Impact of an organization identity intervention on employees\u27 organizational commitment

This project examined the impacts of an organization identity intervention on workers’ commitment during large-scale transformational change at a financial services company. A 21-member information technology team was recruited for the study. Commitment was measured using a quantitative instrument and the events and data collected during the identity intervention were described. Participants generally enjoyed the intervention, although team members grew increasingly negative over the course of the event due to past experiences with similar interventions. Commitment was consistent across both groups and remained unchanged across the study period. The study organization is advised to assure that its leaders support and are prepared to respond to the results of any interventions conducted and take measures to nurture participants’ existing affective commitment. Continued research is needed to evaluate the impacts of the identity intervention on commitment. Such studies are advised to utilize a larger sample and to measure organizational commitment using mixed methods

Exploring the Ethical Dimensions of Public Service

Interest in ethical issues faced by government officials dates back at least to Plato’s “Republic,” and ethics can be considered so salient that some public administration scholars have gone as far as to define it as “the most important public policy” (Maletz and Herbel 2000). The three chapters of my dissertation have the overall aim of contributing to our understanding of ethics in public administration and, more specifically, within complex public organizations. To do so, after an exercise of stocktaking and systematization of what we know (Chapter 1), my work investigates critical questions on ethics in the empirical context of healthcare organizations (Chapters 2 and 3). In Chapter 1, I systematically review 160 articles from six top-ranked journals discussing ethics in public administration scholarship, thus illuminating ethical issues and dynamics emerging at different levels of public administration life. Furthermore, I offer a three-pronged classification of ethics in public administration that allows organizing ethical issues at the institutional, managerial, and individual levels. Results suggest that dilemmas and challenges arise from conflicting interests and values inside and between levels. Moreover, this chapter highlights the importance of including a level that has remained fairly overlooked by previous studies, i.e., the managerial level. I posit that recognizing and addressing the ethical dilemmas experienced at the managerial level may have positive spillovers on individuals and communities. Therefore, in the second and third chapters, I explore ethical issues characterizing the decision-making processes of public managers, as well as the strategies through which public managers pursue their core mandate in contexts replete with dilemmas. In Chapter 2, I explore the ethical dilemmas experienced in decision-making processes by public health managers when confronted with trade-offs between individual patients’ interests and the community interest in public health. Through a sequential mixed methods design, the chapter aims at understanding how healthcare managers perceive such ethical dilemmas and the relative importance of different factors influencing their preferences. Findings show that health managers’ experience of a health emergency is characterized by negative emotions and difficulty balancing their responsibilities as clinicians and their duties as managers. Chapter 3 explores the implementation of the contentious policy issue of voluntary termination of pregnancy in Italy, characterized by conflicting although legitimate interests. On the one hand, the woman has the legitimate interest to request the interruption of her pregnancy; on the other hand, the legitimate right to conscientiously object to providing this service is granted to gynecologists and other health professionals. Conscientious objection has divisive consequences on the workplace collective. Owing to societal developments such as value pluralism and professionalism, as well as to advancements in biotechnology, this provision is likely to spread across policy domains and countries. Yet, little is known about the role of managers in orchestrating the delivery of public services that trigger an ethical division in the workplace, such as elective abortion. This is exactly the focus of this chapter, which builds on studies on conflicting values and ethical dilemmas in public services, as well as on the notion of ‘dirty work.’ Through a qualitative research design based on semi-structured interviews, our findings illuminate strategies through which managers ensure service delivery with a divided workforce by attending to the ethical dilemmas in their discursive, structural, and organizational strategies

Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction Among Staff of Higher Learning Education Institutions in Kelantan

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between components of organizational commitment and job satisfaction among employee at Higher Learning Education Institutions in Kelantan. Therefore this study could make important contribution to extant research in management and organizational behavior. In the beginning of this study, the purpose, research question, and the need for the study is given. Then, literature is discussed about organizational commitment and job satisfaction that focusing on the relationship between them. The study generated a 96.3 percent response rate from 300 respondents. The result showed that affective, continuance and normative commitment that was not found to have significant positive relationship with job satisfaction

Organisational commitment and job satisfaction in higher educational institutions: the Kenyan case.

Research on organisational commitment has gained momentum over the last two decades because of its association with positive work practices. As organisations undertake restructuring measures to maintain a leaner workforce, employee commitment to the organisation has now become more critical than ever. The main objectives of this research are: (a) to establish whether Meyer and Allen’s multidimensional organisational commitment is applicable to a Kenyan setting; (b) to determine whether there are any sector (i.e. public and private) and occupational group (i.e. academic and administrative) differences in the levels organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions; and (c) to examine the extent to which demographic characteristics, professional commitment, job and role-related factors, and HRM practices influenced organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions among employees in public and private universities. This study was motivated by the state of Kenyan universities, particularly public universities as centres of excellence which are responsible for the development of human resources required for national development. Over the last two decades, public universities have been facing a myriad of problems which have affected their ability to motivate and retain their employees. This has been as a result of the general state of economic decline the country has been experiencing since the late 1980s. Consequently, facilities are rundown, students’ unrest on the increase while employees are dissatisfied because of various monetary and non-monetary factors resulting in high turnover rates among academics while those who have remained are actively involved in moonlighting activities to supplement their income. The declining conditions in public universities have pushed private universities from the periphery to the forefront. Although, they offer market-oriented courses, their dependence on tuition fees as their main source of funding has made them unaffordable to ordinary Kenyans, thus raising concerns about equity in these institutions. The data for this study was collected using questionnaires from 829 academic and 785 administrative employees from three public and three private universities, with a response rate of 54% (446 academic employees) and 62% (486 administrative employees) after data screening. The data was analysed using statistical package (SPSS). In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted from 15 academic and administrative employees with the aim of validating the data collected from the questionnaires. The findings indicated that Meyer and Allen’s multidimensional organisational commitment was applicable in the Kenyan context. Secondly, the independent variables (i.e. personal characteristics, job and role-related factors, professional commitment and HR practices) were stronger predictors of organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions for academics than for the administrative employees. Thirdly, employees from private universities were more committed to their universities and satisfied with their jobs than employees from public universities. Finally, age, education, professional commitment, role overload, supervisory support, job security, promotional opportunities, distributive justice and participation in decision making were the most important predictors of organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions among employees in Kenyan universities. These results are significant for theory, policy and practice. In light of the applicability of the multidimensional organisational commitment to the Kenyan context, university managers should try to understand and establish work-related practices which are likely to enhance the most ‘desirable’ component of commitment

Strategic Assessment of Organizational Commitment

The concept of organizational commitment has been widely studied over recent decades, yet it remains one of the most challenging concepts in organizational research. While commitment is understood to be highly valuable in today’s dynamic business environment, its multifaceted nature is not necessarily understood adequately. The purpose of this study was to examine the concept of organizational commitment and its measurement issues within organizations, and to develop a practical evaluation tool for management, which is based on previous scientific research. First, a theoretical framework discussing organizational commitment and engagement was established. Based on the literature research, three ontologies were developed addressing organizational commitment and engagement, as well as academic engagement. The ontologies were constructed as a synthesis of existing theories. With the help of the ontologies and the created evaluation system, it is possible to better understand these concepts, gain a collective view of the organization’s current state and vision for the future, and to open a dialogue between members of the organization regarding their development. The results of the empirical case studies are presented at the end of this thesis, as well as in the attached research papers. The empirical results indicate that, by using these applications, it is possible to gain insights about the respondents’ feelings and aspirations, which can be used to support effective decision-making and as the basis for creating development actions within the organization.Organisaatiositoutumisen käsitettä on tutkittu laajasti kuluneiden vuosikymmenten aikana, kuitenkin se on edelleen yksi organisaatiotutkimuksen haastavimmista käsitteistä. Sitoutuminen on laajalti ymmärretty erittäin tärkeäksi tämän päivän liiketoimintaympäristössä mutta sen moniulotteista luonnetta ei yrityksissä ole välttämättä ymmärretty riittävästi. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tarkastella organisatorisen sitoutumisen käsitettä ja sen mittaamisen ongelmallisuutta sekä kehittää aikaisempaan tieteelliseen tutkimukseen perustuva käytännön sovellus sitoutumisen tason määrittämiseksi. Tutkimuksen ensimmäisessä osassa laadittiin organisaatioon sitoutumista käsittelevä teoreettinen viitekehys, jonka perusteella kehitettiin kolme ontologiaa. Ontologiat käsittelevät organisaation sitoutumista eri näkökulmista sekä opiskelijoiden akateemista sitoutumista. Ontologioiden sekä laaditun arviointijärjestelmän avulla on mahdollista ymmärtää sitoutumiseen liittyviä käsitteitä, saada yhteinen näkemys organisaation nykytilasta ja tulevaisuuden näkemyksestä sekä löytää mahdollisia kehityskohteita. Empiiristen case-tutkimusten tuloksia on esitetty tämän työn loppuosassa sekä liitteenä olevissa tutkimusartikkeleissa. Tulokset osoittavat, että laadittujen sovellusten avulla on mahdollista saada tietoa vastaajien tuntemuksista ja pyrkimyksistä. Tätä tietoa voidaan hyödyntää päätöksenteon tukena sekä perustana kehitystoimien luomiselle.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

The Relationship Between Instructional Leadership and Organizational Commitment of Teachers

The purpose of this study was to determine if principal instructional leadership practices are related to elementary teachers’ organizational commitment. Quantitative data were collected through an online survey from kindergarten through fifth grade teachers in a southern state. The survey respondents were full time regular education classroom teachers who had been teaching for at least one year under their current principal. There were 182 respondents who completed the entire survey and whose data were statistically analyzed. The 75 survey questions that were statistically analyzed measured teacher’s perceptions of principal instructional leadership and self-reported organizational commitment of teachers with a Likert scale, as well as demographic variables. There were three hypotheses tested, with three hypotheses rejected. All responses were anonymous. Conclusions drawn were (a) teachers rated principals highest on the instructional leadership function of framing and communicating school goals, (b) teachers reported greater levels of organizational commitment when principals communicated school goals, and (c) years of teaching experience, school context, school size, or grade level teaching did not affect organizational commitment of teachers. School leaders can benefit from the data by developing a better understanding of what instructional leadership practices influence teachers’ organizational commitment

COMMITMENT OF TEACHERS IN TIMES OF EDUCATIONAL CHANGE: THE CASE OF GOVERNMENT SCHOOL TEACHERS IN AL AIN CITY

Interest in teacher commitment is growing as a critical factor for the future success of education and schools. Committed teachers play a significant role in improving students’ achievement and positively building their identities. Teacher commitment is an essential consideration, particularly in times of change. This research is concerned with the topic of teacher commitment in Al Ain schools, Abu Dhabi. The objectives of this dissertation explored teachers’ levels of commitment during times of change in the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) and related variables that could increase or decrease their commitment. This study utilized a quantitative research methodology. A survey for determining teachers’ levels of commitment was conducted with a conveniently-selected sample of teachers in Al Ain government schools from all school cycles (Grades 1-12) and kindergarten schools. Results revealed several statistical relationships between teachers’ commitment in ADEK schools and teachers’ demographic variables. The study identified the levels of teachers’ commitment and how change influences teachers’ commitment which could help policymakers understand the context of change and the nature of teachers’ work and their attitudes and behaviors during these times. The findings also can assist decision-makers in implementing policies to increase teachers’ commitment by focusing efforts on the identified demographic variables from the used prediction model that can increase teachers’ commitment in times of reform and change

The improbable commitment: organizational commitment amongst South African knowledge workers

Knowledge workers, who typically enjoy global labour mobility, are considered critical to economic growth in developing countries. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the organizational commitment of South African knowledge workers, a commitment widely considered both improbable and unobtainable. In this study, a critical review of the organizational commitment literature, to ascertain its psychometric applicability to knowledge workers in South Africa, uncovered an unsystematic and fragmented body of research that has been imperfectly integrated in previous research models. A new definition of organizational commitment is therefore developed to account for current contextual complexities and theoretical advances in commitment research (e.g. multiple foci, variable duration, and changing intensities). A mixed-method research design was used in all stages of the investigation. To establish the construct validity and practical validity of the organizational commitment construct, a multidisciplinary explanatory model was developed based on the extant literature and focus group discussions with knowledge workers. To test the proposed model, a self-administered survey questionnaire was developed. A total of 637 usable questionnaires from knowledge workers employed in the accounting and information technology occupations in both the public and private sector were analysed using a variety of statistical techniques, primarily hierarchical regression analysis and structural equation modelling. Particular care was taken that appropriate and strict statistical criteria guided the analyses. The survey results were then presented to focus groups for discussion. The results clearly evidence the widely accepted three-component structure of organizational commitment but provide new insight into the nature of the relationship between the commitment components. The veracity of a multiple foci approach is demonstrated and interaction effects between commitment bases and commitment foci are examined. The results are mixed concerning the proposed model, which required revision after the psychometric analyses. Overall, however, the results are both surprising and encouraging. Surprising given the evidence of high levels of organizational commitment amongst knowledge workers, and encouraging given the amount of variance explained in salient organizational outcomes such as turnover intentions (37%) and boosting behaviour (24%). Analysis per employment sector showed no overall effect of sector in the regression models but further analyses showed different patterns of significant antecedents amongst knowledge workers employed in the public and private sectors. The empirical findings and theoretical position of this study challenge prevailing assumptions about the organizational commitment of knowledge workers and provide refreshment to both scholars and practitioners faced with the development of new management approaches and insights

Influence Of Corporate Social Responsibility As Perceived By Salespeople On Their Ethical Behaviour, Attitudes And Their Turnover Intentions

The ethical behavior of salespeople has become a tremendous challenge in the business world. While a great majority of big companies communicate about their Corporate Social Responsibility, this study shows for the first time that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has no influence upon the ethical behavior of salespeople. However, it demonstrates that a reputation associated with CSR can be a precious management tool that can be used to act upon salespeople’s satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intentions. More specifically, CSR policies, as perceived by salespeople, increase their satisfaction level which, in turn, decreases their turnover intention. Likewise, CSR policies, as perceived by salespeople, increase their organizational commitment, which, in turn, contributes to decrease their turnover intention. In addition, this study provides avenues to explore regarding the tools influencing the ethical behavior of salespeople. The answers of 197 salespeople were collected using an innovative recruitment method with high potentialities - social networks

Values Congruence and Organizational Commitment Among The Multiple Generations In The Workforce: Toward A Better Understanding Of Generational Differences

The Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Millennial generations comprise the majority of the current United States workforce. Because of the predominance of these three cohorts, there is a substantial body of research that addresses their generational differences. Recent studies advocate a need to reconsider generational [age-based] cohort a priori assumptions and build a stronger theoretical foundation to support the generational differences phenomenon. This study examines generational differences through the lens of a conceptual framework that consists of Generation, Person-Organization fit, and Organizational Commitment theoretical constructs. A cross-sectional, stratified sample of United States employees (N = 360) was collected in order to examine generational differences. Employee tenure served as a moderating variable. The findings indicate a significant, positive relationship between Person-Organization fit and Organizational Commitment within each of the three generational cohorts. The findings also show that higher tenure increased the strength of the Person-Organization fit – Organizational Commitment relationship for the Generation X and Millennial cohorts. However, Baby Boomer higher tenure did not increase the strength of that relationship. Finally, this study found values congruence perception homogeneity among the three generational cohorts. The findings support a growing trend in the literature to revisit assumed age-based generational cohort differences in the workforce. The findings also indicate that future generations research can benefit from balancing age-based cohort inferences with increased consideration for additional variables (e.g. gender, career stage, life stage, job status). Finally, the findings provide additional support of scholars who have called for a greater reliance on the theoretical underpinnings that support the generational differences phenomenon