Tapping Into An Inimitable Source Of Competitive Advantage: Organizational Commitment

In today’s fast changing and highly competitive business environment, the costs associated with losing well performing and engaged individuals may be too high to bear for the companies. Organizational commitment is a major factor determining employees’ intentions of staying in the company and contributing to the overall objectives beyond mere job requirements. Highly committed employees engage themselves more with the organizational goals than regular employees and thus provide a true and inimitable source of sustainable competitive advantage. In this regard, organizational commitment is a critical construct, which helps organizations thrive and succeed. This paper examines a wide range of studies conducted in the organizational commitment literature over the past several decades and presents a comprehensive understanding of the construct, its antecedents, and consequences. The major findings and implications of the substantial research works have been compiled to provide a contemporary and holistic view whereby future research endeavors may catapult from these assertions and pursue in the further development of the construct. Organizational commitment has been found to have three generally accepted major components; normative, affective, and continuance commitment. Organizations and managers alike may benefit from each of these kinds of commitment. This study also provides implications for practitioners and researchers who can build upon previous works and draw conclusions for further action.