Table 1. Mapping themes to research... | Emerald Publishing

Table 1.

Mapping themes to research questions and theoretical contributions

Theme	Primary RQ addressed	Secondary RQs	Theoretical mechanism(s)	Key empirical contribution
Theme 1: Performance Appraisal Paradox	RQ1: How does meta-communication influence employee decision-making?	RQ2: Role of informal management communication	Psychological contract breach through rhetoric-reality gaps; meta-communication via contradictory signals	Reveals how contradictions between organizational rhetoric and enacted practices trigger sophisticated navigation strategies, forcing employees to allocate effort toward relationship management rather than productive work
Theme 2: Social Capital Networks	RQ3: How do employee social networks influence decision-making?	RQ1: Meta-communication influence mechanisms	Social capital as collective intelligence system; network validation and amplification	Demonstrates that networks function not merely as information sources but as quality control systems for organizational communications, often carrying more credibility than formal channels
Theme 3: Multi-layered Communication	RQ4: How do employees interpret perceived promises?	RQ2: Informal management communication role	Meta-communicative decoding strategies; pattern recognition across appraisal cycles	Identifies specific interpretive strategies employees develop: tracking promise-keeping patterns, linguistic analysis for credibility markers, comparative analysis using network intelligence
Theme 4: The Unwritten Contract	RQ2: Role of informal management communications in shaping perceptions	RQ1, RQ4: Meta-communication influence and promise interpretation	Accommodation provision as meta-communicative signal; power dynamics in psychological contracts	Reveals systematic accommodation withdrawal patterns as powerful meta-communication about conditional organizational acceptance, influencing all employees’ trust decisions
Cross-Theme integration	All RQs synthesized	–	Compound effects across all Three theories: Network amplification of psychological contract breaches; collective intelligence as organizational communication quality control; temporal accumulation creating “meta-communicative memory"	Demonstrates that meta-communicative processes operate systemically rather than discretely, creating multiplicative rather than additive effects on employee decision-making, through creating meta-communicative memory with feedback loops generating self-reinforcing cycles of trust or cynicism

Theme	Primary RQ addressed	Secondary RQs	Theoretical mechanism(s)	Key empirical contribution
Theme 1: Performance Appraisal Paradox	RQ1: How does meta-communication influence employee decision-making?	RQ2: Role of informal management communication	Psychological contract breach through rhetoric-reality gaps; meta-communication via contradictory signals	Reveals how contradictions between organizational rhetoric and enacted practices trigger sophisticated navigation strategies, forcing employees to allocate effort toward relationship management rather than productive work
Theme 2: Social Capital Networks	RQ3: How do employee social networks influence decision-making?	RQ1: Meta-communication influence mechanisms	Social capital as collective intelligence system; network validation and amplification	Demonstrates that networks function not merely as information sources but as quality control systems for organizational communications, often carrying more credibility than formal channels
Theme 3: Multi-layered Communication	RQ4: How do employees interpret perceived promises?	RQ2: Informal management communication role	Meta-communicative decoding strategies; pattern recognition across appraisal cycles	Identifies specific interpretive strategies employees develop: tracking promise-keeping patterns, linguistic analysis for credibility markers, comparative analysis using network intelligence
Theme 4: The Unwritten Contract	RQ2: Role of informal management communications in shaping perceptions	RQ1, RQ4: Meta-communication influence and promise interpretation	Accommodation provision as meta-communicative signal; power dynamics in psychological contracts	Reveals systematic accommodation withdrawal patterns as powerful meta-communication about conditional organizational acceptance, influencing all employees’ trust decisions
Cross-Theme integration	All RQs synthesized	–	Compound effects across all Three theories: Network amplification of psychological contract breaches; collective intelligence as organizational communication quality control; temporal accumulation creating “meta-communicative memory"	Demonstrates that meta-communicative processes operate systemically rather than discretely, creating multiplicative rather than additive effects on employee decision-making, through creating meta-communicative memory with feedback loops generating self-reinforcing cycles of trust or cynicism

Source(s): Authors’ own work