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XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y desarrollo
5, 6, 7 y 8 de mayo de 2009
Psychological Empowerment as a Moderator of Organizational Commitment: A Conceptual Framework
Shuchi Pandey Student; Master of Business Administration
Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar.
Vivekanand Pandey vivekvivpande@gmail.com
Assistant Professor
Sherwood College of Management
U.P. Technical University, Lucknow.
Contact Address
Sherwood College of management
Sector- 25, Indira Nagar
Lucknow- 226 016
Ph: 91522 2716630 Extn. 47
Mobile No.: 09415281764
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
Psychological Empowerment as a Moderator of Organizational
Commitment: A Conceptual Framework 1. Introduction: The world is passing through rapid changes. With the development of science
and technology coupled with radical changes in human thoughts, the old barriers
dividing one nation from the other are giving way to a new class of world society.
The transition from industrial revolution to information revolution has shifted the
focus from muscle power to brain power. Globalization of Indian economy has a
significant impact on business organizations. The competition spurred by the
reform forced corporate to adopt a market oriented approach and to search for
better alternatives for the survival and growth of the organizations.
In this endeavor, the employees, irrespective of the designations and roles
assigned to them, are valuable for the organization. Therefore, if the companies
want to survive in the post- liberalized era, they will have to shed the old ‘control
by command’ technique and employ a more effective management tool of
empowerment. And therefore, in recent years, this concept of empowerment has
become a buzzword in management circles and gained prominence as an
individual level initiative. It started in the era of employee involvement,
symbolized by participative management, managerial practices such as
employee self-management employees (Shipper and Manz) and sharing of
power and responsibility among team members(Conger and Kanungo, 1998).
“Yet, until recently, the literature has lacked consensus on a definition or
operationalization of empowerment in the workplace” Spretizer(1995) for the first
time developed and validated a multidimensonal measure of psychological
empowerment in the context of work. Several studies were conducted using
Spretizer multidimensional construct to measure psychological empowerment.
Menon(2001) developed and validated another multidimensonal measure of
psychological empowerment “ as a logic next step in the research direction
suggested by Conger and Kanungo(1998)”. Despite these multiple measures,
very little work has been done on empowerment. Further more, there has not
been rigorous research on its antecedents, and its consequences.
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
2. Empowerment: The term ‘empower’ means to enable, to allow or to permit and can be conceived
as both self-initiated by others. It is an interactive process based on synergistic,
not a zero-sum assumption(i.e., one gains only when someone loses) about
power; therein the process of empowerment enhances the power available as
opposed to merely redistributing it.
Empowerment is an antidote to alienation and makes the quality of work-life rich,
active and dynamic, enhancing the ability to make responsibility and achieve
recognition. It is an emerging construct to explain organizational effectiveness. It
is an act of builiding, developing and increasing power through cooperation,
sharing and working together (Rothstein; 1995), empowerment is a
multidimensonal social process that helps people gain control over their own
lives (Nanette and Cheryl; 1999). An empowered workforce is not only committed
to serve customers but also able to act on that commitment. It is this path
provides delight to all our stakeholders: customers, employees, shareholders,
suppliers and communities.
The holistic definition of empowerment is “ the process of sharing power and
providing an enabling environment( by removinh hurdles) in order to encourage
employees to take initative and decisions to take actions at all levels to achieve
organizational and individual.
2.1. Psychological empowerment:
A working definition of psychological empowerment can be proposed as ‘the
psychologically empowered state is a cognitive state characterized by a sense of
perceived control, competence and goal internalization. Empowerment is thus
considered a multifaceted construct reflecting different dimensions of being
psychologically enabled, and is conceived of as a positive additive function of
these three dimensions, each having three empowering factors.
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
2.2. Framework of psychological empowerment:
Empowerment comprises psychological empowering factors as source of
empowerment and empowerment consequences i.e. organizational commitment
as outcomes of empowerment. Empowering factors directly contribute to various
levels of empowerment, and empowerment consequences in turn reference
empowering factors.
Perceived Control (PCON)
Perceived Control includes beliefs about authority, decision-making, availability
of resources, and autonomy in the scheduling and performance of work, etc.
Following three main factors have been considered under perceived control for
the purpose of this study.
Autonomy (AMY)
Autonomy is a job-related characteristic that gives employees some discretion
and control over job-related decisions. This is fundamental in building
responsibilities. Giving coordinates due share in decision-making, keeping them
informed of true situations, and effective communication are the factors, which
help in improving the climate of autonomy in the organization. The autonomy
provides opportunities for self-development and leads in greater empowerment.
Availability for Resources (AR)
A person can give his best to the organization if he is provided with all the
necessary resources required for performance as well as completion of the job.
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
Decision Making (DM)
Decision Making here in this study refers degree of participation of an employee
in decision making process of the organization which in turn also affect, directly
or indirectly, the future of that employee.
Perceived Competence (PCOM)
Perceived Competence reflects role-mastery, which besides requiring the skillful
accomplishment of one or more assigned tasks, also requires successful coping
with non-routine role-related situations. Following three main factors have been
considered under perceived Competence for the purpose of this study.
Performance-Linked Feedback (PLF)
We believe in ourselves when others recognize our work. Feedback can be
positive or negative. We receive feedback constantly in our social interaction. To
develop the capabilities of the staff, feedback should be given on their
performance and on the effect they have on others around them. It helps them to
know what to do and how well to do.
Low Formalization (LF)
Degree of formalization in organization affects empowerment. Low formalization
increases job involvement, role satisfaction and organizational commitment. High
formalization, poor communication and role conflict leads to lower empowerment.
Organizational Support for Innovation (OSI)
Organizational support for innovation provides encouragement to employees to
use new ideas and risk taking by experimentation. It develops individual
confidence, competence and commitment.
Goal Internalization (GI)
Goal Internalization dimensions captures the energizing property of a worthy
cause or exciting vision provided by the organizational leadership. Following
three main factors have been considered under Goal Internalization for the
purpose of this study.
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
Open Communication (OC)
Open communication facilities formal interaction between individuals at all levels.
This satisfies the need for affiliation of employees, leading to better interpersonal
relationship among employees which facilitates organizational commitment.
Top Management Attitude (TMA)
Top management attitude to human resource consists of the philophy of twp
management of the organisation. Perception of this philosophy of top
management by employees is the resukting variable. This creates a feelings
among employees about their importance, which increases their self-
commitment.
Opportunity for Self Development to Achieve Goal of Organization (OSD)
Opportunities to develop skills and abilities, and sharing of knowledge (skilled
development) and information improve capabilities for decision-making. This
creates a feeling of satisfaction and thus improves the productivity.
Affective Commitment (AC)
Affective Commitment (AC) is the degree of an employee’s emotional attachment
to, identification with, and involvement in the organization (Allen and Meyer,
1990). AC is defined as the employee’s emotional attachment to the
organization. As a result, he or she strongly identifies with the goals of the
organization and desires to remain a part of the organization. The employee
makes a commitment to the organization because he/she “wants to”. Following
three main factors have been considered under Affective Commitment for the
purpose of this study.
Work Environment Satisfaction (WES)
Satisfaction of employees depends on the difference between the amount of
rewards that the employee receives and the amount he believes he should
receive. Satisfaction is rewards to the boss, subordinates and peers.
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
Role Satisfaction (RS)
Perception of role, which is in line with values, enhances the individuals’ image
by utilizing their strength, fulfilling individuals’ needs, and providing role
satisfaction.
Job Involvement (JI)
Job involvement means an individual’s association with the job, staying beyond
working hours to do the job, and willingness to devote one’s free time for the job.
Normative Commitment (NC)
Normative Commitment (NC) is the degree to which an employee feels some
sense of obligation to remain with an organization. The individual commits to and
remains with an organization because of the feeling of obligation. For instance,
the organization may have invested resources to train an employee, who then
feels an obligation to put forth the effort on the job and stay with the organization
to “repay the debt”. It may also reflect an internalized norm, developed before the
person joins the organization, through family or other socialization processes that
one should be loyal to one’s organization. The employee stays with the
organization because he/she “ought to”. Only self-efficacy has been taken into
account for this study.
Self-Efficacy (SE)
The feeling about one’s ability to do a job without much help from the superiors
enhances Self-efficacy.
3. Literature review: Earlier studies related psychological empowerment to access information and
resources, role ambiguity (Spreitzer, 1996), effectiveness, work satisfaction, and
job related strain (Spreitzer et al, 1997). Menon (2001) relates psychological
empowerment to organizational commitment, job involvement, and citizenship
behavior. Bhatnagar (2005) also relates psychological empowerment to
organizational commitment.
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
A majority of previous research examined how an overall empowerment
composite relates to various outcomes, but we have little understanding
regarding if and how each of the individual dimensions contributes to the
expected outcomes of empowerment (Spreitzer, 1997). In addition, as these
measures have been developed in North America, establishing universal
applicability requires their validation in other cultural settings (Dimitriades, 2005).
Earlier studies on empowerment failed to validate the invariability of these
measures amongst male and. female groups.
4. Hypothesis: Hypothesis 1: Employee psychological empowerment subscales will be positively
related to affective commitment.
Hypothesis 2: Employee psychological empowerment subscales will be positively
related to normative commitment.
5. Methodology: Measures:
Psychological Empowerment
Psychological empowerment was measured using three items, each further
divided in three sub items, a total of nine items based on, though not exactly,
scale developed by Menon (2001). Respondents were asked to use a six-point
scale ranging from “strongly Agree to strongly disagree” to report on perceived
level of empowerment.
Organizational Commitment
Affective and Normative commitment was assessed using questions of Meyer
and Allen’s (1997) organizational commitment questionnaire (OCQ) based on
self-efficacy, Work environment satisfaction, Role Satisfaction and Job
involvement. Affective commitment denotes a sense of belonging and emotional
attachment to the organization (e.g. ‘I would be very happy to spend the rest of
my career with this organization’). Normative commitment denotes the
individual’s obligation to remain with the organization (e.g. ‘my organization
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
deserves my loyalty because of its treatment towards me’). Items were anchored
by a five point scale ranging from “strongly disagree to strongly agree”).
Sample and Data Collection:
Questionnaire were distributed by the students of MBA to 300 employees
working in five different organizations from government sectors based at
Lucknow, India for measuring the level of empowerment. Questionnaires from
263 respondents were returned. Of the 263 questionnaires, 247 were found to be
valid, for a usable response of 82.33%. Demographic variables like Gender, Age,
Marital Status, Qualification and Experience for each respondent were also
recorded.
6. Data analysis, results and discussion:
Table 1: Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents Demographic
Variables Profiles
Gender Male: 78.94% Female: 21.06% Age Group Below 35 Years
Lower: 59.11% 35 to 45 Years Middle: 25.91%
Above 45 Years Higher: 14.98%
Marital Status Married: 40.08% Unmarried: 59.92%
Education Diploma Holder: 10.52%
Graduate: 70.04 Post Graduate: 19.44
Work Experience Low: 70.08% Average: 19.02% High: 10.9% Management Level
Junior: 70.08% Middle: 19.02% Senior: 10.9%
Function HR, Production, R&D, Maintenance, Engineering and IT.
6.1. Employment scores:
Mean scores, their ranking and range for Empowering Factor (EF) and
Empowerment Consequences (EC) for the sample are given in Table 2. The
mean of EF is 3.17 and EC is 3.44.
Open Communication (OC) scored the highest and ranked 1st and Low
Formalization (LF) scored the lowest and ranked 9th among psychological
empowering factors. Among consequences, work environment satisfaction has
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
the highest score and ranked 1st and self-efficacy has the lowest score and
ranked 4th.
TABLE 2: EMPOWERMENT SCORES
PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT FACTORS
Variables Mean Scores Rank
OSI 3.12 7 TMA 3.24 4 OC 3.36 1 PLF 3.14 6 OSD 3.15 5 AR 3.10 8 DM 3.28 3 ATY 3.31 2 LF 2.85 9 EF 3.17 EMPOWERMENT CONSEQUENCES SE 3.20 4 JI 3.46 2 WES 3.68 1 RS 3.42 3 EC 3.44
TABLE 3: GENDER & EMPOWERMENT
PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT FACTORS
MALE FEMALE Variables MS R MS R OSI 3.25 6 2.68 9 TMA 3.44 2 3.28 4 OC 3.48 1 3.20 5 PLF 3.16 7 3.16 7 OSD 3.42 3 3.30 3 ATY 3.40 4 3.50 1 DM 3.30 5 3.20 6 AR 3.07 8 2.99 8 LF 2.88 9 3.40 2 EF 3.27 3.19
EMPOWERMENT CONSEQUENCES SE 3.07 4 2.60 4 JI 3.54 2 3.50 3 WES 3.75 1 3.57 2 RS 3.40 3 3.60 1 EC 3.44 3.32
The mean score of EF is lower than EC. This is a good sign as the perception
about consequences is better. This will help in improving the empowerment
indirectly through the feedback.
6.2. Demographic variables and empowement: The sample was divided on the basis of demographic variables like gender, age,
marital status, educational qualification and experience.
Gender & Employment:
Males have higher score in OC and lower score in LF. The score of ATY is
highest and OSI is lowest for females, thought the women want to work
innovatively, the organization does not support them, hence attention must be
given to support the women for innovation.
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
Males scored higher on empowerment and consequences than females. It could
be because generally women are required to play dual roles and handle dual
responsibilities- organizational and domestic. This explains why their
empowerment is lower than men. WES is the highest priority consequence
among the consequences for males whereas RS is highest priority consequence
among the consequences for females. Self-efficacy is on least priority
consequence for both males and females.
Age & Empowerment:
The sample was divided into three groups on the basis of their age. The total age
span up to 55 years was divided into three groups, namely Lower age group
(below 35 years), Middle age group (between 35 to 45 years) and Senior age
group (45 years & above) for which scores are given in Table 4.
TABLE 4: AGE & EMPOWERMENT
PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT FACTORS
Below 35 35 to 45 Above 45 Variables MS R MS R MS R OSI 3.32 7 3.00 8 3.12 4 TMA 3.50 2 2.86 9 3.32 3 OC 3.53 1 3.04 7 2.80 8 PLF 3.44 4 3.14 6 3.04 5 OSD 3.48 3 3.20 4 3.40 2 AR 3.36 5 3.60 1 2.70 9 DM 3.34 6 3.40 2 3.50 1 ATY 3.13 8 3.30 3 2.93 7 LF 2.90 9 3.20 5 3.00 6 EF 3.33 3.19 3.09
EMPOWERMENT CONSEQUENCES
SE 2.98 4 3.00 4 3.13 4 JI 4.02 1 4.20 1 3.70 2 WES 3.54 3 3.20 3 3.75 1 RS 3.75 2 3.80 2 3.43 3 EC 3.57 3.55 3.50
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
Lower age group feels more empowered followed by Middle age group and
Senior age group. Open communication is highest priority factor among
psychological empowering factors and this results in high job involvement
whereas middle age group’s priority factor is Availability for resources is the
highest priority factor among middle age group persons which again
consequences job involvement and role satisfaction up to a certain extent and
decision making is the supreme priority of senior age group employees which
results in work environment satisfaction.
6.3. Marital status, qualification and empowerment: Table 5 shows the empowerment and consequences score for married &
unmarried respondents and also for qualification. Respondents are classified in
three categories viz. Diploma holders, Graduate and Post Graduate for the
purpose measuring empowerment and its consequences.
TABLE 5: MARITAL STATUS, QUALIFICATION & EMPOWERMENT PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT FACTORS
MARITAL STATUS QUALIFICATION
Married Unmarried Diploma Graduate Post Graduate Variables MS R MS R MS R MS R MS R OSI 3.16 6 3.24 6 3.40 6 3.30 8 2.92 9 TMA 3.33 3 3.18 7 3.40 7 3.52 3 3.11 8 OC 3.60 2 3.50 2 3.61 4 3.46 6 3.51 1 PLF 3.14 8 3.07 8 3.19 8 3.25 9 3.07 7 OSD 3.33 4 3.52 1 3.47 5 3.49 4 3.35 2 AR 3.16 5 3.38 5 3.96 3 3.36 7 3.23 3 DM 3.14 7 3.43 4 4.05 2 3.69 2 3.11 6 ATY 3.64 1 3.46 3 4.14 1 3.48 5 3.17 4 LF 2.97 9 2.88 9 2.01 9 3.83 1 3.13 5 EF 3.27 3.30 3.47 3.49 3.18
EMPOWERMENT CONSEQUENCES
SE 3.16 4 3.00 4 3.20 4 2.97 4 3.33 2 JI 3.95 1 4.10 1 4.02 1 3.99 1 3.93 1 WES 3.78 2 3.73 2 3.65 2 3.87 2 3.21 3 RS 3.48 3 3.38 3 3.63 3 3.28 3 3.02 4 EC 3.59 3.55 3.63 3.53 3.37
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
Autonomy is the primary empowerment factor followed by open communication
and top management attitude, revealed by married employees whereas
opportunity for self development scores highest priority followed by open
communication among unmarried employees. Job involvement is the only
consequence scored highest result among empowerment consequences.
Different empowerment factors have been observed among different qualification
background employees. Diploma holders prefer authority followed by decision
making and availability for resources which consequences job involvement,
graduates prefer low formalization followed by decision making and top
management attitude and results job involvement as top scored consequence
whereas post graduates prefer open communication followed by opportunity for
self development and availability for resources and results again job involvement
as empowerment consequence.
6.4. Experience and empowerment: The sample was divided in to three groups, below 10 years experience, 10 to 20
years experience and above 20 years experience for the purpose of this study.
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
TABLE 5: EXPERIENCE & EMPOWERMENT
PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT FACTORS
EXPERIENCE
Below 10
years 10 to 20 years Above 20 years
Variables MS R MS R MS R OSI 2.37 9 3.27 4 3.27 4 TMA 2.49 8 3.33 3 3.33 3 OC 3.40 4 2.56 8 2.56 8 PLF 3.48 1 2.60 7 2.60 7 OSD 3.48 2 2.00 9 2.00 9 AR 3.46 3 3.83 1 3.00 5 DM 3.38 5 2.78 6 3.80 2 ATY 3.24 6 3.00 5 3.86 1 LF 2.71 7 3.69 2 2.69 6 EF 3.11 3.01 3.01
EMPOWERMENT CONSEQUENCES
SE 3.02 4 3.00 4 3.11 3 JI 4.13 1 3.98 1 3.98 1 WES 3.80 2 3.33 2 3.08 4 RS 3.43 3 3.08 3 3.47 2 EC 3.60 3.35 3.41
Performance linked feedback is the first priority empowerment factor followed by
opportunity for self development and availability for resources, as revealed by
low experience employees, availability for resources is the first choice followed
by low formalization and top management attitude, as revealed by 10 to 20 years
experienced employees whereas highly experienced employees prefer autonomy
followed by decision making and top management attitude. All employees
revealed job involvement as first empowerment consequence.
6.5. Validity and reliability analysis: Empowerment factors Correlation
Items within each subscale significantly correlated with each other (mean r =
0.63). These correlations are shown in bold in Table 6. On the other hand, as
expected, the items from dissimilar subscales had relatively low correlations with
each other (mean r = 0.21).
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
TABLE 6: INTERCORRELATIONS
VAR OSI TMA OC PLF OSD AR DM ATY LF OSI 1 TMA 0.74 1 OC 0.58 0.64 1 PLF 0.22 0.23 0.27 1 OSD 0.26 0.27 0.24 0.56 1 AR 0.24 0.26 0.25 0.31 0.64 1 DM 0.22 0.25 0.30 0.19 0.15* 0.17 1 ATY 0.19 0.24 0.19 0.18 0.13* 0.09 0.69 1 LF 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.23 0.17 0.13* 0.65 (0.33) 1
Note: p< 0.01, *p< 0.05
6.6. Principal component analysis: A principal component analysis with varimax rotation (Table 7) yielded three
factors with eigenvalues greater than 1. A screeplot before the analysis
supported the factor solution. Bartlett’s test of spheritywas significant, and the
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling was acceptable (0.73). In total, the
three factors accounted for 75.7% of the variance. The first factor explained
39.8% of the variance and this factor covered all items of Perceived Competence
scale. The second factor consisted of Goal Internalization scale, explaining
20.3% of the variance, and the third factor consisted of Perceived Control scale,
explaining 15.5% of the variance. As can be seen from Table 7, the items in each
subscale have high loadings on their respective components and relatively low
loadings on the other two factors. All the three subscale had acceptable alpha
reliabilities: Perceived competence (0.88), Goal internalization (0.85) and
Perceived control (0.75).
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
TABLE 7: PRINCIPLE COMPONENT ANALYSIS RESULT (Factor Loading) Items Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3PCOM 3 Organizational support for
Innovation 0.93 0.09 0.05
PCOM 2 Low Formalization 0.90 0.12 0.11 PCOM 1 Performance Linked Feedback 0.83 0.17 0.10 GI 1 Open Communication 0.13 0.89 0.14 GI 2 Top Management Attitude 0.09 0.87 0.14 GI 3 Opportunities for Self
Development 0.15 0.80 0.16
PCON 3 Decision Making 0.05 0.13 0.90 PCON 1 Autonomy 0.02 0.16 0.78 PCON 2 Availability for resources 0.17 0.12 0.72 Eigenvalues 3.59 1.83 1.39 % Variance (Cumulative) 39.80 60.20 75.70
6.7. Confirmatory factor analysis: To test the factor structure of the psychological empowerment measure, a CFA
using LISREL was conducted with correlation matrix as input. Conventional fit
statistics provided in the LISREL output were used to assess fit: Chi-square with
degrees of freedom, the goodness-of-fit (GFI), the Normed-fit index (NFI),
comparative fit index (CFI), and the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation
(RMSEA). A good fit to the data is indicated by non-significant chi-square, GFI,
NFI and CFI 0.9 and higher, and a RMSEA under 0.10. The resulting fit indices
were as follows:
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
Chi-square (Chi-square 38.4, d.f. 24),
Goodness-of fit index (GFI) = 0.96, Adjusted goodness-of- fit index (AGFI) = 0.93, Normed fit index (NFI) = 0.97, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.99, and Root-mean-square error approximation (RMSEA) = 0.05.
To validate the invariability of factor structure of three factor psychological
empowerment model between male and female sample, CFA was performed
using LISREL, separately for male & female groups. The results obtained in the
two cases were quite similar, confirming that the model is invariant of gender
differences.
7. Hypothesis testing: Correlation and hierarchical regression (Cohen and Cohen 1975) analyses were
conducted to test the hypotheses. First, hypotheses were tested with correlation
analysis; to test these hypotheses further, regression analysis was used. With
hierarchical regression, perceived competence was initially entered into the
regression equation for each outcome (dependent) variable, followed by
perceived control, and then by goal internalization. This three step procedure
was employed to ascertain the nature of relationship between each of the three
psychological empowerment measures and commitment and also to determine
the unique variance contributed by each of them. This ordering of independent
variables was utilized to understand employees felt empowerment at individual,
departmental and organizational level.
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
8. Correlation analysis result: Table 8 shows the means, standard deviations and bivariate correlations among
the psychological empowerment subscales and affective and normative
commitment. As expected, goal internalization and perceived control are
significantly and positively correlated with affective and normative commitment.
Perceived competence is significantly and positively correlated only with
normative commitment. Contrary to hypotheses no significant relation is found
between perceived competence and affective commitment.
TABLE 8: CORRELATION COEFFICIENT BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT AND COMMITMENT
Factors GI PCON PCOM ACS GI 1
PCON 0.37 1 PCOM 0.28 0.24 1
AC 0.38 0.23 0.04 1 NC 0.39 0.32 0.17 0.41
Note: p< 0.01
9. MODERATOR MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS RESULT: To test further H1 and H2, hierarchical regression was employed. Table 9 shows
the hierarchical regression results. When analyzing the results with this method,
particular attention was given to the beta coefficients, R2, and change in R2 at
each step. The beta coefficients suggest that affective commitment accrues from
goal internalization (0.33) and perceived control (0.17). Normative commitment is
also explained by goal internalization (0.28) and perceived control (0.25).
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
TABLE: 9 REGRESSION ANALYSIS RESULT
REGRESSION MEASURES DEPENDENT VARIABLE
AC
DEPENDENT VARIABLE
NC 1. PCOM Beta 0.01 0.16 R2 -0.03 0.03 2. PCOM Beta -0.04 0.10 PCON Beta 0.27 0.34*** R2 0.06*** 0.14 ∆R2 0.07*** 0.11*** 3. PCOM Beta -0.12 0.03 PCON Beta 0.17** 0.25*** GI Beta 0.33*** 0.28*** R2 0.16 0.20 ∆R2 0.09*** 0.06*** F Value 14.64*** 19.18*** Note: ***p<0.001, **p<0.01
Goal internalization dimension was found to be positively related to affective
commitment (β = 0.33, p < 0.001) and normative commitment (β = 0.28, p <
=0.001). In addition, goal internalization explained significant variance above and
beyond perceived control and perceived competence dimensions in predicting
affective commitment.
Perceived control was found to be significantly related to normative commitment
(β = 0.25, p < = 0.001) and to a lesser extent with affective commitment (β =
0.17, p < = 0.01).
This study does not find any significant relationship between perceived
competence and commitment.
10. Conclusion: The present study confirms the applicability of chosen psychological
empowerment measure. Results report the invariability of the measure in male
and female gender groups and in diverse educational backgrounds. The present
study suggests that goal internalization and perceived control have significant
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
positive relation with affective and normative commitment. Individual dimensions
of goal internalization and perceived control augments the organizational
commitment. However, no significant relation was found between perceived
competence and commitment. This may be because of the dynamics prevailing
in the Indian government organizations, where poaching best brains available in
the market is the rule of the day. In addition, success or failure of Indian
government organizations largely depends on the quality of the work force that
they possess. Because of this, competent employees are having multiple job
opportunities in hand and are always looking for the “better” opportunity.
In the present research goal internalization emerged as the first factor in the
principal component analysis, followed by perceived control and perceived
competence. This may be due to the data collected from highly skilled and
educated employees for whom competence is a primary requirement to perform
their job. Goal internalization items also reported high mean scores and little
variance (GI 3 = 5.65, SD 0.49; GI 1= 5.58, SD = 0.54; GI 2= 5.57, SD 0.59). The
practical implications of these results include fostering organizational
commitment.
Following points need to be considered:
• There is a need to give more opportunities to women employees to
develop their skill and abilities to empower them.
• Support for innovation in R&D type of organization needs to be enhanced.
• Government organizations need to emphasize on OSI, OSD and AR.
• There is a need for assigning higher responsibilities and conducting more
effective training.
• Higher qualified employees need to be involved in problem solving
activities.
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
• Experienced employees need to be provided more opportunities for
development irrespective of their levels.
Managers need to internalize the corporate goals and have to create an
environment, where employees should feel a sense of control over resources
and decision- making. Again, since the competent employees are always looking
for better opportunities, managers should provide training and development to
these employees, by doing this normative commitment can be enhanced among
the employees.
11. LIMITATION AND SCOPE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: This study examines the relationship between empowerment and its
consequences. In the future, studies must concentrate to further strengthen the
theoretical foundation of psychological empowerment. Future research should
compare and contrast the factor structure of the psychological empowerment
with data collected not only from different companies of India but also from
companies of different countries.
XIII Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Administrativas La administración frente a la globalización: Gobernabilidad y Desarrollo
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