Table of Contents
Description
This measure, (Commitment to a Parent Company Versus Local Operation) developed by Gregersen and Black (1992), separates commitment to a parent company from commitment to a local operation. It was developed to differentiate commitment foci for expatriate managers. During both domestic and international assignments, employees are affiliated not only with the parent organization to which they will typically return but also become members of a local operation, which is distinguishable from the parent firm. As a consequence, employees may develop dual organizational commitments.
Reliability
In Gregersen and Black (1992), a factor analysis of organizational commit ment items found two distinct factors each relating to the separate targets of commitment. The first factor was composed of four items focusing on com mitment to a parent company, and the second factor reflected commitment to a local operation. Coefficient alpha for commitment to the parent company was .84. Alpha for commitment to the local operation was .72.
Validity
Commitment to the parent organization correlated positively with role con flict and ambiguity. Commitment to local/foreign operation correlated posi tively with role discretion. International experience correlated positively with commitment to a foreign operation, but not with commitment to the parent organization (Gregersen & Black, 1992).
Source
Gregersen, H.B., & Black, J. S. (1992). Antecedents to commitment to a parent company and a foreign operation. Academy of Management Journal, 35(1), 65-71. © 1992 by Academy of Management. Items were taken from Table 1, p. 75. Reproduced with permission of Academy of Management in the format textbook via Copyright Clearance Center.
Items
Responses are obtained on a 5-point Likert-type scale where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.
Parent company items:
- The reason I prefer this parent company to others is because of its values, or what it stands for
- I really care about the fate of this parent company
- I talk up this parent company to my friends as a great place to work
- What this parent company stands for is important to me
Local operation items:
- What my local firm stands for is important to me
- I really care about the fate of my local firm
- I talk up my local firm to my friends as a great group to work with
- The reasons I prefer this local company to others is because of its values, or what it stands for