Can agency theory disclose organizational commitment? Exploring employees and agency workers

Abstract

In the 21st century, dispatching human resources is an important means by which an enterprise is able to maintain a flexible workforce and reduce cost. By taking advantage of human resources dispatching, the user company can acurtail employment costs and risks, and be more responsive to uncertainty in the changing environment. However, human resources dispatching has the inherent risk that talents will not be retained for the enterprise's operation. Thus, such temporary employment should be used with caution. This study explores the enterprise's (user company) use of traditional employment and human resources dispatching (using full-time employees and agency workers) from an agency perspective, and considers the relationship between agency problems and cost. This study also seeks to explore whether different employment relationships between full-time employees and agency workers entail different organizational commitments. Our propositions are that (a) full-time employees have stronger affective commitment than do agency workers, (b) agency workers relate more strongly to normative commitment than do full-time employees, and (c) full-time employees and agency workers are equally strong in continuance commitment. On this basis, this study sets out the managerial implications of human resources dispatching and recommends that the organizational commitment of agency workers be considered for future management of human resources dispatching. In this way, enterprises can pursue cost saving and flexible employment more effectively.