A comparative study of organizational commitment process in the private and public sectors

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to shed light on the motivational process that leads to commitment development in the private and public sectors. It has been suggested that employee’s commitment is mainly predicted by job satisfaction and motivational factors such as internal communication, training, structural empowerment, incentive systems, transformational leadership and person–organization fit.Design/methodology/approachA comparative approach, between a set of private and public organizations, was undertaken. A survey was conducted on two random samples of workers belonging to both types of organizations.FindingsThe findings report a set of similarities and discrepancies between the private and the public organizations in terms of motivational factors that lead to job satisfaction and employees’ commitment.Originality/valueThis research brings additional value to the comparative literature on organizational analysis. It is one of the scarce comparative research in the North African context that deal with motivational factors at private and public workplaces.