Organisational commitment in Malaysian public sector

This paper describes a research project that aims to determine the level of civil servants’ organisational commitment and the factors associated with it. The instruments used to measure organisational commitment, empowerment, job characteristics, and organisational communication were adapted from Allen and Meyer (1990), Spreitzer (1995), Hackman and Oldham (1975), and Downs and Hazen (1977). The findings demonstrated that civil servants appeared to have a higher level of affective commitment with mean value of 3.88 compared to continuance 3.58 and normative commitment 2.92. The study also found that civil servants were psychologically empowered in the department with mean value of 3.71, had experienced a variable opportunity in job with mean 3.51 and were reported to be satisfied with the existing communication in the department with mean value of 3.68. Research findings also showed that there is a correlation between organisational commitment (affective, continuance, and normative commitment) with empowerment, job characteristics, and organisational communication variables. The stepwise regression exhibited that empowerment variable is the most dominant predictor of civil servants’ organisational commitment. Meanwhile, organisational communication variable appeared to be the most significant factor to influence civil servants’ affective commitment. Civil servants with continuance commitment were found to be best predicted by empowerment variable. Finally, civil servants with normative commitment tend to be mostly influenced by job characteristics variable

Organisational commitment as a predictor of job satisfaction, employee well being, absenteeism and intention to stay in the New Zealand Aged Care Sector : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

This study, one of the first in the New Zealand aged care sector, examined the predictability of organisational commitment on job satisfaction, employee well being, absenteeism and intention to stay. A composite questionnaire incorporating Allen and Meyer's three component organisational commitment questionnaire (1990) was completed by 124 predominately female aged care employees. The results of the questionnaire were compared with overseas literature and showed that organisational commitment is predictive of employee well being, job satisfaction and intention to stay, although job satisfaction proved to be a more significant predictor of intention to stay. Implications of organisational commitment for aged care employees, aged care organisations and patients are discussed. Directions for future research include a call for more New Zealand studies of organisational commitment in the healthcare professions, and the development of human resource strategies, which are sensitive to differences in organisational commitment in a multi-cultural population

Predicting employees' commitment to and support for organisational change

This study aimed to identify factors that predict employees' commitment to and support for organisational change. The three components of Herscovitch and Meyer's (2002) commitment to organisational change model were hypothesised to mediate the relationship between organisational climate and behavioural support for organisational change. Data were collected from a Queensland government department (N = 342). Analysis of correlations revealed that organisational climate, commitment to change, and behavioural support for change variables were all significantly related. Structural equation modelling demonstrated that affective, normative, and continuance commitment to change were all predictors of behavioural support for organisational change. Positive work climate also contributed directly to the prediction of behavioural support for change over and above the indirect influence through commitment to organisational change, indicating a partial mediation effect. These findings support Herscovitch and Meyer's (2002) three-component model of commitment to organisational change and extend their nomological network by showing the relevance of two types of organisational climate to the core components of the model. Affective commitment to organisational change is a positive influence on employees' behavioural support for change and also reflects healthy aspects of the organisational climate. However, continuance commitment to organisational change is detrimental influence on employees' behavioural support for change and is linked with unhealthy dimensions of the organisational climate

The progress of female police officers?An empirical analysis of organisational commitment and tenure explanations in two UK police forces

Purpose of paper. Although the number of women in UK police forces has grown rapidly, it appears that they continue to be under-represented in senior ranks. This research paper aims to establish empirically whether there is any foundation in the premise that female officers' lesser tenure and or lower levels of commitment than men explain their lack of career progress. Methodology. Using whole population surveys of two county police in the UK we compare the promotion of men and women police officers controlling for tenure. We then compare the organisational commitment of male and female officers and analyse whether female officers experience managerial and organisational influences that undermine their organisational commitment compared to men. Findings. The findings refute some of the widespread beliefs about reasons for female officers’ lack of progress in their policing careers since the analysis indicates that gender differences in length of tenure and organisational commitment can be discounted as possible explanations for lack of advancement in these two police forces. Overall, our results clearly show that female officers are just as committed as male officers and thus cannot be justified as a reason for lack of career progression. Managerial variables were found to be the strongest influence on organisational commitment and it appeared that there was no evidence that management support or organisational support were different for female officers compared to their male colleagues. Research Implications/Limitations. We accept that survey methods such as ours do not capture the entirety of employee feelings and responses since they tend to homogenise male and female working experiences. However, survey methods do have the advantage that it is possible to generalise from the results and thus these two studies allow us to suggest that our findings can be viewed as providing insights to other UK police forces in particular and to the broader field of the antecedents of organisational commitment in general. Practical implications. The relatively low levels of organisational commitment found should be a cause for concern for senior managers in the Police. The key importance that management has in influencing organisational commitment has been shown by our findings and this indicates the importance of the current Police Leadership Development Board’s agenda to improve workforce management skills to encourage transformational leadership styles. Moreover, there clearly remains much to be done to make police HRM policies more effective in achieving equality in promotion opportunities since the data presented shows that women’s careers are lagging behind even when tenure is taken into account. Value and originality of the paper. The paper make an original contribution by refuting widely held assumptions about the reasons for under-representation of female officers in senior ranks. It also contributes to the sparse literature that examines organisational commitment in the police and its antecedents

Analysing employee commitment for the young New Zealand workforce : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Business Studies in Human Resource Management at Massey University, New Zealand

Younger workers are quickly becoming a vital part of our workforce as they are soon to fill a major experience and skill gap brought by the retirement of a large group of experienced employees. Research and popular media suggest that younger workers have different values and attitudes in the workforce compared to older generations, yet there is little empirical research in the area of organisational commitment on younger workers. This knowledge is important as managers and organisations need to understand what values and workforce desires drive young employees to competitively recruit, develop and retain this new workforce to mitigate the imminent retirement of older workers. The purpose of this thesis is to further the understanding of the Millennial and Generation Z cohorts in the workplace by examining their types of organisational commitment when they first begin their careers. 175 young full-time workers in New Zealand aged between 17 and 30 years participated in the thesis and completed an online cross-sectional survey. The survey contained four shortened-versions of scales concerning organisational commitment, managerial trustworthiness, and well-being. Latent profile analysis was used to identify the profiles, of young employees’ organisational commitment. Four organisational commitment profile groups were discovered within the sample population and were labelled as High AC/NC-Dominant, CC-Dominant, AC-Dominant, Low CC-Dominant. Significant differences were found between profile membership and the measures of perceived managerial trustworthiness, psychological well-being at work, and turnover intention. A large majority of the sample population (63.2%) were found to have positive feelings of organisational commitment and had strong positive relationships with perceived trust in management and psychological well-being at work. Turnover intentions were low. Thirty two per cent of the young workers felt trapped within their organisation and had high turnover intentions, but due to the nature of commitment feel unable to leave their organisation. Perceived trust in management and psychological well-being at work were significantly low for this group. There were very few uncommitted employees

Antecedents and Outcomes of Organisational Commitment among Malaysian Engineers

This research explores the major factors that contribute towards Organisational Commitment amongst engineers in Malaysia. It identifies the antecedents of Organisational Commitment and evaluates the impact of Organisational Commitment on Organisational Outcomes. This research project used primary data and the unit of analysis used is individual engineers. The researcher designed a questionnaire to establish that Employee Perception and Personal Characteristics have significant influence on organisational commitment, while Organisational Commitment and Personal Characteristics directly affect Organisational Outcomes. Surveys were distributed to engineers working throughout Malaysia with emphasis on major industrial areas in Selangor, Federal Territory, Johor, Penang, Terengganu, Pahang, Sabah and Sarawak. Data were collected using two methods. Questionnaires were distributed personally to engineers within the Klang Valley vicinity. For the remaining areas, the surveys were mailed to the respondents directly. The findings of the research demonstrate that Employee Perception (via perceived job satisfaction and perceived organisational characteristics) and Attitudinal Characteristic (via race, religion, country of graduation, and academic qualification) enhance organisational commitment through Attitudinal Commitment and Normative Commitment. Organisational Commitment (via Normative Commitment and Continuance Commitment) and Behavioural Characteristic (via age, position, job tenure, and year of service) significantly influence Organisational Outcomes. The study shows that Organisational Commitment is dynamic, relevant, and important for an organisation's survival. However, this study also suggests that high Organisational Commitment can lead to high absenteeism and lower productivity, due to higher work stress. The results also imply that, Organisational Commitment is influenced by engineers' beliefs and values, while Organisational Outcomes are influenced by monetary rewards

A Practitioner’s Approach to Drucker’s Knowledge - Worker Productivity in the 21st Century: A New Model (Part One)

This article examines productivity in the context of the 21st century, focusing on Drucker’s prophecy of knowledge-worker productivity, the power of ‘unified strategy’, organisational interdependence and a practitioner’s approach to knowledge-worker productivity based on Drucker’s six determining factors. From these six factors, a nine building-block based questionnaire survey is developed to establish knowledge-worker productivity readiness status; a knowledge-worker review session to plan towards organisational interdependence and a Drucker-based knowledge-worker productivity implementation framework to manage organisational change. This proposal, intended for business organisations, should also accommodate non-business organisations. Knowledge-worker productivity practice is designed to improve productivity, the quality of work, empowers knowledge workers to accomplish their ‘tasks’ and, consequently, the ‘organisation tasks’ by following an organisational ‘unified strategy’ in an interdependent way that brings about a doing the right thing, the right way approach. This article provides answers to ‘what and how organisations can do to enhance productivity’ from their knowledge-workers, to embrace creativity and develop innovation to provide strategic advantage in sustaining growth in the current new economy of global competition. Team commitment is envisaged through the concept of organisational interdependence. In conclusion, a Drucker-based knowledge-worker productivity implementation framework is proposed, as a management practice to enhance knowledge worker productivity for creativity and commitment. It further demonstrates its competitive power by achieving a unified strategy with implication for organisational change and future applications.knowledge worker; creativity; commitment; productivity; change management; organisational interdependence; unified strategy.

Organisational commitment among software developers

If software developers are to be taken as prototypes of the new knowledge worker, we need look no further for working hypotheses about their attachment to their work and their employing organization than those contained in the human resource management agenda. For the diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as the supposed base of the knowledge economy has been synchronous with the launch and promotion of human resource management (HRM) as the new orthodoxy in employment practice and many of the assumptions and values within each model are shared. Indeed, HRM is often portrayed as if it were in some way a reflection of the shift to non-adversarial work relationships in the new information-based service society (Baldry 2003)

Headmaster’s Transformational Leadership and Teacher’s Organisational Commitment in Primary School

The study aimed to explore the level of headmaster’s transformational leadership/the level of teachers/organizational commitment and the relationship between headmaster’s leadership style and the organisational commitment of primary school teachers in Beaufort, Sabah, Malaysia. The model of transformational leadership developed by Bass (1985) and the organisational commitment model which was developed by Meyer and Allen (1991) served as the theoretical framework for the study. The transformational leadership classified into inspirational motivation intellectual stimulation and individual consideration. The organisational commitment on the other hand divided into affective commitment; continuance commitment and normative commitment. Data was obtained from 130 Beauforts, primary schools teachers. The research only dealt with Grade A schools. Two questionnaires were used as the main instrument; Alimo-Metcalfe’s (2001) Transformational Leadership Questionnaire (TLQ) which consisted of 21 items and Meyer and Aliens (1997) Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ)/ which consisted of 18 items. Data was analysed with SPSS for windows version 15.0. An average positive relationship between headmaster’s inspirational motivation and teacher’s organisational commitment was found. As perceived by the teachers/ the level of headmaster’s transformational leadership in Beaufort, was high in most schools. The research also indicated that the level of teacher’s organisational commitment was average. This research also suggested numbers of ways to improve teacher’s organisational commitment