Organizational Commitment and Perceived Management Styles: The Public‐Private Sector Contrast

Abstract

Organizational commitment and perceived management styles were examined using survey responses from 1418 employees from both public and private sector organizations, operating in Australia. Comparisons between public (n=474) and private (n= 944) sector employees revealed significantly higher levels of commitment amongst private sector employees. These differences were consistent with differences in perceived management styles. The concept of organizational commitment was found to incorporate the notion of “corporate loyalty/citizenship” and the notion of “attachment to the organization”. Management styles (as perceived by respondents) were found to relate to four main sub‐dimensions: (1) the degree of “emphasis on flexibility and adaptation”; (2) the degree of “emphasis on rules and regulations”; (3) the degree of emphasis on “hierarchy and role specialization” and (4) the degree of “work‐group discontinuity/change”. For both sectors, statistical analysis (regressions) revealed that the degree of organizational commitment as well as the extent of loyalty and attachment to the organization were affected positively by perceptions of greater (perceived) emphasis on “flexibility and adaptation” and by lesser (perceived) emphasis on “rules and regulations”. Salient implications of these findings on management practice are discussed. In recent years, a great deal of attention has been invested in identifying the various causes and implications of organizational commitment. The main thrust was to afford reasonable explanations of the development process of organizational commitment defined as the strength of an individual's identification and involvement with an organization. One of the most contended views is that positive organizational commitment, including feelings of affiliation, attachment and citizenship behaviour, tends to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness by contributing to resource transformations, innovativeness, and adaptability (Williams & Anderson, 1991). As such, organizational commitment has important implications for both individual and organizational outcomes and is central to organizational life. In general, the antecedents of commitment have been grouped into two categories: personal characteristics and situational attributes. However, previous research has not reached any substantial agreement on the precedence of the above characteristics. While some researchers have found (and argued) the prevalence of personal characteristics (Brooks & Seers, 1991) others have tended to emphasise situational effects (Grau et al, 1991), while still others have underlined equal effects of both types of characteristics (O'Reilly et al, 1991). In an attempt to contribute to the research debates and suggestions, the present article examines the potential impact of management styles (as perceived by members) on the degree of organizational commitment. The notion of management style is considered from the organizational standpoint (Burns & Stalker, 1961; Shrader et al, 1989). The article draws on an empirical study focusing on a sample of 1418 public and private sector employees from a variety of industries based in Australia. Management style can significantly influence the degree of workers commitment to organizational values and goals. In general, it has widely been shown and argued that the more flexible and participative management styles can strongly and positively enhance organizational commitment (Gaertner & Nollen, 1989). These styles tend to decrease role stress and thereby significantly increase employee commitment. The organic style of management emphasising flexibility and adaptation (Burns & Stalker, 1961; Gonring, 1991) might provide greater concern for workers as human beings, and for the work organization as a total social and cultural system. The success of this type of management style lies with its flexibility and adaptability to changing conditions while maintaining organizational consistency and continuity. Because of its greater reliance on worker loyalty and trust, this style of management might also be geared to enhance organizational citizenship behaviours (Williams & Anderson, 1991).

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