Journal of Organization and Human Behaviour

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

The Effects of Workplace Dimensions on Job Satisfaction and Organisational Commitment


Affiliations
1 Department of Business Administration, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Kerala, India
2 Vimal Jyothi Institute of Management and Research, Kerala, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


The retail industry of India, in spite of having exponential growth potential, has been severely affected of store-level employee turnover at the rate of 60-80% for a long time. Retention of frontline employees, who constitute about 85% of the retail workforce, has been a perennial cause of worry for the retail operators. The purpose of this paper is to understand the mental disposition of frontline employees with regard to workplace dimensions such as routinisation, social support factors (peer support and supervisor support) and job stress factors (workload, role ambiguity, and role conflict) in determining their job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Though the result confirms that a change in job satisfaction can significantly influence organisational commitment of employees, the descriptive statistics indicate that frontline employees, in spite of having low job stress, moderate routinisation, high job satisfaction and moderately high social support, would not remain committed to their organisation. The negative correlation between job satisfaction and organisational commitment hints at the possibility of exit of employees from their current organisations in the nearest future. This indicates that retail operators should urgently revamp their human resource policies and structurally empower their employees providing ongoing opportunities for development to enhance job satisfaction and commitment.

Keywords

Routinisation, Social Support, Job Stress, Job Satisfaction and Organisational Commitment.
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Aarts, H., & Dijksterhuis, A. (2000). Habits as knowledge structures: automaticity in goal directed behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 53-63.

  • Aldrich, H., & Herker, D. (1977). Boundary spanning roles and organization structure. Academy of Management Review, 2(2), 217-230.

  • Anderson, J. R. (2000). Cognitive psychology and its implications (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

  • Ahmad, Z., & Taylor, D. (2009). Commitment to independence by internal auditors: The effects of role ambiguity and role conflict.Managerial Auditing Journal, 24(9), 899-925.

  • Aven, F., Parker, B., & McEvoy, G. (1993). Gender and attitudinal commitment to organizations: Ametaanalysis. Journal of Business Research, 26, 49-61.

  • Awamleh, N. A. H. K. (1996). Organizational commitment of civil service managers in Jordan: A field study. Journal of Management Development,15(5), 65-74.

  • Bargh, J. A., & Barndollar, K. (1996). Automaticity in action: the unconscious as repository of chronic goals and motives. In P. M. Gollwitzer, & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), The psychology of action: Linking cognition and motivation to behavior (pp. 457 481). New York, NY: The Guilford press.

  • Bateman, G. (2009). Employee perceptions of co-worker support and its effect on job satisfaction, work stress and intention to quit.A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Applied Psychology at the Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, 1-61.

  • Bateman, T. S., & Strasser, S. (1984). A longitudinal analysis of the antecedents of organizational commitment. Academy of Management Journal, 27, 95-112.

  • Beehr, T. A., King, L. A., & King, D. W. (1990). Social support and occupational stress: Talking to supervisors. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 38, 61-81.

  • Berry, L. M. (1997). Psychology at work. San Francisco: McGraw Hill.

  • Bowen, D. E., & Schneider, B. (1985). Boundary spanning role employees and the service encounter: Some guidelines for management and research. In J. A. Czepiel, M. R. Solomon, & C. Surprenant (Eds.), The service encounter, 127-147. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.

  • Brown, S. P., & Peterson, R. A. (1993). Antecedents and Consequences of Salesperson Job Satisfaction: MetaAnalysis and Assessment of Causal Effects. Journal of Marketing Research, 30, 63-77.

  • Busch, T., Fallan, L., & Pettersen, A. (1998). Disciplinary differences in job satisfaction self-efficacy, goal commitment and organizational commitment among faculty employees in Norwegian Colleges: An empirical assessment of indicators of performance. Quality in Higher Education, 4(2), 137-157

  • Chiu-Yueh, T. (2000). A Study on the Relationship among Organizational Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour of Nursing Personnel. Master's Thesis, Department of Human Resource Management. Retrieved from http://etd.lib.nsusu.edu.tw/ETD_db/ETDsearch/ view_ etd?URN=etd-0725101-002148

  • Clark, A., & Oswald, A. (1996). Satisfaction and comparison income. Journal of Public Economics, 61, 359-381.

  • Cohen, S., & Williamson, G. (1991). Stress and infectious disease in humans. Psychological Bulletin,109, 5-24.

  • Cooper, C. L., & Cartwright, S. (1994). Stress management interventions in the workplace: Stress counselling and stress audits. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 22(1), 65-73.

  • Coverman, S. (2001). Role overload, role conflict, and stress: Addressing consequences of multiple role demands. Social Forces, 67(4), 965-982.

  • Cummins, R. C. (1990). Job stress and the buffering effort of supervisory support. Group and Organizational Studies, 15(1), 92-104.

  • Curry, J., Wakefield, D., Price, J., & Mueller, C (1986).On the causal ordering of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Academy of Management Journal, 29(4), 847-858.

  • Currivan, D. B. (2000). The casual order of job satisfaction and organizational commitment in models of employee turnover, Human Resource Management Review, 9(4), 495-524.

  • Day, G. S. (1994). The capabilities of market driven organizations. Journal of Marketing, 58, 37-52.

  • Deloitte. (2013). Indian retail market: opening more doors, pg 1-19, Retrieved from www.deolitte.com/in Dose, J. J., & Klimoski, R. J. (1995). Doing the right thing in the workplace: Responsibility in the face of accountability. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 8 (1), 35-58.

  • Edworthy, A. (2000). Managing Stress. Buckingham: Open University Press.

  • Eichar, D. M., & Thompson, J. L. P. (1986). Alienation, occupational self direction, and worker consciousness. Work and Occupation,13, 47-65.

  • Ford, C. M., & Gioia, D. A. (2000). Factors influencing creativity in the domain of managerial decision making. Journal of Management, 26, 705-732.

  • Freund, A. (2005). Commitment and job satisfaction as predictors turnover intentions among welfare workers. Administration in Social Work, 29(2), 5-21.

  • Furnham, A., & Walsh, J. (1991). Consequences of person organization incongruence: Absenteeism, frustration, and stress. The Journal of Social Psychology, 31, 187-204.

  • Greenberg, J. &Baron;, R.A. (1995). Behaviour in Organizations: Understanding and Managing the Human Side of Work,(5th ed.), Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

  • Griffin M., Hogan N., Lambert E., Tucker-Gail, K., & Baker, D. (2009). Job Involvement, job Stress, job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment and the burnout of correctional staff. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 37, 239-255.

  • Guest, E. A. (1991). Human resource management. London: McGraw-Hill.

  • Hackman, J. R., & Lawler, E. E. (1971). Employee reactions to job characteristics. Journal of Applied Psychology, 55, 259-286.

  • Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1980). Job Redesign, Reading. M.A. Addison-Wesley.

  • Hartline, M. D., Maxham III, J. G., & McKee, D. O. (2000). Corridors of influence in the dissemination of customeroriented strategy to customer contact service employees. Journal of Marketing, 64(2), 3-50.

  • Higgins, C. A., Duxbury, L. E., & Irving, R.K. (1992).Workfamily conflict in the dual career family. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 51, 51-57.

  • Hodson, R. (1997). Group Relations at Work. Work and Occupations, 24(4).

  • Hom, P. W., & Kinichi, A. J. (2001). Toward a greater understanding of how dissatisfaction drives employee turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 44, 975-987.

  • Jackson, S. E., & Randal S. S. (1985). A meta-analysis and conceptual critique of research on role ambiguity and role conflict in work settings. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,36, 16-78.

  • Joiner, T. A. (2007). Total Quality Management and Performance: The Role of Organizational Support and Coworker Support. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 24(6).

  • Jones, C. A. (1989). Perceptions of emotional support, stress, and presented at the 21st Annual Conference of the National Association of Black Social Workers, Richmond, VA.

  • Johnson, J. V., & Hall, E. M. (1988). Job strain, workplace social support, and cardiovascular disease: A cross-sectional study of random sample of the Swedish working population. American Journal of Public Health,78, 1336-1342.

  • Kahn, R. L., Wolfe, D. M., Quinn, R. P., Snoek, J. D., & Rosenthal, R. A. (1964). Organizational stress: Studies in role conflict and ambiguity. New York: Wiley.

  • Kalleberg, A. L. (1977). Work values and job rewards: A theory of job satisfaction. American Sociological Review, 42, 124-143.

  • Kanter, R. M. (1968). Commitment and social organisations. A study of commitment mechanisms in utopian communities. American Sociological Review, 33, 499-517.

  • Kaur, K., & Sandhu, H. S. (2010). Career stage effect on organizational commitment: Empirical evidence from Indian banking world academy of science, engineering and technology industry. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(12), 141-152.

  • Kerr, S. (1975). On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B. Academy of Management Journal, 18(4), 769-783.

  • Fairbrother, K., & Warn, J. (2003).Workplace dimensions, stress and job satisfaction. Journal of Managerial Psychology,18(1), 8-21.

  • Kessler, R. C. (1992). Perceived support and adjustment to stress: Methodological considerations. In H.O.F. Veiel& U. Baumann (Eds.), The meaning and measurement of social support. New York: Hemisphere.

  • Kirk-Brown, A. (1999). The relationship between work stressors, social support, and emotional exhaustion in female employees of the Queensland Police Service.

  • Paper presented at the Third Australian Industrial and Organisational Psychology Conference, Brisbane, Australia.

  • Knight, D. K., Crutsinger, C., & Kim, H. J. (2006). The impact of retail work experience, career expectation, and job satisfaction on retail career intention. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 24(1).

  • Laschinger, H. K. S., Finegan, J., & Shamian, J. (2001a).

  • The impact of workplace empowerment and organizational trust on staff nurses' work satisfaction and organizational commitment. Health Care Management Review, 26(3), 7-23.

  • Laschinger, H. K. S., Finegan, J., Shamian, J., & Wilk, P. (2001b). Impact of structural and psychological empowerment on job strain in nursing work settings: expanding Kanter's Model. Journal of Nursing Administration, 31, 260-272.

  • Laschinger, H. K. S., Sabiston, J. A., & Kutzscher, L. (1997). Empowerment and staff nurse decision involvement in nursing work environments: Testing Kanter's theory of structural power in organizations. Research in Nursing and Health, 20, 341-352.

  • Levy, P. E. (2006). Industrial and Organisational Psychology: Understanding the Workplace (2nd ed.) Boston; Houghton Mifflin Company.

  • Limbert, C. (2004). Psychological well-being and job satisfaction amongst military personnel on unaccompanied tours: The impact of perceived social support and coping strategies. Military Psychology, 16 (1), 37-51.

  • Lock, E. (1976). The nature and causes of job satisfaction. In M.D. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Chicago: Rand McNally. p. 1297.

  • Mannheim, B., Baruch, Y., & Tal, J. (1997). Alternative models for antecedents and outcomes of work centrality and job satisfaction of high-tech personnel. Human Relations, 50(2), 1537-1562.

  • Mathieu, J. E., & Zajac, D. M. (1990). Review and metaanalysis of the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of organizational commitment. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 171-194.

  • Matteson, M. T., & Ivancevich, J.M. (1982). Managing job stress and heath: The intelligent person's guide, The Free Press, New York, NY.

  • Mayes, B. T. (1986). Role of social support in the experience of stress at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 102-110.

  • McDermott, K., Laschinger, H. K. S., & Shamian, J. (1996). Work empowerment and organizational commitment. Nursing Management, 27(5), 44-48.

  • McIntosh, N. J. (1991). Identification and investigation of properties of social support. Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 12, 201-217.

  • Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1990).The measurement and antecedents of effective, continuance and normative commitment to the organization. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63, 1-18.

  • Muchinsky, P. (1997). Psychology applied to work: An introduction to industrial and organizational psychology (5th Ed.), Pacific Grove, CA: Brookes/Cole Publishers.

  • Mueller, C. W., Wallace, J. E., & Price, J. L. (1992). Employee commitment: Resolving some issues. Work and Occupations, 19, 211-236.

  • Mullick, N. H. (2013). The success of shopping mall lies in the hands of mall developers: A study. Indian Journal of Marketing, 43 (6), 40-46.

  • Ng, T. W. H., & Sorenson, K. L. (2008). Toward a further understanding of the relationships between perceptions of support and work attitudes. Group and Organisation Management, 33(3).

  • Norman, D. A., & Bobrow, D. G. (1975). On data limited and resource limited processes. Cognitive Psychology, 7, 44-64.

  • Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

  • Ohly, S., Sonnentag, S., & Pluntke, F. (2006). Routinization, work characteristics and their relationships with creative and proactive behaviours. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 257-279.

  • Parasuraman, P., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1988). SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing, Spring, 12-39.

  • Pierce, J. L., & Delbecq, A. L. (1977). Organizational structure, individual attitudes and innovation. Academy of Management Review, 2, 27-37.

  • Price, J. L., & Mueller, C. W. (1986). Handbook of organizational measurement. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.

  • Price, J. L. (1997). Handbook of organizational measurement. Bradford, UK: MCB University Press

  • Rahman, T. (2012). Organized retail industry in India - opportunities and challenges. International Journal of Research in Finance and Marketing, 2(2), 82-94

  • Rizzo, J. R., House, R. J., & Lirtzman, S. I. (1970).

  • Role conflict and ambiguity in complex organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 150-63.

  • Rucci, A. J., Kirn, S. P., & Quinn, R.T. (1998).The Magazine. Harvard Business Review, Retrieved from http://hbr.org/1998/01/the-employee-customer-profit-chain-atsears/ar/7 on 24-3-2014

  • Salancik, G. R. (1977). Commitment and the control of organizational behavior and belief. In B. M. Staw & G. R.

  • Salancik (Eds.), Newdirections in organizational behavior (pp. 1-95). Chicago: St. Clair Press. Sloane, P. J. & Williams, H. (2000). Job satisfaction, comparison earnings and gender. Labor, 14, 473-502.

  • Smith, P. C., Kendall, L. M., & Hulin, C.L. (1969).The measurement of satisfaction in work and Retirement. Chicago: Rand Mcnally.

  • Stranks J. W. (2005). Stress at work: Management and prevention. Paris: Butterworth-Heinemann.

  • Shah, S. S. H., Jaffari, A. R.,; Aziz, J., Ejaz, W., Ul-Haq, I., & Raza, S. N. (2011).Workload and Performance of Employees. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 3(5), 256-267.

  • Tang, T. L., & LiPing, J. K. (1999). The meaning of money among mental health workers: The endorsement of money ethic as related to organization citizenship behaviour, job satisfaction and commitment. Public Personnel Management 28, 15-26.

  • Warsi, S., Fatima, N., & Sahibzada, S. A. (2009). International Review of Business Research Papers, 5(3), 399- 410.

  • Wood, S. E., Wood, E. G., & Boyd, D. (2007). The world of psychology. Pearson Education Inc.

  • VanLehn, K. (1996). Cognitive skill acquisition. Annual Review of Psychology, 47, 513-539.

  • Vroom, V. (1964). Work and Motivation. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

  • Williams, L. J. &Hazer;, J. T. (1986). Antecedents and consequences of satisfaction and commitment in turnover models: A reanalysis using latent variable structural equation methods. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(2), 219-231.

  • Zhou, J., & George, J. M. (2001). When job dissatisfaction leads to creativity: encouraging the expression of voice. Academy of Management Journal, 44, 682-696.


Abstract Views: 324

PDF Views: 2




  • The Effects of Workplace Dimensions on Job Satisfaction and Organisational Commitment

Abstract Views: 324  |  PDF Views: 2

Authors

Joji Alex
Department of Business Administration, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Kerala, India
A. P. George
Vimal Jyothi Institute of Management and Research, Kerala, India

Abstract


The retail industry of India, in spite of having exponential growth potential, has been severely affected of store-level employee turnover at the rate of 60-80% for a long time. Retention of frontline employees, who constitute about 85% of the retail workforce, has been a perennial cause of worry for the retail operators. The purpose of this paper is to understand the mental disposition of frontline employees with regard to workplace dimensions such as routinisation, social support factors (peer support and supervisor support) and job stress factors (workload, role ambiguity, and role conflict) in determining their job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Though the result confirms that a change in job satisfaction can significantly influence organisational commitment of employees, the descriptive statistics indicate that frontline employees, in spite of having low job stress, moderate routinisation, high job satisfaction and moderately high social support, would not remain committed to their organisation. The negative correlation between job satisfaction and organisational commitment hints at the possibility of exit of employees from their current organisations in the nearest future. This indicates that retail operators should urgently revamp their human resource policies and structurally empower their employees providing ongoing opportunities for development to enhance job satisfaction and commitment.

Keywords


Routinisation, Social Support, Job Stress, Job Satisfaction and Organisational Commitment.

References