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Organizational Commitment and Conflicting Values: The Impact of Systems of Norms in Six Western Countries

Department of Sociology, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden, calle.hult{at}soc.umu.se

This study compares organizational commitment in six western countries: USA, Great Britain, New Zealand, Germany, Norway, and Sweden. The main focus is on the hypothesized existence of conflicting values due to different systems of norms. The assumption made is that the central norms, values, and expectations in any particular work organization, originate in a more general technical/economic system of norms; and that subordinated groups, supporters of left-wing values, those identifying with lower social classes, and union members all espouse other systems of norms, which are not entirely compatible with this technical/economic system, and that these groups are therefore likely to display lower organizational commitment than other groups. The results in this paper do suggest the existence of conflicting norms and that this has implications for organizational commitment. The most noteworthy finding is that organizational commitment correlates with right-wing political values in five of the six countries. Other similarities and differences between the countries are also identified and discussed, and new avenues for further comparative research are suggested.

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