European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 15, Number 3 (2010)

The Impacts of Organizational Commitment on Employee Job Performance

PhD Scholar, Faculty of management Sciences, International Islamic University, Islamabad Pakistan
Tel: +92 300 9540295 E-mail: riaz_khan74@yahoo.com Muhammad Riaz Khan

PhD Scholar, Faculty of management Sciences, International Islamic University, Islamabad Pakistan
Tel: +92 332 8412143 E-mail: ziasays@yahoo.com

Ziauddin

Lecturer, Faculty of management Studies, University of Centeral Punjab Lahore, Pakistan

Tel: +92 333 2213269 E-mail: jam_farooq@yahoo.co.uk

Farooq Ahmed Jam

Assistant Professor, Faculty of management Sciences International Islamic University, Islamabad Pakistan
Tel: +92 300 8565533 E-mail: proframay@iiu.edu.pk Abstract The study investigated the impact of Organizational Commitment on employee job performance from a sample of 153 public and private and public sector employees of oil and gas sector in Pakistan. The results revealed a positive relationship between organizational commitment and employees job performance. In the comparative analysis of three dimensions of organizational commitment, normative commitment has a positive and significant impact on employees job performance. Furthermore, the study explores the employees job performance with four demographic variables, resulting that male employees are high performer vis--vis their female counterparts. The implications and limitations are also discussed at the end of the paper. Keywords: Organizational Commitment, Affective Commitment, Commitment, Normative Commitment, Job Performance Continuance

M. I. Ramay

Introduction
The study of employees job performance and organizational commitment is of foremost importance to the top-level management of the organizations. Somersl and Birnbaum (1998) studied the relationship of career commitment to performance effectiveness and reported a positive relationship. Job satisfaction is not the single dependent variable of commitment; it also has numerous other outcomes in the organizations. Jackofsky (1984), found out that low commitment is leading to high rate of turn over, whereas higher the level of job satisfaction through job security entails high level of 292

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 15 Number 3 (2010)

organizational commitment which further leads to improved employees job performance (Yousuf, 1997). Job performance has been defined as work performance in terms of quantity and quality expected from each employee (business dictionary). Meyer and Allen (1990) suggested three types of organizational commitment that are, affective commitment which measures an employee's emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization, normative commitment reflects pressures on an employee to remain with an organization resulting from organizational obligations. Continuance commitment refers commitment associated with the costs that employees perceive are related to leaving the organization. Organizational Commitment is seeking the same impacts on women as it is on men, but in some instances women react differently (Chusmir, 1984). Connectivity of colleagues and the style of management can enhance commitment of employees and are considered as an important asset of the company (Nijhof, de jong & Beukhof, 1998). Commitment of employees can be an important instrument for improving the performance of the organizations. In most of the organizations the high rate of stress leads to lower satisfaction and in turn produces very low organizational commitment (Elangovan, 2001). The higher level of communication in organization led top higher level of commitment and there by increased performance (Chen, Silverthorne & Hung, 2005). A study conducted by Chughtai and Zafar (2006), among university teacher of Pakistan concluded that highly committed teachers outperform vis--vis uncommitted teachers. This study primarily focuses on the impacts of low/high commitment towards the employees job performance. The study is conducted in oil and gas sector of Pakistan, specifically in organizations such as OGDCL, SNGPL and OMV Pakistan Ltd. This research will be basic replication of well established commitment- performance relationship on Pakistani data.

Literature Review
Shore, Barksdale and Shore (1995) studied 231 managers and 339 subordinates in multinational firms in United States and found that affective commitment and job performance are positively correlated. In an other study Somers and Birnbanm (1998) studied the relationship of work related commitment and input on employee job performance, however their findings suggested that career commitment is positively related to job performance but no relationship existed between organizational commitment and job performance. Both affective and normative commitments were found unrelated to job performance. Lee and olshfski (2002) studied the behavior of organizational commitment of the firefighters in New York and their study led to believe that organizational commitment offers considerable promise in describing the positive behaviors. Furthermore, Individuals take jobs, they identify with the role attached to the job, they become committed to doing the job, and they behave according to the expectations attached to that job. Suliman and Lles (2002) explored the nature of organizational commitment in three industrial units in Jordan by using employees' job performance and five demographic variables. Their research revealed that that organizational commitment comprises three-dimensional concept. The findings also uncovered a positive relationship between commitment (all the three components) and job performance. Moreover, organizational commitment and its three dimensions present positive and negative relationships with age, sex, education, job status, and organizational tenure variables. Chen, Silverthrone and Hung (2006) studied the relationship of the organizational commitment, communication and job performance. Their research findings indicated that there are positive relationships between organizational communication, organizational commitment and job performance. This finding suggested that companies strengthen their communication channels and processes in order to strength their accounting professionals organizational commitment and job performance. 293

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 15 Number 3 (2010)

Clarke (2006) studied the commitment and network performance in UK based health care units and found that commitment may play a significant role specifically with performance outcomes. The researcher found that statistically both affective and normative forms of commitment have significant impact on performance. Affective commitment was positively related to network performance. The finding that continuance commitment was negatively related to network performance suggests that the relationship between commitment and performance within networks is certainly not straightforward. Rashid, Sambasvani and Joari (2003) studied 202 managers in Malaysian companies and their research findings suggested that corporate culture and organizational commitment are interrelated and both have far reaching impacts on the performance. The above literature review reveals that there is some definite relationship exists between organizational commitment and employees job performance. We will try to replicate this relationship in Pakistani setting to explore whether there are consistent results to western results or not.

Theoretical Framework
Organizational commitment

Affective Normative Continuance

Job performance

Hypothesis
From the above literature review the following hypotheses are developed H1: There is a positive significant relationship between organizational commitment and employees job performance? H2: Affective commitment is positively and significantly related to employees job Performance. H3: Continuance commitment is positively and significantly related to employees job performance. H4: Normative commitment is positively and significantly related to employees job performance

Methods
a) Sample

A total of 230 questionnaires were distributed and personally administered among employees of OGDCL, OMV and SNGPL in Pakistan. Filled 153 questionnaires were received, thus constituting a 66.52 % response rate. Descriptive statistics was applied which indicates that the sample comprises 80.4 % male and 19.6 % female. The sample further indicates that 24.8 % accounted for age group between 25-30, 43.8 % were possessing bachelor degrees. 31.4 % respondent belongs to private sector and 68.6 % were from public sector.
b) Measures

The scale used to measure organizational commitment in terms of affective, normative and continuance has been developed by Allen and Meyer (1991). The scale comprises eight items, however, Meyer and Allen (1997) shortened the original eight-item scale to six item scale each and is being used for this
294

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 15 Number 3 (2010)

study. The tool used for measuring job performance has been developed by Willams & Anderson (1991) using four items on a five point Likert point scale.

Results
Table. 1: Descriptive Statistics.
Percentage 80.4 19.6 17.6 24.8 18.3 19.6 8.5 11.1 4.6 3.9 43.8 42.5 5.2 31.4 68.6

Descriptions Gender Male Female Age Below 25 25-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-60 Qualification SSC HSSC BS MA MS Type of organizations Private Public

Table 2:

Mean Standard Deviation and Correlation matrix

Mean 3.098 0.1961 3.3987 0.6863 3.2615 2.9837 3.1155 3.2854 3.1318 S.D 1.58016 0.39833 0.83776 0.46553 0.64614 0.52973 0.65597 0.63022 0.44389 1 1 -.282** 0.055 .248** -0.154 .303** 0.061 0.14 .211** 2 1 -0.137 -.198* -0.002 -0.011 0.005 -0.098 -0.052 3 1 0.036 -.161* -.190* -.166* -.261** -.285** 4 5 6 7 8 9

Variables 1.Age 2. Gender 3. Qualification 4.Type of organization 5.Job Performence 6.Continuance Commitment 7.Affective Commitment 8.Normative Commitment 9.Organizational Commitment

1 -.202* 0.032 -0.06 -0.063 -0.041

1 .218** .282** .322** .374**

1 .256** .369** .688**

1 .324** .746**

1 .763**

N = 153. Only organization was controlled in analysis and used as control variables* ** Correlation is significant at the 0.001 level (2-tailed) ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)

The correlation matrix (table 2) shows that employees job performance is positively related with organizational commitment (r = 0.374 p < .001) which supports our hypothesis no.1 in this study .So hypothesis 1 of this study that there is positive relationship between Employees job performance and organizational commitment is accepted. Correlation analysis establishes that employees job performance relationship with Normative commitment was highly significant (r = 0.322 p < .01). These results revealed strong empirical evidence in support of our hypothesis number 4 in this study. S Employees job performance found significant impact on Affective commitment (r = 0.282, p < .01), where as Employees job performance has highly significant effect on Continuance commitment (r = 0.218, p < .01).In (Table 3) the regression results showed highly significant impact of organizational commitment on employee job performance. The analysis revealed ( = 0.22, p < .01) for affective 295

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 15 Number 3 (2010)

commitment impact on employee job performance. The impact of Normative commitment was found positive on job performance ( = 0.32, p < .001), the results for Continuance commitment revealed ( = 0.28, p < .001). The results for overall organizational commitment were also positive with employee job performance ( = 0.218, p < .001) in accordance with our hypothesis number 1. So from correlation and regression results our all hypothesis were accepted on this data from oil and gas sector of Pakistan.
Table 3: Results of Regression Analyses job performance and Commitment
Predictors Job Performance R R

Step 1 Control Variables Step 2 0.22** Affective Commitment 0.28*** Continuance Commitment 0.32*** Normative Commitment 0.218*** Organizational Commitment N =153. Only organization was controlled in analysis and used as control variables* ** Correlation is significant at the 0.001 level (2-tailed) ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)

0.140

.070

Discussion and Conclusion

The purpose of current study was to examine the relationship between organizational commitment (Affective commitment, Continuance commitment and Normative commitment) on employee Job performance. Job performance emerged as a determinant of Organizational commitment thus hypothesis 1 is accepted. Respondents answers to various questions showed that they feel relaxed in terms of their work environment and have increased organizational commitment which entailed high job performance. The correlation and regression table suggests that hypothesis H2, H3, and H4 are also accepted. Out of the three dimensions all the dimensions of organizational commitment showed significant affects on Job performance. The findings also reveals that the demographic variables such as, age of the respondents both in public and private sectors has no significant variation in their job performance. However the respondents with age group below 25 years have high performance as compared to other age categories. The results also indicate that the males were higher performers vis-vis Female. Like wise private sector employees exhibited high sense of performance levels than employees in the public sector. This study provides insights from Pakistani perspective that all the results in Pakistani data are consistent with previous literature. All three types of commitments revealed positive relationship with employee job performance. Now managers working in Pakistani context and world wide should pay special attention to antecedents of organizational commitment and all the factors which foster employee commitment. So that many organizations facing productivity problem should get solution of increased employee performance by stimulation commitment.

296

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 15 Number 3 (2010)

Implications
The study conducted have several significant implications for managers, as the findings suggest that the performance of the employee working in the private sector is significantly higher than that of public sector, so managers must devise some strategies which will improve the performance of the employees working in the public sector. As we have also found that male performance outweigh the female performance, therefore a congenial working environment may be established, so that the females abilities may also be utilized effectively. This study has also a number of limitations, firstly the data collected is based on a very small sample size, and therefore its results cannot be generalized. Secondly for data collection has been made through questionnaire which may not capture the true responses of the respondents.

References
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] Aamir Ali Chughtai and Sohail Zafar (2006), Antecedents and consequences of Organizational Commitment Among Pakistani University Teachers, Applied H.R.M Research,11 (1), 39-64. Abubakr Suliman and Paul Iles (2000),Is continuance commitment beneficial to organizations? Commitment-performance relationship: a new look Journal of Managerial Psychology, 15 (5), 407-426. A.R. Elangovan, Causal ordering of stress, satisfaction and commitment, and intention to quit: a structural equations analysis, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 2001, 22(4), 159-165 Darwish A. Yousef, (1998), Satisfaction with job security as a predictor of organizational commitment and job performance in a multicultural environment, International Journal of Manpower, 19 (3), 184-194 Darwish A. Yousef, (2002) Job satisfaction as a mediator of the relationship between role stressor and organizational commitment: A study from an Arabic cultural perspective, journal

Ellen F. Jackofsky 1984), Turnover and Job Performance: An Integrated Process Model The Academy of Management Review, 9 (1), 74-83 Gary Dessler (1993), How to Earn Your Employees' Commitment The Academy of Management Executive, 13 (2), 58-67 John P. Meyer., David J . Stanley., Lynne Herscovitch and Laryssa Topolnytsky (2002), Affective, Continuance and Normative commitment to the Origination: A Meta-analysuis of Antecedents, Correlates and Consequences, Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 61, 20-52. John P. Meyer., Natalie J. Allen (1991), A three component conceptualization of Organizational commitment, Human Resource Management Review, 1 (1), 61-89. John P. Meyer, P. Gregory Irving, Natalie J. Allen, Examination of the Combined Effects of Work Values and Early Work Experiences on Organizational Commitment, Journal of Organizational Behavior 1998, 19 (1), 29-52 Jui-Chen Chen, Colin Silverthorne and Jung-Yao Hung 2006,Organization communication, job stress, organizational commitment, and job performance of accounting professionals in Taiwan and America, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 27 (4), 242-249 Leonard H. Chusmir (1982), Job Commitment and the Organizational Woman, The Academy of Management Review, 7 (4), 595-602 Lynn McFarlane Shore, Kevin Barksdale, Ted H. Shore (1995), Managerial Perceptions of Employee Commitment to the Organization, The Academy of Management Journal, 38 (6)1593-1615

of managerial Psychology, 17 (4), 250-266

297

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 15 Number 3 (2010)

[14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] Mark John Somers and Dee Birnbaum (1998), Work-Related Commitment and Job Performance: It's also the Nature of the Performance That Counts, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 19 (6), 621-634 Nicholas Clarke (2006), The relationships between network commitment, its antecedents and network performance, Management Decision, 44 (9), 1183-1205 Olugbenga jelil. Ladebo, joseph mubo. Awotunde, Emotional and Behavioral reactions to work overload: Self-efficacy as a moderator, current research in social psychology, 13 (8),86-100 Seok-Hwan Lee and Dorothy Olshfski (2002), Employee Commitment and Firefighters: It's My Job, 62, Special Issue: Democratic Governance in the Aftermath of September 11, 2001, Public Administration Review, 108-114 Wim J. Nijhof Margriet J. de Jong, Beukhof Bezo (1998), Employee commitment in changing organizations: an exploration, Journal of European Industrial Training, 22 (6)243248 Yoash Wiener (1982), Commitment in Organizations: A Normative View, The Academy of Management Review, 7 (3), 418-428 Zabid Abdul Rashid, Murali Sambasivan and Juliana Johari (2003), The influence of corporate culture and organizational commitment on performance, Journal of Management Development, 22 (8), 708-728

298