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Wong 2002
Wong 2002
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Yui-Tim Wong, Hang-Yue Ngo, Chi-Sum Wong, (2002),"Affective organizational commitment of workers in Chinese joint ventures",
Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 17 Iss: 7 pp. 580 - 598
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Journal of
Managerial
Psychology
17,7
580
Received August 2001
Revised March 2002
Accepted May 2002
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0268-3946.htm
Affective organizational
commitment of workers in
Chinese joint ventures
Yui-Tim Wong
Introduction
Organizational commitment has been studied extensively over the last three
decades. Tremendous research efforts have been devoted to understanding the
nature, antecedents, and consequences of organizational commitment. In
particular, the construct of organizational commitment has been demonstrated
to be an important predictor of certain organizational outcomes such as in-role
job performance, extra-role behavior, turnover intention, and actual turnover.
However, most of the past studies on organizational commitment were
conducted in Western countries; few studies were conducted elsewhere. A
systematic investigation of the meaning and outcomes of organizational
commitment across cultures is needed in order to assess the generalizabilty of
research findings (Meyer and Allen, 1997). In view of its unique cultural
traditions (Earley, 1989; Warner, 1993) and sweeping economic reforms during
the past two decades, China provides a good research setting in which to study
workers' organizational commitment.
Joint ventures have become a major form of foreign investment in China
since the country adopted its open-door economic policies. There are several
characteristics of joint ventures in China. First of all, the creation of joint
ventures is subject to government pressures and often includes the government
as a partner. Joint ventures are often formed with partners from ethnically
related countries, such as Taiwan and Hong Kong (Beamish, 1993). Second,
most of them have adopted human resources practices that are different from
those traditionally adopted in China's state-owned enterprises (Warner, 1997).
For example, a performance-based reward system has been widely used in joint
ventures to motivate workers. Moreover, redundancies and dismissals are also
practiced in joint ventures (Warner, 1997). It has been noted that the
employment conditions and the job security of workers in joint ventures differ
significantly from those in state-owned enterprises. Joint ventures also have a
high job turnover due to both voluntary and involuntary decisions (Chow et al.,
1999, 2001).
Previous studies of Chinese joint ventures have focused on the strategic,
legal and management issues involved in setting up and running foreign joint
ventures in China (e.g. Beamish, 1993; Pearson, 1991). These issues are
important to organizational effectiveness and performance. Equally important
are the job attitudes and work behaviors of employees in joint ventures. Yet
few studies have been conducted so far to identify the factors that affect
employees' job attitudes and how job attitudes affect their turnover intentions.
This study tries to fill such a research gap by investigating the determinants
and outcomes of the organizational commitment of joint venture employees in
China.
In this study, we combine three theoretical frameworks (i.e. the justice
framework, the job security framework and the trust framework) together to
develop a mediation model. The proposed model considers trust in organization
as a mediating variable between the three independent variables (i.e.
distributive justice, procedural justice and perceived job security) and affective
organizational commitment. Additionally, the model further suggests that
organizational commitment will affect the turnover intention of workers. A
data set consisting of 295 employees in four joint ventures in Guangdong
Province of China was used to test the hypotheses empirically. We try to shed
light on the antecedents and consequence of the affective commitment of
workers employed in joint ventures.
Affective commitment
Blau and Boal (1987) defined organizational commitment as a psychological
state in which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its
goals and desires to maintain membership with the organization. In fact, there
are several different definitions of organizational commitment, but these
various definitions and measures share the common theme that organizational
commitment should be considered as a bond or a linking between the
individual and the organization.
Meyer and Allen (1991) summarized the major definitions of organizational
commitment provided by different theorists and categorized them under three
broad themes. These include the affective orientation theme, the cost-based
theme, and the obligation or moral responsibility of commitment theme. The
most prevalent theme is through the affective orientation, in which
commitment is considered as an affective or emotional attachment to the
Organizational
commitment of
workers
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Psychology
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582
loyalty (Earley, 1989; Warner, 1993). All these cultural characteristics have a
positive impact on employees' organizational commitment. It has been
suggested that Chinese workers are group-oriented (Wang, 1990). Leung and
Bond (1984) also pointed out that Chinese people are concerned with enhancing
in-group harmony. Moreover, it has been argued that despite Maoism (which
emphasizes egalitarian values), many Confucian values (which emphasize a
hierarchical structure and paternalistic authority) remain strong in today's
China (Bond and Hofstede, 1989). The Confucian traditions of social duty and
obligation might well lead to an emphasis on respect for authority and loyalty
at work. These values and beliefs have important bearings on the development
of trust and commitment in the workplace in China.
Hypotheses
Antecedents of affective commitment
Because of the enterprise reforms in China, the traditional ``iron rice bowl
system'' in which workers could expect lifelong employment has been
supplanted and greater autonomy in human resources management has been
granted to Chinese enterprises (Chow et al., 1999). As a result, employees
receive different amounts of compensation under different reward systems (e.g.
the individual reward system, the team reward system, and the performancebased reward system). Chen (1995) found that Chinese employees were
economically oriented and preferred to invoke differential rules (i.e. those that
result in unequal distribution of rewards) for the allocation of material rewards
(e.g. pay and bonuses). It is worth noting that the performance-based rewards
system has been widely implemented in joint ventures (Warner, 1998).
Distribution principles and procedures for the allocation of material rewards
based on fairness have also been used. Under such a work setting, employees in
joint ventures are likely to have higher levels of perceptions of distributive
justice (i.e. the fairness of allocation of material rewards) and of procedural
justice (i.e. the means used to determine these rewards). According to the justice
literature, positive perceptions of distributive justice and procedural justice
should be associated with higher levels of organizational commitment.
In a survey of more than 2,000 employees, Alexander and Ruderman (1987)
found that trust in management an important aspect of trust in organization
(Ashford et al., 1989) was an outcome of distributive justice (Alexander and
Ruderman, 1987). It is plausible that Chinese joint ventures that adopt nonconventional and results-oriented HRM practices would have fair and rational
distribution principles for the allocation of material rewards, and this in turn
would foster workers' trust in organization. In view of the above, we
hypothesize that:
H1. Employees in joint ventures with higher levels of perception of
distributive justice will have higher levels of trust in organization.
Alexander and Ruderman's (1987) study also found that procedural justice
showed substantial unique effects on trust in management. Folger and
Organizational
commitment of
workers
583
Journal of
Managerial
Psychology
17,7
584
Organizational
commitment of
workers
585
Journal of
Managerial
Psychology
17,7
586
Ashford et al., 1989). These arguments support our prediction that affective
commitment mediates the relationship between job security and turnover
intention.
Since the economic reforms and the open-door policies in China, many new
job opportunities have been made available to workers, including those
provided by joint ventures, foreign-invested enterprises, and private
businesses. Chinese workers now enjoy greater job mobility than before.
Although workers employed in joint ventures have more job choices, their
turnover intention is also influenced by such factors as their own skills,
alternative working opportunities in the region, and their own perception of job
prospects and job security. Their affective commitment to the employing
organization is likely to affect their turnover intention. Hence, we hypothesize
that:
H5. Joint venture employees' levels of affective commitment will have a
significant and negative impact on their levels of turnover intention.
Previous research findings have shown that job security is negatively
correlated with the intention to quit (Arnold and Feldman, 1982; Ashford et al.,
1989). Today, Chinese employees no longer enjoy the so-called ``iron rice bowl''.
For instance, a joint venture manager has the right to lay off workers whose
performance is poor or whose position is considered redundant. The manager
can also fire undisciplined workers or those who have committed offences. As
such, job security has become a main concern for workers employed in Chinese
joint ventures. Since most of them are contract and temporary workers (Zhu,
1995), they are likely to perceive that they have less job security as compared
with permanent workers in other types of enterprises. This in turn would
reduce their loyalty to their employer and increase their turnover intention.
Hence, we hypothesize that:
H6. Joint venture employees' perceived job security has a negative impact on
their levels of turnover intention.
Method
Sample
The sample for this study was composed of 295 employees in four joint venture
factories. Data were collected from production officers, front-line supervisors,
technical workers and clerks in four factories in Guangdong Province, a
southern province in the People's Republic of China that has witnessed
considerable economic growth in the past two decades. These four factories
manufacture handbags and wallets. The sample of employees was 36.6 percent
male and 63.4 percent female with a mean age of approximately 25 years. A
total of 62 percent of the sample was married. The average job tenure for the
sample was 28 months. Short job tenure is typical of the region because many
of the factories have just recently been established. In this sample, 19.3 percent
of the employees were local workers, 15.3 percent came from other cities in
Guangdong, and 65.4 percent came from other provinces.
Organizational
commitment of
workers
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Psychology
17,7
588
Procedures
Data collection involved a number of personal trips by one of the authors to
each data collection site. During the first two trips, the production managers,
production officers, supervisors and technical workers in the four factories in
the sample were interviewed in order to gain a better understanding of the
factories and workers under study. This was done to ensure that a
questionnaire relevant to the sample would be created. After designing the
questionnaire, a pilot test consisting of 20 subordinates was conducted in the
four factories with the aim of determining the appropriateness of the contents,
the proper use of words, the ease of understanding by the subjects and any
modifications needed. During the following trips, the principal investigator was
present along with two local members of the factory staff to collect the
questionnnaire. We deemed that this was essential after learning from previous
experience that collecting quality research data in China often requires the
presence of research professionals. Based on the name lists of all staff and
workers in the four factories, the respondents were identified in advance by
systematic sampling. Questionnaires were distributed personally to each
respondent. To assure all respondents that their individual responses would
not be revealed to members of their working unit, the questionnaires were
collected immediately after completion. The participants were assured that
their questionnaires would be kept confidential.
The survey questionnaires were written in Chinese. To ensure equivalence
of the measures in the Chinese and the English versions, back-translation from
Chinese into English was first performed (Brislin, 1970). The two translations
revealed no substantial differences in the meanings of the items. Two local
research assistants with university degrees in English from Guangdong
Province then personally reviewed all Chinese translated items to ensure that
they would be meaningful to Chinese participants. Finally, the Chinese version
of the questionnaire was examined by two Chinese scholars in Hong Kong. All
items were modified to fit into the five-point Likert-scale format (i.e. 1 =
extremely disagree and 5 = extremely agree).
Measures
Affective commitment. Eight items from the affective commitment scale (Allen
and Meyer, 1990) were used to measure the employees' affective commitment in
this study. This measure employs a five-point scale in Likert format; the higher
scores indicate stronger commitment. The coefficient alpha of this sample was
0.74.
Procedural justice/formal procedures. The four items used by Balkin and
Gomez-Mejia (1990) were modified and adopted. An example of an item is:
``Managers at all levels participate in pay and performance appraisal decisions''.
The coefficient alpha of this sample was 0.71.
Perceived distributive justice. Five items from the Distributive Justice Index
(Price and Muller, 1986) were modified and adopted. An example of an item is:
Organizational
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workers
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590
perceived job security and trust in organization. H4 was tested by the path
coefficients between trust in organization and affective commitment.
The following regression equations are estimated to examine the mediating
effect of trust in organization in the proposed model (i.e. H4a, H4b and H4c):
first, regressing the mediator on the independent variable(s); second, regressing
the dependent variable on the independent variable(s); and third, regressing the
dependent variable on the both the independent variable(s) and on the
mediator. Separate coefficients for each equation were estimated and tested. In
addition, the nested model testing procedure was used to examine the
mediating effects of trust in organization in H4a, H4b and H4c. It should be
noted that two models are nested when they are identical in all respects except
that one of them has more structural paths than has the other. The baseline
model in this study was the mediation model. One submodel (i.e. the revised
model) was developed. The revised model was then nested with the mediation
model to examine how trust in organization mediates the relationship between
distributive justice and affective commitment, between procedural justice and
affective commitment, and between perceived job security and affective
commitment.
Since the employees' turnover intention was hypothesized as a consequence
of their affective commitment, H5 was tested by the path coefficient between
affective commitment and turnover intention in the baseline model. Perceived
job security was also hypothesized as an antecedent of employees' turnover
intention; H6 was thus tested by the path coefficient between employees'
perceived job security and turnover intention.
Results
The means, standard deviations and correlations between the variables for the
sample are reported in Table I. A preliminary examination of the correlations
Variable
Table I.
Means, standard
deviations and
correlations among
measures
1. Affective
commitment
2. Trust in
organization
3. Distributive
justice
4. Procedural
justice
5. Perceived job
security
6. Turnover
intention
Mean
SD
3.44
0.54
(0.74)
3.50
0.59
0.501** (0.79)
3.42
0.87
0.160*
0.313** (0.88)
3.29
0.76
0.136*
2.99
0.75
2.44
0.67
0.186** (0.72)
0.012
0.311**
Notes: Values in parentheses are Cronbach's alphas. n = 295; * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01
(0.74)
Organizational
commitment of
workers
591
Figure 1.
Path coefficients for the
mediation model
Table II.
Results of the path
analysis of the four
conditions for
mediation effects in the
mediation model
0.262**
0.142*
0.110*
0.027
0.338**
Condition 3 (X ? Z)
Affective commitment
0.448**
0.290**
0.033
0.084
0.201**
Condition 4 (X ? Y and
Y ? Z)
Affective commitment
Notes: Table showing the estimated standardized regression coefficients for the equations. n = 295; * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01
0.173*
0.248**
0.306**
Condition 2 (Y ? Z)
Affective commitment
592
Independent variables
Condition 1 (X ? Y)
Trust in organization
Dependent variables
Journal of
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Psychology
17,7
Standardized
RMR
GFI
CFI
IFI
2
Mediation model
(baseline model)
23.27 (6)
0.054
0.98
0.95
0.95
Revised model
(i.e. mediation model
adds the paths of
JS ? AC)
16.49 (5)
0.046
0.98
0.96
0.97
6.78*
Notes: Two models are nested when they are identical in all respects except that one of
them has more structural paths than the other. The two models can be tested by the change
in 2 . Standardized RMR = standardized root mean square residual; GFI = goodness of fit
index; CFI = comparative fit index; IFI = incremental fit index; AC = affective commitment;
JS = perceived job security. n = 295; * p < 0.05
Organizational
commitment of
workers
593
Table III.
Results of the nested
model testing
Journal of
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Psychology
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Figure 2.
Revised structural
model for the mediation
model
RMR = 0.046; GFI = 0.98; CFI = 0.96; and IFI = 0.97. All path coefficients
depicted in Figure 2 represent standardized estimates. The revised structural
model suggests that trust in organization (TO) fully mediates the relationship
between distributive justice (DJ) and affective commitment (AC); trust in
organization (TO) fully mediates the relationship between procedural justice
(PJ) and affective commitment (AC); and trust in organization (TO) partially
mediates the relationship between perceived job security (JS) and affective
commitment (AC).
Discussion
The study of organizational commitment is important in China. However,
limited studies have been conducted so far, particularly on the impacts of
distributive justice, procedural justice and job security on organizational
commitment. It should be noted that Chinese employees put great emphasis on
trust in organization, which in turn significantly affects their affective
commitment toward their employing organization. It is expected that
employees' trust in organization is influenced by their perceived distributive
justice, perceived procedural justice, and perceived job security which are
derived from the actual working environment. Therefore, we investigate the
antecedents and consequences of affective commitment in the context of joint
ventures by proposing a mediation model that highlights the mediating role of
``trust in organization''. The proposed mediation model is supported in the
following ways:
.
perceived distributive justice, perceived procedural justice, and
perceived job security directly affect trust in organization;
.
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Finally, the sample in this study comprised 295 employees in four joint
venture factories in Guangdong Province. The majority of them were workers
from other provinces and it is difficult for these short-term workers to develop
trust in organization and commitment to the organization because of their
geographical mobility. More future studies need to be conducted in other
provinces in China to see whether the findings can be generalized to other parts
of China.
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