WORK REWARDS, WORK VALUES, AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT IN AN EMPLOYEE-OWNED FIRM - EVIDENCE FROM THE UK

This study examines the influence of employee work values, demographic characteristics, and organizational rewards on levels of organizational commitment, involvement, identification, and loyalty in a U.K. employee-owned firm. The idea that commitment can be understood as afunction of the “fit” between employee values and organizational rewards was explored. Under multiple regression analysis, demographic variables made little impact on levels of commitment, but both organizational rewards and work values showed significant relationships to commitment. Employees who showed strong participatory values exhibited relatively high commitment; those with strongly instrumental values showed relatively lower commitment, providing some support for the “fit” model. The implications of these findings for theory and practice in the area of employee ownership are discussed. © 1990, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.