Page 1 of 14

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 02 Issue 1

January 2016

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 1

Organizational Factors and Organizational Commitment: A

Conceptual Framework

Dr. Nazar Omer Abdallah Ahmed

College of Science and Humanities Studies, Business Administration Department, Prince Sat tam bin Abduaziz

University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

nazaromerabdallah@gmail.com

Abstract

This paper endeavors to construct a

conceptual model of organizational

commitment in Saudi Arabian context. This

conceptual model seeks out to illustrate the

main organizational factors which may affect

the organizational commitment attitude of the

employees. This study discusses and reviews

the existing and past literature regarding the

organizational factors and their impact on

organizational commitment attitude of the

employees. This paper joins the current

researchers that are endeavoring to explore

the factors impacting organizational

commitment.

Key words: Organizational commitment,

procedural justice, distributive justice,

organizational politics, job satisfaction,

perceived organizational support.

Introduction

Research on commitment indicates

commitment has significant effects on the

efficiency of entities such as organizations,

occupations, work groups, and so forth.

Although the world is changing rapidly by the

effects of developing global competition and

information technology, which, in turn, are

sometimes impacting and reshaping the

structures of organizations (Meyer & Allen,

1997). However, this does not mean that the

organizations are disappearing. They already

exist in the everyday life of humanity; and

therefore, even in our contemporary era, it is

important for organizations to understand well

the behaviors of their employees in order to

enhance organizational efficiency.

Every employer expects their employees to be

committed to their respective organizations

regardless of type of organization. In

accordance with these facts, extant research

also suggests that organizational commitment

affects those outcomes that are significant to

the efficiency and success of any

organization. Hence, it is important to

understand how significant an employees’

commitment to their organizations is, and

what factors affect an employees’

commitment to their respective organizations.

This paper aims at investigating the impact of

organizational factors such as organizational

justice, organizational politics, job

satisfaction and perceived organizational

support on organizational commitment.

Concept of Organizational Commitment.

Page 2 of 14

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 02 Issue 1

January 2016

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 2

Organizational commitment, basically, states

to an employee’s identification with and

involvement in a particular organization. The

concept of commitment has been widely

researched by scholars over the past few

decades in a variety of domains, such as

organizational behavior, industrial sociology,

management, business administration, and

public administration. It is commonly

recognized however, that commitment is a

sophisticated construct, which can readily be

confused with similar constructs and it has

thus been hard to draw general conclusions

from the early related studies in this area. This

construct of commitment is complex because

it may embody several dimensions, such as

attachment to one’s work, one’s commitment

to one’s career, one’s work ethic, union,

professional, or organizational commitment

Ashforth&Mael, 1989; Buchanan, 1974;

Pinder, 1998, p. 262). Therefore, it is

important to identify what form of

commitment is being measured in any study,

as well as how it will be measured. While

preceding studies have commonly measured

organizational commitment, later studies have

tended to focus on commitment to unions,

employment, professions, and careers etc.

respectively as well (Meyer, Allen, & Smith,

1993). Why is organizational commitment

important? As Simon (1991) aptly conveyed,

all types of organizations ranging from those

in the public sector to nonprofit and private

organizations have the same aim, which is to

spur their employees on to achieve their

organizational goals (Simon, 1991, p. 28). A

number of researchers have thus proposed

that more committed employees in an

organization make better contributions to the

organization when compared to the less

committed employees (Meyer & Allen, 1997;

Mowday, 1999). Extant research indicates a

positive influence of organizational

commitment to works’ outcomes like effort,

attend office on time, and continuing with the

organization etc. (D. M. Randall, 1990;

Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Steers, 1977).

In this regard, the organizational commitment

concept is one of the constructs considered to

be highly significant in relation to

organizational effectiveness; hence, an

employee’s organizational commitment and

attitude is important in the realm of any

organization that seeks to accomplish its

goals. More to the point, not surprisingly,

organizational commitment founded to be a

significant variable in various studies as far as

comprehending the behavior of employees in

organizations (Mowday, Steers, & Porter,

1979)).

The literature and idea of organizational

commitment is very extensive, therefore, it is

very difficult to come to any consensus as

regards the definition of organizational

commitment (Buchanan, 1974; Meyer &

Allen, 1997). Over the course of conducting

the previous body of studies, researchers have

developed various definitions with respect to

the concept of organizational commitment

(Becker, 1960; Buchanan, 1974; Kanter,

1968; Mowday, Steers, & Porter, 1979; Porter

et al., 1974; Stebbins, 1970).

Basically, OC also can be explained by “the

degree of loyalty a person holds for a

particular employer” (Morrow, 1993; Pinder,

Page 3 of 14

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 02 Issue 1

January 2016

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 3

1998, p. 262;), or “loyalty to the

organization” (Brooke Jr, 1986, p. 355).

Buchanan viewed it as “a partisan, affective

attachment to the goals and values of an

organization, to one’s role in relation to goals

and values, and to the organization for its own

sake, apart from its purely instrumental

worth” (Buchanan, 1974, p. 533). Similarly,

in terms of affective attachment to the

organization, also according to Kanter “the

attachment of an individual’s fund of

affectivity and emotion to the group” (Kanter,

1968, p. 507).

In another conceptualization, Becker argued

“commitment comes into being when a

person, by making a side bet, links extraneous

interests with a consistent line of activity”

(Becker, 1960, p. 32). In this regard, the

perception of employee’s regarding the costs

involved in leaving the organization forms

his/her attitude, since the advantages of the

organization hinder the employee from

switching the organization (e.g. pension,

seniority). While Meyer and Allen (1997)

used the term “continuance” to explain the

type of commitment associated with the

concept of costs and benefits, some

researchers have used the term “calculative”

to explain the construct (Hrebiniak & Alutto,

1972; Mathieu & Zajac, 1990). However,

these concepts cannot be distinguished easily

because they interact with each other, and

each might be found to include elements of

the other in the process of measurement. For

example, if someone can get a job because

this is seen to be a beneficial exchange in

relationships (calculative OC), he/she may be

willing to maintain his/her membership more

readily (attitudinal OC) (Mathieu & Zajac,

1990).

As to the most studied and cited

conceptualization, Porter, Mowday and their

associates defined commitment as “the

relative strength of an individual’s

identification with and involvement in a

particular organization” in their studies

(Mowday et al., 1979, p. 226; Porter et al.,

1974, p. 604;). They also developed the

Questionnaire for Organizational

Commitment, which has been the most

commonly used instrument to measure

commitment in related research studies. The

scale items are related to “the subject's

perceptions concerning his loyalty toward the

organization, his willingness to exert a great

deal of effort to achieve organizational goals,

and his acceptance of the organization's

values” (Porter et al., 1974, p. 605).

Organizational commitment is mainly

conceptualized by related factors, which

include a strong trust in the organization’s

goals,morals and achievement. And also

willingness to applyextensive effort for the

organization, and a have an aim to a part of

the organization (Mowday et al., 1979, p.

226). In sum, commitment requires active

involvement in the organization rather than

any passive loyalty to it. As a result of

increasing efforts of employees, this active

involvement develops and contributes to the

organization’s effectiveness and efficiency

(Mowday et al., 1979, p. 226).

According to Mowday et al., two trends are

available for constructing the definition of

commitment. First, several studies have