This study compared organizational commitment and job satisfaction between the private and public sectors in Greece. It found that in the public sector, affective commitment and normative commitment had stronger relationships with both extrinsic and intrinsic job satisfaction compared to the private sector. Specifically, higher levels of extrinsic and intrinsic satisfaction in the public sector led to increasing levels of affective and normative commitment. This is likely because the public sector provides greater extrinsic and intrinsic rewards and conditions, making employees feel higher satisfaction and commitment to remain. However, the study was limited by being cross-sectional and relying on self-reports.

1. ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT
AND JOB SATISFACTION IN TWO
SECTORS IN GREECE:
A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Yannis Markovits1, Ann Davis1,
Doris Fay1 & Rolf Van Dick1, 2
Aston University, Birmingham (1)
Goethe University Frankfurt (2)
contact: markovits@thenet.gr
18th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF IACCP
11 – 15 July 2006, Isle of Spetses

2. Overview
•
•
•
•
•
Contribution – Background
Key variables
The samples
The study
Discussion

3. Contribution - Background (1)
•
DIFFERENCES between private sector and public
sector:
 Attitudes
 Personality
 Values
• IMPLICATIONS OF DIFFRENCES FOR HRM
 Important to examine differences with respect to organizational
commitment and job satisfaction > influences employees’
motivation > reflects to HRM policies
 Examine differences with respect to various forms of commitment
and facets of satisfaction > different implications for HRM

4. Contribution - Background (2)
• Karl & Sutton (1998), Naff & Crum (1999):
 Public sector > intrinsic satisfaction
 Private sector > extrinsic satisfaction
• Coyle-Shapiro & Kessler (2003), Fletcher & Williams
(1996), Goulet & Frank (2002) Rachid (1995), Rainey
(1997)
 Private sector > higher levels of organizational
commitment
• Bourantas & Papalexandris (1999) - Greece
 Private sector > higher levels of activity, sense of
competence, tolerance of ambiguity, Protestant work ethic,
and growth need
 Individual and personality characteristics account for
differences between private sector and public sector

5. Contribution - Background (3)
Private sector
(Greece)
Public sector
(Greece)
Loyalty
Private sector employer
Government and State (oath)
Employment status
Contacted, fixed term
Life-time, secured
Policies and procedures
Determined by each private
sector organization
Determined by law and applied
to all employees
Entrance wage
700 € per month
1000 € per month
Wage and hierarchical
progression
Unclear and unpredictable
Clear and predictable
Wage differentials by
rank
Substantial
Marginal
Unionization
Generally low
Essential
Performance evaluation
and assessment
Unclear and unsystematic
Typically annually

6. Key variables
• ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT (Meyer,
Allen & Smith, 1993; Powell & Meyer, 2004)
 Affective commitment (AC): “Want to stay” – internal feeling and
affect
 Normative commitment (NC): “Ought to stay” – moral imperative
and indebted obligation
 Continuance commitment (CC): “Have to stay” – side bet - low
alternatives and high sacrifices
• JOB SATISFACTION – MSQ (Weiss et al.,
1967)
 Extrinsic satisfaction: Pay, Physical conditions, Security and safety,
Policies and procedures
 Intrinsic satisfaction: Creativity, Development, Achievement,
Accomplishment
• PERSONAL AFFECTIVITY (Watson, Clark &
Tellegen, 1988)
 Positive affect
 Negative affect

7. The samples
• 360 public sector; 257 private sector; response rate:
63%; 50.1% male; mean age: 36
• Educational level: 23.3% Secondary, 24.6%
Technological, 44.8% University, 7.3%
Postgraduates

8. The study
Hypotheses & Results
•
Hypothesis 1: The relationship between extrinsic or intrinsic
satisfaction and affective commitment will be, by and large,
stronger for public sector employees than for private sector
employees.
 Confirmed for both extrinsic satisfaction and intrinsic satisfaction
(2-way interactions, sig. < .001)
•
Hypothesis 2: The relationship between extrinsic or intrinsic
satisfaction and normative commitment will be clearly stronger for
public sector employees than for private sector employees.
 Confirmed for both extrinsic satisfaction and intrinsic satisfaction
(2-way interactions, sig. < .001)
•
Hypothesis 3: The relationship between extrinsic or intrinsic
satisfaction and continuance commitment will be stronger for
private sector employees than for public sector employees.
o Not confirmed

9. The study
Results (1)
6
Affective commitment
5,5
5
private sector
public sector
4,5
4
3,5
3
Low extrinsic satisfaction
High extrinsic satisfaction
2-way-interaction
F(5,596)=47.38, p<.001
Controlled for Affectivity

10. The study
Results (2)
6
Affective commitment
5,5
5
private sector
4,5
public sector
4
3,5
3
Low intrinsic satisfaction High intrinsic satisfaction
2-way-interaction
F(5,597)=61.35, p<.001
Controlled for Affectivity

11. The study
Results (3)
6
Normative commitment
5,5
5
private sector
public sector
4,5
4
3,5
3
Low extrinsic satisfaction
High extrinsic satisfaction
2-way-interaction
F(5,595)=35.75, p<.001
Controlled for Affectivity

12. The study
Results (4)
6
Normative commitment
5,5
5
private sector
4,5
public sector
4
3,5
3
Low intrinsic satisfaction High intrinsic satisfaction
2-way-interaction
F(5,595)=38.18, p<.001
Controlled for Affectivity

13. The study
Results (5)
6
Continuance commitment
5,5
5
private sector
public sector
4,5
4
3,5
3
Low extrinsic satisfaction
High extrinsic satisfaction
2-way-interaction
F(5,596)=4.61, p<.10
Controlled for Affectivity

14. The study
Results (6)
Continuance commitment
6
5,5
5
private sector
4,5
public sector
4
3,5
3
Low intrinsic satisfaction High intrinsic satisfaction
2-way-interaction
F(5,597)=3.89, p<.10
Controlled for Affectivity

15. Discussion
•
•
•
•
Public sector > benefit greater extrinsic and intrinsic
conditions than private sector > feeling higher extrinsic
and intrinsic satisfaction > experiencing increasing levels
of affective and normative commitment
Public sector > extrinsic rewards provided by management
& intrinsic provisions offered > affective and normative
committed
Private sector > extrinsic rewards provided by
management & intrinsic provisions offered > affective
committed > difficult to be managed
Strengths and limitations:
– Large samples
– Cross-sections, self-reports