Education, organizational commitment, and rewards within Japanese manufacturing companies in China

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between organizational commitment (OC) and extrinsic, intrinsic, and social rewards, among employees who work for Japanese manufacturing companies in China. Design/methodology/approach: Hierarchical regression analysis was utilized to examine survey data obtained from 27, 854 employees, who work for 64 Japanese manufacturing companies in China. Findings: The findings demonstrate that the variables measuring extrinsic, social, and intrinsic rewards were strongly related to OC, suggesting that the antecedents of OC in Japanese companies are different from those in other kinds of corporations in China and the West. A further comparison between university graduates and other employees showed that for graduates, extrinsic and intrinsic rewards had a stronger influence on OC than social rewards, compared to non-graduates. Research limitations/implications: This study used self-report data from individual respondents, which may have resulted in common method bias. Future research might consider including supervisor-rated scales to strengthen the study design and reduce common method bias. Practical implications – As Japanese companies in China have both Western and Chinese characteristics, they often utilize balanced human resources management (HRM) practices. To enhance their employees’ OC, especially those with less formal education, it is most effective to focus not only on some particular rewards but also on more varieties of rewards. However, balanced HRM may not be equally effective for enhancing the OC of university graduates, who prefer to obtain more extrinsic and intrinsic rewards and fewer social rewards. As Japanese companies are sometimes said to be less attractive workplaces, especially for university graduates, the results of this study could help HR professionals revise their HRM strategies and employ workers who can contribute to their Chinese branches on a long-term basis. Originality/value: This research investigates how employees of Japanese companies in China could have higher OC, by focusing on the difference between university graduates and non-graduates and utilizing a large volume of their opinion data

Organizational commitment, rewards and education in the Philippines

Purpose: The theory of organizational commitment (OC) was originally developed in the context of Western societies. Therefore, its application to a non-Western country may be easier and more successful if that country’s society has been historically influenced by Western cultures. Based on this understanding, this paper aims to investigate the relationship between OC and rewards among employees in one of East Asia’s developing countries most significantly influenced by Western cultures. Design/methodology/approach: Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted using survey data obtained from 2, 363 employees working for 11 Japanese manufacturing companies in the Philippines. Findings – The paper revealed that the variables measuring intrinsic rewards were strongly related to OC than extrinsic and social rewards, suggesting that the antecedents of OC in the Philippines resemble more closely those found in the west than in the east. This tendency was found to be stronger for university graduates, whose OC is influenced more significantly by intrinsic rewards and less by social rewards, compared to that of non-graduates. Research limitations/implications: The major limitation concerns reliability. This study used selfreport data from individual respondents; this may result in common method bias relationships between variables being inflated. Practical implications: The results of this study could support the revision of human resource management practices, enabling workers to contribute to their companies on a long-term basis in countries where Western cultures have influenced employees’ mindsets and attitudes. Originality/value: Intrinsic rewards impact OC more than other rewards in the Philippines due to its history of Westernization and recent industrialization. This research is the first, to the best of the author’s knowledge, to verify this assumption, and should assist managers of companies in the Philippines, and perhaps, in other developing countries influenced by Western cultures, in formulating strategies to foster high levels of OC among their employees

Gender differences in organizational commitment and rewards within Japanese manufacturing companies in China

[Purpose] The purpose of this paper is to investigate gender differences in organizational commitment (OC) and the relationship between OC and rewards among employees who work for Japanese manufacturing companies within China. [Design/methodology/approach] This study utilized hierarchical regression analysis to examine survey data obtained from 27, 854 employees who worked for 64 Japanese manufacturing companies within China. [Findings] The results reveal that autonomy and role clarity had a stronger influence, and co-worker support had a weaker influence, on OC for male employees than for female employees. These differences may be because more male employees than female employees prefer working with higher autonomy and well-defined roles than with co-worker support. After all, male employees, who place a great emphasis on independence, competition, decision-making and challenges, rely on intrinsic rewards more than social rewards. [Research limitations/implications] This study used data collected from Japanese manufacturing companies to understand the differences between OC and rewards in local male and female Chinese employees. We recommend that future research uses other national affiliates to clarify the characteristics of male and female Chinese workers more objectively and to test the validity of this research. [Practical implications] The results of this study support revising human resource management practices within multinational enterprises to enable female and male host-country workers to contribute to their companies on a long-term basis by taking into account the differences between the cultures of the home and host countries. [Originality/value] Although previous research has elucidated the OC–rewards relationship in particular countries, it has not met the requirements of foreign managers from different corporate cultures who face differences in the OC–rewards relationship between their male and female employees. In this sense, this research is the first attempt to tackle this theme and contribute to the literature

Differences in the organizational-commitment–rewards relationship between Chinese managers and Japanese expatriates in manufacturing companies in China

Purpose: As China attracts more and more foreign enterprises today, it is getting more important to consider how to enhance the organizational commitment (OC) of host country employees. This paper aims to examine the differences in the relationship between OC and rewards among Chinese managers and Japanese expatriates who work for Japanese manufacturing companies in China. Design/methodology/approach: Hierarchical regression analysis was used to analyze survey data gathered from 539 Chinese managers and 354 Japanese expatriates working for a total of 19 Japanese manufacturing companies in China. Findings: The findings reveal that, for Chinese managers, role clarity had a stronger influence and autonomy had a weaker influence on OC than for Japanese expatriates. A possible reason is the ethnocentric culture of Japanese companies that leads to Japanese expatriates not sufficiently empowering local human resources. Moreover, there was no difference between senior- and junior-level Chinese managers in the association of any kind of reward with OC. Research limitations/implications: The most significant limitation concerns its generalizability. The authors recommend that future research use other nations' expatriates as reference groups to objectively clarify the characteristics of Chinese workers, thus testing the validity of this research. Practical implications: The results of this research may be used to reshape future human-resource-management practices in several types of the company located in China to facilitate attracting and employing the employees most able to make long-term contributions to the company. Originality/value: Although previous research has elucidated OC–rewards relation in particular countries, it has not met the potential requirements of the expatriates who face the difference in OC–rewards relation with host country national managers. In this sense, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research was the first attempt to tackle this theme by contributing to the literature

The difference and similarity of the organizational commitment–rewards relationship among ethnic groups within Japanese manufacturing companies in Malaysia

Purpose: Growing number of research to identify antecedents of organizational commitment (OC) has been done not only in the West but also in the East including Malaysia because OC is found to be associated with various work-related outcomes. However, to date, the influence of ethnic identity on the OC–rewards relationship was not explored although the leader has to recognize the different cultural underpinnings of each community in a plural society like Malaysia. Therefore, this study investigates the differences in the relationship between rewards and OC between three ethnic groups, Malays, Chinese and Indians, in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach: Hierarchical regression analysis was used to analyze survey data gathered from 12, 076 employees who work for 32 Japanese manufacturing companies located in Malaysia. Findings: The results of the analysis show that satisfaction with the personal evaluation was more associated with OC and role clarity was less associated with OC in Chinese than in other ethnic groups. However, differences were not found in the relationships of other rewards with OC at the 1% significance level. These results indicate that the ethnic difference in the OC–rewards relationship is rather small. Research limitations/implications – The major limitation concerns generalizability. The validity of the current research should be tested by the data of various foreign affiliates located in Malaysia and other multiethnic societies. Practical implications: The results of this study could support the revision of human resource management practices, enabling workers to contribute to their companies on a long-term basis in multi-ethnic countries. Originality/value :Although previous research has elucidated OC–rewards relation in particular countries, it has not met the potential requirements of the managers who face the difference in OC–rewards relation among the employees of different ethnic groups. In this sense, this research was the first attempt to tackle this theme contributing to the literature

Social and psychological resources moderate the relation between anxiety, fatigue, compliance and turnover intention during the COVID-19 pandemic

[Purpose] The workplace health management lessons to be learned from the pandemic are important. However, few studies have examined the relationship between workplace anxiety, resources and behaviors during the pandemic. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the relationship between anxiety, fatigue, compliance, turnover intention and social and psychological resources during the COVID-19 pandemic by applying the conservation of resources (COR) theory. [Design/methodology/approach] The workplace health management lessons to be learned from the pandemic are important. However, few studies have examined the relationship between workplace anxiety, resources and behaviors during the pandemic. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the relationship between anxiety, fatigue, compliance, turnover intention and social and psychological resources during the COVID-19 pandemic by applying the conservation of resources (COR) theory. [Design/methodology/approach Path analysis was carried out using data obtained from a questionnaire survey conducted on 2, 973 Chinese employees of Japanese companies in China. [Findings] The analysis showed that anxiety had a positive correlation with compliance, but simultaneously had a positive correlation with fatigue and turnover intention; psychological resources moderated to weaken the relationships between anxiety and compliance/fatigue; social resources moderated to strengthen the negative correlation between compliance and willingness to leave. [Research limitations/implications] This study targeted employees of Japanese companies in China. Therefore, in the future, it is necessary to verify generalizability as to whether it applies to employees of companies of other nationalities in other countries. Also, the authors used newly developed scales instead of the general psychological scales. Therefore, it is necessary to verify the reproducibility using a more general scale. [Practical implications] Anxiety encourages compliance practices but also increases fatigue and willingness to leave. Therefore, a method of inciting anxiety and making employees follow rules reduces the strength of an organization. To overcome this dilemma, managers need to provide psychological and social resources. [Originality/value] This study is the first to show how effective social and psychological resources are in the management of anxiety and fatigue in achieving high performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was conducted in the very early days of the COVID-19 pandemic with the cooperation of employees working for Japanese companies in China. However, the importance of utilizing resources in a crisis revealed by this study can be applied to all kinds of disasters