An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis on Factors Affecting Organizational Commitment by HR Managers of Private Sector Service Industries

Abstract

Organizational commitment and its link to various other constructs in organizations has been widely discussed in the Western context. However, the Sri Lankan context is less researched therefore, the present study examines the relationship between organizational commitment and contributing factors of organizational commitment within private sector service industries as perceived by five HR managers from private sector service industries in Sri Lanka.The research has adopted Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach to conduct the research. Five Human Resource managers were interviewed using semi structured interviews for the qualitative analysis to explore the factors affecting organizational commitment. The qualitative data revealed three superordinate themes of Contributions to organizational commitment by the employer, employee, and peers. The research suggests an existing need to study the perception of organizational commitment with relevance to employees intensively due to conclusions obtained. Moreover, the study has proven that organizational commitment is being influenced by more than the individual characteristics of an employee. The present study emphasis the need for in depth studies in defining and perception organizational commitment within the Sri Lanka cultural context.