The Mediating Role of Employee Job Satisfaction on the Relationship Between Internal Market Orientation and Employees Organizational Commitment Within the Malaysia Childcare Sector

The childcare sector in Malaysia has grown tremendously during the past decade due to the growing number of women who join the paid work force. However, childcare owners have been facing poor organisational commitment from the employees, and consequently finding it difficult to retain them for a longer period of employment. This study investigated the adoption of the internal market orientation concept that affects the commitment of employees in the childcare sector. Specifically, the objectives of the study are (a) to determine the relationship between internal market orientation and employees' organisational commitment, (b) to determine the relationship between internal market orientation and employee job satisfaction, (c) to determine the relationship between employee job satisfaction and employees' organisational commitment, and (d) to determine the mediating effect of employee job satisfaction on the relationship between internal market orientation and employees' organisational commitment. A stratified sampling procedure was used to select respondents from registered childcare centres in the twelve states in Peninsular Malaysia. The study employed a quantitative approach through a self-administered survey where the structured questions used were developed from prior research and previously tested for validity and reliability. A total of 692 questionnaires were sent out, and 360 usable responses were received, giving a response rate of 52 per cent.
The findings revealed that internal market orientation had a significant and positive relationship with employees' organisational commitment, internal market orientation
had a significant and positive relationship with employee job satisfaction, and employee job satisfaction had significant and positive relationship with employees' organisational commitment. The findings also revealed that employee job satisfaction only partially mediated the relationship between internal market orientation and employees' organisational commitment. This study concluded with discussions on the theoretical and practical contributions, study limitations and suggestions for future research