Factors affecting organizational commitment at the asian international school

RESEARCH PROJECT
(BMBR5103)

FACTORS AFFECTING
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT
AT THE ASIAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

STUDENT’S FULL NAME

: PHAM DUC QUYNH

STUDENT ID

: CGS00018527

INTAKE

: September 2014

ADVISOR’S NAME & TITLE

: KHAI NGUYEN, DBA.

December 2015


TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................... 3
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... 4
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. 5
ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................... 6

ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 8
1.1 Overview of Asian International School ...................................................................... 8
1.2 Problem statement ..................................................................................................... 11
1.3 Purpose of the Research ............................................................................................ 12
1.4 Structure of the Research .......................................................................................... 13
CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................... 14
2.1 Organizational Commitment ...................................................................................... 14
2.2 Work Control: ............................................................................................................ 15
2.3 Perceived Importance of Workplace Values .............................................................. 16
2.4 Developmental Experiences ....................................................................................... 17
2.5 Procedural Justice in Performance Appraisal............................................................. 18
2.6 Research Model........................................................................................................20

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................... 22
3.1 Data Collection .......................................................................................................... 22
3.2 Measures..................................................................................................................... 22
3.3 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................. 28
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS ................................................................................................. 30
4.1 Reliabilty Analysis ..................................................................................................... 30
4.2 Correlation of all Variables ........................................................................................ 30
4.3 Hypotheses Testing .................................................................................................... 32
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION ............................................................................................ 35
5.1 Discussion: ................................................................................................................ 35
5.2 Limitation of the Research ......................................................................................... 36
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... 37
APPENDIX 1 ...................................................................................................................... 42
APPENDIX 2 ...................................................................................................................... 48

Page 1

Advisor’s Assessment

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Advisor’s signature

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ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
I would like to send my deep gratitude to my lecturer Dr. Nguyen The Khai who gave
me his valuable advice while I was doing this research paper. I came to know more
new things about both the content and the format of this paper through his continuous
assistance. Furthermore, the lecturer provided us with in-depth knowlegde about how
to write a research paper. I also would like to express my special thanks to my
wonderful MBA classmates who supplied me with some useful comments on this
paper.
Finally, I would like to send heart-felt thanks to my beloved wife who continuously
gives me extraordinary encouragement from the very beginning of the course.

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: The Asian International School - Tran Nhat Duat Campus ................................... 9
Figure 2: The Asian International School - Cong Hoa Campus ............................................ 9
Figure 3: Research Model .................................................................................................... 20

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Summary of Cronbach’s Alpha of the variables.................................................... 30
Table 2:Summary of Correlations of all variables ............................................................... 31
Table 3: Model Summary .................................................................................................... 32
Table 4: Model Summary of all hypotheses ........................................................................ 33

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ABBREVIATIONS

AIS

The Asian International School

HRM

Human Resource Management

OC

Organizational Commitment

WC

Work Control

PIWV

Perceived Importance of Workplace Values

DE

Developmental Experiences

PJPA

Procedural Justice in Performance Appraisal

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ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to examine factors affecting organization commitment at
the Asian international School since that the school has been experiencing high
turnover in recent years. The population of this study consists of 310 teachers and
staff at The Asian School. The questionnaires were personally administered and
collected from 295 employees in which only 270 were usable. Reliability statistics,
correlations and regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses. Findings
reported that all independent variables have a positive relationship with dependent
variable. Based on the findings and limitations of the study, further research was
needed to find out other factors affecting organizational commitment.

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Overview of Asian International School
The Asian International School is a member of The Group of Asian
International Education (GAIE). GAIE comprising The Asian International School
(Primary School IPS and Middle & High School AHS), The Institute of Asian Studies
(IAS), and The Saigon International University (SIU), is considered to be the largest
international standard system of education and scientific research in Ho Chi Minh
City. GAIE was established in 1999, and there are now more than 9,000 students from
many countries, over 2,000 Vietnamese teachers and 200 foreign teachers learning
and working in 13 campuses in Ho Chi Minh City. The Asian International School
provides an international standard of education for Vietnamese and foreign students
from grade 1 to grade 12 with a stimulating studying environment, high quality
teaching practices as well as health care equal to many other high schools all over the
world. Students at AIS have full day school time: morning for Vietnamese program
outlined by Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training, afternoon for international
educational program based on the United States curricula.
Principal: Nguyen Le Thanh Truc Pasteur Campus:
Headquater: 226A Pasteur, P.6, Q.3, Tp.HCM
Phone: (84-8) 3820 7972 Fax: (84-8) 3820 7973
School slogan:
“Vietnam's spirit, global education”

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Figure 1: Tran Nhat Duat Campus

Figure 2: Cong Hoa Campus
Vision
Excellence in global education for Vietnamese and international students grounded in
the concept of unity through diversity.

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Mission
As the world moves towards multi-lateralism, it is the mission of the Asian
International School to give highest priority to motivating and stimulating students to
learn beyond their borders, in order to instill internationalism in education and desire
for lifelong acquisition of global knowledge and world peace.
Guiding principles:
Academics - Asian International School will:
* Provide instruction through a wide range of learning styles, seeking to develop the
cognitive, physical, social and moral potential of every student;
* Provide curricula that stimulate intellectual attributes and encourages self-discipline,
critical thinking, respect for others’ opinion and creative approaches to problems.
Community - Asian International School will:
* Recognize and respect the values, contributions and opinions of others, including
students, teachers, and parents.
* Stimulate values of good global citizenship through sustainable living concepts,
social awareness, community service and leadership training.
* Encourage unity of the academic community within a framework that also celebrates
diversity in religion, language, culture and individuality of thinking.
Facilities - Asian International School will:
* Provide modern learning and study areas that are equivalent to or better than those
of the best international school facilities

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* Maintain facilities to access global knowledge via electronic library resources, as
well as traditional library holdings and materials;
* Recognize that good health and physical discipline contribute to intellectual
development, by providing individual and team sport facilities, as well as suitable
equipment and well-trained medical staff to meet emergency and short term care
needs of students.
Staff - Asian International School will:
* Seek to recruit, train and retain highly qualified staff and teachers who excel in
development and encouragement of the Asian International School guiding principles
in education;
* Employ teachers and staff who foster attitudes of toleration for diverse cultural
views and who are committed to cooperation in the attainment of academic and
community goals.
Students - Asian International School will:
* Prepare every student for a productive future in the modern developing world
through diverse learning experiences;
* Prepare students who wish to continue learning in international universities abroad
or in Viet Nam by developing all foundation intellectual skills required for
1.2 Problem statement of the research
Viet Nam has made a rapid development since the Open Door policy and
especially since the country became the 150th member of WTO. More and more

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enterprises and corporations have been established throughout the country. We can see
a big growth in every field, even in education. Schools and colleges have mushroomed
in big cites like Ho Chi Minh, Ha Noi and Da Nang. It is easier to find a job.
Therefore, people start to have a tendency to change their job more often. This is also

the problem at The Asian International School. We can not retain good teachers and
staff. The high turnover has left a negative impact on the school. That is why I want to
find out factors leading to orginizational commitment so that the school can deal with
the current issue at the school.
1.3 Purpose of the research
To solve the problem of high turnover at The Asian international School, I will
try to find out factors leading to organizational commitment. The four factors, which
are work control, pperceived importance of workplace values, ddevelopmental
experiences, pprocedural justice in performance appraisal, will be thoroughly explored
in this research. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to study the relationship
between work control, pperceived importance of workplace values, ddevelopmental
experiences, pprocedural justice in performance appraisal and organizational
commitment. This is done by analysing the following research questions:
1.

What is the relevance between work control and organizational commitment?

2.

Do workplace values increase organizational commitment?

3.

Does

developmental

experiences

have

a

positive

relationship

with

organizational commitment?
4.

To what degree does procedural justice in performance appraisal influence

organizational commitment.

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1.4 Struture of the research
This chapter provides the overview of The Asian International School. Then, it
introduces the statement problem of the research and the purpose of the study. Chapter
2 provides a comprehensive review of the literature relevant to work control,
perceived importance of workplace values, developmental experiences, procedural
justice in performance appraisal and organizational commitment. Then, it develops 4
hypotheses along with the research model. Chapter 3 presents the methodology and
provides a detailed description of the data collection process, data analysis and
measures used in the research. Chapter 4 provides the results of the study and Chapter
5 demontrates the discussion. Limitations of this study and suggestions for future

research are also provided.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Organizational Commitment (OC)
We all realize the value of organizational commitment because commitment
has a great impact on the successful performance of an organisation (Nehmeh, 2009).
That is why numerous research related to organizational commitment has been carried
out so far, and there are various definitions about this term. Porter et al., (1974)
defined the organizational commitment as believing and accepting the goals and
values of organization and possessing and showing desire to be part of the
organization. Mowday, Porter, and Steer (1982) stated that organizational
commitment can be considered “the relative strength of an individual’s identification
with and involvement in a particular organization and can be characterized by a strong
belief in and acceptance of the organization’s goals and values, willingness to exert
considerable effort on behalf of the organization and a strong desire to maintain
membership of the organization”.
According to Allen and Meyer (1990) organizational commitment has been
defined as a psychological state that binds an employee to an organization, thereby
reducing the incidence of turnover. Furthermore, Allen and Meyer (1991) also
proposed a three-component model of organizational commitment. They came out
with an idea that there are three types organizational commitment which are named
affective, continuance, and normative commitment. Affective commitment refers to
the extent to which a person wishes to be a member of the organization. Continuance
commitment implies a person’s attachment to an organization because they know

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what it will cost if they leave leave the company. Continuance commitment echoes
Becker’s (1960) side-bet theory, and employees perceive what it will cost if they leave
leave the company. Normative commitment shows a feeling of moral obligation to
continue working for organization. This model has gained substantial popularity since
its inception (Wasti, 2005).
Mowdray (1992) has proposed a more detailed definition about organizational
commitment which consists of three components: “an identification with the goals and
values of the organisation, a desire to belong to the organisation and a willingness to
display

effort

on

behalf

of

the

organisation.”

According to the businessdictionary.com, organizational commitment is considered as
strength of the feeling of responsibility that an employee has towards the mission of
the organization.
In summary, organizational commitment is shown when employees clearly

understand the goals of the organization and desire to achieve it.

2.2 Work control (WC)
A wide range of studies have confirmed the importance of employees’
influence at work for their job satisfaction, their work motivation and their
commitment to the organization for which they work ( Blumberg, 1968; Warr, 1987;
Meyer & Allen, 1997; Heller et al, 1998; Zhou, 2009).
Karasek (1979) introduced the Demand-Control model in which job control, labelled
as decision latitude, consists of two components: decision authority and skill
discretion. Decision authority lets emplyees to decide when and how the job is

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done.They can also determine the amount and tempo of their work. Skill discretion
refers to control over the use of the employee’s initiative and skills on the job.
Indeed, involvement in decision-making at work has been shown to have important
implications for people’s ability to take initiative in their lives out of work (Kohn and
Schooler, 1983).
To stand out in today’s fierecely competitive market, employers take
advantages of all resources that they have. They are even highly aware of the
importance of engaging employees in decisions to increase organizational
commitment. The higher level of work control employees have, the tighter
engagement employees want to keep with their organization.
Hypothesis 1: Work control is positively related to organizational commitment.

2.3 Perceived importance of workplace values (PIWV)
Workplaces are now becoming a second home for many people. Normally,
employees spend half a day at the workplaces. That is why people are increasingly

looking for organizations where they feel comfortable, and look for organizations
whose values and ethics align with their own. Your organization's workplace values
set the tone for your company's culture, and they identify what your organization, as a
whole, cares about. It's important t hat your people's values align with these
(Monteiro, 2015).
There are many workplace values, such as courtesy, quality, productivity,
integrity, respect, and so on.

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The most effective organizations attract people who already share most of their key
values.
Workplace values are vital to both big or small organizations. It helps promote
positive personal behaviours, uphold fundamental responsibilities, and improve
excellence and professionalism at the workplaces. When employees realize the
workplaces values, they seem committed to the organization to achieve the goals.
Hyphothesis 2: Perceived importance of workplace values is positively related to
organizational commitment.

2.4 Developmental Experiences (DE)
Nowadays, the younger workforce has been looking for a working place
where there are clear-cut policies about professional growth, thus displaying the
important role of training programs and developmental experiences in every
organization. Patrick (1992) defined training as the systematic development of
the attitudes/knowledge/skill behaviour patterns required by an individual in
order to perform adequately a given task or job.”
According to Armstrong (2001), “Training is systematic development of
the knowledge, skills and attitudes required by an individual to perform

adequately a given task or job”.
Training will bring competitive advantages over other competitors. Ferrell
(2012) defined ccompetitive advantage as “something that the firm does better than its
competitors that give it an edge in serving customers’ needs and/or maintaining
mutually satisfying relationships with important stakeholders. Furthermore, due to
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training our employees will be able to work more efficiently and effectively. With an
appropriate and well-designed human developmental plan, we can not only satisfy
employees’ wish but ensure the productivity at the workplace
Hyphothesis

3:

Developmental

experiences

are

positively

related

to

organizational commitment.

2.5 Procedural Justice in Performance Appraisal (PJPA)
Performance appraisal is one of the most widely researched areas in
industrial/organizational psychology (Murphy & Cleveland, 1993). However, the
traditional research agenda has done little to improve the usefulness of performance
appraisal as a managerial tool. It has been defined in many ways by organizational
researchers, for example, Griffin and Ebert (2002, p. 216) described performance
appraisal as the “formal evaluation of an employee's job performance in order to
determine the degree to which the employee is performing effectively”.
Anthony, Perrewe and Kacmar (1996, pp. 374-5) state that a performance appraisal
system must be well defined, corporately supported and monitored. It must also be
widely communicated and focused towards achieving corporate objectives.
It is a formal process of employee monitoring (Cardy & Dobbins, 1994; Murphy &
Cleveland, 1991) and usually involves “evaluating performance based on the
judgments and opinions of subordinates, peers, supervisors, other managers and even
workers themselves” (Jackson & Schuler, 2003, p.455). Similarly, performance
appraisal has been defined as “activities through which organizations seek to assess

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employees and develop their competence, enhance performance and distribute
rewards” (Fletcher, 2001, p.473).
Murphy and Cleveland (1995) referred to employee reaction to appraisals as one class
of neglected criteria that might be considered in evaluating performance appraisal
systems.
Bernardin and Beatty (1984) suggested that employee reactions to performance
appraisal systems are usually better indicators of the overall viability of a system than
the more narrow psychometric indices such as leniency and halo. According to
Keeping and Levy (2000) employee reactions toward performance appraisal may be

considered important for a number of reasons. First, reactions are of great interest to
practitioners. Second, while reactions have been theoretically linked to determinants
of performance appraisal success and acceptance they have been overlooked in the
research. These issues are both within the context of the gap between research and
practice that has been noted in the performance appraisal literature by a number
ofresearchers including Banks and Murphy (1985); Bretz, Mikovich and Read (1992);
Ilgen, Barnes-Farrell and McKellin (1993); and Smither (1998).
Researchers have suggested that reaction to performance appraisal is critical to the
acceptance and use of a performance appraisal system (Bernardin & Beatty, 1984;
Cardy & Dobbins, 1994; Murphy & Cleveland, 1995).
There are clearly strong reactions from employees about performance appraisal
because this does not only affect their wages but their promotion as well. Therefore,
the more transparent the policies about performance appraisal are stated, the more

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satisfied and comfortable the employees feel in their workplace, thus, increasing their
commitment with the company.
Hyphothesis 4: Perceived justice in performance appraisal is positively related to
organizational commitment.

2.6 Research Model
Based on the above literature review of all the related constructs, the following
hypothesized research model (Figure 3) is proposed and will be explored.

Figure 3: Research model
Dependent Variables:
Organizational commitment (OC)

Independent Variables:
Work control (WC)

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Perceived importance of workplace values (PIWV)
Developmental experiences (DE)
Procedural justice in performance appraisal (PJPA)

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Data collection
The research method of this study is survey method. The survey method is the
most appropriate method for the data collection as this method helps to predict the
nature of the total population from which the sample are selected (Fowler, 1988;
Sapsford, 1999).
The population of this study consists of 310 teachers and staff at The Asian
School. The questionnaires were personally administered and collected from 295
employees in which only 270 were usable. Roscoe (1975) stated that for most studies,
a sample size between 30 and 500 would be sufficient.
The questionnaire consists 5 parts with 50 questions which collect information
about work control, perceived importance of workplace values, developmental
experiences, procedural justice in performance appraisal and organizational
commitment.
3.2 Measures

Part 1: Organizational Commitment
This measure, which was developed for and used in the 1991 General Social
Survey, describes overall organizational commitment. It assesses commitment with
only six items, meeting the needs of large sample survey research where parsimony is
essential. The items were derived from Lincoln and Kalleberg’s (1990) American –
Japanese work commitment study (cited in Marsden et al., 1993).

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There are 06 items being used to measure the agreements or disagreements of
teachers and staff to The Asian International School. Responses are obtained on a 4point Likert-type scale where 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, and 4 =
strongly agree.
Note: Items denoted with (R) are reversed scored.
Participants are required to show the degree of agreement about organizational
commitment for the following items:
1.

I am willing to work harder that I have to in order to help this organizational

succeed.
2.

I feel very little loyalty. (R)

3.

I would take any job to keep working for this organization.

4.

I find that my values and the organization's are very similar.

5.

I am proud to be working for this organization.

6.

I would turn down another job for more pay in order to stay with this

organization.
Part 2: Work Control
This measure, developed by Dwyer and Ganster (1991), describes the extent to
which workers perceive they have control over numerous aspects of their work
environment. These aspects include control over the variety of tasks performed, the
order of task performance, the pace of tasks, task scheduling, task procedures, and
arrangement of the physical layout/environment.

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Participants are asked to answer the following items. The response options are 1 =
very little, 2 = little, 3 = a moderate amount, 4 = much, 5 = very much.

1. How much control do you have over the variety of methods you use in completing
your work?
2. How much can you choose among a variety of tasks or projects to do?

3. How much control do you have personally over the quality of your work?
4. How much can you generally predict the amount of work you will have to do on
any given day?
5. How much control do you personally have over how much work you get done?
6. How much control do you have over how quickly or slowly you have to work?
7. How much control do you have over the scheduling and duration of your rest
breaks?
8. How much control do you have over when you come to work and leave?
9. How much control do you have over when you take vacation or days off?
10. How much are you able to predict what the results of decisions you make on the
job will be?
11. How much are you able to decorate, rearrange, or personalize your work area?
12. How much can you control the physical condition of your work station (lightning,
temperature)?
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