Organizational commitment and intent to leave in senior executives of multinational firm subsidiaries: Cultural and governance-participation influences

Abstract

The current work responds to the lack of studies analysing the antecedents and consequences of organisational commitment in the context of senior executives in MNC subsidiaries. A simultaneous equations analysis using a sample of 101 senior executives of subsidiaries of multinationals with foreign direct investment in Spain confirms that these managers' intent to leave the subsidiary and the multinational is determined by affective commitment and by continuance commitment in its two dimensions (high sacrifice and low alternatives), and that these commitments are in turn determined by the managers' cultural values and their participation in the governance of the firm. The current research offers contributions in three areas. Theoretically, it sheds light on the culture-commitment and governance-commitment relations, and on the explanatory value of affective and continuance commitments. The work offers methodological contributions that should help guide future research. Finally, the work also offers practical recommendations for company managers.