Organizational Commitment
Definition
Organizational commitment may be viewed as an organizational member's psychological attachment to the organization. Organizational commitment plays a very large role in determining whether a member will stay with the organization and zealously work towards organizational goals.
Theory
A prominent theory in organizational commitment is the three-component model (TCM). The model argues that organizational commitment has three distinctive components:
1. Affective commitment is your emotional attachment to an organization. If you have a high level of affective commitment, you enjoy your relationship with the organization and are likely to stay. You stay because you want to stay.
2. Continuance commitment is the degree with which you believe that leaving the organization would be costly. If you have a high level of continuance commitment, you will stay with an organization because you feel that you must stay. For example, you may feel quitting your job may lead to an unacceptable length of unemployment. On the other hand, you may feel you will lose a certain degree of status if you leave a well-respected organization such as a top law firm or research company.
3. Normative commitment is degree you feel obligated to the organization or believe that staying is the right thing to do. Here, you believe you ought to stay.
Keep in mind that your commitment is not based on just one of these components. A commitment profile is the interaction between these three components. For example, you may work at a prestigious medical research company that gives you a good salary and makes you feel important. You will have affective commitment because you enjoy your work and want to stay, but you will also have continuance commitment because you don't want to lose the pay and prestige associated with the work. Finally, given the nature of the work, you may feel you ought to stay to help with the medical research.
The three components can have a significant effect on
Organizational commitment may be viewed as an organizational member's psychological attachment to the organization. Organizational commitment plays a very large role in determining whether a member will stay with the organization and zealously work towards organizational goals.
Theory
A prominent theory in organizational commitment is the three-component model (TCM). The model argues that organizational commitment has three distinctive components:
1. Affective commitment is your emotional attachment to an organization. If you have a high level of affective commitment, you enjoy your relationship with the organization and are likely to stay. You stay because you want to stay.
2. Continuance commitment is the degree with which you believe that leaving the organization would be costly. If you have a high level of continuance commitment, you will stay with an organization because you feel that you must stay. For example, you may feel quitting your job may lead to an unacceptable length of unemployment. On the other hand, you may feel you will lose a certain degree of status if you leave a well-respected organization such as a top law firm or research company.
3. Normative commitment is degree you feel obligated to the organization or believe that staying is the right thing to do. Here, you believe you ought to stay.
Keep in mind that your commitment is not based on just one of these components. A commitment profile is the interaction between these three components. For example, you may work at a prestigious medical research company that gives you a good salary and makes you feel important. You will have affective commitment because you enjoy your work and want to stay, but you will also have continuance commitment because you don't want to lose the pay and prestige associated with the work. Finally, given the nature of the work, you may feel you ought to stay to help with the medical research.
The three components can have a significant effect on