HRM practices and organizational commitment profiles in Brazil

The implications of HRM practices for employee commitment continue to be of interest to researchers and practitioners around the globe. Although much of the research focuses on affective commitment (AC), attention has also been paid to normative (NC) and continuance (CC) commitment in accord with the three-component model (TCM; Meyer & Allen, 1991). These components are typically considered individually in traditional variable-centered studies and are often found to relate differently with other variables, including HRM practices. In the present investigation we adopted an increasingly popular person-centered approach to identify commitment profiles (i.e., distinct configurations of AC, NC, and CC) using data from samples of retail (N = 564) and university (N = 480) employees in Brazil. We then examined relations between the profiles and perceptions of HRM practices (both samples) as well as job satisfaction and turnover intention (university sample only). Using latent profile analysis (LPA), we identified weak, exchange-based, and value-based commitment profiles in both samples similar to those observed in previous research in other countries. Perceptions of HRM practices, particularly stability-oriented practices (e.g., involvement), predicted membership in value-based, and to a lesser extend exchange-based, profiles. Value-based profiles were associated with greater job satisfaction and lower turnover intention. Although value-based profiles reflect strong AC, they can also include strong CC and/or NC. Consequently, our findings serve to qualify conclusions regarding CC and NC in variable-centered research. Implications for future research and HRM practice are discussed.