Revisiting the Relationship between Organisational Commitment and Professional Commitment: A Case Study of Academicians in a Private Educational Institution

Authors

  • Nik Mutasim Ab. Rahman Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia
  • Mohmad Adnan Alias Faculty of Economics and Business Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia
  • Suharni Maulan Faculty of Economics and Business Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32890/mmj2006.10.1

Keywords:

Organisational commitment, Professional commitment, Intent to stay with the organization, Intent to stay in the profession

Abstract

Many studies have dwelled on various issues related to the concept of commitment. One particular issue concerns the relationship between organisational commitment and professional commitment. Between these foci of commitments, the issue has been whether both are compatible or in conflict with each other. The nature of the relationship between these variables is worth noting as it may have impact on the behaviour of individuals in organisations, and hence, the formulation and practice of human resource policies in these organisations. This paper reports the findings of a study conducted to investigate this issue of compatibility or conflict between the variables. The unit of analysis were academicians employed in a private research institution in Malaysia. The result of the mail survey revealed the existence of a commitment dilemma within the sample. No significant correlations were recorded between professional commitment and the various dimensions of organisational commitment. Additionally, professional commitment and organisational commitment correlated significantly with intent to stay in the profession and intent to stay with the organisation, respectively. Directions for further research were also discussed.

 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Alexander, K.O. (1981). Scientists, Engineers and the Organisation of Work. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 40,1, 51-66.

Allen, D. B., & Meyer J. P. (1990). The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organisation. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63, 1-18.

Alutto, J. A., Hrebiniak, L. G., & Alonso, R. (1973). On operationalizing the concept of commitment. Social Forces, 51, 448-454.

Angle, H. L., & Perry, J. L. (1983). Organisational commitment: Individual and organisational influences. Work and Occupations, 10, (2), 123-146.

Aranya, N., & Ferris, K. R. (1983). Organisationalprofessional conflict among US and Israeli professional accountants. Journal of Social Psychology, 119, 153-161.

Aranya, N., & Jacobson, D. (1975). An empirical study of theories of organisational and occupational commitment. Journal of Social Psychology, 97, 15-22.

Aranya, N., Pollock, J., & Amernic, J. (1981). An examination of professional commitment in public accounting. Accounting, Organisations and Society, 6, 271-280.

Aranya, N., Kushnir, T., & Valency.A. (1986). Organisational commitment in a maledominated profession. Human Relations, 39, (5), 433-448.

Bartol, K. M. (1979). Individual versus organisational predictors of job satisfaction and turnover among professionals. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 15, 55-67. Malaysian Management Journal 10 (1 & 2), 1-17 (2006)

Baugh, S. G., & Roberts, R. M. (1994). Professional and organisational commitment among engineers: Conflicting or complementing? IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 41, 2, May, 108-114. http://mmj.uum.edu.my

Becker, T. E (1992) Foci and bases of commitment: Are They Distinctions Worth Making? Academy of Management Journal, 35, N0.1,232-244.

Becker, T. E., & Billings, R. S. (1993). Profiles of commitment: An empirical test. Journal of organisational behaviour, 14, (2), 177190.

Blau, P. M., & Scot, W. R. (1962). Formal organisations. San Francisco, Chandler.

Buchanan, B. (1974). Building organisational commitment: The socialization of managers in work organisations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 19, 533-546.

Corwin, R. G. (1961). The professional employee: A study of conflict in nursing roles. American Journal of Sociology, 66, 604615.

Ferris, K. R., & Aranya, N. (1983). A Comparison of Two Organisational Scales. Personnel Psychology, 36, 87-97.

Gouldner, A. W. (1957). Cosmopolitans and locals: Towards an analysis of latent social roles. Administrative Science Quarterly, 2, 281-306.

Greene, C. N. (1978). Identification modes of professionals: Relationship with formalization, role strain and alienation. Academy of ManagementJournal, 21, 426 492.

Hall, D. T., & Schneider, B. (1972). Correlates of Organisational Identification as a Function of Career Pattern and Organisational Type. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17, 340-350.

Hall, D. T., Schneider, B., & Nygren, H. T. (1970). Personal Factors in Organisational Identification. Administrative Science Quarterly, 15, 176-190.

Hall, R. H. (1968). Professionalisation and bureaucratization. American Sociological Review, 33, 195-212.

Hoff, T. J., & Mandell, J. (2001). Exploring dual commitment among physician executives in managed care/practioner application. Journal of Healthcare Management, 46 (2). 91-111.

Howell, J. P., & Dorfman, P. W. (1986). Leadership and Substitutes for Leadership among Professional and Non-Professional Workers. Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, 22 (1), 29-46.

Hrebiniak, L. G., & Alutto, J. A. (1972). Personal and role-related factors in the development of organisational commitment. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17, 555-573.

Hrebiniak, L. G. (1974). Effects of job level and participation on employee attitudes and perception of influence. Academy of Management Journal, 17, 649-662. Jaros, S. J., Jermier, J. M., Koehler, J. W., &

Sincich, T. l. (1993). Effects of continuance, affective, and moral commitment on the withdrawal process: An evaluation of eight structural equation models. Academy of Management Journal, 36, 951-995.

Kallerberg, A., & Berg, I. (1987). Work and industry: Structures, markets and processes New York: Plenum.

Kanter, R. M. (1968). Commitment and social organisation: A Study of commitment in Utopian communities. American Sociological Review, 33, 499-517. Malaysian Management Journal 10 (1 & 2), 1-17 (2006)

Kanter, R. M. (1977). Work and family in the United States: A critical review and agenda for research and policy. Russel Sage, New York. http://mmj.uum.edu.my

Keller, R. T. (1984). The role of performance and absenteeism in the prediction of turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 27, 176-183.

Kerr, S., & Jermier, J. M. (1978). Substitutes for leadership: Their meaning and measurement. Organisational Behaviour and Human Performance, 22 (3), 375403.

Kornhauser, W. (1962). Scientists in industry, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.

Kozlowski, S. W. J., & Hults, B. M. (1986). Joint moderation of the relation between task complexity and job performance for engineers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71 (2), 196-202.

Lachman, R., & Aranya, N. (1986). Evaluation of alternative models of commitments and job attitudes of professionals, Journal of Occupational Behaviour, 7, 227-243.

Larson, E. W., & Fukami, C. V. (1984). Relationship between worker behaviour and commitment to the organisation and union. Proceedings of the Academy of Management, 222-226.

Leong, L., Huang, S. Y., & Hsu, J. (2003). An empirical study on professional commitment, organisational commitment and job involvement in Canadian accounting firms. Journal of American Academy of Business, 2, (2), 360-371.

Marsh, R. M., & Mannari, H. (1977). Organisational commitment and turnover: A predictor study. Administrative Science Quarterly, 22, 57-75.

Mathieu, J. E., & Zajac, D. M. (1990). A Review and Meta-Analysis of the Antecedents, Correlates, and Consequences of Organisational Commitment. Psychological Bulletin, 108, (2), 171-194.

Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1991). A threecomponent conceptualisation of organisational commitment. Human Resource Management Review. 1, (1), 61-89.

Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1987). A Longitudinal Analysis of the Early Development and Consequences of Organisational Commitment. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 19, 199-215.

Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1997). Commitment in the workplace: Theory, research and application. California: Sage publications.

Meyer, J. P., Allen, N. J., & Gellatly. (1990). Affective and Continuance Commitment to the Organisation: Evaluation of measures and analysis of Concurrent and TimeLagged Relations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, (6), 710-720.

Meyer, J. P. Allen, N. J. & Smith, C. A., (1993). Commitment to organisations and occupations: extension and test of a threecomponent conceptualisation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, (4), 538-551. Meyer, J. P., Paunonen, S., Gellatly, I., Goffin,

R., & Jackson, D., (1989). Organisational commitment and job performance: It’s the nature of the commitment that counts. Journal of Applied Psychology. 74, (1), 152-156. Mobley, Griffeth, Hand & Meglino Model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67, 53-59.

Miller, G. A. (1967). Professionals in bureaucracy: Alienation among industrial scientists and engineers. American Sociological Review, 32, 755-768. Malaysian Management Journal 10 (1 & 2), 1-17 (2006)

Randall, D. (1990). The consequences of organisational commitment: A methodological investigation. Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 11, 361-378.

Mowday, R., Porter, L., & Steers, R. (1982). Employee-organisation linkages: The psychology of commitment, absenteeism, and turnover. New York. Academic Press.

Randall, D. M. (1993). Cross-cultural research on organisational commitment: A review and application of of hofstede’s value survey module. Journal of Business Research, 26, 91-110. http://mmj.uum.edu.my

Morrow, P.C., & Wirth, R. E. (1989). Work commitment among salaried professionals. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 34, 4056.

Mueller, C. W., Wallace, J. E., & Price, J. L. (1992). Employee commitment: Resolving some issues. Work and Occupations, 19, (3), 211-236.

Randall, D. M., & Cote, J. A. (1991). Interrelationships of work commitment constructs. Work and Occupations, 18, 194-211.

Nik Mutasim (2001). A multidimensional approach to the study of organisational commitment: Empirical evidence from a Malaysian context. PhD Thesis. University of Strathclyde.

Ritzer, G., & Trice, H.M. (1969). An Empirical Study of Howard Becker’s Side-Bet Theory. Social Forces, 47, 475-479. Nik Mutasim Ab. Rahman., & Mohd Hizam

Hanafiah (2002). Commitment to organisation versus commitment to profession: Conflict or compatibility, Jurnal Pengurusan, 21, 79-96.

Omar Samad Abd., & Aziz Ibrahim (2002). Membentuk nilai positif dan komitmen pekerja dalam organisasi. Dewan Ekonomi, February, pp. 32-33.

Organ, D. W., & Greene, C. N. (1981). The effects of formalization on professional involvement. Administrative Science Quarterly, 26, 237-252. Podsakoff, P. M., Williams, L. J., & Todor,

W. D. (1986). Effects of organisational formalization on alienation among professionals and non-professionals. Academy of Management Journal, 29, 820-831.

Randall, D. (1987). Commitment and the organisation: The organisation man revisited. Academy of Management Review, 12, (3), 460-471.

Rotondi, Jr. T. (1975). Organisation identification and group involvement. Academy of Management Journal, 18, 892-6.

Scholl, R. (1981). Differentiating organisational commitment from expectancy as a motivating force. Academy of Management Review, 4, 589-599.

Scott, W. R. (1965). Reactions to supervision in a heterogenous professional organisation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 10, 65-81.

Scott, W. R. (1966). Professionals in bureaucraciesareas of conflict. In H. M. Vollmer & D. L. Mills (Eds.), Professionalisation, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 265-267.

Sorensen, J. E., & Sorensen, T. L.(1974). The conflict of professionals in bureaucratic organisations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 19, 98-106.

Staw, B. M., & Salancik, G. R. (Eds.). (1977). New Directions in Organisational Behaviour. Chicago: St. Claire Press. Malaysian Management Journal 10 (1 & 2), 1-17 (2006)

Wallace, J. E. (1993). Professional and organisational commitment: Compatible or incompatible? Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 42, 333-349.

Stefy, B. D., & Jones, J. W. (1988). The impact of family and career planning variables on the organisational, career and community commitment of professional women. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 32, 196-212.

Wiener, Y. (1982). Commitment in organisations: A normative view. Academy of Management Review, 7, 418-425. http://mmj.uum.edu.my

Steers, R. M., & Porter, L. W. (1983). Employee commitment to organisations. In R. Steers & L. Porter (eds.), Motivation and Work Behaviour. McGraw Hill.

Vandenverghe, C. (1996). Assessing organisational commitment in a belgian context: Evidence for the three dimensional model. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 45 (4), 371-386.

Wallace, J. E. (1995). Organisational and professional commitment in professional and non-professional organisations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40, 228-255.

Wiener,Y., & Vardi, Y. (1980). Relationships between job, organisation and career commitments and work outcomes-an integrative approach. Organisational Behaviour and Human Performance, 26, 81-96.

Zain, A. Y. (1996). Quality of worklife and organisational commitment: A study of non-supervisory employees in Malaysian organisations. PhD Thesis. University of Strathclyde.

Downloads

Published

01-12-2006

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 1&2 (2006): Malaysian Management Journal (MMJ) Vol. 10 No.1&2 June/December 2006

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Ab. Rahman, N. M., Alias, M. A., & Maulan, S. (2006). Revisiting the Relationship between Organisational Commitment and Professional Commitment: A Case Study of Academicians in a Private Educational Institution. Malaysian Management Journal, 10(1&2), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.32890/mmj2006.10.1

Research impact

Harvested 2026-09-07
0 citations recorded so far

Counts differ between services because each indexes a different body of literature. None of them is the whole picture.

Identifiers DOI 10.32890/mmj2006.10.1