The Commitment to Organizations Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Commitment to Organizations - Research Paper Example Most researchers seem to emphasize the need for high employee commitment to the organization in order for organizational success to be secured. It has been also revealed that most organizations demand from their employees to be committed to the organization’s needs without giving a commitment in return. The lack of resources for providing such support seems to be the most common reason for the above phenomenon. Even under these terms, organizations could not justify their decision not to be committed to their employees, especially when they demand by their employees to be committed to the organization’s needs. 2. Commitment to organizations – characteristics and role 2.1 Description of commitment The identification of the role of commitment within modern organizations requires the understanding of the context of commitment, i.e. of its elements and characteristics, as developed in organizations of different sectors. Harper (2008) noted that organizational commitm ent could be described as ‘the commitment to an action that is consistent with the stated goals of the organization’ (Harper 2008, p.7). According to this view, the organizational commitment needs to meet a key criterion, meaning the promotion of the goals of the organization. Supporting organizational initiatives (plans or actions) which are not linked to the organization’s goals, cannot be characterized as a commitment but rather as support to the personal interests and aims of specific members of the organization. Mowday, Porter and Steers (1982) noted that ‘commitment is the relative strength of an individual’s identification with and involvement in a particular organization’ (Mowday, Porter and Steers 1982, cited by Allen and Wilburn, 2002, p.24). From a different point of view, Artley (2008) notes that commitment cannot be considered as equal to loyalty. Of course, those employees who are committed to their organization are also consider ed as being loyal to the particular organization, but not the vice versa. This view is aligned with that of Becker (1960), one of the first researchers who studied organizational commitment. According to Becker (1960), organizational commitment ‘is based on consistent behavior’ (Becker 1960, cited by Artley 2008, p.9), i.e. the behavior of employees that are aligned with organizational goals. Organizational commitment, in the above context, is not developed randomly; rather, employees become committed to the organization after linking their personal interests (such as pension plans or other benefits) with specific organizational activities (Becker 1960, p.32, cited by Artley 2008, p.10). From this point of view, organizational commitment is a mutual exchange, an issue that is discussed further in section 2.3 below. At the same time, Downs and Allyson (2004) note that organizational commitment is not depended on informal communication, as one could possibly expect.