European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.

org
ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online)
Vol.6, No.39, 2014

The Influence of Career Commitment on Organizational

Commitment among Selected Bankers in Lagos Metropolis,
Nigeria
Arogundade Odunayo, T. (Corresponding author)
Department of Behavioural Studies, Redeemer’s University, Osun State, Nigeria
E-mail: [email protected]

Arogundade Ayodeji, B.
University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA.
E-mail: [email protected]

Oladipo Olaniyi M.
Department of Behavioural Studies, Redeemer’s University, Osun State, Nigeria
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract
The rate of staff turnover is high in the banking sector in Nigeria, and employers in this industry are often
concerned with the commitment of their employees to their respective organizations. Should employers in the
banking sector be more focused on improving the commitment of their employees to their career as a way of
boosting their overall commitment to the organization? This study aims at assessing the influence of career
commitment on organizational commitment among selected bankers in Lagos metropolis, Nigeria. Survey
research design was adopted for the study, while simple random sampling technique was used for the selection
of participants. A total of 275 bankers were drawn from Unity Bank plc. The data were collected with a battery
of psychological tests, namely: Organizational Commitment Scale (OCS) and Career Commitment Scale (CCS).
Pearson product moment correlation and t-test analysis were used to analyze the collected data and to test the
three hypotheses proposed in this study at 0.05 level of significant. The results of the findings revealed that
career commitment has significant influence on organizational commitment as it accounted for 19% variance in
organizational commitment. The correlation coefficient between career commitment and organizational
commitment is r = 0.44; P < 0.05, meaning that the higher the employees’ commitment to their career, the higher
their commitment to the organization. Furthermore the independent t-test confirms that there is a significant
difference in organizational commitment of employees who are less committed to their career and those who are
highly committed to their career. Finally, the study concluded by recommending that efforts should be put in
place by management to improve employees commitment to their career in order to boost their commitment to
the organization, increase productivity, and organizational effectiveness.
Keywords: Organizational commitment, Employees, Career commitment, Bank

1. Introduction
The adoption of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) gadgets in many organizations coupled
with challenges and dynamic nature of global environment has made employers and employees susceptible to
inevitable changes that are on the increase in the day-to-day running of organizations (Venkatesh, Bala & Sykes,
2010). These changes, provoked by Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), have in recent times
affected employees' career and organizational commitment adversely. It is relatively becoming very difficult for
employees to determine either to be committed to a chosen career which may be altered by improved technology
or be committed to organization which is prone to unusual organizational transformation like downsizing, re-
engineering or restructuring of the workforce as a result of changes in information, communication and
technology. These organization transformations occasioned by continuous technological changes in the way
goods are produced and services are delivered to meet human needs will continue to affect behavioural
dispositions of the employees towards their career and organization thereby inhibiting the attainment of their
full potentials. Moreover, career commitment and organizational commitment are two different aspects of human
views and opinions that are largely linked to increased productivity and organizational effectiveness (Buitendach
& de-Witte, 2005).
One of the challenges confronted by human resource management in recent times is the ability to recruit
and select candidates that will be committed to the goals and aspirations of the organization. The dilemma of
prospective employees on the other hand is how to secure employment in organizations that will enhance their
career progression. Thus, there are tendencies for employees to have conflict of interest between career
commitment and organizational commitment especially when the situation relates to complying with work and

36
European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org
ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online)
Vol.6, No.39, 2014

professional ethics. According to Morrow (1993) an individual can be committed to different focal points at
workplace as well as experience conflict of interest towards career and organization commitment. In view of the
foregoing, there is a need to empirically find out the influence of career commitment on organizational
commitment among professional bankers.
The study of career commitment and organizational commitment has assumed a global significance.
These two primary goals of employees are widely studied for the fact that they are responsible for diverse
attitudes and behaviours displayed at workplaces (Coloquitt, Lepine & Wesson, 2011; Yavuz, 2010; Hammer &
Avger, 2005; O’Reilly & Chatman , 1986). One of the basic ideas behind the studies of commitment in the past
was to find ways to improve individual employee’s performance thereby sustaining job satisfaction and
organizational commitment.
Generally, commitment is viewed as consistent line of activity in human behaviour (Awolusi, 2013).
According to Scholl (1981), commitment is a stabilizing force that acts to maintain behavioural
direction when expectancy equity conditions are not met and do not function. Salansic (1977) holds that
commitment is what makes individuals to enjoy what they do and continue doing it, even when the payoffs are
not obvious. Thus, commitment is an attitudinal dimension that reflects in an individual behaviour at any given
tasks and organization. Studies have been done to determine factors that promote commitment (Awolusi, 2013;
Bedeian, Kemery & Pizzolatto,1991; Bartol,1979). An employee with strong commitment is likely to remain
with an organization than that with weak commitment.

1.1. Organizational commitment

The concept of organizational commitment has developed over the last five decades. It all started with Porter,
Steers, Mowday, and Boulian (1974) who conceptualized organizational commitment with these three
determinants, namely: (i) strong belief in and acceptance of the organization’s goals and values, (ii) willingness
to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization and (iii) strong desire to maintain organizational
membership.
According to Mathews and Shepherd (2002), organizational commitment is interpreted in various ways
and suggested that organizational commitment can be summarized to be an attachment of an individual to his or
her organization. Taking a multidimensional view of Meyer and Allen (1990), distinguished the three
dimensions of organizational commitment to include: affective commitment, continuance commitment and
normative commitment. The affective commitment is the desire to remain in an organization based on an
emotional attachment to the organization; continuance commitment is the desire to remain in an organization due
to the perceived cost associated with leaving it; and normative commitment is the perceived obligation to remain
a member of an organization. Consequently, these three components model together become an employee’s
commitment profile.
In another research study by Herscovitch and Meyer (2002), organizational commitment is defined as
the degree to which an employee identifies with the goals and values of the organization and is willing to put
efforts to help the organization to achieve its goals. It is also viewed as the willingness of employees to accept
the goals and values of the organization and to work towards the achievement of the objectives. O’Reilly &
Chatman (1986) hold that organizational commitment is the psychological attachment felt by the individual for
the organization, it reflects the degree to which the person internalize or adopts characteristics or perspectives of
the organization values and goals. Organizational commitment is defined as the relative strength of an
individual’s identification with, and involvement in, a particular organization (Mowday, Steers & Porter,1979).
Organizational commitment has been found to be vital for productivity and effectiveness of an organization. As a
combination of both attitudinal and behavioural dimensions, organizational commitment is defined as
employee’s acceptances, involvement and dedication towards achieving organization’s goals and objectives.
Organizational commitment is highly valuable because it is a factor that is responsible for increased job
satisfaction, loyalty and growth of employees and the organization (Meyer, et al., 2002). The two dominant
conceptualization of organizational commitment found in literature are an employee’s loyalty towards the
organization and an employee’s intention to stay with organization. Loyalty is an affective response to
organizational call for duty and responsibility and at the same time identification with organizational goals and
values, while intention to stay is described as effectively neutral and focuses on an employee’s intention to
remain a member of the organization. This intention to stay has been viewed as the employee’s expected
likelihood of remaining employed in the same organization. Other social analysts have identified some
organizational factors that can equally influence attitudes and behaviours of employees in the workplace to
include organizational climate (Schneider, 2008), psychological contract, (Robinson, 1996), job security and
career advancement (Andrea &Ted, 2011).

1.1.1 Career commitment

Career commitment was first defined in management literature by Hall (1971) as the strength of one’s

37
European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org
ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online)
Vol.6, No.39, 2014

motivation to remain in a chosen career role. In the findings of Darden, Hampton and Howell (1989), and
Carswell and Allen (2000) career commitment was defined as employee’s psychological bond to his or her
career which is distinct from organizational commitment. In other words, an employee may be committed to his
or her organization only or committed to both career and organization or committed to neither. Career
commitment is one’s attitude towards one’s vocation or identification with, and involvement, in one’s
occupation. Many literatures hold that career commitment is similar or related to concepts such as occupational
commitment, professional commitment, and career salient. According to Blau (1985), career commitment is an
intention to build a career that is meaningful and a lifelong pursuit and operationally, he considered career
commitment as the attitude of an individual towards vocation or professional occupation. Carswell and Allen
(2000) hold that career commitment had three components, namely: affective commitment, continuance
commitment and normative commitment. Affective commitment is an individual emotional attachment to his or
her career. The continuance commitment is assessment of cost of losing the investment sank into a career and the
normative commitment is a sense of obligation to remain in a career.
Several factors had been found to be responsible for career commitment. For example, employees’
perception of the organizational career related practices and policies may prone such employee to having a
stronger career commitment. Alternatively, an individual perception of job security can be a critical phenomenon
affecting employee's career plan and career commitment (Blau, 2003).
Myrtle,et al. (2008) assess the relationship between employment-related conditions and career
commitment. They found that measures associated with the different employment-related experiences had more
significant influence on career commitment than those measures associated with career experiences. These
findings indicate that employment related conditions such as job security, position tenure, industry segment,
management level, and the extent to which their current positions meet their career expectations including career
experience and satisfaction with career progression, will increase the level of career commitment. Other Social
analysts have examined career commitment and job involvement of nurses (Belovich, 1997); career
commitment and job involvement of insurance and newspaper employees (Blau, 1989); career commitment and
job security, job involvement , job satisfaction and organizational commitment (Goulet & Singh, 2002).
Although a study by Gaertner &Nollen (1989) supports that employees’ perception of career-related practices
influences their psychological attachment to the current organization, this present study is aimed at further
exploring the specific influence of career commitment on organizational commitment among selected bankers by
testing the following hypotheses:
H1. The employees who are classified as highly committed to their career will be more committed to the
organization compared to their counterparts who are less committed to their career.
H2. There will be positive relationship between the level of career commitment and organizational commitment.
H3. Career commitment will significantly predict organizational commitment.

1.1.2 Methodology
The descriptive survey research design is used in this study. The study was conducted in Unity Bank Plc, a
commercial bank in Nigeria. The population of this study consisted of all staff working in the branch, region and
head office of the bank. The bank has branches in all the six geo-political zones of Nigeria and staff strength of
about 3,000 as at the time of this research. The sample for this study comprised 275 bankers who were selected
using a simple random sampling method.
A battery of psychological tests consisting of Organizational Commitment Scale (OCS), developed by
Balfour and Wechsler (1996) and Career commitment Scale developed by Blau(1989) were used to collect data
from the participants.
The Organizational Commitment Scale (OCS) made up of nine items measures three dimensions of
overall organizational commitment namely:- commitment based on affiliation or pride in the organization,
commitment based on identification with the organization, and commitment based on satisfactory exchange with
the organization resulting in appreciation of the individual by the organization. Balfour and Wechsler (1996)
obtained cronbach alpha coefficients of 0.81 for affiliation commitment, 0 .72 for identification commitment,
and 0.83 for exchange commitment while the researchers provided a cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.71 for the
three dimensions the scale.
The Career commitment Scale made up of seven items measures the employees' commitment toward
their occupations, professions, and careers. Blau (1989) obtained cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.76 for the test
items while the researchers obtained a cronbach alpha coefficient of 0 .62 for this scale.

1.1.3 Data analysis and result

Responses to the battery of psychological test were entered accordingly into the Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences (SPSS) version 20 on a personal computer. Data were coded and analyzed using Linear Regression
Analysis, Spearman Rho Correlation and t independent test. The results are presented below.

38
European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org
ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online)
Vol.6, No.39, 2014

Table 1: Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Participants

Variables Frequency Percentage (%)
21-30 134 48.7
31-40 101 36.7
Age Range 41-50 34 12.4
51 and above 6 2.2
Male 121 44.0
Gender Female 154 56.0
BSc 140 50.9
Educational Qualification MSc 61 22.2
Others 74 26.9
Table1 above shows that participants of 21-30 are 134 (48.7%), 31-40 years are 101 (36.7%), 41-50 years are
34(12.4%), 50 and above 6(2.2%) while male participants are 121 (44.0%) and females are 154 (56.0%)
accordingly. The Table also shows that the educational qualifications of the participants are as follows Bachelor
of Sciences 140(50.9%), Maser of Sciences 61 (22.2%) and others 74(26.9%).

1.1.4 Testing of Hypothesis

In order to test hypothesis 1 which stated that employees who are classified as highly committed to their career
will be more committed to the organization compared to their counterparts who are less committed to their career,
an independent t-test was computed and the result is shown below:.

Table 2: Independent t-Test of Career Commitment Based on Organizational Commitment

Career commitment N Mean S.D t P
Less committed 135 31.00 5.54
-6.78 <0.05
Highly committed 140 35.43 5.29
Table 2 above shows that there is a significant difference between participants who are classified as highly
committed to their career compared to their counterparts who are less committed to their career on their report on
organizational commitment (t= -6.78, P < 0.05). Therefore the hypothesis is accepted.
In order to test hypothesis 2 which stated that there will be positive relationship between the level of
career commitment and organizational commitment, a spearman Rho correlation matrix was computed and the
result is shown below:.

Table 3: Correlation Between Career Commitment and Organizational Commitment

Variable N R P
Career commitment 275
0.44 <0.05
Organizational commitment 275
Table 3 above shows that there is a positive relationship between career commitment and organizational
commitment (R = 0.44; P < 0.05). This implies that an increase in career commitment will lead to an increase in
organizational commitment. Thus, the hypothesis 2 is accepted.
Furthermore, in order to test hypothesis 3 which stated that career commitment will significantly predict
organizational commitment, a Linear regression analysis was computed and the result is shown below:.

Table 4: Linear Regression Model Summary

Variable r r2 f P
Career Commitment 0.44 0.19 66.81 <0.05
Dependent variable: Organizational commitment
The result from the Table 4 shows that career commitment accounted for 19% variance in organizational
commitment.

1.1.5 Discussion of findings

The aim of the study is to examine the influence of career commitment on organizational commitment among
selected bank workers in Unity Bank plc.
The first hypothesis, which states that the employees who are highly committed to their career will be
more committed to the organization compared to their counterparts who are less committed to their career, was
accepted. In Table 4, it was observed that employees who are highly committed to their career had higher mean
than employees who are less committed to their career. This implies that employees who are highly committed to

39
European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org
ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online)
Vol.6, No.39, 2014

their career were more committed to organization. The result of hypothesis one is supported by the findings of
Bedeian et al. (1991) that an individual commitment to an organization results not only from identification with
the organization but also from identification with a specific career the individual is pursuing within the
organization. It therefore means that the high level of career commitment will translate to high level of
organizational commitment. Thus, the level of career commitment plays a key role in the process of creating a
fulfilling career for the employees.
The second hypothesis, which states that there will be positive relationship between the level of career
commitment and organizational commitment was accepted. In Table 3 it was observed that there is a positive
relationship between career commitment and organizational commitment. According to this finding, the r value
is positive, which implies that the higher the career commitment of employees, the higher the commitment to
organization. This result is supported by the findings of Chang (1999) which states that individual enter a
company with their career plans and would be attracted to the current company if the company’s practices satisfy
their career needs, and individuals will be more attracted to a company if they possesses stronger career desires.
The finding is also supported by Belovich (1997) who found a positive relationship between career commitment
and job involvement of nurses as well as Blau (1988) who also found a significant positive relationship between
career commitment and job involvement among insurance and newspaper employees. This implies that the
attitude of individual towards their career tends to affect their attitudes towards their company. The study result
suggested that the relationship may change if one’s attitude towards career changed. However, it has been
suggested that lack of commitment in any of the dimensions of work commitment is responsible for reduced
efforts (Awolusi, 2013; Morrow, 1993).
Finally, the third hypothesis, which stated that career commitment will significantly predict
organizational commitment was supported by the result of this study. This finding was in line with the report of
Darden, Hampton and Howell (1989) that observed that employees with high transferable skills such as bankers
are more likely to hold more positive attitude towards their jobs thereby raising their commitment to their
organizations. The influence of career commitment on organizational commitment was buttressed by findings of
Bedeian et al. (1991) which indicate that an individual commitment to an organization results not only from
identification with that organization but also from identification with a specific career the individual is pursuing
in the organization. That means organization policies and practice that satisfy employees career needs will
influence organizational commitment.

1.1.6 Recommendations
The practical implication for this research is that policy makers in the organizations should focus more in
boosting career commitment of employees which will invariably translate to increased organizational
commitment. This is due to the fact that highly career committed employees are more motivated to contribute as
well as stay committed to organizations that favour their career satisfaction. In view of this, policy makers in
organizations should put in policies and practices that will support career needs of the employees or develop
management techniques or strategies that link up with employees’ career development which in turn will lead to
organizational commitment. One method that has been adopted in this regard is providing career development
programme, which is, establishing a process to help employees plan their careers in line with an organization’s
business requirements and strategic direction.
Employees often tend to consider leaving an organization when growth opportunities are low, thus,
organizations should formulate policies and practices that support career progression, promotion within, internal
training, and job security through which employees are likely to develop a strong connection with their place of
work as well as their career.
Having a committed workforce is becoming a competitive advantage in the banking sector and globally.
In view of this, organizations are to put in a reward system that will adequately compensate committed
employees. The management should take steps to incorporate employees’ career plans with the strategic plans of
the organization. This will motivate employees to be more committed to the organization.
Future research should focus on the influence of job characteristics such as variety, identity,
significance, autonomy, and feedback on organizational commitment among bankers in Nigeria.

References
Andrea , M. M., & Ted, S. T. (2011). Career commitment and organizational commitment in for profit and non-
profit sectors. International Journal Emerg.Sci.,1(3),324-340.
Allen, N. J., & Meyer, J. P.(1993). Organizational commitment: evidence of career stage effect. Journal of
Business Research. 26,46-61
Awolusi, O. D. (2013). Effects of motivation on employees job commitment in Nigerian banking industry. An
empirical analysis: European Center for Research Training and Development, UK Vol.1 No.3 pp1- 17,
Balfour, D. & Wechsler, B. (1996).Organizational commitment. Antecedents and outcome in public organization.

40
European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org
ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online)
Vol.6, No.39, 2014

Public Productivity and Management Review,29,256-277.

Bartol, K. (1979). Professionalism as a predictor of organizational commitment, role stress and
turnover. a multidimensional approach. Academy of Management Journal. 22 (4),815-22
Becker, H. (1960). Notes on concept of commitment. American Journal of Sociology.66,32-40
Bedeian, A., Kemery, E. & Pizzolatto, A. (1991).A Career Commitment and Job utility of present job as a
predictors of turnover intentions and turnover behavior. Journal of Vocational Behaviuor. Vol. 39,331-
343..
Belovich, D. S. (1997). An examination of Career Commitment and Job Involvement of Nurses at Four Career
Stages. National Library of Canada,1-106.
Buitendach, J. & de-Witte, H. (2005). Job insecurity, extrinsic and intrinsic job satisfaction and affective
organizational commitment of maintenance workers in a parastatal. South African Journal of Business
Management, 36(2), 27-37
Blau, G. (1989).Testing the generalizability of career commitment measure and its impact on turnover. Journal
of Vocational Behavioiur,35,88-103.
Blau, G. (1985). The measurement and prediction of career commitment. Journal of Occupational
Psychology,58,277-288.
Blau, G. (2003).Testing a four dimensional structure of occupational commitment. Journal of Occupational and
Organizational Psychology.
Carswell, L., & Allen, N. J. (2000). A meta analytic review of occupational commitment: Relations with person
and work related variables. Journal of Applied Psychology.
Coloquitt, J., Lepine, A., & Wesson, M.J (2011). Organizational Behavior: Improving performance and
commitment in the workplace. McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Darden, W. R., Hampton, R., & Howell, R. (1989). Career vs organizational commitment. Antecedent and
consequences of retail sales people commitment. Journal of Retailing,65(1):80-106..
Gaertner, K. & Nollen, S. (1989). Career experiences, perceptions of employment practices and psychological
commitment to the organization, Human Relations, 42(11)975-991.
Goulet, L. R. & Singh, P. (2002).Career Commitment. A Re-examination and Extension. Journal of Vocational
Behaviour.
Hall, D. T. (1971). A theoretical model of career sub identity development in organizational settings.
Organizational Behaviour and Human Performance, 6,50-76.
Herscovitch, L., & Meyer, J. P. (2002). Commitment to organizational change. Journal of Applied Psychology.
Mathews, B. P.,& Shepherd, J. L. (2002). Dimensionality of cooks and wall’s (1980) British organizational
commitment scale revisited. Journal of occupational and organizational psychology.
Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1990).The measure and antecedents of affective ,continuance and normative
commitment to the organization. Journal of occupational psychology,63.
Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1997). Commitment in workplace. Thousand Oaks, CA. sage Publications.
Meyer, J. P., Stanley, D. J. Herscovitch, L. & Topolnytsky, L. (2002). Affective, Continuance and Normative
commitment to the organization:A Meta-Analysis of Antecedents, Correlates and Consequences.
Journal of Vocational behaviour61(1). 20-52
Morrow, P. C. (1993).The theory and measurement of work commitment. Greenwick. Jay print Ltd.
Mowday, R. T., Steers, R. M. Porter, L. W., (1979). The measurement of organizational commitment. The
Journal of Vocational Behaviour. 14(2):224-227
O’Reilly, C. & Chatman, J. (1986). Organizational Commitment and Psychological Attachment: The Effects of
Compliance, Identification and Initialization on Pro-Social Behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology.
71(3), 492-499.
Porter, L., Steers R., Mowday, R. and Boulian P.,(1974). Organizational commitment, job satisfaction and
turnover among psychiatric technicians. Journal of Applied Psychology, 59,603-609.
Robinson, S. (1996). Trust an breaches of psychological contract.Administrative Science quarterly,41, 574-599.
Salansic, G. R. (1977). Commitment is too easy. Organizational Dynamics 6. (1)
Schneider, I. I. (2008). Motivation and Organizational climate. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 29(3),371-392.
Scholl, R. W. (1981). Differentiating commitment from expectancy as a motivating force. Academy of
Management Review, 6(4.)
Venkatesh, V., Bala, H., & Sykes T.A. (2010). Impacts of Information and Communication Technology
Implementations on Employees’ Jobs in Service Organizations in India: A Multi-Method Longitudinal
Field Study. Production and Operations Management 19(5), 591–613.
Yavus, M. (2010). The effects of teachers’ perception of organizational justice and culture on organizational
commitment. African Journal of Business Management, Vol. 4(5), pp. 695-70.

41
The IISTE is a pioneer in the Open-Access hosting service and academic event management.
The aim of the firm is Accelerating Global Knowledge Sharing.

More information about the firm can be found on the homepage:

http://www.iiste.org

CALL FOR JOURNAL PAPERS

There are more than 30 peer-reviewed academic journals hosted under the hosting platform.

Prospective authors of journals can find the submission instruction on the following
page: http://www.iiste.org/journals/ All the journals articles are available online to the
readers all over the world without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those
inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. Paper version of the journals is also
available upon request of readers and authors.

MORE RESOURCES

Book publication information: http://www.iiste.org/book/

Academic conference: http://www.iiste.org/conference/upcoming-conferences-call-for-paper/

IISTE Knowledge Sharing Partners

EBSCO, Index Copernicus, Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, JournalTOCS, PKP Open

Archives Harvester, Bielefeld Academic Search Engine, Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek
EZB, Open J-Gate, OCLC WorldCat, Universe Digtial Library , NewJour, Google Scholar