Herscovitch and Meyer’s Three-Component model of commitment to change: Meta-analytic findings

Commitment to change has been subject to several qualitative reviews in recent years. As a response to an associated lack of consensus in construct definition, Herscovitch and Meyer introduced a three-component model demonstrating affective commitment to change (i.e., ACC), normative commitment to change (i.e., NCC) and continuance commitment to change (i.e., CCC). Given the growing literature on organizational change, the aim of this paper is to take stock of a decade of research that uses Herscovitch and Meyer’s instrument to measure these three components. To determine the tool’s discriminant validity we conducted meta-analyses evaluating the strength of relations among ACC, NCC and CCC; the relations among the three components and behavioural support for change; and the moderating role of North American context versus non-North American context in shaping these relationships. Findings based on data collected from 17 studies indicate notable differences in the strength of relationships among ACC–NCC, ACC–CCC and NCC–CCC. Also the pattern of the correlations among the three components and behavioural support reveals interesting extensions and insights for further research into the robustness of this model, and on hitherto under-acknowledged discrepancies in behavioural support for commitment to change research.     

Comment favoriser l’anticipation positive d’un déménagement organisationnel chez des salariés ? Test d’un modèle psychosocio-environnemental

French academic research on organizational relocation is scarce. This study aimed to explore how positive attitudes can be developed before organizational relocation using a psycho-social environmental model. More specifically, this paper analyzes the impact of workplace attachment and socio-professional support on anticipated satisfaction with relocation and the mediating role of the agreement with the top management decision to move. We conducted an empirical study with a sample of 119 employees of an audiovisual company based in France. Results show that anticipated satisfaction with relocation was inhibited by workplace attachment and facilitated by socio-professional support. Moreover, agreement with the change decision to move mediated these relationships.     

How Do Organizations and Social Policies ‘Acculturate’ to Immigrants? Accommodating Skilled Immigrants in Canada

While the idea of acculturation (Berry 1997) was originally proposed as the mutual change of both parties (e.g., immigrants and the host society), the change processes of host societies are neglected in research. A grounded theory study explored the efforts of human service organizations to 'acculturate' to an increasingly diverse immigrant population, through interviews conducted with service providers serving Mainland Chinese immigrants. Acculturation efforts of human service organizations (mezzo-level acculturation) were often needs-driven and affected by the political will and resultant funding programs (macro-level forces). Even with limitations, human service organizations commonly focused on hiring Mainland Chinese immigrants to reflect the changing demographics of their clientele and creating new programs to meet the language and cultural backgrounds of the clients. To contextualize these organizational efforts, an analysis of how policy changes (macro-level acculturation) interact with organizational practice is presented. Finally, the meaning of acculturation for the host society is discussed.     

Person–organization (culture) fit and employee commitment under conditions of organizational change: A longitudinal study

This longitudinal study examines how person–organization fit, operationalized as congruence between perceived and preferred organizational culture, relates to employees’ affective commitment and intention to stay with an organization during the early stages of a strategic organizational change. Employees in a large energy company completed surveys before (N = 687) and after (N = 627) the change. We measured perceptions and preferences with regard to four components of organizational culture (human relations, open systems, internal process, and rational goal) derived from the Competing Values Model (Quinn, 1988), as well as affective commitment to the organization and intention to stay. Using polynomial regression and response surface analyses, we found that both perceived culture and culture fit related positively with the criterion variables within and across time. The strongest evidence for relations involving fit was obtained for those components of culture specifically targeted for change. Implications for future research and the management of organizational change are discussed.     

Organizational embeddedness and occupational embeddedness across career stages

This article proposes a theoretical framework to study organizational embeddedness and occupational embeddedness. Organizational embeddedness is the totality of forces (fit, links, and sacrifices) that keep people in their current organizations, while occupational embeddedness is the totality of forces (fit, links, and sacrifices) that keep people in their current occupations. The proposed framework identifies the antecedents of these parallel processes and when and why they can diverge. It also highlights the role that individuals’ career stages play in the embedding process. The article concludes with a discussion of avenues for future research on job turnover and occupation change and implications for management practice.     

Linking career mobility with corporate loyalty: How does job change relate to organizational commitment?

Today's organizations are undergoing constant and substantial change due to many internal and external forces. These changes are impacting on the inter- and intra-organizational career mobility of managers and employees. This research assessed the relationship between career mobility history and a recent internal or external job change on organizational commitment using (Allen & Meyer, 1990) three-dimensional model. Professional-level employees participated in three survey administrations over an 18-month timeframe. External career mobility history (i.e., number of external job moves over one's career) was negatively related to normative commitment, but not to affective and continuance commitment. Affective and continuance commitment were significantly lower for external movers prior to a move when compared to nonmovers over the same period. In contrast, only continuance commitment was significantly lower for internal movers prior to a move when compared to nonmovers over the same period. Affective commitment increased significantly after the move for both internal and external movers. Implications for research with respect to career mobility and organizational commitment are discussed.     

Promoting aggression and violence at Abu Ghraib: The U.S. military's transformation of ordinary people into torturers

The torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib has been characterized as an isolated incident and blamed on a few “bad apples.” However, as similar reports of war crimes throughout Iraq continue to surface, it seems increasingly apparent that in the anxious post-9/11 context, the low-level agents who carried out such violence were designed to function in this way. This paper suggests that the U.S. military transformed ordinary soldiers into the cruel and ruthless guards at Abu Ghraib through the use of basic recruitment and training strategies, general authorizations for increased aggression and violence after 9/11, specific authorizations for more aggressive interrogations, a range of pressures and protections, and the dehumanization of prisoners. While the legitimate needs of an effective Army must be preserved, this paper offers several specific ways we might reform the U.S. military and prevent such abuses in the future.     

Individual and contextual variables enhance transfer for a workplace eco-driving intervention

The adoption of energy efficient driving styles and practices, eco-driving, has been recognized in the literature as an option for reducing vehicle energy consumption. Prior eco-driving research has looked at the effectiveness of various eco-driving programs. However, the characteristics of the individuals participating in fleet eco-driving programs and the role of the supervisor as an advocate for eco-driving practices have remained relatively unexamined. An eco-driving intervention intended to increase eco-driving behaviors in a work organization was conducted with fleet drivers in three public organizations. Drawing from the workplace training literature, we hypothesized that employee eco-driving behaviors will increase after the implementation of an eco-driving intervention, but that these behaviors will be dependent on the participant’s pre-intervention motivation and support from their supervisor for implementing eco-driving practices. Survey data were collected pre- and post-intervention from 51 fleet drivers (average age 45.3 and 33% female), and results indicate that the eco-driving intervention was effective when either high levels of pre-intervention motivation or supervisor support were present.     

Perception de justice organisationnelle et comportements de citoyenneté organisationnelle chez les salariés du secteur public gabonais

Numerous studies carried out in northern countries have shown a positive link between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behaviours. There are no data from the countries of the South. The purpose of this article is to remedy this. Our hypothesis is that employees’ citizenship behaviours depend on how they perceive organizational justice. 160 men and women, executives and subordinates in a Gabonese public company, answered a questionnaire of 39 items: items of the organizational justice scale of Colquitt (2001) and items of the organizational citizenship scale of Charbonnier, Silva, and Roussel (2007). It is observed that different forms of justice influence organizational citizenship behaviours.     

Stakeholders’ Perspectives on Community-Based Participatory Research to Enhance Mental Health Services

Historically, consumers of mental health services have not been given meaningful roles in research and change efforts related to the services they use. This is quickly changing as scholars and a growing number of funding bodies now call for greater consumer involvement in mental health services research and improvement. Amidst these calls, community‐based participatory research (CBPR) has emerged as an approach which holds unique promise for capitalizing on consumer involvement in mental health services research and change. Yet, there have been few discussions of the value added by this approach above and beyond that of traditional means of inquiry and enhancement in adult mental health services. The purpose of this paper is to add to this discussion an understanding of potential multilevel and multifaceted benefits associated with consumer‐involved CBPR. This is accomplished through presenting the first‐person accounts of four stakeholder groups who were part of a consumer‐involved CBPR project purposed to improve the services of a local community mental health center. We present these accounts with the hope that by illustrating the unique outcomes associated with CBPR, there will be invigorated interest in CBPR as a vehicle for consumer involvement in adult mental health services research and enhancement.