Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1. Background of the Study

            In 2020, Malaysia hopes to achieve her vision of becoming one of the most developed and progressive countries in the Southeast Asian region and in the world. Unfortunately, the country, until today, is experiencing problems with its bureaucracy, more particularly in the way that its government agencies are operating. The Prime Minister’s Department, the Public Complaint Bureau, is said to receive hundreds of letters regarding the dissatisfaction of the employees and the citizens about the way that these agencies are operating. Furthermore, these people also made use of the media to voice out their discontent. Why is it then that these complaints are being voiced out when the government has allocated a big portion of their budget for these agencies to improve the competencies of their staff and at the same time, make their working environment suitable to their needs? It is because of this that this research shall then look into the importance of the employees’ commitment to their organizations, recognizing the fact that these agencies would be able to tackle all the problems and issues that they are facing when their employees are committed to the workplace. This study would also look into how organizational commitment differs between those who are in the private sector and the public sector. Moreover, it would also determine the factors that influence this commitment, whether positively or negatively.

            Since its independence, the Malaysian government adopted a particular framework that helps them in managing their governmental agencies effectively in order to ensure the commitment that their employees have towards their organization. This is a part of their plan as their leaders wanted their newly established government to focus on the building of institutions and the development of administration as they aim to come up with projects aimed towards the development and success of the new political entity. Karim (1995) noted that the Malaysian government focused on programs that are aimed towards socio-economic development to be able to give the demands of their citizens. As a result of these changes, the government focused on civil service and with this, reforms the public sector.

Furthermore, the Malaysian government also eliminated corruption within their agencies in order to strengthen and reform the public sector. It is through the elimination of this corruption that employees would be able to trust their groups and at the same time, contribute greatly to the commitment towards their organizations. It is also in lieu with this that the Malaysian government created the Special Cabinet Committee on Government Management on Government Management to help in the preservation of the workers’ integrity. At the same time, the government believes that this could enhance the awareness of workers which could eventually lead them away from corruption, the abuse of power and finally, to strengthen their commitment not only to their organizations but to the preservation of their integrity as well.

Aside from this, the government also came up with projects and other programs that are aimed towards increasing the productivity of their employees so as to ensure that they are giving the best services to the citizens and other constituents. They patterned their programs after that of Japan and Korea which are role models with regard to the work ethics and high productivity of the employees. It is then because of this that the researcher would look into the reasons and other factors why the Malaysian government agencies are still being flooded by complaints despite the structural changes made in the early sixties, immediately succeeding the country’s proclamation of independence.

            Organizational commitment is one of the favorite topics of a number of researchers. Rahman and Hanafiah (2002) note that this topic has indeed, gained substantial interest and the most widely studied by scholars in the organizational behavior researches. However, the manner by which these studies perceive organizational commitment vary from one to another. Nonetheless, the different foci being offered to analyze organizational commitment contribute to the popularity of the topic. As a matter of fact, organizational behavior researches have produced various definitions regarding this particular topic. There are usually two ways by which researchers view this concept. The first perspective says that it is an attitude which means that organizational commitment is a very important factor in influencing the way people feel and think about the organization to which they belong to. On the other hand, there are some researchers who believe that organizational commitment is a behavior which greatly influences the reasons why individuals remain with their organizations. Even so, the different definitions provided by the researches are still seen to be the major reason why organizational commitment is often misunderstood (Rahman & Hanafiah, 2002).

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            Brown (2003), however, notes that despite the presence of many empirical researches on organizational commitment, the role played by culture is often disregarded. As a result, he reiterates the importance of studying this particular factor as organizational commitment varies from one culture to another, as shown in the study conducted by Hofstede that looked into the four dimensions of multiculturalism. As a result, being an Asian country, organizational commitment within Malaysia’s government agencies must be examined in a manner different from the standards given by the west.

            The significance of organizational commitment to researchers and different businesses comes from the belief that employees will demonstrate differential degree of organizational outcomes such as employee turnover, employee performance, and their intention to either stay or leave an organization (Meyer & Allen, 1997; Rahman & Hanafiah, 2002; Laka-Mathebula, 2004). However, this research would still look into whether or not these outcomes are indeed positively correlated with organizational commitment.

            Aside from determining the positive correlation between these outcomes and organizational commitment, this research would also look into the factors that contribute in developing this particular attitude and/or behavior of one employee towards the organization to which he or she belongs to. Researchers on the topic note that there are many variables that are seen to affect and influence the commitment that employees have towards their organization. These factors are usually grouped into three categories (Laka-Mathebula, 2004), namely: (1) personal factors; (2) organizational factors; and lastly, (3) non-organizational factors. These categories are then seen to play a very important role in the development of a better understanding of this particular topic. For this study, the following variables shall be examined with regard to their relation with organizational commitment: (1) marital status; (2) gender; (3) race; (4) experience; (5) education; (6) job satisfaction; (7) employee communication; and finally, (8) leadership styles.

1.2. Problem Statement

            There are different variables that are said to affect organizational commitment and at the same time, this produces different outcomes. It is because of this that the different researchers in the field of organizational behavior tend to give varied interpretations with regard to organizational commitment. More often than not, this stems out from the analysis of this concept based on the models produced by the United States of America or other countries in the West. As a result, these models could not be applied to countries such as Malaysia who come from a different cultural background. It is because of this that Malaysia, in the years succeeding its independence adopted a framework that aimed to reform their public sector by patterning it after the model of Japan and Korea, two Asian countries and not after what is produced by west. It is because of this that they were able to come up with programs and other strategies that effectively addresses the needs of the employees (i.e. TQM) as well as incorporate other factors that aim to increase their productivity and the level of commitment they have towards their organizations. This study then aims to determine the level of the employees’ commitment in the Education and Health departments of Malaysia and how this affects certain outcomes such as: (1) intention to leave; (2) absenteeism; (3) productivity; (4) labor turnover; (5) medical leave; (6) burnt out. At the same time, it would also pinpoint the specific factors (ex. age, marital status, gender, race, experience, education, job satisfaction, communication, and leadership styles) that greatly influence the commitment that the employees have towards their organizations.

1.3. Purpose of the Study

            The primary purpose of this study is to determine the employees’ level of commitment and as earlier mentioned identify the different factors that affect this especially those who belong to the Malaysian Education and Health departments. More specifically, this study aims to:

Understand the outcomes of organizational commitment especially its relationship with the following: (a) intention to leave; (b) absenteeism; (c) productivity; (d) labor turnover; (e) medical leave; and (f) burnt out.
Produce an understanding of organizational commitment rooted in the Malaysian culture as most empirical studies concerning this concept are often focused on the analysis of organizational commitment, its antecedents and consequences based on the Western culture.
Determine the importance of organizational commitment in the public sector as well as its difference from those businesses belonging to the private sector.
Examine the actions of the Malaysian government (especially the Health and Education Departments) in order to increase their employees’ level of commitment to their organizations.

1.4. Research Questions

            To achieve the research objectives listed above, this study also aims to answer the following questions that are essential to this research:

Is there a significant relationship between age and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?
Is there a significant relationship between marital status and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?
Is there a significant relationship between gender and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?
Is there a significant relationship between race and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?
Is there a significant relationship between experience and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?
Is there a significant relationship between education and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?
Is there a significant relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?
Is there a significant relationship between communication and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?
Is there a significant relationship between leadership styles and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?
Is there a significant relationship between intention to leave and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?
Is there a significant relationship between absenteeism and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?
Is there a significant relationship between productivity and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?
Is there a significant relationship between labor turnover and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?
Is there a significant relationship between medical leave and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?
Is there a significant relationship between burnt out and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment)?

To answer these questions effectively, the following issues are seen to be of vital importance:

the collectivist nature of the Malaysian culture
the importance of organizational commitment to the public sector and its difference with those who are working in private organizations
the nature and actions of the government in increasing the level of commitment that their employees have toward their organizations

1.5. Significance of the Study

            A number of researchers, such as Steijn and Leisink (2005), Balfour and Wechsler (1991, 1996), Rainey (1991), Seok-Hwan (2004) and Vigoda (2001) noted that most studies on organizational commitment focused on the private sector rather than analyzing the public organizations. There are many factors that affect this disparity, most especially with the manner by which the administration rewards their employees for a job well done. The absence of such in the public sector could negatively influence the performance of the employees, making them inefficient public servants, thus affecting the service being offered to the citizens.

            Another disparity that exists between the public and private sectors is the absence of the economic market for the former, thus leading to a more rigid and hierarchical organizational structure. As a result, the job satisfaction and commitment of the employees are once again influenced. It is because of the aforementioned factors that the researcher gives importance to the analysis of organizational commitment to the Health and Education departments of the Malaysian government. It would analyze the ways by which these two departments manage their employees and how their strategies affect their employees. Furthermore, this would help in analyzing whether these strategies and programs are enough, considering the numbers of complaints that employees and citizens have that are greatly expressed through the media and the Public Complaint Bureau.

            This study could help in the analysis of the strategies formulated by the Malaysian government in a sense that it would determine the strong points and at the same time, the reason why there are Malaysian citizens who are complaining about the manner of how these agencies operate.

The researcher hopes that the results of this study can be utilized by Head of Departments in formulating strategies and policies that concerns with its workers to improve what they have started in the early sixties. It is important for the service organization like Education Department and Health Department to continue in the improvement of its efficiency in operations. The information gather in this study could be a useful indicator to the Head of Department regarding the level of commitment and factors that affect its employees. Perhaps this recognition would prompt steps to improve the situation. Finally, this research could aid the Education and Health departments in understanding the needs and demands of their employees in order for them to be more productive and committed towards their organizations.

1.6. Organization of the Study

            This study shall be organized based on the manner outlined. The first chapter shall be devoted to the introduction of the study, presenting the background of the study that would introduce the concepts related to this particular research as well as the current situation in Malaysia. Afterwards, it would state the problem that this study aims to solve. Aside from this, the first chapter shall also list the purposes of the study, the questions that it aims to answer and the significance of this research to the Malaysian governments and to the body of knowledge on organizational behavior.

            The second chapter (literature review) shall immediately succeed the first. It would consist of a literature review of secondary sources, obtained from articles made available by the World Wide Web that discusses the different issues that are of vital importance to the topic at hand. It would cover the following topics: (1) definitions of organizational commitment; (2) effects of variables (such as age, marital status, gender, race, experience, education, job satisfaction, employee communication and leadership style) on organizational commitment; (3) the outcomes of organizational commitment (i.e. intention to leave, absenteeism, productivity, labor turnover, medical leave and burnout); (4) different empirical studies made on organizational commitment; (5) the Malaysian Government, including the possible influences in the organizational commitment of the employees and; (6) organizational commitment in the health and education departments of the Malaysian government.

            The third chapter would first list the different hypotheses that this research aims to either prove or disprove. Afterwards, this chapter would present the different methods that the researcher will use in order to produce the results of this study and that would help in testing the hypotheses listed. It would also present the different means by which the researcher would use to analyze the data obtained from the different instruments used. At the same time, these would help in comparing the results with the opinions, perceptions and views of previous researchers that will be presented in the second chapter.

            Finally, the fourth chapter would present the findings of the study as compared with the data obtained from the analysis of previous researchers. Also, this chapter is essential to the study for it would summarize the entire study, conclude it and finally, give recommendations for future researchers and for policy makers of the health and education departments of the Malaysian government in order to increase the level of commitments that their employees have toward their organizations.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1. Introduction

As previously mentioned, the purpose of this study is to determine the employee’s level of commitment and at the same time, determine the factors which play a very important role in influencing the loyalty of the employees to the organization, looking closely to the Education and Health Departments of the Malaysian Government. It is in line with this objective that this chapter shall present a review of literature that had been written and published on different issues that are seen to be of vital importance in the discussion of the aforementioned topic.

Amongst all other form of attitudes in the workplace, Rahman and Hanafiah (2002) mentions dealing with organizational behaviour. This is because of the fact that many people believe that committed employees will demonstrate differential degree of organizational outcomes (i.e. employee turnover, employee performance, and their intention to stay or leave an organization) (Rahman & Hanafiah, 2002). At the same time, many organizations are now constantly facing major challenges that it is commitment to the organization which received so much attention from researchers which often call for the restructuring, reengineering and downsizing of their companies. It is because of this that factors such as organizational commitment are now becoming more and more important. As result, many researchers have devoted their studies, whether conceptual or empirical, in looking into the different issues concerning commitment. However, Rahman and Hanafiah once again notes that most of the aforementioned studies made use of samples from the United States whilst only few had been devoted to the study of organizations outside the US. As a result, the researcher considers this as one of the limitations that may be encountered in this study. Nonetheless, this literature review would include a comprehensive analysis of the following: (1) definitions of organizational commitment; (2) effects of variables (such as age, marital status, gender, race, experience, education, job satisfaction, employee communication and leadership style) on organizational commitment; (3) the outcomes of organizational commitment (i.e. intention to leave, absenteeism, productivity, labour turnover, medical leave and burnout); (4) different empirical studies made on organizational commitment; (5) the Malaysian Government, including the possible influences in the organizational commitment of the employees and; (6) organizational commitment in the health and education departments of the Malaysian government.

2.2. Definitions of Organizational Commitment

The concept of Organizational Commitment usually differs from one research to another. In fact, there is said to have an abundance of these definitions in the different literature written with regard to the said topic. Figure 1, as obtained from the work of Rahman and Hanafiah (2002) gives examples of the different definitions given by a number of scholars on organizational commitment. Generally, there are two ways by which definitions of the said concept differ from one another and this is how a certain researcher views it. Others view it as an attitude, seeing organizational commitment as a factor in influencing the way people feel and think about the organizations to which they belong to. On the other hand, there are also some who views it as behaviour, saying that it is also a factor which influences the reasons why individuals remain ‘locked’ to their organizations. The definitions based on these approaches would become evident as each is presented in the next paragraphs.

However, a significant theme emerges in the definitions of the researchers that shall be presented in the latter parts of this literature. Generally, the definitions that would be covered by this paper would basically deal with organizational commitment being a state which often characterizes the relationship of an employee with the organization to which they belong in. Salami (2008) recognizes the importance of organizational commitment. According to this researcher, organizations would need committed workers in order to stay alive in the worldwide economic competition.

Generally, organizational commitment is seen an employee when he or she is happier at work, spend less time away from his or her job and finally, are less likely to leave their organization (Salami, 2008).

Figure 1.

Definitions of Organizational Commitment

The attachment of an individual’s fund of affectivity and emotion to the Group (Kanter, 1968).
The process by which the goals of the organization and those of the individual become increasingly integrated or congruent (Hall, Schneider & Nygren, 1970).
A partisan, affective attachment to the goals and values of the 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).
The relative strength of an individual’s identification with and involvement in a particular organization (Mowday, Porter & Steers, 1982).
Profit associated with a continued participation and a ‘cost’ associated with leaving (Kanter, 1968).
A structural phenomenon which occurs as a result of individual-organizational transactions and alterations in side-bets or investments over time (Hrebiniak & Alutto, 1972).
The totality of internalized normative pressures to act in a way which meets organizational goals and interests (Wiener, 1982).
The committed employee considers it morally right to stay in the company, regardless of how much status enhancement or satisfaction the firm gives him or her over the years (Marsh & Mannari, 1977).

The differences and disparities between the definitions only show that there is inconsistency in the understanding and perception of organizational commitment among the researchers, Rahman and Hanafiah (2002) mentions. Laka-Mathebula (2004), on the other hand said that this is because of the fact that organizational researchers have recognized that a consensus has not yet been reached with regard to the definition of organizational commitment. Laka-Mathebula (2004) also adds that the definition adopted by a certain researcher tends to be influenced by the approach that he or she uses. In their study of the concept of organizational commitment, the authors mention the ideas of two other researchers which also supported their idea on the different understandings and perceptions of organizational commitment. The first study mentioned was that of Mathieu and Zajac (1990) which claimed that organizational commitment was by nature, unidimensional. On the other hand, Allen and Meyer (1991), another research mentioned in the study authored by Rahman and Hanafiah (2002) mentioned that organizational commitment should be treated as a multidimensional component.

Laka-Mathebula (2006) defines organizational commitment as “either an employee attitude or as a force that binds an employee to an organization.” However, the author recognizes the fact that there are other definitions of organizational commitment that are present which may or may not be different to what has been supplied, as stated by Suliman and Isles, one of the researches which had been the basis of the study of Laka-Mathebula.

Suliman and Isles (2000), as mentioned by Laka-Mathebula, cites four main approaches in studying organizational commitment. These are the following: (1) attitudinal approach; (2) behavioural approach; (3) normative approach; and (4) multidimensional approach. The attitudinal approach basically deals with commitment being an employee attitude and more specifically, as set of behavioural intentions (Laka-Mathebula, 2004). The attitudinal conceptualization of organizational commitment usually refers to the “the relative strength of an individuals’ identification with, and involvement in a particular organization” (Laka-Mathebula, 2004). There are usually three characteristics of organizational commitment based on this approach. These are: (1) a strong belief in and acceptance of the goals and values of the organization, (2) an employee’s willingness to exert an effort on behalf of an organization and (3) the intention and desire to stay with the organization. As a result, the following are the factors that are usually related with commitment under this approach: positive work experiences, persona; characteristics and job characteristics. In the same manner, it also produces outcomes such as increased performance, reduced absenteeism and reduced employee turnover.

The behavioural approach, on the other hand, sees organizational commitment as a behaviour. According to Laka-Mathebula (2004), “the behavioural approach emphasizes the view that an employee continues his/her employment with an organization because investments such as time spent in the organization, friendships formed within the organization and pension benefits, tie the employee to the organization.” As a result, the employee commits to the organization because the aforementioned are too costly to loose. Laka-Mathebula (2004) also mentions that it was Becker’s 1960 Side Bet Theory which served as the foundation for this approach. Generally, this theory states that “employee commitment is continued association with an organization that occurs because of an employee’s decision after evaluating the costs of leaving the organization…this commitment only happens once the employee has recognized the cost associated with discontinuing his association with the organization” (Laka-Mathebula, 2004).

The third approach mentioned by Laka-Mathebula (2004) is the normative approach which says that the congruent goals and values of the employees and the aims of the organization often makes the employee feel obligated to his or her organization. Based on this approach, organizational commitment is “the totality of internalized normative pressures to act in a way which meets organizational goals and interests (Weiner, 1982, in Laka-Mathebula, 2004).

Lastly, the fourth approach is relatively new, the multidimensional approach. This approach puts forward the idea that organizational commitment is something more complicated than just emotional attachment, the perceived costs and moral obligation. Laka-Mathebula mentions, “This approach suggests that organization develops because of the interaction of the three components [emotional attachment, perceived costs and moral obligations].” O’Reilley and Chatman (1986) argue that commitment often have three distinct forms. These are the following: compliance, identification and internalization. These researchers believe that compliance often happens when attitudes and behaviours are adopted in order to gain specific rewards. On the other hand, identification happens when the individual starts to accept influence to establish or otherwise maintain a good relationship with the organization to which they belong to. Finally, internalization occurs when the attitudes and behaviours that one has are encouraged to be adopted complement that of the organizations.

Despite the presence of many approaches in viewing organizational commitment, Laka-Malethbula (2004) gives importance to the multi-dimensional approach in dealing with organizational commitment for there are many factors which affect this phenomenon, despite it being an attitude or behaviour.

It was however, Meyer and Allen (2001) who adopted a framework based on this approach which looked into the three dimensions of organizational commitment. This framework shall be discussed in detail in the next paragraphs as more and more definitions of organizational commitment takes into full view. As earlier mentioned, this multidimensional nature of organizational commitment is one of the reasons why it was difficult for researchers to come up with a universal definition of the issue at hand.

Salami (2008) defines organizational commitment as one of the factors that could eventually lead to a healthy organizational climate, increased morale, motivation and productivity. Thus, he also mentioned this as one of the most important factors that companies need in order to prevent the restructuring and downsizing of their organizations because of the different problems and challenges arising. Salami (2008) also recognizes the fact that most workers have the tendency to be committed to the goals and values of the companies. However, it is the organizations that do not actually care about the plight of workers. As a result, employee turnover is highly affected.

Brown (2003), on the other hand defines organizational commitment as the “employees’ commitment to the organization.” She also concurred with the statement of Morrow & McElroy (1993), one of the researches which became a basis for her study that “organizational commitment is the most maturely developed of all the work of commitment constructs.

Layman and Porter (1968) saw commitment as the following: (1) “the willingness of an employee to exert high level of effort on behalf of the organization,” (2) “a strong desire to stay with the organization,” and (3) “an acceptance of its [organization’s] major goals and values.”

Stup (2006) also presented his own definition. For him, organizational commitment is “the relative strength of an employee’s attachment or involvement with the organization where he or she is employed. It is important because committed employees are less likely to leave for another job and are more likely to perform at higher levels.”  This also concurs with the definition given by Mullins (1999). For Mullins, organizational commitment is “an employee’s level of identification and involvement in the organization.”

Makanjee, Hartzer and Uys (2006) define organizational commitment as “the psychological state, characterizing and individual’s relationship with the organization, in accepting the goal of the organization and the willingness to exert [considerable] effort to achieve its goal.” However, these authors recognize the fact that employee turnover, no matter how strong the organizational commitment of certain employees is, and is an inevitable phenomena in the life cycle of an organization. Nonetheless, human resources management strategies that aim in increasing the organizational commitment of the employees become necessary as it could at least lessen employee turnover.

Sheldon (1971), on the other hand, viewed commitment as a positive evaluation of the organization and the intention to work its goals. He defined it as “an attitude or an orientation toward the organization which links or attaches the identity of the person to the organization.”

In the same manner, Blau and Boal (1987) defines it differently as they perceived organizational commitment as a psychological state in which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goal and desires to maintain membership with the organization.

Chen, Tsui and Farh (2002), also defines organizational commitment as the “psychological attachment of workers to their organizations.” They also mention, concurring with the beliefs of other previously mentioned researchers that organizational commitment has seen to have positively affected desirable work outcomes such as job satisfaction, motivation and performance.

Similarly, Meyer and Allen (1991) define commitment as a psychological state that: (1) characterizes the employee’s relationship with the organization, and; (2) has implication for the decision to continue or discontinue membership in the organization. Beyond this, however, it is clear that the nature of the psychological states differ.

Previous researches suggest that organizational commitment have three dimensions. Rahman and Hanafiah (2002), Stup (2006) and Brown (2003), concur with the findings of Allen and Meyer (1991) as they recognize the said three dimensions of organizational commitment. These are the following: affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment. Affective commitment is defined as the “emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization” (Rahman and Hanafiah, 2002; Brown, 2003; Stup, 2006). According to these authors, those employees with a strong degree of this commitment generally continue employment with the organization because they want to. Conversely, continuance commitment refers to “an awareness of costs associated with leaving the organization.” This means that the loyalty of the employees who have this kind of commitment is basically affected with their need to stay with the organization (Brown, 2003; Stup, 2006). Simply put, they stay not because they want to but because they need to. Lastly, normative commitment deals with the feeling of the employees that they have an obligation to continue employment in a certain organization (Rahman and Hanafiah, 2002; Brown, 2003; Stup, 2006). Rahman and Hanafiah (2002) mentions, “employees with a high degree or level of normative commitment feel that they ought to remain with the organization.”

Allen and Meyer (1991) suggested that the aforementioned are components of organizational commitment rather than types as employees often have different degrees by which they exhibit these. They say that one employee may have a strong attachment to an organization yet at the same time feels that they have an obligation to remain. Another employee may also enjoy working for the organization yet recognizes the costs of leaving as from an economic standpoint, this could be very difficult. Lastly, another employee may also recognize a degree of desire, need and obligation to remain with their current employer.

Organizational Commitment in a workplace, according to Makanjee, Hartzer, Uys (2006) usually have different forms which had already been previously mentioned. These different kinds of commitment usually influence the well-being of the employees as well as the effectiveness of the organization in rendering service to their patrons and to their employees.

The different researches that had been earlier mentioned state that there are indeed many factors which influence the organizational commitment of workers. Salami (2008), based on the works of other researchers mentioned in this study identified these variables and these are the following: (1) job satisfaction, (2) motivation, (3) participative decision making, (4) organizational support, (5) financial reward, (6) communication, (7) promotion prospects, and finally, (8) leadership styles. These variables and how they influence the organizational commitment of the employees would be discussed in the latter parts of this literature review that shall be devoted in analyzing these phenomena.

2.3. Variables that affect Organizational Commitment

As earlier mentioned, several variables are seen to affect and influence the organizational commitment of the employees toward the organization to which they belong to. This is one of the areas which had been the focus of most researches on organizational commitment as researchers delve into the aspects of employees’ experiences that have the greatest influence on the development of organizational commitment once an individual has entered into the organization. As a result, a great number of empirical researches have been devoted to the study associated with organizational commitment (Laka-Mathebula, 2004). Mowday, et al., as cited by Laka-Mathebula (2004) grouped the different factors which influence organizational commitment into three major groups: (1) personal factors, (2) organizational factors, and (3) non-organizational factors. These categories of factors contribute to the development of the different components of organizational commitment. In the same manner, the degree by which they influence organizational commitment also varies. Also, the level by which they affect organizational commitment depends on whether it is perceived as an attitude or a behaviour.

Laka-Mathebula (2004) in her study mentioned how Meyer and his colleagues grouped these variables into three major categories. These are: (1) personal characteristics, (2) organizational characteristics and (3) work experiences. Personal characteristics include the following: age, tenure, gender, family status, educational level, need for achievement, sense of competence and a sense of professionalism. Organizational characteristics, on the other hand, are those factors which results from the experiences of the employees in the organization. According to the study of Laka-Mathebula (2004), the experiences of the employees in an organization lead to a perception that they are indeed, supported by their organization. As a result, they feel that they have an obligation towards the organization, thus repaying the latter with affective commitment. Meyer and Allen (1997), as cited by Laka-Mathebula (2004) mentioned,

Organizational characteristics such as structure, culture and organizational level policies, which can induce perceptions of organizational support, would probably induce organizational commitment. The idea that organizational policies are related to affective commitment has some support in the organizational commitment literature.

The aforementioned were what Laka-Mathebula (2004), based on her study, identified that could have a great impact on the affective commitment of an employee towards his or her organization. In the same manner, the author also recognized the presence of other variables which could also play a role in the other dimensions of organizational commitment such as continuance commitment. As earlier defined, continuance commitment has something to do with the choice of an employee to stay because he or she is aware of the costs that he or she may face as a result of leaving the organization. As a result, investments and employment alternatives are cited by Meyer and Allen (1991) as variables that are often associated with continuance commitment.

Another aspect of organizational commitment worthy of discussion is normative commitment. Compared to the other dimensions that had been previously mentioned, very few variables had been identified that greatly influence normative commitment. As also earlier mentioned, normative commitment usually stems out from the psychological contract between an employee and an organization. According to Laka-Mathebula (2004), there are usually two kinds of contracts which usually affect the development of continuance commitment: these are relational contracts and transactional contracts. Transactional contracts are usually more objective and are often based on principles regarding economic exchange. On the other hand, relational contracts are abstract and based on the principles of social exchange. This paper would then reassess the effects of these variables on organizational commitment based on the previous researches made as made available by the World Wide Web.

2.3.1. Age

Most researchers perceive age as one of the factors which greatly influences organizational commitment. However, there are also different studies conducted by scholars of organizational commitment which proves that there is no link between age and loyalty to one’s organization.

This paper would first look into the variety of reasons given by the researchers who claim that age is indeed a positive predictor of commitment, often claiming that it is the older generation of employees who exhibit a higher degree of loyalty towards their organization. Several researchers recognize the linkage between age and organizational commitment. These include: Kaldenberg, Becker and Zvonkovic (1995, as cited in Laka-Mathebula, 2004), Salami (2008), Feinstein and Harrah (n.d.), Gattiker (1992), Bowen, Radhakrishna and Keyser (n.d.) and Liou (1995).

 The study of Kaldenberg, Becker and Zvonkovic (1995), as cited by Laka-Mathebula (2004), shows that aging workers tend to show stronger commitment to their jobs as their alternative employment options continue to decrease. It is because of this decrease in alternative employment options that their current job becomes more and more attractive. In the same manner, the study mentioned above also stated that older individuals tend to show more commitment to the organization, as compared with the younger employees because of the stronger investment and history they have had. Salami (2008) also concurs with the findings mentioned above in his study of the Demographic and Psychological Factors Predicting Organizational Commitment amongst Industrial Workers. Using multiregression analysis, he was able to look into the relationship of factors to organizational commitment. His study proved that older workers tend to show more commitment towards the organization rather than the younger workers. Based on his research, he then concludes that age is a significant predictor of organizational commitment as workers tend to evaluate their relationship with the organization as they grow older.

Bowen, Radhakrishna and Keyser (n.d.) also gave importance to age as a very important factor in determining the commitment of employees, more specifically, the 4-H agents as the older ones tend to exhibit higher levels of loyalty than the younger ones. This is because of the fact that the latter are still in pursuit of the careers that are truly meant for them.

The aforementioned reasons were also the reasons supplied by the other researchers that had been earlier identified. Nonetheless, there were also researches that disproved the claim of the studies previously mentioned. For these researchers, age has nothing to do with the commitment of one employee towards his or her organization. An example of this is the study of Hawkins (1998) which was used as an example in the research conducted by Laka-Mathebula in 2004.  In the study of three hundred ninety-six principals, Hawkins showed a non-significant correlation between age and organizational commitment.

The same result was obtained from the study of Stanton, et al. (2003) who randomly surveyed eight hundred employees. Based on their analysis of the data obtained from their research, they were also able to find out that only minor differences were seen based on the perceptions of the respondents on the relationship between age and organizational commitment.

Trimble (2006), in the same manner also disproved the fact that age is an important factor in determining the organizational commitment of a certain employee. He believes that career stage, also known as tenure is more important in determining the organizational commitment rather than looking into the age of the employees. He believes that it is only when one becomes established with his or her job that he or she is able to show commitment towards the organization to which he or she belongs to.

2.3.2. Marital Status

This study also considers looking into the effects of marital status of the employees as one of the factors which contribute to the organizational commitment of the latter. Just like the previously discussed factors, the claims of the different scholars of organizational commitment with regard to marital status differ from one another. Lee and Maurer (1999) claims that one must first look into the family where one employee comes from in order to effectively analyze his or her commitment towards a certain organization. They believe that over the years, the different issues of the family have significantly affected the turnover process in most organizations. Bowen et al. (1994) in his study claimed that married workers tend to be more committed towards the organization rather than the single ones. This is because of the fact that those who are already married are aware of their responsibilities which would of course, require financial support. As a result, they tend to be more committed to the organization. The study of Salami (2008) is one of the researches that concur with the claim that marital status indeed affects the organizational commitment of employees and with the statement of Bowen as those who are married are more committed towards their organization rather than those who are still single.

In the same manner, Feinstein and Harrah (n.d.) also agrees with the fact that marital status, just like the other demographic factors, also play an important role in influencing their organizational commitment. Just like Salami (2008) and Bowen, et al. (1994), Feinstein and Harrah (n.d.) discovered that married people tend to show more commitment towards the organization as compared with those who are single. This is again, because of the fact that they are very much aware of the fact that they are in need of financial resources to support their responsibilities at home.

Bowen, Radhakrishna and Keyser (n.d.), in their study of 4-H agents also revealed that older, married and more experienced agents exhibit higher levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment rather than the younger, single and less experienced ones. This is generally because of the fact that the latter are still in the stage wherein they are still deciding on which career path they will choose and whether their present job is really meant for them.

As it has earlier been mentioned, the different researches made on organizational commitment have mixed views with regard to the relationship between martial status and the commitment to the organization. Marital status is often perceived to be something confusing when being analyzed as one of the factors of commitment. As previously discussed, there are researches made that concluded that marital status is an important factor for married employees tend to stay longer in the organization, as they are facing more responsibilities than the single ones. Other researches on the other hand, views marital status as one of the factors behind the low commitment of employees. Rationale and Hypotheses claims that this is because of a new factor called avocational commitment. Generally, avocational commitment deals with the factors that exist outside the organization. The aforementioned discussion was its positive effect upon the organizational commitment of employees. However, it also has a negative effect and this happens when one’s work demands keep him or her from being with the family too much. As a result, a relatively low degree of organizational commitment is more prevalent. Fortunately, the fact that this employee has to support a family, this reason is weak in influencing him or her to leave the organization for as long as there are no other external opportunities present.

2.3.3. Gender

This research would also look at gender as one of the variables influencing organizational commitment. Gender is one of the variables in this study that is considered to be highly controversial due to the fact that the different researchers used for this study shows different results in the examination of the effects of this variable on the organizational commitment of the employees.

Laka-Mathebula (2004), in her study reports that when it comes to gender influencing organizational commitment, researches are inconsistent. This is because there are some researchers who claim that there is a difference between the organizational commitment of the women and men due to the fact that the former tends to stay longer because they face more discrimination and other barriers in seeking a new employment. However, there are also studies which support this possibility although they recognize that there is only a little difference between the organizational commitment of men and women employees. Still other studies claim that gender and organizational commitment are not related with each other. The study of Mathieu and Zajac (1990, in Laka-Mathebula, 2004) reveals a mean correlation of .089 for organizational commitment and gender. This means that there is a weak relationship between gender and the commitment of employees to the organizations to which they belong to. Nonetheless, they still consider the importance of this factor in influencing the perceptions of the employees with regard to the workplace and the attitudes they have towards their organization.

Salami (2008) also included gender as one of the demographic factors he studied in his research. However, this was the only factor in his study (other factors include age, marital status, job tenure and educational level) that have no significant effect on the organizational commitment of the industrial factors which was the focus of his research. The results of his study revealed a weak correlation between gender and organizational commitment (r = .17, p > .05). As a result, he gives more importance to the other factors in his study rather than gender alone in determining the organizational commitment of the industrial workers who were involved in his research.

Wahn (1998, in Laka-Mathebula, 2004), on the other hand, shows that there is a relationship between gender and organizational commitment. Wahn (1998) mentions that women tend to show a higher level of commitment than men. She believes that this is because of the fact that men, as compared with women, face little or no barriers at all when seeking for new jobs. As a result, women stick to their jobs, thinking that they would have a hard time in finding a new job once they leave the current organization to which they belong to.

Gattiker (1992) supported the findings of Wahn (1998, in Laka-Mathebula, 2004), showing that females, as compared with the male employees of an organization tend to show more commitment in his Canadian samples. On the other hand, Gattiker (1992) was not able to find this correlation with his study on his American samples which showed that gender does not have a significant effect on organizational commitment. Gattiker (1992) reports, “one explanation for this finding may be that in Canada it is more difficult for a woman to be accepted within an organization than it is in the U.S. Once a Canadian woman has become a full-fledged corporate member, she may hold more strongly to her position, making her [calculative] commitment higher than that of her American counterpart.”

Rashed (2006), in his study of the effect of gender on job satisfaction and organizational commitment in Kuwait also notes discrimination between men and women in seeking employment as a factor why females tend to be more committed to their jobs rather than men. However, he also concurs with the claim that the role between gender and organizational commitment, until now, remains unclear. As a result, he believes two of the hypotheses of his study are the following: (1) there is no significant relationship between gender and organizational commitment and (2) men and women have the same level of organizational commitment. Using correlation and t-tests to measure these hypotheses, Rashed (2006) was able to prove that the employee’s gender has no significant effect on his/her perception of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. As a result, the same level of both satisfaction and commitment is exhibited.

Rashed (2006), however, mentioned different factors why previous researches claim that there different levels of work satisfaction and organizational commitment are exhibited between men and women. One of the factors mentioned is the difference in expectations. An employee has higher or lower levels of job satisfaction because they have lower or higher expectations and greater or less ability to satisfy them. These findings were also supported by the study conducted by Marsden, Kalleberg and Cook (n.d.), Bowen, Radhakrishna and Keyser (n.d.).

Finally, the study of Stewart et al. (2007) in their hopes to discover the relationship between gender and organizational commitment decided to conduct their own study based on the findings of previous researches. Their findings show that as a group, women tend to exhibit a higher mean level of continuance commitment as compared to the men. In the same manner, they found out that the relationship between gender and continuance commitment was stronger than the relationship that existed between gender and affective commitment. In general, they still view the fact that women tend to face more obstacles in looking for new jobs as a very important factor in explaining why the latter exhibits more commitment rather than the men. Nonetheless, they still claim that their findings, just like those that had been published by previous researchers, do not establish a strong relationship between gender and organizational commitment

2.3.4. Race

Race is another important factor in the discussion of organizational commitment. Although there is no research which suggests that a certain race is more committed to their works than the others, discrimination is an issue that is of vital importance at influences the turnover of the employees. In a study conducted by Shellenbarger (1993), it was revealed that non-white workers tend to show a lower level of organizational commitment due to the fact that they experience the so-called perceived discrimination or their jobs. As a result, their organization commitment lowers thus leading them to lose their willingness to take the initiative while on the job or worse, leave the organization.

Ensher, Grant-Vallone and Donaldson (2001) mentions, “it is a challenge for organizations not only to manage diversity effectively by implementing fair policies and reinforcing appropriate managerial behaviours but also to pay attention to their employees’ perceptions of discrimination. This is important because employees beliefs, whether or not they are consistent with reality affect their behaviours.” The authors also cite organizational discrimination as one of the factors haunting businesses today. As a result, these corporations tend to lose their employees that belong to the minorities. Sanchez and Brock (1996), as mentioned by Ensher, Grant-Vallone and Donaldson (2001) found in their study that perceived discrimination influences the way employees behave. This then leads to higher work tension and a decreasing level of job satisfaction, thus affecting organizational commitment greatly.

2.3.5. Experience

Aside from those factors that had been previously discussed, work experience is another variable that the researcher deems as necessary in the study of organizational commitment. Often referred to as tenure, this factor is seen as one of the personal characteristics that affect organizational commitment especially the affective dimension. This is evident in the studies that shall be discussed below. In the study conducted by Mathieu and Zajac (1990), as cited by Laka-Mathebula, a positive link between organizational tenure and commitment has been discovered (r = .17, p < .01). Laka-Mathebula (2004) also cited more researches that had been previously made that looked into the relationship of organizational commitment and tenure. Kushman (1992) was another example mentioned which also revealed a positive correlation between the number of years in teaching and organizational commitment in his study of urban elementary and middle school teachers. Laka-Mathebula (2004) also mentions that although a lot of empirical researches have proven the relationship of these two factors, how the said link operates has not yet been established. Nonetheless, popular names in the field of research in organizational commitment, such as Meyer and Allen (1997, as cited in Laka-Mathebula, 2004), offered suggestions on why employees with longer work experiences exhibit a higher level of commitment towards a certain organization.

They mentioned that this was so because of the fact that more experienced workers who have already served in an organization for a long time tend to develop an emotional attachment to an organization. As a result, they tend to stay long their organization. In the same manner, the aforementioned authors also suggest that one simple way to explain this phenomenon is the fact that uncommitted employees leave an organization and only those who exhibit a higher level of commitment remain (Meyer and Allen, 1997).

The claims mentioned above were also supported by the findings of the researches of Santos and Notland (2006), as cited by Salami (2008). Salami (2008) also included tenure or work experience as one of the factors that were included in his study of organizational commitment amongst the industrial workers. The findings of his study revealed that job tenure, together with age; marital status and educational level were all significant in determining the commitment of a worker towards a certain organization. The study also revealed that those who have a higher job experience show more commitment than those that had just been newly employed. Generally, Salami (2008) believes that the longer an employee stays with a certain organization, the more time he or she devotes in evaluating the relationship he or she has with the organization. As a result he or she tends to discover a relationship that he or she has already established with the organization, discouraging him or her to leave.

Trimble (2006), in his study of organizational commitment, job satisfaction and the turnover of missionaries also gave importance to tenure or work experience as one of the factors that significantly and positively affects organizational commitment. In the section devoted to the discussion of age as a factor that influences organizational commitment, the work of Trimble has already been cited as one of the researches which claims that tenure or work experience is a more important factor in analyzing organizational commitment. According to his study, the career stage where an employee is in is very important in the analysis. This is because those who have already been in the organization for a long time tend to be more committed because of the fact that they are already sure of their career and at the same time, have already developed a good relationship with their organizations. On the other hand, those who are relatively new to their jobs, tend to exhibit a lower level of commitment as they are still discovering their career path.

In contrast with the claim of Trimble’s (2006) research, that tenure or work experience is more important than age, the study of Gattiker (1992), a proponent of the side-bet theory, gives importance to both age and tenure in the analysis of organizational commitment. In fact, these two factors are said to be the most important variables in testing the said theory, in measuring organizational commitment. According to Gattiker (1992), the longer the experience an employee has with a company, he or she gains seniority and connections within the organization. As a result, they are less likely to change firms than their younger counterparts.

Hahn (2007) concurs with these findings as he explains the reasons why people with a longer work experience tend to show more commitment to the organization. He recognizes the diminishing opportunities for these people in looking new jobs, considering their age, as they devoted a longer period in their organizations. As a result, their commitment increases.

2.3.6. Education

The educational training received by the employees is also very essential in the analysis of the organizational commitment of an individual. Laka-Mathebula (2004) mentions employment alternatives, aside from personal characteristics as one of the factors affecting the organizational commitment of the employees. Apparently, the presence of these employment alternatives brings the organizational commitment of employees down to a lower level. Education is perceived to be one of the factors that increase the employment alternatives of an employee. When a certain employee thinks that the educational training they have received are less transferable elsewhere, they then exhibit a stronger commitment towards the organization.

Salami (2008) in his study also found out that the educational level of employees significantly contributes to their organizational commitment. According to him, those who have met higher educational qualifications were more committed to the organizations, a claim that is somehow different from that of Laka-Mathebula (2004). This is because of the fact that employees who have higher educational qualifications tend to occupy higher positions, thus giving them more responsibilities. As a result, commitment to the organization is being required of them.

On the other hand, Hahn (2007) provides a statement that is highly contradicts the different claims provided by the previously mentioned. He claims that higher education is usually associated with lower commitment because of the fact that they tend to have higher expectations that the organizations could not meet. In the same manner, the people with a better educational background tend to be more committed to their professions rather than to their organizations. Finally, their low commitment is also associated with the fact that other employment opportunities are present for them.

The claims of Hahn were also supported by Gattiker (1992) based on the side-bet theory approach to organizational commitment. According to Gattiker (1992), and the different researchers he mentioned in his paper (such as Ritzer and Trice, 1969), a low level of education could mean a higher organizational commitment for the employees. This is because of the fact that fewer career alternatives are available for them.

Lastly, Huselid and Day (1991) also concurred with the claims made by the aforementioned researchers as he mentioned that of the respondents they used for their study, those who exhibited lower organizational commitment and eventually left were those people who have higher educational attainment as compared with the other participants. This is because of the fact that they expect more from their organizations yet the latter was not able to provide them. In the same manner, those with higher educational experiences also recognized that there are other opportunities available for them that they decided to pursue them rather than just stay and remain committed to the organization who nonetheless failed to meet their expectations.

2.3.7. Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is a cognitive evaluation that individuals often make in relation to the experiences they have at work (Makanjee, Hartzer and Uys, 2006) On the other hand, it is defined by Salami (2008) as “a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experience. It is a result of employee’s perception of how well their job provides those things that are viewed as important.” The researcher gives importance to the analysis of the relationship job satisfaction and organizational commitment as the latter is one of the factors that are seen to affect organizational commitment greatly. Aside from influencing the latter, the former is also seen to lessen employee turnover in a certain company (Martin, 1995). Apparently, a company with a low rate of employee turnover only shows that the employees are somehow committed to the organization. Other researchers view job satisfaction as one of the results of the other factors discussed above. Basically, researchers such as Trimble (2006) associate factors such as gender, age, marital status, educational experience and tenure as variables influencing job satisfaction. Upon reaching the point where the employees are already satisfied with their jobs, then they start to exhibit greater commitment towards their organizations.

Just like the other factors that had been discussed earlier, the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment has been highly debated upon. Salami (2008) mentioned several researches which proved organizational commitment to be highly affected by job satisfaction and those studies which proved otherwise. Those who do not believe in the relationship between the two claims that job satisfaction do not necessarily produce organizational commitment as this develops slowly, “after the individual form more comprehensive valuations of the employing organization, its values, and expectations and one’s own future in it” (Salami, 2008). Nonetheless, it is still one of the most important determinants of organizational commitment as workers with a higher satisfaction level tend to be more committed to the organization (r = 0.30, p < .05).

The findings of Salami (2008) were based on the fact that job satisfaction, more often than not reflects the immediate reactions of the individual to the job. In turn, these reactions tend to influence the development of an individual’s commitment to the organization. As a result, workers who are more satisfied with their jobs are more committed to their organizations and the absence of this variable could mean that one’s organizational commitment could decrease. The study of Chen, Tsui and Farh (2002) also concurred with the claims made by other researchers that one’s commitment to organization is influenced by different factors, employee job satisfaction being one of the most important factors.

In the same manner, Makanjee, Hartzer and Uys (2006) believe that job satisfaction is a very important mediator of the relationship between the role stressors and organizational commitment, finding that the former greatly influences the latter.

2.3.8. Employee Communication

Communication with employees is also seen to be one of the most important factors that influence the organizational commitment of most employees for this is said to have done so much in establishing and maintaining good relationships between the organization and the employees. This relationship then becomes very important to the organization for this makes the employees feel like they belong and at the same time, know the status of the organization to which they belong to. In the same manner, the employees, through the establishment of good communication lines are also made aware of the goals of the company. As a result, they now know whether or not their goals are aligned with that of their employers, a necessary condition for organizational commitment.

 This is highly supported by the study of Thornhill, et al. (1996) which involved institutions offering higher education. The study found that it is through a well established communication lines with the employees that the latter feel that they are part of the organization. In the same manner, it is also through this that they also feel that the organization had a great future and this is indeed a good place to work at. It is because of these opinions and perceptions of their respondents that the researchers were able to see that they were indeed, very committed towards their organization. Thornhill, et al. (1996) concludes: “social information processing theory suggests that practices of communication that promotes open communication within an organization and open access to information, and frees information sharing, can increase [affective] organizational commitment.” As a result, they recommend organizations to use communication as one of their organizational strategies so as to keep their employees involved and committed.

Rationale and Hypotheses developed an interactive model that was perceived to be very important in the study of organizational commitment. Included in this model were communication interactions which are also seen as very important to increasing the commitment of employees toward their organization. The authors suggest the following importance of communication and the model that they developed:

(1) individual social identity is adapted through communication; (2) organizational social identity is a product of communication; (3) affective commitment variables are maintained through communication; (4) calculative commitment variables are negotiated through commitment; (5) organizational support for external commitments is expressed through communication; (6) organizational restrictions on external commitments are expressed through communication; (7) organizational preparation for external opportunities is conducted through communication; (8) individual external opportunities are identified through communication and; (9) individual external opportunities are negotiated through communication.

As mentioned above, it is through communication that an employee could lessen the chances of their employees to look for other opportunities outside of their organization. As a result, the latter would be discouraged to leave their organization.

2.3.9. Leadership Styles

Lastly, this research would discuss leadership styles as a variable in influencing the organizational commitment of employees. Different researches made on the relationship between leadership styles and organizational commitment has produced a positive correlation for it not only builds trust between the employee and the organization but also promotes the training and development of the employees. Laka-Mathebula (2004) believes that as a practice related with human resources management, the incorporation of a correct leadership style and effort could help in the promotion of the personal development and growth of the employees within the organization. Leadership styles then became one of the foci of her study as she relates leadership styles and organizational commitment.

Laka-Mathebula (2004), based on her research, gave importance to the multifactor leadership theory which had been developed by Bass in the 1980s. Apparently, this theory incorporates the different kinds of leadership styles such as transformational, transactional, laissez-faire leadership and charismatic styles of leadership. Apparently, the use supervisors’ use of these styles influences the individual and the way they perceive the organization in general. As a result, Laka-Mathebula (2004) gives importance to these styles as a very essential aspect of Human Resources Management for it transcends the behaviour of the employee towards the organization. Somehow, it is a very important antecedent of trust which could then eventually lead to organizational commitment. Commitment to the organization has a lot of prerequisites which includes the employee’s high level of identification with the goals and values of the organization and at the same time, the desire to remain in the said organization as a member. Because of this, trust in both the leader and organization is very important.

The findings of Laka-Mathebula (2004) were also supported by Brown (2003) who also gave importance to the different forms of leadership styles (i.e. relations oriented and task oriented) in influencing the different aspects of organizational commitment. For it is only through effective leadership that one is highly encouraged to remain involved and committed in a certain organization.

2.4. Outcomes of Organizational Commitment

The factors that had been discussed in the earlier section of this literature review were seen to affect organizational commitment in either a positive or negative way. In the same manner, the different researches that had been mentioned, depending on the results generated by their study, that these factors all contribute to the success or failure of organizational commitment. Aside from this, several researchers also mention different outcomes of commitment for the organizations.

In this particular part of this research, one will see how these outcomes of organizational commitment are also correlated with the different variables that are often associated with this particular concept.

The researcher would also focus on the analysis of these perceived outcomes of organizational commitment in order to analyze the importance of organizational commitment for companies. Chugthai and Zatar (2006) recognize the fact that much research has been done to understand organizational commitment, its nature, antecedents and consequences. According to these authors, employee commitment is very important because as the employees’ high level of commitment that could eventually lead to outcomes that are favourable to the organization. Different researches made on the same subject matter reveal that the commitment of the employees is also necessary to ensure that perform well in their jobs. In the same manner, it also influences other factors such as motivation and organizational citizenship behaviours. In the same manner, those with low commitment to their organizations tend to lose morale and demonstrate decreased measures of altruism and compliance. Fiorito et al. (2007) supports the aforementioned findings, stating that organizational commitment often predicts important variables such as absenteeism, turnover, organizational citizenship, intention to leave, etc. Nonetheless, the views of the researchers with regard to these matters vary. The aforementioned findings of the different researches, according to Chugthai and Zatar (2006) are considered to be of vital importance to the different organizations and the practice of human resources management. These factors and their how they affect organizational commitment, whether positively or negatively shall be analyzed in this paper, based on the findings of previous researches, as made available by the World Wide Web.

2.4.1. Intention to Leave

Intention to leave is often viewed as an outcome of organizational commitment for a simple reason, committed people stay while those who are not leave. Meyer and Allen (1997, as cited by Chugthai and Zatar, 2006) states: “the results of a positive relationship between tenure and organizational commitment might be a simple reflection of the fact that uncommitted employees leave an organization and only those with a high commitment remain.” Chugthai and Zatar (2006) also concurred with the statement of Meyer and Allen, saying that employees that are highly committed are those that actually stay longer, perform better, tend to miss less work and finally, engage in organizational citizenship behaviours. Generally, the intention to leave is influenced by a lot of factors other than simply being uncommitted to the organization. Tham and Meagher (2008) mention the following as the factors which influence the workers’ intention to leave: the lack of human resource orientation within the organization. Examples include the extent by which the personnel are rewarded for their job well done and the interest of the management in the health and well-being of their employees.

Trimble (2006), in his study of organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and the turnover intention of missionaries, reveal that committed members of an organization are usually the ones who have the slightest intention to leave. This is because of the relationship that they have already established with the organization and its other members. Gattiker (1992) also supports the findings of Trimble in his application of the side-bet theory. Just like the previous author mentioned, Gattiker gives importance to the commitment that one has towards the organization in making sure that he or she is discouraged to leave the organization. He then gives importance to investments that a person may have in the company which could increase his commitment. At the same time, the employee would also be encouraged to stay with the organization for leaving would mean that these investments would be deemed worthless (Gattiker, 1992).

Kostova (n.d.) is another researcher who supports the importance of organizational commitment in ensuring that the intention of one employee to leave their jobs is lessened. The study of Kostova also revealed that the satisfaction of the employees with their jobs usually have a positive effect on both their emotional and rational commitment. This positive effect then results to the willingness to increase their efforts yet and decrease their intention to leave the organization.

Lee and Maurer (1999) also views organizational commitment as one of the factors that discourages the employee’s intention to leave. They mentioned family structure as a very important factor in ensuring the commitment of the employees. In the same manner, they also viewed the intention to leave as a factor determining the commitment of employees and not just an outcome of the latter. This then supports the research of Hom and Griffeth (1991) which showed that organizational commitment has independent effects of the intention to leave of the employees. According to the model produced by their research however, job satisfaction is more important than organizational commitment in influencing the intention to leave. Moynihan, Boswell and Boudreau (2000) to support this claim states, “Job satisfaction, more immediate and personal than organizational commitment, may therefore be a stronger predictor of job search activity and intention to leave for an employee group.”

Vigoda (2000) also noted that job attitudes, including job satisfaction and organizational commitment have a positive relationship with one’s intention to leave the organization. The researcher also recognizes the fact that organizational politics may play an important role in encouraging one to leave the organization to which he or she belongs to. Vigoda (2000) mentions that without organizational commitment, people who are victims of organizational politics would be tempted to leave the organization. Conversely, the possession of this commitment results to a negligent behaviour towards the political issues of the organizations that are affecting them.

The study of Lee (2006) revealed that organizational commitment is one of the most important predictors in explaining why people have the intention to leave a certain company while job satisfaction have no significance at all. This means that even though a certain employee is not satisfied with his or her job, he or she may continue on to stay with the organization because of the other factors. This is then basically the dimension of organizational commitment called continuance commitment which means that they stay with their organization because they are well aware of the costs that they may encounter in case they leave.

2.4.2. Absenteeism

In managing the productivity of any organization, the attendance of its workers is of great importance, Lambert and Hogan (2007) notes. Absenteeism, together with low job performances and lack of creativeness are very costly to most organizations. It is often defined as the “nonattendance of employees for scheduled work when they are expected to attend” (Huczynski & Fitzpatrick, 1989, as cited by Lambert & Hogan, 2007). There are many reasons why employees do not report from work and these usually include the following: illness, family emergency or just a day off (Lambert & Hogan, 2007). The costs are well documented, present in the researches of Mirvis and Lawler (1977), Steers and Rhodes (1978) and Wanous (1980), Blau and Boal (1987). Burton, Lee and Holtom (2002) reports that in the United States alone, absenteeism costs organizations forty billion dollars a year. However, these could all change positively with the increase of the employees’ commitment to their organization. As a result, this is now becoming a very important aspect of research dealing with this particular topic. The rising costs of absenteeism and the incapacity of certain business policies and strategies that deal with these problems gave importance to organizational commitment in lessening the frequency of absences (Avey, 2006). The results of the study of Dordevic (2004) which focused on Employee Commitment in Times of Radical Organizational Changes showed that employees’ commitment is a valuable asset for most organization for it shows a positive relationship with reducing absenteeism among other.

The study of Blau and Boal (1985) showed that many work-related such as job involvement and organizational commitment affect absenteeism. This is because the findings of their study reveal that when a certain employee is not committed towards his or her organization are usually apathetic, therefore is a tendency that they would take advantage of company policies that do not penalize absenteeism.  However, the relationship between organizational commitment and absenteeism has always been inconsistent. Blau and Boal (1985) noted that researchers like Hammer et al. (1981) found a negative relationship between organizational commitment while other scholars like Angle and Perry (1981) and Lambert and Hogan (2007) did not.

Just like all the other variables and outcomes discussed in this literature review, organizational researchers have not reached a consensus on whether organizational commitment is either positively or negatively related with the growing problems of absenteeism in many businesses around the world.

The study of Chen, Tsui and Farh (2002) concurs with the findings of Hammer et al. (1981, as cited in Blau and Boal, 1985) in saying that the commitment of an employee to the organization to which he or she belongs to is positively related with employee job satisfaction, motivation, performance yet negatively correlated with absenteeism. These findings, however, had been disproved by Burton, Lee and Holtom (2002) in their application of the Steers and Rhodes Model of Absenteeism in looking into the relationship between organizational commitment and absenteeism. The Steers and Rhodes Model of Absenteeism is considered to be the most influential model that researchers use in analyzing absenteeism, breaking it into two categories: voluntary and involuntary (Burton, Lee & Holtom, 2002; Lambert and Hogan, 2007). This model shows that the attendance of most employees are highly influenced by their ability and motivation to attend which is then affected by the situation one faces in his or her job together with the economic conditions he or she is in and of course, organizational commitment. Under the Steers and Rhodes Model of Absenteeism, organizational commitment is seen to reduce the frequency of an employee to absent him/herself from work.

Gattiker (1992) also concurs with the findings of the aforementioned researchers and the Steers and Rhodes Model of Absenteeism through his use of the side-bet theory approach. Basically, Gattiker believes in the positive effects of organizational commitment in reducing the frequency of one employee’s absences. This is because of the fact that the commitment to an organization is highly stable as compared with job satisfaction for the stability of this attitude is often linked with the goals and values of the organization. Gattiker also notes that when one has a strong belief in the goals and values of the organization, he or she is willing to work in the organization, based on what is expected of him or her.

The study of Stewart et al. (2002) is another research which gives importance to the possession of a commitment towards an organization in ensuring that the frequency of absences is reduced. The researchers recognize the fact that both are indeed factors that influence each other. This means that organizational commitment is necessary in order to reduce absenteeism and at the same time, a reduction in the frequency of absences is a measure by which organizational commitment could be determined.

Avey (2006) also claimed that his research moved away from the traditional view that absenteeism is “most closely and somewhat exclusively related to aspects of job satisfaction and organizational commitment.” Generally, Avey believes in Psychological Capital as the factor which affects voluntary or involuntary absenteeism the most. However, he recommends the proper supervision of the employees to ensure that they still do develop a sense of commitment towards the organization for this could in a way, help in ensuring that the tendency of an employee to absent him/herself is reduced. Bishop (1997) also recognizes the relationship between low levels of commitment and negative factors haunting organizations such as absenteeism, turnover and the intention to quit. As a result, he gives importance to the proper supervision of employees to ensure their commitment to the organization which could then reduce the frequency of absences.

2.4.3. Productivity

Productivity, just like the other outcomes that had been previously discussed is one of the main foci of this study, considering its importance to the different organizations. Apparently, the effects of organizational commitment on the productivity of workers are also been debated upon by the researchers in the field of organizational commitment. Laka-Mathebula (2004), together with other popular names involved in the research in the field of organizational commitment give importance to the latter in influencing the increased productivity of the employees. She mentions, “The high levels of organizational commitment would lead to higher levels of performance and effectiveness at both the individual and the organizational level.” As a result, more organizations tend to result to developing their strategies concerning human resources management to ensure that their employees are committed to organizations for its perceived effects which include productivity generates higher revenues. Laka-Mathebula (2004) reports, “adopting an integrated set of human resource management practices focusing on commitment can produce high levels of employee affective commitment and subsequent organizational performance.”

 Chen, Tsui and Farh (2002), in their study which generally focused on looking into the effects of organizational commitment on increasing one’s productivity, found out that one’s commitment to his or her organization is related with the desirable work outcome of most employees, especially in increasing his or her productivity. This is also highly supported by the study of Feinstein and Harrah (n.d.) which found out that organizational commitment is indeed, positively correlated with the quality of service one employee renders to their patrons in the restaurant industry, the focus of the Feinstein and Harrah’s study. In the same manner, the researchers were also able to discover the link between organizational commitment and the increasing productivity of the workers.

The study of Stewart et al. (2007) mentions eight psychological climate dimensions which are very important to the discussion of the outcomes of organizational commitment, productive worker performance, being one of them. They mention pressure put on by the supervisors to their employees as one of the reasons that negatively affect the productivity of the employees. As a result, the time demands that are instilled upon them generally lead them to a substandard way of completing their tasks, thus affecting their performance standards. Lee (2006) also agrees with the aforementioned findings of the other researchers, saying that organizational commitment, based on his research is indeed positively related with the intention of employees to stay and most importantly, their productivity.

2.4.4. Labour Turnover

Turnover is often defined as the “voluntary cessation of membership of an organization by an employee of that organization (Morrell, Loan-Clarke & Wilkinson, 2001). This however is a definition that is highly different from that of the organizational perspective. In this particular point of view, turnover could also mean the entry of employees into an organization.

Businesses need a source of labour for them to function considering the basic economic model of firms or just by recognizing labour as one of the four factors of production (Morrell, Loan-Clarke and Wilkinson, 2001). However, the pressures of globalization increases job mobility which is then becoming very popular as a result of the growing number of employees, Lee (2006) mentions. Because of this, more and more researches are being devoted to the study of the proper management of resources, the employees being one of the foci of these studies. These researches, such as that conducted by Mobley (1982), as cited in Morrell, Loan-Clarke and Wilkinson (2001) noted that when an employee leaves, this can have a variety of effects that not only impact the organization but the employees and the society as well. These effects could either be positive or negative. Nonetheless, the different researches made on this area failed to produce a framework by which this phenomenon could be understood (Morrell, Loan-Clarke & Wilkinson, 2001). This then becomes one of the reasons why the analysis of the process of labour turnover and the factors which may or may not be negatively correlated with it is of vital importance to many organizations.

 Organizational commitment, if properly managed could significantly reduce labour turnover, Laka-Mathebula (2004) notes. It is for this reason that this research also focuses on the relationship between labour turnover and organizational commitment. Kerfoot (1998) discusses that a high turnover in an organization could be quite costly for the latter because this is one of the determinants showing that the employees are no longer committed. In the same manner, this may also be a determinant of the employees’ loss of trust which could then negatively affect the initiative, performance and creativity of the employees. However, the study of Morrell, Loan-Clarke and Wilkinson (2001) gives importance in analyzing the difference between the voluntary and involuntary over to ensure that it is properly associated with factors such as organizational commitment.

Morrell, Loan-Clarke and Wilkinson (2001), nonetheless gives importance to organizational commitment as one of the important factors that are positively correlated with labour turnover, using the psychological school. This is also highly supported by the study conducted by Fiorito et al. (2007) and Gattiker (1992) which claimed that organizational commitment predicts important variables including turnover. According to the research conducted by the aforementioned authors, the commitment to one organization prevents the employees from leaving their jobs. Likewise, Martin (1995) states:

Past research on voluntary turnover has produced very extensive and sophisticated models; however, a recent and more parsimonious model of turnover utilizes only two employee work attitudes to predict turnover propensity. These two attitudes are job involvement and organizational commitment. The premise discussed here is that job involvement and organizational commitment interact jointly to affect turnover.

Martin (1995) also gives importance to the manager’s role in ensuring that the employees could identify well with their jobs and at the same time, care for these. It is through this that they become more satisfied with their jobs. Likewise, the managers are also encouraged to ensure that their employees have a positive feeling towards their organizations. Through this, they would become more identified with the different goals of the organizations, its values and culture, thus wanting to remain members of this. This is very important for apathetic employees are usually the ones who leave their jobs easily. In relation with this, Martin (1995) found out that:

Employees with both high job involvement and organizational commitment also have the most positive attitudes and lowest propensity to quit because they are attracted by both the job and organization. These employees feel they have a relationship with the company; the employee and company are part of the same whole.

Lee (2006) however, finds a negative correlation between organizational commitment and turnover, based on the research he conducted. Lee finds out that employees tend to view their alignment or attachment to the organization as a negative factor influencing their turnover whilst other factors such as job satisfaction and attendance are those which are positively linked with turnover. The findings of Lee are also supported by Chen, Tsui and Farh (2002) in their examination of the Loyalty to Supervisor vs. Organizational Commitment: Relationships to Employee Performance in China.

2.4.5. Medical Leave

The researcher recognizes the fact that not much research has been done in relating medical leave with organizational commitment. Medical leave is perceived to be another important outcome of organizational commitment, for employees are believed to resume their work as soon as they get well if their commitment to the organization is generally high. In the same manner, medical leaves as a means by which organizational commitment is measured for this gives evidence to the fact that the employees are well aware of their jobs, reporting back even though they were not asked to. Simply put, they act according to their own will because of their commitment to both their jobs and their organizations. This research also gives importance to maternity leaves as organizations could no longer deny the fact that their female employees tend to get pregnant at least once in their working lives.

Also, this is very important for pregnant women as family structures, as earlier discussed is a great determinant of the latter concept. Generally, these women tend to be more committed to organizations who give importance to their needs. The study of Lyness (1999) found out that organizational commitment is very important for employees in their planning of their leaves and returning back to their jobs. The study of Lyness showed that pregnant women were more loyal to their organizations because of the fact that these have supportive work-family cultures. As a result, they plan to return to work sooner after childbirth than those pregnant women who perceive their organizations to have lesser supportive work-family cultures. This is also particularly true for those who would apply for medical leaves that are not generally involves pregnancy. The commitment to the organization then means that the employees are moving beyond their apathy and thus begin to think in the same manner that the organization does, being faithful to the values and visions that the latter has.

2.4.6. Burnt Out

Like medical leave, the researcher also recognizes the fact that not much research has been done in relating burn out or work related stress with the organizational commitment of employees. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (2000) mentions that the past decades noticed that work related stress is seen to have negatively affected the health and safety of individuals as well as their organizations. As a result, health problems encountered at work tend to result to ill-health requirements, work days lost due to sickness, injury and disability, etc. which is then seen to be costly to most organizations.

Generally, work related stress or burn out often affects the way employees feel, think and behave which then affects their physiological function. When their stress and other health problems are caused by their jobs, employees tend to get dissatisfied with them, thus lowering the rate by which they are committed towards their organization. The European Agency for Health and Safety at Work (2000) notes,

Many of these changes simply represent, in themselves, a modest dysfunction and possibly some associated discomfort. Many are easily reversible although still damaging to the quality of life at the time. However, for some workers and under some circumstances, they might translate into poor performance at work, into other psychological and social problems and into poor physical health.

Because of the possible dangers and problems that it pose to many organizations, researchers have given importance to the management of work-related stress in order to produce a so-called healthier work environment for the employees and organizations (Landy, 1992; Locke, 1976, in the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2000). Employee Assistance Programs are also suggested by other studies, saying that this could at least help in improving the attitudes of the employees. Some researchers on the other hand claim that these programs only reduce the absenteeism of the employees and do nothing to increase their job satisfaction or organizational commitment. The study of Bhagat and Chassie (1981) is one of the researches which deals with work-related stress or burn out and its relationship to organizational commitment. However, they tend to view the said factor as a variable affecting organizational outcome rather than an outcome of the said factor. They correlate these findings with the fact that family structures and other related problems also influence organizational commitment. Apparently, work related stress affects the family so much, often causing the conflicts between work and the family.

The correlations that exist between organizational commitment, work related stress and the family are linked only with that of female employees, Bhagat and Chassie (1981) states.

Bhalla et al (1991) on the other hand cites burnt out or work related stress as one of the factors affecting organizational commitment for all employees, whether male or female. They believe that work related stress often cause role insufficiencies, which refers to the inability of organizations to make the most out of the abilities and training of their employees. As a result, these insufficiencies then affect the psychological aspect of employees which then cause a strain in the employees’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment. As a result, the study proves that it is only through the proper management of employees that work related stress and/or burnt out could be reduced. Upon achieving this, organizations are then guaranteed that their workers would be more aware of their roles in the organizations, thus are more encouraged to give their commitment and loyalty to their employers and of course, to the entire organization.

2.5. Empirical Researches on Organizational Commitment

Based on the discussions presented above, the importance of organizational commitment has been recognized by a number of researchers including those that had been mentioned on the study for the purpose of reviewing the literature written with regard to the same issue. These empirical researches are important to this study for it gives a stable background and bases for this particular study. The analysis of these empirical studies should also focus on how it organizational commitment differs from one culture to another. The empirical researches that shall be presented in this part of the literature review would focus on the different researches made in comparing and contrasting organizational commitment from different cultures. In the same manner, it would also look into the studies conducted showing that although two countries are from the same cultural background, there is still a tendency for both to have different contexts of organizational commitment. The empirical studies that shall be presented for this study involves the different analysis made with regard to organizational commitment and the factors that influence this and how this tend to vary from one culture to another.

Brown (2003) mentions that culture is indeed one of the most important factors that should be correlated with organizational commitment as researchers tend to disregard this. The importance is based on the fact that the perception of commitment from one culture to another varies, taking into consideration the four dimensions of multiculturalism as cited by Hofstede in his Value Survey Model (Russ, 2007). The analysis that shall be later on presented would involve the analysis on the cultures that are very different from the United States and how these nations perceive organizational commitment. Likewise, the researcher also gives importance to the fact that factors that affect one’s commitment to his or her organization also varies depending on the culture to which he or she belongs to. This also affects factors such as tenure, age, positions and the level by which supervisors influence their subordinates. The differences would later on be highlighted and correlated with culture such as the difference between the western countries and those greatly influenced by Confucianism which gives more importance to authority.

Rashed (2006) concurs with the aforementioned statement of Brown by noting that personal characteristics and its relationship with work attitudes should be analyzed in a manner that would look into the differences in cultures as the influence of these vary.

Laka-Mathebula (2004) notes that these empirical researches are important in understanding the factors which affect organizational commitment and at the same time help in promoting the development of this particular concept. In the same manner, these researches are also important in developing strategies that would help the management of human resources, develop leadership styles, and finally, develop trust within the organization. Nonetheless, Laka-Mathebula (2004) gives importance to the conduction of more empirical researches to obtain evidence would help in the further development of the concept of organizational commitment. However, the book of Pfeffer (1998) was seen to have lacked empirical evidence in proving that organizational commitment is indeed a result of effective human management practices. On the other hand, Meyer and Allen (1991) shows empirical evidences in showing that there is indeed a positive relationship between organizational practices, organizational commitment and desirable work outcomes such as performance, organizational citizenship behaviour, turnover, adaptability and job satisfaction.

Gattiker (1992) was one of the researchers who have given a special attention to the empirical assessment of organizational commitment with the use of the side-bet theory approach. The study of Gattiker became a very important one in the previous discussions on the variables affecting organizational commitment and its outcomes for this particular study proved that organizational commitment is indeed a predictor of important outcomes for organizations. In the same manner, Gattiker also proved in his study that unlike satisfaction, the commitment towards one’s organization is a stable attitude of employees as it is often associated with the strong belief and acceptance of the goals and values of the organization.

Gattiker recognized the fact that organizational commitment is indeed, an international phenomenon affecting not only the management but also the lower level employees as well. It is because of this that several researches had been made that looked into the possible relation of culture to organizational commitment. Usually, studies concerning organizational commitment focus on the countries with different societal cultures, with Japan and United States of America being the most popular. Gattiker mentioned a number of researches which made use of these samples, showing that differences between the cultural values, norms and beliefs greatly matter. Nonetheless, these are also a cause in the great disparity between the survey questionnaires that has been furnished to the Japanese and American samples for what has been included to what has been given to the Americans could not generally  apply to that of the Japanese. Near (1989, in Gattiker, 1992) was able to prove in her study that Americans tend to be more committed to their organizations rather than their Japanese counterparts. However, she also found out that these findings were only based upon the Western conception o commitment as these concepts simply do not apply to other cultures such as that of the Japanese. Simply put, Near was not able to analyze the organizational commitment of the Japanese due to the reason that concepts used in analyzing the commitment of the Americans could not be applied.

However, Gattiker focused his empirical study of organizational commitment on organizational commitment on countries with the same societal cultures simply because limited studies concerning this have been quite limited. Bhagat and McQuaid (1982, in Gattiker, 1992) notes that there is definitely a need to examine commitment in countries whose societal cultures are comparable. As a result, Gattiker’s study focused on the assessment of organizational commitment of Canada and the United States. In doing so, the side-bet theory has been applied as a conceptual framework in examining the difference between the two. Side-bet theory is generally concerned with the examination of cross-national issues when analyzing organizational commitment.

Gattiker recognized the fact that there is indeed two ways by which organizational commitment can be viewed. The first of which focuses primarily on this commitment as a type of behaviour or an attitude while other one solely focuses on commitment as an exchanged-based theory, the grounds by which the side-bet theory is established. Becker (1960), the well known proponent of this particular theory mentioned that the term side-bet has been used in referring to the accumulation of investments valued by the individual which would be lost or deemed worthless if he or she leaves the organization. Simply put, this view puts forward the idea that factors, both external and internal play a very important role in determining the level of one’s commitment towards his or her organization.

In testing the side-bet theory, the basic strategy is to look into how commitment increases as the number or size of side-bets increases (Gattiker, 1992). The variables that are often treated as side-bets and which are said to play an important role in influencing organizational commitment are the factors that had been earlier discussed, under the heading variables affecting organizational commitment. These include the following: age, organizational tenure, hierarchical level, education and income. Gattiker (1992) noted that these variables are very important in testing the side-bet theory and the use of these had been proposed by researchers such as Alutto, Hrebiniak and Alonso, 1972; Ritzer and Trice, 1969; Sheldon, 1971; Shoemaker, Snizek and Bryant, 1977). Generally seven side-bet indexes had been included in Gattiker’s study: age, tenure, education, marriage, gender, salary and position.

One thing that separates the side-bet theory from the psychological theory is the latter’s ability to analyze organizational commitment by looking into the possible implications of cross-national differences (Gattiker, 1992). Becker (1960, in Gattiker, 1992) argues that “a person sometimes finds that he has made side-bets constraining his present activity because the existence of generalized cultural expectation provides penalties for those who violate them. He continues that analyzing the system of values or the valuables that a person bets in the world he or she lives in is very important in the analysis of an employee’s commitment to his or her organization. In short, Becker (1960) mentions,

to understand commitment fully, we must discover the systems of value within which the mechanisms and processes described earlier operate.

Based on the side-bet theory, one could conclude that the nature and magnitude of the different side-bets will differ from one nation to another (Gattiker, 1992), despite the belief that the commitment one has to his or her organization varies from one culture to another. This is then generally seen in the work of Gattiker (1992) when he proved that although the work values of the Canadians and Americans do not vary that much, the difference in their side-bets becomes highly evident, thus explaining the difference between their values and beliefs with regard to the concept of organizational commitment.

Using twenty-eight employers from Canada and fifteen from the United States of America, the following results had been produced by the study, measuring organizational commitment through the fifteen item Organizational Commitment Questionnaire developed by Porter et al (1974). It was revealed that the side-bet indexes were of great importance in explaining the insignificant amount of variance in organizational commitment in all the models used in the study, except for calculative commitment of the Canadian sample (Gattiker, 1992). In the same manner, Gattiker’s study also revealed that the side-bet indexes were also seen to have a stronger effect in predicting commitment as compared with the overall commitment questionnaire (OCQ).

The study basically revealed a difference in the factors affecting organizational commitment for both the United States and Canada. An example of this is gender, which is a very important variable for the Canadian samples, who reveal that females tend to have higher levels of commitment than their male counterparts which are not true for the samples coming from the United States of America. According to the research of Gattiker (1992), this maybe because of the fact that Canadian women face more difficulties in finding jobs rather than the women coming from the United States.

Nonetheless, Gattiker (1992) also discovered similarities in the cultural expectations of both his Canadian and American simples due to the fact that major cultural differences have nor been discovered. In conclusion, Gattiker says, researchers should give importance to the study of side-bets for these tend to vary from one country to another even though they are from the same cultural background.

In the same manner, Laka-Mathebula (2004) concurs with the aforementioned results of the study of Gattiker. She gives importance to the revalidation of measuring instruments such as the factors that are often associated with the concept of organizational commitment. Like Gattiker, Laka-Mathebula also notes the fact that some measures used in a particular country or culture may not be applicable to another.

Chen, Tsui and Farh (2002) also conducted an empirical study in determining the relationship of cultural differences and organizational commitment. These researches basically focused on supervisors, being one of the most important determinants of organizational commitment as they act as an agent of the organization as they interact with employees in a daily basis. The researchers recognize the fact that researches relating organizational commitment with the commitment to the organization have been conducted only in the Western settings. As a result, they focused their study on organizational commitment and its correlation with loyalty to the supervisors on the People’s Republic of China whose cultural setting is very different from that of the Western countries. This is because the Chinese tend to value loyalty to a person more than their loyalty to an institution or an organization, Redding (1990, in Chen, Tsui and Farh, 2002).

In line with this, the researcher decides to look into how the Chinese perceive the concept of commitment and at the same time, look at how it influences employee performance and of course, organizational commitment. Chen, Tsui and Farh (2002) mention the works of Becker et al. (1996) and that of Gregersen (1992) which proved that there are two dimensions that had been defined in analyzing the commitment of the employees towards their supervisors. These are identification with supervisor and the internalization of their supervisor’s values. Nonetheless, the researcher recognizes the fact that the loyalty to supervisors usually transcends between these two dimensions especially in cultures which are relationship-oriented such as China. In China, Chen, Tsui and Farh (2002) mentions that the loyalty to another individual goes beyond than just identifying with them and internalizing the values of the latter. Loyalty is often expressed as an attraction based on familiarity, frequent interactions or common identity, Tsui, Egan and O’Reilly (1992, in Chen, Tsui and Farh, 1992) mentions.

In the same manner, loyalty in the People’s Republic of China is also highly related with indebtedness towards other individuals for a favour they may have granted previously. In the same manner, loyalty could also arise as a role obligation to an authority figure because of social norms, deeply embedded in the teachings of Confucianism, Chen, Tsui and Farh (2002) mentions.

Kostova (n.d.) also gives importance to Confucianism being a very important factor in analyzing why organizational commitment is very different in non-Western settings as compared with that of the Western countries, most especially in the United States of America. Without a doubt, Confucian Philosophy and its influence in many societies should be efficiently analyzed in relation to theories and practices in Western human resource management.

Undoubtedly, the Chinese culture is very different from that of the Western countries. As a result, the loyalty to one’s supervisor in the context of their culture may be very different and thus may not be positively correlated with organizational commitment.

Chen, Tsui and Farh (2002) conducted a review of the different literature written with regard to commitment in the People’s Republic of China. These researches include the following: Cheng (1995), Lee (1992) and Zhou (1983). These studies revealed the concept of loyalty one has towards their bosses or the person of authority standing above them in the hierarchical ladder. According to these researches, as supported by Chen, Tsui and Farh (2002), the loyalty to bosses usually increases the level of commitment one has towards his or her work. Employees who are loyal to their bosses are more conscientious, enthusiastic and support the decision of their bosses. However, this loyalty towards their superiors does not mean that the employees are also committed to their organizations. As a result, Chen, Tsui and Farh (2002) proposes the incorporation of these five dimensions to understand loyalty to supervisors in the People’s Republic of China and why this could not be associated with organizational commitment. These are: (1) identification with the supervisor’s character and accomplishments; (2) internalization of the supervisor’s values; (3) willingness to dedicate to the supervisor or seek and promote the supervisor’s welfare at the expense of personal interest; (4) willingness to exert extra effort on behalf of the supervisor; and (5) desire to be attached or follow the supervisor. These dimensions are then very important in analyzing why commitment in the Chinese setting is very different in the Western settings.

Kostova (n.d.) also concurs with the findings of Chen, Tsui and Farh (2002) in saying that the function of organizational commitment in the countries that are greatly influenced by Confucianism such as China, Japan and Korea is very different from that in the Western setting. This is because of the fact that the commitment to authorities is highly emphasized by Confucianism rather than giving more importance to the commitment towards organizations. In the same manner, organizations in these countries are also required to abide by the teachings of Confucius himself.

Rahman and Hanafiah (2002) also conducted an empirical study on the relationship of the commitment to the organization and to the profession. They also recognized the fact that these studies only focused on US or Western samples in their study. According to the authors of this study, the different factors that are seen to influence organizational commitment varies across cultures and usually depends upon the different types of professions. As a result, different results are produced.

The study of Hanakam and Jons (2004) is also another empirical study which focuses in the analysis of organizational commitment and national culture. The researchers do not deny that national culture influences organizational behaviour greatly. It is because of this that difficulties are said to have arisen in the different studies that cover both. In the same manner, this also becomes the reason why people misunderstood the influence of national culture to organizational commitment.

The study of Weiss (2002, in Hanakam & Jons, 2004) mentions that organizational culture is an antecedent of affective organizational commitment, thus affecting the loyalty of the employees toward the entire institution. However, this commitment is still then affected by the culture of a certain country which means that the causes or variables influencing commitment towards an organization vary from one country to another. Simply put, the prevalence of organizational culture does not mean that the culture of the entire nation is disregarded.

In conclusion, Hanakam and Jons (2004) gives importance to considering the culture of a country to which an organization belongs to in formulation practices and strategies related to the proper and efficient way of managing human resources. These findings are also supported by the study conducted by Blake-Beard, Murrell and Thomas (2006) who also said that organizations must also be able to take into consideration the cultures from where their employees come from to ensure that their practices and strategies would apply properly to them. Their study also reveals the importance to considering the race or the culture from which one comes from to ensure that mentoring relationships are efficient especially with regard to the roles that supervisors have in an organization.

Lee (2006) is another researcher who provides an empirical analysis of the determinants of repatriate turnover intentions which are said to affect organizational commitment greatly. His study focused on how repatriation adjustment, organizational commitment and job satisfaction affect Taiwanese employees, especially their intention to leave a certain organization. To meet the purpose of his study, as stated above, Lee made use of a multiple regression analysis. Using this, he was able to prove that repatriation adjustment indeed was the strongest predictor o the intent to leave the organization for Taiwanese employees. He also claimed that those who perceived a higher level of repatriation adjustment had lower intentions to leave while their counterparts who receive lower levels of repatriation were those who also have a lower rate of organizational commitment. Through his study, Lee was also able to prove that it is repatriation which plays a very important role in decreasing one’s intention to leave whilst organizational commitment is only the second strongest factor and lastly, job satisfaction do not usually guarantee a decrease in an employee’s intention to leave.

Lee (2006) mentioned that his study on organizational commitment and repatriation is very important for the era of globalization have witnessed the ever growing rate of international job mobility which is now also becoming a common experience for a significant number of employees. It is because of this that he is calling on to multinational corporations and organizations to give importance to the development and management of human resources. In looking into the processes related to international human resource management and development, one could see that it is more devoted to the process of expatriation and less attention is given to repatriation, which Lee (2006) finds significant for the completion of an international assignment. This is because of the fact that most multinational organizations always assume that the re-entry to the parent country is non-problematic and even a non-issue, Black and Gregersen (1998, in Lee, 2006) notes. However, most researchers, such as Forster (2000) also feel that this is something that should be analyzed for it also entails difficult adjustment (Lee, 2006).

True enough, management theories and models have been developed in explaining these phenomena. However, Lee (2006) notes that all these had been framed within the context of the culture o the United States. As a result, these theories apply only to the United States or to those countries that are influenced by the culture of the latter. In the same manner, however, Lee recognizes the fact that this could still be applied to those who receive support from the U.S. Nonetheless, Lee made use of the variables in these theories and models to explain the Taiwanese repatriates’ intent to leave the organization, to a different culture setting. Through this, the author aims to identify the factors that are present in the international setting and that may be used in understanding the impact of culture on various management theories and models.

Based on the multiple regression analysis that Lee made use in his study, repatriation adjustment was the strongest predictor of intent to leave the organization. This is because of the so-called cross cultural adjustment that the employees had to go through. Apparently, his study revealed that the culture shock the one experienced upon coming home is usually more difficult than the shock that one experiences upon his or her arrival at a foreign country. As a result, poor repatriation processes may mean the loss of an employee for a certain organization.

The research also gave importance to organizational commitment in order to ensure that the employees do not leave their organizations. This is because of the fact that not a number of repatriates expect to work in the same company after serving abroad. Lee (2006) also mentions that:

Organizational commitment after repatriation is important because of the positive relationship between commitment and executive retention and the much higher turnover rate for repatriated executive compared to domestic counterparts.

The aforementioned researches devoted their empirical analysis of culture and organizational commitment by focusing on the East Asian countries that had been greatly influenced by the teachings of Confucianism such as Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea. Varona (1996), on the other hand focused his research on a Latin American country, more specifically, Guatemala. The main purpose of his study is to discover the possible relationship that may exist between organizational communication satisfaction and organizational commitment in three organizations found in Guatemala. The study also made use of three questionnaires and these are the following (1) C.W. Downs’ (1990) Communication Audit (CAQ); (2) The Mowday, Porter & Steers’ (197) Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ); and (3) the Cook and Wall’s (1980) Organizational Commitment Instrument (OCI).

The results of the study revealed that there is indeed, a positive relationship between the satisfaction with in organizational communication and the organizational commitment of the employees. In the same manner, Varona found out that school teachers who are satisfied with communication practices tend to exhibit a higher level of organizational commitment as compared with their counterparts from the two other organizations – a hospital and a food factory – examined. He also found out that when it comes to job satisfaction and organizational commitment, supervisors or those with higher positions have higher levels of the aforementioned than their subordinates. Likewise, the study also gave importance to tenure in increasing one’s commitment to the organization. Finally, the questionnaires that had been mentioned earlier have different effects on their respondents which somehow disprove the claims of the author. This is because of the basic reason that some of these questionnaires are not just appropriate for the examination of organizational commitment in cultures outside of the country where it has been framed.

Varona recognizes the fact that the results of his study raised important issues with regard to the application of research instruments in cultures very different from the country where it has been framed for his research dealt with Guatemalan organizations while the instruments by which he measured the organizational commitment of the employees of these companies had been framed in the United States of America.

In lieu with this, Varona calls for the development of cross-cultural studies so that researchers would develop a better understanding of the influence of cultural factors on organizational characteristics especially when using research instruments that had been created in a different culture. In the same manner, he also calls for the development of other instruments that could be used outside the culture of the United States for the factors that had been produced in the studies conducted in this particular country do not usually apply to other countries. Consequently, using these instruments in other cultures may also lead to a misunderstanding of organizational commitment which may be perceived in a different perspective in that particular country. Despite these aforementioned limitations, the research tentatively claims that cultural differences do influence communication and commitment in the workplace. Nonetheless, it still maintains its call for the conduction of more cross-cultural researches.

The study of Hahn (2007) which examined the different factors that determine organizational commitment is also very important to the examination of the relationship of the latter and culture. Apparently, just like what Gattiker (1992) claimed, the claim that women are more committed to their jobs should be analyzed thoroughly because of the fact that the reason behind this may be embedded on their culture. As Hahn (2007) notes, Saudi Arabian women are more committed to their jobs because of the fact that job opportunities are not always open for them because of the structure of their society. In the same manner, employees from Asian countries, especially those who belong in the Third World are proven to be more committed to their jobs because of the fewer job opportunities as compared with their Western counterparts.

The study of Rashed (2006) on the other hand, aimed to disprove the claims of Hahn (2007) by concluding that there is indeed no significant relationship between gender and organizational commitment and at the same time, that men and women have the same levels of commitment to the organization. This was assessed using the fifteen item measure questionnaire developed by Porter, Steers, Mowday and Boulian (1974). Contrary to the research of Hahn, the results of Rashed’s study prove that the gender of an employee have no significant effect on his or her job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Nonetheless, one’s intention to leave an organization is influenced by the presence of other employment alternatives which then is the reason why organizational commitment is generally linked with gender. This is so because employment opportunities in Kuwait and other countries with the same cultural background, women are usually discriminated. Thus, more employment opportunities are present for the men, making the turnover of employees with this gender higher than its counterparts.

As a result, the two previous researchers also call for giving due recognition to the culture to which an employee belongs to so that one could understand why the effects of a certain factor are different to a certain culture when compared to another.

Aside from gender, Lee and Maurer (1991) also give importance to looking into family structures in analyzing organizational commitment. According to these researchers, the family plays a very important role in influencing the work attitudes of a certain employee. In the same manner, they also believe that this only depends upon the culture from where an employee comes from. Apparently, those who came from a collectivist culture tend to be greatly affected by their families while those from individualist cultures tend to stand up on their own. At the same time, those from individualistic cultures tend to decide based on their judgment and do not let anyone affect the decision.

Russ (2007) is another researcher who provides an in depth analysis of the differences in organizational communication across the different cultures all over the world. Glazer et al. (2004, in Russ, 2007) showed that one experience and openness to it is indeed one of the factors which significantly affect organizational commitment of the employees. However, this particular factor is said to be still influenced greatly by the national culture to which the employee belongs to. Simply put, openness to experience and organizational commitment vary from one nation (and/or culture) to another. In analyzing the importance of culture to organization commitment, Russ (2007) notes the Value Survey Model of Hofstede provides the best explanation and the most popular measurement method of cultural values. In the same manner, Russ gives importance to this as the framework by which she compared organizational cultures in her study.

The Value Survey Model that Russ mentions has four main dimensions, namely, (1) power distance, or the extent to which a society accepts the legitimacy of inequality and power hierarchy; (2) uncertainty avoidance or a certain culture’s level of tolerance for uncertainty or ambiguity and the extent by which they consider that there is a need to take action to reduce this uncertainty; (3) masculinity versus femininity, or how the culture accepts assertiveness, aggression, advancement, recognition, and earnings as work goals; and (4) individualism versus collectivism which gives emphasis to the amount of emotional independence that a person has from their organization or how much they value membership in a certain group or organization.

In reference to the collectivist or individualistic nature of a culture to which one belongs to, Russ (2007) mentions that those who value their independence as a person have lower levels of organizational commitment while those who have a strong attachment with their groups of organization report higher levels. Nonetheless, Russ also considers the fact that people from collectivist cultures tend to be committed to their organization or groups in spite of the absence of the factors that theories and other models of organizational commitment consider as very important for the development of this attitude. As a result, the fact that misunderstandings could arise because of the inability to take culture into consideration is once again highlighted.

In relation to Russ’ discussion of the four dimensions of Hofstede’s Value Survey Model, she mentioned the research of Randall (1993) which incorporated these dimensions into organizational commitment. Her study basically focused on how these dimensions affected a certain culture’s level of affective commitment. Randall was able to discover that countries that are characterized as collective tend to have lower levels of affective commitment and those with lower power distance had higher levels of commitment than those countries with a higher power distance. In the same manner, she was also able to discover that lower commitment had been generated from those cultures which have a high uncertainty-avoidance culture (i.e. Japan and South Korea). On the other hand, the researcher was not able to discover a relationship between the masculinity-femininity dimension and affective commitment as all the countries included in the study reported similar levels of commitment although they greatly differ with regard to the said dimension.

Vigoda (2000) also recognizes the fact that organizational commitment and the factors affecting it differs, depending on the sector where a certain employee belongs to and his or her adopted national culture.

Muthuveloo and Rose (2005) also examined commitment of Malaysian Engineers toward their organizations by looking into how their personal characteristics, values and goals affect these especially those which had been instilled in them by the national culture. In order to do this, the researchers developed a questionnaire which contained four sections which made use of five-point Likert scales that had been perceived to be of vital importance to measure the following: (1) organizational commitment, (2) employees’ perceptions (3) engineer’s behaviour and (4) the personal characteristics of the respondents. The results of the survey were then analyzed using the Analysis of Variance Method or ANOVA. The researchers note that due to the fact that their respondents may have graduated from different countries, it is but proper to consider the impact of the foreign or local culture that may have greatly influenced them (Muthiveloo & Rose, 2005).

The results of the study showed that there are only four elements out of the nine characteristics that they measured in this study proved to have a strong influence on the commitment of these Malaysian engineers to their organizations. These elements include race, academic background, country of graduation and religion. Clearly, the values and beliefs of the respondents should be analyzed thoroughly to ensure that organizational commitment is properly analyzed and no misunderstandings would analyze from the analysis. The researchers mentioned these characteristics as attitudinal, which means that these have great effects on the way the respondents see and perceive their work (Muthuveloo & Rose, 2005).

Boglarsky and Kwantes (n.d.) also concurs with the findings of Muthuveloo and Rose (2005) which had been previously discussed. Boglarsky and Kwantes (n.d.) recognizes the fact that abstract aspects of culture such as shared values and beliefs influences the employees greatly in their commitment towards their organizations. The researchers also gave importance to the analysis of the cultural patterns of these employees to understand how they behave within their organizations. As a result, they developed twelve scales which aim to reflect these cultural patterns. These patterns had been classified into three major cultures: constructive, passive/defensive and aggressive/defensive (Boglarsky & Kwantes, n.d.).

2.6. Organizational Commitment in the Public Sector

Most of the studies that had been included in this study focused on organizational commitment and how it has affected the businesses belonging in the private sector, especially the multinational corporations and organizations. The public sector organizations, as defined by Steijn and Leisink (2005) are those that deal with the formulation of public policies deals with issues concerning the same and finally, render different kinds of services to the people.

This research gives importance to the examination of organizational commitment in this particular sector firstly because of the fact that this study deals with the Malaysian health and education departments. Secondly, the researcher also recognize the fact that patterns of employment, occupation and service in public organizations substantially differ from those of private or service public systems. Finally, the researcher concurs with the claims that Vigoda (2000) stated in his research, that employees’ lack of commitment towards their organization tends to produce negligent behaviours and other attitudes which may reflect a negative organizational atmosphere. This may then result to an inefficient public service, causing the citizens to suffer. In the same manner, Vigoda (2000) also mentions that wages of the public servants are also relatively lower than those belonging in the private sector. Also, their promotion is slower and they sometimes do not receive rewards for their performance in their jobs. On the other hand, Rainey (1991) mentions several benefits that one may receive from working in the public sector. One of which is the fact that it offers a more stable work environment, a higher job security and a challenge of serving a large and heterogeneous population.

One of the possible factors that influence organizational commitment is the goals that employees have. Researchers mention that when the personal goals of the employees align with that of the organization, then there is a higher tendency for the former to be committed to their employers. This then one of the reasons why researchers such as Seok-Hwan (2004) tend to perceive that organizational commitment in the public sector may be lower as compared with the public sector. This is because of the fact that several of the researches mentioned by the said author (i.e. Dahl and Lindblom, 1953; Gortner, Nahler and Nicholson, 1987; Lan and Rainey, 1992; Boyatzis, 1982), said that private sectors employees are higher on goal clarity than their counterparts in the public sector. Nonetheless, Seok-Hwan still recognizes the fact that there are also other researchers who claim the opposite, reporting that public managers have clearer organizational goals and at the same time, are more efficient in achieving the goals that they laid out for their organizations.

It is because of the aforementioned that several researches had been made to distinguish organizational commitment in the private and public sectors (Seok-Hwan, 2004) for the inconsistencies mentioned above that needs to be clarified. As earlier mentioned, organizational commitment is usually categorized into three types: attitudinal, calculative and normative. These categories had been one of the foci of this research as it looked into the importance of employee commitment towards the organization, the variables affecting it and the outcomes of the said subject matter. However, the discussion of organizational commitment in the public sector provides another way of viewing the said subject matter by presenting a new idea introduced by Balfour and Wechsler (1991, 1996). These researchers mentioned that there are multiple constructs of organizational commitment in the public sector and these are the following: (1) affiliation commitment or belongingness; (2) compliance commitment or exchange commitment; and (3) identification commitment or value congruence. More or less, these constructs could also be present in the private sectors for organizational commitment in the public sector is still perceived to be affected by factors such as job satisfaction, job performance, tenure and educational attainment.

As a result, the analysis regarding commitment towards the organizations belonging to this particular sector is seen to be of vital importance especially because of the fact that they are usually affected by organizational politics. Vigoda (2000) gives importance to organizational politics as one of the factors that negatively influences one’s commitment to the organization to which he or she belongs to. However, the question still remains, is there a difference between organizational commitments in the public sector when compared to that of the private sector considering the disparities between the factors that influence both? In the same manner, what should the public sector undertake in order to ensure that their employees are properly motivated, thus significantly contributing to their motivation especially when monetary rewards are not usually present in these organizations? Finally, is being of service to the people enough to keep employees of the public sector motivated, thus increasing their commitment towards the organization? It is through this that the researcher hopes to give a better light to the proper management of the employees in the public sector as this could be of great importance in ensuing that the members could give an efficient service to the public especially since they deal with public administration and security together with other aspects that deal with the betterment of the society (education, health, etc). The study concerning organizational commitment in the public sector shall then make use of past researches, both empirical and conceptual, that deal with this particular topic as made available by the World Wide Web.

Seok-Hwan (2004) gives importance to people being one of the most important factors that organizations must consider in ensuring that productivity is enhanced. Organizations belonging to the public sector feel pressure in ensuring that they make the most out of their limited resources to produce maximum input with the least input. It is because of this that many strategies had been developed including total quality management (TQM) and the balanced scorecard (BSC). These strategies are seen to be of great importance for the organizations in the public sector for these are seen to affect organizational commitment. Without organizational commitment, Seok-Hwan (2004) agrees with the statement of Vigoda (2000), that these organizations could not produce efficient services for the society. Nonetheless, Seok-Hwan (2004) also recognizes that the conventional view of organizational commitment is not enough to tell the entire story that deals with the performance and productivity of individual employees.

Vigoda’s (2000) Organizational Politics, Job Attitudes and Work Outcomes: Exploration and Implications for the Public Sector is one of the researches that this study would analyze in looking into the differences of organizational commitment in the public and private sectors together with the factors that affect this. Being members of the public sector and being under a certain administration together with the fact that they are heterogeneous in nature, these organizations are not safe from organizational politics.

Vigoda (2000) mentions organizational politics as one of the factors that negatively influence organizational commitment and job satisfaction in the public sector especially in influencing the negligent behaviour of the employees thus concurring with the findings of the researches cited in his study that had been conducted by Cropanzano et al. (1997), Drory (1993) and Ferris et al. (1996). Nonetheless, organizational politics is not enough to make employees quit or leave the organization. The study of Vigoda (2000) dealt with the employees in the public sector Israel and how their attitudes towards their jobs are affected by organizational politics. The study revealed that the respondents tend to respond to organizational politics with a more passive behaviour such as neglect. This reaction towards politics in the organization is perceived to be less risky as it does not necessarily put the neither the employees’ career development nor occupational status at stake. According to Vigoda (2000), this is because of the fact that most of the organizations in the public sector do not compensate their employees according to their work performance, then a worker neglecting his or her duty or job does not really pose a significant threat to the organization. However, this may not be the case for the businesses in the private sector since they are required by law to pay their employees based on their performance in their jobs and their accomplishment of their tasks. Despite this condition, Vigoda (2000) notes that this is still a negative indicator of an organizational atmosphere which could then affect the recipients of their services, the general public. Vigoda (2000) states,

When a public sector employee neglects his/her job, organizational outcomes are damaged and the citizens are the most likely to suffer. Negligent behaviour and negative job attitudes may thus yield low-quality work outcomes and poor and ineffective public services.

The inefficiency of the public systems then affects a large portion of the population which could then pose a damaging effect on the society. In the same manner, these could then be seen as an obstacle for reforming public organizations and introducing new trends for public administration that is necessary for the improvement of the vocational skills of the public servants and at the same time, make them more responsive and businesslike, Pollit (1990) mentions.

Seok-Hwan (2004) lists the differences between the public and private sectors that may somehow be correlated with the disparities of organizational commitment between the two sectors. The first of these differences is that public agencies, compared to the organizations in the public sector, have fewer decision-making autonomy, less flexibility on procedural spheres operations, and a greater tendency to the proliferation of formal control specifications. Secondly, organizations in the public sector tend to give importance to hierarchies which later on become more rigid due to the absence of an economic market. In line with this, the members of this sector tend to also give so much importance to authority, especially those on top of the hierarchical ladder. As a result, the heads or directors of these agencies produce their personal procedures that are characterized to be highly centralized or externally controlled, Pugh, Hickson and Hinigns (1969, in Seok-Hwan, 2004) mentions.

Aside from this, Seok-Hwan (2004) also notes that public managers and private managers differ greatly in handing out motivational incentives. Simply put, the employees belonging in the private sector tend to receive more incentives than their counterparts in public agencies. As earlier established, incentives are very important in motivating the employees to give their best for the entire organization, thus increasing their productivity and making sure that they perform excellently in their jobs. Although monetary rewards are the main means by which private sector employees are motivated, the desire to serve others through their jobs is the motivating factor behind the employees of the public sector. As a result, studies of scholars such as Wittmer (1991) calls on to keep the ethic of public service alive to ensure that the employees are properly motivated and are performing their tasks efficiently.

The antecedents which lead to organizational commitment in the private sector have attracted many researchers and the latter have identified several factors that influence such. Among these is tenure, age, gender, educational attainment, although the extent by which they affect commitment is said to vary depending on how it has been studies. Conversely, the antecedents that affect motivation and commitment in the public sector have gained lesser popularity although the above mentioned factor (the desire to help and serve others) contributes so much. Nonetheless, Perry (1997, in Steijn and Leisink, 2005), cites that there are more factors which may affect organizational commitment and these are the following: (1) parental socialization; (2) religious socialization; (3) professional identification; (4) political ideology; and (5) personal and other demographic characteristics that also affect the commitment in the private sectors.

In the study conducted by Jurkiewicz et al. (1998) that looked into the differences of organizational commitment between the private and public sectors, it was discovered that there is no difference between the two when compared with commitment in hybrid organizations or those more popularly known as non-profit organizations. This is because of the fact that the latter organizations are motivated with the goal of being able to others. On the other hand, employees belonging to the public sector are motivated by a stable and secure future on top whilst those in the private sector are also motivated by a high position together with a high salary. Since the organizations of the public sector also deal with service to the people, researchers such as Jurkiewicz et al (1998) and Seok-Hwan (2004), give importance to the adoption of organizational goals that focus on helping with others as this would increase the commitment of employees to the organization. Through this, it is assumed that the commitment of employees in the public sector would be of the same level as that of those in nonprofit organizations.

The cohesion of groups within the organizations is another factor that should be considered in analyzing the different factors that affect employee commitment in the organizations belonging to both the public and private sectors. Public organizations, according to Blumental (1983) are more diverse and conglomerated as compared with the private businesses. In the same manner, Seok-Hwan (2004) also discovered that public sector managers were lower on group cohesion when compared with the managers belonging to the private sector. This is said to be typical of all the work groups falling under the government as representativeness in the form of equal protection still shapes government hiring practices to a far greater degree than is true of business, Buchanan (1974, in Seok-Hwan, 2004) mentions.

The public sector is by nature, heterogeneous because of the fact that this includes organizations that deal with issues concerning policies and those which deliver specific services, Steijn and Leisink (2005) mentions. The researchers mention that organizations within this sector fall into three categories: (1) those which deal with public administration (i.e. the national and local government, water authorities, etc; (2) those which deal with public security (i.e. the police and the members of the judicial system; and (3) the non-profit sector (employees in the educational sector and academic hospitals. However, in some researchers, the third group is not often included in the public sector for the employees in this particular category do not usually receive monetary rewards in exchange for their performance. As a result, there is a need to analyze them in a manner that is different from the examination of organizations in the public and private sectors which usually involves monetary and positional rewards.

It is because of this that organizational commitment in the private sector is seen to be higher than in organizations within the public sector. This is because of the fact that group cohesion is once again higher in private organizations than the public ones. According to Seok-Hwan (2004), employees in the private sector perceive a higher level of homogeneity in the work group. On the other hand, the employees in the public sector call for equal employment within their organizations. Thus, the heterogeneity of the public organizations contributes so much in decreasing the level of commitment of the employees toward their employers.

However, Seok-Hwan (2004) notes that the loyalty and commitment of employees in the public sector are more directed towards their supervisors and the authorities within the organization, as compared with those belonging to private businesses. One of the factors which influence this was the aforementioned strict hierarchy of the organization and the lower level autonomy in decision making. Because of this, employees tend to recognize the authority and power of the supervisors thus making them commit more to the latter than to the organizations.

Another factor which influences the lower levels of commitment that employees in the public sector have is the limited resources, cutback management and the utilization of human resources from volunteers. Apparently, employees that are paid higher are more committed to their supervisors while volunteers tend to be more committed to the organization. Because of the fact that public sector employees do not fall within these prerequisites, volunteers and employees in the private sector tend to show higher levels of commitments than those belonging to organizations in the public sector.

In conclusion, Steijn and Leisink (2005) mention the following as something of great importance to the analysis of organizational commitment in the public sector. True enough, job characteristics play a minor role whilst the permanence of a position and levels of salary have no significant influences in their study. On the other hand, the effects of autonomy, having an interesting job and the number of hours that employees work in a week have only minor effects. What matters greatly for these organizations is the proper management of the employees to keep them motivated despite the absence of motivational factors that are present for most private organizations. It is through this then that organizational commitment for organizations belonging to this particular sector would remain committed and most importantly motivated to work excellently.

2.7. The Malaysian Government and the Possible Influences in Employees’ Organizational Commitment

As mentioned in the earlier parts of this literature review, it has been mentioned that most models and theories that had been developed to analyze organizational commitment had been framed within the Western context, especially with the culture of the United States being one of the frameworks most popularly adopted. As a result, several researches had been devoted to look into whether these models are still applicable to cultures that differ greatly from these Western countries, the United States of America being the most specific. Gill (1983) mentions,

Understanding cross-cultural personality differences can help management and government to achieve more harmonious adjustment of expectations where managers are transferred from one country to another.

As a result, the researcher deems it necessary to look into how the Malaysian government influences the organizational commitment of the employees within their countries, taking into consideration the fact that their culture is very different from the culture of the United States or any Western country for that matter where the different models and theories of organizational commitment has been framed. These shall be analyzed based on the VSM Model proposed by Hofstede that has been discussed in one of the earlier parts of this literature review. However, the researcher views a limitation that may be connected with this for this model has also been drafter and constructed based on Western cultures that do not take into account Asian values that may be present in countries such as Malaysia.

Being an Asian country, Malaysia’s culture is without a doubt, very different from the culture that the United States or any other Western country has. This could then mean that theories and models of organizational commitment may produce varied results as compared with the results that these generate in the examinations of western or American organizations and businesses. Malaysia is a multicultural country with Malays, Chinese and Indians being the major ethnic groups, cooperating harmoniously in their every day lives. In their country these groups preserve their ethnic identity, practice their own culture, customs, behaviour, the language they speak, norms, values and beliefs, Abu Bakar, Mustaffa and Mohamad (2005) mentions. At the same time, even though it fully engages in the international economy, they are still able to retain the fusion of Asian cultural values that characterize their society. Their society is described to be a fusion of Asian cultures as the country is heavily influenced by a social structure whose structure has been laid upon by the principles of Islam. Aside from the society has also been influenced by the management philosophies of Britain that had been embedded upon the culture ever since the colonial era. These are then mixed with the religious and cultural values of the Chinese and Indians (Abu Bakar, Mustaffa & Mohamad, 2005).

Aside from this, the aspects of organizational commitment that had been developed by Meyer and Allen has been reformatted to suit the culture of countries outside the Western setting for researchers such as Gil and Zain (n.d.) found out that the third aspect of organizational commitment known as continuance commitment could still be broken down into two: first, continuance commitment is shown because of the employees’ awareness of the costs that they may face upon leaving the organization and second, an expression of continuance commitment since the availability of other employment alternatives does not exist. The second one has been added because of the fact that Malaysia belongs to the third world and that it is not that easy for the citizens to shift from one job to another.

In general, the Malaysian ethnic groups are often motivated because of their affiliation to groups, families and individuals. This particular characteristic does not vary when comparing the Malays, Chinese and Indian Malays. An example of this would be the results of Lim’s (2001, in Abu Bakar, Mustaffa, and Mohamad, 2005) study which proved that the work related values of the Malaysian Malays is not significantly different from that of the Malaysian Chinese with only religious constructs being the only dissimilarity between these groups. It is because of this that is easier to implement organizational strategies in this country even though they belong to different ethnic groups since all Malaysians respond to productivity increases for as long as these are equated with benefits given by the a certain organization, the family, the community and of course, the nation. At the same time, the collectivist nature of the Malaysian culture is also one of the reasons why their government gives more emphasis to internal marketing (which is basically concerned with dealing with the most important customers of businesses within their organizations, their employees) to increase organizational commitment for the employees find it easier to devote themselves to be of service to the organization because of their tendency to affiliate with these. At the same time, internal marketing could also increase the job satisfaction that one feels that then is seen to be positively correlated with one’s commitment to the organization to which he or she belongs to.

Researches that looked into organizational commitment in Malaysia found that there is a significant relationship between one’s participation in decision making processes and the development of his or her commitment towards the organization. In the same manner, researchers such as Razali (2004, in Abu Bakar, Mustaffa and Mohamad, 2005) also notes that there are two factors of work life that contributes so much in increasing the organizational commitment of Malaysian workers, there are the following: development and pay and benefit. Pearson and Chong (1997, in Abu Bakar, Mustaffa and Mohamad, 2005) also identified factors such perceived information cues as factors that contribute to job satisfaction. In the same manner, they also give importance to task content properties of identity, significance and autonomy as well as the interpersonal task attribute of dealing with others as factors that significantly affect organizational commitment.

Abu Bakar, Mustaffa and Mohamad (2005), in their study entitled Leader-Member Exchange and Cooperative Communication between Group Members: Replication of Lee (1997, 2001) Study on Malaysia Respondents found out that communication strategies are very important in ensuring that a good relationship is established between the supervisors and their subordinates, the employees especially in the organizations belonging to the public sector of Malaysia. The researchers give importance to the development of this good relationship as it would lead to the betterment of the work performance of many employees. In the same manner, this relationship could also increase the employees’ commitment towards the organization to which they belong to, a very important aspect of the Leader-member exchange theory (LMX) and cooperative communication. This particular theory, concerned with the hierarchical relationship between a superior and his or her subordinates, has been developed by Lee (1997, 2001) and was examined using Malaysian respondents. Taking this theory into consideration, one notes that the performance of the whole group and their productivity rest on the hands of the supervisors or the leaders alone. Formal authority then rests upon them, together with the formulation of rules, policies and procedures that they deem necessary in increasing the productivity and performance of the employees (Abu Bakar and Mustaffa, 2007). Apparently, the studies conducted by Lee (1997, 2001), Abu Bakar and Mustaffa (2007) and Abu Bakar, Mustaffa and Mohamad (2005) give credit to the collective nature of Malaysia’s culture and the easiness of the development of interpersonal relationships in this particular country in the extent of influence that this theory has. Because of their willingness to achieve organizational goals rather than simply prioritizing their own goals, they tend to work hand in hand with their supervisors to ensure that they maintain harmony within their groups. The LMX theory suggests that:

Quality of the relationship between superior and subordinate will have an impact on communication and in-turn will affect individual commitment to the group (Abu Bakar and Mustaffa, 2007; Abu Bakar, Mustaffa and Mohamad, 2005).

In the same manner, Asma (1992, in Abu Bakar and Mustaffa, 2007) notes,

The superior-subordinate communication acting as mediation variable is relevant in Malaysian organization setting, because Malaysian employees display a strong humane orientation in their interaction within a society that respects hierarchical differences and gives priority to maintaining harmony within a group.

The Malaysian government then adopts this particular framework in ensuring that they could significantly affect the organizational commitment of the members of its organizations.

Since the independence of Malaysia, the government has given a special importance to the following (Abdul Karim, 1995):

1.                 Structural Changes;

2.                 Improved Productivity and Delivery of Services;

3.                 Office Automation and information systems technology for the public sector;

4.                 Measuring efficiency and effectiveness;

5.                 Improving Performance Reporting in the Public Sector;

6.                 Total Quality Management;

7.                 Attitude and Behavioural Changes

8.                 Strengthening Statistical Capacity and;

9.                 District Administration.

The formation of Malaysia in the early sixties inspired the leaders of the new government to focus on institution building and development administration as they continue to push through with their development projects in order for the new political entity to succeed. They gave more importance to socio-economic development programs that would effectively answer the needs of its citizens. It is because of this that the government also paid so much attention to civil service, thus leading to the different projects and strategies adopted to reform the public sector, Abdul Karim (1995) mentions.

It is in line with this that the Malaysian government also gives importance to commitment as this could positively influence corruption as the latter could pose dangers to the economic growth and progress of their nation. It is in line with this that the government also established the Anti-Corruption Agency in 1967 that was eventually replaced by the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1997 which are all aimed towards winning the battle against corruption in the country (Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific, n.d.).Upon independence, the government, without a doubt focused heavily on public administration, education and training to prepare the newly established country for development and progress.

According to the Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific (n.d.) the said improvements are also essential in strengthening and reforming the public sector, to eliminate the doubts of the employees on the corruption within their organization, thus contributing to their commitment towards their groups. It is also in line with this that the government created the Special Cabinet Committee on Government Management so as to ensure that the integrity of the workers is preserved, enhanced their awareness to keep them away from the dangers of corruption, abuse of power and strengthen their resolve for, and commitment to, integrity.

It is in line with the government’s efforts to improve public service that they also focused on the improvement of the productivity of the employees belonging to this particular sector and the delivery of services. To achieve this, they pushed through with administrative reform in order to upgrade the administrative institutions, Abdul Karim (1999) notes. As a result, the government and its organizations began to promote organizational efficiency and effectiveness by influencing the employees to work towards the attainment of national developmental goals. Through this, organizational commitment is also promoted as the employees now work hand in hand with their employers (Abdul Karim, 1995).

As it has been earlier mentioned, the government also gave importance to Total Quality Management (TQM) to ensure that the public sector of the then newly established Malaysian government is functioning properly. In 1992, decades after the independence, the government has not forgotten its commitment to total quality management as it released the circular entitled Guidelines on Total Quality Management (TQM) in the public service. It is through this that the need for organization-wide efforts to implement quality improvement had been addressed. Several key issues had been included in this particular circular that hopes to manage the employees effectively with the attempt to increase their commitment as one of them. These issues are the following, as mentioned by Abdul Karim (1995): (a) support and commitment of top management; (b) strategic quality planning; (c) customer focus; (d) training and recognition; (e) teamwork; (f) performance measurement; and (g) quality assurance.

The government also gave importance to attitude and behavioural changes of their employees to ensure that they remain committed to their organizations, perceived to be needed in increasing efficiency and productivity within the sector. As a result, Abdul Karim (1995) says, that the public sector has to be continuously injected with new values and work ethics in order to ensure greater public accountability, integrity and transparency for it is only through this that the individual behaviour of the employees shall also be influenced, thus increasing their commitment towards the organizations to which they belong to.

It is also because of the said positive relationship between work ethics and individual behaviour that the Malaysian government also launched the Excellence in the Civil Service Program as early as 1979 which established a code of ethics for the civil service. It contained seven principles on how to manage and guide personnel and employees effectively. In line with this, the guide also provided rules on how the different organizations should carry on with the implementation of these programs. Lastly, the government also came up with the system of rewards in order to recognize those that have performed excellently and rendered exemplary service to organizations within the public sector (Abdul Karim, 1995). Studies show that this is necessary to increase organizational commitment in the public sector for not all employers recognize the performance of their employees, much more equate these with proper compensation.

In 1982, the Look East Policy was then introduced by the Malaysian government, providing a new role model for performance and behaviour for employees in the public sector. It was patterned after the development of countries such as Japan and Korea who may experience scarcity with resources yet are role models with regard to work ethics and their high productivity. The government saw this to be very important since it was indeed so close to the cultural values of the Malaysians, that it would not be so hard for them to emulate such.

The government also launched the campaign for establishing a clean, efficient and trustworthy administration in 1982, the call for the inculcation of Islamic values in the administration in 1982 and the leadership by example in 1983. All these campaigns were perceived to be very important in increasing the commitment of employees to their organizations and at the same time, to render efficient public service to the constituents (Abdul Karim, 1995).

To further ensure that the strategies they implemented work properly, the government released the code of conduct for public service which aimed to uphold the integrity of the Malaysian Civil Service. They then emphasized on the importance of the maintaining the trust that the public has given the civil servants to encourage these ethical practices. Under this policy, the civil servants are required to show their loyalty to the king, the country and the government. As a result, the employees show higher levels of commitment to their organizations to which they belong to. It is then because of this that they are discouraged to put their personal interests before that of the public or use their positions as public servants for their own advantage. They are also encouraged to perform their tasks efficiently and honestly, to accept responsibilities, avoid negligence while they are on duty and follow the rules and regulations stipulated by their organizations, as stated by Abdul Karim (1995). In addition to the aforementioned, this code of conduct prohibits them from accepting gifts, presents and other offers of entertainment if the intention of the person giving the present is to seek a favour, Abdul Karim (1995) notes. They are also prohibited from seeking outside employment if this could eventually affect their performance in the organization to which they belong to. Finally, they also prohibited to reveal secret official information, or to engage in speculative trade (Abdul Karim, 1995).

Failure to comply with the rules stipulated in the Code of Conduct could subject one to disciplinary action as a public servant ranging from warnings to reprimands and termination of service.

Without a doubt, it is because of the aforementioned policies adopted by the Malaysian government that they were able to increase the levels of commitment that employees in the public sector have towards their organization. Being in a country that has a highly collectivist culture, the Malaysian government had an easier time to imbibe these values and other beliefs into the employees working for the organizations. In the same manner, the nature of their culture could also mean that the individual behaviour of the employees would be greatly influenced by the organizations and their supervisors.

2.8. Organizational Commitment in the Malaysian Ministries of Education and Health

This section of this literature review shall focus on organizational commitment in two very important departments of the Malaysian public sector: the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. Considering the limited literature written with regard to commitment of employees within the Malaysian public sector and those organizations that fall outside the Western cultural setting, the researcher shall examine commitment in the Education and Health ministries based on the actions, strategies and policies adopted by the Malaysian government after their independence to ensure the competence and efficiency of their civil service. This portion of the literature review shall then analyze the actions of the Malaysian government to improve their civil service and how the health and education departments adheres to these, as mentioned in certain literature and other publications, made available by the World Wide Web.

Commitment in the public sector, as earlier established could be very different from that in the private sector considering the factors that may affect these especially since monetary rewards may or may not be present. However, one must take a closer look to the Malaysian government and the agencies under it for the unique strategies, policies and programs they have developed led to the establishment of a civil service that is devoted to the service of the public. To achieve these then, they had to formulate policies and other programs that would strengthen the commitment of the employees towards their organizations (Abdul Hamid, 1994).

The government of Malaysia, as earlier discussed gave importance to ethics and values instilled within the subconscious of the employees to ensure that they are committed to their organizations and that is also required to ensure that these organizations render the efficient service to the public and at the same time, for the improvement of their facilities, policies, services, etc. These changes have been applied ever since their independence to prove the competence of the government despite the absence of the colonial powers that once governed the country (Abdul Hamid, 1994). In the same manner, these changes had also been adopted to ensure that the civil servants would actively participate in transforming the country and assure its readiness for economic development.

The health and education departments of Malaysia is given priority for these are the agencies who provide the most important services to the citizens, services which are seen to be of vital importance to the development of the country through the production of capable and efficient workforce: education and health.

The Ministry of Education has two wings: academic and administrative, headed by the Director-General of Education and the Secretary-General. They are basically in charge of policy planning with the Educational Planning Committee being the most important body. This ministry is headed by the none other than the Minister of Education. This committee, together with the sub-committees formulates policies regarding curriculum, the preparation of text books, development, finance, higher education, scholarships and the training of teachers. Simply put, this ministry is not only concerned with giving education to their citizens but also assuring that the students are receiving an education that is modern and applicable to the changes of the society. In the same manner, they are also given the task to assure that education that institutions provide must make their citizens competent in whatever job they may take after graduation.

The researcher gives importance to this particular organization for without committed employees, the agency could not function properly, thus rendering inefficient services for their constituents and the general public. In the same manner, without these committed employees, the curriculum, preparation of textbooks and all other aspects of the Malaysian Educational System would cease to exist.

On the other hand, the Malaysian ministry of health is responsible for the formulation of policies and programs that would address the health concerns of the citizens, whether through prevention or cure of known diseases such as dengue, which is common in tropical countries. They also work towards the establishment of institutions that are efficient to provide the necessary services for the general public. In the same manner, they also continue to join hands with the private sector to help in addressing new problems with regard to health, such as those brought about by climate change. As a result, the ministry also gives importance to organizational commitment to ensure that their employees work towards the betterment of the services they provide to their citizens.

One of the problems being experienced by both ministries is the fact that less and less health care and education profession remain in the government service while institutions in the private service experience a brain drain as most of the competent employees search for greener pastures abroad in more developed countries. As a result, these ministries develop rewards systems and other incentives like allowances to ensure that the professionals remain in service of the public.

The Ministry of Health, like the Ministry of Education must also provide services that are appropriate for the needs of the modern times, not just provision of hospitals or other health care institutions (Abdul Hamid, 1994).

Being an essential part of the public sector of Malaysia, the ministries of education and health are managed with regard to the different policies and strategies applied by the government, as mentioned in the previous part of this particular literature review. The first of which is the establishment of quality control circles, a program which had been first launched in 1983. In this particular program, small groups which are made up of relevant personnel who are in charge of the identification, selection and analysis of problems within the department are established. These groups are then responsible for the suggestion of solutions to the members of the top management for further consideration and implementation. In the same manner, the so-called “Guidelines on Quality Control Circles” was established for members of the public sector to establish quality control circles as a mechanism to mobilize expertise, experience and employee creativity in solving problems which finally lead to quality improvement. In the same manner, local, regional and national conventions with regard to quality control circles are held annually which then produce benefits for the different organizations within the public sector of the Malaysian government. These include the following which greatly affects departments such as the health and education ministries: (1) reduced waiting time in hospitals; (2) reduced processing time for examination of tenders; (3) improvement in the facilitation of file movements; (4) improved services of local authorities; and finally, (5) the collection of additional arrears (Jaharuddin, n.d.).

Without a doubt, the aforementioned strategies of the Malaysian government significantly affect public service in a positive manner. This concurs with the research of Seok-Hwan (2004), as discussed earlier which said that governments must greatly focus on establishing commitment with the employees of their agencies for it is only through this that they lessen the pressure of ensuring that they make the most out of their limited resources to produce maximum input with the least input through the adoption of total quality management (TQM). Seok-Hwan (2004) and Vigoda (2000) then gives so much importance to these kinds of strategies for organizationally committed employees tend to render their best and efficient service to their constituents. In the same manner, government employees who have a negligent behaviour tend to be more vulnerable to corruption, thus failing to work hand in hand with their organizations to give the best service they could give to the public. It is because of this that the study of Vigoda (2000) also gives importance to the elimination of organizational politics which is seen to produce this negligent behaviour.

With regard to total quality management or TQM, it has earlier been mentioned that the Malaysian government came up with the Guidelines on total quality management in the public service in 1992. Being an essential part of this particular sector, the health and education departments also adhere to these guidelines. As it has been mentioned, this strategy included seven principles which when applied yields an efficient service for the public. This strategy also comes with the circular entitled Guidelines for quality improvement strategies in the public service” which then outlines seven quality programs to be implemented by the agencies belonging to the sector, the Health and Education departments being the two most important agencies: (1) a quality suggestion system; (2) quality processes; (3) quality inspection; (4) quality day; (5) quality slogan; (6) feedback on quality; and (7) quality information (Abdul Hamid, 1994).

It is in line with this that the Malaysian government also came up with the circular entitled “Guidelines on productivity improvement in the public service” which had been issued to assist the heads of the departments, the Health and Education ministries being examples (Chee, 1992). This circular gives importance to eight factors that organizations must focus on to attain higher productivity which could then lead to an increase in the commitment of the employees toward the agencies. The factors are the following: (1) workforce; (2) systems and procedures; (3) structure of the organization; (4) management style; (5) work environment; (6) technology; (7) materials; and (8) capital equipment (Chee, 1992).

As it has been discussed in the section of this literature review entitled “Outcomes of Organizational Commitment,” employees tend to be more productive when they are committed to their organizations (Jaharuddin, n.d.). However, in the Malaysian culture, productivity is an antecedent of organizational commitment and not a consequence. This may be attributed to the fact that the Western models and theories of organizational commitment could simply not be correlated in the study of Malaysian departments because of the fact that they are culturally different from one another, with the collectivist nature of Malaysia being one of the most important differences. Therefore, it is easier to apply organizational commitment theories in this country for they tend to show exemplary affiliation to their organizations and groups to which they belong to.

Another strategy incorporated by the Health and Education Departments of Malaysia to increase the organizational commitment of their employees is handing out rewards to those who have given exemplary service to their agencies. This program has been adopted as a response to the program launched by the government as early as 1979; the program called “Excellence in the Civil Service Program” which also established the code of ethics that employees and management team must abide to (Abdul Hamid, 1994; Chee, 1992).

 The Health and Education departments, to ensure that their employees are also committed to the organizations abide by the Look East Policy of the government which was modelled after the systems of countries like Japan and Korea (Jaharuddin, n.d.). The departments, just like the other agencies in the Public Sector of Malaysia also adopts the Leadership by Example strategy introduced by the government in 1983 which gave importance to Islamic Values that should be maintained in the administration. The employees show their customers these values in dealing with them and at the same time, in the management of public resources (i.e. health care and educational facilities). With regard to Leadership by Example, the employees of the two organizations also make use of the punch clock system and name tags in order to instil discipline and nurture a sense of pride and responsibility. It must be remembered that these strategies are applicable not only to the health and education ministries of Malaysia but all agencies belonging to the public sector of this particular country (Chee, 1992).

In most countries where government services are not that efficient, one can note a very significant difference between the services provided by the government-operated schools and hospitals or other health care institutions and those which are operated by the private sector. One could also see the difference in the salaries in the wages of the teachers, doctors, health care professionals, etc. working in government institutions and those employed by private ones. This then tend to decrease the organizational commitment of the employees within the public sector as they set off for stable jobs which could provide higher wages in the private sector institutions. However, with the reforms adopted by Malaysia to ensure that their public sector is competent enough, this is not the case. For they recognize how important it is for their employees to be committed to the organizations to render efficient public service to their constituents.

Both the health and education departments of the Malaysian ministries also deal with the brain drain happening in the private sector as most of the professionals employed in this sector tend to leave for other countries in search for greener pastures (Shaffie & Sta. Maria, 2004).

Being aware of the aforementioned conditions, the country introduced in 1983, the Malaysia Incorporated Policy which encouraged employees to treat the whole country as a company or a corporate nation where both the public and private sectors holding equity. Both sectors then hold important positions which are essential tot eh economic development of the country. It is in line with this that the members of the private sector, with the Education and Health Ministries developed consultative panels with the private sector. As a result, the traditional attitudes that the public sector has towards the private sector are eliminated. In the same manner, bureaucratic procedures and regulations are re-examined in order to encourage commitment within the public sector (Shaffie & Sta. Maria, 2004).

As it has also been mentioned in the previous part of this chapter, the Code of Conduct for Public Servants also increases the commitment that employees of the health and education departments have toward their agencies. This is true for all departments and agencies within the public sector for the government required them to uphold the integrity of the civil service of their country, to maintain the trust that their citizens, their constituents has given them and at the same time, incorporate the positive values that have been instilled to them for the efficient service. They are also required to remain loyal to their king, the government and the country, adopting the values upheld by them and the goals that these envision.

The aforementioned concept discussed concurs with the findings that have been earlier mentioned in the analysis of commitment in the public sector. It has been said that one of the possible factors that influence organizational commitment is the goals that employees have. Researchers mention that when the personal goals of the employees align with that of the organization, then there is a higher tendency for the former to be committed to their employers. This then one of the reasons why researchers such as Seok-Hwan (2004) tend to perceive that organizational commitment in the public sector may be lower as compared with the public sector. This is because of the fact that several of the researches mentioned by the said author (i.e. Dahl and Lindblom, 1953; Gortner, Nahler and Nicholson, 1987; Lan and Rainey, 1992; Boyatzis, 1982), said that private sectors employees are higher on goal clarity than their counterparts in the public sector. Nonetheless, Seok-Hwan still recognizes the fact that there are also other researchers who claim the opposite, reporting that public managers have clearer organizational goals and at the same time, are more efficient in achieving the goals that they laid out for their organizations (Shaffie & Sta. Maria, 2004).

Under this particular conduct, all employees must not accept gifts, presents or whatever forms that can be mistaken as bribery especially when the person offering these is asking an employee a favour. In the same manner, they must be loyal to organizations, promising not to reveal any information which only members of the departments must be knowledgeable of.

The departments of the Malaysian public sector also give importance to behavioural changes through training. They focus on the total training approach to give importance to aspects of motivation and attitude besides the regular components of knowledge and skill Abdul Karim (1995) notes. For all levels of officers, seminars and workshops on these values and ethics are held regularly. With regard to training, the Malaysian education not only focuses on the people within their organizations but also to the teachers and other members of educational institutions, whether public or private. These teachers and other professionals are required to receive training at the Aminuddin Baki Institute functions under the ministry of education (Perry & Singh, 2001).

Evidently, the Malaysian government takes use of its collectivist nature to ensure that all organizations under it concur with its vision. In the same manner, it was also through this that they were able to come up with strategies and allowed them to implement even at the level of the employees. It is then because of this that the discussion of the two ministries and organizational commitment has been patterned after the steps, policies, programs and strategies that the Malaysian government introduced (Perry & Singh, 2001).

2.9. Summary

The purpose of this literature review was to analyze the different researches made on organizational commitment, the factors (i.e. age, marital status, gender, race, experience, education, job satisfaction, employee communication and leadership style) that play a very important role in increasing the loyalty of the employees to their organization. In the same manner, the outcomes of organizational commitment was also analyzed such as one’s intention to leave, absenteeism, productivity, labour turnover, medical leave and burnout or what is more commonly known as work-related stress. Empirical studies made on organizational commitment were also analyzed looking into how culture has become one of the most important aspects of the study in this particular subject area. Considering the fact that much research has been conducted in correlating organizational commitment and the private sector, the researcher gives importance to the analysis of the said issue in the public sector for this is a matter of great importance as not much research has been conducted with regard to this topic. At the same time, the researcher also considers this to be very important as the study will deal with the Malaysian departments of Health and Education. It is because of this that the analysis of the possible influences in the Malaysian government and how it affects the commitment of employees to their organizations. Finally, organizational commitment in the health and education departments of the Malaysian government would also be analyzed and how this affects the services that they provide their constituents (Perry & Singh, 2001).

True enough, researches have not come up with a single and accurate definition of the concept of organizational commitment. As seen in the different researches presented in this study, the way by which this particular concept is designed differs from one research to another. It is then because of this that many definitions are coming out in the different literature written with regard to the same topic. Nonetheless, the central point of these definitions focuses on the concept that organizational commitment can be both an attitude and a behaviour that one employee has that greatly affects their performance in a particular organization. At the same time, a significant theme emerges from the definitions although they are very different from each other. Generally, it is discovered that these definitions all present organizational commitment as a state which often characterizes the relationship of an employee with the organization to which they belong to.

Researchers such as Salami (2008) reveals that there are many ways by which organizational commitment affects employees and at the same time, there are also many factors which affect the development of this kind of commitment. These are the following: age, marital status, gender, race, experience, education, job satisfaction, employee communication and leadership style. However, these variables are said to affect one’s commitment to an organization in different ways.

The effects of these variables however should be analyzed based on how they could affect the presence of other employment alternatives for the members of the organization. An example of this relationship is that with age, researchers of organizational commitment view older employees as the workers exhibiting higher levels of organizational commitment for they are no longer given other employment alternatives. As a result, they stick with the companies to which they are already employed at. Aside from age, marital status is also seen to be of vital importance since the duty one has to her family requires financial support. Because of this, married employees are seen to be more committed with their organizations when compared with their single counterparts.

Gender was another factor that was analyzed in this literature review. In many studies, women showed higher levels of commitment when compared to the men. However, this correlation varies from one researcher to another because of the fact that culture plays a very important role. This is because women in other cultures who are not presented with other employment alternatives tend to be more committed to their organizations. Aside from the aforementioned, race also plays an important role in increasing or decreasing the commitment of an employee towards a certain organization. Apparently, race has nothing to do with this yet a perceived discrimination influences organizational commitment so much.

Experience and educational attainment are also very important to the levels of commitment one has towards his or her organization for this increases their capacity and knowledge about how businesses operate and at the same time, thus gaining seniority. Finally, one must also give importance to communication strategies and leadership styles to ensure that employees are properly motivated for the aforementioned factors would contribute so much in making the employees feel that they are indeed a part of the organization, thus increasing their commitment towards the latter.

The perceived outcomes of organizational commitment are also very important since it would present the importance of the said issue for most businesses. Intention to leave and organizational commitment is said to be positively correlated with each other for employees who are committed to their organizations tend to have a lower degree of intention to leave. In the same manner, it is also seen to decrease an employee’s failure to attend his or her job.

Organizational commitment also increases one’s productivity for employees tend to recognize the goals of the company thus work and contribute in order to achieve these. It also decreases the rate of labour turnovers for a certain organization since the employees are encouraged to work for the business or company to which they are loyal at. Through this, the employers need not worry about the number of employees leaving their businesses.

Medical leave is another outcome of organizational commitment as employees with a high level of loyalty tend to report back to their jobs as soon as they recovered from their sicknesses, operation or as soon as female workers give birth to their children. This is also true for work related stress for it negatively affects one’s productivity. However, with a high level of organizational commitment, employees tend to work hand in hand with HRM managers to ensure that the levels of work related stress are decreased at some point.

The study also included an examination of the past researches made with regard to organizational commitment. These researches all give importance to the development of cross-cultural studies so as to ensure that the analysis of organizational commitment, its antecedents and outcomes would be analyzed based on models that had been developed in a culture different from that of the United States or other western country for that matter.

The researcher also gave importance to the examination of organizational commitment in the public sector because of the fact that not much research has been developed that would look into this. As a result, much research has been focused only on organizations in the private sector. The analysis of the former should be very well considered because of the fact that commitment is important for these organizations as this could have a great effect on the public services that they offer especially since monetary rewards are not present in this type of institutes.

It is also in line with this that the analysis of the Malaysian government’s efforts toward increasing organizational commitment to improve public service has been made. Apparently, they incorporated a series of policies, programs and strategies all aimed towards the employees in the public sector to ensure that they remain committed, motivated and productive. These strategies also allowed the government to instil in these employees ethical values and attitudes that employees in countries such as Japan and Korea have thus contributing to their high productivity they exhibit. It is also with regard to this that the country made use of their unique culture background to transcend their goals and values, affecting every single employee within every single organization.

The health and education departments, given the significant role they play in making sure that their citizens are competent, being properly educated and healthy are also affected by these strategies, having complied with the rules promulgated by the government. Through this, the government services within Malaysia is without a doubt very efficient despite the fact that it also faces problems such as brain drain and the difficulty to retain workers in the public sector through the introduction of rewards and other forms of incentives.

Chapter 3: Methodology

This chapter comprises an explanation of how the research is going to be carried out including definition of the research population the sampling technique adopted and sample size determination and questionnaire selection/development for collection of primary data and an outline of the methods of data analysis.

This study shall make use of the quantitative approach to research although secondary data shall be collected in order to confirm the results of the study vis-à-vis the literature written with regard to the said topic. In a study which is quantitative in nature, the researcher intends to gather data so that a valid conclusion may be arrived at regarding the outcomes of broadly comparable experiences. An objective or positivist approach is adopted by those who utilize this design (Cresswell, 2002), which is applicable in this paper. The main principle underlying this approach is that knowledge and facts are measurable and that complicated problems may be comprehended more effectively if they are broken down into less complicated pats (Cresswell, 2002). Moreover, this approach becomes more potent in the quest for universal laws which explain reality – and which lend themselves to observation (Cresswell, 2002).

The quantitative approach has several advantages – among them is the fact that they have clearer boundaries with regard to data gathering. While it is an advantage in itself, it does not come without weaknesses. For this approach to yield valid conclusions, the tool that is used for data gathering has to have acceptable psychometric properties. The construction of the research tool must be subjected to rigor and careful analysis (Cresswell, 2002). One other limitation for quantitative methods is the need to use a substantially large sample to be able to garner more valid results (Cresswell, 2002).

Furthermore, this chapter would include the following sub-parts: (1) the type of investigation that this research would apply (correlational research); (2) the purpose of this study and the hypotheses that it aims to test; (3) the settings by which the study shall be conducted (non-contrived settings); (4) the time horizon for the study – or the adoption of a cross-sectional study; (5) the size of the sample that would be used; (6) the use of a questionnaire in order to obtain the data needed for the research; (7) the type of measurement or interval level that shall be used; (8) questionnaire samples; (9) the different statistical methods to be used; (10) the limitations that the researcher may face; and finally, (11) the outcomes that the researcher aims to obtain from this research.

3.1. Type of Investigation: Correlational Research

            Correlational research is one of the many forms of the quantitative approach to research (Waters, n.d.; Wasson, 2002). The main emphasis of this kind of research is to discuss and establish the existence of a relationship, association, or interdependence between two or more variables, involving the use of collected data (Waters, n.d.). Wasson (2002) concurs with the aforementioned statement, noting that correlational research studies are often used in order to determine the relationship between two variables using a coefficient. This correlational coefficient is a number, ranging from one (which demonstrates a positive correlation), through zero (which shows that there is no relationship between the variables) through negative one (which reveals a negative correlation amongst the variables being examined).

            In this study’s case, the researcher shall investigate the correlations between the independent variables (the different antecedents of organizational commitment, as identified by previous researchers), the dependent variables (the organizational commitment of the employees of the Malaysian health and education departments), and finally, the outcome variables (or the consequences of one’s organizational commitment).

            The correlational research process, according to Cals.ncsu.edu (2008) involves the following steps in order for the study to become successful: first, the researcher identifies the variables to be studied. After the researcher identifies the variables that he or she will be including in the research, the questions and hypotheses would then be stated. Next, the sample size would be computed and selected, taking into consideration that the minimum number of participants must be thirty (30). Data would then be collected from the participants and their responses would be calculated, correlating each variable with one another. Finally, the results shall be reported. This process of correlational research shall be applied in this study in order to answer the research questions and accomplish the objectives mentioned.

3.2. Purpose of the Study and Hypothesis Testing

            As mentioned in the first chapter of this study, fifteen (15) hypotheses have been developed. The researcher will test these hypotheses to search for any significant relationships between organizational commitment and its antecedents and consequences through the use of a correlational research. The following are the hypotheses that would be tested in this study:

            The first nine hypotheses aim to establish a correlation between the organizational commitment and its antecedents which are identified by the different researchers who were considered as pioneers in the field of organizational behavior research. The first hypothesis concerns the relationship between age and organizational commitment. As noted in the literature review, researchers expressed different opinions with regard to the ability of age to affect organizational commitment. As a result, the researcher then hopes to establish the correlation that exist between both through the employees of the Malaysian Health and Education departments who would serve as respondents for this study.

Null Hypothesis 1: There is no significant relationship between age and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 1: There is a significant relationship between age and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            The second hypothesis concerns the researcher’s aim to find out whether or not marital status affects the organizational commitment of the employees.

Null Hypothesis 2: There is no significant relationship between marital status and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 2: There is a significant relationship between marital status and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            The third hypothesis is then concerned in finding out if gender also tends to affect organizational commitment.

Null Hypothesis 3: There is no significant relationship between gender and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 3: There is a significant relationship between gender and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            The fourth hypothesis on the other hand aims to establish the relationship between one’s race and his or her organizational commitment.

Null Hypothesis 4: There is no significant relationship between race and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 4: There is a significant relationship between race and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            Meanwhile, the fifth hypothesis also aims to discover the relationship between another antecedent, experience and organizational commitment.

Null Hypothesis 5: There is no significant relationship between experience and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 5: There is a significant relationship between experience and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            Aside from the aforementioned, the sixth hypothesis shall then be devoted in establishing the relationship between an employee’s educational attainment and their commitment towards the organization.

Null Hypothesis 6: There is no significant relationship between education and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 6: There is a significant relationship between education and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            The seventh hypothesis is then concerned whether or not there is indeed a positive correlation between job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Null Hypothesis 7: There is no significant relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 7: There is a significant relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            The eighth hypothesis then looks into the relationship between how employers communicate with their subordinates and how this influences the latter’s development of commitment towards their organizations.

Null Hypothesis 8: There is no significant relationship between communication and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 8: There is a significant relationship between communication and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            The last antecedent of organizational commitment that would be studied is the leadership style that one organization has and how this influences the behavior or attitude of the employees toward their employers.

Null Hypothesis 9: There is no significant relationship between leadership style and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 9: There is a significant relationship between leadership style and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            The last six hypotheses is then concerned with establishing the relationship between organizational commitment and its outcomes, as again enumerated by a number of researchers who are considered experts in the same field. The tenth hypothesis basically looks into the employees’ intention to leave and how this attitude is affected by their commitment to their organization.

Null Hypothesis 10: There is no significant relationship between intention to leave and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 10: There is a significant relationship between intention to leave and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            The eleventh hypothesis would then look into absenteeism and how this has been influenced organizational commitment.

Null Hypothesis 11: There is no significant relationship between absenteeism and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 11: There is a significant relationship between absenteeism and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            In the same manner, the researcher would also look into how organizational commitment is correlated with productivity.

Null Hypothesis 12: There is no significant relationship between productivity and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 12: There is a significant relationship between productivity and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            Meanwhile, the thirteenth hypothesis would look into the relationship that exists between organizational commitment and how this affects labor turnover within a certain company.

Null Hypothesis 13: There is no significant relationship between labor turnover and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 13: There is a significant relationship between labor turnover and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            The fourteenth hypothesis then looks into how medical leave is related with organizational commitment.

Null Hypothesis 14: There is no significant relationship between medical leave and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 14: There is a significant relationship between medical leave and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            Finally, the fifteenth hypothesis looks into the last outcome of organizational commitment, burnt out or work-related stress and how these two are related with each other.

Null Hypothesis 15: There is no significant relationship between burnt out and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 15: There is a significant relationship between burnt out and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            It is through the acceptance or rejection of the aforementioned hypotheses that the researchers would establish the correlation between the organizational commitment and its antecedents and consequences based on the perceptions of the employees of the Malaysian health and education departments. Lastly, these variables were chosen as the said antecedents are said to play an important role in determining the organizational commitment of employees. Moreover, the outcomes or consequences that have been also mentioned are also chosen as these are said to be the significant effects of the employees’ commitment towards a certain organization.

3.3. Study Setting: Non-Contrived Setting

            The researcher aims to conduct this study without disturbing the settings that have been chosen. In other words, this kind of research shall be done in the natural environment, using the so-called non-contrived settings (Chen, 2005). It is through the observance of these non-contrived settings that the researcher would be able to observe the processes within the Malaysian government departments, allowing work to proceed normally. This means that the researcher minimally interferes with his or her subject, Chen (2005) notes. Furthermore, Chen (2005) cites that a research done under non-contrived settings which aim to correlate variables, are usually referred to as field studies.

            This research shall be studied in a non-contrived setting which means that the researcher will not disturb the settings that have been chosen. The only thing that the researcher will do is distribute the questionnaires to the respondents and collect them back after one week. Other than that, the researcher will also search for evident records such as the following: (1) absenteeism, (2) medical leave, and (3) labor turnover among the others.

3.4. Time Horizon: Cross Sectional Study

            Aside from using a correlational research to investigate the relationship between organizational commitment and its antecedents and consequences in a non-contrived setting, this study shall also be cross sectional in nature.

For this study, all respondents received their questionnaires on the same day. These shall be collected by the researcher within a week. One of the reasons why one week was allotted for these people to answer the survey is their busy schedule. Thus, the researcher believes that giving them an ample time to respond would yield more accurate data.

            Cresswell (2002) defines cross-sectional study as a kind of research that involves the observation of a certain population all at the same time. In cross sectional studies, groups can be compared using dependent variables and how these affect the independent ones, Cresswell (2002) further states. For this study, the researcher would compare the organizational commitment employees and how it is affected by its antecedents. Moreover, it would also treat the commitment towards the organization as a dependent variable, in looking into how this influences the outcomes such as intention to leave, productivity, absenteeism, turnover, medical leave and burnt out.

3.5. Sampling

            This study shall be using simple random sampling which is defined by Cresswell (2002) as a sampling method wherein a subset of individuals (the sample) are obtained or chosen from a larger set (population). Samples are chosen randomly and entirely by chance (Creswell, 2002) which means that every individual belonging to the population being studied has the same probability of being chosen at any stage of the sampling process being undertaken by the researcher. Stat Trek Inc (2007) mentions that the use of this sampling method may be advantageous to the researcher due to the fact that it guarantees that the sample chosen is indeed a representative of the population. Because of this, the researcher is assured of the validity of his or her statistical conclusions.

A total of three hundred (300) employees in the Education department and three hundred (300) employees from the Health department shall be randomly selected to participate in the study. The rationale in choosing these two agencies are due to most of the public has direct contact with either one of these agencies. The sample size of three hundred is chosen due to the many variables that shall be correlated with organizational commitment and these variables vary from one employee to another.

3.6. Data Collection Method: The Use of Questionnaires

            To collect the data needed for this study, a questionnaire was developed by the researcher. Lanthier (2002) says that one of the purposes of using the questionnaire method is to gather information pertaining to the attitude, thoughts and behaviors of the people with regard to the topic at hand.

            The use of the questionnaire method is advantageous to many researchers as it is a good way to obtain the attitudes, thoughts and behaviors of a large group of people by using a sample (Lanthier, 2002) especially when the participants are chosen randomly. However, Lanthier (2002) also notes of the different disadvantages that may come with the use of a questionnaire method. She notes that researchers must construct their questions excellently as the failure to do so may yield wrong responses from their survey participants.

There are some strong advantages that set out the self-administered questionnaire over other data collection techniques, Cresswell (2002) further adds. When compared to the mail questionnaire, the chosen method secures a higher response rate and costs less. The first of these advantages can be attributed to the fact that it is handed out in person, and that the interviewer is present. As a result, the overall atmosphere is warmer, friendlier and less impersonal. It was finally decided that the self-administered questionnaire would be used for the purposes of this research. This was attributed to limitations in monetary funds and time, as well as the fact the entire preparation, administration and final discussion had to be solely assessed by the researcher. Additionally, because of the presence of the interviewer, the participants are accorded a wider scope of clarity. If anything is not clear in the questionnaire, the researcher can clarify a particular question, achieving a higher degree of accuracy and consequently more reliable responses. With regard to the second advantage, the selected method can be followed at a comparatively low cost, as there is no demand for trained staff but solely the cost of printing the actual questionnaire forms.

` The researcher developed the questionnaire for this study based on the following purposes: (1) to measure the dependent variable, independent variables and outcomes variables; and (2) to establish the relationship between these three variables (the dependent with the independent and outcomes).

           The questionnaire is divided into the following parts: (1) personal details; (2) job nature; (3) my colleagues; (4) salary; (5) support coming from the supervisor; (6) opportunities with regard to promotion; (7) job stress; (8) resource adequacy; (9) challenging job; (10) decision making participation; (11) employee communication; and finally, (12) commitment towards the organization. In order to ensure that the respondents would perfectly understand the questions included in the data collection tool, the researcher shall translate the survey questionnaire into Malay.

            The section on personal details looked into the demographic information of the respondents. It looked into the following: first, their job category which asked whether they were a part of the professional and management group or the supporting group. Second, this section also determined their gender and their race (Malay, Chinese, Indian, etc). Aside from the aforementioned, their marital status, age, academic qualification, the number of years they were with the department and the number of medical leave that they have taken in the last year were also determined.

            From the second part onwards, the respondents were asked to indicate the extent of their agreement or disagreement with the different statements enumerated by the researcher based on the following scale: 1- strongly disagree; 2- disagree; 3- somewhat disagree; 4- agree; and 5- strongly agree. The ratings given by the respondents to these questions would help the researcher in establishing the relationship between the different variables.

3.9. Type of Measurement: Interval Level

            The questions in the survey questionnaire will be measured in Likert-scale from one to five. With this, most of the data will be measured in the interval level. A questionnaire using the Likert-style enables researchers to prove each item in the survey with regard to their ‘weight’ in a respondent’s mind, Kirakowski (2008) notes. It is through this that the researcher would gain an insight on how a certain variable is correlated with the other.

3.8. Statistical Testing and Data Analysis

            The data gathered from the respondent shall be analyzed, interpreted and evaluated through quantitative means.  It shall then be associated with scholarly studies to be able to achieve the precise state of information needed for the completion of this research.  Further, to be of benefit to future researches tackling a related topic. In effect, descriptive statistics such as frequencies, means, and standard deviations shall be computed for the results of the questionnaire. The quantitative results shall then be validated against those gathered from the literature review.

Data will be coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). To ensure the consistency of the data obtained from the study, a reliability test has been performed (Saunders et al., 2007), presenting Cronbach’s Alpha with a coefficient of 0.9482. This is a reliable result as all values greater than 0.7 are considered to be valid. On the other hand, the demographic section shall be presented with a presentation of descriptive statistics that could give the researcher an idea about the various variables that have been examined and analyzed in the distribution of questionnaires for this research.

3.9. Limitations

            The researcher faces limitations as to resources such as time and finances; as a result, this research shall be limited only to the Malaysian Departments of Health and Education.

3.10. Expected Outcomes

The researcher expects to produce a study that could show the level of employees’ commitment and the factors that could affect it and the recommendations to improve the commitment among the employees in Government Departments. In the same manner, the researcher also hopes to establish or determine the correlation between the different variables (independent, dependent and outcome).

Chapter 4: Results

            Once again, the main objective of this study is to determine the level of commitment that employees within the Malaysian agencies of Health and Education have towards their organization. In the same manner, it hopes to point out the different factors that play a very important role in influencing the development of such commitment. Together with this, the researcher also aims to look into the different behaviors or attitudes of employees that are also brought about by their high levels of organizational commitment. The second chapter presented the different issues and concepts that are related to the topic based on the studies done by researchers who are all considered as experts on the field of organizational behavior research. To confirm and validate the secondary data collected, the researcher made use of a total of six hundred and two employees from the Malaysian Health and Education departments (301 from each department) in order to point out the significance of the said concept to the organizations.

            Aside from merely pointing out the importance of organizational commitment to various organizations especially to the Malaysian ministries of Education and Health, this research also aims to look into the reasons why the public sector agencies of the said country are still having problems with regard to their performance despite the various steps undertaken by the government to improve their services. The data that shall be presented in this chapter shall then be compared vis-à-vis the literature reviewed in the second chapter.

In the second chapter of this study, the importance of the Malaysian Education ministry was highlighted, as they were seen to be essential in the formulation of policies and programs that deal with the curriculum, the preparation of the text books, development, finance, higher education, scholarships and the training of teachers. In the same manner, this ministry ensures that the education that they provide to their citizens are applicable to the modern times and with this, assure that educational institutions could provide the students with the necessary preparation that they may need after graduation.

            Because of the aforementioned duties and responsibilities of the Ministry of Education, organizational commitment within the said government agency becomes very important. It is through the possession of a high level of commitment towards the organization that an employee could strive to work according to the goals and objectives of the ministry. Without the said commitment, the organization could not function properly, thus leads to the provision of inefficient services for the constituents and the general public. Finally, researchers also acknowledge the fact that without committed employees, the different duties and responsibilities would be impossible to meet, which then causes the agency to function improperly.

            Aside from the Malaysian Ministry of Education, this research also gives importance to the Health department as another government agency that renders important services to the public. At the same time, this is another sector wherein organizational commitment becomes essential. The Malaysian department of Health as established in the second chapter is concerned with the formulation of policies and other programs that would address the health that benefits the citizens especially in the prevention or cure of known diseases which are only common in tropical countries such as Malaysia. Aside from this, the Malaysian ministry of Health is also concerned with the development of institutions that are seen to be of vital importance to the provision of necessary services for the benefit of the citizens. It is also because of these duties that employees are encouraged to work hand in hand in order to render efficient public service. As a result, organizational commitment becomes necessary once again.

            The importance of organizational commitment in the Malaysian departments of Health and Education are not just concerned with the ability of workers and the organization to provide efficient services to the public. Rather, the concept becomes also essential in ensuring that the departments could retain their employees despite the tendency of the latter to employ themselves in the private sector for better benefits such as compensation.

            It is because of the said brain drain in Malaysian government agencies that these departments are continuing to face numerous problems with regard to their inefficiency to provide their citizens with better services.

4.1. Demographic Information

            This section would first present the demographic information pertaining to the respondents coming from the Malaysian Education Department. These demographic factors such as age, sex, race, marital status, race, type of job, academic, experience, number of years in the organization and the number of medical leave taken would be essential to the correlation of factors that the researcher shall perform in the latter parts of this study.

            The first demographic information asked was the job category (either Professional & Management Group or Supporting Group) to which the respondents belong to. As seen in both Table 1 and Chart 1, of the three hundred one employees of the Malaysian Education Department, one hundred and fifty one (151) or 50.2% belong to the Professional and Management Group while one hundred fifty (150) or 49.8% said that they are part of the Supporting Group.

Table 1.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Job Category of Respondents from the Education Department

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
P & M
151
50.2
50.2
50.2
supporting150
49.8
49.8
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 1.

Job Category of Respondents from the Education Department

            In the same manner, the researcher also looked into the job category wherein the employees of the Malaysian Health Industry belong to. They were also asked whether they belong to the Professional and Management or Support Groups. Through the survey results, as graphically illustrated in Table 2 and Chart 2, it is shown that one hundred and fifty respondents (150) or 49.8% works in the Professional and Management Group while one hundred and fifty one respondents (151) or 50.2% works in the support group.

Table 2.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Job Category of Respondents from the Health Department

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
P&M Group
150
49.8
49.8
49.8
Support Group151
50.2
50.2
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 2.

Job Category of Respondents from the Health Department

Aside from their job categories, the researcher also looked into the gender of this study’s respondents who are employed in the ministry of education. As it has been earlier mentioned, this study shall correlate organizational commitment with gender. This shall be done in the study’s hope to find out if the said factor tends to influence one’s commitment towards his or her organization. As presented in the literature review, this factor is also considered to be highly controversial due to the fact that different researchers have varied views about the influences of the said variable on organizational commitment thus highlighting the inconsistency of the results of different studies made on the same subject.

The survey reveals that of the three hundred and one respondents (301), one hundred and fifty one (151) or 50.2% were males while one hundred fifty (150) or 49.8% were females (Table 3 and Chart 3).

Table 3.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Gender of Respondents from the Education Department

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
male
151
50.2
50.2
50.2
female150
49.8
49.8
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 3.

Gender of Respondents from the Education Department

            It also looked into the gender of the respondents in the Health department. The survey results show that among the three hundred and one employees of the Health Ministry who served as participants, one hundred fifty (150) or 49.8% were males while one hundred fifty one (151) or 50.2% were females. These results are summarized in Table 4 and Chart 4.

Table 4.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Gender of Respondents from the Health Department

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
Male
150
49.8
49.8
49.8
Female151
50.2
50.2
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 4.

Gender of Respondents from the Health Department

The researcher also looked into the race of the respondents, another factor that is seen to be of vital importance in this study. Despite the established importance of this particular factor to the study of organizational commitment, research shows that there is no certain race that is more committed to their jobs than the others. Generally, the effects of race on organizational commitment are associated with the issue of discrimination which is seen to influence the turnover of employees. This research gives importance to this particular factor to the study due to the multicultural nature of the Malaysia.

The survey results (Table 5 and Chart 5) show that of all the participants coming from the Malaysian Ministry of Education, (1) one hundred and one (101) or 33.6% are Malays; (2) one hundred (100) or 33.2% are Chinese; and (3) one hundred (100) or 33.2% are Indians.

Table 5.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Race of Respondents from the Education Department

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
malay
101
33.6
33.6
33.6
chinese100
33.2
33.2
66.8
indian100
33.2
33.2
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 5.

Race of Respondents from the Education Department

            On the other hand, the responses of the employees in the Malaysian Health Department show that of the three hundred and one participants, (1) one hundred (100) or 33.2% are Malays; (2) one hundred (100) or 33.2% are Chinese and finally, (3) one hundred one (101) or 33.6% are Indians (Table 6 and Chart 6).

Table 6.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Race of Respondents from the Health Department

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
Malay
100
33.2
33.2
33.2
Chinese100
33.2
33.2
66.4
indian101
33.6
33.6
66.8
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 6.

Race of Respondents from the Health Department

The fourth demographic information included in the study was the martial status of the employees, believing that this is again a very important factor that influences the development of one’s commitment towards his or her organization. Researchers suggest that one of the reasons why so much importance has been given to this factor is the fact that married employees tend to remain committed to their organizations in order to financially support their families. The results of the survey, reflected in Table 7 and Chart 7 show that among the respondents, one hundred and fifty five (155) or 51.5% were single while only one hundred and forty six (48.5%) were married.

Table 7.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Marital Status of Respondents from the Education Department

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
single
155
51.5
51.5
51.5
married146
48.5
48.5
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 7.

Marital Status of Respondents from the Education Department

            On the other hand, the responses of the three hundred and one (301) employees from the Malaysian Health Department show that one hundred fifty four (154) or 51.2% are married while only one hundred and forty seven (147) or 48.8% said that they are still single.

Table 8.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Marital Status of Respondents from the Health Department

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
single
154
51.2
51.2
51.2
married147
48.8
48.8
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 8.

Marital Status of Respondents from the Health Department

Next, the researcher looked into the age bracket wherein the respondents fall upon for it is another important factor in influencing the organizational commitment of employees. Age is a also a very controversial factor within the same field as there are some researchers who express varied opinions on which age bracket tend to be more committed to their organizations (older employees versus the younger generation).

The results obtained from the survey show that of the three hundred and one (301) employees of the Malaysian ministry of health, (1) thirty four (34) or 11.3% are below the age of thirty; (2) seventy two (72) or 23.9% are aged 30-39; (3) one hundred and twenty three respondents (123) or 40.9% are between the ages of 40-49; and finally, (4) seventy two (72) or 23.9% were above the age of fifty. These results are summarized in Table 9 and Chart 9.

Table 9.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Age of Respondents from the Education Department

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
below 30
34
11.3
11.3
11.3
30-3972
23.9
23.9
35.2
40-49123
40.9
40.9
76.1
above 5072
23.9
23.9
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 9.

Age of Respondents from the Education Department

            This demographic information was also obtained from those employees who are part of the Malaysian Ministry of Health. The survey revealed the following: (1) forty three (43) or 14.3% are below thirty years of age; (2) eighty two (82) or 27.2% are between the ages of 30-39; (3) one hundred and sixteen (116) or 38.5% are between the ages of 40-49; and finally, only sixty respondents (60) or 19.9% are above the age of 50. These results are further summarized in Table 10 and Chart 10.

Table 10.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Age of Respondents from the Health Department

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
below 30
43
14.3
14.3
14.3
30-3982
27.2
27.2
41.5
40-49116
38.5
38.5
80.1
above 5060
19.9
19.9
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 10.

Age of Respondents from the Health Department

The next demographic information obtained from the employees of the Malaysian Ministry of Education pertains to their academic qualification which is another very important factor that influences the development of one’s commitment to the organization. Researchers also have varied opinions with regard to the effects of the said factor to commitment due to the many employment alternatives that are made available to those who have attained higher education.

The results of the study show that among the three hundred and one employees (301), one hundred and fifty one (151) or 50.2% has a degree while one hundred and fifty (150) or 49.8% of the survey participants only possess diplomas. The figures are shown in Table 11 and Chart 11.

Table 11.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Academic Qualification of Respondents from the Education Department

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
degree
151
50.2
50.2
50.2
diploma150
49.8
49.8
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 11.

Academic Qualification of Respondents from the Education Department

            This factor was also investigated among the employees of the Malaysian Health Department. The survey results show that one hundred fifty respondents (150) or 49.8% have degrees while one hundred fifty one respondents (151) or 50.2% only have diplomas. These results are further summarized in Table 12 and Chart 12.

Table 12.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Academic Qualification of Respondents from the Health Department

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
degree
150
49.8
49.8
49.8
diploma151
50.2
50.2
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 12.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Academic Qualification of Respondents from the Health Department

Furthermore, the researcher looked the work experiences of employees which are another factor that is essential to the discussion of organizational commitment. The importance of this variable to the discussion is based upon the fact that more experienced workers who have already served in an organization for a long time tend to develop an emotional attachment to an organization.

            The results of the survey show that among the three hundred and one (301) employees of the Ministry of Education: (1) four (4) or 1.3% had been in the company for three years or less; (2) thirty two (32) or 10.6% said that they had been working in their present company for four to six years; (3) thirty eight respondents (38) or 12.6% reported that they had already been in the organization for seven to ten years; and finally, (4) majority of the respondents or two hundred and twenty seven (227 or 75.4%) said that they have been in the company for more than ten years. These results are further summarized in Table 13 and Chart 13

Table 13.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown:  Number of Years Respondents from the Education Department are working in the said Agency

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
0-3
4
1.3
1.3
1.3
4-632
10.6
10.6
12.0
7-1038
12.6
12.6
24.6
above 10227
75.4
75.4
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 13.

Number of Years Respondents from the Education Department are working in the said Agency

The employees of the Health Department on the other hand, yielded the following responses: (1) four (4) or 1.3% had been in the agency for three or less years; (2) thirty nine (39) or 13% was with the department for4-6 years; (3) twenty eight (28) or 9.3% for 7-10 years; and finally, (4) two hundred thirty employees (230) or 76.4 say that they had been with the Malaysian Health Department for more than ten years. These results are summarized in Table 14 and Chart 14.

Table 14.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown:  Number of Years Respondents from the Health Department are working in the said Agency

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
0-3
4
1.3
1.3
1.3
4-639
13.0
13.0
14.3
7-1028
9.3
9.3
23.6
above 10230
76.4
76.4
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 14.

Number of Years Respondents from the Health Department are working in the said Agency

Finally, the researcher looked into the number of medical leave that employees have taken in the last year. Although medical leave in this study is not classified as a variable contributing to the development of organizational commitment, this factor is still considered as one of the major consequences of having the said attitude or behavior towards the government agency. The literature review also noted that not much research has been done in relating this particular factor to organizational commitment yet is still seen to be of vital importance. This is because committed employees are seen to resume their work as soon as they get well. It is for this reason that the researcher would also correlate this factor with organizational commitment in this study.

            The results, as summarized in Table 15 and Chart 15, reveal that two hundred and twenty one (221) respondents or 73.4% have only taken 0-5 days of medical leave in the last year. Meanwhile, sixty five (65) or 21.6% said that they have taken 6-10 days of medical leave and only fifteen employees or 5% took 11-16 days. In the latter part of this chapter, the researcher would look into whether or not the number of days of leave that these employees have taken is significantly affected by their commitment towards the organization, as suggested by researchers who are considered to be pioneers in this field.

Table 15.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Number of Days taken as Medical Leave of Respondents from the Education Department

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
0-5
221
73.4
73.4
73.4
6-1065
21.6
21.6
95.0
11-1615
5.0
5.0
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 15.

Number of Days taken as Medical Leave of Respondents from the Education Department

            Finally, the results of the survey obtained from the responses of the three hundred and one employees of the Malaysian Health departments revealed that: (1) two hundred thirty five employees (235) or 78.1% only took 0-5 days of medical leave within the last year; (2) sixty two (62) or 20.6% took 6-10 days; and lastly, (4) only four respondents (4) or 1.3% said that they took eleven to sixteen days as their medical leave.

Table 16.

Frequency and Percentage Breakdown: Number of Days taken as Medical Leave of Respondents from the Health Department

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
0-5
235
78.1
78.1
78.1
6-1062
20.6
20.6
98.7
11-164
1.3
1.3
100.0
Total301
100.0
100.0

Chart 16.

Number of Days taken as Medical Leave of Respondents from the Health Department

Having acquired the demographic information needed, this chapter shall then proceed with the presentation of the other data obtained through the use of the survey questionnaire. The next section shall present the responses of the three hundred one employees from the Malaysian and Health Ministries with regard to their job nature.

4.2. The Respondents’ Views of their Job Nature

            The following statements are those that were evaluated by the respondents with regard to their job nature: (1) my job is easy; (2) my job makes me tired everyday; (3) my job keeps me busy all the time; (4) I feel satisfied with my job; and finally, (5) my job does not affect my health. The researcher believes that these questions would be essential in finding out which factors are indeed related to organizational commitment, whether as its antecedent or its consequence.

            The different statements mentioned could be used in order to measure the job satisfaction of the employees which is seen to be one of the variables that are seen to affect the development of one’s commitment to the organization to which he or she belongs to. Job satisfaction, as discussed in the literature review is concerned with the evaluation that individuals make in relation with the experiences they have at work. It was also seen as the employees’ positive emotional state that appraises their own experiences at work. Because of this, researchers, in general believe that employees who exhibit this kind of attitude or behavior towards their companies are more committed to the latter. Some researchers, on the other hand, also believe that this factor is a very important mediator of the relationship between the role stressors and organizational commitment especially as the former greatly influences the latter.

            Aside from the aforementioned, the different statements enumerated are also related to the analysis of the work-related stress that the respondents encounter. Work related stress or burnt out, as also established in the literature review, is a very important consequence of organizational commitment. According to the different researchers that conduct research on the particular subject, work related stress or burn out generally affects the way employees feel, think and behave which affects their psychological function. As expected, employees who experience work-related stress tend to be more dissatisfied with their jobs, thus decreasing their level of commitment towards the organization.

Responses of Employees from the Malaysian Education Department

            Table 17 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Education Department regarding the nature of their job.

Table 17.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Education Department Employees regarding their Job Nature.

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
easy
301
1.00
4.00
1.9900
.68549
tired
301
1.00
4.00
2.1329
.78035
busy
301
3.00
5.00
4.5947
.51170
satisfy
301
3.00
5.00
4.0631
.54712
health
301
2.00
5.00
3.4784
.90020
Jobnature
301
2.40
4.20
3.2518
.32492
Valid N (listwise)
301

The employees of the Malaysian Education Department have different responses with regard to the easiness of their job. Despite their varied responses to the said statement, the highest rating given by the respondents to this particular statement was a 4 (agree) which means that no one strongly agreed with the fact that their job was easy. On the other hand, the lowest rating given to the same statement was a 1 (strongly disagreed). The results produced a standard deviation of 0.68 and a mean of 2.00, which shows that the respondents disagree with the first statement concerning the easiness of their job.

Next to be analyzed are the employees’ responses on whether or not their job makes them feel tired everyday. Once again, they produced varied responses to the said statement. As seen in the table, no one strongly agreed with the statement, as the highest rating given was a 4 (agree). On the contrary, the lowest rating given was a 1 which means that there were respondents who strongly disagreed with the statement. A standard deviation of 0.78 and a mean of 2.13 were obtained which showed that in general, majority of the respondents find themselves tired because of their job.

On the statement regarding the tendency of their job to make the respondents feel busy everyday, the employees still gave different responses, producing 5 (strongly agreed) as the highest rating and only 3 (somewhat disagree) as the lowest. However, as stated, the responses of the employees were concentrated only on three levels – Strongly Agree, Agree and Somewhat Disagree. The results reveal a standard deviation of 0.51 and a mean of 4.60 which show that the respondents, in general agree with the third statement, saying that their jobs makes them feel busy.

The results also revealed varied responses with regard to the employees’ job satisfaction. The highest rating given to the statement was a 5 (strongly agree) and the lowest was a 3 (somewhat disagree). Just like the previous statement, the responses of the employees with regard to their job satisfaction were also concentrated on three levels, thus producing a standard deviation of 0.55 and a mean of 4.06 which means that the latter generally agrees with the fourth statement.

The last statement under job nature was concerned with whether or not the job affects the health of the employees. Once again, there were varied responses yet this time, they are no longer concentrated on three levels as the lowest rating given was a 2 (disagree). Because of this, the standard deviation of 0.90 and the mean 3.48 find that in general, the respondents somewhat disagree with tendency of their job to affect their health.

The researcher then summarizes the responses of the employees of the Malaysian Education Department. With a standard deviation of 0.32 and a mean of 3.25, the respondents somewhat disagree with all the statements listed under the first category.

Responses of the Employees from the Malaysian Health Department

            Table 18 then presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Health Department with regard to the different statements given pertaining to the nature of their job.

Table 18.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Health Department Employees regarding their Job Nature.

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
easy
301
1.00
4.00
2.1993
.54784
tired
301
1.00
4.00
1.9302
.68199
busy
301
3.00
5.00
4.6478
.50554
satisfy
301
3.00
5.00
3.8970
.38213
health
301
3.00
4.00
3.8372
.36979
Jobnature
301
2.60
3.80
3.3023
.22067
Valid N (listwise)
301

            Just like the employees of the Malaysian Education Ministry, the respondents coming from the Malaysian Health Department also gave varied responses with regard to the easiness of their job. The highest rating given to the statement was a 4 (agree) and the lowest was a 1 (strongly disagree). The responses also produced a standard deviation of 0.55 and a mean of 2.20. In general, the results reveal that the respondents disagree with the first statement.

            In the same manner, the employees also answered quite differently from each other when asked to rate the statement about their tendency to feel tired everyday because of their job. The highest rating given to this statement was still a 4 (agree) and the lowest remains to be a 1 (strongly disagree). Therefore, the responses, with a standard deviation of 0.68 and a mean of 1.93, show that the employees, in general, disagree with the second statement.

            The statement concerning the tendency of their jobs to make employees feel busy everyday obtained different responses yet these were concentrated in three levels of the Likert-scale – 5 (Strongly Agree); 4 (Agree); and 3 (Somewhat Disagree). Because of this, the researcher can conclude, based on the aforementioned figures, standard deviation (0.50) and mean (0.51) produced from the responses, the employees generally agree with the third statement.

            The responses pertaining to the job satisfaction of the employees of the Malaysian Health Department show the disparities between the ratings given to the statement. However, just like the previous statement, the said responses are only confined within three levels, these being, 5 (strongly agree); 4- (agree); and lastly, 3 – (somewhat disagree). It is because of this that the standard deviation of 0.38 was obtained and a mean of 3.90 was produced, revealing that in general, respondents somewhat disagreed with the fourth statement.

            Finally, the researcher looked into the responses of the employees with regard to the tendency of the latter’s job to affect their health. Unlike the previous statements discussed above, the responses to this statement are similar from one survey participant to another, considering that all of them gave either a 4 (agree) or 3 (somewhat disagree). It is because of this that a standard deviation of 0.37 and a mean of 3.84 were obtained thus showing that the respondents somewhat disagreed with the last statement.

            Finally, the researcher also summarizes the responses of the employees with regard to their job nature. Producing a standard deviation of 0.22 and a mean of 3.03 reveal that the respondents tend to somewhat disagree with the statements included in this category.

4.3. The Respondents’ Views of their Colleagues

            The following are the statements that the respondents evaluated with regard to their colleagues: (1) My colleagues always support me; (2) my colleagues can be trusted; (3) my colleagues are lazy; (4) I feel bored when working with my colleagues; and finally, (5) my colleagues are very narrow minded. The researcher then believes that the responses of the employees for this particular category would help in establishing the connection between one’s relationship with his or her colleagues and their commitment towards the organization. The different definitions of researchers presented in the second chapter of this study, although implicit, showed the importance of one’s relationship with his or her colleagues as an essential aspect of one’s commitment to an organization. Meyer and Allen (1991) saw the concept as a psychological state that is usually characterized by the employees’ relationship with the organization and all its members.

Responses of the Employees from the Education Department

            Table 19 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Education Department regarding their perceptions of their colleagues.

Table 19.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Education Department Employees regarding Colleagues

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
support
301
3.00
5.00
4.2060
.52672
trust
301
3.00
5.00
4.0997
.48652
lazy
301
1.00
5.00
2.0532
.45148
bored
301
1.00
4.00
1.9668
.42296
n.mind
301
1.00
5.00
2.0100
.51952
Colleague
301
2.20
3.40
2.8671
.21451
Valid N (listwise)
301

.

            The employees of the Malaysian Education Department produced various responses with regard to the support that they receive from their colleagues. However, most of these answers were concentrated on three levels of the interval scale: 5 (strongly agree); 4 (agree); and lastly, 3 (somewhat disagree). It is then because of this that the results showed a standard deviation of 0.53 and a mean of 4.20, thus revealing that all the employees of this particular department, agreed with the first statement.

            The second statement was then concerned with the perception of one employee on whether or not their colleagues can be trusted. Their responses, once again, were different from one another although the lowest rating given was only a 3 (somewhat disagree) and the highest was a 5 (strongly agree). Because of this, the results show that the respondents generally agreed with the statement pertaining to their colleagues’ trustworthiness (standard deviation = 0.49, mean = 4.10).

            Aside from the two previous statements, the employees were also asked to rate the statement regarding the laziness of their colleagues. They once again disagreed with one another due to the different responses that were produced, with 5 (strongly agree) being the highest rating given, and 1 (strongly disagree) as the lowest. Thus, the results reveal that a standard deviation of 0.45 and a mean of 2.05, thus showing that the respondents disagree with the third statement.

            On the statement regarding the tendency of employees to feel bored when working with their colleagues, the standard deviation of 0.42 and a mean of 1.97 were obtained. This is because the researchers once again produced varied responses, with only 4 (agree) as the highest rating given and 1 (strongly disagree) as the lowest. Thus, the results of the survey show that in general, the employees disagreed with the statement that they feel bored when working with their colleagues.

            Next, the survey then dealt with the perceptions of the employees with regard to the narrow-mindedness of their colleagues. Once again, the responses to these question vary with 5 (strongly agree) as the highest rating given and 1 (strongly disagree) as the lowest. In conclusion, the results then revealed a standard deviation of 0.52 and a mean of 2.01 which show that most employees disagree with the statement that they find their colleagues narrow minded.

            Finally, the researcher then looked into the general perception of the respondents regarding the attitude of their colleagues. The results revealed a standard deviation of 0.21 and a mean of 2.87 which shows that the respondents generally disagreed with the statements listed in this particular category.

Responses of the Employees of the Health Department

            Table 20 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Health Department regarding their perceptions of their colleagues.

Table 20.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Health Department Employees regarding Colleagues

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
support
301
3.00
5.00
4.1661
.48199
trust
301
2.00
5.00
4.0233
.42754
lazy
301
2.00
5.00
2.0698
.33434
bored
301
2.00
4.00
2.0731
.28514
n.mind
301
2.00
5.00
2.1395
.53585
Colleague
301
2.40
3.60
2.8944
.18726
Valid N (listwise)
301

            The respondents revealed different perceptions with regard to the supportiveness of their colleagues yet these ratings where only confined within three levels of the scale (5-Strongly Agree; 4- Agree; and 3-Somewhat Disagree). Because of this, the results of the survey reveals a standard deviation of 0.48 and a mean of 4.16, thus showing that in general, the respondents agree with the first statement.

            Aside from this, the respondents were also asked if they could trust their colleagues. As expected, this also produced different responses, with 5 (strongly agree) still being the highest and 2 (disagree) as the lowest. Despite the said variety, a standard deviation of 0.43 and a mean of 4.02 showing that generally, all respondents agreed with the second statement.

            The statement on the laziness of their colleagues was also rated by the respondents. The highest rating given was a 5 (strongly agree) while the lowest given was a 2 (disagree). The results of the survey revealed a standard deviation of 0.33 and a mean of 2.07, showing that the respondents disagreed with the third statement.

            In the same manner, the results of the survey also showed that the respondents disagreed with the statement that that they get bored when working with their colleagues, based on the 0.29 standard deviation and a mean of 2.07 obtained. The responses also varied from one researcher to another with 5 (strongly agree) being the highest rating given and 2 (disagree) as the lowest.

            Moreover, the employees of the Malaysian Health Department also disagreed with their statement that they see their colleagues to be narrow minded, with the results revealing a standard deviation of 0.54 and a mean of 2.14. Once again, the respondents produced different ratings with 5 (strongly agree) being the highest and 2 (disagree) being the lowest.

            In conclusion, the employees of the Malaysian Health Department generally disagreed with the statements under this particular health category as all the responses revealed a mean of 2.90 and a standard deviation of 0.19.

4.4. The Respondents’ View of their Salary

            The third category examined by the researcher is concerned with the salary that the respondents receive from their organizations. The following were the statements that were included in this particular category: (1) my salary is enough for my expenditure; (2) my salary is only enough to buy basic goods; and finally, (3) my salary is enough to provide me to live in luxury.

            This research focuses on the effects of the respondents’ salary on their commitment towards the organization to which they belong in. Various researchers have recognized the importance of this variable only within the private sector wherein employees are motivated by a high position and a high salary. On the contrary, employees of the Malaysian ministries of health and education, much like all those who are in the public sector do not receive these kinds of motivation. In fact, what drives them to work according to the goals of the organization is the heart to serve the public. The results obtained from this particular category would help the researcher in establishing a connection between this variable and organizational commitment. In the same manner, this research aims to prove the conclusion that Steijn and Leisink (2005) made in their study. According to these authors, job characteristics definitely play a very important role in influencing one’s organizational commitment especially those who belong to the public sector. Conversely, they find that the permanence of their position, together with the level of their salary have no significant effects on the employees’ commitment towards their organization.

Responses of the Employees of the Education Department

Table 21 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Education Department regarding their perceptions of their salary.

Table 21.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Education Department Employees regarding their Salary

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
expenditure
301
3.00
5.00
3.8571
.45774
b.goods
301
1.00
4.00
1.9336
.39442
luxury
301
1.00
2.00
1.8372
.36979
Salary
301
1.67
3.00
2.5436
.23936
Valid N (listwise)
301

            The responses of the employees from the Malaysian Health Department generally agreed with each other in saying that the salary they receive is generally enough for they basic expenditure. However, the table presented above that their responses are not concentrated on just one level. Rather, the different perceptions for this particular statement were distributed across three levels (5- Strongly Agreed; 4- Agreed; and finally, 3-Somewhat Disagree). The results reveal a standard deviation of 0.46 and a mean of 3.86, showing that the respondents somewhat disagree with the first statement.

            The next statement analyzed is concerned with the employees’ salary being enough only for them to purchase their basic goods. The respondents produced various responses to the topic, with only 4 (agree) being the highest rating given while 1 (strongly disagree) was the lowest. The results revealed a standard deviation of 0.39 and a mean of 1.93, showing that the respondents strongly disagree with this particular statement.

            Finally, the respondents were asked whether or not their salaries were enough for them to live in luxury. Among all the statements under the category salary, this item received the lowest rating with all the responses concentrated on only two levels (2- disagree and 1- strongly disagree). The results reveal a standard deviation of 0.37 and a mean of 2.00, showing that they disagree with the statement on the inability of their salaries to provide them a luxurious life.

            In general, the results obtained from the employees of the Malaysian Education Department reveal a standard deviation of 0.24 and a mean of 2.54, showing that the respondents, in general, disagree with the statements included in this category.

Responses of the Employees of the Health Department

Table 22 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Health Department regarding their perceptions of their salary.

Table 22.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Health Department Employees regarding their Salary

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
expenditure
301
3.00
5.00
3.8638
.35315
b.goods
301
1.00
4.00
2.0100
.25146
luxury
301
1.00
2.00
1.9336
.24947
Salary
301
2.00
3.00
2.6043
.15720
Valid N (listwise)
301

            The responses of the employees from the Malaysian Health Department on the first statement showed that their varied responses were only confined on three levels: 5 (strongly agree); 4 (agree); and lastly, 3 (somewhat disagree). These responses produced a standard deviation of 0.35 and a mean of 3.86, showing that the respondents in general somewhat disagree with the first statement.

            The respondents also responded differently from each other when asked to rate the statement on the adequateness of their salary to buy only their basic goods. The responses were distributed, with 4 (agree) being the highest rating given and the lowest, 1 (strongly disagree). Because of this disparity, the ratings given to the statement produced a standard deviation of 0.25, and a mean of 2.01, proving that the respondents disagree with this particular item.

Just like the employees from the Malaysian Education Department, the responses of those from the Malaysian Health Department reveal low ratings with regard to the third statement. Generally, the results showed a standard deviation of 0.25 and a mean of 1.93, revealing that the respondents strongly disagree with the ability of the

In general, the respondents coming from the Malaysian Health Department, with their ratings producing a standard deviation of 0.16 and a mean of 2.60, showing that in general, the respondents disagree with the statements listed under the category of salary.

4.5. Respondents’ View of Supervisor Support

            The fourth category included in this study was the support that the employees receive from their supervisors. This included the following statements: (1) my supervisor will give praise and recognition when I do a good job; (2) my supervisor is a strict person; (3) my supervisor will scold me when I make mistakes; (4) my supervisor will ask my opinion about the job; (5) I like my supervisor; and finally, (6) I always look at my supervisor as my mentor.

            The aforementioned statements regarding supervisor support is usually related with two very important variables affecting organizational commitment: employee communication and leadership styles. In the same manner, this factor is seen as something essential to the study of employees’ commitment towards their organization, especially those that belong within the public sector. As earlier mentioned in the literature review, communication with employees plays a very important role in ensuring that the latter remains committed to the organization. This is because communication fosters the development of good relationships between the employees and their supervisors. Thornhill and his colleagues (1996) mentions this as a very important aspect of social information processing theory which notes of the practices of communication as a significant factor in promoting open communication within a certain organization and at the same time, open access to information. The aforementioned then could increase the employees’ commitment towards a certain organization.

            In the same manner, the literature review also gives importance to the leadership style being used by a certain organization. According to the researches mentioned in the said chapter, the leadership style being used by a certain supervisor influences an employee’s perception of the organization. This, in turn, influences how the latter behaves in the organization together with their high level of identification of their company’s goals and values, a way by which one’s commitment towards the organization could be measured.

            Finally, this particular category would highlight one important feature of organizational commitment within the public sector. The study conducted by Seok-Hwan (2004) mentions that compared with the organizations belonging to the private sector, the employees in the public sector tend to be more directed towards their supervisors and the other authorities. This is due to the fact that public sector institutions are characterized by a strict hierarchy and lower level autonomy in decision making, resulting to the recognition of the authority and power of the supervisors, making the employees more loyal to them than to the organization per se.

Responses of the Employees of the Education Department

Table 23 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Education Department regarding their perceptions of their supervisors’ support.

Table 23.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Education Department Employees regarding their supervisors’ support

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
praise
301
2.00
5.00
4.0066
.48300
strict
301
3.00
5.00
4.0930
.39747
scold
301
2.00
5.00
3.7043
.59633
opinion
301
3.00
5.00
3.7076
.56057
like
301
3.00
5.00
3.9302
.50178
mentor
301
3.00
5.00
4.1993
.43985
Supportive
301
3.33
4.67
3.9398
.19433
Valid N (listwise)
301

            The first statement under this category, as earlier presented is concerned with the praise and recognition that the employees receive from their supervisors when they have done a good job. The respondents gave varied opinions on this particular matter, with 5 (strongly agree) as the highest rating given and only 2 (disagree) as the lowest rating. The results then reveal a standard deviation of 0.48 and a mean of 4.00 which shows that in general, the respondents agree with the first statement.

            The second statement analyzed pertains to the strictness of the supervisor. The responses were only confined on three levels: 5- Strongly Agree; 4- Agree; and 3-Somewhat Disagree. Producing a standard deviation of 0.40 and a mean of 4.09, the results show that the employees of the Malaysian Education Ministry, in general, agree with the second statement as they find their supervisors strict.

            The next statement was concerned with the reprimands that the employees receive from their supervisors whenever they make a mistake. The responses were distributed among four levels, with 5 (strongly agree) being the highest rating given and 2 (disagree) as the lowest. These responses resulted in a standard deviation of 0.60 and a mean of 3.70, showing that in general, respondents somewhat disagreed with the third statement.

            On the statement pertaining to the ability of the supervisor to listen to the opinions of his or her subordinate, the responses obtained were distributed on only three levels (5-strongly agree was the highest and 3-somewhat disagree was the lowest rating given). The ratings for this statement also produced a standard deviation of 0.57 and a mean of 3.70 which shows that in general, employees somewhat disagreed with the statement that their supervisors listen and ask for their subordinates’ opinions.

            When asked whether or not they like their supervisors, the employees of the Malaysian Education Department responded quite similarly with one another, with their answers distributed on only three levels (5- strongly agree; 4- agree; and 3- somewhat disagree). The ratings given by the respondents produced a standard deviation of 0.50 and a mean of 3.93 which shows that the respondents somewhat disagreed with the statement that they like their supervisors.

            Finally, the respondents were asked whether they treat their supervisors as their mentors. They once again, produced almost similar answers as these were only distributed in only three levels (5- strongly agree; 4- agree; and 3- somewhat disagree). The results produced a standard deviation of 0.44 and a mean of 4.20 revealing that the respondents agreed with the statement that they see their supervisors as their mentors.

            The aforementioned statements were used in order to find out the perceptions of the employees regarding the supportiveness of their supervisors. Combining all the responses to this particular category, a standard deviation of only 0.19 was obtained and a mean of 3.94, shows that the employees somewhat disagreed with all the statements under the category supervisor support.

Responses of the Employees of the Health Department

Table 24 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Health Department regarding their perceptions of their supervisors’ support.

Table 24.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Health Department Employees regarding their supervisors’ support

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
praise
301
2.00
5.00
3.9269
.38467
strict
301
3.00
5.00
4.0199
.28214
scold
301
3.00
5.00
3.7874
.49123
opinion
301
3.00
4.00
3.6578
.47523
like
301
3.00
5.00
3.8538
.40648
mentor
301
3.00
5.00
4.0963
.39245
Supportive
301
3.33
4.33
3.8898
.17088
Valid N (listwise)
301

            The employees of the Malaysian Health Department were also asked on whether or not they receive praise or recognition from their supervisors upon accomplishing a job excellently. They gave different ratings, giving 5 (strongly agree) as the highest and 2 (disagree) as the lowest. These then yielded a standard deviation of 0.38 and a mean of 3.93, showing that in general, the employees tend to somewhat disagree that they indeed receive praise and recognition from their supervisors for a job well done.

The next statement was concerned with the strictness of the supervisor. The responses were only distributed among three levels (5- Strongly Agree, 4- Agree, 3- Somewhat Disagree). Clearly, these responses, together with a standard deviation of 0.28 and a mean of 4.02 shows that the employees in general agreed with the second statement.

Aside from the two mentioned, the employees were also asked to rate the statement concerning the tendency of their supervisors to scold them when they made a mistake. The responses were only confined to three levels: levels (5- Strongly Agree, 4- Agree, 3- Somewhat Disagree). This then shows that all respondents, in general, somewhat disagreed that their supervisors reprimand them for committing a job-related mistake (standard deviation: 0.49; mean: 3.79).

The next statement pertains to the employees’ opinion and the ability of the supervisors to listen and respect to them. Once again, the highest rating given was a 5- Strongly Agree and 3- Somewhat Disagree was the lowest. Producing a standard deviation of 0.48 and a mean of 3.66, the employees from the Malaysian Health Department, in general somewhat disagreed that they find their supervisors willing to listen to their opinions and at the same time, respectful toward these.

On the statement concerning whether or not the employees of the Malaysian Health department like their supervisors, they responded quite similarly with one another, giving 5 (strongly agree) as the highest rating and 3 (somewhat disagree) as the lowest. These responses then yielded a standard deviation of 0.41 and a mean of 3.85, showing that the employees somewhat disagreed that they like their supervisors.

Finally, the employees were asked whether they treat their supervisors as their mentors. The highest rating given to this statement was a 5 (strongly agree) and the lowest was a 3 (somewhat disagree). The standard deviation obtained was 0.93 and the mean was 4.10, showing that the respondents agreed with the statement that they consider their supervisor as their mentors.

The statements above were used in order to come up a conclusion on whether the supervisors of employees from the Malaysian Health Department are supportive of their subordinates. The combined responses produced a standard deviation of 0.17 and a mean of 3.89, thus showing that the respondents somewhat disagreed that their supervisors are supportive of them.

4.6. Respondents’ View of Promotion Opportunity

            The fifth category that this study would examine is concerned with the opportunity to get promoted within the Malaysian Education and Health Departments. The following were the statements under this section: (1) promotion opportunity is great in my present job; (2) promotion opportunity is limited; (3) policies for promotion is unfair; (4) it is very difficult to be promoted in my present job; and finally, (5) promotion policies are transparent.

            The researcher once again gives importance to the promotion opportunities as one of the factors that significantly affect the development of one’s commitment to the organization to which he or she belongs to. In the same manner, this becomes essential to highlighting the nature of organizational commitment in the public sector as well as in establishing the difference between this and that in the private sector. The literature review discussed this, saying that promotion within the public sector tends to be slow, thus also negatively affecting organizational commitment. It is then because of this that the researcher would look deeply into the experiences of the respondents from the Malaysian Health and Education departments pertaining to their promotion opportunities and how this affected their commitment towards their organizations.

Responses of the Employees of the Education Department

Table 25 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Education Department regarding their perceptions of their promotion opportunities

Table 25.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Education Department Employees regarding their promotion opportunities

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
great
301
2.00
4.00
3.5814
.60898
limited
301
3.00
5.00
3.9734
.43889
unfair
301
2.00
3.00
2.5648
.49661
d.promote
301
2.00
4.00
2.7608
.76763
transparent
301
3.00
4.00
3.5282
.50003
Promo
301
2.60
4.00
3.2817
.26950
Valid N (listwise)
301

            As earlier mentioned, the first statement under this section pertains to the greatness of promotion opportunities in their present job. The highest rating given for this particular item was only a 4 (agree) and the lowest was a 2 (disagree). These results then revealed a standard deviation of 0.61 and a mean of 3.59, showing that in general, employees somewhat disagreed that they find great promotion opportunities in their present jobs.

            In connection with the first statement, the respondents were then asked on whether promotion opportunities are limited in their organizations. Although they produced different ratings for this particular item, the responses were confined only on three levels – 5 (strongly agree); 4 (agree); and 3 (somewhat disagree). These results produced a standard deviation of 0.44 and a mean of 3.97, showing that within the Malaysian Education Department, the respondents somewhat disagree that promotion opportunities are limited.

            The third statement is then concerned with the unfairness of promotion policies. The ratings of the respondents were only confined to two levels: 3 (somewhat disagree) and 2 (disagree). This produced a standard deviation of 0.50 and a mean of 2.57, showing that although promotion opportunities in the Malaysian Education Department are limited, the policies pertaining to these are not unfair.

            Fourthly, the respondents gave ratings pertaining to the difficulty of being promoted in their present jobs. For this item, the highest rating given was only a 4 (agree) and the lowest, a 2 (disagree). This then produced a standard deviation of 0.77 and a mean of 2.76, showing that the respondents disagreed with the statement that opportunity to be promoted in the Malaysian Education Department is hard.

            Finally, the respondents gave their ratings to the statement concerning the transparency of promotion policies. The highest rating that they have given was a 4 (agree) and 3 (somewhat disagree), showing that the responses were only distributed among two levels. These ratings produced a standard deviation of 0.50 and 3.53, showing that the employees somewhat disagreed with the statement regarding the tendency of the policies of the Malaysian Education department to be transparent.

            These statements were used in order to evaluate employment opportunities in general within the Malaysian Education Department. Combined, these produced a standard deviation of 0.70 and a mean of 3.28, showing that the respondents somewhat disagreed that there are indeed opportunities to be promoted within the department.

 Responses of the Employees of the Health Department

Table 26 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Health Department regarding their perceptions of their supervisors’ support.

Table 26.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Health Department Employees regarding their promotion opportunities

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
great
301
2.00
4.00
3.6412
.59791
limited
301
3.00
4.00
3.8870
.31707
unfair
301
2.00
3.00
2.6213
.48588
d.promote
301
2.00
4.00
2.8571
.76780
transparent
301
3.00
4.00
3.6179
.48670
Promo
301
2.60
3.80
3.3249
.25989
Valid N (listwise)
301

            The results of the survey that concerns the greatness of promotion opportunities within the Malaysian Health Department yielded a standard deviation of 0.60 and a mean of 3.64. The aforementioned figure shows that in general, employees somewhat disagreed that they see employment opportunities within their organization great. As a matter of fact, the highest rating given for this particular item was only a 4 (agree) and the lowest, a 2 (disagree).

            The statement regarding the limitedness of promotion opportunities within their organization produced answers that are generally the same from one another, with 4 (agree) as the highest and 3 (somewhat disagree) as the lowest. This produced a standard deviation of 0.32 and a mean of 3.89 which revealed that employees somewhat disagreed that they find promotion opportunities limited within their organization.

            The third statement is then concerned with the unfairness of promotion policies. The ratings of the respondents were only confined on two levels: 3 (somewhat disagree) and 2 (disagree). This then resulted to a standard deviation of 0.49 and a mean of 2.62, showing that the respondents disagreed that promotion policies within the Malaysian Health Department are unfair.

            Fourthly, the respondents gave ratings pertaining to the difficulty of being promoted in their present jobs. Under this category, the response gave a 5 (strongly agree) as the highest rating and the lowest, a 2 (disagree). This then produced a standard deviation of 0.77 and a mean of 2.86, showing that they disagreed that the opportunity to be promoted in the Malaysian Health Department is hard.

            Finally, the respondents gave their ratings to the statement concerning the transparency of promotion policies. The highest rating that they have given was a 4 (agree) and 3 (somewhat disagree), showing that the responses were only distributed among two levels. These ratings produced a standard deviation of 0.46 and a mean of 3.62, showing that the respondents somewhat disagreed with the statement that the policies of the Malaysian Health department are transparent.

            These statements were then used in order to evaluate employment opportunities within the Malaysian Health Department. Analyzing all these statements, the results revealed a standard deviation of 0.26 and a mean of 3.32, showing that the respondents somewhat disagreed with the statements listed under this category.

4.7. Respondents’ View of Job Stress

            This category would look into the perceptions of the respondents regarding job stress. The following are the statements that would be included in this section: (1) job scope and responsibility are not clearly stated in my job; (2) my work load is excessive; (3) my supervisor always ensure that the work is fairly distributed among the staff; (4) do not know the expectation of my supervisor; and finally, (5) I feel burnt out whenever I finish my job.

            The researcher gives importance to this particular variable since this is considered as one of the consequences of one’s commitment to the organization. The literature review shows that job related stress negatively affects one’s commitment to the organization. This is because work related stress not only affects the health and safety of the employees but of the organizations as well. Thus, health problems encountered at work tend to result to ill-health requirements, work days lost due to sickness, injury and disability, etc. which is then seen to be costly to most organizations. Moreover, researchers find this kind of stress to affect the employees’ physiology, the way they feel, think and behave.

Responses of the Employees of the Education Department

Table 27 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Education Department regarding their perceptions of job stress

Table 27.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Education Department Employees regarding  job stress

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
n.clear.stated
301
1.00
2.00
1.9402
.23751
excessive
301
3.00
5.00
3.8339
.55885
fair
301
3.00
4.00
3.8505
.35718
n.know
301
1.00
2.00
1.9402
.23751
burnt.out
301
2.00
4.00
3.4020
.76236
Stress
301
2.40
3.40
2.9934
.20516
Valid N (listwise)
301

The first statement was concerned with the clarity of the employees’ job scope and responsibility. The ratings given by the respondents remained confined only on two levels, with 2 (disagree) as the highest and on the other hand, 1 (strongly disagree) as the lowest. The results then reveal a standard deviation of 0.24 and a mean of 1.94, showed that the respondents strongly disagreed that their job scope and responsibilities are clearly stated.

            The second statement dealt with the excessiveness of the employees’ workload. The responses varied from one employee to another. However, the lowest rating given was only a 3 (somewhat disagree). This then produced a standard deviation of 0.56 and a mean of 3.83, revealing that the employees of the Malaysian Education Department somewhat disagreed that they find their workload excessive.

            On the statement concerned with the ability of the supervisor to fairly distribute the work among the members of the staff. The responses were only concentrated on two levels, 5 (strongly agree), being the highest and 3 (somewhat disagree), the lowest. These responses yielded a standard deviation of 0.36 and a mean of 3.85, which then reveals that the respondents somewhat disagreed with the third statement under this category.

            The next statement was concerned with the failure of the respondents to know the expectations of their supervisor. The highest rating given was only a 2 (disagree) and the lowest, 1 (strongly disagree). The standard deviation of 0.24 and a mean of 1.94 shows that in general, the respondents strongly disagreed that they are well informed of their supervisors’ expectations.

            Finally, the researcher then looked into the feeling of the employees once they have accomplished their job. The highest rating given to this particular statement was a 4 (agree) and the lowest was a 2 (disagree). These results then produced a standard deviation of 0.76 and a mean of 3.40, showing that the employees of the Malaysian Education Department somewhat disagreed that they feel burnt out after their job gets done.

            These statements were then used in order to find out whether or not the job of the respondents was stressful. The results revealed a standard deviation of 0.21 and a mean of 2.99, showing that the respondents somewhat disagreed with the statements listed under this category.

Responses of the Employees of the Health Department

Table 28 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Health Department regarding their perceptions of job stress.

Table 28.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Health Department Employees regarding job stress

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
n.clear.stated
301
2.00
2.00
2.0000
.00000
excessive
301
3.00
4.00
3.7342
.44248
fair
301
3.00
4.00
3.8505
.35718
n.know
301
2.00
2.00
2.0000
.00000
burnt.out
301
2.00
4.00
3.4651
.73685
Stress
301
2.40
3.20
3.0100
.17898
Valid N (listwise)
301

            The statement concerning the clarity of the employees’ job scope and responsibility was the first one to be analyzed. As seen in the table, all respondents rated this item with a 2 (disagree). Because of this, the standard deviation produced was 0.00. The results then only show that in general, the respondents feel that their job scope and responsibility were not clearly defined.

            The second statement then focused on the tendency of the employees’ workload to be excessive. The highest rating given was only a 4 (agree) and the lowest, a 3 (somewhat disagree), thus producing a standard deviation of 0.44 and a mean of 3.73. The figures then show that in general, the respondents somewhat disagreed that their workload is excessive.

            The third statement dealt with the ability of the supervisor to distribute the work among all the members of the staff fairly. The responses for this level were concentrated on two levels: 4 (agree) and 3 (somewhat disagree). It then produced a standard deviation of 0.36 and a mean of 3.95, showing that collectively, the respondents somewhat disagreed with the statement that the work is distributed fairly among them.

            The next statement was concerned on whether or not the employees are knowledgeable of their supervisors’ expectations. The table presented above shows that all the respondents rated this item with a 2 (disagree), thus producing a standard deviation of 0.00. Simply put, all the employees say that their supervisors fail in making their expectations known to their subordinates.

            Finally, the researcher then looked into the feeling of the employees once they have accomplished their job. The highest rating given to this particular statement was a 4 (agree) and the lowest was a 2 (disagree). These results then produced a standard deviation of 0.74 and a mean of 3.47, showing that the employees of the Malaysian Health Department somewhat disagreed that they feel burnt out after working.

            In summary, these ratings were used in order to evaluate the stressfulness of the job of those employees belonging to the Malaysian Health Department. These results produced a standard deviation of 0.18 and a mean of 3.01, showing that in general, the employees somewhat disagreed that they find their jobs stressful despite the tendency of their workload to become excessive at times and the failure of supervisors to make their expectations known to the subordinates. Nonetheless, the fair distribution of workload and its moderateness helps in making the job less stressful. Aside from this, what contributes to the job in becoming less stressful is the absence of feeling burnt out after performing their tasks.

4.8. Respondents’ View of Resource Adequacy

            The examination of this category shall involve the following statements: (1) I am well equipped to perform the job; (2) I have the skill to perform the job; (3) my job responsibilities are very well defined; and finally (4) my supervisor always provide adequate information to get my job done. These statements would be very important in the analysis of organizational commitment within both the Education and Health Departments of the Malaysian government. In the same manner, this is then related with a very important variable affecting the development of one’s commitment towards the organization to which he or she is an employee of.

            One of the resources that one needs to work efficiently within an organization is the possession of a good educational background. Although this may help in ensuring that a certain employee is competent enough for his or her job, this could also lower one’s organizational commitment significantly as higher educational qualifications may present one with other employment alternatives, thus influencing turnover. As presented above, however, this category would not only cover education but other factors as well to determine whether or not one’s resource adequacy influences his or her commitment towards the organization.

Responses of the Employees of the Education Department

Table 29 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Education Department regarding their perceptions of resource adequacy.

Table 29.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Education Department Employees regarding their perceptions of the adequacy of their resources

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
w.equip
301
4.00
5.00
4.1761
.38152
skill
301
4.00
5.00
4.3090
.46284
res.define
301
4.00
5.00
4.2093
.40749
adequate.info
301
3.00
5.00
4.0498
.44065
Resource
301
3.75
5.00
4.1860
.21952
Valid N (listwise)
301

            The first statement dealt with the respondents’ belief of them being well equipped to perform the job being required of them. Generally, the respondents’ rating were somehow significant with each other, with 5 (strongly agree) as the highest and only 4 (agree) as the lowest. The results produced a standard deviation of 0.38 and a mean of 4.18, showing, that in general, the employees agreed with the statement that they feel that they are well-equipped in order to perform the duties required of them.

            The next statement is concerned with the possession of skills required to perform the job. For this item, the responses were also distributed on only two levels: 5- strongly agree and 4- agree. This then produced a standard deviation of 0.47 and a mean of 4.31, showing that in general, the employees of the Malaysian Education Department feel that they are well equipped with the skills needed that they need for the job.

            On the statement concerning the well defined nature of the employees’ job responsibilities, the responses of the employees were once gain focused only on two levels: 5- strongly agree and 4- agree. The standard deviation of 0.41 and a mean of 4.21 were produced, thus showing that in general, the respondents feel that the nature of their job and responsibilities are well defined.

            The last item then dealt with the ability of the supervisor to provide adequate information to get the employees’ jobs done. The highest rating given to this particular item was a 5 (strongly agree) and the lowest was only a 3 (somewhat disagree), thus producing a standard deviation of 0.44 and a mean of 4.05, revealing that all respondents in general are well provided with information to get their job done.

            The aforementioned statements were then used in order to determine the beliefs of the employees’ regarding the adequacy of their resources. The combination of all the responses from the different statements produced a standard deviation of 0.22 and a mean of 4.19, thus showing that majority of the respondents agree that they feel that their resources are adequate enough in order for them to perform their job.

Responses of the Employees of the Health Department

Table 30 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Health Department regarding their perceptions of the adequacy of their resources.

Table 30.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Health Department Employees regarding the adequacy of their resources

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
w.equip
301
4.00
5.00
4.0864
.28139
skill
301
4.00
5.00
4.2060
.40509
res.define
301
4.00
5.00
4.0897
.28623
adequate.info
301
4.00
5.00
4.1262
.33268
Resource
301
4.00
4.75
4.1271
.16408
Valid N (listwise)
301

            The responses of the employees regarding the first statement tend to vary with one another with 4 (agree) being the lowest. These then produced a standard deviation of 0.28 and a mean of 4.09, showing that the respondents agreed with the statement that they are well equipped to perform their jobs.

            The second statement dealt with their possession of the skills needed to perform the job. Basically, the lowest rating given for this item was only a 4 (agree). This then produced a mean of 4.21 and a standard deviation of 0.41, showing that the employees agreed with this statement.

            With a standard deviation of 0.28 and a mean of 4.09, the responses of the employees showed that they agreed with the statement that their responsibilities are well defined. For this particular item, the lowest rating given, was again, only a 4 (agree).

            Finally, the survey asked the employees to rate the statement concerning the ability of supervisors to provide the former with adequate information to get their job done. The lowest rating given to this statement was only a 4 (agree). Thus, the results revealed a standard deviation of 0.33 and a mean of 4.12, showing that the respondents generally agreed with this particular statement.

            The statements mentioned above were used in order to find out the general perception of the respondents with regard to the adequacy of their resources. The results produced a standard deviation of 0.16 and a mean of 4.12, showing that in general, the respondents agreed that their resources are adequate enough to perform the tasks that come with their jobs.

4.9. Respondents’ View of Challenging Job

            Under this category, the following are statements were included: (1) my job is very interesting; (2) I have freedom to decide on how to execute my job; (3) I have often been required to perform other duties; and finally, (4) My job is challenging. The succeeding paragraphs shall then discuss the results obtained from the analysis of this particular section.

Responses of the Employees of the Education Department

Table 31 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Education Department regarding their perceptions of their challenging job

Table 31.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Education Department Employees regarding their perceptions of their challenging job

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
interesting
301
3.00
5.00
4.1096
.42966
freedom
301
3.00
5.00
4.1096
.46684
other.duty
301
4.00
5.00
4.1661
.37280
challenging
301
4.00
5.00
4.2060
.40509
Challenge
301
3.75
4.75
4.1478
.20450
Valid N (listwise)
301

            The first statement was concerned with the perception of the employees regarding the interesting nature of their job. The responses were distributed on only three levels: 5 (strongly agree); 4 (agree); and finally, 3 (somewhat disagree). These then revealed a mean of 4.11 and a standard deviation of 0.43, showing that in general, the employees agree with the statement that their jobs are indeed interesting.

            The respondents then agreed with the statement that they have the freedom to decide on how to execute their jobs due to the standard deviation of 0.47 and the mean of 4.11 revealed by the responses of the former.

            The responses mentioned above were distributed on three levels: 5 (strongly agree); 4 (agree); and finally, 3 (somewhat disagree) whilst the third statement received relatively high ratings with 4 (agree), as the lowest given to this. Because of this, the results from the analysis of this statement produced a standard deviation of 0.37 and a mean of 4.16, revealing that the respondents agreed that they are often required to perform other duties.

            Finally, the respondents were also asked to rate the statement with regard to the challenging nature of their job. Various responses were obtained yet the lowest rating received was only a 4 (agree). The results then produced a standard deviation of 0.41 and a mean of 4.21, revealing that the respondents agree that their jobs are indeed, challenging.

            Like what has been done in the previous categories, this section made use of the different statements above in order to find out the overall perceptions of the employees with regard to the challenging nature of their job. The responses, when combined, produced a standard deviation of 0.20 and a mean of 4.15, showing that the respondents agreed with everything stated under this category.

Responses of the Employees of the Health Department

Table 32 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Health Department regarding their perceptions of the adequacy of their resources.

Table 32.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Health Department Employees regarding the adequacy of their challenging job

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
interesting
301
3.00
5.00
4.1063
.48510
freedom
301
3.00
5.00
4.0199
.46145
other.duty
301
4.00
5.00
4.0565
.23123
challenging
301
4.00
5.00
4.1296
.33639
Challenge
301
3.50
4.75
4.0781
.18521
Valid N (listwise)
301

           The responses of the employees within the Malaysian Health Department were distributed among three levels: 5- strongly agree; 4- agree; and finally, 3- somewhat disagree. This then produced a standard deviation of 0.49 and a mean of 4.11, showing that the employees agree with the statement that their jobs are interesting.

            Secondly, they were asked to evaluate the statement pertaining to the degree of freedom that they exhibit in executing their job. Once again, the responses were distributed among three levels, yielding a standard deviation of 0.46 and a mean of 4.02, showing that the respondents agreed with this particular item.

            The third statement was then concerned with the tendency of their supervisors to assign them with other duties which received only 4 (agree) as the lowest rating. The responses for this particular item then produced a standard deviation of 0.23 and a mean of 4.06, showing that employees, in general agree with this particular statement.

             Finally, the respondents were also asked to rate the statement with regard to the challenging nature of their job. A variety of responses were also obtained yet the lowest rating received was only a 4 (agree). The results then produced a standard deviation of 0.37 and a mean of 4.13, revealing that the respondents agree that their jobs are indeed, challenging.

            The aforementioned statements were then used in order to evaluate this category. All the responses of the employees of the Malaysian Health Department produced a standard deviation of 0.19 and a mean of 4.08, which revealed that all of them then agreed with their jobs being challenging.

4.10. Respondents’ View of Decision Making Participation

            This section would then look into the extent by which organizations allow employees to participate in the decision making processes. The following are the statements that shall be included for the analysis of this category: (1) my supervisor allows me to participate in planning my own duty; (2) my view always will be heard and considered by my supervisor; (3) my opinion have an impact on the decision that affects on my job; and finally, (4) my work group is able to establish our own goal and objectives.

            This study also gives importance to this particular factor since researches mentioned in the literature review recognized the hierarchical nature of public sector organizations to greatly influence the development of one employee’s commitment towards the organization to which he or she belongs to. The following are then the results obtained from the employees.

Responses of the Employees of the Education Department

Table 33 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Education Department regarding their perceptions of the extent of their participation in decision making processes.

Table 33.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Education Department Employees regarding their perceptions of the extent of their participation in decision making processes

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
allow.participate
301
3.00
5.00
4.2027
.43450
view.heard
301
3.00
5.00
4.0000
.45461
decision.affect
301
3.00
5.00
4.1262
.40498
able.establish
301
3.00
5.00
4.1960
.42204
Decision
301
3.50
4.75
4.1312
.21265
Valid N (listwise)
301

            The first statement listed under this category received relatively high ratings from the respondents, with only 3 (somewhat disagree) as the lowest given. The responses produced a mean of 4.20 and a standard deviation of 0.43, showing that the respondents, in general, agree with the statement that their supervisors allow them to participate in planning their own duty.

            In the same manner, the second statement also produced different ratings from the responses although 3 (somewhat disagree) was the lowest value given to this particular item. The results revealed a standard deviation of 0.45 and a mean of 4.00, showing that the employees generally agree with the statement that their supervisors always hear views and consider these.

            On the statement regarding the tendency of the employees’ opinion to have an impact on their jobs, the responses of the latter, with 3 (somewhat disagree) as the lowest rating given and 5 (strongly agree), the highest, produced a mean of 4.13 and a standard deviation of 0.40, revealing that the respondents generally agreed with this particular item.

            Finally, the last statement was then analyzed, showing that the respondents also gave ratings that are distributed only among three levels: 5- strongly agree; 4- agree; and 3- somewhat disagree). These results then revealed a mean of 4.20 and a standard deviation of 0.42, showing that the respondents agree with the statement that their work groups are able to establish their own goals and objectives.

            These responses were then used in order to find the over all perception of the employees with regard to the extent by which they participate in the decision making processes within a certain organization. It produced a mean of 4.13 and a standard deviation of 0.21, showing that the employees of the Malaysian Education department agree that they are indeed well incorporated within the decision making processes within their organizations.

Responses of the Employees of the Health Department

Table 34 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Health Department regarding their perceptions of the extent of their participation in decision making processes.

Table 34.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Health Department Employees regarding their perceptions of the extent of their participation in decision making processes

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
allow.participate
301
3.00
5.00
4.0831
.45064
view.heard
301
3.00
5.00
4.0332
.42296
decision.affect
301
3.00
5.00
4.0133
.35565
able.establish
301
4.00
5.00
4.1030
.30445
Decision
301
3.50
4.75
4.0581
.20193
Valid N (listwise)
301

            The results of the first statement revealed a standard deviation of 0.45 and a mean of 4.08, showing that the respondents generally agreed with the statement that their supervisors allow them to participate in planning their own duties. These responses were distributed only among three levels (5- strongly agree; 4- agree; and 3- somewhat disagree).

            The second statement also produced responses that are distributed among three levels (5- strongly agree, 4- agree, and 3- somewhat disagree). The results reveal a standard deviation of 0.422 and a mean of 4.03, revealing that the employees generally agree with the statement that their opinions are always heard and considered by their supervisors.

            On the statement regarding the tendency of the employees’ opinion to have an impact on their jobs, the responses of the latter, with 3 (somewhat disagree) as the lowest rating given and 5 (strongly agree), the highest, produced a standard deviation of 0.36 and a mean of 4.01, revealing that the respondents generally agreed with this particular item.

            Finally, the last statement was then analyzed, showing that the respondents also gave ratings that are distributed only among three levels: 5- strongly agree; 4- agree; and 3- somewhat disagree). These results then revealed a mean of 4.10 and a standard deviation of 0.30, showing that the respondents agree with the statement that their work groups are able to establish their own goals and objectives.

These responses were then used in order to find the over all perception of the employees with regard to the extent by which they participate in the decision making processes within a certain organization. It produced a mean of 4.06 and a standard deviation of 0.21, showing that the employees of the Malaysian Health department agree that they are indeed well incorporated within the decision making processes within their organizations.

4.11. Respondents’ View of Employee Communication

            This category would then cover statements pertaining to employee communication in the Malaysian Health and Education departments. These shall include the following: (1) The management always keeps its staff fully informed about the development in the organization; (2) I have trust and believe in what the management tells me; (3) when management communicates a decision, I feel that it always explain the reason to do that; and last, (4) the employees only like to communicate among their own groups.

            Once again, the researcher considers employee communication as a very important factor in the development of one’s commitment towards the organization. As earlier mentioned, many institutions have recognized the importance of such as it facilitates the development and maintenance of good relationships between the organization and their employees. This is because of the fact that the latter, through communication, feels that they become an essential part of the business. More importantly, other studies see it as an important factor that contributes in lessening the chances of an employee to look for other employment opportunities outside their organization.

Responses of the Employees of the Education Department

Table 35 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Education Department regarding their perceptions of employment communication.

Table 35.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Education Department Employees regarding their perceptions of employment communication

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
fully.inform
301
4.00
5.00
4.2226
.41668
trust.belief
301
4.00
5.00
4.2060
.40509
magt.comm
301
4.00
5.00
4.1993
.40017
employee.comm
301
1.00
3.00
1.9834
.35079
Communicate
301
3.25
4.25
3.6528
.20692
Valid N (listwise)
301

            For the first statement, the highest rating given was a 5 (strongly agree) and the lowest, a 4 (agree). It is because of this that the results then produced a mean of 4.22 with a standard deviation of 0.42. These figures then show that majority of the respondents agree with the first statement that the management always keeps them fully informed about the development within their organization.

            The second statement then dealt with the trust and belief that the employees have on the information given by the management. The results produced a mean of 4.21 with a standard deviation of 0.41, only showing that the respondents agree that they do trust and believe the information being handed down to them by their supervisors.

            The responses to the third statement then produced a mean of 4.20 with a standard deviation of 0.40, showing that with regard to this particular item, the respondents, in general agree that when the management communicates a decision, they feel that there is always a reason for doing that.

            Finally, the last statement is concerned on whether or not employees communicate only within their groups. For this item, the highest rating given was only a 3 (somewhat disagree) and the lowest, a 1 (strongly disagree). The results then produced a mean of 1.98 and a standard deviation of 0.35, revealing that the respondents strongly disagreed with the statement on the employees only like to communicate among their own groups.

            These statements are then used in order to evaluate the presence of employee communication strategies within the Malaysian Education Department. The results produced a mean of 3.65 and a standard deviation of 0.21, showing that the respondents, somewhat disagreed with all the statements in this particular category.

Responses of the Employees of the Health Department

Table 36 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Health Department regarding their perceptions of employment communication.

Table 36.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Health Department Employees regarding their perceptions of employment communication.

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
fully.inform
301
4.00
5.00
4.1429
.35051
trust.belief
301
4.00
5.00
4.1528
.36042
magt.comm
301
4.00
5.00
4.1262
.33268
employee.comm
301
1.00
3.00
1.9668
.37268
Communicate
301
3.25
4.25
3.5972
.18570
Valid N (listwise)
301

            The first statement received 5 (strongly agree) as the highest rating and 4 (agree), the lowest. These responses then produced a mean of 4.14 and a standard deviation of 0.35, showing that in general, the respondents agree in saying that the management always keeps its staff fully informed about the development within their organization.

            The second statement then dealt with the trust and belief that the employees have on the information given to them by the supervisors and other members of the management. The results revealed a mean of 4.15 with a standard deviation of 0.36, only showing that the respondents agree that they do trust and believe the information being handed down to them by their supervisors.

            The responses to the third statement then produced a mean of 4.13 with a standard deviation of 0.33, showing that with regard to this particular item, the respondents agree that when the management communicates a decision, they feel that there is always a reason for doing the said action.

            Finally, the last statement is concerned on whether or not employee communication is only limited to the different employee groups. For this item, the highest rating given was only a 3 (somewhat disagree) and the lowest, a 1 (strongly disagree). The results then produced a mean of 1.97 and a standard deviation of 0.37, illustrating that the respondents strongly disagreed with the statement on the employees only like to communicate among their own groups.

            These statements are then used in order to look into employee communication strategies being adopted by the Malaysian Ministry of Health. The responses of the employees reveal a mean of 3.60 and a standard deviation of 0.19, showing that in general, the employees somewhat disagree with the presence of employment communication within this department.

4.12. Respondents’ View of Commitment

            The last section of the survey questionnaire developed by the researcher is concerned in measuring the respondents’ commitment towards the organization to which they belong in. The examination of commitment shall include the analysis of the following statements: (1) I feel obligated to remain with my organization; (2) I would feel guilty if I left my organization now; (3) I owed a great deal to my organization; (4) Right now, staying with my organization is a matter of necessity as much as desire; (5) This organization deserves my loyalty; and finally, (6) I have no other choice but to stay on my present job. The first and second statements then aim to measure the normative commitment of the employees while the third and fifth, the affective aspect of the said behavior towards the organization. On the other hand, the fourth and sixth statements shall then cover the continuance commitment of the respondents.

            This final category would help the researcher in establishing a relationship between the different variables and organizational commitment. In the same manner, it would also help in determining which aspect of commitment is indeed affected. The literature review clearly defined what these different aspects of communication are. Affective commitment was defined as the “emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization.” Conversely, continuance commitment refers to “an awareness of costs associated with leaving the organization.” Lastly, normative commitment deals with the feeling of the employees that they have an obligation to continue employment in a certain organization.

Responses of the Employees of the Education Department

Table 37 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Education Department regarding their commitment towards their organization.

Table 37.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Education Department Employees regarding their commitment towards their organization

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
obligate
301
3.00
5.00
4.0365
.32964
feel.guity
301
3.00
5.00
4.1993
.43220
great.deal
301
3.00
5.00
4.0066
.40819
stay
301
3.00
5.00
4.0631
.33566
deserve
301
4.00
5.00
4.1794
.38433
no.choice
301
3.00
5.00
4.1096
.37140
Commitment
301
3.83
4.83
4.0997
.16106
Norm
301
3.00
5.00
4.1179
.28614
Affect
301
3.50
5.00
4.0930
.28807
Continue
301
3.50
5.00
4.0864
.25983
Valid N (listwise)
301

            The normative commitment of the employees shall be measured first. The responses to the first statement revealed a mean of 4.03 and a standard deviation of 0.33, thus showing that the respondents agree that they feel obligated to remain in their organization. On the other hand, the responses to the second statement produced a mean of 4.20 and a standard deviation of 0.43, revealing that the respondents agree that they would feel guilty if they left the organization now. Combining the responses to these statements produced a mean of 4.12 and a standard deviation of 0.29, showing that in general, the respondents coming from the Malaysian Education department possess a normative commitment towards their organization.

            Aside from the aforementioned, the affective commitment of the employees was also measured. The responses to the third statement revealed a mean of 4.00 and a standard deviation of 0.41, showing that the respondents in general agree that they feel that they owe a great deal to their organization. In the same manner, the fifth statement produced a mean of 4.18 and a mean of 0.38, showing that the respondents agree that their organization deserve their loyalty. The responses to both statements then produced a mean of 4.09 and a standard deviation of 0.29, revealing that the respondents agree that they possess an affective commitment towards their organization.

            The researcher also looked into the continuance commitment of the employees. In order to do so, the fourth and sixth were analyzed. The fourth statement produced a mean of 4.06 and a standard deviation of 0.34, showing that the respondents agree that right now, staying with their organization is a matter of necessity as much desire. On the other hand, the sixth statement produced a 4.11 and a standard deviation of 0.37, showing that the respondents agree that they have no choice but to stay with their present jobs. Combined, these produce a mean of 4.09 and a standard deviation of 0.26, showing that the respondents possess continuance commitment towards their organization.

            Finally, the researcher combined all the previous responses in order to find out whether or not the respondents of the Malaysian Education department are committed towards their organization. The responses produced a mean of 4.10 with a standard deviation of 0.16, showing that without a doubt, the respondents are generally committed towards their organization.

Responses of the Employees of the Health Department

Table 38 presents the responses of the three hundred and one employees from the Malaysian Health Department regarding their commitment towards their organization.

Table 38.

Min, Max, Mean and Standard Deviation: Responses of the Malaysian Health Department Employees regarding their commitment towards their organization.

N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std. Deviation
obligate
301
3.00
5.00
3.9369
.25691
feel.guity
301
3.00
4.00
3.7973
.40265
great.deal
301
3.00
4.00
3.8904
.31295
stay
301
3.00
4.00
3.9369
.24359
deserve
301
4.00
5.00
4.1262
.33268
no.choice
301
3.00
4.00
3.9037
.29556
Commitment
301
3.50
4.17
3.9312
.12957
Norm
301
3.00
4.50
3.8671
.25288
Affect
301
3.50
4.50
4.0083
.23259
Continue
301
3.50
4.00
3.9203
.18336
Valid N (listwise)
301

The normative commitment of the employees shall be measured first. The responses to the first statement revealed a mean of 3.94 and a standard deviation of 0.26, thus showing that the respondents somewhat disagree that they feel obligated to remain in their organization. On the other hand, the responses to the second statement produced a mean of 3.80 and a standard deviation of 0.41, revealing that the respondents also somewhat disagree that they would feel guilty if they left the organization now. Combining the responses to these statements produced a mean of 3.87 and a standard deviation of 0.25, showing that in general, the respondents coming from the Malaysian Education department somewhat disagree that they do possess a normative commitment towards their organization.

Aside from the aforementioned, the affective commitment of the employees was also measured. The responses to the third statement revealed a mean of 3.89 and a standard deviation of 0.31, showing that the respondents somewhat disagree that they feel that they owe a great deal to their organization. In the same manner, the fifth statement produced a mean of 4.13 and a mean of 0.33, showing that the respondents agree that their organization deserve their loyalty. The responses to both statements then produced a mean of 4.01 and a standard deviation of 0.23, revealing that the respondents agree that they possess an affective commitment towards their organization.

The researcher also looked into the continuance commitment of the employees. In order to do so, the fourth and sixth were analyzed. The fourth statement produced a mean of 3.94 and a standard deviation of 0.24, showing that the respondents somewhat disagree that right now, staying with their organization is a matter of necessity as much desire. On the other hand, the sixth statement produced a 3.90 and a standard deviation of 0.30, showing that the respondents somewhat disagree that they have no choice but to stay with their present jobs. Combined, these produce a mean of 3.92 and a standard deviation of 0.18, showing that the respondents somewhat disagree that they possess continuance commitment towards their organization.

Finally, the researcher combined all the previous responses in order to find out whether or not the respondents of the Malaysian Health department are committed towards their organization. The responses produced a mean of 3.93 with a standard deviation of 0.13, showing that without a doubt, the respondents somewhat disagree that they are committed towards their organization.

4.13. Correlation between Demographic Information and Commitment

            This portion shall discuss which demographic information is seen to be correlated to the development of organizational commitment based on the responses of the employees from both the Malaysian and Education departments.

Responses of the Employees of the Education Department

            Table 39 presents the results of the Pearson Correlation undergone by the researcher in order to find out which among the demographic information given by the respondents from the Malaysian Education ministry positively influenced the development of their commitment and its three dimensions (affective, normative and continuance). The correlation that shall be presented in this section is 99% significant at the 0.01 level (**).

Table 39.

Correlations: Demographic vs. Commitment

Age
Experience
Medical
COMMITMENT
Norm
Affect
Continue
Age

0.000

Experience
0.000

Medical

COMMITMENT

0.000
0.000
0.000
Norm

0.000

Affect

0.000

Continue

0.000

             The table presented above shows that age and experience are seen to be related with one another yet it is not seen to have affected commitment and its three dimensions (normative, affective and continuance). The development of organizational commitment, thus, is only influenced by one’s possession of its normative, affective and continuance dimensions.

Responses of the Employees of the Health Department

            Table 40 presents the results of the Pearson Correlation undergone by the researcher in order to find out which among the demographic information given by the respondents from the Malaysian Health ministry positively influenced the development of their commitment and its three dimensions (affective, normative and continuance). The correlation that shall be presented in this section is 99% significant at the 0.01 level (**).

Table 40.

Correlations: Demographic vs. Commitment

Age
Experience
Medical
COMMITMENT
Norm
Affect
Continue
Age

0.000

Experience
0.000

Medical

COMMITMENT

0.000
0.000
0.000
Norm

0.000

Affect

0.000

0.000
Continue

0.000

0.000

            The table above shows the responses of the employees from the Malaysian Education Department. Once again, the results find that age and experience, once again are related with each other. However, these two variables, together with the medical leave taken by the respondents in the last year are not seen to affect commitment and its three dimensions (normative, affective and continuance).  Just like the results obtained from the employees from the Malaysian Education department, the development of commitment is only seen to be related with the possession of its normative, affective and continuance dimensions. However, the results also show that the affective and continuance dimensions of organizational commitment are positively related with each other.

4.14. Correlations between Work Categories and Commitment

            This portion shall discuss which work category is seen to be correlated to the development of organizational commitment based on the responses of the employees from both the Malaysian and Education departments.

Responses of the Employees of the Education Department

            Table 41 presents the results of the Pearson Correlation undergone by the researcher in order to find out which among the work categories rated by the respondents from the Malaysian Education ministry positively influenced the development of their commitment and its three dimensions (affective, normative and continuance). The correlation that shall be presented in this section would be presented at the 0.01 level (**) which is 99% significant and at the 0.05 level (*) wherein the said correlation is 95% significant.

Table 41.

Correlations: Work Categories vs. Commitment

C
N
A
CN
JN
COL
SAL
SUP
P
ST
R
CH
D
COM
C

0.000
0.000
0.000
0.034

0.016

N
0.000

A
0.000

CN
0.000

JN
0.034

COL

SAL

SUP

P

ST

R
0.016
0.037

0.001

CH

0.001

D

COM

Legend:

C- Commitment

N- Normative

A- Affective

CN- Continuance

JN- Job Nature

COL- Colleague

SAL- Salary

SUP- Support

P- Promotion

ST- Stress

R- Resource

CH- Challenging

D- Decision Making

COM- Communication

At the 0.01 level, no work category is seen to influence the organizational commitment of the respondents coming from the Malaysian Education Department. Nonetheless, the development of organizational commitment at this level is influenced only by the possession of the three dimensions of the said commitment – affective, normative and continuance. It is also at this level, that the challenging nature of job is also positively correlated with resource adequacy. However, at the 0.05 level, which is 95% significant, job nature and resource adequacy is considered to positively influence organizational commitment.

Responses of the Employees of the Health Department

            Table 42 presents the results of the Pearson Correlation undergone by the researcher in order to find out which among the work categories rated by the respondents from the Malaysian Health ministry positively influenced the development of their commitment and its three dimensions (affective, normative and continuance). The correlation that shall be presented in this section would be presented at the 0.01 level (**) which is 99% significant and at the 0.05 level (*) wherein the said correlation is 95% significant.

Table 42.

Correlations: Work Categories vs. Commitment

C
N
A
CN
JN
COL
SAL
SUP
P
ST
R
CH
D
COM
C

0.000
0.000
0.000
0.034

0.021

0.044

N
0.000

A
0.000

0.002

0.012
CN
0.000

0.002

0.004

0.019

JN
0.034

0.008

COL

0.023

SAL

SUP
0.021

0.004

P

ST

R
0.044
0.037

0.008
0.023

0.001

CH

0.019

0.001

D

COM

0.012

Legend:

C- Commitment

N- Normative

A- Affective

CN- Continuance

JN- Job Nature

COL- Colleague

SAL- Salary

SUP- Support

P- Promotion

ST- Stress

R- Resource

CH- Challenging

D- Decision Making

COM- Communication

            At the 0.01 level which is 99% significant, job nature was the only work category that was seen to be positively related with organizational commitment. In the same manner, the development of organizational commitment at this level is influenced by the possession of the three dimensions of the said commitment – affective, normative and continuance. Aside from the aforementioned, resource adequacy is also positively correlated with the development of continuance employment. Furthermore, affective commitment is also perceive to be positively correlated with the continuance dimension. Moreover, support coming from the supervisors is also seen to influence the development of the continuance dimension of commitment. Finally, the following work categories are positively correlated with each other at this level and these are: (1) job nature and resource adequacy; and (2) the challenging nature of job and resource adequacy.

            The 0.05 level wherein correlations are 95% significant reveal the work categories significantly influence the development of one’s commitment to the organization: (1) supportive supervisors and (2) resource adequacy. Employee communication, on the other hand, influences only affective commitment and at the same time, the challenging nature of one’s job develops only the continuance dimension. Finally, the work categories on colleagues and resource adequacy are said to be positively correlated with each other at this level.

Chapter 5: Discussion

This chapter shall be devoted to the analysis and interpretation of the data presented in the fourth chapter. It would relate the results obtained from the survey questionnaire to what the different literature written on the said topic say. First and foremost, this study recognized the existence of the three dimensions of organizational commitment: affective, continuance and normative. This is because the results of the study reveal a positive correlation between the three dimensions and one’s commitment towards the organization.

In lieu with the aforementioned, this chapter shall then discuss the results obtained from the Pearson correlation performed. As it has been repeatedly mentioned, the literature review presented the different variables that are often seen to influence the development of organizational commitment. These factors were the following: (1) age; (2) marital status; (3) gender; (4) race; (5) experience; (6) education; (7) job satisfaction; (8) employment communication and leadership styles. This demographic information were correlated with organizational commitment in this study although the results only show that the following are the only factors that are positively correlated with organizational commitment at both the 0.01 and 0.05 levels: job nature, resource adequacy and finally, the support coming from the employees’ supervisors.

For this research, job nature was significant at the 0.01 level based on the responses of employees from the Malaysian Health Department and at the 0.05 level, for the employees from the Education Department. However, this particular factor was not recognized by the researches mentioned in the literature review to play a significant role in the development of one’s commitment towards the organization.

Aside from job nature, resource adequacy was also seen as a factor which is positively correlated with organizational commitment, at the 0.05 level based on the responses of all the employees who participated in this study. One of the statements under this particular work category was education. Thus, this research recognizes the importance of having an appropriate educational background in determining the development of one’s commitment towards their organization. As a result, this research concurs with the conclusions made in the studies of Laka-Mathebula (2004), Salami (2008), Hahn (2007) and Huselid and Day (1991) who all took note of the positive role of education in influencing organizational commitment.

Lastly, the support coming from the supervisor was also seen to be a positive factor that influences organizational commitment at the 0.05 level of significance, based on the responses of the employees coming from the Malaysian Health Department. Generally, this is correlated with leadership styles which a number of researchers have considered to be very important in the development of such attitude or behavior towards an organization. According to Laka-Mathebula (2004), the importance of these styles lie in making the employees feel that they are an essential part of the organization, receiving the appropriate support from their supervisors.

The previous discussion only shows that the researcher disproves several researches mentioned in the literature review which mentioned that the different variables significantly affect the development of one’s organizational commitment.  Two of the factors whose effects have been denied by this research were age and experience. Thus, this study then concurs with the following authors: Hawkins (1998, in Laka-Mathebula, 2004), Stanton et al. (2003) and Trimble (2006). These researches mentioned that there were only minor differences between the employees’ commitment towards the organization despite being members of different age groups. At the same time, Trimble (2006) made note of other factors that may produce more significant results in the study of organizational commitment and these are the following: career stage and tenure.

As mentioned, experience was another factor whose effect has been disproved in this particular study. The results pertaining to this particular item then disproved the study of Trimble (2006) who gave importance to this in the development of the said attitude or behavior towards a certain organization. Aside from disagreeing with Trimble, the results then in general also disagreed with the other researchers mentioned in the literature review for all these scholars tend to show that people with longer work experiences show more commitment to the organization.

Finally, this study proves what has been mentioned in the literature review that there is no race that can be concluded to be more committed to their organizations when compared with their counterparts. However, this research could not prove the fact that discrimination significantly lowers one’s organizational commitment as this was not in any way measured through the different statements developed by the researcher.

However, this research named certain variables that were seen to influence only a certain dimension of organizational commitment. For instance, employee communication is seen to be positively correlated with affective commitment at the 0.05 level, based on the responses of the employees coming from the Malaysian Health Department. Affective commitment, once again is usually involved with the emotional attachment, involvement and identification of employees with their organizations. It is then because of the nature of this particular dimension that employee communication becomes of great importance especially since this is concerned with the establishment and maintenance of good relationships between the organization and the employees. Without a doubt, communication strategies strengthen employees’ emotional attachment, involvement and identification with the organization to which they belong to.

            Aside from this, the supportiveness of supervisors and the challenging nature of one’s job contribute in the development of continuance employment based on the responses of the employees from the health department (at the 0.05 level of significance), which had been defined in this study as the awareness of the costs that might befall the employees in case they leave the organization. The support of the supervisor is somehow related in how human resources management takes place within the organizations. It is then because of this then that the latter, makes their employees know of the possible consequences that they may receive in event that they leave their jobs.

            On the other hand, the challenging nature of one’s job has not been mentioned in the literature review as one of the variables that may be positively correlated with organizational commitment or any of its dimensions. However, this research establishes the importance of such although it does not say that the challenging nature of one’s job may lead to turnover as employees now stay because they need to and to some extent, they desire what they are doing. Nonetheless, what matters most is the need to remain within the organization.

            The failure to correlate the categories of salary, promotion opportunities and the extent of one’s participation in the decision making processes is seen to be an effect of the fact that both the Malaysian Health and Education departments are included under the umbrella of the Public Sector. Salary and promotion opportunities are of course, two ways that managers could use in order to motivate their employees. This in general is not true for those institutions in the public sector. In fact, Seok-Hwan (2004) highlights this as one of the disparities that exist between public and private sectors due to the absence of an economic market in the former. As a result, researchers such as Seok-Hwan (2004), Pollit (1990) and Wittmer (1991) noted that organizational commitment within the public sector may generally be low due to the absence of such motivational factors.

            In the same manner, the aforementioned researchers also discussed organizations in the public sector to have given so much importance to hierarchies, making their institution rigid due to once again, the absence of an economic market. As a result, members also tend to give respect those who are in authority and those who are on top of the hierarchical ladder. They in fact, tend to be more committed to these people rather than to the organization due to the nature of their organizations.

            The three factors mentioned were seen to significantly lower organizational commitment within the public sector. However, this research disproves this particular statement and neither does it say that it positively influence such due to the absence of a significant correlation between the different factors.

            Without a doubt, the results of this research are very different from the other studies presented in the literature review. This disparity maybe caused by the fact that most of these studies were constructed using a Western framework. Clearly, this study was done outside of that particular framework, thus recognizing that there may be other ways by which the organizational commitment of Malaysians could be measured. As a result, this study, based on the perceptions of Malaysian employees does not prove that all the factors included in the discussion in chapter 2 are significantly related to the development of organizational commitment.

Chapter 6: Conclusion

6.1. Summary

            This study, once again, focused on the organizational commitment of employees within both the Malaysian Ministries of Education and Health. It looked into the possible factors that may have lead to the development of such attitude for the employees of the said department. As mentioned in the previous chapters of this study, the Malaysian government, ever since its independence from its colonial rulers, have undergone various measures in order to increase the efficiency of its public sector in order to meet its goals of becoming one of the most developed and progressive countries in the region which they belong in.

            The study made use of the previous researches written on this particular topic in order to investigate various concepts that may play important roles in the discussion of organizational commitment within the Malaysian Departments of Education and Health. However, through the use of correlational research, the researcher was able to find out that these variables included in studies of popular names within organizational behavior research has nothing to do with the development of the employees’ organizational commitment. This is because of the fact that much of this research has been done within the Western framework, whose individualistic nature greatly varies from that of Malaysia. In the same manner, much of the research included was also done amongst organizations from the private sector which also has characteristics that are very different from those under the umbrella of the public sector.

6.2. Conclusion

            The results of the correlational research then lead to the researcher’s decision to reject all the following alternative hypotheses:

            Alternative Hypothesis 1: There is a significant relationship between age and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 2: There is a significant relationship between marital status and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            Alternative Hypothesis 3: There is a significant relationship between gender and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            Alternative Hypothesis 4: There is a significant relationship between race and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 5: There is a significant relationship between experience and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            Alternative Hypothesis 7: There is a significant relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 10: There is a significant relationship between intention to leave and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            Alternative Hypothesis 11: There is a significant relationship between absenteeism and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            Alternative Hypothesis 12: There is a significant relationship between productivity and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 13: There is a significant relationship between labor turnover and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            Alternative Hypothesis 14: There is a significant relationship between medical leave and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

            Alternative Hypothesis 15: There is a significant relationship between burnt out and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

On the other hand, this research shall accept only the following alternative hypotheses:

Alternative Hypothesis 6: There is a significant relationship between education and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 8: There is a significant relationship between communication and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

Alternative Hypothesis 9: There is a significant relationship between leadership style and organizational commitment or its components (affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment).

However, these variables, with the exception of education (resource adequacy) are only correlated with a single component of organizational commitment: (1) employment communication with affective commitment; and (2) leadership styles with continuance commitment. The researcher also reiterates the insignificance of the other variables proven by previous researchers to have played a significant role in influencing organizational commitment as this had been studied within a Western framework, in organizations belonging to the Public Sector.

Finally, this research reiterates the importance of the challenging nature of one’s job as an important variable in influencing organizational commitment as shown in this study, to be positively correlated with the said behavior.

6.3. Implications and Recommendations

            This study may help in ensuring the proper formulation of policies that could help in increasing an employee’s organizational commitment, especially those within the Malaysian Health and Education industries. Aside from the aforementioned, this particular study would also present a different perspective with regard to the study as it would look into organizational commitment in the Public Sector, outside the Western framework. In the same manner, this would also be essential in ensuring the performance of the said employees in order to assure that they are rendering efficient public service to their constituents.

            For future studies, the researcher recommends finding out the outcomes that organizational commitment has for organizations and/or institutions in the Public sector, outside the Western framework.

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