Antecedents of organizational commitment of academics in Thailand: Qualitative analysis

The purpose of the current study was to identify variables that influence the three components of organizational commitment (i.e., affective, continuance and normative commitment) in a sample of academics in Thailand. To achieve this aim, data were collected via self-administered questionnaires. A sample of 407 full-time academics was drawn from three public and three private universities located in Bangkok that were willing to take part in the study. The respondents were asked to answer three open-ended questions in a written format. A large number of categories emerged from the content analysis as antecedents of the three components of organizational commitment. Antecedents of affective commitment included relationship with and support from co-workers, university support, relationship with students, management and systems and professional attachment and significance. Continuance commitment developed when Thai academics perceived loss in compensation and welfare benefits, relationship with co-workers, professional attachment and significance, status and acceptance and lack of job alternatives. Antecedents of Thai academics' normative commitment included professional attachment and significance, responsibility/duty, university support, relationship with students and relationship with and support from co-workers. Future research directions and managerial implications are also discussed.