Do we really behave the same way? Assessing the three dimensions of organizational commitment as antecedents of human resource practices in a non-western context

This paper explores the underlying processes and the mechanisms by which HR practices exert influence on the three dimensions of commitment-affective, continuance and normative- in a non-western context focusing on the banking sector of Lebanon. Data were collected as part of a more general survey of job-related attitudes among various levels of employees of the participant banks. Of the 1000 questionnaires distributed in the different banks, 460 employees responded, generating an overall usable response rate of 39.8% (62 non-usable responses).Findings As expected, the findings from the hierarchical regression analysis reveal that HRM practices did not contribute significantly to the prediction of the three dimensions of commitment, except for information sharing. Some hypotheses have been rejected because of cultural differences between eastern and western societies. The present results bring to the forefront the element of risk involved in human resource investments, and what may be the most significant predictors of commitment dimensions among a host of human resource management practices.This is one of few studies to provide insight into human resource practices and its relationships with the dimensions of organizational commitment in a country that has a very different culture from that of the US and other western societies, where most of the research on organizational commitment has been conducted. Commitment has long been assumed to be an essential outcome of work-related behaviour, yet this study shows that its effectiveness may be contingent on national culture.