The Role of Communication in Enhancing Employees’ Organizational Commitment : Exploring the Relationship between Social-emotional-oriented Communication, Work-oriented Communication and Organizational Commitment in China

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to explore the roles of social-emotional-oriented communication and work-oriented communication in enhancing organizational commitment in the context of the People’s Republic of China. Literature regarding the functions of different types of communication was reviewed and the human relations theory was applied as the main guidance of the current research. The study utilized the statistical method to analyze the data collected from questionnaires. A total of 69 employees working in a Chinese local governmental organization participated in the research. Horizontal and vertical social-emotional-oriented communication were examined separately by four indicators: employee’s perceived quantity of social interaction with peers (superiors) within the department, quantity of social interaction with peers (superiors) outside the department, quality of these interactions, and emotional coloring of the interactions. Work-oriented communication was measured by three indicators: employee’s perceived quantity of the organization’s strategic information regarding the policies and development, the employee’s perceived quantity of vertical interaction with management (downward and upward), and the employee’s satisfaction with management’s responsiveness to the upward feedback. Organizational commitment was tested by the three components model: affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment. The findings from regression analyses revealed that social-emotional-oriented communication between subordinates and superiors is a positive predictor of affective commitment, and the perceived quantity of organizational strategic information and vertical interaction with management; and that work-oriented communication is a strong positive predictor of affective commitment and normative commitment. However, the results failed to prove the effects of horizontal social-emotional-oriented communication. The conclusion is that in Chinese governmental organizations, vertical communication and communication regarding work-related topics help to make employees want to stay with and contribute to the employing organization; and the better social-emotional-oriented communication the employees have with superiors, the better work-oriented communication they have at work.