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‘Don’t mess with my company’: An exploratory study of commitment profiles before and after dramatic external events

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2017

Luis M. Arciniega ,
Natalie J. Allen  and
Luis González
Luis M. Arciniega*
Affiliation:
Business Department, ITAM, Mexico City, Mexico
Natalie J. Allen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
Luis González
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychology and Anthropology, University of Salamanca, Spain
*
Corresponding author: larciniega@itam.mx
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Abstract

This panel study, conducted in a large Venezuelan organization, took advantage of a serendipitous opportunity to examine the organizational commitment profiles of employees before and after a series of dramatic, and unexpected, political events directed specifically at the organization. Two waves of organizational commitment data were collected, 6 months apart, from a sample of 152 employees. No evidence was found that employees’ continuance commitment to the organization was altered by the events described here. Interestingly, however, both affective and normative commitment increased significantly during the period of the study. Further, employee’s commitment profiles at Wave 2 were more differentiated than they were at Wave 1.

Keywords

organizational commitmentcommitment profilespanel study
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , March 2018 , pp. 224 - 238
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2017 

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