PART 1.

INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATIONL BEHAVIOR

CHAPTER 3. ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

LEARNING GOALS
3 . 1 W H AT I S O R G A N I Z AT I O N A L C O M M I T M E N T ? W H AT I S W I T H D R AWA L B E H AV -
IOR? HOW ARE THE TWO CONNECTED?
3 . 2 W H AT A R E T H E T H R E E T Y P E S O F O R G A N I Z AT I O N A L C O M M I T M E N T, A N D
HOW DO THEY DIFFER?
3 . 3 W H AT A R E T H E F O U R P R I M A RY R E S P O N S E S TO N E G AT I V E E V E N T S AT W O R K ?
3 . 4 W H AT A R E S O M E E X A M P L E S O F P S Y C H O L O G I C A L W I T H D R AWA L ? O F P H Y S I -
C A L W I T H D R AWA L ? H O W D O T H E D I F F E R E N T F O R M S O F W I T H D R AWA L R E L AT E
TO E A C H O T H E R ?
I. ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

• A desire on the part of an employee to remain a member of the organization.

• Organizational commitment influences whether an employee stays a member of the orga-
nization (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.
◦ The relationship between commitment and withdrawal is illustrated in Figure 3-1.

 3.1 What is organizational commitment? What is withdrawal behavior? How are the two connected? 2
FIGURE 3-1 Organizational Commitment and Employee Withdrawal

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II. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE “COMMITTED”?

• What creates a desire to remain a member of an organization?

1. TYPES OF COMMITMENT
TABLE 3-1 The Three Types of Organizational Commitment

What Makes Someone Stay with their Current Organization?14

AFFECTIVE COMMITMENT CONTINUANCE COMMITMENT NORMATIVE COMMITMENT

(EMOTION-BASED) (COST-BASED) (OBLIGATION-BASED)

Some of my best friends work in my office ... I'd miss I'm due for a promotion soon .. . will I advance as quickly My boss has invested so much time in me, mentoring
them if I left. at the new company? me, training me, showing me the ropes.

I really like the atmosphere at my current job... it's fun My salary and benefits get us a nice house in our My organization gave me my start... they hired me
and relaxed. town . . . the cost of living is higher in this new area. when others thought I wasn't qualified.

My current job duties are very rewarding... I enjoy The school system is good here, my spouse has a good My employer has helped me out of a jam on a number
coming to work each morning. job... we've really put down roots where we are. of occasions... how could I leave now?

Staying because you want to. Staying because you need to. Staying because you ought to.

 3.2 what are the three types of organizational commitment, and how do they differ? 4
1) AFFECTIVE COMMITMENT
◦ (left-hand column)
◦ 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. Put simply, you stay because you want to.
◦ Affective commitment depends in large part on connections among people.
◦ Figure 3-3
◦ The erosion model suggests that employees with fewer bonds will be most likely to quit the organization. Guess
which person in the social network diagram is most at risk for turning. That's right the employee who has only one
bond with someone else (and a relatively weak bond at that).
◦ The social influence model suggests that employees who have direct linkages with “leavers" will themselves become
more likely to leave.

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FIGURE 3-3 A Social Network Diagram

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2) CONTINUANCE COMMITMENT
◦ (middle column)
◦ A desire on the part of an employee to remain a member of an organization because of an awareness of the costs asso-
ciated with leaving. In other words, you stay because you need to.
◦ As demonstrated in Table 3-2, embeddedness strengthens continuance commitment by providing more reasons em-
ployees need to stay in their current positions (and more sources of anxiety if they were to leave).

3) NORMATIVE COMMITMENT
◦ (right-hand column)
◦ A desire on the part of an employee to remain a member of an organization because of a feeling of obligation. In this
case, You stay because you ought to.
◦ Normative commitment exists when there is a sense that staying is the "right" or "moral" thing to do.

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TABLE 3-2 Embeddedness and Continuance Commitment

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◦ As shown in Figure 3-2, the three types of organizational commitment combine to create an overall sense of
psychological attachment to the company. Of course, different people may weigh the three types differently.
◦ Regardless of how the three types are prioritized, they offer an important insight into why someone might
be committed and what an organization can do to make employees feel more committed.
◦ Figure 3-2 also shows that organizational commitment depends on more than just “the organization." That
is, people aren't always committed to companies; they're also committed to the top management that leads
the firm at a given time, the department in which they work, the manager who directly supervises them, or
the specific team or coworkers with whom they work most closely. We use the term focus of commitment to
refer to the various people, places, and things that can inspire a desire to remain a member of an organiza-
tion.

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FIGURE 3-2 Drivers of Overall Organizational Commitment

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2. WITHDRAWAL BEHAVIOR

◦ Exit-Voice-Loyalty-Neglect : A framework that includes potential responses to negative events

◦ Organizational commitment should decrease the likelihood that an individual will respond to a negative work event
with exit or neglect (the two destructive responses).
◦ Exit : Ending or restricting organizational membership
◦ Neglect : Interest and effort in the job is reduced
◦ Organizational commitment should increase the likelihood that the negative work event will prompt voice or loyalty
(the two constructive responses).
◦ Loyalty: A passive response where the employee remains supportive while hoping for improvement
◦ Voice : A constructive response where individuals attempt to improve the situation

 3.3 What are the four primary responses to negative events at work? 11
 ◦ If we consider employees' task performance levels together with their organizational commitment levels,
we can gain an even clearer picture of how people might respond to negative work events. Consider Table 3-
3, which depicts combinations of high and low levels of organizational commitment and task performance.
◦ Stars possess high commitment and high performance and are held up as role models for other employees. Stars likely respond to
negative events with voice because they have the desire to improve the status quo and the credibility needed to inspire change.
◦ Citizens possess high commitment and low task performance but perform many of the voluntary "extra-role" activities that are
needed to make the organization function smoothly. Citizens are likely to respond to negative events with loyalty because they may
lack the credibility needed to inspire change but do possess the desire to remain a member of the organization.
◦ Lone wolves possess low levels of organizational commitment but high levels of task performance and are motivated to achieve work
goals for themselves, not necessarily for their company. They are likely to respond to negative events with exit. Although their perfor-
mance would give them the credibility needed to inspire change, their lack of attachment prevents them from using that credibility
constructively.
◦ Finally, apathetics possess low levels of both organizational commitment and task performance and merely exert the minimum level of
effort needed to keep their jobs. Apathetics should respond to negative events with neglect, because they lack the performance
needed to be marketable and the commitment needed to engage in acts of citizenship.

 3.4 What are some examples of psychological withdrawal? Of physical withdrawal? How do the different forms of withdrawal relate to each other? 12
TABLE 3-3 Four Types of Employees

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◦ WITHDRAWAL BEHAVIOR
◦ 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

◦ As shown in Figure 3-4, withdrawal comes in two forms: psychological (or neglect) and physical (or exit).

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◦ Psychological withdrawal consists of actions that provide a mental escape from the work environment. Some business
articles refer to psychological withdrawal as "warm-chair attrition" meaning that employees have essentially been lost
even though their chairs remain occupied. This withdrawal form comes in a number of shapes and sizes.
◦ The least serious is daydreaming, when employees appear to be working but are actually distracted by random
thoughts or concerns.
◦ Socializing refers to the verbal chatting about nonwork topics that goes on in cubicles and offices or at the mailbox or
vending machines.
◦ Looking busy indicates an intentional desire on the part of employees to look like they're working, even when not
performing work tasks.
◦ When employees engage in moonlighting, they use work time and resources to complete something other than their
job duties, such as assignments for another job.
◦ Perhaps the most widespread form of psychological withdrawal among white-collar employees is cyberloafing - using
Internet, e-mail, and instant messaging access for their personal enjoyment rather than work duties.

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◦ Physical withdrawal consists of actions that provide a physical escape, whether short-term or long-term, from the work
environment, Physical withdrawal also comes in a number of shapes and sizes
◦ Tardiness reflects the tendency to arrive at work late (or leave work early). It often represents a calculated desire to
spend less time at work.
◦ Long breaks involve longer-than-normal lunches, soda breaks, coffee breaks, and so forth that provide a physical es-
cape from work.
◦ Sometimes long breaks stretch into missing meetings, which means employees neglect important work functions
while away from the office.
◦ Absenteeism occurs when employees miss an entire day of work. Of course, people stay home from work for a vari-
ety of reasons, including illness and family emergencies.
◦ The most serious form of physical withdrawal is quitting - voluntarily leaving the organization.

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FIGURE 3-4 Psychological and Physical Withdrawal

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 TAKEAWAYS

1. Organizational commitment is the desire on the part of an employee to remain a member of the organization. Withdrawal behavior is a
set of actions that employees perform to avoid the work situation. Commitment and withdrawal are negatively related to each other -
the more committed employees are, the less likely they are to engage in withdrawal.
2. There are three types of organizational commitment. Affective commitment occurs when employees want to stay and is influenced by
the emotional bonds between employees. Continuance commitment occurs when employees need to stay and is influenced by salary
and benefits and the degree to which they are embedded in the community. Normative commitment occurs when employees feel that
they ought to stay and is influenced by an organization investing in its employees or engaging in charitable efforts.
3. Employees can respond to negative work events in four ways: exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect. Exit is a form of physical withdrawal in
which the employee either ends or restricts organizational membership. Voice is an active and constructive response by which employ-
ees attempt to improve the situation. Loyalty is passive and constructive; employees remain supportive while hoping the situation im-
proves on its own. Neglect is a form of psychological withdrawal in which interest and effort in the job decrease.
4. Examples of psychological withdrawal include daydreaming, socializing, looking busy, moonlighting, and cyber loafing. Examples of
physical withdrawal include tardiness, long breaks, missing meetings, absenteeism, and quitting. Consistent with the progression
model, withdrawal behaviors tend to start with minor psychological forms before escalating to more major physical varieties.

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