The role of organizational culture in the relationship between leadership and organizational commitment: an empirical study in a Greek organization

The aim of this paper is to explore the nature of relationships between organizational culture and leadership behaviours in affecting employees' commitment to their work organization. Building on organizational commitment literature, this study used a survey methodology. Empirical evidence was obtained from 300 employees working in a large Greek service company. The analyses indicated that the culture orientations examined served as mediators in the relationship between leader behaviour and followers' affective and normative commitment to the organization. The findings also indicated that continuance commitment is a two-dimensional construct; the ‘personal sacrifices’ dimension was found to be related to organizational culture and transactional contingent reward. This research paper has key messages for practitioners contributing to the fields of commitment, organizational culture, leadership and human resource management.

[1]  C. Chow,et al.  Organizational culture: association with commitment, job satisfaction, propensity to remain, and information sharing in Taiwan , 2003 .

[2]  Larry E. Toothaker,et al.  Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions , 1991 .

[3]  James C. Sarros,et al.  Leadership and its impact on organizational culture , 2002 .

[4]  A. Furnham,et al.  A Correlational and Factor Analytic Study of Four Questionnaire Measures of Organizational Culture , 1996 .

[5]  S. A. Wasti,et al.  Organizational commitment, turnover intentions and the influence of cultural values. , 2003 .

[6]  Y. Wiener Commitment in Organizations: A Normative View , 1982 .

[7]  B. Bass,et al.  Transformational Leadership And Organizational Culture , 1993 .

[8]  Paul J. Kobulnicky,et al.  Commitment in the workplace: Theory, research and application , 1998 .

[9]  Jon P. Howell,et al.  Does Cultural Socialization Predict Multiple Bases and Foci of Commitment? , 2000 .

[10]  J. Mathieu,et al.  A review and meta-analysis of the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of organizational commitment , 1990 .

[11]  K. Carson,et al.  DIFFERENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS ASSOCIATED WITH TWO DISTINCT DIMENSIONS OF CONTINUANCE COMMITMENT , 2002 .

[12]  B. Bass LEADERSHIP AND PERFORMANCE BEYOND EXPECTATIONS , 1985 .

[13]  Philip Selznick Leadership in administration , 1957 .

[14]  John P. Meyer,et al.  A three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment , 1991 .

[15]  J. Finegan,et al.  The impact of person and organizational values on organizational commitment. , 2000 .

[16]  R. A. Cooke,et al.  Behavioral Norms and Expectations , 1988 .

[17]  Rick D. Hackett,et al.  Further assessments of Bass's (1985) conceptualization of transactional and transformational leadership. , 1995 .

[18]  Charles W. Mueller,et al.  Assessment of Meyer and Allen's three-component model of organizational Commitment in South Korea , 1997 .

[19]  M. Konovsky,et al.  Citizenship behavior and social exchange. , 1994, Academy of Management journal. Academy of Management.

[20]  R. A. Cooke,et al.  Measuring Normative Beliefs and Shared Behavioral Expectations in Organizations: The Reliability and Validity of the Organizational Culture Inventory , 1993 .

[21]  Alan J. Dubinsky,et al.  Transformational leadership theory: Using levels of analysis to determine boundary conditions. , 1994 .

[22]  Joyce E. Bono,et al.  Self-Concordance at Work: Toward Understanding the Motivational Effects of Transformational Leaders , 2003 .

[23]  N. Ellemers,et al.  Self‐categorisation, commitment to the group and group self‐esteem as related but distinct aspects of social identity , 1999 .

[24]  A. Colli Contextualizing Performances of Family Firms , 2012 .

[25]  N. Ashkanasy,et al.  Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate , 2000 .

[26]  Roderick D. Iverson,et al.  Affective, Normative and Continuance Commitment: Can the ‘Right Kind’ of Commitment be Managed? , 1999 .

[27]  E. Aronson Integrating Leadership Styles and Ethical Perspectives , 2009 .

[28]  P. Lewis,et al.  Transactional and Transformational Leadership: A Constructive/Developmental Analysis , 1987 .

[29]  Christian Vandenberghe,et al.  Organizational and individual values: Their main and combined effects on work attitudes and perceptions. , 1999 .

[30]  B. Bass,et al.  Ethics, character, and authentic transformational leadership behavior , 1999 .

[31]  F. White,et al.  Linking values and organizational commitment: A correlational and experimental investigation in two organizations , 2005 .

[32]  D. Hislop Linking human resource management and knowledge management via commitment: A review and research agenda , 2003 .

[33]  P. M. Podsakoff,et al.  Self-Reports in Organizational Research: Problems and Prospects , 1986 .

[34]  E. B. Andersen,et al.  Modern factor analysis , 1961 .

[35]  Fred O. Walumbwa,et al.  Building effective organizations: transformational leadership, collectivist orientation, work-related attitudes and withdrawal behaviours in three emerging economies , 2003 .

[36]  Schon Beechler,et al.  Employee commitment in MNCs: Impacts of organizational culture, HRM and top management orientations , 2008 .

[37]  Kevin B. Lowe,et al.  Effectiveness correlates of transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analytic review of the mlq literature , 1996 .

[38]  H. Harman Modern factor analysis , 1961 .

[39]  Robert I Westwood,et al.  Perceptions of Organisational Subculture and their Significance for Organisational Commitment , 2005 .

[40]  Fred O. Walumbwa,et al.  The role of collective efficacy in the relations between transformational leadership and work outcomes , 2004 .

[41]  M. Konovsky,et al.  Citizenship Behavior and Social Exchange , 1994 .

[42]  Sydney Gregory,et al.  Culture's consequences: international differences in work-related values , 1982 .

[43]  Maria Simosi,et al.  Organizational culture and transformational leadership as predictors of business unit performance , 2006 .

[44]  Jane M. Howell,et al.  Personality and charismatic leadership , 1992 .

[45]  Richard M. Steers,et al.  Organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover among psychiatric technicians. , 1974 .

[46]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[47]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Commitment to organizations and occupations: Extension and test of a three-component conceptualization. , 1993 .

[48]  D. Rousseau Normative Beliefs in Fund-Raising Organizations , 1990 .

[49]  Chester A. Schriesheim,et al.  Fairness Perceptions and Trust as Mediators for Transformational and Transactional Leadership: A Two-Sample Study , 1999 .

[50]  Aaron Cohen,et al.  An Examination of the Relationship Between Commitments and Culture Among Five Cultural Groups of Israeli Teachers , 2007 .

[51]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Commitment in the Workplace: Theory, Research, and Application , 1997 .

[52]  John P. Meyer,et al.  The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organization , 1990 .

[53]  S. Schwartz,et al.  Value Hierarchies Across Cultures , 2001 .

[54]  Stephen Swailes,et al.  Organizational commitment: a critique of the construct and measures , 2002 .

[55]  E. Schein Organizational Culture and Leadership , 1991 .

[56]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Culture′s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values , 1980 .

[57]  B. Bass,et al.  Re‐examining the components of transformational and transactional leadership using the Multifactor Leadership , 1999 .

[58]  R. N. Kanungo,et al.  Ethical Values of Transactional and Transformational Leaders , 2009 .

[59]  John P. Meyer,et al.  AFFECTIVE, CONTINUANCE, AND NORMATIVE COMMITMENT TO THE ORGANIZATION: A META-ANALYSIS OF ANTECEDENTS, CORRELATES, AND CONSEQUENCES , 2002 .

[60]  Peng Wang,et al.  FAMILY-FRIENDLY PROGRAMS, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, AND WORK WITHDRAWAL: THE MODERATING ROLE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP , 2007 .