The development of employee
commitment to the supervisor:
a case study in the Australian Public Service
Damian West
Abstract
This research examines the relationship between the traditional components of affective,
normative and continuance commitment, including the concept of side-bets on the foci
of employee commitment to the supervisor. The research builds a deeper understanding
of how commitment works in practice from the perspective of the employee and
extends our understanding of how employee commitment is fostered and works in large
public sector organisations. This research highlights that employees believe they invest
considerable effort into the development of the relationship with their supervisor. It is
demonstrated that the relationship between the employee and the supervisor is more
important than previously recognised in large public sector organisations.
According to side-bet theory, organisational commitment will increase with the
accumulation of side-bets (Cohen and Gattiker, 1992). Becker (1960) suggests that
employees who devote time and effort in mastering tasks or skills are betting that the
time and effort invested will pay off, but winning requires continued employment in
the organisation. This research explores the concept that “side-bets” are transferable to
the employee-supervisor relationship. What is found is that employees report a desire
and willingness to invest in, and build, a strong relationship with their supervisor due to
the fact that this investment is perceived to lead to positive outcomes for the employee.
The research provides considerable new insight and knowledge on how commitment
works by providing empirical evidence on how the concept of side-bets operate from
the perspective of the employee. This research extends side-bet theory by introducing
a two stage side-bet decision making process. The current paradigm of employee
commitment is built on the concept that it is the relationship between the employee
and the organisation that forms the basis of employee commitment. This research has
demonstrated that the structure of the organisational and the people management
policies used by the organisation can create the situation where the idea of a
relationship or link between the employee and the organisation has been brought into
question. As a result there has been a change in the way that employee commitment is
developed and works.
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Acknowledgements
There are a number of people who have supported, motivated
and encouraged me through this journey. Without your
support I would not have achieved this goal. I would like
to express my sincere appreciation to Professor Deborah
Blackman and Dr Wahyu Sutiyono from the University of
Canberra. Your guidance, knowledge, feedback and un-waiving
support have been instrumental in my success. I owe a great
deal to my Mum and Dad. You taught me that with hard work
and dedication you can achieve anything. To my wife Siann,
your patience, sacrifice and love have helped me through the
long nights and this entire process, I can’t thank you enough. I
also want to thank my little angel, Addey, who was born during
the final year of this project. Your smile is the most beautiful
thing in the world.
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The development of employee commitment to the supervisor: a case study in the Australian Public Service
C
Contents
Chapter 1
Introduction....................................................................................................................1
1.0 Statement of the problem.............................................................................................. 1
1.2 Justification of Research................................................................................................ 4
1.3 Research Aim................................................................................................................ 7
1.4 Why is this Research Important?................................................................................... 8
1.5 Location of the research and the participants............................................................... 10
1.6 The Outcomes of the Research.................................................................................... 11
Chapter 2
Literature Review...........................................................................................................15
2.0 Review of the Literature.............................................................................................. 15
2.1 Three Decades of Commitment Research.................................................................... 15
2.2 Why is Commitment Important to the Organisation?................................................. 16
2.3 Affective and Normative Commitment....................................................................... 17
2.4 Continuance Commitment and Side-Bets................................................................... 18
2.5 Exchange Theories of Commitment............................................................................ 19
2.6 Expanding the Foci of Employee Commitment........................................................... 20
2.7 The Importance of the Employee-Supervisor Relationship........................................... 22
2.8 Expectancy Theories of Motivation............................................................................. 24
2.9 The Impact of Supervisor Leadership Style and Character on Employee
Commitment.............................................................................................................. 25
2.10The Impact of Changing Organisational Structures and Human Resource
Processes on Employee Commitment.......................................................................... 27
2.11Summary..................................................................................................................... 29
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Contents
Chapter 3
Methodology.................................................................................................................31
3.0 Research Paradigm and Methods................................................................................. 31
3.1 A Constructivist Research Paradigm............................................................................ 32
3.2 A Case Study Approach............................................................................................... 33
3.3 Qualitative Research Methodology.............................................................................. 35
3.4 Construct Validity....................................................................................................... 35
3.5 Semi-Structured in-depth Interviews and Interview Questions.................................... 36
3.6 Pilot study and saturation ........................................................................................... 37
3.7 Ethical Considerations................................................................................................ 38
3.8 Location of the Research and the Participants.............................................................. 39
3.9 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................. 40
3.10Summary..................................................................................................................... 41
Chapter 4
Findings: the impact of organisational structure, culture and climate on employee
commitment to the supervisor.......................................................................................43
4.0 The impact of organisational size, culture and climate on employee commitment to
supervisor.................................................................................................................... 43
4.1 The impact of organisational size on employee commitment....................................... 43
4.2 Organisational size affects employee perception of their value..................................... 45
4.3 Employee Perception of the Local Work Environment................................................ 46
4.4The impact of organisational culture on employee commitment to the supervisor....... 47
Figure 1....................................................................................................................... 49
4.5 The impact of organisational climate on employee commitment................................. 52
4.6Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 55
Chapter 5
Findings: the impact of organisational management practices on
employee commitment.................................................................................................. 57
5.0 The impact of organisational management practices on employee commitment..........57
5.1 The impact of management practices on employee commitment.................................58
5.2The supervisor has the greatest impact on employee experience of equity in
the workplace..............................................................................................................60
5.3 The attainment of workplace goals build commitment................................................62
5.4 Supervisor behaviours support the development of employee commitment.................65
5.5 The provision of intrinsic or extrinsic rewards build commitment to supervisor..............69
5.6 Current approaches to performance management build
commitment to supervisor...........................................................................................71
5.7 A positive view of future opportunities build commitment...........................................74
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The development of employee commitment to the supervisor: a case study in the Australian Public Service
Contents
5.8 The capability of the supervisor foster employee commitment......................................77
5.9 Employee values and behaviours influenced by supervisor behaviour............................79
5.10Highlighting the factors that build employee commitment to supervisor......................82
Figure 2........................................................................................................................84
5.11Conclusion...................................................................................................................85
Chapter 6
Findings: the employee perception of their investment in building a relationship
with the supervisor........................................................................................................87
6.0The employee perception of their investment in building
a relationship with the supervisor.................................................................................. 87
6.1The anticipated outcomes of building a relationship with the supervisor....................... 88
6.2The benefits that result from developing a strong relationship with the supervisor......... 90
6.3Side-bets transferable to the employee-supervisor relationship....................................... 95
6.4Employees invest their time to build a relationship with the supervisor............................ 99
Figure 3....................................................................................................................... 102
6.5The impact of fracturing the employee-supervisor relationship.................................... 103
6.6Side-bet outcomes re-emerge if the employee re-links with the supervisor................... 106
6.7Investing in future opportunities................................................................................. 107
6.8Conclusion................................................................................................................. 110
Chapter 7
What are the implications of this research?..................................................................111
7.0Research discussion: the implications of this research.................................................. 111
7.1What is the impact of the concept of exchange on employee commitment
to the supervisor.......................................................................................................... 115
7.2The execution of organisational policies builds employee commitment to supervisor... 118
7.3The implications of employee-supervisor side-bets on commitment............................ 119
7.4The impact of the supervisor on sub-cultures and climates.......................................... 126
7.5Summary.................................................................................................................... 128
Chapter 8
Conclusion and contribution.......................................................................................131
8.0Contribution to the literature and the field of employee commitment........................ 131
8.1Components of this research have extended our understanding of the literature.......... 134
8.2Why does research matters.......................................................................................... 134
8.3What are the limitations of this research and what has not been discussed?................. 135
8.4Why are the findings of this research important?......................................................... 136
Bibliography................................................................................................................139
Appendix.....................................................................................................................153
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