The Improbable Commitment: the Nature and Outcomes of Managing for Commitment Amongst Information Technology Knowledge Workers

Knowledge workers in the information technology industry typically enjoy global labour mobility and are considered critical to economic growth in developing countries. Organizational commitment amongst these knowledge workers is widely considered to be both improbable and unobtainable. The purpose of the study was to examine the nature of commitment and the usefulness of managing for commitment amongst information technology knowledge workers in South Africa. A total of 282 usable questionnaires from knowledge workers employed in senior information technology occupations in both the public and private sector were analysed using a variety of statistical techniques. Particular care was taken that appropriate and strict statistical criteria guided the analyses. Affective commitment across three commitment foci (i.e., the organization, immediate manager, and co-workers) were examined using South African commitment scales derived from the scale items proposed by Meyer and Allen (1993). Established scales were used to measure three outcomes (i.e., turnover intentions, boosting behaviour, and helping behaviour). To assess the contribution of commitment foci in explaining the proposed outcomes, block hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used with a set of control variables entered in the first step. Consistent with expectations the results indicated that affective commitment to the organisation was a significant predictor of turnover intentions and boosting behaviours and that commitment to the immediate manager was significantly and negatively related to turnover intentions. Overall, the results are both surprising and encouraging. Surprising given the evidence of higher than expected levels of commitment amongst information systems knowledge workers, and encouraging given the amount of variance explained in salient organizational outcomes such as helping co-workers, lower turnover intentions and an increased propensity to promote the organization to others. The results challenge prevailing assumptions about the organizational commitment of knowledge workers and provide refreshment to both scholars and managers faced with the challenge of understanding how to manage information technology knowledge workers.