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Helena Martins, 2008 1
Paper Presentation
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization
Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins Home Tutor | Teresa Rebelo
Host Tutor | Inés Tomás
Erasmus Mundus Work, Organizational and Personnel Psychology (WOP-P) Master
2008
Dedicada à minha Madrinha. Morte é só o nome que damos à tua ausência física. Farás sempre parte das nossas Vidas e vais estar sempre presente. Dedicated to my Godmother Death is merely the name we give to your physical absence. You will always be a part of our Lives and you will always be present.
Helena Martins, 2008 i
Agradecimentos
O desenvolvimento deste trabalho envolveu várias pessoas sem o contributo das
quais teria sido impossível concretizar o mesmo.
Em primeiro lugar, um obrigada sentido às minhas orientadoras, Professora
Doutora Teresa Rebelo e Professora Doutora Inés Tomás, pela seriedade e dedicação
com que encararam este projecto, pelo seu bom senso constante, e pela forma amigável
e consistente com me orientaram e colaboraram comigo, no que foi e continua a ser para
mim um exercício de aprendizagem contínua, mas também de trabalho em equipa.
Aos responsáveis pelas empresas que colaboram neste estudo, pela
disponibilidade e apoio na recolha de dados, em particular, ao Dr. Manuel Rodrigues, à
Dr.ª M.ª José Patrício e à Dr.ª Sara Santos, da Toyota Caetano Portugal e ao Sr. Abílio
Lima e Dr.ª Sónia Mota, da COLEP CCL.
A todos os Professores do Mestrado, em particular aos que leccionaram em
Coimbra e Valencia, pela partilha de conhecimento, mas também pela discussão e
suporte que nos proporcionaram, oferecendo sempre um estímulo extra, quando o
desânimo se queria instalar.
Aos meus colegas de Mestrado (Erasmus Mundus e Mestrado em Psicologia do
Trabalho e das Organizações), por terem sido verdadeiramente como uma família unida
e altruísta com quem sempre podemos contar em todos os momentos desta “aventura”,
bem como pela abertura de horizontes, carinho e amizade.
À Dr.ª Alice Oliveira e à D. Inmaculada Aleixos pela amizade, apoio constante e
preocupação genuína com todos nós.
À minha família, mas em especial aos meus pais e à minha irmã, e aos meus
amigos de sempre pelo apoio incondicional e compreensão para com a indisponibilidade
pessoal e emocional que este trabalho tantas vezes acarretou.
Helena Martins, 2008 ii
Acknowledgments
The development of this work involved several people without whose contribution it
would have been impossible.
First of all, a heart-felt thank you to my tutors, Professor Teresa Rebelo and
Professor Inés Tomás, for the seriousness and dedication devoted to this project, their
constant sensibility and the consistent and friendly way with which they oriented and
cooperated with me, in what was and continues to be, for me, an exercise of continuous
learning and team work.
To the company-responsible people that cooperated with this work, especially for the
availability and support in the data collection stage, namely Dr. Manuel Rodrigues, Dr. M.
José Patrício and Dr. Sara Santos, from Toyota Caetano Portugal and Mr. Abílio Lima and
Dr. Sónia Mota, from COLEP CCL.
To all the Professors in the Masters, especially those who lectured in Coimbra and
Valencia, for sharing the knowledge, but also for the discussion and support that they
provided, always offering an extra stimulus, when motivation tried to fail.
To my colleagues in the Master (Erasmus Mundus and Mestrado em Psicologia do
Trabalho e das Organizações), for truly being an united and altruistic family, with whom we
could always count on in all the moments of this “adventure”, as well as the opening of
horizons, warmth and friendship.
To Dr. Alice Oliveira and Ms. Inmaculada Aleixos, for the friendship, constant
support and genuine concern with all of us.
To my family, especially my parents and my sister, and to my friends of all times,
for the unconditional support and understanding towards the personal and emotional
unavailability that this work often brought about.
Helena Martins, 2008 iii
Index
Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1
Job Satisfaction ............................................................................................ 7
Organizational Commitment...................................................................... 8
Extra-Role Organizational Citizenship Behaviour .................................. 11
Method .................................................................................................................... 14
Sample and data collection procedures ........................................................ 14
Measures ........................................................................................................ 15
Analysis .......................................................................................................... 18
Results ..................................................................................................................... 19
Construct Validity .......................................................................................... 19
Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) ......................................... 19
Affective, Normative and Continuance Commitment Scale ................... 21 Extra-Role Organizational Citizenship Behaviours: Helping and Voice
Behaviours Scale .................................................................................. 23
Test of hypotheses .......................................................................................... 25
Discussion .............................................................................................................. 28
Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 30
Limitations and Directions for future investigation ...................................... 31
References ............................................................................................................. 31
Appendix – Questionnaire of the Survey ................................................... 38
Helena Martins, 2008 1
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins
Abstract The process of Competences Recognition, Validation and Certification1, also known as
Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL), is an innovative means of attaining school certificates for
individuals without an academic background. The main objective of this process is to validate what
people have learned in informal contexts, in order to attribute academic certificates.
With the increasing interest of the qualification of workers and governmental support, more and
more Portuguese organizations promote this process within their facilities and their work hours. In fact,
nowadays, various Portuguese firms reveal a special concern about learning issues as a key factor in their
competitiveness. Consequently, they tend to invest in strategies oriented towards the enhancement of
human resource competences to improve their learning ability and their performance.
This study explores the relationship between the promotion of this Human Resource
Development Programme and employee’s attitudes (Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment)
and behaviours (Extra-role Organizational Citizenship Behaviours) towards the organization they work
for. Results of a cross-sectional survey of Portuguese Industrial Workers (N=135) in two firms showed
that statistical significant results are in the higher levels of Voice Behaviours (a dimension of Extra-role
Organizational Citizenship Behaviour defined as the proactive behaviors that challenge the status quo in
order to improve Organizational Performance) Concretely, results showed significant higher levels of
Voice Behaviours in the groups of workers who were involved or had graduated from the firm promoted
APL process versus those who were not involved in it. This study represents a first approach to the
subject of APL in organizational context in the Portuguese Population and intends to spur future research
in this area.
Keywords: Accreditation of Prior Learning, Life Long Learning, Job Satisfaction, Organizational
Commitment, Organizational Citizenship Behaviours.
Introduction
In an era where the learner’s earlier educational experiences do not always fit
with the reality of a rapidly changing employment market, and jobs are not “for life”,
accompanied by high rates of experience and knowledge redundancy, along with other
contributory discontinuities in career patterns (Dealtry, 2003), the importance of
lifelong learning is stressed, conveying to the pertinence of a competence-based
approach to learning.
1 In Portuguese, “Reconhecimento, Validação e Certificação de Competências” (RVCC).
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 2
That is to say that the knowledge-based economy, the new technologies, the
growing speed of technological changes and globalisation all influence the needs to
improve the population’s skills and competences (Colardyn & Bjornavold, 2004), as
well as the recognition and the validation of the ones they already have, acquired in
non-formal and informal contexts.
The term “competence” assumes in this context a primary role, as it has become
a more and more used term. It can be defined in several ways, taking in account two
main components: savoir-mobiliser2 (Perrenoud, 1996), and reflexive attitude, because
the validated experiences in this kind of processes are characterized by the knowledge
acquired by a long practice together with observation and reflexion (Fredy-Pinchot,
2004).
Learning is therefore no longer a preparing exercise from which to launch into a
career but an essential activity of career sustaining and growth (Dealtry, 2003).
The Accreditation of Prior Learning is a process that strives to assess and
recognize the non-formally3 attained knowledge. Usually, the subjects are asked to
demonstrate a set of competences referenced as core to the specific qualification they
are aiming at. This demonstration can have practical elements (such as the French bilan
de compétences) but it usually consists of a portfolio of activities in which the adults
demonstrate certain set of competences (e.g. correct use of language, mathematical
competences, etc.).
In practical terms, the process represents somewhat a change in the traditional
academic paradigm, in the sense that obtaining a certificate by the APL process is not
dependent on the transmitting of new knowledge by a teacher, but on the demonstration
of previously acquired competences by the subjects, in informal contexts. Cardinet
(1989, cit in ANEFA, 2002) refers that:
The educational and training systems must ensure every individual the basic
necessary competences for the knowledge society.
2 As opposed to the traditional savoir-faire, pointing to the integration and even synergy of the resources a competence weighs upon, in the sense that it means mobilising a group of resources – knowledge, attitudes, personal traits, etc. to a certain purpose. 3 By “non formal” we mean both the informal, experience-based learning and the non-formal courses that one may attend that are not accredited.
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 3
However, many people acquire them in the course of their lives, astray from
the education and training systems, as a consequence of the different ways of
learning[...]
The accreditation of prior learning from experience, whatever the experience
is, ends up being a fundamental right of the individual. (p.7)
In Europe, despite the differences among the countries that have adopted
accreditation and validation of prior learning systems, there are connecting common
basis and common features, along with an apparent trend to the further promotion of
this kind of validation in other countries as a key point of life-long learning. There is
still, however, a long way to go in terms of European cohesion in order ‘to develop a set
of common principles regarding validation of non-formal and informal learning with
the aim of ensuring greater comparability between approaches in different countries
and at different level’ (Colardyn & Bjornavold, 2004, pp.87)4.
The role of learning validation and accreditation systems is related to the
demand for more co-creative quality assurance solutions in corporate and organizational
learning management (Dealtry, 2003), including the need for a more holistic vision of
human resources management perspective. As we have already said, nowadays, firms
reveal a special concern about learning issues as a key factor in their competitiveness.
Consequently, they tend to invest in strategies oriented towards the enhancement of
human resource competences to improve their learning ability and their performance.
Supporting this investment, a study conducted by Rebelo (2006) reveals that workers’
qualification is a strong facilitator of the existence of a learning culture in organizations,
the type of culture that a leaning organization must have. The results of this study also
support that a learning culture has a positive impact on organizational performance.
The Process of Accreditation of Prior Learning can be developed in a number of
contexts, like refugee camps, centres for the general population, enterprises and
organizations, etc.
4 In Europe, there are APL processes in countries such as Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the UK, but the process is not exclusively European, existing also in other Continents, in countries like, Chile, Canada, Malaysia, Korea, USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc., although having different acronyms such as APEL (Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning), RPEL (Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning), PLAR (Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition), etc.
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 4
This process is carried out by institutions accredited by the same Ministry, called
New Opportunities Centres5, in their own facilities or in organizations that require them
to itinerate there.
In Portugal, the Accreditation of Prior Learning is designed only to attribute
school qualifications (4th, 6th, 9th and, more recently, 12th year of education
equivalences) through a process that involves the attendance of APL sessions where
candidates show some oral communication and citizenship competencies, as well as the
completion of a Personal and Professional Portfolio, where the candidates report
significant past experiences and informally acquired competencies. No previous level of
school attendance is required for any of the levels of accreditation, as long as the adults
prove to possess the competencies referred by the Portuguese Education Ministry in the
law.
In particular, firms have been interested in this kind of validation of their Human
Resources within different schemes and organizational philosophies, cultures and
strategies, as can be seen in Table 1.
Thus, a firm may engage in an APL process for several reasons, depending on
variables such as:
• Focus (individual or collective);
• Purposes/intentions (social recognition, competences management,
professional evolutions, economic positioning, organizational change,
employability promotion, etc.);
• Objectives (social dialogue, assessing/accompanying worker evolution, re-
levelling, reinforcing the corporate image, fitting the qualifications to the
functions, internal and external employability, etc.);
• Implementation strategies (systematically or not, long term or punctually, as
a Human Resource Development instrument, etc.);
• Expected impact (worker motivation, corporate mobility, worker
qualification, organizational performance, corporate social responsibility,
management by values, organizational learning management, etc.),
• Issues faced by the companies at the time;
• Corporate strategy. 5 “Centros de Novas Oportunidades”, in Portuguese.
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 5
Table 1 – Factors that impact on the operationalization of the APL process
(Adapted from MEFI, 2004, and Pette & Devin, 2005)
Corporate Choice Dominant Aspect Aimed Main Impact
Individual logic
(case by case)
Social/motivational Social acknowledgement of the offer to
the workers by the company;
Individual Motivation
Individualized HR
management
Ability to evolve and manage
competences;
Evolution Ability
Collective Logic
(profession,
function,
position…)
Collective mise en
ouvre of the APL
Accompany the professional evolutions;
Professionalizing.
Organizational To operationalize choices and
reconfigure the structure
Revalidating of the job/function.
Economic Developing an image in the competitors’
landscape (enhancing a brand image of
quality).
Employability Improving the positioning in the labour
market
However, the APL process in companies does not necessarily entail a formalised
strategic plan, the possible consequences on the workers’ careers are not a fruit of the
validation per se (but of the acquisition of competences implied by it) and most of the
companies involved do not even acknowledge that are managing by competences
(Layec & Leguy, 2006). In fact, this seems to be much more a de facto rather than de
jure process, in the sense that it brings about a serious of issues (like Corporate Social
Responsibility, Management by Competences, Management by Values, Organizational
Learning Management, etc.) that are not always recognized by the actors of the process
themselves.
Nonetheless, it is evident that this process intended as a Human Resources
Development (HRD) instrument or not, impacts on the workers that submit to it. Studies
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 6
have shown that the APL impacts mainly on the candidates’ self-representation (e.g.
Layec & Leguy, 2006, François & Botteman, n.d., Prodercom, 2004, CIDEC, 2004), but
also on their representation of the company and it’s proximity towards them (Layec &
Leguy, 20066).
In our study, we intend to investigate the impact of this process in the
relationship of Workers with the Firms they work for. Therefore, our sample was
divided in three groups more or less equally distributed, regarding the level of
involvement in the APL process: not involved, currently involved and graduated from
it. The information regarding which subjects were or had been involved in the process
was given by the firms, where the processes took place, whereas subjects who had not
been involved in the process were identified because their academic background was
below the 9th year (the degree that APL aimed at in both organizations) and because
they self-reported never having been involved in the process.
Since our purpose is to verify the differences between the subjects that were or
are involved in the APL process vs. those workers not involved in it, our hypotheses are
formulated in terms of the groups of workers who have finished the process vs. the
workers who are not involved in it, as well as the workers currently involved in the
process vs. the workers not involved in the process.
Because the Worker-Organization Relationship is such a wide subject, we chose
two types of Job Attitudes (particularly Organizational Commitment and Job
Satisfaction), and one type of Behaviours (namely Extra-Role Organizational
Citizenship Behaviours) as the variables in study. This choice was both consistent with
the few studies on APL in firms we have found, that pointed out these variables as
affected by the APL and with the literary review we conducted, where these three
particular variables often appear together. Our perspective was there for to look into the
Worker-Organization relationship in three different angles: of the Worker with the Job
6 The French Minstère de L’Emploi, de La Cohesion Sociale et du Logement – Délégation
Générale à L’Emploi et la Formation Professionelle promoted in 2006, the report by Layec and Leguy about the APL Process in firms, based in 10 case studies. This study had essentially practical and benchmarking objectives since it was meant to put in evidence the situations and contexts favourable to the use of the APL in firms, advantages in terms of HR Management and how best to conduct the Process in firms in order to help candidates attain success in their task. Although the results are mainly qualitative and concern matters that don’t fit in this paper, the reflections about the APL process. as part of the Corporate Strategy and the mention on page 131 that authors believe from their contact with subjects that he APL modifies the representation that workers have on the company make this study a landmark in the arid landscape of APL in Firms literature.
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 7
itself (Job Satisfaction); of the Worker’s attachment to the Organization (Organizational
Commitment) and of the Worker’s actual self-report of going beyond his or her job for
the good of the Organization (Extra-Role Organizational Citizenship Behaviours).
Job Satisfaction
Job Satisfaction has been the focus of thousands of studies and published articles
in industrial-organizational psychology (Resnick & Bond, 2001).
In general, Job Satisfaction is defined as a positive emotional state resulting
from the appraisal of one’s job and is linked to the characteristics of one’s work
(Dressel, 1982; Butler, 1990; Arches, 1991, cit in Sari, 2004), that is to say Job
Satisfaction is usually treated as a collection of feelings or affective responses
associated with the job situation (Imparato, 1972), or “simply how people feel about
different aspects of their jobs” (Spector, 1997, p.2).
Research has positively associated Job Satisfaction with the specific attributes
and occupations of the job, positive attitudes, motivation and life-happiness, leisure and
non-work environment (Tennison, 1996). We hypothesize that Job Satisfaction will
increase with the valuing of the workers competences by the APL process, given the
likelihood of improvement of the positive attitudes, motivation and life-happiness,
commonly associated with a better self-concept (CIDEC, 2004). However, we are
particularly curious about the relationship between APL process and this variable since
it seems also reasonable to formulate that an employee that finds his or her competences
above the job requirements will be less satisfied with it (Person-Job Fit Theory7
[Brkich, Jeffs & Carless, 2002]).
We chose, however, to propose a positive relation between the APL Process and
Job Satisfaction, because we believe that, although plausible, the negative relationship
among the variables will be less common than the one we advocate, since self-efficacy8,
one of the main reported results of the APL process (e.g. CIDEC, 2004) is associated
7 Person-Job fit has been conceptualized as the degree to which an individual’s preferences, knowledge, skills, abilities (KSA), needs, and values match job requirements (Brkich, Jeffs & Carless, 2002). Person-Job Fit is an important determinant of Job Satisfaction (Arvey, Carter, & Buerkley, 1991 cit in Brkich, Jeffs & Carless, 2002). 8 Defined here as the tendency to consider oneself competent (Spector, 1997).
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 8
with internal Locus of Control9, and Job Performance10 aspects reported to relate
positively with job satisfaction (O’Brien, 1983, Spector, 1982, cit in Spector, 1997).
Hypotheses 1a: Workers that have concluded the APL process promoted
in their firms will reveal higher Job Satisfaction compared to those
workers who are not engaged in this process.
Hypotheses 1b: Workers that are doing the APL processes promoted in
their firms will reveal higher Job Satisfaction compared to those workers
who are not engaged in this process.
Organizational Commitment
In the last decades, the concept of Organizational Commitment (OC) has grown
in popularity in the literature of industrial/organizational psychology and organizational
behavior (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990).
Mowday, Porter and Steers (1982, cit in Fields, 2002) who did much of the
original research about Organizational Commitment characterized it as a strong belief in
and acceptance of the organization’s goals and values, a willingness to exert
considerable effort on behalf of the organization, and a strong desire to maintain
membership in an organization. Despite the different definitions and measurements of
OC, there is some agreement that it can be considered as a bond that links the individual
to the organization and that it is inversely related to turnover and withdrawal intentions
(Fields, 2002; Allen & Meyer, 1990), although it is obviously very reductive to consider
that Organizational Commitment is only related to focal intentions to remain with the
organization, since “what employees do on the job is arguably as important as whether
they stay or leave” (Meyer and Allen, 1997, p.13), pointing out to some evidence that
Organizational Commitment is associated to different variables of Performance at Work
(e.g attendance at work, in-role job performance) and Employee Well-Being (Meyer &
Allen, 1997).
9 Locus of Control is a cognitive variable that represents an individual’s generalized belief in his or her ability to control positive and negative reinforcements in life. An internal locus of control leads the subjects to believe that they are able to influence reinforcements (Spector, 1997) 10 Job Performance is defined here as how well the person does at the job.
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 9
Despite the fact that is was originally conceived as an unidimensional construct
(Becker, 1960; Mowday, Steers & Porter, 1979), nowadays it is consensual that
Organizational Commitment is multidimensional (Bergman, 2006; Fields, 2002; Meyer
& Allen, 1997). This fact is originated in the different however complementary
unidimensional views of Organizational Commitment and permits a broader
understanding and functionality of the construct as well as has important repercussions
in the comprehension of its consequences and interactions with other behavioural
variables (Gelatly, Meyer & Lutchack, 2006).
For present purposes, and albeit the different existing OC models (e.g. Mowday,
Porter and Steers, 1982; O’Reilly & Chatman, 1986), we adopted Meyer and Allen’s
(1991, 1997; Allen & Meyer, 1990) three component model. It is defensible that Meyer
and Allen’s (1991, 1997; Allen & Meyer, 1990) is the most studied and empirically
supported model, prevailing in the literature (Bergman, 2006; Meyer, Stanley,
Herschovitch & Topolnytsky, 2002) and being already explored in diverse contexts and
cultures, although most studies are based in the North American reality (cf. Meyer &
Allen, 1996).
Meyer and Allen (1991, cit in Bartlett, 2001) conceptualize OC divided in three
components (rather than types, since they can co-exist): Affective, Normative and
Continuance Organizational Commitment.
Affective Organizational Commitment can be defined as the emotional
attachment with the organization and is related with the worker-organization
identification; Normative Organizational Commitment is the perceived obligation
(ethical or moral) to remain in the organization and, finally, the Continuance
Organizational Commitment is defined as the perceived costs of leaving the
organization (such as lost of seniority or lower pay).
Literally hundreds of studies have examined the relationships between Affective
Organizational Commitment (AOC) and variables hypothesized to be its antecedents
(Meyer & Allen, 1997). In terms of Organizational Variables, AOC seems to be
positively related to the way organizational-level policies are designed, communicated
and perceived as fair. Person Characteristics research in this area has focused on two
types of variables: demographic variables (e.g., age, gender, tenure) and dispositional
variables (e.g., personality, values).
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 10
Overall, the relationship between demographic variables and affective
commitment are neither strong nor consistent (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Dispositional
variables, however, have shown different results, in particular, there is some evidence
that suggests that people’s perceptions of their own competence might play an
important role in the development of AOC (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Of the several
personal characteristics that they examined, Mathieu and Zajac (1990) reported the
strongest link between perceived competence and affective commitment, which leads us
to the following hypotheses:
Hypotheses 2a: Workers that have concluded the APL process
promoted in their firms will reveal higher Affective Organizational
Commitment compared to those workers who are not engaged in this
process.
Hypotheses 2b: Workers that are doing the APL processes promoted in
their firms will reveal higher Affective Organizational Commitment
compared to those workers who are not engaged in this process.
Normative Organizational Commitment (NOC) has been conceptualized to
develop upon several processes. A collection of pressures that individuals feel during
their socialization as newcomers to the organization plays an important role to the
emergence of this kind of OC, as well as the “psychological contract” between an
employee and the organization (Argyris, 1960; Rousseau, 1989, 1995; Schein, 1980, cit
in Meyer & Allen, 1997). A particular type of investment that the organization makes in
the employee – specifically, investments that seem difficult for employees to reciprocate
(Meyer & Allen, 1991; Scholl, 1981, cit in Meyer & Allen, 1997) also appears highly
correlated with the advent of NOC, which leads us to the following hypotheses:
Hypotheses 2c: Workers that have concluded the APL process promoted
in their firms will reveal higher Normative Organizational Commitment
compared to those workers who are not engaged in this process.
Hypotheses 2d: Workers that are doing the APL processes promoted in
their firms will reveal higher Normative Organizational Commitment
compared to those workers who are not engaged in this process.
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 11
Continuance Commitment has been shown to be related to (a) employees’
perceptions about the lack of transferability of their skills (Allen & Meyer, 1990) and
their education (Lee, 1992, cit in Meyer & Allen, 1997) to other organizations11, as well
as (b) the employee’s recognition that leaving is more costly due to the investments he
or she has made in favour of the organization (side bets) and/or (c) the perceived lack of
available alternatives (Meyer & Allen, 1997).
Thus, and given the fact that the APL process increases the educational level and
Global Self-Esteem (e.g. CIDEC, 2004), therefore, typically, increasing the perception
of available alternatives, it is reasonable to hypothesize that:
Hypotheses 2e: Workers that have concluded the APL process promoted
in their firms will reveal lower Continuance Organizational
Commitment compared to those workers who are not engaged in this
process.
Hypotheses 2f: Workers that are doing the APL processes promoted in
their firms will reveal lower Continuance Organizational Commitment
compared to those workers who are not engaged in this process.
Extra-Role Organizational Citizenship Behaviour
Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) can be defined as an individual
behaviour that is discretionary, not contractually guaranteed and that in the aggregate
promotes the effective functioning of the organization (Organ, 1997; Smith, Organ &
Near, 1983).
Organizational Citizenship Behaviour is discretionary in the sense that it is not
an enforceable requirement of the role or the job description, but a matter of personal
choice (such that its omission is generally not understood as punishable) and by “not
contractually guaranteed” we mean that an OCB is not directly or explicitly recognized
by the formal reward system (Organ, 1997).
11 Both Allen and Meyer (1990) and Lee (1992, cit in Meyer & Allen, 1997) demonstrated that employees who thought their educational or training investments were less easily transferable elsewhere expressed stronger Continuance Commitment to their current organization.
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 12
For example, spontaneously helping a co-worker when he or she is in an
occasional overload of work can be considered an OCB in the sense that it is
discretionary (spontaneous, even in this case), it is not contractually guaranteed, as it is
a punctual extra-role activity and promotes the effective functioning of the organization,
since it helps maintain productivity in a time of need. This behaviour would stop being
considered an OCB if (a) the person was requested by a supervisor to help the colleague
or in some way the lack of that behaviour would be punishable (e.g. being a doctor and
not helping a person who is having a heart attack in a social event) (b) that collaboration
with the co-worker was held in account for Performance Appraisal or explicitly
rewarded by the formal reward system (e.g. pay, promotions, etc.) or (c) that behaviour
would be counterproductive to the aggregate functioning of the company (e.g. the
person’s task is more complicated/urgent/important that his or her co-worker’s, the
other co-worker is constantly needing help and the person’s intervention masks the need
for another worker in that job or even the co-workers ineffectiveness, etc.).
This construct, however fashionable at the moment, has been much debated over
time due to the concepts of in-role and extra-role behaviour. Although some of the
original articles referred to OCB as extra-role behaviours, further research verified that
much of the OCB’s were perceived by the workers as in-role, rather than extra-role (cf.
Morrison, 1994, cit in Organ, 1997), a question that inheres the very fuzziness of the
concepts “role” and “job” themselves (Organ, 1997).
In order to avoid the discussion between what employees could consider in-role
or extra-role and to distance ourselves from a discussion that is not the focus of this
study, we chose to approach this subject by restricting our research to the impact of the
APL process to Extra-role Behaviour, using Van Dyne and LePine’s (1998) model,
“Helping and Voice Behaviors” (exposed further on). Also, these were the most
reported changed variables after the APL process in firms (e.g. CIDEC, 2004, Layec &
Leguy, 2006).
Helping Behavior is defined as the proactive behavior that emphasizes small acts
of consideration towards other co-workers, and Voice Behaviors are the proactive
behaviors that challenge the status quo in order to improve Organizational Performance.
Both are seen as extra role behaviors that the employees may undertake at their own
time (Fields, 2002).
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Helena Martins, 2008 13
Ng and Van Dyne (2005) refer that the psycho-social antecedents of Help
Behaviors are essentially group cohesion - defined as “the result of all the forces acting
on the members to remain in the group” (Festinger, 1950, cit in Ng & Van Dyne, 2005)
and cooperative group norms (norms can be defined as regular behavior patterns that
are relatively stable over time and expected by group members [Bettenhausen &
Murnigham, 1991, cit in Ng & Van Dyne, 2005]). Since training as well as the APL
process (given unquestionable contextual similarities) provides a socialization context,
promoting further socialization opportunities and even solidarity among its members
(cf. Geerthuis, Holmes, Geerthuis, Clancy & Bristol, 2002; Bartlett, 2001;
Kontoghiorghes & Bryant, 2004), we propose the following hypotheses:
Hypotheses 3a: Workers that have concluded the APL process promoted
in their firms will report higher Help Behaviours compared to those
workers who are not engaged in this process.
Hypotheses 3b: Workers that are doing the APL processes promoted in
their firms will report higher Help Behaviours compared to those workers
who are not engaged in this process.
Relatively to Voice Behaviours, LePine and Van Dyne (1998) stress the
relevance of Satisfaction with the Group and Global Self Esteem as antecedents of this
variable.
In most organizations, the most proximal work-related source of affect for
employees is their group: when employees must interact with others in their work group
to perform their jobs, their affective response to this interdependence can be a major
source of low and/or high satisfaction (Hackman, 1992, cit in LePine & Van Dyne,
1998). Global Self Esteem, on the other hand, (the degree of positive self-worth that an
individual ascribes to him or herself (Brockner, 1998, cit in LePine & Van Dyne, 1998)
is an important predictor of attitudes and behaviour in work and nonwork contexts
(Brockner, 1988, cit in LePine & Van Dyne, 1998). Global Self Esteem can also be
thought of in terms of self-confidence and generalized self-competence (Tharenou, 1979
cit in LePine & Van Dyne, 1998).
If we consider that one of the main findings on the CIDEC (2004) study on the
impact of the APL process in the Portuguese Population was the increase of the Global
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 14
Self Esteem12, due to a greater awareness of each individual’s own competences and
know-how, we are led to formulate the following hypotheses:
Hypotheses 3c: Workers that have concluded the APL process promoted in their
firms will report higher Voice Behaviours compared to those workers who are
not engaged in this process.
Hypotheses 3d: Workers that are doing the APL processes promoted in their
firms will report higher Voice Behaviours compared to those workers who are
not engaged in this process.
Method
Sample and data collection procedures
Data was collected from employees in two industrial organizations. The two
firms we did our research in are major industrial companies of the automobile and
contract manufacturing business.
Operating since 1946 in Portugal, the firm in the automobile business has
currently about 600 workers and operates in almost all areas of the country, although the
subjects we inquired operate in the Centre and North of Portugal.
The contract manufacturing firm was founded in 1965 in Portugal and merged
with another European Company in 2004, expanding throughout Europe ever since. In
Portugal, the company has about 1000 workers and operates in the centre region of
Portugal.
These Organizations were selected to conduct the study in view of the fact that
APL Processes had already occurred and were currently taking place in both firms. This
was an important factor, due to the nature of our study, where more or less equally
distributed groups of subjects in three different stages of the APL process (not involved,
involved and graduated from it) were needed.
12 Despite specific to the Portuguese Population, these findings are supported by other studies conducted abroad such as Coladryn & Bjornavold (2004), Fredy-Pinchot (2004), CIDEC (2004), MEFI (2004) Layec & Leguy (2006), etc.
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 15
About 150 questionnaires were distributed in the two firms. The authors tried
to collect themselves as many questionnaires as possible, as to personally assure the
workers of the confidentiality and anonymousness and respond to questions/doubts, but,
due to organizational internal security policies, circa 50% of the questionnaires in both
firms were distributed, grouped and returned to the authors by collaborators of the
Human Resources department of the firms in sealed envelopes.
One hundred questionnaires were distributed in the automobile industry
organization and fifty questionnaires in the contract manufacturing firm, according to
the receptiveness showed by the organizations.
Of these 150 questionnaires, about 90% (N=135) were completed and
returned. Specifically, the questionnaires completed and returned were, in the contract
manufacturing company 96% (N=47) of the originally planned, whereas in the
automobile industry it was 88% (N=88).
The sample is comprised of employees in production (60,7%), clerical (5,2%)
and supervisory (17%) positions (17,1% of the subjects did not respond this item).
Males comprised 70,4% of the sample, females, 28,1% and 1,5% of the subjects did not
respond this item. Workers comprised by this sample were between 27 and 59 years old
with a mean age of 42,5 years and a standard deviation of 6,95. The nature of the
inquired subjects’ contracts was as follows: 89,5% had effective contracts, 8,9% had
termed contracts, 2,2% had temporary contracts, 0,7% had other types of agreement
and 2,2% did not respond this item. Seniority of the inquired subjects varied between 0
and 40 years, with a mean of 17,7 years and a standard deviation of 10,7.
According to the objectives of present research, the sample was divided in
three groups regarding the level of involvement in the APL process: not involved
(31,1%), currently involved (40%) and graduated from it (28,9%).
Our study has a non-experimental comparative design (Robson, 2002).
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Measures
Job Satisfaction was assessed using the short version of the MSQ - Minnesota
Satisfaction Questionnaire (Weiss, Dawis, England & Lofquist, 1967), with 20 items. A
5-point Likert-type scale was answered in which choices range from “very dissatisfied
with this aspect of my job” (1) to “very satisfied with this aspect of my job” (5).
Fields (2002, p.7) mentions that over the years, and in several different
investigations where the MSQ was used, different factor solutions were found and refers
to Mathieu’s (1991) work where four factors emerged (satisfaction with working
conditions, satisfaction with leadership, satisfaction with responsibility and satisfaction
with extrinsic rewards) and Moorman’s (1993) work where two factors (one assessing
satisfaction with intrinsic aspects of the job and the other assessing satisfaction with
extrinsic aspects) yield. Spector (1997), however solely mentions two factors solutions
from previous studies for the short version of the MSQ, reporting to the main tendency
of the scale.
Employees’ levels of commitment to their organization were measured using
the revised version of Meyer and Allen’s (1997) 19 item scale: Affective, Normative
and Continuance Commitment Scale (Meyer & Allen, 1997). A 7-point Likert-type
scale was used for measuring respondents’ level of agreement with each statement
(from 1—strongly disagree to 7—strongly agree). In the authors’ version, the Affective
Commitment Subscale contains 6 items, such as “I would be very happy to spend the
rest of my career in this organization”, the Normative Commitment Subscale integrates
6 items, such as “I’d feel guilty if I left my organization now” and the Continuance
Commitment Subscale integrates 7 items, such as “I believe I have too few options to
consider leaving this organization”.
Extra-Role Organizational Citizenship Behaviour was assessed using the 13-
item Helping and Voice Behaviours Scale (Van Dyne & LePine, 1998). Responses to all
items were assessed on 7-point scales (1 -strongly disagree to 7 - strongly agree). The
Helping Behaviours original subscale contains 7 items such as “I volunteer to do things
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 17
for this work group” and the Voice Behaviours subscale integrates 6 items, such as “I
develop and make recommendations concerning issues that affect this work group”.
While selecting the instruments we took in consideration the recommendations
for the psychometric evaluation of measures used in organizational research by Meyer
and Allen (1997).
These authors proclaim that scales should have acceptable internal validity - a
minimum .70 alpha is considered, although as Cortina (1993, cit in Fields, 2002) has
noted, measures with more items will typically yield higher coefficient alpha values
than those with fewer items, other things being equal.
This means it is preferable to choose smaller scales, given comparable alpha
values and construct validity estimates. Scales should also be relatively stable across
time, and items that measure one construct should not correlate highly with items
intended to measure unrelated constructs, and correlate with other constructs that are
expected theoretically, that is to say, convergent and discriminant validity should be
considered (Fields, 2002).
To assess Job Satisfaction we considered using several scales, from various
articles and Fields (2002) work, choosing the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire –
Short Version (Weiss, Dawis, England & Lofquist, 1967), since it presents several
advantages: it is a well known and stable over the time instrument; previous researches
had yielded coefficient alpha values ranging from .85 to .91; is a 20 item scale (in
comparison with the 72 items of the JDI – Job Descriptive Index, for example) and the
MSQ has been widely studied and validated (cf. Mathiew and Farr, 1991, Moorman,
1993, Hart, 1999, etc. cit in Fields, 2002).
Regarding the Organizational Commitment, and as we referred earlier, Meyer
and Allen’s (1991, 1997; Allen & Meyer, 1990) model was the most referenced in the
literature we consulted, and the most used in relational studies.
Hence, we have chosen the 19 item version of this instrument (Meyer & Allen,
1997), in conformity with the above mentioned model. The measure has the advantage
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 18
of discriminating and dealing with the different dimensions of commitment instead of
measuring essentially one kind (usually affective commitment), and had previously
reported alpha values of .77<α<.88 for Affective Commitment, .65<α<.86 for
Normative Commitment, .64<α<.86 for Continuance Commitment (Fields, 2002)
The Helping and Voice Behaviors Scale (Van Dyne & LePine, 1998) was
chosen for several reasons for this study.
First of all, and bearing in mind the nature and timings of our investigation we
found it preferable to use scales that could be applied directly to the subjects and not
involve other participants. In that sense we eliminated a priori all the scales that were
supposed to be only responded by supervisors or co-workers (e.g. the Smith, Organ and
Near’s 1983 Organizational Citizenship Behavior scale).
Although not being a very wide OCB Scale, the Helping and Voice Behaviors
Scale addresses the behaviors that prior studies refer as mainly altered by the APL
process (e.g. help between the co-workers [entreajuda], solidarity between co-workers
[PRODERCOM, 2004]). The fact that the scale is rather specific also allows us to stray
from the current theoretical and methodological controversies in this area (regarding
what employees actually consider to be “in-role” or “extra-role” behaviors, and
therefore a citizenship behavior or their implied duty, inhering the very fuzziness of the
concepts “role” and “job” themselves [Morrison, 1994; Organ, 1997]).
This scale is more parsimonious than most (13 items) and reported coefficient
alpha values by other researchers of 85<α<.95 for helping behaviors and .82<α<.96 for
voice behaviors (Fields, 2002).
All scales were translated from the original version to Portuguese and later
back-translated by an English language native speaker with extensive knowledge of the
Portuguese language, who was not familiar with these scales. This procedure leaded to
small changes in the scales. Later on, a talked reflexion was conducted with a small
group of Portuguese Industrial Workers and final adaptations resulted from this
procedure. Changes in the questionnaire were minor, such as the removal of a simple
line in one of the questions and more significant, in terms of the formulation of some
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 19
items of the different questionnaires (e.g. “A oportunidade de trabalhar de forma
autónoma na minha função” was suggested instead of the originally translated “A
oportunidade de trabalhar sozinho/a na minha função”; “A relação entre o pagamento e
a quantidade de trabalho que faço” resulted from the discussion, replacing the originally
proposed “O pagamento e a quantidade de trabalho que faço”) The final version of the
questionnaire that was used in the study is included as an appendix of this paper.
Analysis
Construct validity estimates the ability of an instrument to measure the
underlying construct of interest (Ellenbecker & Byleckie, 2005). Exploratory factor
analysis (EFA) has traditionally been employed by researchers as a tool to determine the
number of underlying dimensions in a data set (Hinkin, 1995, cit in Brkich, Jeffs &
Carless, 2002) by grouping together variables that are correlated (Tabachnik & Fidell,
2007). Since none of the three questionnaires had been validated for the Portuguese
Industrial Workers Population, we chose to perform an exploratory factor analyses.
To test our hypotheses, we used a multivariate analysis of variance
(MANOVA) design to analyse the data. The independent variables were the three
different levels of APL Process Development (not involved, currently involved and
graduated from it). The dependent variables were Job Satisfaction (2 types: Internal and
External Satisfaction), Organizational Commitment (3 components: Affective,
Normative and Continuance Commitment) and Extra-Role Organizational Citizenship
Behaviours (2 types: Helping Behaviours and Voice Behaviours). Our primary interest
in the MANOVA design was to test for the overall statistical difference of the main
effect and interaction terms. We subsequently used Games-Howell as a post hoc
procedure to examine the substantive nature of main effect differences when they were
found to be statistically significant, given the fact that Levene’s test did not reveal
equality of variances between the groups (Pestana & Gageiro, 2005).
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Results Construct Validity
In our study, principal factors extraction with varimax rotation was performed
on the 20 items from the MSQ (Weiss, Dawis, England & Lofquist, 1967), and on the
19 items of the Affective, Normative and Continuance Commitment Scale (Meyer &
Allen, 1997). Oblique rotation was used on the 13 items of the Helping and Voice
Behaviours Scale (Van Dyne & LePine, 1998): theory suggests that good citizenship is
demonstrated by high levels of both substantive categories (Van Dyne, Graham &
Dienesch, 1994), thus, Helping and Voice Behaviours should be positively correlated
rather than orthogonally related, as is the present case (r=.74, p<.01).
Missing Values Analysis above 15% led us to eliminate some cases prior to
factorial analysis (4 for the MSQ, 9 for the Commitment Scale and 6 for the Helping
and Voice Behaviours Scale).13
Principal components extraction was used prior to principal axis factoring
extraction to estimate number of factors, presence of outliers, absence of
multicollinearity and factorability of the correlation matrices (Tabachnick & Fidell,
2007). The principal components analysis was, therefore, used as an initial step of the
Factor Analysis that produced the prevailing results, since the purpose of our work was
a “theoretical solution uncontaminated by unique and error variability" and we had
designed our study “on the basis of underlying constructs [...] expected to produce
scores in the observed variables” (Tabachnik & Fidell, 2007, p.635).
Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)
Regarding the MSQ, two factors were extracted using principal axis factoring
with varimax rotation, accounting for 43,2% of the variance. Communality values
tended to be high, with a cut off point of 0.32 (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007) for inclusion
of a variable in interpretation of a factor. Six of the twenty variables loaded very closely
in both factors (with a difference lesser than .01) which led us to eliminate them from
13 The remaining Missing Values were replaced by the mean of the item.
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 21
the analysis14. Loadings of variables on factors and communalities are shown in Table
2. Variables are ordered and grouped by size of loading to facilitate interpretation.
Table 2 - Varimax rotated factor matrix based on correlations among the items of the MSQ and communalities (h2).
Extrinsic Job
Satisfaction
Intrinsic Job
Satisfaction
h2
17. The working conditions. ,719 ,047 ,519 9. The way company policies are put into practice. ,685 ,259 ,537 7. Competence of my supervisor in making decisions. ,683 ,168 ,495
6. The way my boss handles his men. ,610 ,387 ,522 18. The chance for advancement on this job. ,603 ,346 ,483 19. The pay and the amount of work I do. ,603 ,214 ,409 1. Being able to keep busy all the time. ,599 ,234 ,414 16. The freedom to use my own judgement. ,534 ,368 ,421 5. The chance to be “somebody” in the community. ,109 ,754 ,580 13. The chance to do something that makes use of my abilities. ,290 ,675 ,540
3. The chance to do things for other people. ,150 ,531 ,305 4. The chance to work alone in the job. ,146 ,530 ,302 12. The chance to tell people what to do. ,234 ,457 ,264 20. The chance to try my own methods of doing the job. ,309 ,402 ,257
% of Variance accounted for 35,6% 7,6%
We named the two factors intrinsic satisfaction (concerning the nature of the
job tasks themselves and how people feel about the work they do, e.g. “the chance to do
something that makes use of my abilities”), and extrinsic satisfaction (referring to
aspects of work that have little to do with the job tasks or the work itself, e.g. “The
working conditions”) according to the content of the items and to what has been most
commonly mentioned in the literature as the results of the Factoring Analysis of the
short version of the MSQ, here used (Spector, 1997)
Although some communalities were below the cut-off point (,32), we chose to
keep the items since there is a good factor loading discrimination and in order to
maintain a balanced number of items in both scales, fundamental in this case, in order to
keep the scale coherent. 14 The eliminated items were: “2. The feeling of accomplishment I get from the job.”. “8. The way that my job provides for steady employment”, “10. The chance to do different things form time to time.”, “11. The praise I get for doing a good job.”, “14. Being able to do things that do not go against my conscience.”, and “15. The way co-workers get along with each other.”.
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Helena Martins, 2008 22
Affective, Normative and Continuance Commitment Scale
The 19 items comprising the scale were subjected to an exploratory factor
analysis, with principal axis factoring. Three factors, accounting for 51,4% of the total
variance were extracted and rotated to a varimax criterion. The items and their factor
loadings are reported in Table 3. In view of the fact that the reverse score items
clustered in dissonance with the remaining scale (given by values of corrected item-total
statistics, ranging between 0,187 and -0,149) we were led to eliminate all the reverse
score items present in this scale15. One of the items in the Continuance Commitment
Scale (“15. If I hadn’t given so much of myself to this company, I would consider
working for another company”) and another from the Affective Commitment Scale (“1.
This organization has a great deal of personal meaning to me.”) were also eliminated
due to low communalities.
Taken together, our results regarding this scale suggest that each of the
psychological states identified in the literature as “commitment” to the organization can
be reliably measured. The independence of the scores of the Continuance Commitment
Scale from the ones on the other two measures was expected. Not expected, however,
was the significant relationship between Affective Organizational Commitment and
Normative Organizational Commitment. In the Portuguese Industrial Workers
population, items from both scales appeared mixed, suggesting that feelings of
obligation to maintain membership in the organization, although not identical to
feelings of desire, may be meaningfully linked, as had already been suggested by Allen
and Meyer (1990) and Herrbach (2006).
15 The reverse score items present in the original scale, eliminated from this factorial solution are: “2. I do not feel a strong sense of belonging in my organization.”, “9. I do not feel emotionally attached to this organization.”; “12. I do not feel any obligation to remain with my current employer” “16. I do not feel “part of the family” at my organization”;.
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Table 3 - Varimax rotated factor matrix based on correlations among the items of the affective, continuance and normative commitment scales and respective communalities (h2).
Continuance
Commitment
Normative
Commitment
Affective
Commitment
h2
14. I believe that I have too few options to consider leaving this organization. ,716 ,083 ,080 ,526
7. One of the few negative consequences of leaving this organization would be the scarcity of available alternatives.
,671 ,098 ,112 ,472
13. It would be very difficult to leave this organization now, even if I wanted to.
,609 ,336 ,284 ,564
19. Too much of my life would be disrupted if I decided I wanted to leave my organization now.
,606 ,263 ,152 ,459
8. One of the major reasons I continue to work for this organization is that leaving would require a considerable personal sacrifice; another organization may not match the overall benefits I have here.
,590 ,194 ,128 ,402
18. Right now, staying with my organization is a matter of necessity as much as desire.
,578 ,154 ,356 ,484
6. I really feel as if this organization’s problems are my own ,024 ,740 ,397 ,706
5. I would not leave my organization right now because I have a sense of obligation to the people in it
,266 ,625 ,315 ,561
17. I would feel guilty if I left my organization now ,185 ,623 ,104 ,434
4. Even if it were to my advantage, I do not feel it would be right to leave my organization now.
,295 ,612 ,139 ,481
10. I owe a great deal to this organization. ,112 ,239 ,726 ,597
11. This organization deserves my loyalty. ,239 ,179 ,725 ,615
3. I would be very happy to spend the rest of my carreer in this organization. ,257 ,280 ,480 ,375
% of variance accounted for 20,9% 16,4% 14,1%
Thus, as was presented before, we considered Normative Commitment, the
factor that includes items 4, 5, 6, and 17 (three of which originally included in the
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Helena Martins, 2008 24
Normative Commitment Scale and one, 6, in the Affective Commitment Scale). These
items semantically report to the feeling of guilt associated with withdrawal intentions,
revealing a feeling of moral obligation/responsibility to remain.
We considered Affective Commitment the factor that includes items 3, 10 and
11 (one originally included in the Affective Commitment Scale, and two, 10 and 11, in
the Normative Commitment Scale), in the sense that the items translate a feeling of
loyalty towards the company reflecting an emotional relationship with it.
In another work Martins, Rebelo and Tomás (in print) have done a Confirmatory
Factor Analysis of this factorial solution using a sample of 307 subjects of the
Portuguese Industrial Workers Population. Results pointed to the best fit of this model
for this specific population.
This has in some way confirmed our belief that these particular dimensions
reflect the specificities of the Portuguese industrial workers population, reporting to
values and circumstances that are distinct from the North-American reality, and include,
for example, a lower tolerance towards professional risk and uncertainty (cf. Hofstede,
1980), that might be translated, for example in an affective bond of loyalty, reflecting
more a feeling of debt to the employer than a feeling of belonging and satisfaction with
the company. (cf. Martins, Rebelo & Tomás, in print, for further details).
Extra-Role Organizational Citizenship Behaviours: Helping and Voice
Behaviours Scale
Self-report responses of employees to the 13 item-scale were factor-analysed
using principal axis factoring. We specified oblique rotation for the analysis of this
scale since we verified that the dimensions (Helping Behaviours and Voice Behaviours)
were positively correlated rather than orthogonally related (r=.74, p<.01), confirming
what was mentioned by the authors of the scale in the seminal articles (LePine & Van
Dyne, 1998; Van Dyne & Le Pine, 1998).
Two items were deleted for loading in both factors simultaneously16; Table 4
lists the 11 remaining items, their factor loadings and communalities. Factor 1 contains
16 The deleted items were: “7. I speak up and encourage others in this group to get involved in issues that affect this group.” and “11. I develop and make recommendations about matters concerning issues that affect this work group.”
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 25
nine Helping Behaviour items, representing the proactive behavior that emphasizes
small acts of consideration to other co-workers; Factor 2 contains two items,
representing Voice Behaviors, the proactive behaviors that express a challenge the
status quo in order to improve Organizational Performance.
Table 4 - Oblimin rotated pattern matrix based on correlations among the items of the
helping and voice behaviour scale and communalities (h2)
Help Behavio
urs
Voice Behavio
urs h2
8. I help others in this group with their work responsibilities. ,910 -,129 ,731
4. I attend functions that help the work group ,909 -,084 ,767 5. I assist others in this group with their work for the benefit the work group. ,832 ,050 ,743
3. I help others in this group to learn about the work ,798 -,038 ,613 9. I get involved to benefit this work group ,771 -,015 ,585 6. I communicate my opinions about work issues to others in this group, even if my opinion is different and others disagree with me.
,740 -,034 ,527
1. I help to orientate new employees in this group ,719 ,176 ,657 10. I volunteer to do things for my work group. ,703 ,081 ,551 2. I speak up in this group with ideas for new projects or changes in procedures. ,637 ,238 ,594
13. I get involved in matters which affect the quality of life in this group -,085 ,982 ,899
12. I keep myself well informed about issues where my opinion might be useful to this work group. ,252 ,522 ,450
% of Variance accounted for 55,5% 9,2%
In summary, the results of the exploratory factor analysis generally support the
two substantive categories originally predicted by the authors of the scale (Helping and
Voice Behaviours), although the distribution of the items across the two factors did not
follow the exact original pattern proposed by the authors, especially in Voice
Behaviours where the only two items of the scale are positively correlated (r=.60,
p<.01).
All three scales and its factors presented high levels of reliability, with α
values of 0,88 for the MSQ (0,87 for the internal satisfaction factor and 0,77 for the
external satisfaction factor), 0,81 for the Affective, Normative and Continuance Scale
(0,75 for the Affective Commitment Scale, 0,81 for the Normative Commitment Scale
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 26
and 0,84 for the Continuance Commitment Scale) and 0,93 for the Helping and Voice
Behaviours Scale (0,75 for the Voice Behaviours Scale and 0,94 for the Helping
Behaviours Scale).
Test of hypotheses
MANOVA was used for the analysis with the sequential adjustment for
nonorthogonality, in the case of Helping and Voice Behaviours (since they were
positively rather than orthogonally correlated). The total N was reduced from 135 to
131 for Job Satisfaction, 126 for Organizational Commitment and 129 for Helping and
Voice Behaviours, due to the deletion of severe outlier cases.
With the use of Wilk’s criterion, we found the set of Helping and Voice
Behaviours to be significantly affected by the participation on the APL Process,
Λ=0,880, F(4 ,240)=3,943, p=0,04, η2= 0,062. However, univariate tests revealed
significant differences to be specifically in Voice Behaviours, and Games-Howell post
hoc procedure that these difference were between the workers who had already
graduated and the workers not involved in the process (mean difference = .79 for
p= 0,006), as well as the workers currently involved versus the workers not involved in
the APL process (mean difference = .67 for p= 0,03).
There was no statistically significant multivariate effect for Job Satisfaction,
Λ=0,987, F(4, 252)= 0,405; p=0,805, η2= 0,006, or Organizational Commitment, Λ=0,973,
F(6 , 240)= 0,555; p=0,766, η2= 0,014.
Hence, workers who are currently undergoing the APL process as well as
workers who have graduated from the APL process seem to display higher levels of
proactive behaviors that challenge the status quo in order to improve Organizational
Performance (Voice Behaviors).
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 27
Table 5 – Averages and Standard Deviations of Job Satisfaction (Intrinsic and Extrinsic Job Satisfaction), Organizational Commitment (Affective Organizational Commitment, Normative Organizational Commitment, and Continuance Organizational Commitment) and Extra-Role Organizational Citizenship Behaviours (Helping Behaviours and Voice Behaviours) as a function of the status in face of the APL Process.
Variable Intrinsic Job Satisfaction
N=134
Extrinsic Job Satisfaction
N=134
Affective Organization
al Commitment
N=132
Normative Organization
al Commitment
N=132
Continuance Organization
al Commitment
N=132
Help
Behaviours N=133
Voice
Behaviours N=133
M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD APL Status
Not involved 4,00 ,643 3,61 ,844 5,39 1,44 4,63 1,332 4,97 1,452 5,93 ,773 5,21 1,354
Involved 3,94 ,695 3,49 ,778 5,50 1,10 4,35 1,538 4,97 1,302 5,99 ,825 5,88 ,904
Graduated from it 4,04 ,496 3,62 ,590 5,63 ,87 4,51 1,144 4,89 ,874 6,20 ,572 6,00 ,677
Although the Multivariate Analysis of Variance yielded statistical significance
only in terms of Voice Behaviours, tendencies of the variables generally don’t seem to
strand from what had been hypothesized, as one can observe in the figures below.
situation of respondent towards the APL processgraduated from itcurrently involvednot involved
Mea
n
5
4
3
2
1
0
Extrinsic Job Satisfaction
Intrinsic Job Satisfaction
Figure 1 - Graphical depiction of the differences between the three levels of
APL process situation in terms of the two dimensions of Job Satisfaction
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 28
situation of respondent towards the APL processgraduated from itcurretly involvednot involved
Mea
n
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Affective Organizational Commitment Average Score
Normative Organizational Commitment Average Score
Continuance Organizational Commitment Average Score
Figure 2 - Graphical depiction of the differences between the three levels of
APL process situation in terms of the three components of Organizational Commitment
situation of respondent towards the APL processgraduated from itcurrently involvednot involved
Mea
n
6
4
2
0
Help Behaviour Average Score
Voice Behaviour Average Score
Figure 3 - Graphical depiction of the differences between the three levels of
APL process situation in terms of the two levels of Helping and Voice Behaviours
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 29
Discussion
Although Accreditation of Prior Learning has existed in Portugal since 2003,
and there are increasingly more studies about the impact of the process, there was a void
in the investigation of how this process effects on firms. The research that does exist
focuses on the individual and on educational features that APL implies. Our research
presents a first effort to understand the implications of this Human Resource
Development instrument in the functioning of organizations, having, in this sense, a
primary character.
Drawing from Social Exchange Theory (Homans, 1958, Gouldner, 1960, Blau,
1964, cit in Coyle-Shapiro, Shore, Taylor & Tetrick 2004), and more specifically from
Psychological Contracts literature (e.g. Rousseau, 1995), it is proposed that employees
would most likely want to reciprocate the companies’ interest in their development with
higher levels of Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment and Organizational
Citizenship Behaviour. We verified that although, generally, variables (with the clear
exception of the Normative Organizational Commitment) reported the expected
tendency, as is visible in the graphics in the Results section, statistical significance was
only found in Voice Behaviours, the proactive behaviors that challenge the status quo in
order to improve Organizational Performance, namely, in terms of involvement in
matters which affect the quality of life in the group and in keeping well informed about
issues where one’s opinion might be useful to the work group.
This finding, although somewhat different from what we had predicted, makes
sense in view of the fact that all the studies that we consulted (Coladryn & Bjornavold,
2004, Fredy-Pinchot, 2004, CIDEC, 2004, MEFI, 2004, Layec & Leguy, 2006, etc.)
point out that the absolute main effect of the APL process in the individual is the boost
in self confidence, self-concept and self esteem, which in it’s turn is the major
antecedent of Voice Behaviours (Van Dyne & LePine, 1998).
It is important to stress that statistical significance was only found in the above
mentioned variable, although the remaining results, namely the variables that did not
follow the tendency we had predicted originally can also provide some interesting
insights. Thus, although our original propositions make sense, there can be covariates
that we have not accounted for, since not all results follow the tendency of our
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 30
hypotheses. Namely, in terms of Job Satisfaction (Intrinsic and Extrinsic)17, for the
group currently involved in the APL process, vs. the group not involved in the same
process; in terms of Normative Commitment (in both subjects that had already
concluded and that were currently involved in the process)18 and, finally, in terms of
Continuance Commitment, in the comparison of the subjects currently involved in the
process vs. subjects not involved in the process at all19.
We believe that the lower Job Satisfaction, both intrinsic and extrinsic, in the
group of workers currently undergoing the APL process vs. the ones not involved can
essentially be associated with a decrease of the life quality and a more difficult work-
life balance, brought about by the effort and time that developing this enterprise
encompasses., resulting in this tendency.
Therefore, while developing the process and in the sense of the widely
accepted theory that Job Satisfaction is very related to Life Satisfaction it self (Spector,
1997), it is possible to conjecture that while involved in the APL Process, subjects may
experience more stress and anxiety and have less time to themselves and their family,
therefore decreasing their Life Satisfaction and thus, also the Job Satisfaction. The
situation seems to reverse as soon as their original balance is restored with the plus of
an increased feeling of self-efficacy and internal Locus of Control, that outputs the
tendency for a higher level of overall Job Satisfaction
Regarding the results of Normative Commitment, the well known demand of
the modern labour market that encourages workers to practice lifelong learning can also
be seen as a demand with a direct enforcement by the companies (e.g., workers who
don’t keep evolving don’t progress in their careers and are more likely to be fired); this
may bring about a sense of necessity rather than opportunity to initiatives like
promoting the APL Process in the company, therefore associating pressure and a sense
of obligation to it. In this context, the worker may see the APL process not as something
17 Hypotheses 1b: Workers that are doing the APL processes promoted in their firms will reveal higher Job Satisfaction compared to those workers who are not engaged in this process. 18 Hypotheses 2c: Workers that have concluded the APL process promoted in their firms will reveal higher Normative Organizational Commitment compared to those workers who are not engaged in this process. Hypotheses 2d: Workers that are doing the APL processes promoted in their firms will reveal higher Normative Organizational Commitment compared to those workers who are not engaged in this process. 19 Hypotheses 2f: Workers that are doing the APL processes promoted in their firms will reveal lower Continuance Organizational Commitment compared to those workers who are not engaged in this process.
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 31
that is being offered but as something that is being implicitly demanded of him or her,
thus altering the sense of the ongoing social exchange and reducing the feeling of moral
obligation to remain in the organization (Normative Commitment), usually preceded by
feelings of owing towards the employer/organization. Currently, in both companies,
although the APL sessions are done on the workers after work hours, sessions are held
in company premises, making it visible to administration and colleagues whether or not
workers are developing this qualification effort.
Concerning Continuance Commitment, actually, despite the discrepancy with
Hypotheses 2f., results don’t dismay our reasoning, in the sense that the levels of
Continuance Commitment are only lower as we predicted in the group that has already
finished the process. That is to say, that only after being certified and having increased
their qualifications/school level, do subjects tend to perceive an increased number of
available alternatives to their current job, and therefore display lower levels of
Continuance Commitment.
We think that these dissonant results play a role as important as the ones that
supported our hypotheses in explaining why workers don’t seem to change their
attitudes in a statistically significant manner (Job Satisfaction and Organizational
Commitment), although interestingly enough, they modify their behaviours (Voice
Behaviours, in this case) in a statistically significant manner, in a way that is positive
for the firm.
Conclusions
It is commonly accepted in the management literature that organizations need
employees who are willing to exceed their formal job requirements (Barnard, 1938;
Katz, 1964; Katz & Kahn, 1978; cit in Morrison, 1994).
This study has shown that firm promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning has an
impact in the workers pro-active behaviour towards Organizational Performance.
Workers who have had their competences validated and workers involved in APL tend
to display a higher involvement in matters which affect the quality of life in their group,
and make a larger effort to keep themselves well informed about issues where their
opinion might be useful to their work group.
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 32
This study represents an important effort in the job of adapting the three scales
to the Portuguese Industrial workers population, since a good part of the work
(translation, back-translation, talked reflection and an Exploratory Factor Analysis
procedure) is done, although having relatively small N for this task, since we have
below 300 respondents (Tabachnik & Fidell, 2007).
We believe that the clues provided by the present study will contribute to the
research of APL as a blooming new valid approach to life-long learning, organizational
learning management and human resource development practice.
In practical terms we hope our contribution will aid the improvement of the use
and implementation of APL processes in Portuguese firms, since it has become clear
that there are some positive changes in the Worker-Organization relationship.
Limitations and Directions for future investigation
One of the limitations of the present study is its cross-sectional design. So, for
future research, we think it would be interesting to make a longitudinal study, with this
population, in order to understand the evolutions of these and other dependent variables
that could be relevant (such as the innovations of workers in their work context). Also,
there is another status concerning the APL process that due to circumstantial constraints
could not be included in this study: the workers who have started the APL process but
that for one reason or another didn’t conclude it, that is to say, gave up. Does the
Worker-Organization Relationship suffer any changes? And if so, what are they?
We also think it would be very interesting to understand how the reverse
relationship (Organization-Worker) is affected by the APL process, e.g., since we found
that workers who had finished successfully the APL process reported higher levels of
Voice Behaviours, does that mean that companies tend to empower their workers more,
after they validated their informal and non-formal competencies?
Impact of Firm-promoted Accreditation of Prior Learning Processes on the Worker-Organization Relationship: a cross-sectional survey in Portuguese Industrial Firms
Helena Martins, 2008 33
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Appendix
Questionnaire of the Survey
Helena Martins, 2008 39
FACULDADE DE PSICOLOGIA E CIÊNCIAS DA EDUCAÇÃO
UNIVERSIDADE DE COIMBRA NEFOG – Núcleo de Estudos e Formação em Organização e Gestão
O presente questionário insere-se num estudo sobre o impacto do processo de
Reconhecimento, Validação e Certificação de Competências (RVCC) nas Empresas.
Todas as respostas que lhe solicitamos são rigorosamente anónimas e confidenciais.
Leia com atenção as instruções que lhe são dadas, certificando-se de que compreendeu
correctamente o modo como deverá responder. Responda sempre de acordo com aquilo
que faz, sente ou pensa, pois não existem respostas correctas ou incorrectas, nem boas
ou más respostas.
Muito obrigado pela sua colaboração!
Helena Martins, 2008 40
Caracterização 1 Sexo: Masculino…. Feminino…. 2 Idade: ____ anos
3 Tipo de Contrato Temporário Efectivo Contrato a
termo Outro Qual?___________________
4 Onde desempenha funções (Departamento e/ou Secção): 5 Função que actualmente desempenha 6 Há quanto tempo está na empresa:
Se não está nem nunca esteve envolvido no processo de RVCC, responda à secção 1;
Se está de momento a frequentar o processo, passe para a secção 2;
Se já concluiu o processo, preencha a secção 3.
1 Responda a esta secção apenas se não frequenta nem nunca frequentou o processo de RVCC
Qual é a sua habilitação escolar? a) inferior ao 1.º Ciclo de Ensino Básico (antiga 4.ª classe) b) 1.º Ciclo de Ensino Básico (antiga 4.ª classe) c) 2.º Ciclo de Ensino Básico (antigo Ciclo Preparatório) d) Frequência do 3.º Ciclo de Ensino Básico (7.º ao 9.º ano), embora incompleto
Considera importante para si vir a frequentar o processo de RVCC?
Nada importante
Pouco importante
Mais ou menos
importante Importante Muito
importante
2 Responda a esta secção apenas se está actualmente a frequentar o processo de RVCC
Antes de ingressar no processo de Reconhecimento, Validação e Certificação de Competências (RVCC), qual era a sua habilitação escolar? a) inferior ao 1.º Ciclo de Ensino Básico (antiga 4.ª classe) b) 1.º Ciclo de Ensino Básico (antiga 4.ª classe) c) 2.º Ciclo de Ensino Básico (antigo Ciclo Preparatório) d) Frequência do 3.º Ciclo de Ensino Básico (7.º ao 9.º ano), embora incompleto
Quando começou o processo (mês e ano) ? _______________
Considera importante para si frequentar o processo de RVCC?
Nada importante
Pouco importante
Mais ou menos
importante Importante Muito
importante
3 Responda a esta secção apenas se já concluiu o processo de RVCC
Antes de ingressar no processo de Reconhecimento, Validação e Certificação de Competências (RVCC), qual era a sua habilitação escolar? a) inferior ao 1.º Ciclo de Ensino Básico (antiga 4.ª classe) b) 1.º Ciclo de Ensino Básico (antiga 4.ª classe) c) 2.º Ciclo de Ensino Básico (antigo Ciclo Preparatório) d) Frequência do 3.º Ciclo de Ensino Básico (7.º ao 9.º ano), embora incompleto
Qual é a sua actual situação escolar? Há quanto tempo concluiu o processo (mês e ano) ? _______________ Desde que concluiu, mudou de funções? Não Sim Se respondeu que sim, qual a sua função anterior? Desde que concluiu, mudou de categoria profissional? Não Sim Se respondeu que sim, que outros benefícios trouxe?
Considera que foi importante para si frequentar o processo de RVCC?
Nada importante
Pouco importante
Mais ou menos
importante Importante Muito
importante
Helena Martins, 2008 41
Responda às seguintes questões, indicando a sua opinião de 1 (muito insatisfeito com este
aspecto do meu trabalho) a 5 (muito satisfeito com este aspecto do meu trabalho)
Mui
to In
satis
feito
com
est
e as
pect
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meu
trab
alho
Insa
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om e
ste
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eu tr
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Não
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dec
idir
se e
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satis
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ou
insa
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ito c
om
este
asp
ecto
do
meu
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Satis
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meu
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Mui
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abal
ho
1. A forma como o meu trabalho me permite estar ocupado o tempo todo. 1 2 3 4 5
2. A sensação de realização pessoal que o meu trabalho me dá. 1 2 3 4 5
3. A oportunidade de fazer coisas pelos outros. 1 2 3 4 5
4. A oportunidade de trabalhar de forma autónoma na minha função. 1 2 3 4 5
5. A oportunidade de ser alguém na comunidade. 1 2 3 4 5
6. A forma como o meu chefe lida com os seus subordinados. 1 2 3 4 5
7. A competência do meu supervisor em termos de tomada de decisão. 1 2 3 4 5
8. A forma como a minha função me permite ter um emprego seguro. 1 2 3 4 5
9. A forma como as políticas da empresa são postas em prática. 1 2 3 4 5
10. A oportunidade de fazer coisas diferentes de tempos a tempos. 1 2 3 4 5
11. O reconhecimento que tenho por fazer um bom trabalho. 1 2 3 4 5
12. A oportunidade de dizer aos outros o que fazer. 1 2 3 4 5
13. A oportunidade de fazer algo que me permite utilizar as minhas capacidades. 1 2 3 4 5
14. Poder fazer coisas que não vão contra a minha consciência. 1 2 3 4 5
15. A forma como os colegas se dão uns com os outros. 1 2 3 4 5
16. A liberdade para tomar algumas decisões. 1 2 3 4 5
17. As condições de trabalho. 1 2 3 4 5
18. A oportunidade de progressão neste trabalho. 1 2 3 4 5
19. A relação entre o pagamento e a quantidade de trabalho que faço. 1 2 3 4 5
20. A oportunidade de usar os meus próprios métodos para fazer o meu trabalho. 1 2 3 4 5
Helena Martins, 2008 42
Responda às seguintes questões, indicando a sua opinião de 1 (discordo completamente) a 7
(concordo completamente).
Dis
cord
o C
ompl
etam
ente
Dis
cord
o B
asta
nte
Dis
cord
o Li
geira
men
te
Não
Con
cord
o ne
m D
isco
rdo
Con
cord
o Li
geira
men
te
Con
cord
o B
asta
nte
Con
cord
o C
ompl
etam
ente
1. Esta empresa tem muito significado pessoal para mim. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 2. Não tenho um grande sentimento de pertença para com esta empresa. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 3. Gostaria muito de desenvolver o resto da minha carreira nesta empresa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 4. Mesmo sendo vantajoso para mim, não acho que fosse correcto deixar a
minha empresa agora. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
5. Não deixaria a minha empresa neste momento porque me sinto obrigado/a para com as pessoas que nela trabalham. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
6. Sinto mesmo os problemas desta empresa como meus. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7. Uma das poucas consequências negativas de deixar esta empresa seria a
falta de alternativas disponíveis. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8. Uma das maiores razões para eu continuar a trabalhar nesta empresa é que sair iria requerer um sacrifício pessoal muito considerável (outra empresa poderia não oferecer todos os benefícios que tenho aqui).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
9. Não me sinto ligado emocionalmente a esta empresa. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10. Devo muito a esta empresa. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11. Esta empresa merece a minha lealdade. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12. Não sinto qualquer obrigação de permanecer com o meu empregador
actual. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
13. Seria muito difícil deixar esta empresa agora, mesmo se eu quisesse. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 14. Sinto que tenho muito poucas opções para considerar sair desta
empresa. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
15. Se já não tivesse dado tanto de mim a esta empresa, consideraria trabalhar noutro sítio. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
16. Não me sinto como fazendo “parte da família” nesta empresa. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 17. Sentir-me-ia culpado/a se deixasse a minha empresa agora. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 18. Neste momento, permanecer na minha empresa é uma questão tanto de
necessidade, como de vontade. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
19. Demasiadas coisas na minha vida seriam “abaladas” se eu decidisse sair da minha empresa agora. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Helena Martins, 2008 43
Responda às seguintes questões, indicando a sua opinião de 1 (discordo completamente) a 7
(concordo completamente).
Dis
cord
o C
ompl
etam
ente
Dis
cord
o B
asta
nte
Dis
cord
o Li
geira
men
te
Não
Con
cord
o ne
m D
isco
rdo
Con
cord
o Li
geira
men
te
Con
cord
o B
asta
nte
Con
cord
o C
ompl
etam
ente
1. Ajudo a orientar novos empregados no meu grupo de trabalho. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 2. Falo no meu grupo sobre ideias para novos projectos e mudanças nos
procedimentos. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3. Ajudo outros no grupo a aprender sobre o trabalho. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 4. Desempenho algumas funções para ajudar o grupo de trabalho. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 5. Ajudo outros colegas do grupo no seu trabalho de forma a beneficiar
todo grupo. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
6. Comunico as minhas opiniões acerca do trabalho a outras pessoas do grupo, mesmo que as minhas opiniões sejam diferentes ou se discordarem de mim.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
7. Falo e encorajo outros colegas a envolver-se em assuntos que dizem respeito a este grupo. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8. Ajudo outras pessoas no grupo nas suas responsabilidades no trabalho. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9. Envolvo-me para beneficiar o grupo de trabalho. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10. Ofereço-me para fazer coisas pelo meu grupo de trabalho. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11. Desenvolvo e faço recomendações sobre assuntos que dizem respeito
ao meu grupo de trabalho. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
12. Mantenho-me bem informado acerca de assuntos em que a minha opinião possa ser útil a este grupo de trabalho. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
13. Envolvo-me em assuntos que dizem respeito à qualidade de vida deste grupo. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Muito Obrigada pela sua Colaboração!