Customer's ever increasing bargaining power makes it particularly important that practitioners and researchers more thoroughly understand the complex nature of customer commitment. Not surprisingly, however, although the construct of commitment has emerged as one of the key constructs in relationship marketing and has been widely studied in literature, there has been very little agreement on the conceptualisation of the construct. Building upon relationship marketing and organisational behaviour literature, the aim of this research is to extend our understanding of the nature of customer commitment by developing a three-dimensional customer commitment model relaying on commitment theory from the organisational behaviour literature; affective desire-based (AC), calculative cost-based (CC), and normative obligation-based (NC). Relationships among the commitment dimensions and relationships with a number of loyalty relational outcomes, namely, intention to stay (ITS), word of mouth (WOM), and willingness to pay (WTP) were investigated in this study. Using survey questionnaire distributed among customers of cell phone services (N=525), the data was analysed by structural equation modeling (SEM) and then additional analysis was employed to further demystify the complexity of the commitment concept. The results suggest that AC is the dominant source that generates customer loyalty, in line with the state of literature. Both cost-based and surprisingly obligation-based have shown detrimental effects on maintaining and developing the customer-service provider relationship. Additional analysis with various scenarios was implemented using mean split as cut score for high/low commitment dimensions. The findings suggest NC turns to have important positive role on relational outcomes when both AC and CC are below the mean split. When both AC and CC are high NC negatively affect at least ITS but at the same time make a clear positive effect on WTP. The findings can be instructional for identifying how firms can bend various marketing sources to secure more loyal customers to the service provider.

In its earliest stages, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999) with youths appears to be a promising therapeutic approach. Experiential willingness and committed action are two foci of ACT, making their assessment an integral part of therapy. Field tests have found validity problems with the Willingness and Action Measure for Children and Adolescents (WAM-C/A). The current study utilized the Story Version of the Willingness and Action Measure for Children and Adolescents (SWAM-C/A). Results supported the relationship between the SWAM-C/A and measures of experiential avoidance and mindfulness. Factor analysis indicated the presence of several distinct willingness and action factors. These results support the need for continued work on measurement of willingness and action in youth.

Organizations today are facing difficulties with gaining committed employees. As organizational success isdependent on employee commitment, researchers have in recent years implied that there is a relationship betweenorganizational culture and organizational commitment. Organizational culture is described as the shared values,norms, assumptions and beliefs of a group. Moreover, research has shown that commitment consists out of threecomponents, of which continuance commitment is described as employees need rather than willingness to staywith its employing organization. Although there are research concerning the two concepts in a profit-drivenorganizational context, there seem to be less research concerning non-profit organizations, such as universities.The purpose of this thesis is therefore to examine if there is a relationship between organizational culture and thecomponent continuance commitment in universities. This was done through a quantitative research approach, witha positivistic research philosophy. To collect empirical data, a self-completion questionnaire was designed anddistributed. The choice was made to limit the empirical context to three universities within the Swedish countrySkåne. These universities are Malmö University, Kristianstad University and Lund University. Further, the contextwas limited to employees at the faculties of business administration and economics.The results of this thesis indicate that no relationship between organizational culture and continuance commitmentexists among employees at the faculties of business administration and economics at the three universities.Nevertheless, the results indicate that half of the respondents recognized a lack of organizational culture, butbelieved in need for it to create employee commitment.

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / As local textile manufacturing come under pressure from global competition, the competitive advantage of organisations in this sector have become an important research topic. As a key input in the manufacturing process, human resources can either be a burdensome cost or a source of competitive advantage for organisations in the textile industry. The effectiveness of human resources depends to a large extend on the ability of organisations to keep them motivated and productive.

The aim of this study was to evaluate employee commitment to achieve the primary objective, which was to evaluate employee commitment towards product and process quality. Employees who are engaged in their work and committed to their organisations give companies crucial competitive advantages – including higher productivity, better quality products and lower employee turnover. A thorough literature study was conducted by using the views of different authors and combining them. The concept of quality was defined by making use of the five quality gurus; Deming, Juran, Feigenbaum, Crosby and Ishikawa. The fourteen principles of quality, developed by Deming, were presented in Table 2.1. These principles had the goal of increased productivity, with less rework, less waste of manpower and material resources, resulting in a reduction of costs, to in turn give the organisation greater market share and ultimately better competitive position, by improving the overall quality of an organisation’s work processes. The concept of employee and organisational commitment was defined, and from this study it is evident that employee commitment towards the company is positive and therefore should have a positive effect on their operating environment. The product process flow for this manufacturing concern were discussed to give an overall view of the production processes used in this organisation. An empirical study was completed using a questionnaire survey to determine employee commitment at a manufacturing concern in Gauteng. The questionnaire used for this study was designed to focus on commitment towards internal quality only, to specifically evaluate employee perspective towards product quality, as well as the commitment towards the organisation. Analysis of the responses showed the questionnaire to be reliable and valid. Respondents indicated that they are committed towards the organisation in general across all constructs, but a lack in management trust was a predominant sentiment. The quantitative analysis showed that after a factor analysis was done on the two sections of the questionnaire, four factors for each section were considered as meaningful. These factors were: Affinity, quality awareness, autonomy and corporate image (employee commitment - section B) and employee commitment, task performance, job satisfaction and contextual performance (company relationship – section C). This indicated strong employee commitment towards the organisation. The qualitative results had four areas that all respondents felt needed some attention, and loaded negative towards the organisation. These were HR (trust in management, competency, communication and company culture), skills development, employee development and BBBEE. Thus, drawing conclusions from quantitative results alone could give a company a false sense of employee commitment towards the company and therefore overlook the importance of the roles that employees play in executing strategic plans. Conclusions regarding the findings of the research study were presented and recommendations for this organisation were made. These recommendations are merely a guideline that correlates directly to the empirical analysis made. The research study was evaluated against the primary and secondary objectives with the conclusion that both were achieved. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The aim of this study was to evaluate employee commitment to achieve the primary objective, which was to evaluate employee commitment towards product and process quality. Employees who are engaged in their work and committed to their organisations give companies crucial competitive advantages – including higher productivity, better quality products and lower employee turnover. A thorough literature study was conducted by using the views of different authors and combining them. The concept of quality was defined by making use of the five quality gurus; Deming, Juran, Feigenbaum, Crosby and Ishikawa. The fourteen principles of quality, developed by Deming, were presented in Table 2.1. These principles had the goal of increased productivity, with less rework, less waste of manpower and material resources, resulting in a reduction of costs, to in turn give the organisation greater market share and ultimately better competitive position, by improving the overall quality of an organisation’s work processes. The concept of employee and organisational commitment was defined, and from this study it is evident that employee commitment towards the company is positive and therefore should have a positive effect on their operating environment. The product process flow for this manufacturing concern were discussed to give an overall view of the production processes used in this organisation. An empirical study was completed using a questionnaire survey to determine employee commitment at a manufacturing concern in Gauteng. The questionnaire used for this study was designed to focus on commitment towards internal quality only, to specifically evaluate employee perspective towards product quality, as well as the commitment towards the organisation. Analysis of the responses showed the questionnaire to be reliable and valid. Respondents indicated that they are committed towards the organisation in general across all constructs, but a lack in management trust was a predominant sentiment. The quantitative analysis showed that after a factor analysis was done on the two sections of the questionnaire, four factors for each section were considered as meaningful. These factors were: Affinity, quality awareness, autonomy and corporate image (employee commitment - section B) and employee commitment, task performance, job satisfaction and contextual performance (company relationship – section C). This indicated strong employee commitment towards the organisation. The qualitative results had four areas that all respondents felt needed some attention, and loaded negative towards the organisation. These were HR (trust in management, competency, communication and company culture), skills development, employee development and BBBEE. Thus, drawing conclusions from quantitative results alone could give a company a false sense of employee commitment towards the company and therefore overlook the importance of the roles that employees play in executing strategic plans. Conclusions regarding the findings of the research study were presented and recommendations for this organisation were made. These recommendations are merely a guideline that correlates directly to the empirical analysis made. The research study was evaluated against the primary and secondary objectives with the conclusion that both were achieved. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Clientelism is a form of informal relations between political parties and other agents, based on the exchange of benefits and favors in return for political support and loyalty. It is a legacy from the socialist era that has been shaping Serbian economic and political life for decades. These clientelistic practices could have a harmful impact on organizations if it affects employees’ organizational commitment negatively. Teachers are especially important for the economy of a country since the quality of teaching has an impact on future generations of individuals who will work, live, and contribute to the local communities and the society. The aim of this study is therefore to find out if and how teachers in the public sector perceive clientelism and how this affects their organizational commitment. A case study was made on one prominent school in Serbia, where interviews were held with eight teachers. The findings suggest that clientelism affects teachers’ organizational commitment negatively in some cases, indicating that the impact of clientelism on teachers’ organizational commitment is person specific. Clientelism does not have a direct impact on teachers’ organizational commitment but impacts commitment through proxies, i.e. antecedents to organizational commitment.

L’objectif de cette recherche est d’étudier la relation entre les nouvelles carrières et l’engagement organisationnel. La gestion des carrières et l’engagement organisationnel sont importants, à la fois, pour les individus que pour les organisations. Toutefois, les carrières ne sont plus bâties au sein d’une même organisation, elles deviennent des carrières sans frontières. Nous cherchons à comprendre et analyser la nature de l’engagement des ingénieurs consultants en SSII. Les données qualitatives ont été collectées sur le marché de l’emploi français, 47 interviews ont été mené, dans le secteur des SSII. Les résultats montrent que les ingénieurs consultants développent aussi bien un engagement envers la SSII qu’envers l’entreprise cliente. Ils développent aussi un engagement professionnel, un engagement envers l’équipe et un engagement envers le leader. Il s’agit don, d’un engagement multi-cibles. Simplement les carrières de ces ingénieurs ne sont pas nécessairement nomades. Dans ce nouveau contexte, les carrières ne sont plus bâties au sein d’une même organisation, elles deviennent des carrières sans frontières.Elles sont caractérisées par des parcours singuliers et idiosyncrasiques ; des mobilités inter organisationnelles outre celles intra organisationnelles ; une vision plus élargie de la compétence ; une promesse d’employabilité au lieu de la promesse de carrière à vie et la monté de la dimension subjective de la réussite de carrière. D’autre part, au-delà des postulats selon lesquels la question d’implication organisationnelle est devenue une aberration, une telle attitude est encore importante, elle devient même plus cruciale qu’elle l’était auparavant. Suite au désengagement des entreprises et à la responsabilisation des individus en matière de gestion de leurs carrières, la question d’implication devient plus capitale. De ce fait, l’objectif de notre recherche est d’étudier l’impact des carrières individuelles sur l’engagement organisationnel. / The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between new careers and organizational commitment. Managing careers and organizational commitment are typically important for individuals as organizations. However, careers are no longer bounded in one organization, instead, they become boundaryless. We aim to understand and analyze the nature of commitment of IT professional, in the SSIIs in France.Surveys were collected from French labor market; 47 semi-structured interviews were among French persons working for SSII.The findings reveal that SSII engineers develop commitment to the agency: SSII and to the client. They also develop professional commitment, team commitment and Leader commitment. However, their careers are not necessary boundaryless, traditional careers still exist among these professionals on IT.

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has been an important and growing area of research for past two decades. Numerous empirical research have identified consequences and antecedents of this extra

Darbo tikslas - ištirti ir išanalizuoti galimą ryšį tarp darbuotojų įsipareigojimo organizacijai ir migracinių nuostatų. Uždaviniai: 1.Apibrėžti darbuotojų įsipareigojimo organizacijai sąvokos reikšmę, išskiriant darbuotojų įsipareigojimą lemiančius veiksnius. 2. Atlikti darbuotojų įsipareigojimo organizacijai veiksnių tyrimą, nustatant sąsajas tarp darbuotojų įsipareigojimo organizacijai ir jų migracinių nuostatų. 3.Pateikti organizacijai rekomendacijas, kaip stiprinti darbuotojų įsipareigojimą organizacijai ir paveikti migracines nuostatas. Tyrimo metodika: Palangos reabilitacijos ligoninėje atlikta anoniminė darbuotojų anketinė apklausa. Per apklausą Palangos reabilitacijos ligoninėje apklausti 104 darbuotojai. Ryšys tarp darbuotojų įsipareigojimo organizacijai ir migracinių nuostatų apskaičiuoti ir įvertinti koreliacijos koeficiento pagalba. Rezultatai: Emociniam darbuotojų įsipareigojimui organizacijai yra svarbūs darbuotojų tarpusavio santykiai ir bendradarbiavimo kultūra, kas turi tiesioginį ryšį su darbuotojų migracinėmis nuostatomis. Reikšmingas veiksnys, turintis poveikį darbuotojo apsisprendimui migruoti yra efektyvi informacinė sklaida tarp darbuotojų ir vadovų. Tyrimu atskleista, kad jaunesnių iki 25 metų amžiaus darbuotojų grupėje yra didesnis suinteresuotumas migracijos atžvilgiu. Tai rodo reikšmingą darbuotojo darbinės patirties organizacijoje ir jo įsipareigojimo organizacijai ryšį. / Aim of the study is to evaluate and to analyse determining factors of employees’ commitment objectives association with attitudes towards migration. Objectives: 1. To define meaning of employees’ commitment to the organization and its determining factors. 2. To make research of Employees’ Commitment to the Organization establishing its Determining Factors and Association with Attitudes towards Migration. 3. To provide recommendations to increasing employees’ commitment and inform attitudes towards migration. Methods: The anonymous survey was conducted at Palanga Rehabilitation Hospital. Questionnaires were given to employees working in these institution (n=104). Correlation test was used to measure discriminant validity. Results: The results indicate that employees are mostly motivated by relationship and collaboration with colleagues, supervisors. Research shows that there is an influence between affective commitments towards migration. There is a significant influence between towards migration and internal organizational communication; greater is employees’ satisfaction in regards to personal feedback, the climate of communication. The conclusion is drawn that the tendency to emigrate will prevail in the future within the younger employees.