The rise and fall of Organizational Commitment

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Baruch, Yehuda^{; *}

Affiliations: School of Management, UEA, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK, Tel: +44 1603 593341; Fax: +44 1603 593343; E-mail: y.baruch@uea.ac.uk

Note: [*] The author wishes to thank Miriam Erez, Mark Fenton-O’Creevy, Patrick Flood, Maury Peiperl, Rose Trevelyan, and Zaki Seafer for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of the paper.

Abstract: The concept and theory of Organizational Commitment (OC) has gained considerable attention in the management and behavioral sciences. Numerous studies have explored the associations between OC and various phenomena, with impressive results. This paper argue that the concept needs re-examination in light of recent business changes. The assertion that OC leads to a set of desired outputs proved to be valid for times of mutual commitment between organizations and their employees. We are now entering a new era of Human Resource and industrial relation systems, characterised by frequent redundancies and downsizing processes. This trend reflects a low commitment from organizations to their employees which is followed by a reduced level of OC. Subsequently it is hypothesised that the strength of OC as a leading concept in management and behavioral sciences is continuously decreasing. Support from the literature is provided, and recommendations for future research are presented.

Keywords: Organizational Commitment, downsizing, loyalty, trust relationship

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-1998-17207

Journal: Human Systems Management, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 135-143, 1998