HRM practices and organizational commitment profiles
Ian R. Gellatlya*, Karen H. Huntera, Luanne G. Curriea and P. Gregory Irvingb
aSchool of Business, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; bSchool of Businessand Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
In this study, we examined how employee perceptions of development-oriented,stability-oriented, and reward-oriented human resource management (HRM) practicesaffected the likelihood of affective and continuance commitment profile membership.Our focus on profiles of combined commitment components is a departure from aliterature dominated by studies of the separate forms of employee commitment.Drawing from self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan 2000) we described the natureof the psychological states believed to underlie the specific profiles under investigation,then tested a series of theoretical predictions concerning the link between HRMpractices and the likelihood of profile membership. Predictor and criterion data for thisstudy were collected from 317 respondents working in a variety of Canadian-basedorganizations. Our findings suggest ways that organizations can use HRM practicesstrategically to help shape the nature of overall employee commitment.
Keywords: employee commitment; organizational commitment; strategic HRM;worker-centered approach to HRM
Introduction
The resource-based view of the firm (e.g., Barney 1991; Barney, Wright and Ketchen
2001) proposes that an organization’s investment in its human capital resources can be
a source of sustainable competitive advantage and high performance. The practical
implication of this proposal is that firms develop, through their HRM practices, internal
workforce capabilities that are rare, valuable, inimitable, and non-substitutable, and that
allow them to exploit opportunities and/or neutralize environmental threats to a greater
extent than their competitors (Wright, Dunford and Snell 2001). A potential risk for firms
that invest heavily in their human capital resources, however, is that employees who
possess valued capabilities may choose to leave and join competing firms. Thus, for the
advantages created by a firm’s investment in its human capital resources to be sustained
over time, its employees must remain committed to the organization. It follows, then, that
in conjunction with the development of strategically-relevant employee capabilities
(e.g., knowledge, skills), organizations should also cultivate employee commitment.
The strategic importance of developing employee commitment is not new (Walton
1985). Rather than forcing employee compliance with organizational goals and restricting
employee discretion through narrowly-defined jobs, work simplification, close super-
vision, standardization of processes/outcomes, and extensive rules and procedures, the
high-commitment approach to HRM attempts to create the conditions necessary to
facilitate voluntary employee involvement and identification with organizational goals.
ISSN 0958-5192 print/ISSN 1466-4399 online
q 2009 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/09585190902770794
http://www.informaworld.com
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
The International Journal of Human Resource Management,
Vol. 20, No. 4, April 2009, 869–884
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Numerous examples of ‘commitment maximizing’ practices and taxonomies of these
practices have been documented in the literature (e.g., Arthur 1994; Delaney and Huselid
1996; Huselid 1995; MacDuffie 1995; Pfeffer 1995; Wood and de Menezes 1998; Youndt,
Snell, Dean, and Lepak 1996) with little consensus about how many practice categories
exist or which commitment enhancing activities fall within them. In the present study, we
restricted our focus to three practice categories relevant to the criteria concepts under
investigation: development-oriented practices aimed at enhancing employee capabilities
(e.g., broadly defined jobs; employee participation programs; selective staffing;
comprehensive skill training and development; use of work teams; career ladders;
promotion opportunities), stability-oriented practices aimed at providing supportive
and secure working conditions (e.g., perceptions of fair treatment; employee participation
programs; effective grievance and dispute resolution processes; employment security;
longer-term employment contracts), and reward-oriented practices aimed at motivating
employees (e.g., content-valid performance appraisal; goal setting; performance-
contingent rewards; opportunities for high wages). In the next section we argue that the
kind of employee commitment a firm develops through its HRM practices has not been
well understood, in part, because of the complex nature of employee commitment and the
limitations of prior research.
Commitment components
Rather than viewing employee commitment as a simple concept that ranges from low to
high, it is now widely accepted that employee commitment has a multi-dimensional nature
(e.g., Allen and Meyer 1990; Jaros 1997; Jaros, Jermier, Koehler and Sincich 1993;
O’Reilly and Chatman 1986). This multi-dimensional nature has been articulated most
clearly in the three-component theory of organizational commitment (Allen and Meyer
1990; Meyer and Allen 1991, 1997). According to this perspective, the commitment an
employee feels towards his or her organization reflects varying combinations of desire
(affective commitment), cost (continuance commitment), and obligation (normative
commitment). Affective commitment (AC) has been described as the employees’
emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization. Meyer
and Allen (1991) proposed that anything that increases the quality of one’s work
experiences, especiallyone’s senseof autonomyandpersonal competence,will increaseAC.
Continuance commitment (CC) stems from an employee’s assessment of the respective
costs and benefits of remaining with or leaving the organization. This form of commitment
should increase over time as people accumulate personal investments or side-bets
(e.g., seniority rights; attractive benefits) that would be at risk if the relationship was
terminated (cf. Becker 1960). Although Allen and Meyer (1990) described a third
component, normative commitment (obligation-based commitment) we did not include
this component in our study given the high correlation between the affective and normative
components (Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch and Topolnytsky 2002), and because of recent
work calling for conceptual clarification of the normative-commitment component
(Gellatly, Meyer and Luchak 2006).
It has been consistently asserted that the overall commitment an employee feels towards
his or her organization reflects the relative strength of the components in combination
(Meyer and Herscovitch 2001; yet, virtually all prior research has focused on the components
in isolation (Meyer and Allen 1997).While much has been written about the antecedents and
determinants of the separate commitment components, especially AC and CC (e.g., Allen
and Meyer 1996; Meyer et al. 2002), much less is known about how these components work
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together to produce an overall commitment experience. We contend, as will be described
shortly, that the separate components provide a context for interpreting and understanding
how one’s commitment is experienced (i.e., strong CC experienced in a context of strong AC
should produce a different feeling of overall commitment than strong CC experienced in a
context of weak AC). By continuing to focus on the separate components, organizational
researchers have missed an opportunity to extend commitment theory beyond its constituent
parts. We are encouraged by the findings of recent studies that different component
configurations can be distinguished in terms of employee behaviours (Gellatly et al. 2006;
Sinclair, Tucker, Cullen and Wright 2005; Wasti 2005). We are unaware of any comparable
work on the antecedent side that examines the conditions that influence the likelihood of
different component combinations or profiles.
As a starting point, we focused on the combination of two commitment components,
AC and CC, because (a) these two components have been found to be uncorrelated (Meyer
et al. 2002) which should produce four relatively distinct combinations of AC (high/low)
and CC (high/low) to study, and (b) the psychological state associated with each of the
four combinations can be easily understood within the context of self-determination theory
(e.g., Deci and Ryan 2000; Gagne and Deci 2005; Meyer, Becker and Vandenberghe
2004). After describing the psychological characteristics of these four profiles, we propose
a series of hypotheses that connect different HRM practices with predictions of profile
membership. Predicting profile membership is an important step toward understanding
how overall feelings of employee commitment develop and complements recent work
exploring the behavioural consequences of commitment profiles.
Commitment profiles
According to Meyer and Allen (1997), employees feel more than one form of commitment
simultaneously and the nature of the resulting commitment profile, which reflects the
relative strength of commitment components, produces for each individual a distinct
commitment experience or mindset (Meyer and Herscovitch 2001). Consider, for example,
how levels of AC affect the way one experiences high CC. According to Sinclair et al.
(2005) one should experience devotion when high CC is combined with high AC (i.e., I need
and want to stay), but feel trapped when high CC is combined by low AC (i.e., I have no
desire to stay, but I need to). It seems contradictory that high CC can be experienced as both
devotion and entrapment. This example is an excellent illustration of the limitations of
focusing exclusively upon individual components of commitment without considering the
context in which that component occurs. An advantage of the profile approach is that it
assumes that the nature of the mindset associated with overall commitment will depend
upon the relative status of each of the constituent components. To further explain the
psychological properties of different component combinations, we turn to recent work that
has examined links between organizational commitment and motivation.
The view that overall organizational commitment reflects a psychological state or
mindset has an interesting parallel in the motivation literature (Meyer et al. 2004). Self-
determination theory (Deci and Ryan 1985, 2000; Gagne and Deci 2005; Ryan and Deci
2000) provides a framework for understanding how different configurations of perceived
(internal and external) control produce different motivational states. The model proposes a
series of motivational mindsets ranging from intrinsic (autonomous) motivation, whereby
activities are viewed as being primarily self-determined and undertaken for their
own sake (i.e., the activity is interesting, challenging and/or enjoyable), to extrinsic
(external regulation) motivation whereby activities are seen as being primarily controlled
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by others, by the constraints in a situation, or by salient reward contingencies. In their
analysis, Meyer et al. (2004) proposed that the mindsets underlying the components of
AC and CC, respectively, correspond to the mindsets associated with autonomous
motivation and external regulation. Extending this thinking to commitment profiles, it is
reasonable to expect that a mindset of autonomous motivation would most likely be present
when AC is high and CC is low. For these people, the primarymotivation to remain with the
organization would be tied to interest and enjoyment as well as a sense of personal
competence. It makes sense, then, that emotional connection and personal identification
with the organization should occur in a context where external controls are low or absent.
Sinclair et al. (2005) have referred to the profile of high AC and low CC as emotionally
attached. In contrast, amindset of external regulationwouldmost likely be presentwhenCC
is high and AC is low. For these people, the primary motivation would be to act (or stay) to
obtain external rewards or avoid costs. For Sinclair et al., people who experience high CC
within a context of low AC feel trapped. When the components of AC and CC are both
strong, the motivational mindset should reflect both autonomous motivation and external
regulation. Following the self-determination continuum (Deci and Ryan 2000; Gagne and
Deci 2005), the mindset of identified regulation (i.e., people identify with the importance of
staying with the organization for their own well-being, and still feel a sense of freedom and
volition; however, their behaviour is clearly instrumental rather than solely a source of
spontaneous enjoyment or satisfaction) reflects strong feelings of desire-based and cost-
based commitment. Sinclair et al. (2005) characterize the profile of high AC and high CC as
devoted, which is consistent with how internal regulation is described in self-determination
theory. Finally, a combination of low AC and low CC would be described as amotivation
(i.e., lack of motivation and commitment) or uncommitted.
HRM practices and commitment profiles
A central question advanced in this study was the extent to which employee perceptions of
HRM practices were associated with profile membership. Our decision to consider HRM
practices from the perspective of the individual employee was based on the opinion that
employees are in the best position to describe their actual employment relationships and
the management practices in use (Guest 2002; Wright, Gardner, Moynihan and Allen
2005; Macky and Boxall 2007). In fact, with a few exceptions (e.g., Whitener 2001), we
have observed that the vast majority of research assessing relations between specific
practices and employee attitudes has been framed and conducted at the individual level of
analysis. Our work is consistent with this approach. In this section, we consider the kinds
of HRM practices that should be associated with the mindsets believed to underlie the
different profiles of AC and CC. As mentioned earlier, we have limited our focus to
development-oriented practices, stability-oriented practices, and reward-oriented
practices. Each of these practice orientations is now described along with their proposed
relations to the commitment profiles under review.
We begin by proposing that development-oriented practices aimed at building
employee capabilities (e.g., skill training; personal development) should increase feelings
of internal control (autonomy) and competence, which, in turn, should increase one’s
identification, involvement, and emotional connection with the work and the
organization as a whole (Meyer et al. 2004). Thus development-oriented practices
should increase the likelihood of belonging to a profile where AC is high and CC is low
(emotionally attached), and, to a lesser extent, increase the likelihood of belonging to
a profile where both AC and CC are high (devoted), given that increased CC in a context
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of high AC is experienced as a moderate, rather than an extreme, form of external
regulation. Not only should the presence of development-oriented practices diminish
feelings of external regulation, but they should increase opportunities within and outside
the firm, which, in turn, should reduce feelings of being trapped (high CC/low AC) or
being uncommitted (low AC/low CC). Our profile predictions extend the work that has
studied AC alone. Examples of development-oriented practices that have been shown to
be positively correlated with AC include job redesign/enrichment (e.g., Allen and Meyer
1990; Deery, Iverson and Erwin 1994; Iverson and Buttigieg 1999); participation in
decision making (e.g., Gaertner and Nollen 1989; Allen and Meyer 1990; Rodwell,
Kienzle and Shadur 1998; Allen, Shore and Griffeth 2003); and training and
personal/career development (e.g., Gaertner and Nollen 1989; Shore and Barksdale
1998; Chang 1999; Meyer and Smith 2000; Lee and Bruvold 2003; Paul and
Anantharaman 2004).
Hypothesis 1a: Employee perceptions of development-oriented practices will increase
the likelihood of membership in the profile where AC is high and CC is
low (emotionally attached).
Hypothesis 1b: Employee perceptions of development-oriented practices will increase
the likelihood of membership in profiles where AC is high and CC is
either low (emotionally attached) or high (devoted).
Hypothesis 1c: Employee perceptions of development-oriented practices will decrease
the likelihood of membership in profiles where AC is low and CC is
either high (trapped) or low (uncommitted).
Stability-oriented practices aimed at providing employees with supportive and secure
working conditions (e.g., stable wages, job security) should focus employee attention on
both the benefits of retaining organizational membership and the personal and financial
costs associated with leaving the organization. According to Meyer et al. 2004, the
motivational mindset associated with strong feelings of cost-based commitment would
be characterized as ‘loss-prevention’ (Higgins 1998) and external regulation (Gagne and
Deci 2005). Thus, we expect that the psychological effects of stability-oriented practices
should primarily increase the likelihood of belonging to the profile where AC is low and
CC is high (trapped). Consistent with this view, we see evidence of positive correlations
between CC and the following practices: comprehensive non-portable benefits (e.g.,
Allen and Meyer 1990; Ward and Davis 1995; Meyer and Smith 2000) and job security
(e.g., Chang 1999; Harley 2002). If stability-oriented practices are viewed by employees
as a demonstration of organizational trust, the underlying mindset may also reflect a
blend of relationship and economic considerations, which in turn, should increase
the likelihood of belonging to a profile where both AC and CC are high (devoted). To the
extent that stability-oriented practices make salient the benefits of staying, feelings of
autonomy should diminish (i.e., I have little choice but to stay), which, in turn, should be
associated with reduced feelings of emotional attachment. To minimize the risk of losing
stable and secure working conditions, employees should be motivated to retain
organizational membership; thereby lowering the likelihood of belonging to the
uncommitted profile.
Hypothesis 2a: Employee perceptions of stability-oriented practices will increase the
likelihood of membership in the profile where CC is high and AC is low
(trapped).
Hypothesis 2b: Employee perceptions of stability-oriented practices will increase the
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likelihood of membership in profiles where CC is high and AC is either
low (trapped) or high (devoted).
Hypothesis 2c: Employee perceptions of stability-oriented practices will decrease the
likelihood of membership in profiles where CC is low and AC is either
high (emotionally attached) or low (uncommitted).
Finally, we propose that reward-oriented practices aimed at motivating employees
(e.g., performance-contingent outcomes) should produce a mindset characterized by
feelings of autonomy and external control. Although tangible rewards and social
recognition are clearly external inducements designed to shape the direction of an
employee’s attention and effort, performance-contingent rewards create a context
where employees, within limits, can decide how much effort they exert, and, therefore,
determine the level of their rewards. As mentioned previously, identified regulation is a
mindset characterized by a blend of choice and control that falls on the continuum between
the extremes of autonomous motivation and external regulation (Gagne and Deci 2005).
Thus, we predict that reward-oriented practices should increase the likelihood of belonging
to a profile where both AC and CC are high (devoted), and, to a lesser extent, increase the
likelihood of belonging to profiles where either AC or CC, only are high (emotionally
attached or trapped). We expect that the presence of reward contingencies should decrease
the likelihood of membership in the uncommitted profile. Examples of reward-oriented
practices found to positively correlate with AC include promotion opportunities (Gaertner
and Nollen 1989; Shore and Barksdale 1998; Deery et al. 1994; Chang 1999; Iverson and
Buttigieg 1999) and performance-contingent rewards (e.g., Iverson and Buttigieg 1999;
Coyle-Shapiro, Morrow, Richardson and Dunn 2002; Smeenk, Eisinga, Teelken and
Doorewaard 2006). Similarly, although less consistently, CC has been found to correlate
positively with promotion opportunities (Chang 1999), performance appraisal (Meyer and
Smith 2000), contingent rewards (Caldwell, Chatman and O’Reilly 1990), and high pay
(Iverson and Buttigieg 1999). Our profile predictions are consistent with empirical findings
where AC and CC were analyzed as separate components.
Hypothesis 3a: Employee perceptions of reward-oriented practices will increase the
likelihood of membership in the profile where both AC and CC are high
(devoted).
Hypothesis 3b: Employee perceptions of reward-oriented practices will increase the
likelihood of membership in the profile where both AC and CC are
high (devoted) and in profiles where either AC or CC only are high
(emotionally attached or trapped).
Hypothesis 3c: Employee perceptions of reward-oriented practices will decrease the
likelihood of membership in the profile where both AC and CC are low
(uncommitted).
Method
Respondent sample
We tested our study hypotheses using data gathered from a survey of business school
alumni from a large Canadian university. Approximately 3000 survey packages were
mailed to addresses provided by the school’s alumni association. Because we had no way
of knowing how many alumni actually received their survey package, we assumed that a
maximum of 2000 survey packages were received by alumni. This estimate was based on
an assumption that alumni lists, at best, are usually about 67% accurate. In total, 332
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completed surveys were returned to the researchers for an estimated response rate of
roughly 17%. We consider this response rate to be a lower-bound estimate, with the actual
response rate higher if the accuracy of the mailing list was less than 67%. Missing data on
the study measures reduced our sample to 317. Approximately half of the respondents
were female. On average, respondents reported that they had worked in their organization
for 3.7 years. As hoped, respondents came from a variety of occupations and
organizations.
Measures
Human resource management practices
We assessed nine specific management activities that characterized development-oriented,
stability-oriented, or reward-oriented HRM practices (Porter, Pearce, Tripoli and Lewis
1998). Four development-oriented practices included: (a) providing meaningful, interesting,
and challenging work; (b) providing development (training) opportunities on an ongoing
basis; (c) providing increasing responsibility and autonomy; and (d) providing skill
development that increased value to the firm. Two stability-oriented practices included:
(e) providing job security for at least one year; and (f) providing stable wages over time.
Three reward-oriented HRM practices included: (g) providing bonus pay or performance-
based incentives; (h) providing increases in salary when the company was profitable; and
(i) providing employees with an opportunity to earn a high income. Respondents indicated on
five-point scales (1 ¼ minimally or not at all; 5 ¼ very large extent) the extent to which
each of the nine practices were used in their organization. To test the validity of the intended
measurement model we undertook a confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL 8.5
(Joreskog and Sorbom 1993). The following three measurement models were compared: a
null (independence) model; a one-factor model; and a three-factor model. The fit indices
for the three models were as follows: the null model (x2null ¼ 1,243.38, df ¼ 36), the
one-factor model (x21 factor ¼ 851.19, df ¼ 33, p , .001; RMSEA ¼ .34; CFI ¼ .32), and
the three-factor model (x23 factor ¼ 73.33, df ¼ 23, p , .001; RMSEA ¼ .08; CFI ¼ .96).
Our findings clearly indicate that the three-factor solution fits the data best, and that the three
practice orientations are distinguishable empirically. Thus, composite measures of
development-oriented practices (M ¼ 3.49, SD ¼ .91), stability-oriented practices
(M ¼ 3.21, SD ¼ 1.09), and reward-oriented practices (M ¼ 2.93, SD ¼ 1.08) were
computed by averaging the appropriate specific practices. Coefficient alpha reliability
estimates for the development, stability, and reward measures, respectively, were .81
(4 items), .59 (2 items), and .73 (3 items).
Organizational commitment
We assessed two forms of organizational commitment, AC and CC, using the six-item
scales described by Meyer and Allen (1997) and Meyer, Allen and Smith (1993). For each
item, respondents were asked to indicate the extent of their personal agreement using a
seven-point scale (1 ¼ strongly disagree; 7 ¼ strongly agree). Responses to the relevant
items were averaged to produce measures of AC and CC. The alpha coefficients for the AC
(M ¼ 4.37; SD ¼ 1.29) and CC (M ¼ 3.57; SD ¼ 1.06) measures were .88 and .70,
respectively.
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Commitment profiles
To compute a profile score for each respondent we used the following procedure. First, we
dichotomized the distribution of AC scores into low and high groups using the median
scale score as the critical value. This was repeated for the distribution of CC scores. Next,
we assigned individual respondents to one of the four commitment profiles based on their
relative (low or high) status on AC and CC (Herscovitch and Meyer 2002; Gellatly et al.
2006). The distribution of respondents across the four commitment profiles was as follows:
devoted (N ¼ 80; AC and CC are both high), emotionally attached (N ¼ 81; AC is high
and CC is low), trapped (N ¼ 71; AC is low and CC is high) and uncommitted (N ¼ 85;
AC and CC are both low). Thus, the observed proportions (percentage) of respondents
belonging to the four profiles, respectively, were .252, .256, .224, and .268.
Analytic procedure: Multinomial logit analysis
To test our study hypotheses we subjected our data to multinomial logit analysis (MLA)
using STATA 8 (2003). This analysis is appropriate to use when, as in this study, the
criterion variable includes three or more unordered categorical responses (for reviews
see Demaris 1992; Rodriguez 2001). To assess the statistical significance of the relations
between the variables, we used MLA to estimate logistic regression equations of the
log-odds of membership in each profile compared to an arbitrary reference profile.
A chi-square statistic (likelihood ratio) was applied to determine if the resulting
regression coefficients for each equation were simultaneously equal to zero. To test our
study hypotheses we converted the regression coefficients to marginal effects
probabilities. Marginal effects indicate the direction and percentage change in the
probability of membership in a profile when one of the predictor variables is increased
by one unit above its mean (while other predictors are held constant at their means). For
instance, if a one unit increase in a predictor variable from its mean of 3.49 to 4.49 is
associated with a marginal effect of þ .08 for a given profile, we interpret this to mean
that the predictor variable increased the likelihood of membership in that profile by 8%.
Marginal effects are measured as probabilities and are therefore not interpreted through
comparison to a reference category (as is commonly the procedure when interpreting
basic MLA coefficients). For each independent variable, each increase in probability of
profile membership is offset by a corresponding decrease in membership in
another profile; therefore, the marginal probabilities for all categorical dependent
variables sum to zero. A z-test was used to test whether any given marginal effect
coefficient significantly differed from zero.
Results
Means, standard deviations, and correlations among the study variables are displayed in
Table 1. Modest positive correlations were found among the three HRM practices, which
confirms previous work showing that distinguishable groups of high-commitment
practices tend to occur together (e.g., Arthur 1994; Huselid 1995; Delaney and Huselid
1996; Wood and de Menezes 1998). Organizational tenure correlated positively with the
separate components of AC and CC, which is consistent with results reported elsewhere
in the literature (Meyer and Allen 1997). As expected, AC correlated positively with
development-oriented (e.g., Allen and Meyer 1990; Meyer and Smith 2000; Lee and
Bruvold 2003), stability-oriented (e.g., Shore and Barksdale 1998; Chang 1999; Iverson
and Buttigieg 1999), and reward-oriented practices (e.g., Shore and Barksdale 1998;
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Iverson and Buttigieg 1999). Also, as expected, we found that stability-oriented practices
were positively related to CC (Chang 1999). Negative correlations were found between
CC and both development-oriented (e.g., Meyer and Smith 2000; Harley 2002) and
reward-oriented practices (Iverson and Buttigieg 1999). The correlation between the two
commitment components was not significantly different from zero, confirming the
orthogonal nature of AC and CC.
Tests of hypotheses
We assessed the relations between several HRM practices and profile membership while
controlling for organizational tenure, as tenure correlated positively with both of the
commitment components upon which the four criterion profiles were based (Becker 2005).
The chi-square for the overall MLA was 91.10 ( p , .01), indicating the presence of
non-zero regression coefficients. In linear regression, as a measure of overall explanatory
power, R2 measures the amount of criterion variance accounted for by the independent
variables. In MLA, Pseudo R2 provides a loose representation of how well the model
explains the relationships in the data, with higher values being superior to lower values
(McFadden 1973). For this data, the associated Pseudo R2 was 10.38, indicating that
the HRM practices included in this analysis explain slightly more than 10% of what
determines profile membership. As discussed previously, MLA coefficients were
transformed into marginal effects, evaluated at the mean for each independent variable.
The pattern of marginal effects described in Table 2 provided the basis for testing the study
hypotheses.
Development-oriented practices
From Table 2 it is evident that, relative to the other profiles, a one-unit change in
development-oriented practices (3.49 to 4.49) is associated with the largest change
(þ13%) in the likelihood of belonging to the profile characterized as emotional
attachment. Although not as strong as emotional attachment, perceptions of development-
oriented practices are associated with an increased likelihood (þ8%) of membership
in the devoted profile. Also, consistent with our hypotheses, a one-unit increase in
development-oriented practices is associated with a decreased likelihood of membership
in trapped (211%) and uncommitted (210%) profiles. Taken together, expected
changes in the proportions (percentages) of respondents belonging to each of these four
commitment profiles after a one-unit increase in development-oriented practices are:
devoted (25.2% to 33.2%), emotionally attached (25.6% to 38.6%), trapped (22.4% to
Table 1. Descriptive statistics and correlations.
Measures M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6
1. Organizational tenure 3.65 3.412. Development-oriented HRM practices 3.49 0.91 20.07 0.813. Stability-oriented HRM practices 3.21 1.09 0.06 0.28 0.594. Reward-oriented HRM practices 2.93 1.08 20.10 0.42 0.17 0.735. Affective commitment 4.06 1.42 0.12 0.48 0.25 0.41 0.886. Continuance commitment 3.32 1.11 0.15 20.11 0.17 20.12 0.07 0.70
Notes: N ¼ 317; listwise deletion of missing data. Scale reliabilities (coefficient alpha) are presented along thediagonal. Correlations significantly different from zero, p , .05 (1-tail test) are shown in bold.
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11.4%), and uncommitted (26.8% to 16.8%). Thus, the pattern of significant marginal
effect probabilities for development-oriented practices is consistent with hypotheses
1a, 1b, and 1c.
Stability-oriented practices
As hypothesized, a one-unit increase in stability-oriented practices (3.21 to 4.21) is
associated with an increased likelihood of membership in the trapped (þ1%) and devoted
(þ7%) profiles, however, only the change in the latter profile was statistically significant.
Again, as expected, the pattern of marginal effects reveals that a one-unit increase
in stability-oriented practices is associated with a decreased likelihood of membership in
the emotionally attached (216%) and uncommitted (26%) profiles. However, only the
marginal effect coefficient for the uncommitted profile is statistically significant. Although
the overall pattern of findings is consistent with Hypotheses 2a–c, only Hypotheses 2b and
2c were confirmed by significant coefficients. The proportions (percentages) of
respondents belonging to the devoted and uncommitted profiles after a one-unit change
in stability-oriented practices, respectively, are 32.2% (25.2% þ 7%) and 20.8%
(26.8% 2 6%).
Reward-oriented practices
As hypothesized, a one-unit increase in reward-oriented practices (2.93 to 3.93) is
associated with an increased likelihood of membership in the devoted profile (þ2%)
although the magnitude of the change did not reach statistical significance. Increased
perceptions of reward-oriented practices are associated with an increased likelihood of
membership in the emotionally attached profile (þ9%) and a reduced likelihood
of membership in the uncommitted profile (27%). Predicted change to membership in the
trapped profile (24%) is not statistically significant. Overall, the pattern of significant
findings provides partial support for Hypothesis 3b and support for Hypothesis 3c. The
proportions (percentages) of respondents belonging to the emotionally attached and
uncommitted profiles after a one-unit increase in reward-oriented practices, respectively,
was 34.6% (25.6% þ 9%) and 19.8% (26.8% 2 7%).
Table 2. Marginal effects analysis.
Measures DevotedEmotionallyAttached Trapped Uncommitted
Organizational tenure dy/dx 0.02 0.01 0.01 20.03SE 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01
Development-oriented HRM practices dy/dx 0.08 0.13 20.11 20.10SE 0.04 0.04 0.03 0.03
Stability-oriented HRM practices dy/dx 0.07 0.16 0.01 20.06SE 0.03 0.03 0.02 0.02
Reward-oriented HRM practices dy/dx 0.02 0.09 20.04 20.07SE 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03
Notes: N ¼ 317; the four commitment profiles refer to combinations of high and low levels of affectivecommitment (AC) and continuance commitment (CC). The profile ‘devoted’ consists of high AC and high CC.The profile ‘emotionally attached’ consists of high AC and low CC. The profile ‘trapped’ consists of low AC andhigh CC. The profile ‘uncommitted’ consists of low AC and low CC. dy/dx ¼ marginal effect coefficients referto the probabilistic change in Y for a unit change in X.; SE ¼ standard errors for the marginal effect coefficients.Coefficients shown in bold are significantly different from zero (z test, p , .05).
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To summarize, the results of the MLA analysis suggest that all three HRM practices
significantly reduced the likelihood of respondents belonging to the uncommitted profile.
Overall the patterns of marginal effects for development-oriented, stability-oriented, and
reward-oriented HRM practices on commitment-profile membership were consistent with
our theoretical predictions, although some relations were not statistically significant.
Discussion
An inherent limitation of prior research that focused exclusively on separate components
of commitment is that we have not fully appreciated the context in which each component
is experienced, which, in turn, constrains theoretical development and management
practice. For example, the psychological state that is produced by an HRM practice aimed
at increasing CC (e.g., generous non-portable pension benefits) will depend on the status of
AC. As we have described earlier, high CC combined with low AC leaves one feeling
trapped, while high CC, combined with high AC leads to feelings of devotion (Sinclair
et al. 2005). Failure to recognize the importance of the commitment context can have
serious resource implications (Wright et al. 2001) leading, for example, a firm to
inadvertently design and implement management practices that promote profiles of
employee commitment that undermine, rather than advance, organizational goals.
In the present study our dependent variable consisted of categorical profiles created
by combining different levels of two commitment components, AC and CC. From a
theoretical perspective, this was an appealing starting point given that recent work (Meyer
et al. 2004) allowed us to map the different commitment combinations to distinct
motivational mindsets within self-determination theory (Gagne and Deci 2005), which, in
turn, provided a conceptual basis for linking these different commitment profiles to three
sets of HRM practices. We see this study as an important first step toward understanding
how overall employee commitment develops, and particularly, toward clarifying the role
that HRM practices play in shaping employee commitment.
Development-oriented practices aimed at building employee capabilities were found
to elevate the likelihood that employees felt emotionally attached (high AC and low CC)
or devoted (high AC and high CC) to the organization and were found to lower the
likelihood that employees felt trapped (low AC and high CC) or uncommitted (low AC
and low CC). This pattern was predicted from self-determination theory (Gagne and Deci
2005). HRM practices that produce in employees feelings of autonomy and competence
should contribute to a commitment mindset whereby people stay because they find
organizational membership interesting, challenging and/or enjoyable (i.e., because they
have a strong desire to stay) (Meyer and Herscovitch 2001; Meyer et al. 2004). The
pattern of our results was consistent with this theoretical interpretation. It has been
suggested that heavy investment in job-relevant and organization-specific training may
inadvertently increase CC by making it harder for an employee to transfer these
capabilities to another organization (e.g., Allen and Meyer 1990; Meyer and Allen 1997).
Our data suggest that even if levels of CC increase in response to training activities (it is
noteworthy that in our study the level of CC actually decreased), a corresponding
increase in AC should produce a mindset characterized as devoted rather than trapped.
This example further highlights the conceptual advantages of a profile approach to
organizational commitment.
Our findings for stability-oriented practices were generally in the predicted direction.
We proposed that HRM practices aimed at providing employees with stability and security
would raise awareness of the risks associated with leaving and would therefore foster
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a cost-based (loss prevention), rather than a desire-based, form of commitment. In addition
to making salient the benefits of organizational membership, we also proposed that
stability-oriented practices may be viewed by the employee as organizational support,
which, in turn should increase AC (e.g., Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison and Sowa
1986; Rhoades, Eisenberger and Armeli 2001; Rhoades and Eisenberger 2002). The
pattern of our results is consistent with this interpretation. Stability-oriented practices were
shown to significantly increase the likelihood of membership in the profile where both AC
and CC were high (devoted) and significantly decrease the likelihood of membership in the
uncommitted profile where both AC and CC were low. We expected that the mindset
associated with stability-oriented practices would most closely reflect external regulation
where employees remain with the organization because they have no choice. Although
stability-oriented practices, as predicted, increased the likelihood of belonging to the
trapped profile (low AC and high CC) and decreased the likelihood of belonging
to the emotionally attached profile (high AC and low CC), these two effects were
not statistically significant. It would appear that supportive and secure working conditions
elevated the CC component but, in a context of high AC, high CC was likely experienced
by the employees in the study as dedication or loyalty rather than entrapment.
We found that reward-oriented practices significantly increased the likelihood of the
emotionally attached profile while decreasing the likelihood of the uncommitted profile.
Although we predicted an increase in CC, our data clearly show that CC decreased in
response to reward-oriented practices. An explanation for this unexpected finding is that
our measure captured variable rewards rather than the more fixed and predictable aspects
of compensation (e.g., wages; salary; benefits) which may be more closely tied to CC.
As expected, employee perceptions of reward-oriented practices were positively related to
AC. It would appear that, on average, respondents did not view performance-contingent
rewards as organizational inducements that restricted or ‘controlled’ their actions. Rather,
our results suggest that these reward practices were associated with intrinsic motivation
generated perhaps by elevating the level of interest, challenge, and meaningfulness of the
work. These variable and discretionary rewards, in the right context, may also signal
competence and status within the work group, thereby helping to explain why AC
increased and CC decreased. Thus, from a profile perspective, high AC in a context of low
CC produces a state of emotional attachment rather than devotion. Finally, consistent with
our predictions, the presence of rewards significantly reduced the likelihood of
membership in the uncommitted profile.
Based on the work of Wasti (2005) and Sinclair et al. (2005), the most desirable
commitment profile, from a behavioural perspective, is the devoted profile where both AC
and CC are high. Our findings suggest that the best way to increase the likelihood of this
employee profile is to combine development- and stability-oriented HRM practices.
It follows from this that the most organizationally undesirable commitment profile is one
where high CC occurs within a context of low AC (trapped) or where both forms of
commitment are low (uncommitted). Our findings also suggest that development-oriented
practices, and to a lesser extent reward-oriented practices, help to reduce feelings of
entrapment. Perhaps our most striking and consistent finding was that all three practices
were shown to reduce the likelihood of the uncommitted profile. Thus, an important
contribution of the present study has been to confirm theoretical links between several
HRM practices and the likelihood of both organizationally desirable (and undesirable)
commitment profiles, which, in turn, should help explain how HRM practices influence
employee behaviours and performance (Guest 1997).
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Limitations
A potential methodological limitation of the worker-centered approach is reliance on self-
report data. This raises potential concerns about the influence of common method variance
on our findings. We attempted to reduce these concerns somewhat by assuring participants
of the anonymity and confidentiality of their responses (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee and
Podsakoff 2003). If common method bias were a problem in this study, we would have
expected to see substantial correlations between variables that should theoretically be
unrelated, such as AC and CC (cf. Lindell and Brandt 2000; Lindell and Whitney 2001).
The fact that the correlation between the two commitment components was non-significant
suggests that common method bias was not a serious problem. We also note that the
direction and magnitude of our observed correlations were consistent with prior work
looking at HRM practices–commitment relations, thus further reducing concerns about
inflated correlations due to common method variance. Another conceptual limitation
concerns our focus on two of the three commitment components. We anticipate that as
future research addresses the conceptual issues associated with normative commitment
(for a review, see Bergman 2006) this component will be integrated more fully within
commitment profile configurations. An implicit assumption in the present study would be
that normative commitment is held constant at its mean across all four profiles. We also
acknowledge that the reliability for the measure of stability-oriented HRM practices was
lower than desired. However, lower reliability would have made it more difficult for us to
find any associations with this measure. Increasing the number of items in the stability-
oriented and reward-oriented measures should improve scale reliability in future research.
Finally, the study’s cross-sectional design prevents us from drawing firm conclusions
regarding causality.
Practical implications
Employee commitment is a resource that firms can use to help them sustain the workforce
capabilities that give them sustained advantage over competitors. Our findings show how
HRM practices can be used to create different commitment profiles, especially those that
have payoffs in terms of reduced turnover and higher citizenship behaviour (Organ 1988).
Our findings also highlight the importance of monitoring the multiple forms of employee
commitment so the nature of the commitment profile can be understood and managed.
Based on Wasti (2005) and Sinclair et al. (2005), it seems that the best balance of
employee retention and citizenship behaviours is achieved when both AC and CC are high.
Organizations should measure the frequency of commitment components and, as this
study suggests, invest in HRM practices that reduce the frequency of organizationally
undesirable profiles. Of course, this is just the beginning. Much more research is necessary
to identify other factors associated with the various commitment profiles.
Acknowledgement
Support for this research was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council ofCanada.
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