HOW IS ORGANISATIONAL COMMITMENT AFFECTED BY WORKER FLEXIBILITY? - A quantitative report exploring the effects of worker flexibility on affective organisational commitment in a Swedish context.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore if, and how, affective organisational commitment (AOC) is affected by worker flexibility. Previous research usually promotes affective organisational commitment as a whole, whereas this study explores how each component of affective organisational commitment is influenced. This study explores three types of worker flexibility: working from home, working hours, and organising work and how they influence the feelings of emotional attachment, identification, and involvement in an organisation, i.e., the components of AOC. In addition, whether job satisfaction acts as a mediator between the focal relationship is explored. Theory: This study derives from Meyer & Allen’s (1991) theory on organisational commitment to elaborate three components of affective organisational commitment: emotional attachment to organisation, identification with organisation, and involvement in organisation. Method: The study utilises a quantitative method building on data from “Work Orientations 2015” by the International Social Survey. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses are conducted on nine focal relationships to test how the three components of AOC are affected by three types of worker flexibility. Result: The main findings in this study suggest that those who have some type of worker flexibility do generally also have some component of affective organisational commitment. More specifically, affective organisational commitment is significantly enhanced by the ability to decide how work is organised, even after controlling for covariates. Additionally, the relationship between having emotional attachment to an organisation and the ability to decide how work is organised is indicated to be mediated by the experienced job satisfaction. The ability to organise work might serve as an important, yet often overlooked, flexibility factor to promote affective organisational commitment.