Higher Levels Of Organizational Commitment Research Articles

The Impact of Punishment and Rehabilitation Views on Organizational Commitment Among Correctional Staff: A Preliminary Study

It has been long recognized that organizational commitment is an important component of effective organizations. It has, however, received relatively little attention in the correctional literature. Furthermore, much of the research to date on correctional orientation has focused on examining how various forces affect the punishment and rehabilitation views of correctional employees, but ignored how these views affect employees’ organizational commitment. Using a data set collected from 272 staff members at a Midwestern, high security state prison, this study examined the impact of punishment and rehabilitation views on organizational commitment. It was found that support for rehabilitation was associated with higher levels of organizational commitment while support for punishment was related with lower levels of organizational commitment.

Job satisfaction and its related factors: A questionnaire survey of hospital nurses in Mainland China

Background The widespread nursing shortage is of concern in Mainland China and globally. Factors underpinning the increased mobility of the nursing workforce and their contribution to nurses’ turnover thus merit attention. Understanding nurses’ job satisfaction is important, as this is a key factor in nurses’ turnover. Objective The study aimed to explore nurses’ views and experience regarding different components of their working lives in Mainland China. Methods A cross-sectional survey design was selected and 512 nurses working in the medical and surgical departments in two teaching hospitals in Beijing completed questionnaires yielding a response rate of 81%. Results More than half of nurses (53.7%; n=275) were satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs and 15% ( n=77) felt moderate to extreme occupational stress. The majority of the sample reported a high level of organizational commitment (63.7%; n=326) and professional commitment (85.9%; n=440) and only 5.9% ( n=30) and 10.0% ( n=51), respectively reported role conflict and role ambiguity often or very often. Nurses with a diploma or associate degree reported greater professional commitment and a lower level of role conflict than those with a bachelor degree ( p<0.05), but there were no significant differences in job satisfaction, organizational commitment, occupational stress and role ambiguity by educational programme ( p>0.05). Conclusions Hospital nurses’ positive feelings regarding their working lives may be influenced by developments in the health care system and the nursing profession in Mainland China. Nurses’ educational level is an influencing factor on nurses’ views and experiences of their working lives with the findings suggesting the need to develop a clinical career ladder for nursing staff in Mainland China.

Transformational and Transactional Leadership: Association With Attitudes Toward Evidence-Based Practice

Leadership in organizations is important in shaping workers' perceptions, responses to organizational change, and acceptance of innovations, such as evidence-based practices. Transformational leadership inspires and motivates followers, whereas transactional leadership is based more on reinforcement and exchanges. Studies have shown that in youth and family service organizations, mental health providers' attitudes toward adopting an evidence-based practice are associated with organizational context and individual provider differences. The purpose of this study was to expand these findings by examining the association between leadership and mental health providers' attitudes toward adopting evidence-based practice. Participants were 303 public-sector mental health service clinicians and case managers from 49 programs who were providing mental health services to children, adolescents, and their families. Data were gathered on providers' characteristics, attitudes toward evidence-based practices, and perceptions of their supervisors' leadership behaviors. Zero-order correlations and multilevel regression analyses were conducted that controlled for effects of service providers' characteristics. Both transformational and transactional leadership were positively associated with providers' having more positive attitudes toward adoption of evidence-based practice, and transformational leadership was negatively associated with providers' perception of difference between the providers' current practice and evidence-based practice. Mental health service organizations may benefit from improving transformational and transactional supervisory leadership skills in preparation for implementing evidence-based practices.

Organization communication, job stress, organizational commitment, and job performance of accounting professionals in Taiwan and America

PurposeTo further understand the impact of organizational communication and commitment on job stress and performance. Over the past 20 years, the constructs of organizational commitment and communication have been studied extensively but little attention has been paid to the relationship between them and other organizational variables such as job performance and stress. Also, differences between employees either in managerial or full time accounting positions and between respondents from the USA and Taiwan were evaluated.Design/methodology/approachDifferences and relationships were assessed using standardized and valid instruments measuring four organizational variables in Taiwan and the USA.FindingsNo country level difference in stress and communication levels were found but organizational commitment and performance levels were higher in the USA. At the same time, higher levels of organizational communication led to higher levels of organizational commitment and job performance in both countries. Rather surprisingly, stress levels were not found to be related to either organizational communication or job performance. Further, the only measure that indicated a difference between those in managerial and full time accounting positions was work performance which was higher for those doing full time accounting.Practical implicationsThe results are discussed in terms of their importance and implications for organizations, particularly those utilizing employees with professional training and operating in different cultures. The finding that stress levels were not reduced by increased organizational communication and had little impact on job performance suggests that in the accounting field stress may play a different role than it does in other professions.Originality/valueFurthers our understanding on the impact of organizational communication and commitment on job stress and performance.

Spiritual leadership and army transformation: Theory, measurement, and establishing a baseline

Spiritual leadership theory (SLT) is a causal leadership theory for organizational transformation designed to create an intrinsically motivated, learning organization. Spiritual leadership comprises the values, attitudes, and behaviors required to intrinsically motivate one's self and others in order to have a sense of spiritual survival through calling and membership—i.e., they experience meaning in their lives, have a sense of making a difference, and feel understood and appreciated. The effect of spiritual leadership in establishing this sense of leader and follower spiritual survival is to create value congruence across the strategic, empowered team, and individual levels to, ultimately, foster higher levels of organizational commitment, productivity, and employee well-being. The primary purpose of this research is to test the SLT causal model that hypothesizes positive relationships among the qualities of spiritual leadership, spiritual survival, and organizational productivity and commitment using longitudinal data from a newly formed Apache Longbow helicopter attack squadron at Ft. Hood, Texas. The results provide strong initial support for SLT and its measures. A methodology was developed for establishing a baseline for future organizational development interventions as well as an action agenda for future research on spiritual leadership in general and Army training and development in particular. We conclude that spiritual leadership theory offers promise as a springboard for a new paradigm for leadership theory, research, and practice given that it (1) incorporates and extends transformational and charismatic theories as well as ethics- and values-based theories (e.g., authentic and servant leadership) and (2) avoids the pitfalls of measurement model misspecification.

Predictors of Organizational Commitment Among Staff in Assisted Living

This study examines the role of organizational culture, job satisfaction, and sociodemographic characteristics as predictors of organizational commitment among staff in assisted living. It is particularly important to examine organizational commitment, because of its close links to staff turnover. Data were collected from 317 staff members in 61 facilities, using self-administered questionnaires. The facilities were selected from licensed assisted living programs and were stratified into small, traditional, and new-model homes. Staff questionnaires were distributed by a researcher during 1-day visits to each facility. Organizational commitment was measured by the extent of staff identification, involvement, and loyalty to the organization. Organizational culture, job satisfaction, and education were strong predictors of commitment, together explaining 58% of the total variance in the dependent variable. Higher levels of organizational commitment were associated with more favorable staff perceptions of organizational culture and greater job satisfaction. In addition, more educated staff members tended to report higher levels of organizational commitment. Other than education, sociodemographic characteristics failed to account for a significant amount of variance in organizational commitment. Because job satisfaction and organizational culture were strong predictors of commitment, interventions aimed at increasing job satisfaction and creating an organizational culture that values and respects staff members could be most effective in producing higher levels of organizational commitment.

SOURCES OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT: THE EFFECTS OF INTERNAL LABOR MARKETS AND WORKER VALUES

Data from the 1991 General Social Survey and National Organizations Survey are used to assess how organizational commitment is structured by one “demand side,” organizational-based factor, firm internal labor markets, and one “supply side,” individual-based factor, the values/preferences of workers. Findings indicate that organizational commitment is best explained by the joint influence of these two factors rather than by their independent effects. Specifically, firms with internal labor markets are conducive to the development of high levels of organizational commitment to the extent that what they offer, namely, opportunities for career-status and long-term employment “fit” what workers desire: job security and possibilities for promotion with their current employer. We offer directions for future research that may shed additional light on the manner in which internal labor markets and the values/preferences of workers may structure organizational commitment.

The barrier effect of conflict with superiors in the relationship between employee empowerment and organizational commitment

The author proposes the idea that conflict with superiors has a barrier effect in the positive relationship between employee empowerment and organizational commitment. Superiors with higher authority rankings set and pursue organizational goals and values to which employees with lower authority rankings are expected to become committed. Conflicts with those superiors may hinder empowered employees to develop or maintain high levels of organizational commitment. A questionnaire survey among 91 secondary school teachers in The Netherlands provides empirical support for this suggestion. The moderator effect of conflict with superiors that was proposed and found in this study suggests that psychological empowerment in the workplace interacts with other employee experiences in its effects on an employee's commitment to the organization.

Toward a theory of spiritual leadership

A causal theory of spiritual leadership is developed within an intrinsic motivation model that incorporates vision, hope/faith, and altruistic love, theories of workplace spirituality, and spiritual survival. The purpose of spiritual leadership is to create vision and value congruence across the strategic, empowered team, and individual levels and, ultimately, to foster higher levels of organizational commitment and productivity. I first examine leadership as motivation to change and review motivation-based leadership theories. Second, I note the accelerating call for spirituality in the workplace, describe the universal human need for spiritual survival through calling and membership, and distinguish between religion and spirituality. Next, I introduce a generic definition of God as a higher power with a continuum upon which humanistic, theistic, and pantheistic definitions of God can be placed. I also review religious- and ethics-and-values-based leadership theories and conclude that, to motivate followers, leaders must get in touch with their core values and communicate them to followers through vision and personal actions to create a sense of spiritual survival through calling and membership. I then argue that spiritual leadership theory is not only inclusive of other major extant motivation-based theories of leadership, but that it is also more conceptually distinct, parsimonious, and less conceptually confounded. And, by incorporating calling and membership as two key follower needs for spiritual survival, spiritual leadership theory is inclusive of the religious- and ethics and values-based approaches to leadership. Finally, the process of organizational development and transformation through spiritual leadership is discussed. Suggestions for future research are offered.

Ethics Code Awareness, Perceived Ethical Values, and Organizational Commitment

This study examines the relationships among ethics code awareness, perceived corporate ethical values, and organizational commitment. Three key findings emerged. First, those aware of the existence of an ethics code in their organizations perceived their organizations as having more ethical values than those not aware of an ethics code in their organizations. Second, respondents exhibited higher levels of organizational commitment when they were aware of an ethics code in their companies. Finally, the relationship between ethics code awareness and organizational commitment was fully mediated by perceptions of an organization’s ethical values. The results suggest that ethics codes may lead to higher levels of organizational commitment by increasing the belief that their organizations have strong ethical values, as long as the existence of ethics codes are adequately communicated.

A Contextual Analysis of Organizational Commitment

The structural transformation of American organizations has had a tremendous impact on organizational human resource practices, particularly on employer-employee relationships. In this paper I analyzed how different organizational structures affect the organizational commitment of employees at different occupational ranks. Using data from the 1991 General Social Survey (GSS), I found that the occupational effect on organizational commitment, in which higher ranking employees demonstrate greater commitment than do lower ranking employees, is contingent on organizational structure. On the one hand, highly bureaucratized organizations produce a commitment gap: Managers have a higher organizational commitment than do workers. On the other hand, organizations with many high-performance work practices elicit high levels of organizational commitment from workers but relatively low levels of commitment from managers. I discuss the theoretical implications of these empirical findings.

Employee Benefits Cost Control Strategies in Municipal Government

Employee benefits are a key component of local government compensation systems. Global economic, social, demographic, and technological changes are transforming the nature of work, necessitating innovation in employee benefits practices (Fredericksen & Soden, 1998). There has been a dramatic proliferation in employee benefits, increasing both the cost and importance of the overall benefits package (Bergmann, Bergmann, & Grahn, 1994; Durst, 1998). The major objectives of this research effort are to identify and categorize the benefits cost control strategies used by a national sample of municipal governments and to gauge their impacts on the provision of an effective benefits package. Employee benefits constitute an increasing share of total compensation costs. The percentage of compensation expenditures devoted to benefits grew from 3% in 1929 to approximately 30% by the midl990s (Bergmann et al., 1994; Fredericksen & Soden, 1998; McDonnell et al., 1997). Concurrent with the elevation in total benefits costs is the enhanced significance that employees attach to the benefits package when choosing jobs (Bond, Galinsky, & Swanberg, 1998). Research indicates that employee benefits satisfaction is linked with more effective staffing, lower absenteeism, reduced turnover, and higher levels of organizational commitment, among other positive outcomes (Durst, 1998; Williams, 1995). To remain competitive, public sector organizations must not only maintain an attractive, traditional benefits package consisting of health insurance and pension coverage but also offer selected family-friendly benefits to accommodate changing employee needs as a result of changing employee demographics, family structures, and lifestyles (Bond et al., 1998). Municipal governments customarily provide very competitive and generous traditional benefits, providing pensions and health insurance coverage for no or small employee contributions (Moulder & Hall, 1995; Strieb, 1996). The liberal vacation,

An Examination of Behavioral Families of Organizational Withdrawal in Volunteer Workers and Paid Employees

The general behavioral families of job withdrawal and work withdrawal were examined in volunteer workers and paid employees working within the same organization. Volunteer workers exhibited lower levels of both job withdrawal and work withdrawal than paid employees, and only slightly higher levels of organizational commitment than paid employees. Hierarchical regression results indicated that although the same variables predicted job withdrawal and work withdrawal for both types of workers, different variables predicted each withdrawal construct. Implications for the study of volunteer workers and paid employees in organizations are discussed.

Antecedents and consequences of parental purchase decision involvement in youth sport

Previous work in youth sport has shown that parents typically make the initial choice to enroll their child in a sport program. This study examines antecedents and consequences of parents’ psychological involvement in the decision to purchase a sport experience for their child. A sample of 157 parents whose children were enrolled in soccer programs in a metropolitan suburb was surveyed. Parents completed measures of purchase decision involvement, concern about adult imposition in youth sport, their value for potential benefits of youth sport, their satisfaction with the program they had chosen, and their commitment to the child's sport organization. Data were modeled by means of LISREL. An initial model predicted that higher levels of concern for adult imposition and a higher value for the benefits of youth sport would yield higher parental purchase decision involvement. The model also predicted that higher purchase decision involvement and higher satisfaction would yield higher levels of organizational commitment. Subsequent analysis indicated that higher purchase decision involvement also leads to higher satisfaction. The final model, which included this path, fit the data well. Implications for the design of youth sport programs and for future research are discussed.

Relationships of gender, family responsibility and flexible work hours to organizational commitment and job satisfaction

Psychological contract theory (Rousseau, 1995) suggests that women and those with family responsibilities may negotiate new psychological contracts that include family-responsive benefits such as flexible work hours. Relationships of gender, family responsibility, and flexible work hours to organizational commitment and job satisfaction were examined among 160 matched male and female managers in a cross-organizational study. Results revealed that women who perceived their organizations offered flexible work hours reported higher levels of organizational commitment and job satisfaction than women who did not. Also, flexible work hours were related to higher organizational commitment and job satisfaction for those having family responsibilities. Implications of these results for future research and organizational policy are discussed. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Effects of Understaffing on Individual and Group Performance in Professional and Trade Occupations

Drawing on prior research on staffing sufficiency theory, we hypothesized that individuals working in understaffed groups would experience higher levels of perceived task scope and utilization of skills, and that these task perceptions would lead to higher levels of organizational commitment and work performance. Data were gathered from 684 workers from 160 blue-collar groups and 55 white-collar groups. Our path analyses indicated that moderate levels of understaffing were associated with higher levels of task perceptions and commitment for both blue-collar and white-collar individuals. But only for the white-collar sample did task perceptions, in turn, lead to higher performance. At the group level of analysis, however, understaffing was associated with lower levels of group performance. We suggest that these findings have important implications for organizations and departments that are considering structural downsizing.

The effects of understaffing on individual and group performance in professional and trade occupations

Drawing on prior research on staffing sufficiency theory, we hypothesized that individuals working in understaffed groups would experience higher levels of perceived task scope and utilization of skills, and that these task perceptions would lead to higher levels of organizational commitment and work performance. Data were gathered from 684 workers from 160 blue-collar groups and 55 whitecollar groups. Our path analyses indicated that moderate levels of understaffing were associated with higher levels of task perceptions and commitment for both blue-collar and white-collar individuals. But only for the white-collar sample did task perceptions, in turn, lead to higher performance. At the group level of analysis, however, understaffing was associated with lower levels of group performance. We suggest that these findings have important implications for organizations and departments that are considering structural downsizing.

Assessing the Effects of Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction on Turnover: An Event History Approach

Turnover among correctional workers creates persistent staffing problems for correctional administrators. The present research examines the effects of two types of subjective measurement of the work environment, job satisfaction and organizational commitment, which are often thought to be related to turnover. The study examines two separate aspects of organizational commitment: commitment to the overall organization and commitment to the specific institution. It is expected that both aspects of organizational commitment should have a greater effect on turnover than does job satisfaction. It is further hypothesized that commitment to the organization, in this case the Bureau of Prisons, should have a greater impact on turnover than does institutional commitment. The data for the study come from a subsample (N = 3,608) of the 1991 Prison Social Climate Survey administered annually since 1988 to employees of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The Climate data are supplemented with data from the Bureau's personnel database. The richness of the combined data sources allows for controlling relevant variables related in prior research to turnover. Discrete-time event history models are used to analyze the data. The analysis confirms that the measures of organizational commitment exert an inverse relationship with turnover. That is, higher levels of organizational commitment are associated with lower levels of turnover. The effects of the measures of organizational commitment are also greater than those of job satisfaction, which actually turn out to be nonsignificant. However, both measures of organizational commitment exert about equal influence on turnover, with commitment to the Bureau of Prisons only slightly stronger.

Multiple correlates of burnout in child care workers

The goal of this study was to examine, in consort, a variety of factors which have either been previously associated with burnout or which, for theoretical and empirical reasons, would be expected to be associated with burnout. Subjects included 188 child care workers from licensed child care centers in predominantly rural areas of Pennsylvania. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to assess the extent to which personality (neuroticism, extraversion), background characteristics (education/training, work experience), and perceptions of the work setting (work role conflict, work role ambiguity, organizational commitment, job satisfaction) were associated with three facets of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment). The results indicate that neuroticism, work role conflict, and work role ambiguity were positively associated with higher levels of burnout as measured by all three facets. Higher levels of organizational commitment were significantly associated with less emotional exhaustion and greater personal accomplishment. Those reporting better supervisor and co-worker relations as well as more autonomy at work reported significantly lower levels of depersonalization. Those with more education/training and work experience reported significantly higher levels of personal accomplishment.

A Study of Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction Among Air Force Occupational Therapy Officers

The purpose of this study is to describe the levels of organizational commitment and job satisfaction found in Air Force occupational therapy officers assigned to the Biomedical Sciences Corps. A questionnaire was mailed to 27 eligible active duty Air Force occupational therapy officers. Of the 23 surveys returned, 22 were usable, an 82% response rate. The occupational therapy officer's demographic characteristics are detailed for all officers and then by company and field grade respondents. Results indicate that these officers have moderately high levels of organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Analyses of the results suggest that field grade officers express more organizational commitment than company grade officers. Both company grade and field grade officers display the same level of job satisfaction. Upon closer scrutiny, though, company grade officers are found to be more satisfied with promotions and rewards gained from their jobs. Field grade officers express higher levels of satisfaction with pay, supervision, and relationship with coworkers.