Investigating the relationship between work ethics and organizational commitment of employees of Semnan Regional Water Company

Dissertation for Master Degree (M.A.)

Tension: Human Resource Management

Abstract

This research tries to analyze the relationship between work ethics and organizational commitment. In this regard, the four-part model of Gary Guricipti and the three-part model of Allen and Meyer are used as the theoretical framework of the research. The main hypothesis of the study is: there is a relationship between work ethics and organizational commitment among the employees of the regional water company of Semnan province. The independent variable is work ethics, whose components are: interest in work, perseverance in work, human relations in work and participation in work, and the dependent variable is emotional commitment, normative commitment, and continuous commitment. The statistical population of this research consists of the employees of the regional water company of Semnan province, and the sample size of this research includes 98 people. The method of data collection includes the 23-question standard questionnaire of Gary Gorey Patty (1990) and the 24-question standard questionnaire of Allen and Meier. Analysis methods were performed using Cronbach's alpha, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, binomial, Yeoman-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, Kendall-Tao b tests. The results of the tests showed that there is no relationship between work ethics and organizational commitment of employees. Organizational commitment does not have a significant difference among demographic study groups such as gender, age, education degree, and job levels, but there is a significant difference among the components of work ethic, interest in work, and human relations at work among different age groups.

Key words: work ethic, organizational commitment, interest in work, perseverance at work, human relations at work, and participation in work. Look at organizations, especially in the last decade and especially entering the third millennium, attention to the role of human resources in organizations has been increasingly emphasized. Today, in the light of social changes and the emergence of new management theories, new global values ??have been proposed, therefore, the worldview and anthropological views of managers have changed and the position of human beings has been elevated and improved compared to before. Therefore, various organizations seek to educate people who can live in the global society away from prejudice and short-sightedness, believe in morals and sublime values, and respect the rights and freedom of others. In the current situation, non-observance of some ethical standards has caused many concerns in the government and non-government sectors. The fall of behavioral standards in the public sector has forced researchers to search for theoretical bases in this regard so that they can provide the appropriate implementation path. Therefore, one of the main concerns of efficient managers at different levels is how to create suitable platforms for human factors working in all professions so that they work with a sense of responsibility and full commitment to issues in society and their profession and observe the ethical principles governing their jobs and professions. Therefore, according to the importance of work ethics and organizational commitment, in this research we will examine the relationship between work ethics and organizational commitment of the employees of Semnan Regional Water Company and also in this chapter we will examine the statement of the problem, its importance, goals, questions, assumptions, primary analysis model, variables, theoretical and operational definitions, data analysis method and research process model. And the increasing development and rapid changes in today's organizations, the increase in competition between them and the complexity of administrative rules and regulations have caused dry and soulless rules and regulations to dominate the administrative space of organizations and managers neglect to pay attention to the most important capital of the organization (human power). Since the management of people's affairs was recognized as a profession and expertise, those in charge of this matter were advised to always keep moral principles and conscience in mind (Mirspasi, 1372, p. 115). The basis of all values ??in the organization are moral values, these values ??help to establish and maintain standards that can influence the direction of people towards the actions that are desirable for the organization, especially when the standards or moral values ??of the organization are widely spread among the members, organizational success increases (Bahari Far, Javaheri Kamel, 1389, p. 115).

Ethics is a necessity of a healthy society and due to its positive individual, organizational and social functions and consequences, it has always attracted the attention of scientists and managers of organizations to try to maintain and improve its level (Rezaei Menesh, 2013, p. 26). The organization plays an important role in the individual behavior of employees. Creating ethical values ??at the organization level can lead to a higher level of ethical behavior of employees through influencing other organizational variables.

Another reason that has been put forward to pay attention to ethics is that the actions and behavior of agents and managers of the public sector are under the scrutiny of society and all people and politicians (Rezaei Menesh, 2013). Examining ethical principles from the perspective of management is a broad discussion. In a period of management where the flexibility of organizations in front of market changes is discussed, the changeability of employees and at the same time, motivation is very key for this matter. In other words, the organizations have reached the belief that the guidance and control of human resources is not possible only through methods, instructions and bylaws (Yekin Lu, 2012, p. 127).

Given the valuable position of commitment and its essential role in the efficiency and effectiveness of organizations, it is necessary to identify the factors affecting it. It seems that one of the factors affecting organizational commitment is managerial ethics.

Commitment is one of the main pillars of ethics in any society. For this reason, this concept of membership is central to all theories of ethics (Yaqin Lu, 2012). Many factors can be effective in creating employee commitment and adherence. Based on the research of researchers inside and outside the country, factors such as job satisfaction, job security, participation in decision-making, employee values, etc. They are known as effective factors on organizational commitment.  

In this research, the dimensions of work ethic are interest in work, perseverance in work, human relations in work, and participation in work, and the dimensions of organizational commitment, emotional commitment, normative commitment, and continuous commitment are that the presence of these dimensions leads employees to be committed and committed, do their work more regularly, stay longer in the organization and work more. And the weakness in the ethics system leads to a decrease in communication and an increase in organizational losses. These assumptions have become so important today that they consider success to be based on professional ethics. 1-2 Importance of Research The necessity and importance of any research is related to its theoretical and practical results and rules. That is, it should be related to the richness and progress of thinking on the one hand and to the knowledge of the facts on the other hand, to identify the factors that pass the scientific tests and according to the specific conditions of each organization, it is possible to design a useful plan for its correction and improvement. Peter Drucker says about the importance of ethics for managers, especially top managers: if the manager lacks good ethics or does not work properly, he will destroy the spirit and life of the organization. Today, the principles of professional ethics are considered a prerequisite in the management of organizations. If we accept that the functions of management are related to responsibility and accountability in the true sense, and if we consider accountability to be derived from adherence to ethical principles, we will reach the basic principle that professional ethics is a knowledge that must be created and supported based on a logical and rational course (Sarmadi and Shalbaf, 2016, p. 86). Ethical responsibility increases the level of predictability of the organization and consequently increases the level of trust-building of the organization (Faramarz Qaramelki, 2012, pp. 33-88).

Ethics is one of the most important religious topics and in a sense constitutes the most important goal of divine prophets (cultural heritage). , has directed many studies in its direction. In this regard, the Supreme Leader said in his advice to the Ninth Government, "Commitment to work, expertise in doing things should be the basis for employing forces in the government body." Therefore, managers must maintain the commitment and adherence of employees to the organization, and for this, they must increase commitment and adherence by involving employees in decision-making and providing an acceptable level of feeling that the job is important for them. (Meeting of the Ninth Government Board with the Supreme Leader, 2015)

According to what was said, the necessity of this research is to identify the relationship between the work ethics of managers and the organizational commitment of employees. If there is such a relationship, we can hope that by improving the work ethic of the managers, we can expect the organizational commitment of the employees.