Organizational Climate & Commitment: An Analysis of Food Processing Industry of Punjab.
| Author | Kaur, Kuldeep |
Introduction
Today's organizations are facing far more challenges than ever before, regardless of their structure or size. In order to meet these challenges and to be more effective and productive, it becomes important for them to stay focused on their employees. The most successful organizations in the world are those that consider their employees as the most important assets and manage them well (Peters et al., 1982). For the employees to perform well and be loyal to the organization for long term, it is important for an organization to embrace a positive and conducive working environment which leads to better productivity and overall organizational success (Patterson et al., 2004; Iqbal, 2008; Purang, 2008).
Present day organizations have started paying more attention in comprehending the perception of employees towards internal working environment and how such environment evokes commitment towards the organization. The commitment of employees has become a crucial issue because organizations need to ensure that those individuals who add value to organizational success have desire to be committed with the organization and they wish to continue to pour their effort into their job for long term (Brown & Leigh, 1996).
Thus, it becomes paramount for an employer to understand the veal of commitment and the factors that affect its level. Organizational commitment refers to the loyalty and bond which an individual has with his/her organization (Randhawa & Kaur, 2014). Previous research has indicated that the organizational commitment is influenced by a number of factors such as responsibility, autonomy (Baron & Greenberg, 1990), job content, performance appraisals (Sharma & Joshi, 2001), management style (Meyer & Allen, 1997), work environment (Brown & Leigh, 1996) etc. The committed workforce performs efficiently to achieve the targets and it can be possible only if the environment in which the employees spend most of their time, strive them to do so. In fact, the commitment can occur only when an individual finds the environment in which he or she performs tasks is supportive, cooperative and energetic. Therefore, better understanding of the factors that affect commitment levels will likely remain an important area of concern for the organizations, academicians and practitioners and it also becomes a subject of strategic issue for the Indian food processing industry.
Food processing is a sunrise industry in India which has gained immense importance in the national economy in recent years due to its huge potential for employment generation opportunities and export revenue. India is ranked fifth in the world in terms of production, consumption and export of processed food (IBEF, 2017). Out of the 29 states of India, Punjab, generally known as food bowl of India, has the highest number of food processing companies as well as highest food production and consumption levels. In fact, food processing industry of Punjab is regarded as a hope on which India will become self sufficient in food sector in the coming years. However, due to changing lifestyle and varied demands of consumers the industry is facing challenges that are as diverse as products they produce. These challenges include increased investment in new product development, threat from substitute products, and arrival of new marketing strategies as well as increased attrition rate, increased demand for trained and skilled staff, better working conditions, changing labor laws, etc (Kumbhar, 2008; Power, 2014). To survive in such a turbulent business environment and to successfully cope with these challenges, the food processing industry has to focus on creating positive organizational climate and loyal and efficient workforce for long term success.
Literature Review
The study of organizational climate becomes an interesting subject for researchers as well as organizations due to its ability to influence a number of other job related outcomes and one such outcome is organizational commitment (Permarupan et al., 2013). The environment of the organization where the employees spend most of their time plays a key role in defining the level of commitment which they show while performing various organizational tasks. It has been found that the employees who work in a positive and healthy environment apply all their efforts in their job in order to have greater efficiency and better performance (Gonzalez & Grazzo, 2006; Saeidipour, 2013). Thus, it becomes important to understand the relationship between these two variables.
Numerous researchers have studied the relationship between these two constructs and most of them found a strong positive association between them (McMurray et al., 2004; Langueta, 2006; Noordin et al., 2010). DeCotiis and Summers (1987) found that there exists a significant positive correlation between climate dimensions and organizational commitment. The dimensions of climate like cohesiveness, pressure, support, and autonomy could be used to predict the affective component of organizational commitment. Similarly, Guzley (1992) found a strong association between the factors of climate such as organizational clarity, participation and superior-subordinate communication and commitment in a large service organization. Further, the study of Decruz (1997) conducted in a cement factory also pointed out that the climate dimensions as cohesiveness, innovation, and support were strongly and positively correlated with commitment but the dimensions of work pressure and recognition were negatively correlated with commitment.
The study by Iqbal (2008) suggested a strong positive correlation between these two constructs, and dimensions of organizational climate such as 'challenge and involvement' and 'trust and openness' had positive relationship, 'conflict' had negative relationship and 'risk taking' had insignificant relationship with organizational commitment. Similarly, Delgoshaei et al. (2008) also reported a meaningful effect of organizational climate factors such as group spirit, intimacy, engagement, consideration and thrust on organizational commitment. In contrast to the above discussed studies, the research conducted by Thomas (2006) on faculty, and staff perceptions of their organizational climate and their organizational commitment in Christian higher education institutions had indicated a negative and statistically significant correlation between total climate and their expressed level of commitment.
Objectives of the Study
Need for the present study arises as most of the...
To continue reading
Request your trialCOPYRIGHT GALE, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
