Abstract

Purpose Idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) are designed to benefit both the employees and employers. While plenty of previous studies uncover the outcomes of i-deals, little research has explored what drives organizations to adopt i-deals in the first place. Drawing on transaction cost economics theory, this paper aims to investigate how employee–employer exchange characteristics affect different types of i-deals. Design/methodology/approach Based on a two-wave questionnaire study of 385 employees from information technology industry in China, hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses. Findings The authors found that human asset specificity and task interdependence are positively related to developmental i-deals, and task interdependence was negatively related to flexible i-deals. Furthermore, environmental uncertainty positively moderates the impact of human asset specificity and task interdependence on developmental i-deals. Originality/value This paper contributes to research on i-deals by providing a theoretically more comprehensive and balanced analysis of why and when i-deals are adopted in organizations.