Proceedings of the 3rd Business & Management Conference, Lisbon

THE EFFECTS OF PARTICIPATION IN DECISION MAKING ON ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT: SOME EMPIRICAL EVIDENCES

RAZALI MAT ZIN, AMINE NEHARI TALET

Abstract:

This study examines the relationship between attitudes of non-management professional staff members in Saudi Public Works Department (PWD) toward participation in decision-making (PDM) and their organizational commitment (OC). It also intends to analyze the extent to which organizational variables and individual/personality variables moderate the participation organizational commitment. From a total of 384 questionnaires which were distributed to non-management professional staff, 328 (85.4%) were returned and usable for the analysis. The results of this study show that the male non-management professional staff in the Saudi PWD perceived that they are not satisfied with the level of participation in decision making in their organization. However, those respondents who perceived they enjoy a higher level of participation tended to feel more committed to the organization. The analyses of moderator variables revealed that increased participation in decision-making would increase commitment to the organization among the non-management professional staff who perceive their superiors as having favorable attitudes toward PDM. For the respondents who perceive they have a high competency level, an increase in participation in all the three decision areas (social, personnel, economic/strategic) heightens their commitment to extra effort and to develop professionally but decreases their desire to remain in the organization. Non-management professional staff who perceive they have high opportunities for career advancement tend to demonstrate high commitment to remain in the organization, to exert extra effort, and to develop professionally. For those who were highly satisfied with communication process in organization, increased participation in decision making on social and economic/strategic related issues raised their commitment to conform with the rules, remain in the organization, exert extra effort, and develop professionally. Some recommendations were proposed at the end of the paper.

Keywords: Participation in decision making; organizational commitment; non-management professionals.

DOI: 10.20472/BMC.2016.003.014

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