Management 470
WWW
Jerisha Castine
The importance of the relationship between values and organizational commitment

Employees and organiations have a very important characteristiv in common, that is values. Values can be defined as relatively stable, evaluative beliefs that guide a persons prerences for outcomes or cousers of action In a variety of situations(ob book). Values can have a direct effect on a individvuals outcomes. An employee;s values influence our perceptions and behaviors. Organizational commitment is one of the most studied workplace attitude. Research has shown that there is a moderate relationship between values and organizational commitment . Employees perform at a level more consistent with their personal values when explicity reminded of those values. Organiations can benefit from a certain degree of value congruence. Finegan stated, “Given that values play such an important role in the definition of commitment, it stands to reason that a persons who personal values matched the operating values of the organization would be more commited to the organization than a person whose personal values differed from those of the organization” (Finegan 2000). Some believe commitment a function of the “fit" between employee values and organizational rewards. Commitment can be viewed as multi-dimensional. There is affective commitment, normative and continuance commitment. Affective commitment is a person’s feeling of loyalty and personal attatchment or involvement and identification with the organization they might work. Employees with high affective commitment continue employment with a company simply because they want to. Continuance commitment is attached to the costs that employees associate with leaving the organization, they remain because they need to. Lastly, normative commitment refers to feeling obligated to remain with an organization. Companies rely on shared values within the organization to maintain reliable standards an unwavering culture and a commitmented staff.
Findings froma study by J.E.Finnegan explored the relationship between personal values, organizational values, and organizational commitment. Employees of a petrochemical company rated a total of 24 values by how important the value was to them and how important it was to the organization, along with Meyer and Allen's commitment scale. The analyses results showed that affective, normative and continuance commitment were each predicted by different clusters of values and commitment was determined by the employees’ perception of organizational values An investigation in two organizations by ____abott and white_____ on the relationship between values and organizational commitment examined the correlation between organizational values and components of organizational commitment in two different non-commercial organizations. Abbott bases most of his experiment from research by J. E. Finegan in 2000. Results from the study concluded organizational values of humanity and vision are positively related to affective and normative organizational commitment. Study number two was an experiment to test the values-organizational commitment relationship. Abbott believed that job interest increases for organizations valuing vision, humanity, and self-direction, rather than conservativeness. Each study was conducted to confirm that employees connect their values to the perceived values of an organization, driving affective and normative organizational commitment and as a result, performance.

When employees share a set of values, they become more flexible, less hierarchical, and develop an heightened sense of collectivnes. Shared values build trust; both are mentioned in McGraw Hill’s Organizational Behabior textbook as prominent ways to builf organizational loyalty. “Employees experience mpre comfort and predictability when they afree with the calues underlying corporate decions. This comofri increases their motivation to stay with the otganization” (OB BOOK). It is important to see the relationship between values and commimtmetn because _______. A highly committed employee will identify with the goals and values of the organization. The relationship between values and commitment is significant in reducing turn over rates. Employees that have values different from the organization can feel the need to leave the company or may be less productive. These effects can be harmful to an organization _______.