Organizational Commitment
Introduction
Organizational behavior and psychology define organizational commitment as the psychological based employees’ sense of attachment or oneness to an organization. Organizational commitment differs from other related aspects of work attitude such as organizational identification (degree of oneness an employee holds about their job) or job satisfaction (the general perception of an employee about his/her job). There are other numerous definitions and scales of measuring organizational commitment that have been defined by organizational science experts. Key among these is the Mayer and Allen commitment model which was created to act as an integrating model that would make a general combination of earlier models. The model recognizes three forms of attachment that shall be reviewed below in Shamika’s case.
Shamika’s case of organizational attachment to Ace enterprises
Shamika is attached to her organization because it has helped her grow and advance in her career by providing her with training. Additionally, Ace enterprise has been of great assistance during her problems and this has given her great satisfaction and returns. In my view, there is still some more room for development in her career and this she can only be sure to attain if she stays on at Ace. This is because she may not be sure that any other new company may be willing to help her advance her career in a manner similar to the one she has experienced at Ace. Her twelve year experience at Ace, helping create a new department and the fact that she helps her supervisor in setting goals; suggest that she could easily succeed her superiors or get a higher position. This is not something that she is likely to experience in a new organization. Therefore, I would suggest that Shamika should stay on.
Shamika’s commitment has been influenced by various factors that can be grouped into the three categories of organizational commitment components. Firstly, her attachment has been shaped by factors of affective commitment-which can be defined as the positive affections and emotions that attach her to the organization. This has been fostered by Shamika’s satisfaction with her work which has created a free sense of belonging and attachment to Ace enterprises. Secondly, shamika has a feeling of attachment because of continuance commitment factors. These include the fact that Shamika perceives that she will lose socially if she left Ace enterprises. Her long standing friendship and fondness with colleagues is one thing she fears losing if she leaves Ace. Therefore, she opts to continue being at Ace so as to ensure continuity of her social gains made over the four years. Additionally, her leaving may also mean that she may loose her accrued pension or other related benefits. Therefore, she has to continue being at Ace in order to avoid social and financial losses. Shamika also commits herself to Ace enterprises because she feels obliged to do so. This may is because she feels the organization has committed a lot of its resources to train and improve her career, and thus; she feels obliged to stay committed to it as a way of showing appreciation. This could also be because Shamika feels that Acer enterprises give her a lot in return of what she does for it (Miner, 2002).
Hygiene factors constitute aspects of the environment and conditions at work that may influence organizational attachment. These include supervision modes, payment, organizational policies and administration as well as relations at work (Golembiewski, 2001). Shamika is positively impacted by good relations at work both with her peers and superiors. This encourages her to stay on. Her relations with the supervisor and ability to work well together indicate that she is also motivated by the good supervision she experiences at work. Shamika is also comfortable with her personal life at work and that greatly motivates her quest to stay on. On the other hand, Shamika is not motivated by some hygiene factors such as salary and security, because these do not seem to influence her stay at Acer enterprises.
The equity theory of organizational management is based on employee perceptions about fairness and distribution of resources in interpersonal relationships. The theory recognizes that employees perceive fairness depending on how they feel that their input in work has been paid commensurately by the output they get in various forms for their work (Miner, 2002). Shamika feels that Acer has been fair enough in training her, furthering her career, providing support and paying her. Therefore, she feels obliged to be fair to the organization by reciprocating what she has received from Acer.
Goals setting theory states that people with a common objective have to be aware of what is expected in order to be able to set targets and attain it eventually. Shamika has set her goal-advancing her career and climbing the ladder in the organization-based on this Shamika will have to stay at Acer and focus on her goal long enough to attain it (Christina, 1995).
Ways to enhance organizational commitment.
Organizations that would like to enhance organizational commitment should follow certain steps that include: committing and clarifying the organization’s mission and vision, guaranteeing justice within the organization, and support employees’ career development. The organization’s management should commit to values and walk the talk as well as encourage teamwork and tolerance. Employers should first assess the needs of their employees and type or categories of employees that they have before settling on a certain choice of method to be used to enhance organizational commitment.
References
Christina, S. E. (1995). The Effects of Co-action, Expected Evaluation and Goal Setting on Creativity and Productivity. The Academy of Management Journal, volume 38, issue number 2 pg 50.
Golembiewski, T. R. (2001). Handbook of organizational behavior. CRC Press Publishers.
Miner, B. J. (2002).Organizational Behavior: Foundations, theories, and analyses. Boston, MA: OxfordUniversity Press.
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