The psychological contract describes the employer-employee relationship as an individualised exchange between organisations and their members. This exchange clearly goes beyond what is usually agreed upon in a written work contract and extends into the area of values such as accountability and fairness. News coverage shows us many examples of how management by objectives and pay for performance are not effective in binding managers and employees to the interests of their employers. This is why psychological contracts are such a relevant issue these days. While existing research shows a positive relationship between unbroken psyc- logical contracts and motivation as well as in-role and extra-role behaviours, there has been little interest in the concept from the perspective of strategic human resource management or leadership research. The research presented by Maida Petersitzke focuses on these issues and thereby makes an important and very valuable contribution. After presenting a well-structured and clearly-written overview of existing research and the theoretical basis of psychological contracts – which has rarely been described in detail – the present research focuses on the following two issues: Maida Petersitzke presents a conceptual framework which affords the description of an organisational exchange offer that is sustainable and tied to the human resource strategy. She also provides an empirical study of leadership behaviours that facilitate a positive perception of the psychological contract by employees and thereby generate employee behaviours in the interest of the organisation.

Foreword by: Prof. Dr. Michel E. Domsch