How does participation impact IT workers' organizational commitment? Examining the mediating roles of internal communication adequacy, burnout and job satisfaction

Purpose The purpose of this study is to revisit the relationship between employee participation and organizational commitment to determine the mediational mechanisms that underlie it. Specifically, the study examines the role of three heretofore unexamined mediators, namely internal communication quality, burnout and job satisfaction and empirically tests multiple alternative explanations/paths for the relationship between employee participation and organizational commitment. Design/methodology/approach The data for this study were collected using a cross-sectional online survey of 111 IT professionals (e.g. engineers, technicians, etc.) employed at a public IT company (PITC) in the Midwest of the USA. Findings Overall, the results of this study provide strong support for an indirect relationship between employee work participation and organizational commitment. More specifically, the results of the study show that that relationship is mediated by internal communication adequacy, job satisfaction, as well as the path Burnout—job satisfaction. Originality/value This study makes an important contribution to our understanding of how to make the implementation and evaluation of participative practices more effective. It identifies/clarifies the conditions under which participative approaches are likely to induce employees' organizational commitment.