Organizational commitment and job satisfaction: what are the potential relationships?
| Autor | Leite, Nildes Raimunda Pitombo |
| Cargo | Report |
Introduction
In a chronological and evolutionary review of 30 years of research on the development of strategic human resources management, Lengnick-Hall, Lengnick-Hall, Andrade and Drake (2009) affirm that strategic human resources management has maintained its power, in terms of being recognized as an important field of continuing study. Due to its ongoing development, these authors argue that the challenges consist of filling in the knowledge gaps that have been previously identified, as well as discovering new paths within dynamic and constantly-changing environments.
Historically, Wright, Snell and Dyer (2005) remember that HR has received special consideration as an internal function, linked to internal activities and processes. However, particularly in the USA, a major part of the literature in this field shows that managers are free to develop and design HR strategies. Even though this premise has been questioned, there is evidence that the scope of organizational actors who may influence HR practices and policies responsible for the relationships established between workers and their organizations has been increasing considerably.
In the field of organizational behavior, studies of bonds with the organization, especially those of commitment, have been given special attention due to their role in enabling a broader knowledge of the relationships established between workers and their organizations. From these organizational actors' points of view, commitment is expected due to its impact on desirable variables, such as performance and organizational citizenship behavior, among others. Starting from this premise, a number of studies have been conducted in recent decades in order to assess the variables that contribute to the development of this bond, and the consequences expected with its establishment.
The consolidation of this field of study emphasized the concept of commitment as being more desired and expected than formerly predominant constructs within organizational behavior research, such as motivation and satisfaction. The main cause for this reorientation of studies was the verification of a higher commitment bond stability as compared to workers' satisfaction and motivation, which tend to suffer more immediate impacts from context variables (Bastos, 1993). Researchers agree that workers' motivation can be partially explained by organizational behavior, which is, therefore, a consequence of the bond. On the other hand, there is no consensus on the relationship between satisfaction and commitment, although most authors consider satisfaction and commitment as being linked (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, & Topolnytsky, 2002). Despite the predominance of this idea, researchers report on inquiries that regard satisfaction as a consequence of commitment, an antecedent, or even as a mediator variable of its relationship with other antecedents (Falkenburg & Schyns, 2007).
In view of this gap, still present in the field's research agenda, this study aims to compare structural models that differ from one another with respect to the role of satisfaction as consequent or antecedent (whether direct or as a mediator of other variables) of organizational commitment.
Another observed gap is the lack of studies directed at understanding the context in which the investigated relationships occur, hindering application of the knowledge produced (Rousseau & Fried, 2001). Bayo-Moriones and Larraza-Kintana (2009) agree about this limitation, pointing out that contextual characteristics interfere in the relationship between personnel management practices and organizational commitment. For this reason, this study also focused on the presentation and discussion of context with respect to the results achieved.
This research covered the Military Police, a public and traditional Brazilian organization. After nearly 189 years of existence, the Military Police possesses longstanding cultural characteristics, such as values of hierarchy and discipline (Rosa & Brito, 2010), which distinguish its organizational identity and guide police officers' attitudes and behavior. In this sense, this study also meets the aim of investigating a segment that differs from those traditionally covered in the field of organizational behavior, generally directed toward industry and services, focused on the private sector (Costa & Bastos, 2009). Thus, this study also aims to understand the potential impacts of this context on the relationships established among the investigated variables.
Organizational Commitment
The research agenda on organizational commitment currently reflects the level of complexity attained by the studies in domestic and international scenarios in recent decades, allowing certain trends to be identified:
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Deliberation on conceptual issues of the bond, which still overlaps with other constructs, as a result of the phenomenon Osigweh (1989, p. 581) calls "concept stretching". Even though this theme has been present in commitment studies since early publications, recent studies have tried to systemize the most critical points and propose solutions (Bastos, Pinho, Aguiar, & Menezes, 2011; Cohen, 2007; Rodrigues & Bastos, 2010; Solinger, Olffen, & Roe, 2008);
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Study of its antecedents and consequences that, despite assuming a traditional role of the field, is a topic for productive analyses, especially due to the ongoing lack of consensus, the changes in the world of work, and the necessity of maintaining a continuous review of the variables related to commitment (Meyer et al., 2002);
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Investigation of the focal points of commitment that, also traditional and equally relevant, encompass objects outside the organization, such as unions, careers, and customers, and inside the organization, such as occupation, work, staff, and change, among others (Bastos, 1994; Fink, 1992). One of the prime virtues of this line is to maintain the discussion about the existence of diffuse bonds and different work relationships within the context of organizations;
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Reflections on commitment management, a theme that has been underlying the analysis of antecedents and consequences throughout the years. New research studies aim to minimize the gaps related to the impact and effectiveness of organizational and personnel management practices on workers' commitment levels (Bastos, Rodrigues, Moscon, Silva, & Pinho, no prelo; Leite & Albuquerque, 2009a, 2009b, 2011; Wright & Kehoe, 2009).
The most recent studies in Brazil on conceptual issues of commitment have been conducted for the purpose of distinguishing it from other organizational bonds (Rodrigues & Bastos, 2010; Silva & Bastos, 2010), arguing that the research has reached a state of maturity in which the profusion of approaches causes more harm than good; thus, it is indispensable to select the most appropriate approaches to the construct (Klein, Molloy, & Cooper, 2009).
A brief review of meta-analyses published in the field (Cohen, 1992; Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Meyer et al., 2002) identifies some consensus on predictive variables of commitment, information that is particularly interesting to researchers and managers concerned with bond management. Among all the antecedents investigated, the most frequently studied and most significant in predicting commitment are those related to work experiences, such as work characteristics (scope, challenge, and variety of tasks), perceptions of justice, organizational support, and relationships established (interdependence of assignments, communication with the leader, participative leadership, among others).
Variables related to conflict and role ambiguity also present strong but negative relationships with commitment. Balassiano and Salles (2012) reflected on the stronger effects of perception of justice than of perception of equity in the levels of affective organizational commitment, arguing that the first is guided by an individual approach, versus the collective approach of the second. This result supports the research of individual aspects and personal characteristics (individual differences, values, demographic variables), which have been investigated less frequently; more tenuous relationships with commitment are observed here. An explanation by Meyer and Allen (1997) for this fact is that personal characteristics could be considered distal antecedents of commitment; i. e., they do not directly relate to the bond, but are mediated by proximal antecedents, such as work experiences, role states, and psychological contracts.
Morrow (2011) also highlights the emphasis on the management of affective commitment, since this base presents the most significant relationships with desirable behaviors. The meta-analyses considered also confirm the predicted relationship between commitment and satisfaction (general, with pay, with colleagues, with work, and with supervision). Moreover, studies by Green, Wu, Whitten and Medlin (2006) point out the impact strategic human resources management has upon individual performance, organizational commitment, and satisfaction levels for the work of 269 human resources professionals, who were vertically aligned with organizational mission and goals, and horizontally aligned with other organizational functions.
Despite the fact that a relationship between commitment and satisfaction could be observed, the understanding that commitment and satisfaction are related is not a consensus, nor is the concept that satisfaction is the antecedent of commitment, or its consequence. Starting from the opinion of Mathieu and Zajac (1990), who presuppose that the two constructs are related due to the lack of clarity on the impact of satisfaction on commitment, this study aimed to analyze the relationships between antecedent variables and commitment, highlighting the role of satisfaction in the two main prediction models tested in this study.
Job Satisfaction
In the international literature as well...
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