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FACTORS INFLUENCING EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT: A CASE OF KENYA CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY

BY

RACHEL IGELLA

UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

SUMMER, 2014

FACTORS INFLUENCING EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT: A CASE OF KENYA CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY

BY RACHEL IGELLA

A Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)

UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

SUMMER, 2014

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STUDENT’S DECLARATION

I, the undersigned, declare that this is my original work and has not been submitted to any other college, institution or university other than the United States International University in Nairobi for academic credit.

Signed:

Date:

Rachel Igella, ID: (633845)

This project has been presented for examination with my approval as the appointed supervisor.

Signed:

Date:

Dr. Teresia Kavoo-Linge

Signed:

Date:

Dean, Chandaria School of Business

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COPYRIGHT ©2014 Rachel Igella All rights reserved No part of this MBA research project may be copied, reproduced, used to create derivative works, publicly distributed or displayed, or transmitted including but not limited to storage in a retrieval system, or transmission electronically, mechanically via photocopying, recording, or other means without the prior written permission of the author.

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ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to determine the factors that influence employee commitment, basing on a case study of Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA). To attain this, the study determined the organizational factors that influence employee commitment in KCAA, the individual factors that influence employee commitment and the effect of employee commitment on organizational performance. This study is important because it will help organizations in the service industry have an in depth understanding of the factors that influence employee commitment, in terms of organizational, individual, as well as the impact of employee commitment on the performance of the organization. It will also clearly show the employees, how they influence commitment in the entire organization.

A descriptive research design was adopted, to build a profile of the factors that influence employee commitment in KCAA. The population of interest was the employees of KCAA across various functions and divisions since this was the company under study. The study population comprised a total of 168 employees from all the various organizational functions or divisions. Stratified random sampling technique was used to draw a sample size of 92 respondents. The data collection instrument was a tailor-made structured questionnaire developed. Methods used for analyzing data included descriptive, standard deviation, co-variance and correlation.

The findings obtained from the study show that organizational factors have a strong influence on employee commitment. These factors include; organizational dependability, effectiveness of the organizations social processes, and the organizational climate. The findings also indicated that organizational factors such as demand for perfection, strong work ethic, organization being highly reliable, organization promoting top down social interactions, organization encouraging formation of self-managing teams, employee interaction with the organization, the organization having a strong management style, the organization promoting team work and the organization encouraging retention of its employees all strongly influenced the commitment of employees, though the scale of influence varied depending on a particular respondent.

On individual factors influencing employee commitment, the findings showed a strong influence. The individual factors identified included age, job security and marital status. v

Further study of the individual factors narrowed to aspects such as older employees being more committed, the position held in an organization influencing employee commitment, job security, assurance of a stress free work environment, married people being more committed to their jobs than unmarried ones, marital obligations influencing employee commitment which showed that there was a strong influence in the level of employee commitment, with a stronger agreement on the question of older employees being more committed.

Finally the factors that affect the level of employee commitment on organizational performance were found to strongly influence commitment as well. These factors include employee turnover, employee productivity and corporate social responsibility. On narrowing these factors further, the researcher posed questions such as organizations keenness to loyalty, organization emphasising productivity, organization viewing absenteeism as a sign of exiting the organization, employee being concerned about the physical environment around them, organization valuing safety of employees, organization promoting technology, organization being involved in promoting socially acceptable behaviour, organization being involved in community development programs, employees viewing their organization as promoting socially acceptable behaviour. The findings show that the varied response from the sampled population indicated a strong agreement to organizational performance having a strong effect on employee commitment.

The study concluded that although all the organizational factors analysed had an influence on employee commitment, demand for perfection and the organization having a strong management style had the strongest influence. While amongst all the individual factors, it was concluded that; older employees and the positions the employees held within the organization had a strong influence. Where as the parameters of organizational performance that respondents felt affected their commitment most were organizational emphasis on productivity and the organizations keenness on loyalty. The researcher recommends that within the context of a service industry the organisational factors where emphasis should be based are demand for perfection and the organization having a strong management style, while the individual factors where much emphasis is recommended include older employees and the positions the employees held within the organization and lastly, on the effect of employee commitment on organizational performance, much emphasis should be put on productivity and employee loyalty. vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to acknowledge my beloved stars, husband Michael and son Ethan Emmanuel Paul for the unconditional love, patience, and financial support accorded to me during this project. My family the Igellas‟ and friends for the motivation, and insights rendered in making this studies a success. Furthermore, I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Teresia Kavoo-Linge, without whose input this project would not have been a success. Above all, thanks to God Almighty for directing my footsteps all the way, He will forever be praised in my life.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS STUDENT’S DECLARATION ........................................................................................... iii COPYRIGHT ........................................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................... vii LIST OF ABBREVIATION .................................................................................................. x LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background of the Problem..................................................................................... 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................ 5 1.3 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................... 7 1.4 Research Questions ................................................................................................. 7 1.5 Significance of the Study ........................................................................................ 7 1.6 Scope of the Study................................................................................................. 8 1.7 Definition of Terms ............................................................................................... 8 1.8 Chapter Summary................................................................................................ 10 CHAPTER 2 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................. 11 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Organisational Factors That Influence Employee Commitment .......................... 11 2.3 Individual Factors That Influence Employee Commitment ................................. 17 2.4 Impact of Employee Commitment on Organizational Performance ..................... 23 2.5 Chapter summary .................................................................................................. 28 CHAPTER 3 3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLGY .................................................................................... 29 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 29 3.2 Research Design .................................................................................................... 29 3.3 Population and Sampling Design .......................................................................... 29 3.4 Data Collection Methods....................................................................................... 32 3.5 Research Procedures ............................................................................................. 33 3.6 Data Analysis Methods ......................................................................................... 33 3.7 Chapter Summary.................................................................................................. 34 CHAPTER 4 4.0 RESULTS AND FINDINGS ......................................................................................... 35 viii

4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 35 4.2 General Information ....................................................................................................... 35 4.3 Organisational Factors That Influence Employee Commitment ........................... 38 4.4 Individual Factors That Influence Employee Commitment .................................. 43 4.5 The Impact of Employee Commitment on Organizational Performance ............. 48 4.6 Chapter Summary.................................................................................................. 53 CHAPTER 5 5.0 DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................... 54 5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 54 5.2 Summary ............................................................................................................... 54 5.3 Discussion ............................................................................................................. 55 5.4 Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 61 5.5 Recommendation ................................................................................................... 62 5.5. 4 Recommendation for Further Studies ............................................................. 62

REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 64 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: Cover Letter ........................................................................................ 69 APPENDIX 2: Questionaire ........................................................................................ 70 APPENDIX 3: Project Schedule ................................................................................. 74 APPENDIX 4: Project Budget .................................................................................... 75

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LIST OF ABBREVIATION

HRM - Human Resource Management HR

- Human Resource Management

SPSS

- Statistical Package for Social Science

KCAA - Kenya Civil Aviation Authority ANS

– Air Navigation Services

EASA - East African School of Aviation

x

LIST OF TABLES Table 3.2: Sample selection……………………………………………………………...30 Table 3.1: Population Distribution……………………………………………………….32 Table 4.1: Organization Demand for Perfection…………………………………………39 Table 4.2: Organization has Strong Work Ethic…………………………………………39 Table 4.3: Organization Highly Reliable ………………………………………………..40 Table 4.4: Organization Top Down Social Interactions………………………………....41 Table 4.5: Organization Encourages Self-Managed Teams……………………………...41 Table 4.6: Interaction with Organization Influences Commitment……………………...42 Table 4.7: Organization Strong Management Style ……………………………………..42 Table 4.8: Organization Promotes Team Work ………………………………………...43 Table 4.9: Organization Encourages Retention ………………………………………...43 Table 4.10: Age and Commitment ……………………………………………………..44 Table 4.11: Position in the Organization Influences My Commitment…………………44 Table 4.12: Job Security…………………………………………………………………45 Table 4.13: Stress Free Work Environment……………………………………………..45 Table 4.14: Married People as more Committed than Unmarried Ones ……………….46 Table 4.15: Job Competence…………………………………………………………….46 Table 4.16: Marital Obligations Influence Employee Commitment…………………….47 Table 4.17 : Correlation of Age and Individual Factors ………………………………..48 Table 4.18: Organization is Keen on Employee Loyalty………………………………..49 Table 4.19: Organization Emphasizes on Productivity………………………………….49 Table 4.20: Absenteeism as a sign of Exiting the Organization………………………....50 Table 4.21: Physical Environment around My Organization…………………………....50 Table 4.22: Organization Values the Safety of the Employees …………………………51 Table 4.23: Organization Promotes the Use of Technology……………………………..51 Table 4.24: Organization Promoting Socially Acceptable Behavior…………………….52 Table 4.25: Organization and Community Development Programs …………………...52 Table 4.26: Organization as Promoting Environmental Awareness …………………….53

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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1 Age of Respondent……………………………………………………………36 Figure 4.2 Gender of Respondent………………………………………………………..36 Figure 4.3 Years of Service………………………………………………………………37 Figure 4.4 Education Level………………………………………………………………38

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CHAPTER 1

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Problem Committed employees are increasingly becoming a valued asset in organizations. For the purpose of this study employee commitment is viewed as commitment to the organization as well as employees „commitment to their occupations (Robinson, 2009). Over the last ten years, the study of commitment has advanced in many different directions. A variety of disciplines have adopted the topic as a theme in their research and these have offered fresh and significant insights (Brown, McHardy, McNabb, and Taylor, 2011). These recent advances include new approaches to the conceptualization of employee commitment. No organization in today‟s competitive world can perform at peak levels unless each employee is committed to the organization‟s objectives and works as an effective team member (University of Pretoria etd-Coetzee, 2005). It is no longer good enough to have employees who come to work faithfully every day and do their jobs independently. Employees now have to think like entrepreneurs while working in teams, and have to prove their worth. However, they also want to be part of a successful organization which provides a good income and the opportunity for development and secure employment (John and Elyse, 2010). John and Elyse 2010, state that a committed employee is one that will remain with the organization. Through the years, numerous research studies have been conducted to determine the accuracy of this statement. In the end many have concluded that committed employees remain with the organization for longer periods of time than those who are less committed (Scott, 2007)

Commitment according to (Jaw and Liu, 2004) is not only a human relation concept but involves generating human energy and activating the human mind. Without commitment, the implementation of new ideas and initiatives will be compromised. (John and Elyse, 2010) Commitment has also been defined as a psychological state that binds the individual to the organization (John ,Meyer and Elyse , 2010). This binding force can be experienced in different ways that can be accompanied by different mindsets including: an affective attachment and involvement with the target, a felt obligation to the target, and an awareness of the costs associated with discontinuing involvement with the target (Boxall and Macky, 2009).

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Other authors stated that while studying employee commitment there is need to recognise the complexity with which researchers have attempted

to construct and view

commitment as multi-faceted (Boxall and Macky, 2009). Researchers such as (Conway, Edel, Kathy and Monks, 2010), and (Owoyemi, Oyelere, Elegbede, and Gbajumo-Sheriff, 2011), propose one such conceptualization of commitment comprising three separable components which include Affective Commitment, Continuance Commitment and Normative Commitment. The researchers gave a brief description of the three, each of which reflects a unique underlying psychological state. Affective commitment refers to the employee‟s emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization. In traditional, ongoing employment relationships, a high level of affective commitment has been found to be related to low employee turnover, low absenteeism and improved job performance hence employees with a strong affective commitment continue employment with the organization because they want to do so (Wang, 2010). On the other hand, Continuance commitment describes an individual‟s need to remain with the organization resulting from her/his recognition of the costs such as tenure, pay, benefits, vesting of pensions and family commitment associated with leaving the organization. It may also refer to an awareness of the costs associated with leaving the organization. Employees whose primary link to the organization is based on continuance commitment remain because they need to do so (Loi and Foley, 2008). Normative commitment reflects an individual‟s feeling of obligation to maintain organizational membership because he/she believes it is morally right to be loyal to, and stay in, the organization. Although Normative commitment is widely recognized as a salient dimension of employee commitment, it has been found to be substantially interrelated with affective commitment (Coyle-Shapiro, 2008). Different authors suggest that individuals may display each of these three forms of commitment to varying degrees.

Committed employees are one of the greatest assets any company can have and play a major role in overall business efficiency and profitability. (Hurter, 2008) argues that greater levels of employee commitment lead to organisational benefits such as a continuous flow of improvements, cost and efficiency improvements and active employee participation. Committed employees are believed to enhance an organisation as they feel 2

secure in their jobs, are well trained, feel part of a team and are proud thus enjoying doing their jobs (Hsein Ho, 2009). Employee commitment also has important implications for recruitment. By examining the key drivers of employee commitment, organizations can come up with a list of attributes to guide them when they are recruiting and developing a committed work force other than each year organisations investing substantial amounts of money in training and developing their work force only to see talented and productive employees applying for other jobs, potentially to join the competition (Scott, 2007)

Employee commitment will result into benefits which include: increased job satisfaction increased job performance, increased total return to shareholders, increased sales, decreased employee turnover, decreased intention to leave, decreased intention to search for alternative, decreased absenteeism (Brown, McHardy, McNabb, and Taylor, 2011). With this in mind, employee commitment should be viewed as a business necessity. Organisations who have difficulty in retaining and replacing competent employees will find it hard to optimise performance. There are not only the immediate expenses of the recruitment process, but other hidden costs such as management time and lost productivity as new employees take time to become effective in their roles (Robinson, 2006).

Evidences derived from social science researches have shown that there is now a broad agreement amongst commentators that high commitment work practices do improve performance, labour productivity and the quality of service (Owoyemi, Oyelere, Elegbede, and Gbajumo-Sheriff, 2011). Although researchers such as (Boxall and Macky, 2009) have argued that the majority of previous studies have looked at high commitment work practices from the employers‟ perspective, and the over dependence on such perspectives can sometimes be misleading and will not present the real impact of employee commitment which results in positive outcomes in organizational performance. Nevertheless, when employees positively interpret high commitment work practices, it will sequentially increase their commitment to the organization, thereby increasing their individual performances and hence organizational performance will also increase (Owoyemi, Oyelere, Elegbede, and Gbajumo-Sheriff, 2011).

Although a commitment strategy can be tied to all company human resource practices; recruitment, selection, performance, evaluation, it can also be used to develop psychological connections according to (Owoyemi, Oyelere, Elegbede, and Gbajumo3

Sheriff, 2011). Thus, the widely held definitions which emphasize commitment to organizational goals are problematic because according to this definition, people can be committed to an organization for reasons other than a commitment to its goals. Due to its predominately firm level focus, research investigating „high commitment‟ management has not adequately addressed this possibility. The concept of commitment depicts an individual attitude and high commitment can only be assumed to exist if the actual commitment levels among a workforce are assessed (Robinson, 2006). Therefore, this study will focus on the factors influencing employee commitment in the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority.

Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) is a nonprofit state corporation that was established on the 24th of October 2002 by the Civil Aviation (Amendment) Act, 2002 with the following stated primary functions: Regulation and oversight of Aviation safety and Security, Economic regulation of Air services, Provision of Air Navigation Services and also Training of Aviation personnel. The organization consists of three technical directorates that are headed by Directors reporting to the Director General who is the accounting officer. The directorates are responsible for regulatory, air navigation services and also aviation training. The fourth directorate is responsible for providing the support and administrative functions. The regulatory services are provided at the headquarters in Nairobi, while the Air Navigation Services (ANS) are provided at Jomo Kenyatta, Moi and Eldoret International Airports. ANS services are also provided in Kisumu, Lokichoggio, Malindi, Wajir and Wilson airports. Aviation training is offered at the East African School of Aviation (EASA) and mainly covers aviation related courses (Kiboi, 2006). KCAA‟s overall strategy as shown in its strategic plan is based on its commitment to provide a safe and efficient civil aviation environment that acts as a contributor to the achievement of Kenya‟s developmental objectives, as is articulated in the Vision 2030. Since it was establishment in 2002, KCAA has always continued to implement the existing Government performance management system until the introduction of the Performance Contracts in 2005/06. Performance contracting was introduced in the Authority following Government directive that all public institutions adopt the concept of performance contracting (Korir, 2005).

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1.2 Statement of the Problem Researchers have given different literature on what can increase an employee‟s commitment to the organization. Most behavioral learning theorists agreed on this point (Hurter, 2008). Most of the conceptualization of commitment used in most studies reflects more of a managerialist and unitarist outlook. Organisational structure plays a very important role in organisational commitment (Bin, Ahmed, Shafi, and Shaheen, 2011). For instance, Bureaucratic structures always tend to have a negative effect on organisational commitment(Hurter, 2008). (Padmakumar and Gantasal ,2011) suggests that the removal of bureaucratic barriers from the organisation and the creation of more flexible structure in the organisation are more likely to contribute to the enhancement of employee commitment both in terms of their loyalty and also attachment to the organisation. The management can increase the level of commitment of the employees by providing the employees with better and less bureaucratic structures, greater direction and influence (Gantasala, 2011). Commitment-based service organizations believe that staff‟s organizational commitment contributes to workforce stability and better customer service hence increases business performance (Nguyen, 2014). Organizational factors that influence employee commitment such as dependability, social processes and the organizational climate strengthen employee commitment and are known to enhance personal/individual factors to employees‟ commitment (Mcgrawhil, 2010). According to research evidence on employee commitment gathered more than two decades ago, the organizational factors that have been strongly identified include organizational dependability, the effectiveness of the organizations social processes and the organizational climate (Adenike, 2011). Current changes in employment practices affect organizational commitment which is on the unwritten loyalty contract between employees and employers (Robinson, 2006). Employment practices such as layoffs, downsizing and mergers are stimulated by the need to be competitive but cause employees to have low levels of commitment, as a result employees may view their organizational commitment differently (Robinson, 2006)

When organizations seek to foster a philosophy of commitment, then the likelihood of an employee searching for employment elsewhere is lowered. According to (Bin, Ahmed, Shafi and Shaheen, 2011), the individual factors that influence the level of employee commitment to an organization are age, job security in the organization and the marital status of the employee. Bin and Ahmed (2011), further state that other Individual factors 5

may include material benefits and psychological rewards such as bonuses, including status, loyalty and approval but none the less age, job security and marital status emerge stronger. For example, in the workplace, the supervisor provides a subordinate with support and monetary rewards while in exchange, the subordinate contributes personal devotions and expertise (Gantasala, 2011)

Wang (2010), states that it is interesting to note that, of the studies that have reported positive correlations between commitment and performance in organizations, most have used measures of affective commitment. It is possible that an obligation to remain will carry (Wang, 2010). Employees who want to belong to the organization (affective commitment) might be more likely than those who need to belong (continuance commitment) or feel obliged to belong (normative commitment) to make an effort on behalf of the organization (Wang,2010). Tumwesigye (2010), states that the most widely studied organizational factor that influences performance and organizational commitment has been turnover in the organization. However, this focus on turnover may be shortsighted as there other factors that have emerged strongly such as employee productivity and the famous social corporate responsibility ( Tumwesigye, 2010).

Other researchers have indicated the several factors which affect employee commitment as job security, compensation, and rewards. (Hossein, Mohammad, Bita, Fariba, and Hosseinali, 2012).Other labels such as high commitment, lean production, and security employee involvement have been given, even though most of them are focused on effective work management (Wang, 2010). However eemployee‟ commitment in an organization is of great importance because it reflects upon performance in terms of maintaining the profit made by the company. Therefore, the factors of workplace environment majority in a service oriented industry could affect the employees‟ health, performance and commitment and thus gives a great impact towards organizational performance (Zheng and Sharan, 2010). Additional aspects such as productivity and corporate social responsibility have emerged to enhance employee commitment and performance of the organization (Bin, Ahmed, Shafi, and Shaheen, 2011). However researchers have also mentioned other factors which foster employee commitment to include: job-related factors; employment opportunities; personal characteristics; positive relationships; organizational structure; employee motivation; performance appraisals; and management style (Scott, 2007). Although researchers have focused on the several factors that influence employee commitment, they have not done 6

studies on a combination of organizational factors, individual factors which influence employee commitment and they as well have not considered whether employee commitment affects organizational performance.

Many have tried to study commitment in other angels and provided recommendations by trying to use methods that were successful in other areas around the world and have met with failure, simply because employee commitment in the 21st century is unique and greatly depends on the organizations policy. This therefore has created a knowledge gap that needs to be filled hence the reason for conducting this research.

1.3 Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to determine the factors which influence employee commitment in Kenya Civil Aviation Authority.

1.4 Research Questions The study was guided by the following; 1.4.1 What are the organizational factors that influence employee commitment in KCAA? 1.4.2 What are the individual factors that influence employee commitment in KCAA? 1.4.3 What is the effect of employee commitment on organizational performance in KCAA?

1.5 Significance of the Study This section provides a brief description on the importance of carrying out this study. How research obtained by studying the topic in question will benefit different sections like the organization and its employees, the service industry as a whole and finally the future researchers who may want to study the problem further to enhance knowledge.

1.5.1 To the Organization and Employees This study will help the above category of people to understand the broad elements that lead to employee commitment and help them to come up with powerful systems that will ensure they promote the same.

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1.5.2 To the Industry It will enhance proactiveness by creating systematic measures which ensure that employees are committed with in the service industry.

1.5.3 To Future Researchers This study will benefit and help future researchers as their guide and reference as well as open more forum of study in the topic and broaden ideas on the problem in the question.

1.6 Scope of the Study The study will be carried out in Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA). Kenya is a country in East Africa where not a lot of research on employee commitment has been carried out. The population target was 168 employees of the organization. The sample from the study comprised of 92 respondents from various departments of the organization which included, human resources, planning, finance, research and development and the technical department. The researcher will take one week to collect data. The most significant limitation that was encountered by the researcher was limited access to existing material in the organization, missing data, errors in the questionnaires and employees being reluctant to release information.

1.7 Definition of Terms 1.7.1 Employee Commitment Employee Commitment is generating human energy and activating the human mind (Jaw and Liu, 2004). Meyer and Allen, 2001, defined commitment as a stabilizing force that acts to maintain behavioral direction when expectancy/equity conditions are not met and do not function. Commitment is an obliging force which requires that the person honor the commitment even in the face of fluctuating attitudes and whims (Brown, 1996). The relative strength of an individual‟s identification with and involvement in a particular organization (Mowday, 1979). It is the psychological bond of an employee to an organization, the strength of which depends on the degree of employee involvement, employee loyalty and belief in the values of the organization. It consists of three factors (Meyer and Allen, 2008).

1.7.2 Affective Commitment Affective Commitment refers to the employee‟s emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization. (Meyer and Elyse, 2010). Affective 8

commitment refers to the employee‟s emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization. In traditional, ongoing employment relationships, a high level of affective commitment has been found to be related to low employee turnover, low absenteeism and improved job performance hence employees with a strong affective commitment continue employment with the organization because they want to do so (Wang, 2010).

1.7.3 Continuance Commitment Continuance commitment describes an individual‟s need to remain with the organization resulting from her/his recognition of the costs (tenure, pay, benefits, vesting of pensions and family commitment associated with leaving the organization (Loi, 2006). Continuance commitment describes an individual‟s need to remain with the organization resulting from her/his recognition of the costs such as tenure, pay, benefits, vesting of pensions and family commitment associated with leaving the organization. It may also refer to an awareness of the costs associated with leaving the organization. Employees whose primary link to the organization is based on continuance commitment remain because they need to do so (Loi and Foley, 2008).

1.7.4 Normative Commitment Normative commitment reflects an individual‟s feeling of obligation to maintain organizational membership because he/she believes it is morally right to be loyal to, and stay in, the organization (Coyle-Shapiro, 2006). Normative commitment reflects an individual‟s feeling of obligation to maintain organizational membership because he/she believes it is morally right to be loyal to, and stay in, the organization. Although Normative commitment is widely recognized as a salient dimension of employee commitment, it has been found to be substantially inter-related with affective commitment (Coyle-Shapiro, 2008).

1.7.5 Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate social responsibility is an initiative to assess and take responsibility for the company's effects on the environment and impact on social welfare. Corporate social responsibility may also be referred to as corporate citizenship and can involve incurring short-term costs that do not provide an immediate financial benefit to the company, but instead promote positive social and environmental change (Sarah. Stawiski, 2010). 9

1.8 Chapter Summary This chapter has provided an insight into the background of the problem, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, the research questions, and significance of the study, scope of the study and definition of terms. In the next chapter, the researcher will go ahead to review the literature based on the factors that influence employee commitment as studied by other researchers. In chapter three, the researcher will discuss the methodology they intend to use, and further provide an analysis of chapter four after going to the field to collect data and presenting the findings obtained from the questionnaire, and finally provide a conclusion as well as recommendations of the study in chapter five.

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CHAPTER 2

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter seeks to present a review of literature in relation to the research questions being analysed. Literature is presented on the organizational factors that influence employee commitment, the individual factors that influence employee commitment and what effect employee commitment has on organizational performance. At the end a chapter summary will be provided.

2.2 Organisational Factors that Influence Employee Commitment Ramayah and Min (2009), state that a great deal of research has been conducted in examining the relationship between organizational factors and employee commitment. These include organizational dependability, the effectiveness of the organization‟s social processes and the organizational climate (Ramayah and Min, 2009). The literature below explores the organizational factors mentioned above and how they influence employee commitment.

2.2.1 Organizational Dependability Organizational dependability was described by (Buchanan, 2009) as those experiences which confirmed the important expectations of senior managers. However these expectations are more than likely to twinkle down to other employees in the organization and hence will bring out the levels of commitment amongst the employees (Buchanan, 2009). Steers (2011), also stated that organizational dependability was also found to be positively related to organizational commitment, thus the research scan collates empirical evidence about the characteristics of highly dependable organizations such as a strong work ethic, highly reliable and how these organizations develop within and outside hence influencing employee commitment . Case studies and qualitative research suggests that the key characteristics of highly dependable organizations include: strong work ethic, highly reliable, collective mindfulness across the organization, positive safety culture, continuous improvement, learning culture, highly trained and well-rewarded staff, creative ways to cope with errors, regular checks, redundancy of processes, flexibility to deal with change (Jyotsna, 2007).

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Highly dependable or reliable organizations demand perfection although they know they have to have a committed team of employee to achieve that (Jyotna, 2007). They also understand that these can only be attained if the organization can highly depend on its employees and in return the employees are committed to the success of the operations in the organization (Nadeem, Aysha and Hussain, 2011). Dependability in an organization is viewed by some researchers as a commitment by employees because of the reliability of the organization they are working for which results into commitment to their career, and hence results in the development of a strong work ethic (Origo and Pagani, 2009). Some researchers view Reliability and dependability as one and the same and thus could be in form of team work, a positive management style, and top down social interactions that assurance, which results into employees being dependent in the organization (Bin, Ahmed, Shafi, and Shaheen, 2011).

Organizational dependability can also be looked at using the psychological approach, which conceptualizes commitment as an attitude or an orientation towards the organization that links or attaches the identity of the person to the organization because of its positive attitude towards retaining their employees (Khyzer,2011). The three components of this orientation consist of identification with the goals and values of the organization, high involvement in its work activities and a strong desire to maintain membership in the organization (Khyzer, 2011).

Research shows that highly dependable organizations pursue two competing approaches to achieve reliable performance which include the prevention or anticipation approach and the resilience or containment approach. We consider each of the two approaches in the following paragraphs (Ochlin and Roberts, 2011). Prevention or anticipation requires that organizational members try to anticipate and identify the events and occurrences that must not happen, identify all possible causal precursor events or conditions that may lead to them and then create a set of procedures for avoiding them (Kathleen, 2011). From this perspective, reliability depends on a lack of unwanted variance in performance, and is thought to be achieved through the development of highly standardized operating procedures and routines. Studies show how high dependable organizations are obsessed with detailed operating procedures, contingency plans, rules, protocols and guidelines as well as using the tools of science and technology to better control the behavior of organizational members to avoid errors and mistakes which requires highly committed employees (Ochlin and Roberts, 2011). 12

Research also shows that these organizations build capabilities for resilience. The essence of resilience is the intrinsic ability of an organization team, unit, and system to maintain or regain a dynamically stable state, which allows it to continue operations in the presence of a continuous stress and after a major mishap (Robinson, 2009). Resilience involves three abilities the ability to absorb strain and preserve functioning in spite of the presence of adversity rapid change, ineffective leadership, performance and production pressures, and increasing demands from stakeholders, an ability to recover or bounce back from an event and an ability to learn and grow from previous episodes (Hsein Ho, 2009). Highly dependable organizations are unique in that they understand that reliability or dependability is not the outcome of organizational invariance, but rather, results from a continuous management of fluctuations in job performance and human interactions which enhance employee commitment (Bin, Ahmed, Shafi, and Shaheen, 2011).

To be able to become alert and aware of these inevitable fluctuations, to cope with, circumstances that occur from these events, such as mistakes or errors, „as they occur‟ and before their effects escalate and ramify organizations greatly rely on the commitment o the employees. Nevertheless, research also shows that adherence to rules and procedures alone will not prevent incidents thus there are limits to the logic of prevention. (Khyzer Bin, 2011).

2.2.2 Effectiveness of the Organization’s Social Processes Organizations consist of people. How well the organization works depends on how these people interact and work together generally along either hierarchical or process lines (McDonald, 2011). How well people work together is a crucial factor in the success of any organization or group. Employers have traditionally seen employees as collections of individuals held together through self-interest, rules, exercise of authority (McDonald, 2011). In today‟s world, there are many firms that support the formation of quality circles, self-managing teams, liaisons. When observing any group of people who work together, one can notice many social processes going on such as communicating, influencing each other, cooperating with one another, competing (Hausknecht, 2012). Social processes in an organization bring availability of opportunities to play and how challenges and issues are tackled. The presence and effectiveness of these processes 13

enhances employee commitment (McDonald, 2011). Studies of the best highly dependable organizations show that a social relational infrastructure of trust and heed is necessary for employees to be committed (Conway, Edel,Kathy and Monks, 2010). In addition, their nearly error-free performance results from attitudes and practices those enable their members to pick up on problems earlier and to act on them before they grow bigger (Gupta, 2004).

Some researchers view social processes in an organization as communication, influence and power, competition and prosocial behavior. How well these processes effectively play in the organization is highly responsible for the level of commitment among the employees (Conway, Edel, Kathy and Monks, 2010). High levels of commitment are experienced in organizations where communication channels are open and transparency is highly encouraged, positive competition is observed (Gantasala, 2011). For social processes to be viewed effective in an organizations setting, the organization must have a procedure that emphasizes work through top down social interactions structured around the organization chart, or hierarchy which work end to end structured around their business processes which enfold into social (Mark and McDonald, 2011).

The dimensions of hierarchy and process shape the way organizations see the world, its challenges and, more importantly, the portfolio of potential solutions to those challenges. There is nothing wrong with hierarchy or process. They are effective organizational approaches to managing complex operations. But there is a crucial third dimension to organizational effectiveness. We see this when people get things done by working in the so-called “white space” in the organizational structure, or by working across the “seams” of a business process. In their ways of working and connecting with each other, they do more than just what they are told top-down and more than what is defined as their job. This is the social dimension (Mark and McDonald, 2011). When interacting individuals or groups influence the behaviour of each other it is called social interaction. People in action with one another means interaction of some kind. These interactions are about their attitudes being involved and thus the process becomes social. Most organizations are concerned with positive interactions because these create an environment which promotes employee committment (Nguyen John and Nguyen, 2014).

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There are hundreds of social processes. But we find some fundamental social processes that are found to appear repeatedly in society. These fundamental processes are socialization, cooperation, conflict, competition, accommodation, acculturation and assimilation (John and Elyse, 2010). Some researchers classified social processes into two categories; the elemental and the comprehensive or master processes. He describes elemental processes are those by which the separate elements of the social system are articulated and comprehensive processes are those by which several or all of the elements are articulated or involved (Wang, 2010). These elements are beliefs (knowledge), sentiment, end or goal, norm, status-role (position), rank, power, sanction, and facility (Staples, 2009).

2.2.3 Organizational Climate Organizational climate plays a very important role in organizational commitment. According to Fauziah and Nordin (2010), Organizational climate serves as a measure of individual perceptions or feelings about an organization. Organizational climate has been described as a combination of shared history, expectations, unwritten rules and social moves that affects the behaviors of everyone in an organization (Fauziah and Nordin, 2010). It can also refer to those aspects of the environment that are consciously perceived by organizational members. In short, it refers to how the members of an organization perceive it as it goes about its daily business. There is a general agreement that organizational climate is a multi-dimensional concept, the dimensions of organizational climate can be listed as organizational design, communication, leadership, teamwork, decision-making, culture, job satisfaction, and motivation (Omar, 2010).

Organizational climate serves as a measure of individual perceptions or feelings about an organization. Organizational climate includes management or leadership styles, participation in decision making, provision of challenging jobs to employees, reduction of boredom and frustration, provision of benefits, personnel policies, provision of good working conditions and creation of suitable career ladder for academics (Adenike, 2011). If employees within a unit or organization agree on their perceptions of the work context, unit-level or organizational climate is said to exist (Aube, 2007). A large number of studies have consistently demonstrated relationships between unit or organizational climate and individual outcomes such as performance, satisfaction, commitment, involvement and accidents (Brown, McHardy, McNabb and Taylor, 2011). Many workers 15

have experienced the effect of organizational climate at some point on their performance and commitment (Padmakumar and Gantasal, 2011).

Organizational climate dimensions are significantly associated with attitudinal commitment of employees. The past studies showed that statistically there is a significant correlation between organization climate and employee commitment. Organizational climate comprises of cognate sets of attitudes, values and practices that characterize the members of a particular organization (Nordin, 2010). Other studies suggest that employees, who work in an environment where team work and cooperation are valued, as well as promoted, do establish a strong attachment to the organization which enhances their level of commitment to the organization (Jaw, 2004). Further researchers suggest that organizational climate variables can be observed as Human Relations, Internal Process, Open System, and Rational Goal (Boxall and Macky, 2009). Others suggest that organizational climate can be in different types such as climates that are people-oriented, rule-oriented, innovation-oriented and goal-oriented. And this orientations in one way or another influences the levels of employee commitment to the organization (Scott, 2007).

Organizational climate has manifested in a variety of human resource practices such as organizational success which is mostly reflected in the levels of employee commitment. Numerous studies have found positive relationships between organizational climates and various measures of organizational success, most notably for metrics such as sales, staff retention, productivity, customer satisfaction, and profitability which enhance employee commitment (Loi and Foley, 2008). Organizational climate clearly influences employee commitment. Many organizations, however, struggle to cultivate the climate they need to succeed and retain their most highly effective employees. Organizations can take steps to build a more positive and employee centered climate through communication, values, expectations, norms, policies and rules, programs, leadership. These steps have been known to be carried out in organizations that have employees who are committed to their jobs. (Zheng and Sharan, 2010). Making a climate change in your organization is one of the core fundamental steps to beginning to create a great place to work and enhance employee commitment (Mcgrawhil, 2010).

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2.3 Individual Factors that Influence Employee Commitment According to Ramayah and Min (2009) Individual factors consist of demographic variables such as age, job security, and marital status. Individual factors have played a major role in research aimed at predicting organizational commitment. These factors are analyzed in the literature presented below.

2.3.1 Age A range of demographic variables have been found to be related to employee commitment, but age has proved to be the most outstanding and studied variable (Jafr, 2011). For a variety of reasons, age has been found to be a positive predictor of employee commitment. Studies suggest, the older employees become, then the less alternative employment options are available. As a result, older employees may view their current employment more favorably (Jafr, 2011). Other researchers suggest that older employees may be more committed because they have a stronger investment and greater history with their organization hence age has been found to be positively related to organizational commitment (Zheng and Sharan, 2010). One possible explanation for this relationship is that there are fewer employment options available to older employees and older employees realize that leaving may cost them more than staying (Jafr, 2011).

A basic finding of much research on work attitudes is that older workers are, generally, more committed to their employing organizations and more satisfied with their jobs (Linz, 2006). Moreover, a positive relationship between age and commitment has been found in different cultures. (Lincoln and Kalleberg, 2009) report that, in their samples of manufacturing employees in the US and Japan, older people are both more committed and more satisfied than younger employees. Allen and Meyer (1993) found that both affective and normative organizational commitment were significantly higher in older than younger employees. Further research found that older Korean employees reported higher commitment than younger respondents (Lincoln and Kalleberg, 2009). Older employees are also attitudinally committed to an organization for a variety of reasons, including greater satisfaction with their jobs, gaining advancement, and having cognitively justified their remaining in an organization (Noordin, 2011).

More research suggests that the positive relationship between age and commitment could be due to self-justification processes such as I have been here for 20 years, I must like it. It should also be noted that over time, less committed employees are more likely to leave 17

their organizations. (Noordin, 2011). Other researchers have suggested that age should be more highly related to calculative organizational commitment. This relationship is typically attributed to limited alternative opportunities and greater sunk costs in later years (Brown, McHardy, McNabb, and Taylor, 2011). Furthermore, age might also be associated with continuance organizational commitment because it serves as a proxy for the investments one makes in one‟s organization (Meyer and Allen, 1984). However Owoyemi, Oyelere, Elegbede, and Gbajumo-Sheriff (2011), in their review and metaanalysis of antecedents, correlates and consequences of organizational commitment, reported that age is significantly more related to attitudinal than to calculative organizational commitment. Studies have also found that commitment increases with organizational and positional tenure (Hsein, 2009).

Research also found that positional tenure was significantly and positively related to attitudinal organizational commitment, suggesting that years spent in a particular position may build an employee‟s psychological attachment to the organization (Coyle-Shapiro, 2008). They also found that organizational tenure tended to be more related to organizational commitment than did positional tenure, but both effects were reported to be small. Zheng and Sharan( 2010), found that employees with longer tenure in organizations had significantly higher affective organizational commitment. Many studies have indicated an inverse relationship between age and employee commitment. Reasons for this inverse relationship result from age affecting the turnover (Staples, 2009). Persons under the age of 30 tend to commit to organizations which value work/life balance, while persons over 30 tend to be committed to firms emphasizing job security (Mcdonald, 2011). This does appear to reflect generational differences in core values. Younger workers tend to have a different work ethic than persons over 50. Older workers appear to find value in the work itself, and usually will stay to complete a project. Workers under 30 reflect less of a traditional work ethic, and often find motive value in work and social relationships as well as obligations (Mcdonald, 2011).

2.3.2 Job Security Job insecurity is said to be an individual‟s expectations about continuity in a job situation, perception of a potential threat to continuity in his or her current job and powerlessness to maintain desired continuity in a threatened job situation (Bosman, Buttendach and Laba, 2008).

Other authors report that eemployment security is very desirable for

employees, who rank it as one of the most important factors for their commitment to an 18

organization. Job security also plays a very crucial role in reducing employee turnover, as well as maintaining stable employment relationships in organizations

(Bosman,

Buttendach and Laba, 2008). In addition, job security is essential for retaining human capital investment as well as reducing workforce screening and also selection costs (Origo and Pagani, 2009). Employees these days no longer believe they can depend on businesses for job security, and this belief change has caused a shift in the psychological contract between businesses and their employees (Origo and Pagani 2009). According to Chan (2011), there is a positive relationship between job security and employee commitment. Job insecurity can be said only to occur in the cases of involuntary job. Some authors conceptualize job insecurity as the perception of a potential threat to continuity (Conway, Edel, Kathy and Monks, 2010). Since we know that the basic characteristic of mergers, acquisitions and downsizing is threat to continuity and also involuntary job loss, these changes therefore lead to job insecurity (Conway, Edel, Kathy and Monks, 2010) .

There is however no doubt that job insecurity affects the work performances of employees. But many authors have come up with different evidences. Some of them have discovered that a moderate amount of job insecurity leads to increased work performances, but some of them have found that job insecurity leads to decreased work performances (Boxall and Macky, 2007). The underlying theme behind the various definitions is that job insecurity is a subjective phenomenon, that it is based on the individual‟s perceptions and interpretations of the immediate work environment. Job insecurity refers to the anticipation of this stressful event in such a way that the nature and continued existence of one‟s job are perceived to be at risk, thereby implying that the feeling of job insecurity only occurs in the case of involuntary job loss (Linz, 2006). Other researchers state that job insecurity reflects a fundamental and involuntary change concerning the continuity and security within the employing organization (University of Pretoria etd-Coetzee, 2005).

Job insecurity has the potential of being more distressing to the individual than job loss. Job loss is already known and the individual has to come to terms with the loss and cope with its outcomes. In the case of job insecurity, on the other hand, coping may be inhibited by the uncertainty of the event (Robinson, 2009). Some researchers are of the opinion that the impact of the changing world of work is perhaps most evident in changes 19

in the psychological contract. Employees are expected to give more in terms of time, effort, skills, and flexibility, whereas they receive less in terms of career opportunities, lifetime employment, and job security (Aube, 2007). The violation of the psychological contract between an employee and an organization is likely to produce burnout, because it erodes the notion of reciprocity, which is crucial in maintaining well-being and commitment (Conway, Edel, Kathy and Monks, 2010). Researchers also found that position tenure, organizational tenure and age were positively related to organizational commitment (Bosman, Buttendach and Laba, 2008). Employees with perceptions of low job security are more likely to engage in work withdrawal behaviors and report reduced organizational commitment (Bin, Ahmed, Shafi, and Shaheen, 2011). Studies also found that the higher levels of job insecurity are, the lower the employees‟ organizational commitment and the greater the tendency to leave the organization. (Bin, Ahmed, Shafi,and Shaheen, 2011). A South African University which carried out a similar study, obtained similar results in a petroleum/oil company (University of Pretoria etd-Coetzee, 2005). In general however, we may come to a conclusion that in the case of high job insecurity employees commitment will decrease, especially its affective component. But we also assume that continuance component could have an increasing tendency to some level, before it starts decreasing as job insecurity becomes more and more threatening (Conway, Edel, Kathy and Monks, 2010).

2.3.3 Marital Status Marital status has also been shown to relate to commitment, with married employees usually showing more commitment (Hodges, 2010). However, it is suggested that the reason for this is because married employees will typically have greater financial and family responsibilities, which increases their need to remain with the organization (Hodges, 2010). Note that this refers to structural commitment (or continuance commitment) in that the cost associated with leaving the organization increases commitment to the organization (Hoobler.J.M, Wayne.S.J, and Lemmon.G., 2009). Although more people than in the past are delaying marriage or choosing not to marry at all, marriage is still seen as a normative developmental milestone in American culture (DePaulo and Morris, 2007). Single people, especially those who are not in a romantic relationship, are perceived as less responsible, less mature, and less well-adjusted than married people ( DePaulo, Hertel, and Taylor, 2008). Based on these stereotypes, single 20

people might be expected to be seen as less committed to their jobs and less likely to succeed as employees compared to married people, and might thus be discriminated against in employment decisions. On the other hand, some anecdotal evidence suggests that people expect single individuals to be able and willing to work longer hours than married people, because the single people may have fewer obligations outside of work, and this might lead people to favor singles in employment decisions (Western,Hewitt and Baxter, 2005).

DePaulo, Hertel and Taylor (2008), suggested that people are generally biased in favor of, or against, single individuals vs. married individuals in perceptions related to employment decisions. Due to societal conventions concerning the wearing of a wedding ring, marital status is a personal characteristic about which women and men in the American cultural context cannot avoid conveying information whether accurate or inaccurate in face-toface meetings, such as job interviews(Hodges, 2010). The question of marital status biases in person perception, visa-a-vie employment decisions, thus has strong practical relevance, beyond any historical and theoretical interest it may also carry for scholars. Females may be viewed as less suitable for employment when married than when single, whereas the reverse may be true for men (Hoobler, Wayne, and Lemmon, 2009).

Traditional conceptions of marriage as entailing greater social responsibilities outside the workplace for women (Hobbler, Wayne, and Lemmon, 2009) may promote perceptions of married women as less suitable for employment compared to single women. In particular, expectations of motherhood may create bias against married women in perceptions of employability hence strongly affecting employee commitment (Hodges, 2010). Qualitative research suggests that employers discriminate against mothers and surveys have found lower wages among mothers than comparable women without children even in nations with generally high levels of gender equality such as Norway (Hardy and Schone, 2008). Indeed, in a laboratory experiment, participants rated women with children as less competent and committed to their jobs than women without children, and in a second study, real employers were less likely to respond to applications from women with children than women without (Western,Hewitt and Baxter, 2005). In the same study, parental status did not affect responses to men and their levels of commitment to the organization. Recent research has found that even when mothers show definitive evidence that they are highly competent and committed to their jobs, evaluators in an employment context still discriminate against them (Benard and Correll, 2010). The mere 21

expectation of future childrearing responsibilities may also bias people against women; studies have found that people rate pregnant women as less competent than others (Benard and Correll, 2010).

Research carried out by the bureau of labour statistics, states that the extent that a woman‟s choice to be married is perceived as an indication of an intention to have children, some of the employment penalty applied to mothers may also attach to married women due merely to their marital status hence greatly affecting employee commitment (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). These assumptions about employees‟ motivations to earn money may also engender bias against married women. Traditionally, married men have been assigned a social role of earning money at work, whereas married women have been assigned a social role of fulfilling responsibilities at home. Although gender roles within heterosexual marriage are rapidly evolving, with more than one third of married American women now out earning their husbands (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010).

Hodges (2010), stated that these traditional conceptions of social roles may still influence people‟s expectations and perceptions as well as employee commitment. Due to the assumption that women are less likely to be relied upon as the primary breadwinner for a married couple, people might expect married female employees to be less dedicated to their jobs compared to their single counterparts who must provide their own income. Whereas people might expect male employees to be more motivated in their jobs if married, a further reason to expect that people may discriminate against married women in employment decisions, in addition to expectations of greater family responsibility childrearing and less financial responsibility, involves the activation of gender stereotypes (Benard and Correll, 2010). Because traditional social roles in marriage cast women as care givers more than breadwinners, married women may be seen as more prototypically feminine than other women, and prototypical examples within a category are likely to elicit stronger stereotypes (Alexande, 2012).

Therefore, being perceived through feminine stereotypes might lead married women to be seen less positively in ways that affect employment decisions. Research advancing the lack-of-fit model has shown that women tend to be evaluated poorly on professional dimensions to the degree that gender stereotypes are activated and this has seen the levels of employee commitment dwindle (Alexande, 2012). 22

2.4 Effects of Employee Commitment on Organizational Performance Organizational performance comprises the actual output or results of an organization as measured against its intended outputs or goals and objectives (Richard, 2009). Organizational performance involves the recurring activities to establish organizational goals, monitor progress toward the goals, and make adjustments to achieve those goals more effectively and efficiently (Richard, 2009). The impact of employee commitment on organizational performance can be manifest through employee turnover, employee productivity, and corporate social responsibility. These factors are discussed in depth below.

2.4.1 Employee Commitment and Employee Turnover Turnover can be defined as the process in which employees leave the organization and have to be replaced by others, turnover is related to employee commitment(Warsi, 2009). Turnover occurs when employees leave an organization and have to be replaced. Excessive turnover can be a very costly problem to the company, one with a major impact on productivity(Scott, 2007). But cost is not the only reason turnover is an important issue. Lengthy training times, interrupted schedules, additional overtime, mistakes and not having knowledgeable employees in place are some of the frustrations associated with excessive turnover which may be caused by lack of employee commitment (Tumwesigye, 2010).

High employee turnover is of considerable concern for employers because it disrupts normal operations of the company, causes morale problems for that stick on, and increases the cost involved in selecting and training the replacements(Bosman, Buttendach,and Laba, 2008). The employer does whatever possible to minimize turnover, making employees feel motivated on their jobs which encourages them to be more commited to stay . The withdrawal behavior of the employees is modified by certain factors. Loyalty to the organization is one such factor(Scott, 2007). According to Van and Adonisi (2008) Some employees cannot imagine themselves working elsewhere, however uncommited they are in their present job. Availability of other places of employment also reduces employee commitment to their current job.

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Turnover intentions are the thoughts of the employees regarding voluntary leaving the organization (Warsi, 2009). The intention to quit is probably the most important immediate antecedent of turnover decisions. Turnover intention is used instead of actual turnover because in general the theory of planned behavior. In fact, researchers have found intent to leave or stay as the strongest predictor of actual turnover (Lee, 2007). Review on the antecedent of turnover intentions has highlighted intent to leave rather than actual turnover as the outcome variable. Also results on the study of the relationship between turnover intentions and actual turnover have given support and evidence on the significant relationship between these variables (Scott, 2007). Literature has identified that work related factors, personal characteristics and external factors are good predictors of employee turnover tendency (Scott, 2007).

Further empirical studies have shown that turnover intentions are functions of several variables such as satisfaction, motivation, organizational support, financial reward, communication promotion prospect and leadership styles (Brown, McHardy, McNabb and Taylor, 2011). In a review of turnover research, including 20 studies also considering turnover, Scott (2007) stated the results of previous studies indicated that there is a progression of behavioral withdrawal from absenteeism to turnover. The evidence behind this claim embraces a wide range of subject groups studied (Scott, 2007). Jordan(2012) suggests that most of the theoretical literature contends that before individuals leave an organization, they progress through a series of stages of psychological and behavioral withdrawal. (Scott, 2007) for example, asserted that absence is a miniature form of turnover. He states that the position of leaving a job is the outcome of a chain of experiences building up to the final break events on a smaller scale. Signs such high absenteeism tend to manifest earlier as turnover becomes the dying state of a lively process of leaving. However, with the changing nature of jobs, more study has to be done focusing on the effect or impact of turnover intentions on employees‟ commitment (Bin, 2011).

2.4.2 Employee Commitment and Productivity According Akintayo, (2010) the relationship between employee commitment and productivity is not definitely established. The consensus on this, however, is that in the long-run commitment leads to increased productivity. The strongest implication of most of the research is that the two variables, commitment and performance, are relatively 24

independent of one another. It seems there are two possible reasons for this. The first reason is that in many jobs variations, commitment cannot lead to variations in productivity (Bin and Khyzer, 2011). Secondly, even when correlations of this sort do appear, the associations may still be spurious, since both may be associated with other factors as well (Bin and Khyzer, 2011). In other words, commitment and productivity may very well have largely separate casual paths, one set of factors investment in technology determines productivity, another set perceived equity of rewards produces employee commitment (Akintayo, 2010). Productivity increases as an organization goes ahead to find new ways to use fewer resources in order to produce its output. In a business environment however, productivity improvement is essential for long-run success of the company (Bin, Ahmed, Shafi and Shaheen, 2011).

A widely accepted assumption is that better workplace environment motivates employees and produces better results (Brown, McHardy, McNabb, and Taylor, 2011). Office environment can be described in terms of physical and behavioral components. These components can further be divided in the form of different independent variables (Gantasala, 2011). An organization‟s physical environment and its design and layout can affect employee behavior in the workplace. Researchers estimate that improvements in the physical design of the workplace may result in a 5-10 percent increase in employee productivity (Conway, Edel, Kathy and Monks, 2010). Other researchers argue that increasingly an organization‟s physical layout is designed around employee needs in order to maximize productivity and satisfaction. They argue that innovative workplaces can be developed to encourage the sharing of information and networking regardless to job boundaries by allowing communication freely across departmental groups (Sekar, 2011). Furthermore studies carried out argue that the modern work physical environment is characterized by technology; computers and machines as well as general furniture and furnishings. To achieve high levels of employee productivity, organizations must ensure that the physical environment is conducive to organizational needs facilitating interaction and privacy, formality and informality, functionality and cross-disciplinarily (Leblebici, 2012).

Furthermore, the physical environment is a tool that can be leveraged both to improve business results and employee well-being (Leblebici, 2012). Ensuring adequate facilities are provided to employees is critical to generating greater employee commitment and 25

productivity (Sekar, 2011). The provision of inadequate equipment and adverse working conditions has been shown to affect employee commitment and intention to stay with the organization. From a safety perspective, it indicates that environmental conditions affect employee safety perceptions which impact upon employee commitment (Omar, 2010).

Extensive scientific research has also yielded indications suggesting that improving working environment results in a reduction in a number of complaints and absenteeism and an increase in productivity (Shapiro, 2008). As such in the twenty-first century, businesses are taking a more strategic approach to environmental management to enhance their productivity through improving the performance level of the employees. It is evident in the research findings of (Sekar, 2011) that the more satisfied workers are with their jobs the better the company is likely to perform in terms of subsequent profitability and particularly productivity. The author further, argues that in the relationship between work, the workplace and the tools of work, workplace becomes an integral part of work itself (Sekar, 2011).

The management that dictates how, exactly, will maximize employee productivity as it‟s centered around two major areas of focus: personal motivation and the infrastructure of the work environment (Sekar, 2011). There are various literatures that define different factors that influence the performance of the employees but researchers explain the components of the office environment such as interaction as having been perceived to be the component to have the most positive effect on productivity and employee commitment, and distraction was perceived to have the most negative(Haynes, 2008). Through gains in productivity managers can reduce costs, save scarce resources, and enhance profits. In turn, improved profits allow an organization to provide better pay, benefits, and working conditions which result to employee commitment. The result can be a higher quality of work employees, who are more likely to be motivated and commited toward further improvements in productivity (Zheng, 2010)

2.4.3. Employee Commitment and Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate social responsibility is an initiative to assess and take responsibility for the company's effects on the environment and impact on social welfare. Corporate social responsibility may also be referred to as corporate citizenship and can involve incurring short-term costs that do not provide an immediate financial benefit to the company, but instead promote positive social and environmental change (Stawiski, 2010). 26

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is both a high profile notion which the business world perceives as strategic (Economist, 2008). The diffusion of corporate CSR practices is driven by emerging markets for virtues such as Socially Responsible Investment that create effective, if limited, commercial pressure to adopt CSR policies and constitute a growing CSR industry (Waldman, 2008). A recent global survey of 1,122 corporate executives suggests CEOs perceived that businesses benefit from CSR because it increases attractiveness to potential and existing employees (Economist, 2008). A French poll on CSR indicated that employees were seen as the most important stakeholder group toward whom corporations have to exercise their social responsibility (Gond, 2010). Most organizatiosn have launched a corporate social responsibility competency framework supervised by the human resource department „to promote the adoption of CSR by corporations (Gond, 2010). This framework supports human resource manager‟s efforts to enhance employee‟s adoption of socially responsible behavior. This evidence suggests that employees are centrally important in deploying CSR strategies in an organization. However, in tough economic times, ensuring a company‟s survival seems difficult enough, without adding corporate citizenship priorities into the mix. With everything going on, beginning or maintaining strong corporate social responsibility initiatives may not be at the top of a company‟s priority list but it enhances the company‟s image (Stawiski, 2010). What are the benefits of investing in CSR does CSR impact employee attitudes, might CSR actually help the corporate bottom line. There is evidence that CSR is beneficial because as with customers CSR improves employees‟ perceptions of the company and may decide to affirm their commitment (Gond., 2010). When a company has CSR initiatives, employees are more proud of and committed to the organization. This is because our personal identities are partly tied up in the companies that we work for. If my company is saving the world, I am too, so my association with the company reflects positively on me and makes me feel good about the work I do for the company (Gond., 2010). Data from World Leadership Study also support this finding: employees‟ perceptions of their organizations „concern for community and environment are linked to their level of organizational commitment (Waldman, 2008).

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Studies carried out have shown that corporate social responsibility makes a unique and positive contribution to overall commitment. That is, the higher an employee rates their organization‟s corporate citizenship, the more committed they are to the organization (Waldman.D., 2008). Research shows that the scale, corporate social responsibility has promoted organizational commitment and has been linked to favorable outcomes for companies including increased job satisfaction, reduced intentions to turnover, and increased job involvement. It was acknowledged that organizational performance can be enhanced by involving employees in decision making that will ultimately increase their commitment in the organization (Brammer,Millington and Rayton, 2007).

Though some studies of corporate social responsibility adopted an organizational behavior perspective, they mainly focused on how CSR impacted prospective employees, and increased corporate attractiveness (Economist, 2008). This research supports the idea that CSR positively affects corporate attractiveness but says little about how CSR actually influences employees. The few empirical studies investigating the internal impact of CSR on employees tend to focus on specific dimensions of organizational commitment (Carrol, 2008) Because of its multidimensional nature; CSR can influence a wide range of organizational attitudes and behaviors beyond organizational commitment.

2.5 Chapter summary This chapter has presented a review of pertinent literature of employee commitment focusing on the organizational factors, individual factors and the effect of employee commitment on organizational performance . The next chapter will discuss the methodology that was used in this research. The procedures and methods which were used in carrying out this study. It will provide a description of the research design, ampling design, methods of data collection, research procedures, and data analysis methods.

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CHAPTER 3 3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLGY 3.1 Introduction In this chapter we discuss the research methodology that was used to conduct this study. The chapter focused on the following: research design, population and sampling techniques, data collection methods, research procedures, data analysis methods and chapter summary. 3.2 Research Design The research design that was used in this study was descriptive in nature. Research design can be classified in a number of ways which could integrate the degree to which the research question has been crystallized, the method of data collection used, the ability of the researcher to produce effects in the variables which are being studied, the purpose of the study, the time dimension, the scope of the study and also the research environment. A descriptive study is generally based on making findings concerning questions of; who, what, where, when, or how much and is very effective in giving the actual scenario in the organization. Descriptive studies are always handled with hypothesis which is clearly defined or investigative questions and they serve a number of objectives in the study (Cooper and Schindler, 2011). The researcher found it appropriate to use a descriptive research design for this study because this study was concerned with finding out what factors influence employee commitment and these are more qualitative in nature. Factors under study are the independent variables whereas the dependent variable is employee commitment.

3.3 Population and Sampling Design 3.3.1 Population The study of population refers to the total collection of elements which one would like to study or make inferences (Cooper and Schindler, 2001). This case study was based on KCCA and the population of interest was its employees. The target population was 168 employees ranging from top management personnel, middle managers, supervisors and the lower level employees as shown in Table 3.1.

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Table 3.1: Population Distribution No

Department

Population Characteristics

1

Human Resources

2

Finance

3

Planning

4

Technical Department

5

Research and Design

Managers Non-Managers Managers Non-Managers Managers Non-Managers Managers Non-Managers Managers Non-Managers

TOTAL Source: KCAA HR (2014)

Population No. 6 20 8 26 10 28 6 29 8 27 168

Percentage of the entire Population 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100

3.3.2 Sampling Design 3.3.2.1 Sampling frame This refers to the list of elements from which the sample is actually drawn, and is closely related to the population (Cooper & Schindler, 2001). The sampling frame for this study consisted of 168 employees. These employees included managers and non-managers from the Human Resources, Finance, Planning, Technical, Research and Design. The list from which the sample was drawn was obtained from the Human Resource Department in Kenya Civil Aviation Authority. 3.3.2.2 Sampling Technique Stratified random sampling technique was used in the selection of sample elements (top management personnel) from the sampling frame. The population was segregated into several mutually exclusive sub populations, or strata, the process by which the sample is constrained to include elements from each of the segments is referred to as stratified random sampling (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009). Stratified random sampling has three main benefits, it: increases a sample‟s statistical efficiency, provides adequate data for analyzing the various subpopulations, and enables different research methods and procedures to be used in different strata (Cooper & Schindler, 2001). The study population was segmented on the basis of various functions or divisions within KCAA which included finance, planning, human resource, research and development, technical 30

department. These ensured representation across the various functions or divisions of the top management personnel.

3.3.2.3 Sample Size This refers to the number of elements selected from a given population (Cooper and Schindler, 2001). How large a sample should be is always a function of the variation in the population parameters under study and also the estimating precision needed by the researcher. Some of the principles which influence sample size include the following: the larger the sample, then it must be able to provide estimation precision, the greater the desired precision of the estimate, the larger the sample must be, the narrower the interval range, the larger the sample must be, the higher the confidence level in the estimate, the larger the sample must be, the greater the number of subgroups of interest within a sample and also the greater the sample size must be, as each sub group must meet minimum sample size requirements (Cooper and Schindler, 2001).

According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009), sample size can be calculated by the following formula; n= p% * q% * (z/ e %) 2 Considering a worst case scenario where p is 50% at a 95% level of confidence, and within an error of ± 10. n= 50 * 50 *(1.96 / 10)2 = 97 employees. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009), went further to suggest that if the population is less than 1000, then the sample size can be adjusted without affecting accuracy using this formula; n= n / (1) + (n / N) The adjusted minimum sample size was 92 respondents. This is the total sample that was considered while collecting data as shown in Table 3.2.

31

Table 3.2: Sample selection No

Department

Population Population Characteristics No.

Population %

Sample Size

1

Human Resources

Managers NonManagers Managers NonManagers Managers NonManagers Managers

6 20

10 10

3 10

2

Finance

8 26

10 10

4 15

3

Planning

10 28

10 10

5 16

4

Technical Department

6

10

3

NonManagers 5 Research and Design Managers NonManagers TOTAL

29

10

17

8 27

10 10

4 15

168

100

92

3.4 Data Collection Methods Cooper and Schindler (2011), state that data collection methods refer to the process of gathering data after the researcher has identified the types of information needed which is, the investigative questions the researcher must answer, and has also identified the desired data type such as nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio for each of these questions and also ascertained the characteristics of the sample unit that is, whether a participant can articulate his or her ideas, thoughts, and experiences. This study particularly focused on use of primary data which was collected from the target sample using Questionnaires. This is because they had a low cost, were perceived to be more anonymous and confidential; which allowed the respondents to think carefully before giving an answer to the questions asked. The questionnaire was divided into four sections: the first part of the questionnaire was designed to analyze demographic data, gender, years of service and the qualifications of the respondents. The second part was to look at organizational factors that influence the level of employee commitment, and the third part was to identify the Individual factors that influence the level of employee commitment and the fourth part of the questionnaire was to assess the effect of employee commitment on organizational performance. There were five multiple choice options for each question which 32

represented five levels of preference; strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and strongly agree.

3.5 Research Procedures A tailor-made self-administered structured questionnaire was developed by the researcher, for the purpose of collecting data for this study. The data collection instrument (structured questionnaire) was pilot tested with 10 respondents representing the various functions or divisions in KCAA. The problems that were encountered during pilot testing of the data collection instrument were addressed by making necessary adjustments to the questionnaire before administering it to the whole study sample. After revision of the data collection instrument, the whole study sample was subjected to the data collection instrument. A number of methods were used to improve returns like response rate such as drop and pick later method and following up through reminders via telephone and email. To ensure cooperation and a high response rate, a cover letter was provided, which stated the purpose of the study and of what importance it would be to the respondents.

3.6 Data Analysis Methods It has been determined that managers need information to perform their duties and not simply raw data. Researchers usually generate information by analysing data after its collection. According to Cooper & Schindler (2011), the purpose of data analysis is to reduce accumulated data to a manageable size, developing summaries, looking for patterns, and applying statistical techniques. Once data was collected, it was edited, coded, transcribed, and then cleaned. Data was edited to check for missing sections, what was not necessary was deleted as deemed appropriate. The data was then coded by attaching numerical value to every qualitative data. Data was cleaned and errors corrected whenever possible.

Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to analyse data using descriptive statistics. Pearson correlation was used to analyse the significance of the relationship between age and individual factors that influence employee commitment which emerged stronger in the study. Data was also analyzed using scales such as ordinal or nominal. This analyzed data was then presented by way of figures and tables.

33

3.7 Chapter Summary This chapter has presented the Research Methodology that will be used in analyzing the research questions. It has discussed the research design, population and sampling design used. The chapter has also discussed the data collection method, the research procedure and the data analysis method that was used in the study. For this study a descriptive research design was used. The population under study was 168, out of which 92 were taken as a sample using a list obtained from the Human Resource Department. The questionnaire method was used to collect data. This data was edited, cleaned and coded using. SPSS was the main tool used for analyzing this data.

The next chapter will present the results and findings of this study in tables, figures and chart form. Chapter five will finally discuss the findings, conclusions and recommendations of this study.

34

CHAPTER 4 4.0 RESULTS AND FINDINGS 4.1 Introduction This chapter presents the results and findings as obtained in this study. It will present the general information (Age group of respondent, Gender of respondent, Years of service in the organization, and Level of education), the organisational factors that influence employee commitment, the individual factors that influence employee commitment and the impact of employee commitment on organisational performance. The study targeted 92 respondents who were proportionally distributed according to the various departments in KCAA. After discussing all the factors, there will be a chapter summary at the end of the chapter.

4.2 General Information There were 92 respondents sampled for this study, and a response rate of 100% was realized in this research since all the questionnaires were returned. The general information in this study was made up of age, gender, years of service in the organization, and the level of education of the respondent. This information was sought in order to ascertain the respondents‟ demographic characteristics.

4.2.1 Age of Respondents This question was useful in order for the researcher to determine if there was any level of inconsistency in data stated by the respondents. Out of 92 people involved in the study, the finding show that 6.5% of the respondents were below the 25 years of age, 25.0% were between 25-34 years, 41.3% were between 35-44 years, 16.3% were between 45-54 years, 8.2% were between 55-64 years and 2.2% were above 65 years of age. The results of the findings are presented in the Figure 4.1.

35

Figure 4.1 Age of Respondents

4.2.2 Gender of Respondents This research question sought to find out the gender distribution of the various respondents in the organization. The results showed that 68.5% of the respondents were male and 31.5% of the respondents were female. Male respondents were higher than female respondents by 37.0%. The findings to the question are presented in Figure 4.2.

Figure 4.2 Gender of Respondents

36

4.2.3 Years of Service This question sought to find out the number of years the various respondents had served in the organization. The results obtained showed that 37.0% of the employees had served in the organization between 0-4years, 39.1% had served between 5-9 years, 14.1% had served between 10-14 years, 7.6% had served between 15-19 years and 2.2% had served in the organization for more than 20 years. The Findings are presented in Figure 4.3

Figure 4.3 Years of Service

4.2.4 Level of Education This question sought to find out the level of education attained by the respondents in the organization. The findings showed that 47.8% of the respondents were undergraduates, 23.9% were graduates (MBA degree), 12.0% were graduates (Other degree), 9.8% were post graduates and 6.5% had professional qualifications. The findings are presented in Figure 4.4.

37

Figure 4.4 Education Level

4.3 Organizational Factors That Influence Employee Commitment 4.3.1 Organization Demand for Perfection This question sought to find out whether the organization demands perfection from employees. According to Table 4.1, the findings show that 2.2% of the respondents disagree that their organization demands perfection, 8.7% neither agree nor disagree, 23.9% agree to this question and 64.1% of the respondents strongly agree to this question. The total cumulative percentage of all the respondents in agreement showed that less than half agreed to this question as shown in Table 4.1

38

Table 4.1: Organization Demand for Perfection

Valid

Missing

Frequency

Percent

Disagree

2

2.2

Neither Agree nor Disagree

8

8.7

Agree

22

23.9

Strongly Agree

59

64.1

Total

91

98.9

System

1

1.1

92

100.0

Total

4.3.2 Organization has Strong Work Ethic This question sought to find out whether the organization has a strong work ethic. The findings obtained show that 1.1% of the respondents strongly disagree their organization has a strong work ethic, 2.2% of the respondents disagree, 9.8% of the people interviewed neither agree nor disagree on the question, 42.4% of the respondents agree where as 44.6% of them strongly agree. The total cumulative percentage of all the respondents in agreement with the statement is 87.0% as shown in Table 4.2 below. Table 4.2: Organization has Strong Work Ethic Frequency

Percent

Strongly Disagree

1

1.1

Disagree

2

2.2

Neither Agree nor Disagree

9

9.8

Agree

39

42.4

Strongly Agree

41

44.6

Total

92

100.0

39

4.3.3 Organization Highly Reliable The findings obtained show that 1.1% of the respondents strongly disagreed to the question on whether their organization is highly reliable. 1.1% disagreed, 9.8% neither agreed nor disagreed, 40.2% agreed to the question, while 47.8% strongly agreed. The total cumulative percentage of all the respondents in agreement is 88.0%, showing that most of the respondents were in agreement as indicated in Table 4.3 below. Table 4.3: Organization Highly Reliable Frequency

Percent

Strongly Disagree

1

1.1

Disagree

1

1.1

Neither Agree nor Disagree

9

9.8

Agree

37

40.2

Strongly Agree

44

47.8

Total

92

100.0

4.3.4 Organization Top Down Social Interactions This question sought to find out whether the organization promotes top down social interactions. The findings shown on Table 4.3 indicate that 1.1% of the respondents disagreed to the statement that their organization promotes top down social interactions, 34.8% of the respondents neither agree nor disagreed, 26.1% agreed while 34.8% of the respondents strongly agreed. As illustrated, most of the respondents agreed to this question as shown in Table 4.4 below.

40

Table 4.4: Organization Top Down Social Interactions Frequency

Percent

Disagree

4

1.1

Neither Agree nor Disagree

32

34.8

Agree

24

26.1

Strongly Agree

32

34.8

Total

92

100.0

4.3.5: Organization Encourages Self-Managed Teams The findings obtained show that 5.4% of the respondents disagree that their organization encourages formation of self-managing teams, 26.1% neither agree nor disagree, 44.6% agree while 23.9% of the respondents strongly agree with the statement. Most of the respondents agreed to this question as indicated in Table 4.5 below.

Table 4.5: Organization Encourages Self-Managed Teams Frequency

Percent

Disagree

5

5.4

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

24

26.1

Agree

41

44.6

Strongly Agree

22

23.9

Total

92

100.0

4.3.6 Interaction with Organization Influences Commitment The findings shown on Table 4.6 indicate that 1.1% of the respondents strongly disagreed that their interaction with the organization influences their commitment, 1.1% disagreed, 12.0% neither agreed nor disagreed, 42.4% agreed to the question, while 43.5% of the respondents strongly agreed with the statement. Most of the respondents strongly agreed to this question as shown in Table 4.6 below. 41

Table 4.6: Interaction with Organization Influences Commitment Frequency

Percent

Strongly Disagree

1

1.1

Disagree

1

1.1

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

11

12.0

Agree

39

42.4

Strongly Agree

40

43.5

Total

92

100.0

4.3.7 Organization Strong Management Style Table 4.7 indicates that 1.1% of the respondents disagreed to their organization having a strong management style, 13.0% neither agreed nor disagreed, 42.4% agreed to the question, while 43.5% of the respondents strongly agreed with the statement. As shown on the table most of the respondents strongly agreed to the statement as shown in Table 4.7 below. Table 4.7: Organization Strong Management Style Frequency

Percent

Disagree

1

1.1

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

12

13.0

Agree

39

42.4

Strongly Agree

40

43.5

Total

92

100.0

4.3.8 Organization Promotes Team Work According to Table 4.8, 23.9% neither agreed nor disagreed with their organization promoting team work, 46.7% agreed to the question, and 29.3% of the respondents strongly agreed with the statement. Most of the respondents agreed to the question as indicated in Table 4.8 below. 42

Table 4.8: Organization Promotes Team Work Frequency

Percent

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

22

23.9

Agree

43

46.7

Strongly Agree

27

29.3

92

100.0

Total

4.3.9 Organization Encourages Retention Results presented in Table 4.9 indicate, 2.2% of the respondents strongly disagreed with the question, 1.1% disagreed, 33.7% neither agreed nor disagreed, 35.9% agreed to the question, where as 27.2% of the respondents strongly agreed with the statement. The cumulative percentage indicates that most of the respondents agreed to the statement as shown in Table 4.9 below. Table 4.9: Organization Encourages Retention Frequency

Percent

Strongly Disagree

2

2.2

Disagree

1

1.1

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

31

33.7

Agree

33

35.9

Strongly Agree

25

27.2

92

100.0

Total

4.4 Individual Factors That Influence Employee Commitment 4.4.10 Age and Commitment Table 4.10, shows that 2.2% of the respondents disagreed that older employees are more committed, 6.5% neither agreed nor disagreed, 19.6% of the respondents agreed, while

43

71.7% strongly agreed to the question. None of the respondents strongly disagreed to this question as shown in Table 4.10 below. Table 4.10: Age and Commitment Frequency

Percent

Disagree

2

2.2

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

6

6.5

Agree

18

19.6

Strongly Agree

66

71.7

Total

92

100.0

4.4.11 Position in the Organization Influences My Commitment According to Table 4.11, 2.2% of the respondents disagreed that the position they hold in the organization influences their commitment. A further 10.9% neither agreed nor disagreed, 31.5% of the respondents agreed, while 55.4% strongly agreed to the question. None of the respondents strongly disagreed to this question as shown in Table 4.11 below.

Table 4.11: Position in the Organization Influences My Commitment Frequency

Percent

Disagree

2

2.2

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

10

10.9

Agree

29

31.5

Strongly Agree

51

55.4

Total

92

100.0

4.4.12 Job Security Table 4.12, shows that when respondents were asked whether they feel secure in their jobs, 3.3% disagreed, 15.2% neither agreed nor disagreed, 37.0% of the respondents 44

agreed, where as 44.6% strongly agreed to the question. Thus a majority of the respondents felt secure in their jobs as shown in Table 4.12 below. Table 4.12: Job Security Frequency

Percent

Disagree

3

3.3

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

14

15.2

Agree

34

37.0

Strongly Agree

41

44.6

Total

92

100.0

4.4.13 Stress Free Work Environment Table 4.13, indicates that 3.3% of the respondents disagreed when asked if they are assured of a stress free work environment, 33.7% neither agreed nor disagreed, 22.8% of the respondents agreed, while 40.2% strongly agreed to the question as shown in Table 4.13 below.

Table 4.13: Stress Free Work Environment Frequency

Percent

Disagree

3

3.3

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

31

33.7

Agree

21

22.8

Strongly Agree

37

40.2

Total

92

100.0

4.4.14 Married People as more Committed than Unmarried Ones Table 4:14, shows that when respondents were asked whether they view married people as more committed to their jobs than unmarried ones, 1.1% strongly disagreed, 8.7% of 45

the respondents disagreed, 20.7% neither agreed nor disagreed, 25.0% of the respondents agreed, while 44.6% strongly agreed to the question as shown in Table 4.14 below. Table 4.14: Married People as more Committed than Unmarried Ones Frequency

Percent

Strongly Disagree

1

1.1

Disagree

8

8.7

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

19

20.7

Agree

23

25.0

Strongly Agree

41

44.6

Total

92

100.0

4.4.15 Job Competence According to results obtained in table 4.15, 33.7% of the respondents strongly disagreed with the statement that married people are more committed to their jobs than unmarried, a further 12.0% disagreed, 29.3 % neither agreed nor disagreed, 8.7% of the respondents agreed, where as 16.3% strongly agreed to the question. Hence a majority of the respondents strongly disagreed with the question. These findings are reflected in Table 4.15 below.

Table 4.15: Job Competence Frequency

Percent

Strongly Disagree

31

33.7

Disagree

11

12.0

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

27

29.3

Agree

8

8.7

Strongly Agree

15

16.3

Total

92

100.0

46

4.4.16 Marital Obligations Influence Employee Commitment Table 4.16, shows that 1.1% of the respondents strongly disagreed with the statement that marital obligations influence employee commitment, a further 5.4% disagreed, 18.5 % neither agreed nor disagreed, 20.7% of the respondents agreed, while 54.3% strongly agreed to the question. Thus most of the respondents were in strong agreement with the question as shown in Table 4.16 below.

Table 4.16: Marital Obligations Influence Employee Commitment Frequency

Percent

Strongly Disagree

1

1.1

Disagree

5

5.4

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

17

18.5

Agree

19

20.7

Strongly Agree

50

54.3

Total

92

100.0

4.4.17 Correlation Between Age and Individual Factors Table 4.17 indicates the correlation of the strongest individual factors influencing employee commitment against age. The correlation significance between age and older employees being more committed was 1.0, age and the position held in the organization was 0.434, age and the feeling of job security was 0.267, whereas age and marital obligations was 0.178. By looking at the table the researcher concluded that there was a positive relationship between age and the individual factors that influence employee commitment as shown in Table 4.17 below.

47

Table 4.17: Correlation between Age and Individual Factors

Older

The position I

I feel secure

Marital obligations

employees

hold in the

in my job

influence employee

are more

organization

committed

influences

commitment

my commitment Correlation Older employees

Significance

are more committed (2-tailed) df The position i hold

Correlation

in the organization

Significance

influences my

(2-tailed)

commitment

df

1.000

.438

.267

.178

.

.000

.011

.092

0

89

89

89

.438

1.000

.458

.074

.000

.

.000

.484

89

0

89

89

.267

.458

1.000

.227

.011

.000

.

.031

89

89

0

89

.178

.074

.227

1.000

.092

.484

.031

.

89

89

89

0

Age Correlation I feel secure in my

Significance

job

(2-tailed) df Correlation

Marital obligations influence employee commitment

Significance (2-tailed) df

4.5 The Effect of Employee Commitment on Organizational Performance 4.5.18 Organization is Keen on Employee Loyalty The question sought to find out whether the respondents organization is keen on employee loyalty. The findings in table 4.18 show that 1.1% of the respondents strongly disagreed with the question, 1.1% disagreed, 3.3% neither agreed nor disagreed, 18.5% agreed and 76.1% strongly agreed to the statement. Most respondents strongly agreed to the question as indicated in Table 4.18 below.

48

Table 4.18: Organization is Keen on Employee Loyalty Frequency

Percent

Strongly Disagree

1

1.1

Disagree

1

1.1

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

3

3.3

Agree

17

18.5

Strongly Agree

70

76.1

Total

92

100.0

4.5.19 Organization Emphasizes on Productivity The question sought to find out whether the respondents organization is keen on employee loyalty. The findings show that 1.1% of the respondents strongly disagreed with the question, 1.1% disagreed, 3.3% neither agreed nor disagreed, 18.5% agreed and 76.1% strongly agreed to the statement. Most respondents strongly agreed to the question as shown in Table 4.19 below.

Table 4.19: Organization Emphasizes on Productivity Frequency

Percent

Disagree

1

1.1

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

1

1.1

Agree

30

32.6

Strongly Agree

60

65.2

Total

92

100.0

4.5.20 Absenteeism as a sign of Exiting the Organization According to Table 4.20, 1.1% strongly disagreed with the question, 3.3% disagreed, 7.6% neither agreed nor disagreed, 37.0% agreed and 51.1% strongly agreed to the statement. Most respondents strongly agreed to the question as indicated in Table 4.20 below. 49

Table 4.20: Absenteeism as a sign of Exiting the Organization Frequency

Percent

Strongly Disagree

1

1.1

Disagree

3

3.3

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

7

7.6

Agree

34

37.0

Strongly Agree

47

51.1

Total

92

100.0

4.5.21 Physical Environment around My Organization When the respondents were asked whether they are concerned about the physical environment around their organization 1.1% disagreed with the question, 7.6% neither agreed nor disagreed, 32.6% agreed and 58.7% strongly agreed to the statement. For this question too, respondents strongly agreed to the question as shown in Table 4.21 below.

Table 4.21: Physical Environment around My Organization Frequency

Percent

Disagree

1

1.1

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

3

7.6

Agree

30

32.6

Strongly Agree

54

58.7

Total

92

100.0

4.5.22 Organization Values the Safety of the Employees Table 4.22, illustrates that 1.1% of the respondents disagreed with the question that their organization values the safety of the employees, 27.2% neither agreed nor disagreed, 30.4% agreed where as 41.3% strongly agreed to the statement. Giving an indication that most of the respondents strongly agreed to the question as indicated in Table 4.22 below. 50

Table 4.22: Organization Values the Safety of the Employees Frequency

Percent

Disagree

1

1.1

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

25

27.2

Agree

28

30.4

Strongly Agree

38

41.3

Total

92

100.0

4.5.23: Organization Promotes the Use of Technology Results obtained indicate that 1.1% of the respondents strongly disagreed with the question that their organization promotes the use of technology, 7.6% disagreed, 34.8% neither agreed nor disagreed, 55.4% agreed where as 98.9% strongly agreed to the statement. These results in table 4.23 indicate that most of the respondents strongly agreed to the question as shown in Table 4.23 below

Table 4.23: Organization Promotes the Use of Technology

Missing

Total

Frequency

Percent

Strongly Disagree

1

1.1

Disagree

7

7.6

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

32

34.8

Agree

51

55.4

Strongly Agree

51

98.9

Total

91

41.3

System

1

1.1

92

100.0

51

Table 4.5.24: Organization Promoting Socially Acceptable Behavior Table 4.24, indicates that 15.2% of the respondents neither agreed nor disagreed to the question whether their organization is involved in promoting socially acceptable behavior, 30.4% agreed, while 54.3% strongly agreed to the statement. For this question most of the respondents strongly agreed as indicated in Table 4.24 below.

Table 4.24: Organization Promoting Socially Acceptable Behavior Frequency

Percent

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

14

15.2

Agree

28

30.4

Strongly Agree

50

54.3

Total

92

100.0

4.5.25 Organization and Community Development Programs This question sought to find out whether the respondents viewed their organization as involved in community development programs. 1.1% of the respondents disagreed with the question, 22.8% neither agreed nor disagreed, 38.0% agreed while 38.0% strongly agreed to the statement as shown in Table 4.25 below.

Table 4.25: Organization and Community Development Programs Frequency

Percent

Disagree

1

1.1

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

21

22.8

Agree

35

38.0

Strongly Agree

35

38.0

Total

92

100.0

52

Table 4.5.26: Organization as Promoting Environmental Awareness This question sought to find out whether the respondents viewed their organization as promoting environmental awareness. 1.1% of the respondents disagreed with the question, 12.0% neither agreed nor disagreed, 41.3% agreed while 45.7% strongly agreed to the statement. Hence the highest percentage of respondents strongly agreed with the question as shown in Table 4.26.

Table 4.26: Organization as Promoting Environmental Awareness Frequency

Percent

Disagree

1

1.1

Neither Agree Nor Disagree

11

12.0

Agree

38

41.3

Strongly Agree

42

45.7

Total

92

100.0

4.6 Chapter Summary This chapter was about results and findings of the research. It has presented responses on the factors influencing employee commitment in tables and diagrams. The next chapter will discuss the results and findings of this study. Based on these a brief conclusion and recommendation on each research objective will be discussed.

53

CHAPTER 5 5.0 DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Introduction This chapter provides a discussion based on the results and findings of the study. The factors that influence employee commitment were discussed. Based on the literature review, it will also provide a conclusion on the research objectives. The chapter will also provide recommendations for further research.

5.2 Summary This chapter presents the results and findings as obtained in this study. It will present the study on the question which is the factors that influence employee commitment. To attain this study determined the organizational factors that influence employee commitment, the individual factors and the effect of employee commitment on organizational performance. This study used a descriptive design to build a profile of factors that influence employee commitment. It used stratified random sampling to study 92 respondents out of the 168 employees of Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCCA). Data was then collected using a questionnaire. This data was then edited, coded, cleaned and analysed using SPSS. The first objective of this study was to determine the organizational factors that influence employee commitment. The findings obtained from the study show that organizational factors have a strong influence on employee commitment. These factors include; organizational dependability, effectiveness of the organizations social processes, and the organizational climate. The findings also indicated that organizational factors such as demand for perfection, strong work ethic, organization being highly reliable, organization promoting top down social interactions, organization encouraging formation of selfmanaging teams, employee interaction with the organization, the organization having a strong management style, the organization promoting team work and the organization encouraging retention of its employees all strongly influenced the commitment of employees, though the scale of influence varied depending on a particular respondent.

The second objective was to determine the individual factors that influence employee commitment. The findings showed a strong influence. The individual factors identified included age, job security and marital status. Further study of the individual factors narrowed to aspects such as older employees being more committed, the position held in an organization influencing employee commitment, job security, assurance of a stress free 54

work environment, married people being more committed to their jobs than unmarried ones, marital obligations influencing employee commitment which showed that there was a strong influence in the level of employee commitment, with a stronger agreement on the question of older employees being more committed.

The third objective was to determine the factors that affect the level of employee commitment on organizational performance were found to strongly influence commitment as well. These factors include employee turnover, employee productivity and corporate social responsibility. On narrowing these factors further, the researcher posed questions such as organizations keenness to loyalty, organization emphasizing productivity, organization viewing absenteeism as a sign of exiting the organization, employee being concerned about the physical environment around them, organization valuing safety of employees, organization promoting technology, organization being involved in promoting socially acceptable behavior, organization being involved in community development programs, employees viewing their organization as promoting socially acceptable behavior. The findings show that the varied response from the sampled population indicated a strong agreement to organizational performance having a strong effect on employee commitment.

5.3 Discussion This section will present the results and findings obtained in regard with the research questions used to determine which factors influence organizational commitment in KCCA. Furthermore the findings will be interpreted.

5.3.1 Organizational Factors that Influence Employee Commitment The findings show that many of the respondents were in agreement with the question that their organization demands for perfection from employees. This is in agreement with Bhavn and Swati (2012), argument that employees who feel that their organization values their input are likely to be a lot more committed to the organization because they do not want to lose that trust from the organization. The employees, who strongly lack the ability to cope with their new tasks are more likely to have a negative response to such demands from their organization. Consequently, they are likely to express lower levels of commitment to their organizations. The findings indicate that many of the respondents strongly agreed that their organization has a strong work ethic, which shows more than half of the 92 people sampled. past success of the company has an influence on their 55

commitment. This agrees with Janet (2008) statement that, the work ethics of an organization can be identified as a factor that has a very serious influence on organisational commitment.

The findings on the question of the respondents viewing their organization as highly reliable, indicated majority of the respondents were in strong agreement. Thus out of the 92 sampled population, 44 respondents agreed to the statement. This is in line with Hausknecht et al (2012), argument that the organization‟s values to a large extent have an impact on employee's commitment to the company. If a company is not highly reliable, or is performing below the expectations established by the board or the executives, it can highly affect employee commitment. Employees start to hunt for work elsewhere if they feel the company is not succeeding as it should be and might not survive in a competitive market.

On whether their organization promotes top down social interactions, the response rate was above average since the respondents who neither agreed to the question nor disagreed to the question were many, whereas the same percentage was achieved with the respondents who strongly agreed. This agrees with an observation put forward by Abdulla and Djebayni (2011),that said employees tend to be committed when they feel the organization recognizes that there should be clear communication channels amongst its workers. Rigid organizations tend to breed employees who are not trustworthy and committed because they feel their organization has not trusted them as well.

On whether they perceived their organization as encouraging formation of self-managing teams, many of the respondents strong agreed to this question hence affirming Yahui and Hung (2010), argument that smooth teamwork is one of the most important conditions necessary to guarantee a harmonious working atmosphere. It is also an important factor that influences employee commitment in an organization

On the question of the organization promoting team work, many of the respondents strongly agreed to the question thus confirming Yahui and Hung (2010), argument that smooth teamwork is one of the most important conditions necessary to guarantee a harmonious working atmosphere. Teamwork has been found out to be an important factor that influences employee commitment in an organization since many of the respondents agreed to this question. 56

Furthermore Yahui and Hung (2010), argument that smooth teamwork is one of the most important conditions necessary to guarantee a harmonious working atmosphere. It is also an important factor that influences employee commitment in an organization since a majority of the respondents sampled strongly agreed.

On the organizations management style and the encouragement of employee retention, the findings show that many of the respondents strongly agreed to the question. This is in line with Iqbal (2010), argument that having committed leadership that is willing to model desired changes and also drives fear out of the organization is very critical for business success, encourages employee commitment and promotes retention of employees.

5.3.2 Individual Factors and their Influence on Employee Commitment. Many scholars who have studied individual factors that influence employee commitment have identified the most crucial factors as age, job security and marital status. The findings obtained on older employees being more commited show that majority of the respondents were in strong agreement. This is in agreement with Agarwal and Swati (2012), who state that employees as individuals will always be more committed to a company they have been employed in for a long period of time as they believe there are opportunities for them to advance in the future through promotions and more responsibilities.

Ans et al (2006), argument that employees often perceive the positions they hold as a sign that the organization depends on you,and hence this influences their level of commitment. To find out these employees were asked wheteher the positions they hold influence their level of commitment, a few of the respondents were not sure but many strongly agreed to the question.

On the question of feeling secure of their jobs, many of the respondents agreed that they feel secure with their jobs hence agreeing with Ans et al (2006), argument that employees may also be more committed because of the years of service given to a particular organization, since most of the employee perceive the many years of service as a sign of guaranteed security from the organization hence replacing that personnel may not be a unonimous decision of management. 57

Lewig et al.(2000) discussed that a stressful environment may be more threatening rather than one filled with opportunities. The employees, who strongly lack the ability to cope with their new tasks are more likely to have a negative response to. Consequently, they are likely to express less levels of commitment to their organizations. The findings on being assured of a stress free environment indicated that many of the respondents were in strong agreement with the statement. Further more, this is in agreement with Prateek et al (2011), who states that It is true to say that stress caused by radical organizational changes mostly leads to decreased morale, motivation and commitment to the organization.

On whether married people are more committed to their jobs than unmarried ones, the findings showed that many of the respondents are in agreement that married people are more committed to their jobs than unmarried ones. This is in agreement with Waleed (2011), observation that a number of various personal and demographic factors affect the level of employee commitment to a company, since married employees view their jobs as their immediate.

Furthermore another question was posed which asked whether women with children are less competent in their jobs, many of the respondents strongly disagreed with this statement. Hence these findings are in agreement with Waleed (2011), observation that a number of various personal and demographic factors affect the level of employee commitment to a company, for example, he stated that employees who are married and have kids are usually more likely to be committed to a company; this is because their spouses and children rely on their wages.

On whether marital obligations influence employee commitment, the findings show that a majority of the respondents were in agreement with the question hence affirming Waleed (2011), observation that a number of various personal and demographic factors affect the level of employee commitment to a company and the way they perceive their family obligations is will have a strong influence on their commitment to the organization.

5.3.3 Effect of Employee Commitment on Organizational Performance The findings on the effect of employee commitment on organisational performance show that a majority of respondents were in agreement that their organization is keen on 58

employee loyalty. This is in line with Hunjira et al (2010), who states that the organization views an employee who spends more years of service as loyal and views their input as impacting the performance of the organization. Tumwesigye (2010), cited that employee commitment has an impact on the performance of an organisation in away that loyal employees will tend to withhold critical and sensitive information as a sign of promoting confidentiality and loyalty to their organization. Others will tend to extend their working hours, interrupt schedules, as a sign of loyalty to the organization.

The findings on the effect of employee commitment on organisational performance also indicate that a majority of the respondents were in agreement that their organization emphasises productivity. This finding is in line with a statement made by Akintayo, (2010) that the relationship between employee commitment and productivity is not definitely established but that the consensus on this, however, is that in the long-run commitment leads to increased productivity and most organizations view productivity as a strong force that impacts their performance.

The findings show that many of the respondents were in strong agreement that their organization views absenteeism as a sign of exiting the organizatoin. This is in line with an argument by Hunjra et al (2010) that research has generally revealed a consistent inverse relationship between employee commitment and absenteeism, thus when employee commitment is high, absenteeism tends to be low and when commitment is low, absenteeism tends to be high, hence the two variables display an inverse relationship.

On the effect of employee commitment on organizational performance, a majority of employees were in strong agreement that they are concerned about the physical environment around their organization. These findings there fore support a statement by Rehman et al (2010), who suggests that poor safety practices are a negative consequence of low commitment level of employees in an organization. When people lack commitment towards their job and organization because of safety, they are discouraged from being proactive, thus they view themselves as more vulnerable and hence tend to potray low levels of commitment because they are operating in an environment of uncertainity.

Where as the findings obtained from respondents inregard to the question of whether they viewed their organization as valuing employee safety,many of the respondents were in 59

strong agreement. These findings there fore support a statement by Rehman et al (2010), who suggests that poor safety practices are a negative consequence of low commitment level of employees in an organisation. When people lack commitment towards their job and organization because of safety, they are discouraged from being proactive, thus they view themselves as more vulnerable and hence tend to potray low levels of commitment because they are operating in an environment of uncertainity.

The findings obtained from the effect of employee commitment on organizational performance indicate that a majority of the respondents strongly agreed that their organization promotes use of technology. This is in line with an observation made by Ochlin and Roberts (2011), that studies have found value alignment in use of technology and thus most highly performing organizations have invested in heavy use of technology and training staff to suite the demands of the technology driven world.

On the effect of employee commitment on organizational performance, many of the respondents strongly agreed that their organization is involved in promoting socially acceptable behavior. None of the respondents disagreed with this question. These findings there fore support a statement by Robinson (2009), who suggests that business oriented organizations tend to experience commitment from their employees because of promoting good prcatices that are with in the acceptable helms of society. Employees will tend to seek identity with such an organization and the same response will be felt from the general public.

The findings on the organization being involved in community development programmes showed that many of the respondents were in strong agreement with the question put forward. These findings there fore support a statement by Robinson (2009), who suggests that business oriented organizations tend to experience commitment from their employees because of promoting good prcatices that are with in the acceptable helms of society. Employees will tend to seek identity with such an organization and the same response will be felt from the general public.

Further still the findings on whether the respondents viewed their organization as promoting environmental awareness indicated that many of them were in strong agreement. This supports Jean-Pascal (2010) statement that the way to go in the competitive business world is for an organization to be involved in community outreach 60

programmes and in environmental awareness campaigns. For organizations that want to have an edge on others these aspects have turned the business arena as employees tend to be more loyal to organizations that are viewed as promoting community development and encouraging use of eco-friendly practices.

5.4 Conclusion 5.4.1 Organizational Factors that Influence Employee Commitment The first major research question focused on finding out if organizational factors had an influence on employee commitment. A conclusion on this research question can be made by stating that it was discovered that organizational factors had a very strong influence on the levels of commitment exhibited by employees to the organization. These factors reviewed included; organizational dependability, effectiveness of the organizations social processes and the organizational climate. The discussion indicated that the above three factors had a greater influence thus making them strong organization factors that influence employee commitment.

5.4.2 Individual Factors that Influence Employee Commitment The second major research question had its focus on determining whether individual factors had an influence on employee commitment. Conclusion can be made towards this particular research question by stating that it was discovered that individual factors had a very strong influence on the level of employee commitment. The individual factors discussed in the literature reviewed that influence employee commitment include; age, job security and marital status. This literature showed that in terms of age older employees were viewed to be more committed, most employees felt that the their jobs were secure and the most viewed marital status as one of the major factors that strongly influences the levels of employee commitment.

5.4.3 Effect of Employee Commitment on Organizational Performance The third research Question had its focus on investigating the effect of employee commitment on organizational performance. Conclusion can be made towards this research question by stating that respondents highly agreed that employee commitment has a large impact on the performance of an organization. These factors that have an impact on employees‟ commitment on organizational performance include; Employee turnover, employee productivity and corporate social responsibility. There was a strong influence because the employees generally felt that their organization encourages 61

retention of staff. Furthermore the employees also strongly agreed that their organization was concerned about their productivity hence influencing their commitment and finally the response to corporate social responsibility had a strong agreement hence employees felt that the fact that their organization is involved in promoting CSR, increases their level of commitment.

5.5 Recommendations 5.5.1 Organizational Factors that Influence Employee Commitment This study has shown that the respondents are of the say that the organizational factors have a very huge influence on their commitment to the organization as this was confirmed by the results obtained from the analysis done through SPSS. However some of the organizational factors ranked higher than the others. It is therefore recommended that managers prioritize and have their concentration more on those factors that will increase the employees‟ commitment levels so as to maintain a competitive standard in the market and service industry.

This study also showed that organizational factors if not closely monitored are the greatest contributors of loss of morale amongst employees and hence start hatching an exit strategy thus these factors must be carefully addressed constantly to allow a minimum level of comfort and commitment from the employees.

5.5.2 Individual Factors that Influence Employee Commitment The study has indicated that employees believe that the individual factors highly influence their degree of commitment towards the organization and this has been confirmed by the results obtained after analyzing the collected data through SPSS. It was also analyzed in the study that not all of individual factors had the same level of ranking, they all had varied ranks. The organization should therefore emphasize on the individual factors such as age, job security and marital status. Emphasize retention and encourage employees to retire in the organization because we have seen that older employees ranked highest amongst all the individual factors in terms of commitment.

The organization ought to provide an environment where employees view that the organization protects their jobs and hence they feel generally secure. This is good for increased productivity at work. And lastly, encourage employees to embrace family life so that they can increase their levels of commitment to the organization. 62

5.5.3 Effect of Employee Commitment on Organizational Performance The study has manifested that employee commitment has a great effect on organizational performance. A large number of employees believe that finding more adequate ways to foster employee commitment has a positive effect on the performance of the organization. However it was discovered that employee commitment influences organizational performance in different scales but over all the employees felt that when their organizations are involved in corporate social responsibility they are proud to associate with the organization and this also promotes their level of commitment.

The organization should maintain employee productivity and encourage retention so as to minimize employee turnover since the study has shown that these factors greatly influence the level of commitment amongst the employees.

5.5.2 Recommendations for Further Research Since this was the first study that comprised the factors that influence employee commitment in a service industry, the researcher recommends that similar studies should be carried out in another sector so such as production so as to broaden the understanding of the term commitment in relation to that sector. The reason for carrying out further research in that direction is that the factors that may strongly influence employee commitment in the service industry could very much differ in the production industry. Being able to understand these factors in the production industry as well would be very helpful in shedding light on other organizational, individual factors that employees believe influence their commitment as well as organizational performance.

This study should take both a local and global dimension so as to encourage diversity in the study of the problems presented.

63

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APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: Cover Letter Questionnaire Number……… Racheal Igella Chandaria School of Business United States International University

Dear Respondent, RE: SELF ADMINISTERED SURVEY This structured questionnaire is for collecting data on factors that influence employee commitment (A case study of KCAA). You are kindly requested to provide the required data in the questionnaire. The process will take you only about 7 minutes to complete. The information that you provide will remain confidential and is sought exclusively for the completion of an MBA research project. Thank you very much for taking the time to complete this survey. Your input into this questionnaire will go a long way in enhancing human resource decision making and ultimately help Kenyan organisations to not only gain competitiveness internationally but also optimize their performance potential (growth and profitability prospects). If you would like to attain a copy of this report, please indicate so by writing your email address on the back of the questionnaire. Yours Sincerely, Racheal Igella, MBA Student (USIU)

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APPENDIX 2: Questionaire SECTION I: GENERAL INFORMATION The following four questions are concerned with demographic data of the respondents. Please, indicate your selection by checking the box which describes your demographic characteristics. 1. Age group? AGE GROUP

Below 25

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

Above 65

2. Gender? GENDER

Male

Female

3. How long have you worked for this organization? YEARS OF SERVICE 0 – 4 Years

5 – 9 Years

10-14 Years

15- 19 years

Over 20 years

4. Education Background? LEVEL OF EDUCATION Undergraduate

Graduate

Graduate

(MBA degree)

(Other degree)

70

Post Graduate

Professional Qualifications

WITH RESPECT TO SECTION II, III AND IV, PLEASE INDICATE THE LEVEL OF AGREEMENT WITH EACH STATEMENT: LEVELS OF AGREEMENT STRONGLY

DISAGREE NEITHER AGREE

DISAGREE (1)

AGREE

STRONGLY

NOR DISAGREE (2)

(3)

AGREE (4)

(5)

SECTION II: ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT

Organisational factors that influence employee commitment are those that are entirely determined by the organisation and the employee as an individual has very little or totally no control over.

1

LEVELS OF AGREEMENT a.

My organization demands perfection from employees

b.

My organization has a strong work ethic

c.

My organization is highly reliable

d

My organization promotes top down social interactions

e

My organization encourages formation of self managing teams

f

My interaction with the organization influences my commitment

g

My organization has a strong management style

h

My organization promotes team work

i

My organization encourages retention of its employees

71

2

3

4

5

SECTION

III:

INDIVIDUAL

FACTORS

THAT

INFLUENCE

EMPLOYEE

COMMITMENT

Individual factors that influence an employee‟s commitment can be said to be those factors that are unique to each employee as a person that influence his or her commitment. The following best describe the major individual factors that influence employee commitment in your organisation:

LEVELS OF AGREEMENT

1

a.

Older employees are more committed

b.

The position I hold in the organization influences my commitment

c.

My tenure in the organization influences my commitment

d.

Iam assured of job security in my organization

e.

I am assured of a stress free work environment

f.

I view married people as more committed to their jobs

g

Women with children are less competent in their jobs

h

Marital obligations influence employee commitment

72

2

3

4

5

SECTION

IV:

THE

IMPACT

OF

EMPLOYEE

COMMITMENT

ON

ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE The following best describe the impact of employee commitment on the performance of your organisation

LEVELS OF AGREEMENT

1

a.

My organization is keen on loyalty

b.

My organization emphasises on productivity

c

My organization views absenteeism as a sign of exiting the organization

d

Iam concerned about the physical environment around my organization

e

My organization values the safety of the employees

f

My organization promotes use of technology

g

My organization is involved in promoting socially acceptable behaviour

h

My organization is involved in community development programmes

i

I view my organization as promoting environmental awareness

Thank you very much for taking the time to complete this survey

73

2

3

4

5

APPENDIX 3: Project Schedule

A B C D E F 6

12

14

16

18

19

DURATION IN WEEKS ACTIVITY

DESCRIPTION

A

CLARIFYING THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS

B

PROPOSING RESEARCH

C

DESIGNING THE RESEARCH PROJECT

D

DATA COLLECTION AND PREPARATION

E

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

F

REPORTING THE RESULTS

74

APPENDIX 4: Project Budget ACTIVITY A

DESCRIPTION CLARIFYING THE RESEARCH QUESTION

COST (KES) 3, 000

Discover the Management Dilemma Define Management Question Define Research Question(s) Refine the Research Question(s) B

PROPOSING RESEARCH

3,000

Resource Allocation and Budget Valuing Research Information Evaluation Methods The Research Proposal C

DESIGNING THE RESEARCH PROJECT

5,000

Research Design Sampling Design Instrument Development & Pilot Testing D

DATA COLLECTION AND PREPARATION

10,000

Editing, coding and data entry E

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

2,000

F

REPORTING THE RESULTS

5,000

CONTINGENCY

5,000

TOTAL

33,000

75

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