AFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT AND JOB SATISFACTION: A CROSS‐NATIONAL COMPARATIVE STUDY
| Date | 01 March 2017 |
| Published date | 01 March 2017 |
| Author | DOUG GOODMAN,RASHMI CHORDIYA,MEGHNA SABHARWAL |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12306 |
doi : 10. 1111/p adm .12306
AFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT AND
JOB SATISFACTION: A CROSS-NATIONAL
COMPARATIVE STUDY
RASHMI CHORDIYA, MEGHNA SABHARWAL AND DOUG GOODMAN
Public managers across countries are faced with challenges of attracting and retaining high-quality
employees in the context of widespread nancial constraints and increasing inter-sectoral competi-
tion. These changing circumstances have reinforced the need to enhance public employees’ affective
organizational commitment, which is related to important outcomes such as employees’ perfor-
mance and retention. However,we know little about the factors that can positively inuence affective
organizational commitment in a cross-national context. This study applies a cross-national compar-
ative approach using data from four US states (Oregon, Florida, Washington, and Utah) and India
to examine the factors inuencing affective organizational commitment. We focus mainly on the
effects of job satisfaction, which is considered to be the most important antecedent of affective orga-
nizational commitment. Our ndings indicate that, in both countries’ contexts, job satisfaction has a
signicant positive impact on affective organizational commitment. Wealso examine the US–India
differences in the levels of affective organizationalcommitment. Findings indicate that, compared to
the four US states of Oregon, Florida, Washington, and Utah, affective organizational commitment
is signicantly higher among Indian public managers.
INTRODUCTION
In an era when resource scarcity and cutback management have become the norm (Levine
1979; Pandey 2010), public managers across countries are faced with important challenges
to enhance and sustain employee morale and motivation, promote positive risk culture,
innovation, and performance, as well as attracting and retaining high-quality employees
(Levine 1979; Perry and Porter 1982; Pandey 2010; Carter et al. 2013; Obereld 2014). These
challenges are compounded by increasing inter-sectoral competition (Lee and Wilkins
2011; Rainey 2014). Therefore,given its practical importance in improving employee reten-
tion and performance, the need to enhance public employees’ affective (i.e. emotional)
organizational commitment continues to remain relevant and critical to public manage-
ment (Romzek 1990; Balfour and Wechsler 1996; Mowday 1998; Park and Rainey 2007;
Goldnch and Wallis2010; Pandey 2010; Lee and Wilkins 2011; Stazyk et al. 2011; Mastracci
2013; Nieto Morales et al. 2015).
Given that job satisfaction is considered to be the most important antecedent of affec-
tive organizational commitment, this study mainly focuses on the relationship between
affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction (Williams and Hazer 1986; Van-
denberg and Lance 1992; Aamodt 2012). Psychological contract theory suggests that public
employees will reciprocate with a stronger affective commitment towards their organiza-
tion if they perceive that their organization caresfor them; and experience satisfaction with
pay, security, autonomy, and career advancement – all factors that are important determi-
nants of employee job satisfaction. Therefore, based on psychological contract theory, it is
argued that affective commitment is positively inuenced by employee job satisfaction in
context of the US as well as India (Ting 1997; Coyle-Shapiro and Kessler 2003; Cropanzano
Rashmi Chordiya, Meghna Sabharwal and Doug Goodman areat the Department of Public and Nonprot Management,
The University of Texasat Dallas, USA.
Public Administration Vol.95, No. 1, 2017 (178–195)
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
AFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT AND JOB SATISFACTION 179
and Mitchell 2005; Coyle-Shapiro and Parzefall 2008; Westand Berman 2009; Pandey 2010;
Wikhamn and Hall 2012).
In addition to job satisfaction, past research indicates that various organizational factors
such as high-performance human resource practices, supportive management, ethical
climates, ethical behaviours of peers and leaders, and leadership styles, particularly
transformational leadership, have a positive impact on organizational commitment
(Gould-Williams 2004; Park and Rainey 2007; Dick 2011; Fu et al. 2011; Srithongrung 2011;
Gould-Williams et al. 2014; Miao et al. 2014; Chapman et al. 2016; Tummers and Knies
2016). Our model, therefore, controls for ethical behaviour of co-workers and managers,
and transformational leadership behaviours of senior managers, as both factors are
expected to positively affect organizational commitment (Tenbrunsel et al. 2003; Fu et al.
2011; Srithongrung 2011; Im et al. 2016). We also take into account the individual and
demographic characteristics.
This study also aims to examine cross-national differences in the levels of affective orga-
nizational commitment. General organizational behaviour research indicates that individ-
uals’ level of organizational commitment may vary across nations (Fischer and Mansell
2009); and yet we know little about these differences in the context of public sector orga-
nizations.
Public administration research based on comparative analysis oforganizational commit-
ment has largely focused on public–private differences within a single country (Bullock
et al. 2015); and these have yielded mixed results (Buchanan 1974; Flynn and Tannen-
baum 1993; Balfour and Wechsler 1996; Steinhaus and Perry 1996; Rainey 2014). On the
other hand, mainstream management literature has expanded the domain of organiza-
tional commitment research through cross-national comparative analysis (Randall 1993;
Fischer and Mansell 2009). The major constraints limiting similar studies in the public
sector context are lack of existing data, lack of resources for an extensive data collection
process, and more importantly the barriers in getting access to public managers across
countries. Despite these challenges, such studies are important to test the generalizabil-
ity of existing theories, to improve them, and to advance new theories in order to explain
cross-national differences.
This study aims to contribute to our understanding of cross-national differences in atti-
tudes of public employees by comparing levels of affective organizational commitment
among public managers working in the US and in the Indian context. The well-established
civil service systems operating within these two vibrant democracies provide an important
context for comparing the attitudes of public managers working in a Western versus an
Eastern country. Overall, this study aims to answer the following two research questions:
(1) What is the difference in the levels of affective organizational commitment among pub-
lic managers in the US and India? (2) What is the relationship between job satisfaction and
affective organizational commitment among public managers in the US and India?
AFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT
Organizational commitment binds managers to their organizations. It has several impor-
tant functions in supporting the health and well-being of the organization (Buchanan
1974). It also helps organizations to adapt to difcult conditions with spontaneity and
innovation (Perry and Wise 1990). Given the existence of individual differences in loyalty
and commitment towards organizations (Rainey 2014), an important challenge for most
Public Administration Vol.95, No. 1, 2017 (178–195)
© 2017 John Wiley& Sons Ltd.
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