The Relationship Between Employee Commitment and Job Attitude and Its Effect on Service Quality in the Tourism Industry
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 2013, 3, 196-208 http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ajibm.2013.32025 Published Online April 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ajibm) The Relationship between Employee Commitment and Job Attitude and Its Effect on Service Quality in the Tourism Industry Chung-Chieh Lee, Chih-Jen Chen 1Department of Senior Citizen Service Management, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy & Science, Tainan City, Chinese Taipei; 2College of Liberal Education, Shu-Te University, Kaohsiung City, Chinese Taipei. Email: supralee@hotmail Received December 4th, 2012; revised January 18th, 2013; accepted February 18th, 2013 Copyright © 2013 Chung-Chieh Lee, Chih-Jen Chen. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribu- tion License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT The main aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between employee commitment and job attitude in the tour- ism industry and its effect on service quality. This research study attempts to explain the various theories related to em- ployee commitment and job attitude. Primary data for the study was obtained through questionnaires, using structured questions to explain the main objective. The study used a cross-sectional research design to meet the objectives. The data were analyzed using various statistical techniques: SPSS, ANOVA, regression, and correlation analysis. The study found that biographical characteristics of the employees have an effect on job attitude and job commitment. In order to enhance job satisfaction, employees need to be motivated in a relevant manner. Keywords: Employee Commitment; Job Attitude; Service Quality; Job Satisfaction 1. Introduction and attitude is related to the employees’ behaviour and their performance efficiency (McClurg, [4]). Employee In recent years, various research articles have focused commitment is multi-dimensional in nature, encompass- mainly on employee commitment and attitudes to work ing workers’ loyalty, their willingness to exert more ef- in order to enhance the quality of their service delivery or fort on behalf of the organization, adherence to organiza- job performance. Research has shown a negative correla- tional values, and desire to remain in the organization tion between commitment to work and the satisfaction (Meyer & Allen, [5], p. 72). employees derive from their jobs (Gaertner, [1]). Various Employee commitment and job attitude is nowadays factors have been used to analyze this negative relation- considered one of the most important and controversial ship, including employee sluggishness in reporting to elements in human resource management, and employee work, the level of employee absenteeism, and the way commitment is linked mostly to work values, work mo- employees are remunerated for their work (Gonzalez & tivation, and work involvement. The problem of em- Garazo, [2], p. 42). The chances that employees will re- ployee commitment in relation to full-time and part-time main committed to the organization rely mainly on their work has not been fully explored and therefore requires level of productivity and the organization’s commitment detailed study and analysis. This study aims to remedy to support them. this lack in the literature by adding some more significant Employees’ work performance can be analyzed by information to the subject. gauging the level of their commitment and the level of General issues concerning employee commitment and satisfaction that they derive from doing the job. Em- job satisfaction as a part of job involvement and job ef- ployee commitment has been defined in numerous ways. fectiveness have been explored previously (Miller, Wal- Many studies have established relationships between ker, Drummond, & Hoboken, [6]). The authors discuss work commitment and attitude and behaviours in the aspects of general management theory and key principles workplace (Maxwell & Steele, [3]). Work commitment governing hospitality organizations. A thorough analysis Copyright © 2013 SciRes. AJIBM The Relationship between Employee Commitment and Job 197 Attitude and Its Effect on Service Quality in the Tourism Industry of the problem, however, requires studying contemporary 2. Literature Review theories on the question. Current research offers a com- According to Bratton and Gold [10] employee com- prehensive analysis of modern theories on central human mitment is relative to the workers’ attachment to or resources activities and provides new discussion on participation in the organizations in which they employed. workplace wellness and ethics in human resources man- Employee commitment is significant since it determines agement. whether employees are likely to leave their jobs or im- Employee commitment is highly influenced by the prove performance. Numerous studies have related to level of motivation, which is essential in evoking a posi- employee commitment. Mowday, Steers, and Porter [11] tive employee attitude towards the job. Without motiva- emphasized concepts they referred to as attitudinal com- tion, the workers feel short-changed; they feel as if they mitment and behavioral commitment. Another concept have nothing much to work for (Morrison & Robinson, introduced by Meyer and Allen [12] is the most reco- [7]). To define the motivation problem more specifically, gnized among employee commitment theories. In this Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn [8], among a range of approach, employee commitment has three multi-di- issues, focus on questions concerning ethics, leadership, mensional components namely: affective commitment, and the work commitment of employees in the tourism continuance commitment, and normative commitment. industry. They assert that part-time work is becoming Affective commitment, which relates to emotional more popular, despite its controversial work arrange- attachment, is normally linked to a favorable working ments. environment and relationships with the other employees. Current media coverage on the sluggish growth in the Normative commitment, on the other hand, is related to tourism industry has confirmed that employees in the obligation: employees may feel they owe the organiza- industry have a varied level of commitment and attitudes tion for being given a job when they need it most. Finally, to their jobs (Morrow, [9]). Some employees have been continuance commitment relates to such terms of em- portrayed as not committed at all to their jobs: they are ployment as job contracts, which may make leaving the lazy; they lack a sense of professionalism; they are seen current job very costly or troublesome (Mullins, [13]). as people who come to work only to receive their salary Work performance and turnover owing to organiza- at the end of every month. If the level of employee per- tional environment have become a major headache to formance is to be raised, the organization needs to focus many heads of organizations in general, and human re- heavily on altering the working environment to raise the source managers in particular (Freund & Carmeli, [14]). level of employee satisfaction. Thus, employees will be This problem is mostly attributable to lack of stability enabled to adopt a positive attitude towards their jobs, by and job security for employees, who constitute one of the which they may become true professionals (Morrison & most important resources in the organization. Many or- Robinson, [7]). ganizations have begun to foster workers’ commitment to Employee dissatisfaction most often rises from various their work/occupation/career; to the organization, its va- changes in job policies. Workers are not always con- lues, and ambitions; and to a strong job ethic. sulted when such changes are effected, and often some of their rights are violated. Such situations produce frustra- 2.1. Models of Employee Commitment tion and disappointment, which, in turn, affect employ- ees’ level of commitment and productivity. When em- The soaring rate of rotation typical of the modern organ- ployees can participate in decisions regarding their job izational environment has called for addressing the chal- environment, they develop a positive attitude; thus, sat- lenges and complications resulting from the turnover rate. isfaction and productivity are both enhanced. To address the impasse related to this objective, organ- Casual employment has been increasing rapidly over izational efforts have progressed in two directions. At the the last two decades, particularly in service sectors like micro level, human resource managers look at worker the tourism industry. Many researchers have argued that commitment to a specific occupation and focus on mo- such employment arrangements can be beneficial for difying the human resource structure to accommodate both organizations and workers. However, the compara- employee needs and achieve the operational goals. tively high level of staff turnover in the tourism industry Achieving a balance between organizational goals and in many countries has resulted to increased costs for the workers’ needs requires both a kind of psychological businesses. The most significant factor contributing to contract and a sound view of the dynamic between trade this turnover rate is the level of job commitment among and stability. the employees of these organizations. This paper ex- Freund and Carmeli [14] presented a model for five plores the relationships between employee commitment, general forms of employee