MGB200: Meyer and Allen’s Model of Organisational - Managing People - Case Study Assessment Answer

Managing People Case Study Assignment

Assignment Task

You are required to write Managing Peoplethat demonstrates your knowledge and understanding of a core content from the unit. You have a choice of two (2) theories - only choose one (1) of the following:

Meyer and Allen’s Model of Organisational Commitment

or

Organisational Justice

You will need to analyse the “What happened to my work-life balance?” case study (page 515 to 517 in the textbook), and use one of the above theories to explain how and why the theory has something to offer in terms of providing constructive advice for more effective organisational behaviour in the future. Remember, this case analysis is about demonstrating your understanding of the theory you choose to write about, so it is critical that you think carefully about which theory you choose, and what sorts of insights each of the theories could offer to improve organisational effectiveness in the future.

Introduction:

This paper focuses on the case of Claire, who is facing issues with work-life balance. Work-life balance represents the ideal prioritization of work and life (Becker, 2012). This indicates that people should refrain from over prioritizing work or family and should establish a proper balance between both. In the given case, Claire, a professional working in the insurance sector, is struggling to find the right work-life balance. She is under a lot of stress and is highly frustrated as she is finding is difficult to manage her two young children while taking care of job responsibilities. The key issue in the case is the fact that the management of the company Claire works for, is not delivering on its promise of providing a flexible work schedule that could help establish the right work-life balance for Claire. In this context, the paper critically analyzes Meyer and Allen’s Model of Organizational Commitment and uses this model to evaluate the given case and make effective recommendations.

Literature Review:

Organizational commitment is the degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals, and wants to keep his or her relationship with it (Mercurio, 2015). Therefore, involvement in work means to identify and commit to a specific job, while organizational commitment is the individual's identification with the employing organization. Organizational commitment represents belief in the goals and values of an organization and having willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization and, ultimately, wanting to remain a member of the same. It is the psychological identification of a person with the organization where they work. There is now consensus that organizational commitment is a multidimensional construct, I.e., under the name of common commitment there are different types of commitment independent to each other, so that a person may develop one or the other kind of commitment. One of the most popular multidimensional models has been the model by Allen and Meyer (1991).

As per Allen and Meyer (1991), the identification of organizational commitment can take place in three ways:

• Affective: Emotional connection to an organization; a strong affective commitment manifests itself so that the organization has a great personal meaning for the employee and that the employee will therefore belong to their future.
• Normative: acceptance of organizational values and experienced obligation of the employee to remain in the organization because of "investment made by the organization for the employee (e.g. education and training), obligation for ethical and moral reasons.
• Continuation related Commitment: switching costs when they leave the organization (as is the expected value of remaining in an organization). Also known as a rational level of organizational commitments.

Allen and Meyer developed a classic short questionnaire on commitment. In a seven-stepped response scale from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree", employees express themselves on a wide variety of factors, including loyalty and commitment on. In the questionnaire of Allen and Meyer, statements associated with each of the three commitment components (affective, normative, continuance based) are to be evaluated (Roe, 2015).

As per Wiener (2015), the model has been criticized as a justification for the adherence to the status quo. There is a widespread Meta context which defines itself through Commitment as a method and the positions and institutions only represent hierarchy and order. This is irrational; Bartley speaks disparagingly of the "flight into Commitment". Rational other hand, was a meta-context, which seeks to create new positions and institutions and improve existing ones.

The following factors influence the three types of organizational commitment highlighted by Allen and Meyer:

Age - There is a positive correlation between age and organizational commitment, i.e. as an older worker tends to be more committed to the organization. Effect of age factor is explained by the satisfaction of higher older workers from their jobs resulting from the progress of key positions and the cognitive justification for remaining in the organization over time (Wiener, 2015).

Gender - Studies show that there is a weak relationship between gender and organizational commitment. Women tend to develop a higher commitment to the organization when the explanation is low discrimination against women in some organizations and politicizing women about the many obstacles placed before them (Sargic, 2014).

Education - the higher the level of education rises to a level of organizational commitment. This relationship stems from the fact that workers with higher education levels have higher expectations that enterprises find difficult to meet. In addition, employees with higher education have more job opportunities (Duffy, 2012).

Marital Status - Married people demonstrate a higher organizational commitment. This is due to the fact that married people are under greater financial burden and therefore they are more committed to their jobs due to the salary (Kanter, 2013).

Seniority in the workplace - this term includes specific job seniority and length of service. As the employee is at work longer so it accumulates seniority benefits over the years and therefore communicates with higher commitment to the organization.

Perceived competence - the employee perception of the organization as such can provide a high level of growth and development and will increase the level of binding for corporate employee (Dirani and Kuchinke, 2015).

Practical ability - workers with high skills and capabilities will deliver greater value to an organization which would win rewards and appreciation from the organization which increases their commitment to the organization (Duffy, 2012).

Salaries - benefits and higher wages increases the commitment arising from self-organization to which economic but also a sense of self-esteem high (Richard, 2012).

Analysis:

The given case focuses on Claire, who has been working in the insurance industry for over 15 years. She started her career at the company NDI and excelled at her work, which promoted the management to give her fast promotions. She climbed the corporate ladder and worked in the marketing department. She reached a senior management position too and further growth prospects were quite positive for her. However, with increasing work pressure and responsibilities, she got too busy with work and could not dedicate enough time for her personal life. This compromised her relationships and she could not have a long term, sustainable relationship. When she became 37 years of age, she decided that it was high time for her to have children. Using the option of IVF she had two children and took two years of leave from her organization in order to take care of the babies. She had saved enough funds and leaves to accommodate this break. Two years later, as her children started to attend nursery, she had more time in hand and decided to return to work. However, she wanted a flexible work environment with reduced pressure and high work-life balance. The HRM of NDI stated the organization was traditional and did not have such flexibility. She was recommended to switch to another company, Surelife, which had a good reputation for work-life balance. Claire compromised her career growth for her family and took a job position which is two steps lower than her senior management position at NDI. She clearly mentioned to her manager at Surelife that she wanted the option of working from home at least one day every week and the option of coming in late and leaving early once every week. These options would enable her to take care of her children effectively while managing work responsibilities. The problem faced by Claire is that though she had a verbal agreement with her manager at Surelife, her work pressure is high and she is not being able to work from home or leave work early every week. She is highly frustrated due to not being able to manage her family and work lives efficiently.

With respect to the model of Allen and Meyer (1991), organizational commitment is divided into three distinct components:

• Affective commitment: This is the employee's emotional attachment to the company, acquired as a result of the satisfaction of the needs and expectations of the worker. In the given case, Claire does not have any emotional attachment with Sure life. Her work experience has been mostly frustrating and her manager has not been cooperating with her. Her needs and expectations have not been made and she has been made to come to office, stay in office, etc. eve when her presence was not directly required.
• Continuance commitment: This is a result of the investment of time and effort that the person has for his tenure with the company and would lose if they leave the job. In the given case, Claire has not been working at Surelife for a long period of time. Also, she is working for less pay and in a lower position than she deserves in order to take care of her children. She has over 15 years of experience in the industry and has even held a senior management position. She can find other employment options easily. Thus, she does not have continuance commitment.
• Normative commitment: This is the moral duty or gratitude felt by the worker who must respond reciprocally to the company as a result of profits made (personalized treatment, better working conditions, etc.). In the given case, the verbal agreement made between Claire and her manager has been breached repeatedly. Thus, she does not have a moral duty or gratitude towards the company.

Thus, from Allen and Meyer’s model (1991), it can be understood that Claire does not have any form of organizational commitment towards Surelife, and this is a result of the way the organization has treated her. The main source and beginning point of the conflict between Claire and her manager, Peter, is the fact that while Claire clearly mentioned her need of having a flexible schedule, Peter kept making her come to work and stay at work. In many instances, the work involved did not even need Claire’s presence. Also, while Claire has worked very hard at Surelife and developed a self-dependent team, Peter does not acknowledge her efforts. While Surelife has established an image of being progressive and flexible and has developed the reputation of being an organization which is highly inclusive of women and sensitive to their needs, in reality, the organizational culture is traditional and employees are expected to be present at office and dedicate their time fully to work. Irrespective of efficiency or results, employees are expected to comply with the standard policies and work schedules. There is typical gender politics at play here and Peter is being insensitive to Claire’s needs. It must be noted that Claire’s performance has been excellent and her flexible schedule has not compromised work in any way. Yet, Peter is not comfortable with the schedule and it is likely that he feels that Claire is getting unfair benefits. Another point that needs to be noted is that the management of Surelife have negotiated with Claire by using the bad faith negotiation style. She has been made false promises. The main factor that has caused stress to Claire is the unnecessary and unfair work pressure put on her by her manager, Peter. It is becoming a major problem for Claire to take care of her children due to last minute changes in schedule influenced by her manager’s actions and decisions. While Claire had been promised flexibility, Peter instructed her to find a permanent emergency option to take care of her children in case of last minute changes in work schedule. Peter expects Claire to be available full time and has made it clear that the work pressure will be too high to permit flexibility.

Conclusion and recommendations:

It can be concluded that, in the given case, Claire does not have any form of organizational commitment towards Surelife, and this is a result of the way the organization has treated her. In order to solve this issue, Claire must communicate directly with the CEO. The CEO had stated that as long as Claire sorts her schedule and flexibility out with her manager, there will be no problems. If Claire communicates her exact needs clearly and elaborates that her schedule does not lower the quality of her performance in any way, the CEO is likely to see her point. Claire should request the formation of a new contract which clearly highlights the flexible schedule elements. This will ensure that if the manager breaches the terms, Claire can defend herself. If the scenario does not improve, Claire must switch to another company with better work-life balance.