Managing Organizational Commitment Through Human Resource Practices. Case: a Medium-Sized Finnish Service Company
KAAKKOLAMMI, KARI (2009)
KAAKKOLAMMI, KARI
2009
Yrityksen hallinto - Management and Organisation
Kauppa- ja hallintotieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Economics and Administration
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2009-09-21
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uta-1-20059
https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uta-1-20059
Tiivistelmä
Researchers (e.g. Meyer & Allen 1990; 1991; 1997) have concluded that committed employees are better performers, have less well-being related issues and are more likely to stay in the organization. When commitment has such profound effects on many of the managerial challenges, managing it should be every manager's daily routine. Fortunately our knowledge on both the commitment phenomenon and the different practices that can be used to manage it are well researched in the past. However, the studies are mostly concentrated on large American corporations, which might not necessarily describe the phenomenon accurately in significantly different settings, for example in a Finnish medium-sized service company. Thus, the main purpose of this research is to provide a description of why an organization would use human resource practices (e.g. training, selective hiring and sharing of information) in managing organizational commitment and how these practices can be utilized. What makes the research even more interesting is that it was conducted during a time depicted as the worst since the Great Depression.
To provide as rich a depiction of the phenomenon as possible, a single-case study was undertaken as the different practices, through which commitment is managed, can be executed in hundreds of different ways. As suggested by Hiltrop (1999) senior management should be the one responsible for commitment management because it requires a comprehensive understanding of business strategy and goals. Therefore, in order to retrieve the most accurate data, most of the senior management was interviewed.
The findings of the study reveal commitment and thus also managing commitment to be a complex phenomenon to be dealt with both academically and in managerial work. What was interesting is that owners saw commitment differently as "natural" than other informants. Previous research findings where backed-up by the fact that commitment seemed to influence the three managerial challenges introduced above. Interestingly, the case company emphasized some of the selected practices through which commitment is managed differently, which could be due to the organizational model. In addition the research described effects of the global downturn on the phenomenon.
Asiasanat:commitment, managing commitment, human resource management, human resource practices
To provide as rich a depiction of the phenomenon as possible, a single-case study was undertaken as the different practices, through which commitment is managed, can be executed in hundreds of different ways. As suggested by Hiltrop (1999) senior management should be the one responsible for commitment management because it requires a comprehensive understanding of business strategy and goals. Therefore, in order to retrieve the most accurate data, most of the senior management was interviewed.
The findings of the study reveal commitment and thus also managing commitment to be a complex phenomenon to be dealt with both academically and in managerial work. What was interesting is that owners saw commitment differently as "natural" than other informants. Previous research findings where backed-up by the fact that commitment seemed to influence the three managerial challenges introduced above. Interestingly, the case company emphasized some of the selected practices through which commitment is managed differently, which could be due to the organizational model. In addition the research described effects of the global downturn on the phenomenon.
Asiasanat:commitment, managing commitment, human resource management, human resource practices