The relationship between empowerment and the three-component model of organisational commitment: an empirical study of Thai employees working in Thai and American airlines

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the moderating role of organisational culture on the relationship between empowerment and the three dimensions of organisational commitment amongst flight attendants working in a collectivist organisation and an individualist organisation. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from a sample of 439 Thai cabin service attendants from two major flag-carrier airlines (one based in Thailand and the other based in the USA) using self-administered questionnaires. Structural equation modelling was utilised to examine the hypotheses. Findings Overall, the findings revealed associations between empowerment and organisational commitment in both sample groups. Nonetheless, the extent and direction to which empowerment influenced the different dimensions of organisational commitment differed significantly. Research limitations/implications Cross-sectional study of Thai employees may limit generalisability of the findings to other contexts. Practical implications In use of empowerment for developing employee commitment to organisation, practitioners should take organisational culture into consideration. As such, relationship is weakened or strengthened based on whether the organisation is more individualist- or collectivist-oriented in its organisational culture. In an individualistic context, organisations can foster affective commitment through empowerment more easily than in a collectivist context. On the contrary, in a collectivist organisational context, it is easier to build normative commitment among employees through empowerment than to do it in an individualist context. Originality value Provide empirical evidence in regards to the role of organisational culture in conditioning the relationship between empowerment and organisational commitment in a non-Western context.