Organizational Commitment Definition

Organizational Commitment

Many definitions exist in the literature for organizational commitment. For the purposes of this study, the definition of organizational commitment is derived from Mowday, Porter and Steers (1982). Organizational commitment is defined in terms of the relative intensity of an employee's Involvement in, and identification with, a specific organization. Mathieu and Zajac (1990) state that this definition reflects multiple dimensions since it includes the concept of identification and incorporates the desire to remain with the organization and work toward organizational goals.

Three factors of attitudes and behaviors lend salience to the characterization of organizational commitment. They are (1) acceptance of and a belief

Compliance is defined as Involvement for the extrinsic rewards. Identification is involvement with the organization because of the desire for affiliation and is an important mechanism in the developing process of psychological attachment (Bowlby, 1982). Internalization is involvement based on the Individual's acceptance of the organization's values. The first definitional component of the Mowday, Porter and Steers (1982) organizational commitment model, acceptance and belief in the values and goals of an organization is based on psychological attachment (O'Reilly & Chatman, 1986). Mowday, Porter and Steers (1982), state that organizational commitment is a global construct revealing the affective responses of the employee to the whole of the organization. The development of commitment to the organization begins at time of employment, continues over a period of time and involves interplay of attitudes and behaviors. Porter, Crampon and Steers (1976), report that the level of commitment reported by employees on the first day of employment predicted turnover up to several months on the job. Alternatively, Hunt and Morgan (1994) advocate the multiple commitment view of organizational commitment. They report organizational commitment to be defined as multiple commitments to various groups comprising the organization, such as commitment to the work group, the supervisor and to top management. Their research supports a reconceptualization of the global organizational commitment model as a "key mediating construct" with compliance, internalization and Identification as the bases of commitment. Constituency-specific commitments are factors that lead to, and result in, the concept of global organizational commitment. Of the consequences and outcomes of organizational