Organizational Climate and Organizational Commitment : A Case in a Cement Factory

This study was prompted by the awareness that the accelerated growth of the nation coupled with the profusion of new cement plants could result in an increased turnover within the plant under study. In addition, a more competitive market situation will require a consistently high level of performance from the employees. Past research has shown that the level of organizational commitment amongst employees can be used to predict turnover and absenteeism. There is also evidence that work experiences and job characteristics are among the correlates of organizational commitment.
This research investigated the relationship between organizational climate, that is, employees’ perception of their situational and work experiences and the affective dimension of organizational commitment. This research also investigated how climate perceptions and commitment vary between different age groups, different organizational levels as well as between groups with different levels of educational attainment. An investigation into how the organizational climate - organizational commitment relationship varies between different organizational levels was also carried out. The dimensions of organizational commitment that were examined were as follows: autonomy, cohesion, fairness, innovation, pressure, recognition, support and trust.
The research base for this study was the population comprising managers, executives and supervisors of a cement factory which numbered 74. Questionnaires were distributed to the entire population and 73 questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 98.6%.
The level of organizational commitment was measured using a
translated (Bahasa Malaysia) version of the Organizational
Commitment Questionnaire developed by Mowday, Porter and
Steers (1982). Perceptions of organizational climate were measured using a translated version of a questionnaire developed by DeCottis and Koys (1980). Key demographic particulars of the respondents were also collected.
The major findings of this research are as follows:
i) amongst the climate dimensions, ‘cohesion’, is the one most significantly correlated with commitment.
ii) the strength of the relationship between ‘cohesion’ and
commitment does not differ greatly between supervisors and
executives.
iii) there exists a negative correlation between the ‘recognition’ dimension and commitment amongst supervisors.
iv) differences in perceptions of organizational climate is more evident across organizational levels than across age groups or across groups having different levels of educational attainment.
v) there exists higher commitment levels amongst
(a) older employees
(b) supervisors
(c) those with lower levels of educational attainment.
Human resource programs should therefore be designed so that they take into account the value system of the various subpopulations.