Introduction

Employee’s commitment is regarded as an important factor for the success of an organization. Literature shows that several meta-analysis investigations have considered the commitment as a research subject (Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch and Topolnytsky, 2002; Cooper- Hakim and Viswesvaran, 2005; Mathieu and Zajac, 1990). Some of the researchers mentioned that the employees with low commitment levels are not reliable and they leave organizations in a short time which badly affect the organization working environment and business as well (Meyer et al., 2002). Employee’s resignation an organization sometimes put a bad impact on the market also. Especially for small business, it could create worst conditions for business and sustain the value of the organization. Several factors are there which influence on the employees in terms of their commitment to the organization. Job satisfaction is a significant factor which influences the employee’s commitment towards organization (Azeem, 2010; Yousef, 2017). In this study we have examined the relationship between the job satisfaction and employees commitment highlighting the sub-factors.

Research objective

The objective of this research is to study and evaluate the relationship between job satisfaction and employee’s commitment in small business in Oman.

Literature Review

(Smith, P.C., 1969; Yousef, D.A., 2000; Oshagbemi, 1997) stated that study of the relationship between the job satisfaction and employee’s commitment towards organizations became a considerable research area all over the world. According to them satisfied and well- committed employees are the assets of the organization as they perform appreciably and contribute remarkably to the productivity of the organization. The studies conducted in the literature revealed that High commitment may results in better feelings of efficacy, belonging, career advancement, security and good compensation and rewards on an individual basis (Rowden, R.W., 2000). Sultanate of Oman is lacking the research studies which clearly focus on the attitude, behaviour and loyalty of employees towards organizations.

Different scholars have a different view about the employee’s commitment. (Mowdays et al., 1979) stated that organizational commitment is the relative strength of individuals and their involvement in the success of the organization. According to this theory, the employees commitment has three components summarizing them as; (1): Strong belief in and acceptance of values and goals of organization, (2): Willingness of involvement and exertion of efforts to fulfill goals, (3): High level of loyalty by urging to work for organization on long-term basis. Al-Meer (1989) suggested doing research and investigation on the relationship between the job satisfaction and organizational commitment with the addition of some other terms such as gender, working experience and leadership styles.

Some studies indicated the mixed findings on this specific research area. (Curry, Wakefield, Price and Mueller, 1986) mentioned that there is no significant relationship between the job satisfaction and organizational commitment. They explained that both commitment and satisfaction have significance in the development of models which describes the processes by which individuals behaviours influence the outcomes such as absenteeism and turnover. Same trends of absenteeism were mentioned by the steers and Rhodes in 1978 in view of satisfaction and commitment study. The price and Mueller in 1986 proposed that commitment can affect the satisfaction in relation to turning over and in that case, satisfaction becomes a priority over the commitment.

(Yousuf, 2016) performed a study to investigate the direct and indirect relations between employee attitude, satisfaction and organizational commitment. Their results classified the satisfaction level of employees in different categories. The employees showed high satisfaction level in terms of supervision and co-workers, slight leveled satisfaction with the working environment and job security. While low satisfaction was seen in case of pay and promotion. They suggested several implications for practitioners and from an academic point of view. They explained that western management theories are valid for the nonwestern countries as well. Proceeding to these basic studies may help in the advancement of knowledge to manage these issues which are sometimes a critical factor in the prospect of a business.

(Azeem, 2010) investigated the relationships of demographic factors (age and job terms) and job satisfaction with employees commitment. They randomly selected a sample set of

employees from the service industry and given job descriptive and employee’s commitment questionnaires. Afterwards they applied multiple regression analysis for data analysis. Their results indicated that mean values of job satisfaction and employees commitment are at moderate levels and a significant positive relation was found between demographic factors, job satisfaction and organizational/employees commitment. In this case, job satisfaction, age, supervision, pay and job terms and conditions played a significant role in the prediction of employees commitment. The meta-analysis conducted by the (Mathieu and Zajac, 1990) revealed that age and employees commitment exhibited a medium type positive correlation. This theory was favoured by some other researchers when they suggested that old employees have a high commitment towards the organization as they count their past years as a saving.

Research Philosophy, Approach, and Strategy

Research Philosophy

Investigation of phenomena is well described by the adaptation of positivism because it clearly provides quantitative approach. Literature shows significance of descriptive analysis of positivist, post-positivist and philosophies based on research. The conducted studies provide a sound base of discussions in relation to research methods (Crossan, 2003). (Hughes, 1994) stated that philosophy of a research is related to the assumptions based on several features including world, reality, reason, knowledge, truth and proofs of the knowledge. In this particular study area several researchers have favoured the use of positivism research philosophy. According to this philosophy, there are several factors which need to consider before applying. These include; (1): all the results should be quantitative and based on them the generalization is possible, (2): Study should be conducted based on the objectives rather than personal beliefs and directions, (3): the casual explanations and fundamental laws associated with human behaviour should be properly identified, (4): all the concepts should be addressed in terms of measured quantities, (5): researcher should be independent of the examined subjects and (6): problems should be simplified for better understandings. All these reveal that this philosophy is based on a scientific approach for collection of data, interviews and questionnaires. For this particular case, this philosophy was used to determine the relationship between the job satisfaction and employees commitment towards the organization in small businesses in Oman.

Research Approach

In the present study, investigations were conducted to find the relationship between the job satisfaction and employees commitment towards the organization. In this case, the demographic variables were age and job tenure. The primary data was collected by selecting the sample of 128 employees from an organization. For this purpose, all the employees were provided with questionnaires based on job description and employee’s commitment and then the results were analyzed by multiple regression analysis.

Research Strategy

In this study, Biological information sheets were used to get informational data based on age and job tenure. In this way sample population was directly questionnaire. This kind of strategy has been adopted by several researchers which indicated significant positivist results. Direct meeting acted as a precise tool for data collection as the population could easily answer the questionnaire and their answers could be accounted on fast and reliable track.

Ethical Approach

All the ethics were considered while performing this study. Permissions were taken from the management of the organization as the employees were to questionnaire to find out the relationship between job satisfaction and employees commitment. For this work, 5 companies were chosen and total 128 employees were selected. All of the respondents were assured that this questionnaire will not create an issue for them and this is only for study purpose. This assurance helped in the conduction of such survey and finding the accurate informational data of their personal beliefs perceptions and employee commitment concepts. The study was totally based on actual results and no changing in data was made.

Research Methodology

Research Design

In this study, the descriptive research design was used as it is considered a good tool for better understanding of the relationship between the job satisfaction and employees commitment.

Sampling

The reliability of any study is based on its sampling. There are two common methods mentioned in the literature which are being used for the choosing the population sample. Nonprobability method is one of the convenient methods used by various researchers. However in this study, the profitability method (random selection method) was used as data was selected on the simple random basis. Figure 1 shows the basic sampling designs (Kothari, 2004).

Figure 1. Basic Sampling Designs

The benefit of this design is that everything in the universe is counted in the sample set. The results obtained by this kind of sampling are based on probability which is absent in case of non- profitability design. This provides a measurement for errors and significance of the results can be obtained even from a random sample. A random sampling follows the statistical law of regularity

and that is why it is considered the best sample selection design. A sample of randomly selected 128 employees was selected.

Data collection method

It could be better expressed in terms of experimentation. We do experiments and collect our primary data. In another case, if we do descriptive research and perform surveys (either sample surveys or census surveys) and obtain primary data through observation or communication with respondents. In this study, the descriptive method was used and written communication in terms of the questionnaire was done. This method is well known especially if big inquiries are to be made. Private individuals, researchers, both private and public organizations are using this approach to meet their questionnaire. The specific questionnaire was given to the sample population to see their response towards jobs satisfaction and employee commitment. The measurement of job satisfaction was measured by using the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) developed by the (Stanton et al 2002). JDI is popular among the researchers to study the employee’s reactions in terms of job satisfaction. These included nature of the job, pay scale, promotions, supervision and co-workers. Similarly, the organizational commitment or employee’s commitment was measured by using the organizational/employee’s commitment questionnaire developed by (Mowday, Steers and Porter, 1979).

Tools used for analysis

After collecting data, researcher main task is to analyze it with a supportive tool. Several closely related operations are required to analyze the data. These include category establishment, raw data application by using codes, tabulation and drawing statistical inferences. It is needed to classify the raw data into usable categories because coding can only be done at this stage and data is tabulated after converting into symbols. In case of large inquiries the data is mostly tabulated by the computer-aided software. It gives the advantage of time-saving and studying a larger number of variables in a relationship with the objectives. In this study, Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient and multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data.

Structure of questionnaire

In this study, two self-administered questionnaire was distributed randomly on a personal basis. These questionnaires were given to the respondents with a cover letter assuring them their privacy and nature of the study. All the details were given so that all the respondents clearly understand the questionnaire and answer them properly.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

Graph 1: Job Satisfaction and Greater Commitment

From the study it was clear that 70 % of the sample population strongly agreed and believed that employees commitment towards the organization is based belonging, job security, efficacy, career advancement, compensation and rewards. Good management of these factors may result in the greater commitment towards organization. Next 10 % believes that employees commitment is somehow associated with job satisfaction. Other 10 % disagree and do not believe in this statement, while a class of 10 % was found strongly disagreed this statement.

Graph 2: Increased Employee Tenure

It was found from the study that employee tenure is one of biggest proof of the employee’s loyalty towards the organizations. Those who are committed to the organization they stay in the organization for a long time. The 60 % of the sample set strongly agree and believes this statement. On the other hand, 10 % agree and believes that it is one of the factors which are in relation to the commitment towards organization. While a class of 10% disagreed with this statement and 20 % strongly disagreed with this statement.

Graph 3: Age and Employees Commitment

Age has been pointed out by many researchers that it influences the employee’s commitment. It was assumed that older employees are more committed towards the organization. From the study

50 % strongly agreed with this statement, while 10 % further supported this statement with some amendments. Whereas, 20 % disagreed with this statement and rest 20 % strongly disagreed with this statement.

Graph 4: Supervision and Employees Commitment

From the study it was concluded that supervision is also in relation to employees commitment and can govern the employee’s behaviour. A class of 50 % strongly agreed with it while 10 % agreed and favour this statement. A class of 20 % disagreed with this statement and remaining 20

% strongly disagreed.

Reliability and Validity

This study was based on actual results, theories and concepts mentioned in the literature. It completely followed the ethical rules and regulations and highlighted the significance of various factors associated with employees commitment.

Conclusion

From this study it was concluded that employees commitment is one of the biggest factors in the success of an organization. Since the employees have some perceptions about rewards of hard work. While working there are many sub-categories which influence the employee’s commitment. Job satisfaction is an important factor which has a relationship with employees

commitment. Proper knowledge of research methodology, approach and strategies are essential and further research in this area is required. To find out the relationship between the job satisfaction and employees commitment, the knowledge and implementation of sampling, data measurements, collection and tabulation are necessary. Use of appropriate tool is essential for data analysis.

References

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Crossan, F., 2003. Research philosophy: towards an understanding. Nurse researcher, 11(1), pp.46-55.

Curry, J.P., Wakefield, D.S., Price, J.L. and Mueller, C.W., 1986. On the causal ordering of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Academy of Management Journal, 29(4), pp.847- 858.

Kothari, C.R., 2004. Research methodology: Methods and techniques. New Age International.

Mowday, R.T., Steers, R.M. and Porter, L.W., 1979. The measurement of organizational commitment. Journal of vocational behavior, 14(2), pp.224-247.

Rowden, R.W., 2000. The relationship between charismatic leadership behaviors and organizational commitment. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 21(1), pp.30-35.

Smith, P.C., 1969. The measurement of satisfaction in work and retirement: A strategy for the study of attitudes.

Stanton, J.M., Sinar, E.F., Balzer, W.K., Julian, A.L., Thoresen, P., Aziz, S., Fisher, G.G. and Smith, P.C., 2002. Development of a compact measure of job satisfaction: The abridged Job Descriptive Index. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 62(1), pp.173-191.

Yousef, D.A., 2017. Organizational Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Attitudes toward Organizational Change: A Study in the Local Government. International Journal of Public Administration, 40(1), pp.77-88.

Yousef, D.A., 2000. Organizational commitment: A mediator of the relationships of leadership behavior with job satisfaction and performance in a non-western country. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 15(1), pp.6-24.