Organizational

Commitment

Chapter 3

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 Organizational Commitment

• Organizational commitment sits side by side with job

performance in our integrative model of organizational
behavior, reflecting one of the starting points for our journey
through the concepts covered in this course

Is it enough to have talented employees who perform their

jobs well?

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 Organizational Commitment

• Organizational commitment is defined as a desire on the part

of an employee to remain a member of an organization
• Organizational commitment influences whether an employee
stays a member of the organization (is retained) or leaves to
pursue another job (turns over).
• Employees who are not committed to their organizations
engage in withdrawal behavior , defined as a set of actions
that employees perform to avoid the work situation—behaviors
that may eventually culminate in quitting the organization.

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Organizational Commitment

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 What does it mean to be
“COMMITTED”

• One key to understanding organizational commitment is to

understand where it comes from.
• In other words, what creates a desire to remain a member of
an organization?
Types of Commitment:
๏ Affective commitment (Emotion-Based)
๏ Continuance commitment (Cost-Based)
๏ Normative commitment (Obligation-Based)

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 Affective Commitment

• A desire on the part of an employee to remain

a member of an organization because of an
emotional attachment to, or involvement in,
that organization
๏ You stay because you want to

๏ What would you feel if you left anyway?

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Affective Commitment

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 Continuance Commitment

• A desire on the part of an employee to remain

a member of an organization because of an
awareness of the costs associated with leaving
๏ You stay because you need to

๏ What would you feel if you left anyway?

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Continuance Commitment

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 Normative Commitment

• A desire on the part of an employee to remain

a member of an organization because of a
feeling of obligation
๏ You stay because you ought to

๏ What would you feel if you left anyway?

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Organizational Commitment

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 Organizational Commitment

• Some of my best friends work in my office . . . I’d miss them

if I left.
• I’m due for a promotion soon . . . will I advance as quickly at
the new company?
• My boss has invested so much time in me, mentoring me,
training me, showing me the ropes.

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 Organizational Commitment

• My organization gave me my start . . . they hired me when

others thought I wasn’t qualified.
• I really like the atmosphere at my current job . . . it’s fun and
relaxed.
• My salary and benefits get us a nice house in our town . . . the
cost of living is higher in this new area.

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 Organizational Commitment

• The school system is good here, my spouse has a good job . . .

we’ve really put down roots where we are.
• My current job duties are very rewarding . . . I enjoy coming
to work each morning.
• My employer has helped me out of a jam on a number of
occasions . . . how could I leave now?

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Organizational Commitment

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 Exit-Voice-Loyalty-Neglect

• A framework that includes potential responses to negative

events
๏ Exit

An active, destructive response by which an individual

either Ends or restricts organizational membership
๏ Voice

As active, constructive response in which individuals

attempt to improve the situation

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 Exit-Voice-Loyalty-Neglect

• A framework that includes potential responses to negative

events
๏ Loyalty

A passive, constructive response where the employee

remains supportive while hoping for improvement
๏ Neglect

A passive, destructive response in which interest and

effort in the job is reduced

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Exit-Voice-Loyalty-Neglect

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 Withdrawal

• A set of actions that employees perform to

avoid the work situation
๏ One study found that 51% of employees’
time was spent working
๏ The other 49% was allocated to coffee
breaks, late starts, early departures, and
personal things

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Withdrawal

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Withdrawal

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 Withdrawal

• Key question:
๏ How exactly are the different forms of withdrawal
related to one another?
๏ Independent forms

๏ Compensatory forms

๏ Progression

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 Withdrawal

• Answer:
๏ The various forms of withdrawal are almost always moderately
to strongly correlated
๏ Those correlations suggest a progression, as lateness is strongly
related to absenteeism, and absenteeism is strongly correlated
to quitting

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 Withdrawal

• “I can’t stand my job, so I do what I can to get by. Sometimes

I’m absent, sometimes I socialize, sometimes I come in late.
There’s no real rhyme or reason to it; I just do whatever seems
practical at the time.”

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 Withdrawal

• “I can’t handle being around my boss. I hate to miss work, so

I do what’s needed to avoid being absent. I figure if I socialize
a bit and spend some time surfing the web, I don’t need to
ever be absent. But if I couldn’t do those things, I’d definitely
have to stay home . . . a lot.”

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 Withdrawal

• “I just don’t have any respect for my employer anymore. In

the beginning, I’d daydream a bit during work or socialize
with my colleagues. As time went on, I began coming in late
or taking a long lunch. Lately I’ve been staying home
altogether, and I’m starting to think I should just quit my job
and go somewhere else.”

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 Application

• Employees are more committed when

employers are committed to them
What exactly companies do to increase loyalty?
๏ Perceived organization support

๏ Protect job security

๏ Provide rewards

๏ Improve work conditions

๏ Minimize politics

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 Application

• Employees are more committed when

employers are committed to them
What exactly companies do to increase loyalty?
๏ Perceived organization support

๏ Protect job security

๏ Provide rewards

๏ Improve work conditions

๏ Minimize politics

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 Discussion Questions

• Which type of organizational commitment

(affective, continuance, or normative) do you
think is most important to the majority of
employees? Which do you think is most
important to you?

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 Discussion Questions

• Describe other ways that organizations can

improve affective, continuance, and normative
commitment, other than the strategies
suggested in this chapter. How expensive are
those strategies?

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 Discussion Questions

• Consider times when you’ve reacted to a

negative event with exit, voice, loyalty, or
neglect. What was it about the situation that
caused you to respond the way you did? Do
you usually respond to negative events in the
same way, or does your response vary across
the four options?

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 Discussion Questions

• Can organizations use a combination of

monitoring and punishment procedures to
reduce psychological and physical
withdrawal? How might such programs work
from a practical perspective? Do you think
they would be effective?

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 Discussion Questions

• Can you think of reasons the increased

diversity of the workforce might actually
increase organizational commitment? Why?
Which of the three types of commitment
might explain that sort of result?

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 Discussion Questions

• Studies suggest that decades of downsizing

have lowered organizational commitment
levels. Can you think of a way that an
organization can conduct layoffs without
harming the commitment of the survivors?
How?

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