MBA Thesis Daniella Griffith - Kranenberg.pdf - FHR Lim A Po ...

This adds to their desire to achieve the goals of the organization and their motivation toremain with the organization (Raju & Srivastava, 1994).Organizational commitment has also been defined as the belief of an employee in the goalsand values of an organization and the aspiration to stay with that organization (Mowday et al1982). Robbins (2005) also had a similar definition of organizational commitment, thecondition where the employee identifies with the organization and its goals and desires tocontinue being a member of that organization.In this research the following definition for organizational commitment will be applied:“Organizational commitment is “a strong belief in and acceptance of the organization’s goals andvalues; a willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization; and a strong desireto maintain membership in the organization” (Mowday, Steers, & Porter, (1979)Initially organizational commitment was conceptualized as a one-dimensional construct but itis now known as multi dimensional. Porter et al (1974) stated that organizational commitmentcontains 3 components which are: Value commitment: employees trust, accept and commit to the goals and values of theorganization; Effort commitment: employees display a high degree of effort to an organization; Retention commitment: employees want to continue being a part of the organization.According to Porter et al (1974) and Mowday et al (1982) the degree of organizational andmanagerial collaboration an employee feels, their participation in decision making, theleadership style and organizational culture influence whether an employee has high or loworganizational commitment.2.6 Small and Medium-sized EnterprisesSmall and medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of many economies becausethey account for close to 95% of all firms and also play an important role in employment.These enterprises need to invest, produce innovative product and operate efficiently andeffectively to maintain their position and ensure that their business activities have addedvalue.14