Employee Commitment Theory

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2.10 The Concept of Employee Commitment Employee commitment has been defined in different ways by different authors. Among these authors, Meyer and Herscovitch (2001) indicates that employees commitment reflect employees’ belief that it is a moral obligation to remain in an organization. They opined that though this belief developed overtime, it is a force that binds an individual to engage in an action that would sustain his/her continues involvement in the organization. This conceptualization of employees’ commitment is not far fetch from the definition put forward by Mowday, Porter and Steers (1982). Mownday, et al (1982) saw employee’s commitment as a strong desire to remain a member of the organization; a strong belief in, and acceptance…show more content…
The Side Bets theory according to Becker (1960), posits that there are certain investment made by employees in an organization which make them find it more difficult to leave the organization as attempt to leave the organization, the investment of “side-bets” made in the organization will be lost. The theory therefore maintain employees develops high level of commitment when they perceived that they have invested time, effort and other personal resources in an organisation which would be lost if they terminated membership with the organization and unable to find another job. In conjunction with this, continue commitment related to personal sacrifice and a perceived lack of alternatives. Both personal sacrifice and perceived lack of employment alternatives increase the costs associated with leaving the organization (Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch & Topolnytsky, 2002). Jaros (2007) demonstrated in his study that the higher the perceived high cost of losing social and economic benefits in current organization the higher the intention to remain in the organization. He also found that individuals do not only consider economic gains or costs (such as pension accruals) but also take into account social gains/costs (friendship ties with co-workers) when making final decisions on whether to continue or not to continue membership with present…show more content…
OCB has traditionally been defined as discretionary and not specified in an individual’s employment contract with the organization (Turnipseed & Rassuli, 2005). It also defined as demonstration of altruism (selfless concern for the welfare of others), courtesy (respectful, polite, civil behavior), conscientiousness (characterized by careful; painstaking devotion to the rules and regulations of the organization), civic virtue (proactive contribution to the organization’s harmony), and sportsmanship (conduct and attitude consistent with tolerance for sub-optimal circumstances)(Hoffman, Blair, Meriac & Woehr, 2007). Another author also defined citizenship behavior as those behavior that tend towards peacekeeping (serving as a mediator to enact resolutions to disagreements) and cheerleading (offering praise and encouragement)( (Robinson, 2008). It is a voluntary to carry out task activities not formally part of the job, persisting with helping others with excess workloads, diligently adhering to organizational rule and procedure (Bolino & Turnley,
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