This field study investigated whether perceived team support and team commitment relate to employee outcomes differently than perceived organizational support and organizational commitment. A LISREL analysis was conducted on data from 380 manufacturing plant employees and 9 supervisors. Job performance was related to team commitment; intention to quit was related to organizational commitment; and organizational citizenship behavior was related to both team and organizational commitment. Commitment mediated the relationships between support and the outcome variables.

A model hypothesizing differential relationships among predictor variables and individual commitment to the organization and work team was tested. Data from 485 members of sewing teams supported the existence of differential relationships between predictors and organizational and team commitment. In particular, intersender conflict and satisfaction with coworkers were more strongly related to team commitment than to organizational commitment. Resource-related conflict and satisfaction with supervision were more strongly related to organizational commitment than to team commitment. Perceived task interdependence was strongly related to both commitment foci. Contrary to prediction, the relationships between perceived task interdependence and the 2 commitment foci were not significantly different. Relationships with antecedent variables help explain how differential levels of commitment to the 2 foci may be formed. Indirect effects of exogenous variables are reported.

This study, which applied meta-analytic procedures, found a significant negative relationship between certain facets of job satisfaction and absenteeism. Findings suggest Ihat sampling errors, scale inadequacies, and Ihe use of different measures of job satisfaction and absence are tbe reasons for inconsistencies in previous empirical researcb tbat examined tbe relationship between job satisfaction and absenteeism. 599

In a U.S. invested enterprise in China, the receptivity of Chinese employees to a participative work environment was examined. Structural equation analysis indicated support for a model in which job satisfaction mediates the relationships between elements of a participative work environment (i.e., tasks performed, the relationships individuals had with their work groups, and the nature of the decision making processes) and employee willingness to cooperate with co‐workers and intention to quit. Task interdependence also had a direct relationship with willingness to cooperate.

Social exchange theory suggests that employees feel commitment toward both their employing organizations and their work teams, while also experiencing varying levels of support from these same entities. Unfortunately, previous work has neither fully explored this possibility nor tested the capacity of currently available instruments to adequately measure the distinctiveness of the associated constructs. To address this need, we collected data from 902 employees in four diverse organizations. As predicted, respondents distinguished among organizational commitment, team commitment, organizational support, and team support. Furthermore, as predicted, perceived support from an entity predicted commitment to that same entity.