Journal of Management Development

The relationship between training and organizational commitment among academicians in Malaysia
Nouruddeen Bashir Choi Sang Long
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Nouruddeen Bashir Choi Sang Long , (2015),"The relationship between training and organizational commitment among
academicians in Malaysia", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 34 Iss 10 pp. -
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 The relationship between training and organizational commitment among
academicians in Malaysia

Introduction

Employees’ knowledge and skills have become increasingly important to organisation

performance, competitiveness, and innovation. Human resource capital is a basic source to achieve
competitive advantage (Thang, 2009). Organizations are spending huge amount of money and
resources to train their employees with the hope of increasing organization performance. As at
1996, companies in the U.S. were reported to have spent huge amounts of money on training
annually than public schools (O’Connor et al., 1996). In 2011, the ASTD reported that U.S.
organizations spent more than $156 billion on employee learning and development (Franko, 2013).
Training in an organization is basically a learning process by which the management, HR or
training staff of the organisation or from outside the organisation provide its employees purposeful
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learning opportunities in a structured manner. The ultimate aim of this process is the development
of the employee’s knowledge, skills and attitudes which are deemed to be necessary by the
organisation in achieving it aims and objectives. Armstrong (2001) stated that the main objectives of
employee training in organisations are development of employee competences and improvement of
their performances; employee growth within the organization such that future human resource
needs of the organisation can be met and lastly reduction of employee learning time in the case of
new appointments, transfers or promotion. Meyer and Allen (1991) divided organisational
commitment into three components namely affective commitment, continuance commitment and
normative commitment. They defined affective commitment as employee’s emotional attachment
to, identification with, and involvement in an organisation. On the other hand, continuance
commitment is the extent to which employees feel committed to their organizations by virtue of the
costs that they feel are associated with leaving. Employees may stay in an organisation due to the
investments they have made or the costs/benefits associated with leaving. While normative
commitment is define as an employee’s feeling of obligation to remain with an organisation,
implying that an employee with such kind of commitment believes that not leaving the organisation
is morally the right thing to do.
Employee training and organisational commitment are of paramount importance in
organisations. The former has been acknowledged to improve organisation performance and ensure
competitive advantage while the latter can reduce turnover intentions. Numerous studies have been
conducted in the past two decades on the relationship between employee training and
organisational commitment. These researches have studied various training-related variables and
have concluded that there is a relationship between training and organisational commitment
(Tannenbaum et al., 1991; Bartlett, 2001; Owens, 2006; Al-Emadi and Marquardt, 2007).
However, despite the myriad of literature on training and organisational commitment, most
of the studies were conducted in organisations in the west. Few researches have been carried out on
this subject outside the west especially in the Asian region. Recently, works by Chen and Francesco
(2000) and Glazer et al. (2004) have reported that studies on commitment can differ from region to
region or country to country due to cultural differences. For example, a recent study investigating
the employee perceptions of training on organizational commitment and turnover intentions in
Chinese multinational companies by Newman et al. (2011) reported findings on no relationship
between motivation to learn and perceived benefits of training, and affective and continuance
commitment which contradicts the results of similar studies carried out in the US by Barlett (2001)
and in Qatar by Al-Emadi and Marquardt (2007).
In Malaysia, studies on training and organisational commitment is lacking. Few studies have
been conducted on either training or organisational commitment with other factors. Normala (2010)
investigated the quality of work life and organisational commitment in Malaysian firms. Ahmad and
Oranye (2010) conducted a comparative study on the relationships between nurses’ empowerment,
 job satisfaction and organizational commitment in England and Malaysia. Boon and Arumugam
(2006) investigate the influence of four dimensions of corporate culture on employees’
organizational commitment within Malaysian semiconductor packaging organizations. On the other
hand, other studies in Malaysia on training focused on managerial practices (Abdullah, 1992) or
training development (Saiyadain and Juhary, 1995).

Previous Studies On The Relationship Between Training And Employee Organisational

Commitment

A number of studies have shown that HRM practices in organisations no doubt influence
employees’ attitudes and job-related behaviour (Gould-Williams, 2007) which consequently result in
better organisational effectiveness. Such positive relationships are largely due to the employees’
perception of the extent to which their employer values and recognises their contribution to the
organisation and the care of their well-being (Newmann, 2011).
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Newmann (2011) further went on to explain that this positive relationship can be explained
by the Social Exchange Theory proposed by Blau (1964) which emphasises that the attitudes and
behaviours of employees are largely influenced by the psychological contract that exists between
them and their employers. In other words, a social exchange will exist when employers care about
their employees’ interest. The result of the social exchange is the reciprocity of positive attitudes
and job-related behaviours by the employee which in turn leads to better organisational
performance.
It is in this view that numerous studies have been conducted on the role employee training plays
towards enhancing organisational commitment. This is because literatures have shown that
employees tend to perceive the provision of training by their employees as a sign of care and
recognition of their contribution. This action triggers a social exchange consequently creating a
strong psychological bond.

Availability of Training

McNeese-Smith and Nazarey (2001) conducted a semi-structured interview on 30 staff

nurses in a large Los Angeles County Hospital to investigate the factors that contribute to
commitment to their organisation as well as lack of the commitment. The result of the interview
revealed that 40 percent of the nurses identified opportunities for learning as one of the causes of
commitment to their organisation.
Lowry et al. (2002) examined the impact of work context factors (such as management
practices, promotion, work scheduling, social integration and training) on employee job satisfaction
and commitment. The study was conducted on casual employees in the Australian hospitality
industry. Results from their study indicated that casual employees who had received training were
more satisfied with and committed to their jobs compared to those who had not.
Bartlett (2001) explored the relationship between employees’ perception towards training
and organisational commitment. The target population were nurses in five public hospitals. Among
the variables related training that were measured, perceived access to training had the highest
correlation with organisational commitment. And among the three components of organisational
commitment, affective commitment had strongest relationships with training.
In a similar study, Bartlett and Kang (2004) conducted a study to compare the relationship
between perception of training and organisational commitment between nurses in New Zealand and
the United States. Results from the two groups of nurses showed that perceived access to training
were positively related to affective and normative components of organisational commitment.
However, the study showed that nurses from New Zealand reported lower levels of organisational
commitment as compared to their counterparts in the United States.
 Ahmad and Bakar (2003) also carried out a study among local professionals in Malaysia to
explore the relationship between training and organisational commitment. Their study investigated
the relation between five training variables and the three components of organisational
commitment. Results showed that in general there is positive relationship between all the training
variables and the three components of organisational commitment. However availability of training
significantly correlated with affective commitment and normative commitment and less significant
with continuance commitment.
A similar study was carried out in China among Chinese employees working in multinational
companies by Newmann et al. (2011). Results of their study showed a strong relationship between
perceived availability of training and continuance commitment. In addition, the general relationship
between training perception and continuance commitment was weaker compared to previous
researches carried out by Bartlett (2001) and Ahmad and Bakar (2003).
Bulut and Culha (2010) conducted an empirical study to investigate the impact of training on
organisational commitment among employees of 4- and 5-star hotels in Turkey. Among the training
variables, access to training positively corrected well with organisational commitment. Similar
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findings were reported also by Ooi and Arumugam (2006) when they investigated the influence of
corporate culture on organisational commitment among employees in the Malaysian semiconductor
packaging industry. Lam and Zhang (2003) also reported as positive relationship between learning
opportunities and organisational commitment among employees in the Hong Kong fast food
Industry.
Alhassan (2011) conducted a study to investigate the relationship between employees’ perception of
training and the two components of organisational commitment viz. affective commitment and
continuance commitment. The study was conducted among employees in the hotel sector of the
Western Cape Province of South Africa. Results from the study showed that employees who
perceived high availability of training demonstrated higher affective commitment compared to the
employees who perceived low availability of training. The study further went on to reveal a
correlation between perceived availability of training and turnover intentions implying that
employees with high perception of training availability had lower intentions of leaving the
organisation.
Owoyemi et al. (2011) conducted a study to explore the relationship between training and
employees’ organisational commitment a financial service organisation in South-Western Nigeria.
Statistical analysis was conducted with commitment as the dependent variable and levels of training
based on the number of days the employees has received training as the dependent variables. The
number of days were less than 1 day, less than 2 days, 2 to 5 days, less than 10 days and more than
10 days respectively. Their results revealed a positive correlation between the number of days the
employees trained and their commitment to the organisation.
Yang et al. (2012) also reported a relationship existed between employees’ perception on
access to training and organisational commitment. Data from employees in two organisations from
Philippines showed that the employees’ perceived access to training positively related well with
organisational commitment. In addition, employee self-construal had a mediating effect on this
relationship. Employees’ perception of access to training was positively related to normative
commitment for employees with a high collective self-construal.
In view of the foregoing, the following hypothesis with regards to the relationship between
availability of training and organisational commitment is formed as follows:
H1: There is a positive relationship between perceived availability of training and organisational
commitment.

Motivation To Learn

Noe and Schmitt (1986) defined motivation to learn as “the specific desire of a learner to
learn the content of a training program”. They further went on to suggest that employees who lack
 the motivation to learn may fail to learn or master the content of a training program. In addition,
individuals that have high motivation are more likely to apply the skills they learnt during their
training on their jobs (Cannon-Bowers et al., 1993).
Bartlett (2001) stated that there are two components involved in motivation to learn, first is
the general measure of how motivated an individual is to learn, and the second is a more specific,
which is how that individual is motivated to learn during training. Bulut and Culha (2010) argued that
employees that had high motivation right from the outset can be predicted to have organisational
commitment. Few studies in the past have reported a positive relationship between learning
motivation and organisational commitment.
Cheng and Ho (2001) examined the effects of job involvement and career commitment on
learning motivation and learning transfer among graduates of part-time MBA programs in Hong
Kong. The results of their study indicated that learning motivation was a significant predictor of
learning transfer. In addition career commitment was positively related to learning motivation and
learning transfer.
Findings in a study by Bartlett (2001) to explore the relationship between employees’
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perception towards training and organisational commitment among nurses in North America
revealed that there was a significant positive relationship between motivation to learn and the
affective and normative forms of organisational commitment. However, a negative but non-
significant relationship existed between motivation to learn and the continuance form of
organizational commitment. Similar results were reported by Bartlett and Kang (2004) when they
conducted similar studies among nurses in New Zealand.
Results of studies on training and organisational commitment conducted by Ahmad and
Bakar (2003) were a consistent with the research conducted by Bartlett (2001). There a positive
correlation between motivation to learn and with affective and normative commitments as well as
overall organisational commitment. In addition their findings also showed no correlation existed
between motivation to learn and continuance commitment.
Tsai and Tai (2003) on their study on the antecedents of training motivation, conducted a
study to investigate the mediation effect of employees’ perceived importance of training on the
relationship between training assignment and training motivation. The study was conducted among
bank employees that attended a training in Northern Taiwan. Results from the study revealed that
employees had higher training motivation if attending the training was made mandatory by their
organisation. Employees who attended trainings on voluntary basis had lower training motivation.
Mandatory trainings were perceived by employees as vital to organisational goals and thus increased
their motivation.
Machin and Treloar (2004) conducted a study to investigate the mediating role of
organisational commitment on predictors of employees’ motivation to learn. The study was
conducted on health workers in Australia who attended mandatory trainings related to health and
safety. Results from the statistical analysis of the study showed that organisational Commitment
accounted for a significant portion of the variance in Motivation to Learn.
Di (2005) carried out a study to examine the relationship between variables such as organisational
learning culture, job satisfaction, motivation to learn and employees’ internal service quality levels.
Questionnaires were distributed to employees in the state sports organisation. Results showed that
motivation to learn had a strong positive relationship with internal service quality. Employees who
were highly motivated to learn will provided better service.
In view of the foregoing, the following hypothesis with regards to the relationship between
motivation to learn in training and organisational commitment is formed as follows:
H2: There is a positive relationship between motivation to learn in training and organisational
commitment.

Perceived Co-Worker Support For Training

 Perceived co-worker support for training has been reported to have a positive impact on
organisational commitment (Noe and Wilk, 1993). When there are strong emotional bonds between
co-workers, employees become motivated to cooperate with their co-workers and tend to complete
the works assigned to them. The completion of work due to the act of cooperation with and
responsibility towards other co-workers can improve an employee’s responsibility towards the
organisation. Consequently impacting the employee’s normative commitment to the organisation
(Wang, 2008). Although positive relationship between co-worker support and organisational
commitment have been reported, studies on this relationship are lacking.
McNeese-Smith and Nazarey (2001) conducted a study among nurses in the U.S. to
investigate the factors that contribute to commitment to their organisation. The study identified
nine factors that contributed to the commitment of the nurses, with co-workers being one of the
factors. Their close relationship with one another as friends and/or support systems made them to
be more committed to the hospitals they were working in.
Bartlett (2001) also investigated the relationship between support for training from co-
workers and organisational commitment. The result of the finding showed a positive relationship
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between the two. In addition, among the three components of organisational commitment, co-
worker support for training had a significant relationship with affective and normative
commitments.
Joiner and Bakalis (2006) examined the antecedents of organisational commitment among
casual academics in a public Australian university. The variables investigated included personal
characteristics, job-related characteristics and job involvement characteristics. Their results showed
that strong co-worker and supervisor supports both related to affective commitment. The
implication of their finding is that relationships among university staff is important. Sense of
connection and commitment with the university can increase when colleagues provide information
and assistance.
Wang (2008) investigated the impact of Chinese workers’ emotional bond with their co-
workers on organizational commitment in foreign-invested enterprises in China. The result of the
study revealed a positive relationship between emotional bonds with co-workers’ organisational
commitment. Specifically, there was a positive relationship with normative commitment, active
continuance commitment and passive continuance commitment.
A similar study was also conducted in a Canadian health organisation by Rousseau and Aube (2010).
They investigated the relationship between supervisor and co-worker support and affective
commitment. They also investigated the moderating effect of job resource adequacy on these
relationships. The results showed that both supervisor and co-worker support in an organisation
have an additive effect on an employee’s affective commitment to the organisation. Furthermore
this relationship is strengthened if job resource adequacy is high.
Newmann et al. (2011) conducted a similar study in China among Chinese employees
working in multinational companies. Their study aimed at examining the relationship between
employee perceptions of training on organizational commitment, as well as relationship between
organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Results of their study showed a strong
relationship between perceived co-worker support for training and affective commitment.
In view of the foregoing, the following hypothesis with regards to the relationship between
perceived co-worker support for training and organisational commitment is formed as follows:
H3: There is a positive relationship between perceived co-worker support for training and
organisational commitment.

Perceived Supervisor Support For Training

Social support among employees in the workplace plays a vital role in the overall
performance of organisation. This is because it enables the psychological, physical and overall well-
being of individuals (La Rocco et al., 1980). Social support can be from family and friends, peer and
 senior co-workers or immediate supervisors (Ganster et al., 1986; Eisenberger et al., 2002). Social
support has been shown to increase organisational effectiveness as it positively relates to
employees’ job satisfaction and organisational commitment and negatively relates to turnover and
absenteeism (Allen and Meyer, 1990; Hutchison and Garstka, 1996).
Bartlett (2001) in a study investigating the role of social support on commitment reported a
significant relationship between support for training from senior staff and all the three components
of organisational commitment. In a similar study by Eisenberger et al. (2002), their study showed
perceived supervisor support had a positive relationship with perceived organisational support and a
negative relationship with employee turnover albeit with a mediating role by organisational support.
The finding of this study implies that supervisor support could decrease turnover rates in an
organisation.
Rhoades et al. (2001) conducted a study to examine the relationships that exists among
work experiences, perceived organisational support, affective commitment and employee turnover.
Participants in the study were alumni of a university from eastern United States. The results of their
study showed that organisational rewards, procedural justice and supervisor support were positively
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related with affective commitment. In addition, this relationship was mediated by perceived
organisational support.
Cheng et al. (2003) conducted a study to investigate the relationship between supervisory
commitment and organisational commitment and how they affect employee outcomes. The study
was carried out among employees of Taiwanese companies. The result revealed that supervisory
commitment had significant effect on organisational commitment, supervisor-rating job
performance, and employee self-rating job performance. The result suggests that employees would
give a good rating of their job performance if they are committed to their supervisors. And the
supervisors as well will tend to rate those employees high. The practical implication of this study is
that good relationship between supervisors and employees is vital to increasing the employees’ job
performance in organisations.
Stinglhamber and Vandenberghe (2003) examined the relationship between perceived
support and affective commitment among alumni of a Belgian University that graduated between
the years 1988 to 1997. Their study showed that affective commitment to the supervisor completely
mediated the effect of perceived supervisor support on turnover. Furthermore, perceived supervisor
support totally mediated the effect of favorable intrinsically satisfying job conditions on affective
commitment to the supervisor.
Dockel et al. (2006) carried out a study among professional technicians from a South African
owned telecommunication company to investigate the retention factors that have effect on the
employees’ organisational commitment. The retention factors investigated included compensation,
job characteristics, training and development, supervisor support, career opportunities and work/life
policies. The results showed that compensation, supervisor support and work/life policies had a
significant and direct effect on affective commitment. Supervisor support had no direct effect on
normative commitment and continuance commitment.
Maertz et al. (2007) examined mediating roles of perceived supervisor support (PSS) and
perceived organizational support (POS) on turnover behaviour among social services workers in the
United States. Results from their study showed that although PSS has a positive relationship with
turnover, however the effects of PSS is independent. This was contrary to earlier researches that
have suggested POS had a mediating effect in the positive relationship between PSS and turnover. In
addition, their study showed that the significant effect POS had turnover was mediated by affective
and normative components of organisational commitment. Furthermore, low PSS strengthened the
negative relationship between POS and turnover and vice-versa.
Wang (2008) investigated the contribution of employee’s emotional bond with their
supervisors to organisational commitment. The results from the study indicated that the emotional
bonding with supervisors positively relates with the three components of organisational
commitment. A similar study by Newmann et al. (2011) conducted in China as well indicated that
 positive relationship between perceived supervisor support for training and affective commitment
but not with continuance commitment.
In view of the foregoing, the following hypothesis with regards to the relationship between
perceived supervisor support for training and organisational commitment is formed as follows:
H4: There is a positive relationship between perceived supervisor support for training and
organisational commitments.

Perceived Benefits Of Training

The benefits of training are numerous both for the employees and the organisation. To the
employee, training can lead to job satisfaction (Wagner, 2000) and higher job performance (Barber,
2004; Gultek, 2006; Satterfield and Hughes, 2007). These benefits can have a positive effect on the
organisation such as employee retention and increased organisational performance. Studies in the
past have indicated positive relationships between employee perceived benefits of training and
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organisational commitment.
Klein and Weaver (2000) conducted a study to examine the impact attending a voluntary
orientation training program has on the organisational commitment of newly hired employees in an
educational institution. The newly hires that took part in the study were from different occupations.
The study also investigated the employees’ level of socialization before and after the training. The
socialization dimensions investigated include politics, history, goal/values, people, performance and
language. Results from the study showed that employees that attended the orientation training
program had higher affective organisational commitment compared to those who did not attend. In
addition the employees became significantly more socialised in the aspect of goals/values, history
and people after attending the training.
Bartlett (2001) investigated the relationship between three types of perceived benefits of
training and organisational commitment. Their findings revealed that employees’ career benefits
significantly related to all the three components of organisational commitment whereas personal
benefits were related to affective and normative commitments only. While job-related benefits were
related only to normative commitment.
Tansky and Cohen (2001) investigated the relationship between organisational commitment,
perceived organisational support and satisfaction with career development. The study was
conducted among Managers and supervisors in a metropolitan hospital who attended a workshop
on coaching skills. The result of their study showed that managers who have acquired coaching skills
became more committed to the organisation and were likely to develop their subordinates.
Ahmad and Bakar (2003) in their study on training and commitment, investigated the
relationship between employees’ perception on the benefits of training and commitment. Their
results showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between perceived benefits of
training and all the three components of organisational commitment. Specifically, 19% of the
variance in affective commitment was accounted for by the perceived benefits of training.
Benson (2006) conducted a survey among full-time, salaried technical employees in two
separate business units to examine the benefits of increasing training and development on
organisational commitment due to layoffs by the organisation in the late 1 990s. Analysis of the
survey results showed that on-the-job training positively related with organisational commitment
and negatively related with intention to turnover.
Al-Emadi and Marquardt (2007) conducted a study to examine the relationship between the
beliefs regarding training benefits (viz. personal, career and job-related benefits) and organisational
commitment among senior staffs of a Qatari Petroleum company. Their study also revealed a
positive relationship between employees’ belief regarding training benefits and employees’
organisational commitment. In addition employee personal benefits from training and employee age
were strong predictors of affective and normative commitment, while employee career benefits
from training and employee years of service were strong predictors of continuance commitment.
 Bulut and Culha (2010) investigated the relationship between benefits of training and
organisational commitment among hotel employees. They also reported a significant and positive
relationship between the two variables. Riaz et al. (2013) conducted a similar study among
employees in the banking sector of Pakistan. They also reported a positive and significant
relationship between the three types of training benefits and organisational commitment.
However, a study by Newmann et al. (2011) investigating the relationship between benefits
of training and organisational commitment revealed that Chinese employees in multinational
companies in China revealed the contrary. Their findings showed that there was no evidence of a
relationship between perceived benefits of training and organisational commitment among the
Chinese employees. They suggested that even though the employees may be motivated to
participate in the training, if they could not apply the skills they learnt during the training or gain
promotion, they will not be committed to the organisation.
In view of the foregoing, the following hypothesis with regards to the relationship between
perceived benefits of training and organisational commitment is formed as follows:
H5: There is a positive relationship between perceived benefits of training and organisational
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commitments.

Research Design

This study utilises the survey methodology approach. The study design is an associational
descriptive research designed to identify the relationship between employees’ training measured by
five training variables (perceived availability of training, motivation to learn in training, perceived co-
worker support for training, perceived supervisor support for training and perceived benefits of
training) and employees’ organisational commitment measured by three organisational commitment
components (affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment). Data
collection using survey method is flexible, versatile, efficient and inexpensive, however there is the
risk of participants not responding (Al-Emadi, 2006). The target population of this study consisted of
academic staffs of one of the Faculty in a public university in Malaysia. The name of the University is
not disclosed due to the request from the management of the University.
Comprehensive sampling approach was used in this survey, whereby the survey was
distributed to all the target population. This approach was chosen to ensure higher response rate
from the respondents. The target population is academic staff, however, International Academic
Staff of the faculty who are non-Malaysian were excluded from the study. This due to the fact that
they are hired by the university on definite short-term contracts. This type of appointment
minimizes commitment or turnover (Al-Emadi, 2006). Therefore the population number (N) in this
study was 201. Based on this population number, the required number of survey respondents
(sample size) is 132 based on 95% confidence interval (Krejcie and Morgan, 1970). However the
survey was distributed to all respondents to maximise the response rate. A total of 63 responses
were received, representing a response rate of 31.3%. Nulty (2008) in a study comparing paper-
based and online-based survey administration reported that online surveys generally have lower
response rates compared to paper administered. From his study, a review of the various response
rates from researchers showed that online response rates were in the range of 30% to 40%, while
paper-based response rate were 55% to 75%. In this study, even though 63 responses were
received, three were not used in the data analysis as their responses from certain sections of the
questionnaire were missing. Therefore only 60 responses were analysed.

Results

Table 1 indicates that perceived availability of training is significantly and positively related
to affective commitment and normative commitment. However, the result showed an insignificant
relationship between availability of training and continuance commitment. This result therefore only
 show partial support for hypotheses H1. Table 2 shows that motivation to learn is also significantly
and positively related to affective and normative commitments. In contrast, continuance
commitment was not significantly related to motivation to learn. In view of the foregoing, this result
show partial support for hypotheses H3. Table 3 shows that co-worker support is significantly and
positively related to affective commitment and normative commitment. Continuance commitment
has shown non-significant correlation with co-worker support. Therefore, Hypothesis H3 is only
partially supported.

Table 1. Correlation Analysis between Availability of Training and Commitment

Commitment Correlation Coefficient (r) Significance
Affective Commitment 0.353 0.004 (p < 0.01)
Continuance Commitment -0.279 Not significant
Normative Commitment 0.532 0.000 (p < 0.01)
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Table 2. Correlation Analysis between Motivation to Learn and Commitment

Commitment Correlation Coefficient (r) Significance
Affective Commitment 0.249 0.031 (p < 0.05)
Continuance Commitment -0.133 Not significant
Normative Commitment 0.372 0.002 (p < 0.01)

Table 3. Correlation Analysis between Co-worker Support and Commitment

Commitment Correlation Coefficient (r) Significance
Affective Commitment 0.442 0.000 (p < 0.01)
Continuance Commitment -0.218 Not significant
Normative Commitment 0.062 0.022 (p < 0.05)

Table 4 reveals the results of correlation analysis between supervisor support for training and
organisational commitment. Supervisor support for training was significantly and positively related
to both affective and normative commitment, and on the contrast non-significantly related to
continuance commitment. Therefore, Hypothesis H4 is only partially supported. With regards to the
relationship between benefits of training and organisational commitment, the result of the
correlation analysis shown in Table 5 reveals that the relationship between benefit of training and
affective commitment is significant. However the relationship is not significant with normative
commitment. Therefore Hypothesis H5 is only partially supported.

Table 4. Correlation Analysis between Supervisor Support and Commitment

Commitment Correlation Coefficient (r) Significance
Affective Commitment 0.311 0.009 (p < 0.01)
Continuance Commitment -0.236 Not significant
Normative Commitment 0.506 0.000 (p < 0.01)

Table 5. Correlation Analysis between Benefits of Training and Commitment

Commitment Correlation Coefficient (r) Significance
Affective Commitment 0.174 0.008 (p < 0.01)
Continuance Commitment -0.140 Not significant
Normative Commitment 0.270 0.021 (p < 0.05)
 The stepwise regression results for affective commitment are shown in Tables 6. The table indicated
co-worker support for training (beta value of 0.371) is the best predictor of affective commitment.
Availability of training (beta value of 0.247) appeared to be the second most important factor in
predicting affective commitment. Table 7 indicated that only availability of training (beta value of
0.532) make it into the stepwise regression equation and is consider best predictor of normative
commitment. Furthermore, this study found that none of the training factors are actually
significantly predicted or related to continuance commitment.

Table 6. Stepwise Regression Analysis for Affective Commitment

Unstandardized Standardized
Coefficients Coefficients Collinearity Statistics
Std.
Model B Error Beta t Sig. Tolerance VIF
1 (Constant) 1.738 0.553 3.143 0.003
Co-worker Support 0.523 0.143 0.442 3.652 0.001 1.000 1.000
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2 (Constant) 1.096 0.626 1.750 0.086

Co-worker Support 0.439 0.146 0.371 3.019 0.004 0.918 1.090
Availability of 0.244 0.121 0.247 2.007 0.050 0.918 1.090
Training
Dependent Variable: Affective Commitment

Table 7. Stepwise Regression Analysis for Normative Commitment

Unstandardized Standardized Collinearity
Coefficients Coefficients Statistics
Std.
Model B Error Beta t Sig. Tolerance VIF
1 (Constant) 1.957 0.336 5.828 0.000
Availability of Training 0.390 0.084 0.532 4.665 0.000 1.000 1.000
a
Dependent Variable: Normative Commitment

Discussion Of Findings
The hypotheses testing revealed some major findings on the relationship between training
and organisational commitment among academic staff. The major findings from this study are as
follows:

i) All the five training-related variables (availability of training, motivation to learn, co-
worker support for training, supervisor support for training and benefits of training)
were significantly related to affective commitment and normative commitment.
ii) All the five training-related variables were not significantly related to continuance
commitment.
iii) The best predictor of affective commitment was co-worker support for training followed
by availability of training. For normative commitment, the best predictor was availability
of training.

In view of the above, a number of conclusions can be made from these findings. First, the
significant and positive relationship between availability of training and affective and normative
commitment indicates that academic staff who felt that there is adequate access to training or there
is a probability of attending training are more likely to be emotionally attached, be loyal or morally
obliged to remain with the organization. This positive relationship may be due to the fact that
employees tend to perceive the provision of and support for training by their employees as a sign of
care and recognition of their contribution. This action triggers a social exchange consequently
 creating a strong psychological bond. This finding is consistent with the findings of Bartlett (2001),
Ahmad and Bakar (2003) and Yang et al. (2012). Bartlett (2001) suggested that employees are likely
to exhibit higher feelings of affective commitment if they have more access to training.
Secondly, the significant positive relationship between motivation to learn affective and
normative organisational commitments implies that the respondents with higher levels of training
motivation would exhibit higher levels of organisational commitment. In other words, academic staff
who are highly motivated to participate in training and developmental activities have a strong sense
of belonging to their organization as well as feel remaining in the organisation is the right thing to
do. This result is similar to findings by Bartlett (2001) and Ahmad and Bakar (2003). Motivation to
learn is how motivated an employee is to learn new things and/or how motivated that employee is
in learning during training and apply what s/he learnt to the job. When an employee is eager to learn
and apply the new skills or knowledge to the job the outcome is better job performance. Such
eagerness demonstrates a sense of commitment due the attachment with the organisation or as a
result of obligation. This may explain the positive relationship between motivation to learn and
organisational commitment.
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Thirdly, the significant positive relationship between supervisor and co-worker support and
affective and normative organisational commitments reveals that academic staff who receive a lot of
support for training from colleagues and superiors are likely to be more attached with the
organisation and therefore will choose to stay. Bartlett (2001), Ahmad and Bakar (2003) and
Newmann (2011) reported similar findings in their study. These researchers pointed out that
employees’ affective commitment increases when they feel that their supervisors or organisation
management support them through training.
Supervisor and co-worker support are likely to increase employees’ affective and normative
commitment due to the emotional bonds. Wang (2008) reported in some cultures, emotional bonds
developed among employees lead to feelings of sense of obligation and responsibility which
increases motivation to assist one another. Such emotional bonds lead employees to cooperate with
each other in completing tasks which in turn improves the employees’ responsibilities towards the
organization. Therefore in this context, it can be suggested that the positive relationship between
supervisor support or co-worker support for training and employee organisational commitment is
due to that feeling of obligation and responsibility (borne out of emotional bonds) between
employees.
Fourthly, the significant positive relationship between benefits of training and affective and
normative organisational commitments indicates that academic staff who have a positive perception
that training will help them in their personal development, better job performance and build up
their career are more likely to develop a strong bond with their organisation and feel obliged to stay.
Ahmad and Bakar (2003) from their finding on the relationship between benefit of training and
organisational commitment stated that learning and acquisition of skills and knowledge during
training increases affective commitment. A similar study by Al-Emadi showed a strong relationship
between benefit of training and the three components of organisation. Similar findings were also
reported by Bartlett (2001) and Joiner and Bakalis (2006). The positive relationship between benefits
of training and organisational commitment revealed in this study as well as past researches is largely
due to social exchange theory, whereby employees perceive the provision of training by their
organisation as a sign of care and recognition of their contributions. Employees thereby reciprocate
such as with more commitment to their work due to the psychological bond created with the
organisation.
Fifthly, the non-significant relationship between all the training-related variables and
continuance commitment indicated that academic staff do not view training as a huge cost or an
important benefit they would have to take into consideration when leaving the organisation.
Employees may stay in an organisation due to the investments they have made or the costs/benefits
associated with leaving. Such costs could be fear of losing pensions, loss of benefits that are unique
to that organisation, retirement, or even relationships they have developed with their co-workers.
 Bonds between employee and organisation could likely developed if a higher compensation is
received due to participation in training (Al-Emadi, 2005) or could lead to promotion. However
participation in training in the organization is not a major factor for promotion nor does it attract
any incentive. This may explain the lack of a relationship between training and continuance
organisational commitment among the academic staff.
Lastly, the major finding in this study, reveal s that employees’ attachment to as well as
involvement with their organisation is best predicted by support for training employees receive from
their colleagues and followed by the availability of training. In addition, employees’ feeling of sense
of obligation to their organisation as well as loyalty could be best predicted by availability of training.

Implications Of The Study

The findings from this study have some implications for human resource professional
employed in the academics field as well as university top management. The implications can service
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as a guidance for universities wishing to enhance the organisational commitment of their academic
staff. The implications from this study are as follows:
i) This study has indicated that co-worker support for training and supervisor support of
training enhance emotional attachment/sense of belonging (i.e. affective commitment)
and loyalty (i.e. normative commitments) among academic staff. Thus in this view the
university authority could create an environment where there is a strong
encouragement by colleagues and supervisors towards participating in training activities.
Supervisors in the context of this study refer to HoDs, Deans, head of research groups
etc.
ii) This research has also revealed that availability (or access) to training has a strong
relationship with both affective and normative commitments; with availability of
training a strong predictor of the former type of commitment. Therefore the university
through supervisors can play a role in publicising the availability of training to the
academic staff. The university can also design more in-house training and development
programmes/activities as well as encourage and financially support external training
programmes that will enhance the academic staff teaching and research skills. Such
move by the university could be perceived by the academic staff as support and care
which ultimately leads to better organisational performance.

iii) This study has also revealed no relationship between training and the academic staffs’
continuance commitment therefore indicating that the university should not expect a
continuance organisational commitment from its academic staff through provision of
training. However, studies have shown that employees’ continuance commitment to
their organisation could be enhanced by provision of benefits and rewards (Becker,
1975; Malhotra et al., 2007). Therefore to enhance continuance commitment, the
university could attach incentives to training participation such as part of criteria for
promotion, financial support for trainings outside the university, overseas etc.

iv) Another implication of the finding from this study is the university could enhance the
affective and normative organisational commitments of its academic staff by improving
their motivations to learn as well as create awareness on the benefits of participating in
training. This study has indicated a positive relationship between employee motivation
to learn and organisational commitment.

Limitation of the Study

 Although this study was conducted in the education industry, the results of this study were
consistent with previous studies conducted in western countries and the few studies conducted in
some Asian countries such as Qatar, China, Australia and Malaysia that are non-education industries.
However, the study was conducted in a single university in Malaysia and therefore results of the
study may not be generalizable to all higher institutions nor the universities excluded in the sample.
The study was limited to academic staffs, and does not involve other employees such as non-
academic staff. Therefore the result may not be generalizable to those excluded staff as training
policies, skills and knowledge requirement among various staff categories differ.

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