared perceptions (Li et al., 2009), level of trust (Fulmer and Gelfand, 2012). At the organizational level, various cultures become a main issue of investigation (Gelfand et al., 2012). For instance, Van Vianen et al. (2011) studied 48 work units in order to investigate whether and how climate strength and quality are related to employee commitment above and beyond individual climate perceptions.