Examining the relationship between top management commitment, HRM practices and employee organization commitment at Vietnamese garment companie

s that can be achieved (Beck and Wilson, 2000). The strength and weakness of continuance commitment or, in other words, the need to stay is determined by the perceived costs of leaving the organization (Meyer and Allen, 1984). Therefore, to retain employees with continuance commitment, the organization needs to pay more attention to them and encourage focus on the factors that can strengthen the morale of these people so that they can stick in a more affective way to their organization. c. Normative commitment Wiener and Vardi (1980) describe an ethical commitment as an individual's work behavior driven by a sense of responsibility, obligation, and loyalty to their organization. The degree of strength and weakness of the moral commitment is influenced by the recognized laws of the cyclic obligations an organization has to its employees (Suliman and Iles, 2000). This cyclic obligation is derived from the Social Exchange Theory, which states that an individual who receives an interest feels obligated or an ethical rule to return benefits. that in a way (McDonald and Makin, 2000). This explains why an individual always feels an obligation to pay back an organization that invests a lot in them eg providing them with many training and development opportunities. 2.1.2. Studies of HRM practices impact to employees’ organizational commitment HRM practices are also seen as effective tools to enhance organizational commitment (Ulrich, 1997). Studies have been carried out in many countries in various fields such as banking, academia, IT software industry, high technology industries and manufacturing industries and the results show that HRM practices have a significant positive effect on organizational commitment (Browning, 2006; Nasurdin et al, 2008; Hemdi, 2009; Herrbach et al., 2009; Gellatly et al., 2009; Tremblay, 2010; Scheible and Bastos, two thousand and thirteen). 2.1.3. Studies on the relationship of top management commitment, HRM practices and employees’ organizational commitment In general, literature review shows that organizations that create and maintain good relationships between employees and their managers benefit more from the higher level of work motivation, organizational commitment and employee satisfaction, which in turn has a positive impact on performance (Becker et al., 1996; Benkhoff, 1997; Leung et al., 2004). Through collaboration, implementing HRM practices, top management needs to provide enough support to show that they value and respect their employees as valuable assets, thereby leading lead employees to be committed and satisfied with the organization and to be accountable for their job (Lee et al., 2017). 2.1.4. Conclusions from literature review - Previous studies highlight the key role of top management commitment in many activities in the organization, however, studies of the impact of top management commitment on employee organizational commitment or on its dimensions such as affective commitment is rather limited (Babakus et al 2003). In Vietnam, the top management commitment may play an even more important role than in Western countries because the Vietnamese culture has many characteristics of top-down hierarchical governance. Employee often relies on senior managers for decision making (Tiessen, 1995). This is an additional gap that the thesis has tried to focus to. - Literature review also shown that most previous studies go into research of specific effects of only some HRM practices on employee's organizational commitment. Therefore, many scholars suggested that there should be studies on the simultaneous effects of HRM pratices instead of focusing on individual activities (Eaton, 2003; Benson, 2006 ; Sweins and Kalmi, 2008; Farndale et al., 2011) to study the direct effect of these HRM practices on three dimensions of employees’ organizational commitment. This is also a research gap that requires more attention. - Previous studies have mostly focused on the direct impact of top management commitment or HRM practices on employee's organizational commitment. Conducting a study focus on HRM practices contingency impact on the relationship between top management commitment and employees’ organizational commitment will provide more concrete and realistic evidence for more insightful and useful measures. However, a review of recent studies shows that there are very few studies conducted this "double" relationship impact of HRM practices. This can be considered as a gap that has not been fully researched and needs to be further explored. 2.2. Research model and hypothesis 2.2.1. Research model 2.2.2. Hypotheses 2.2.2.1. Top management commitment H1: Top management commitment has a positive direct relationship with affective commitment of employee. H2: Top management commitment has a positive direct relationship with continuance commitment of employee. H3: Top management commitment has a positive direct relationship with normative commitment of employee. 2.2.2.2. HRM practices a. Recruitment and Selection H4: Recruitment and selection has a positive direct relationship with affective commitment of employee. H5: Recruitment and selection has a positive direct relationship with continuance commitment of employee. H6: Recruitment and selection has a positive direct relationship with normative commitment of employee. b. Appraisal system H7: Appraisal system has a positive direct relationship with affective commitment of employee. H8: Appraisal system has a positive direct relationship with continuance commitment of employee. H9: Appraisal system has a positive direct relationship with normative commitment of employee. c. Training and development HRM practices 1. Recruitment and selection 2. Appraisal system 3. Training and development 4. Working environment 5. Employee compensation Top management commitment Employees’ organizational commitment H10: Training and development has a positive direct relationship with affective commitment of employee. H11: Training and development has a positive direct relationship with continuance commitment of employee. H12: Training and development has a positive direct relationship with normative commitment of employee. d. Working environment H13: Working environment has a positive direct relationship with affective commitment of employee. H14: Working environment has a positive direct relationship with continuance commitment of employee. H15: Working environment has a positive direct relationship with normative commitment of employee. e. Employee compensation H16: Employee compensation has a positive direct relationship with affective commitment of employee. H17: Employee compensation has a positive direct relationship with continuance commitment of employee. H18: Employee compensation has a positive direct relationship with normative commitment of employee. 2.2.2.3. Contingency impact of HRM practices on the relationship between top management commitment and employees’ organizational commitment. H16a: Recruitment and selection moderates the relationship between top management commitment and affective commitment positively H16b: Recruitment and selection moderates the relationship between top management commitment and continuance commitment positively H16c: Recruitment and selection moderates the relationship between top management commitment and normative commitment positively H17a: Appraisal system moderates the relationship between top management commitment and affective commitment positively H17b: Appraisal system moderates the relationship between top management commitment and continuance commitment positively. H17c: Appraisal system moderates the relationship between top management commitment and normative commitment positively. H18a: Training and development moderates the relationship between top management commitment and affective commitment positively. H18b: Training and development moderates the relationship between top management commitment and continuance commitment positively. H18c: Training and development moderates the relationship between top management commitment and normative commitment positively. H19a: Working environment moderates the relationship between top management commitment and affective commitment positively. H19b: Working environment moderates the relationship between top management commitment and continuance commitment positively. H19c: Working environment moderates the relationship between top management commitment and normative commitment positively. H20a: Employee compensation moderates the relationship between top management commitment and affective commitment positively. H20b: Employee compensation moderates the relationship between top management commitment and continuance commitment positively. H20c: Employee compensation moderates the relationship between top management commitment and normative commitment positively. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1. Selection of method Like all doctoral dissertations, this thesis is also limited in terms of time and other resources, so according to Creswell (1994), the quantitative method is the most suitable choice. Therefore, the thesis uses quantitative method for this study. 3.2. Data collection method The thesis collects data according to the most commonly used method when quantitative research is to use survey questionnaires. Today, online surveys are truly the cheapest tool for data collection, but for respondents who are garment workers and limit their understanding of technology and technical infrastructure in order to be able to access online questionnaires. Thus, the author believes that the postal questionnaire is the most suitable tool to survey in this case. 3.3. Sampling method 3.3.1. Sample The thesis selected garment companies that are members of the largest association, the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) as a sample for this study. Basic information about companies is obtained from official VITAS data. 3.3.2. Sample size Samples are taken by random. According to Hair et al. (2009), the number of samples needed is 5 times higher than the number of observed variables. With the current model and questionnaire with all 63 observed variables, the minimum number of samples needed is 315. To ensure the reliability of the survey and to prevent low response rates and data risks lack of information when receiving questionnaires, the thesis decided to send out 800 questionnaires. The result is 543 votes (67.88%). After removing the missing data replies, there are 511 (94.11%) satisfactory replies being included in the analysis model. 3.4. Survey object In each garment company that agreed to participate in this survey, many workers from different factories or production teams of the company were sent a survey questionnaire to invite participation in this study to ensure the appearance of the sample. 3.5. Questionnaire design 3.5.1. Scale inheritance The thesis chooses to inherit the scale of top management commitment from Jun et al. (2006). For the employees’ organizational commitment, the thesis chooses to inherit the scale of Allen and Meyer (1997). For human resource management activities, the thesis inheriting the scales from Wright, Gardner and Moynihan (2003) was used and adapted to suit the Vietnamese research context in Nguyen Ngoc Thang's research (2015) with 5 factors: i) recruitment and selection; ii) Appraisal system; iii) training and development; iv) work environment and v) employee compensation. 3.5.2. Linkert scale 3.5.3. Questionnaire language 3.6. Brief of survey questionnaire 3.7. Pilot study 3.8. Survey and data collection 3.9. Data analysis 3.9.1. Reliability and validity test 3.9.2. Pearson’s correlation 3.9.3. Regression analysis CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH RESULT 4.1. Descriptive statistic The descriptive statistical results show that the respondents were relatively evenly distributed at different working time periods for the company. In which, accounting for the highest percentage of nearly 28% are those who have worked for the company for 5 to 10 years, followed by those who have worked for more than 10 years with 27.4%, from 3 to 5 years with 26.4 % and less than 3 years with 18.2%. The age group of respondents is relatively wide (under 18 years old to over 55 years old), with the highest percentage of respondents from 18 to 30 years old with 49.9%, accounting for half of the survey population. The age group with the second highest number of participants is from 31 to 45 years old with 41.3%. The remaining three age groups are 6.8% for the 45- to 55-year-old group, 1.6% for the under 18 age group and 0.4% for the 55+ age group. In this study, 65.6% of survey participants are women, and the proportion of men is 34.4% less. This is also consistent with the labor structure of garment companies, where the proportion of female employees is higher than male workers (VITAS). The educational level of the participants ranged from primary to vocational and high school and other types (colleges, universities). In which, the highest proportion of participants in the survey is high school qualification with 46.6%. Next are 2 groups with intermediate vocational qualifications and the other (college, university) with the rate of each group is 19%. The group with lower secondary education makes up about 14.7% and the group with primary education makes up 0.8%. The respondents' education level is relatively high with 84.6% having graduated from high school or higher. The majority of respondents in the North with a rate of 48.1%. Followed by the South with 31.3% and the Central with 20.5%. In this study, participating companies are classified into two categories: domestic companies and foreign-invested companies. The number of employees at the surveyed domestic companies dominated with 82.4%, while the number of employees at foreign companies participating in the survey was only 11.6%. 4.2. Reliability and validity test 4.2.1. Reliability test using Cronbach’s Alpha Cronbach's Alpha's test results for the variables resulted in the elimination of 6 variables WE1, WE2, WE3, CC8 and NC8 for not meeting the required threshold. 4.2.2. Validity test using EFA EFA analysis results do not exclude any additional variables. After testing the reliability of the scale and analyzing the discovery factor, there are 6 observations which were rejected in the process, namely WE1, WE2, WE3, CC8 and NC8. 4.2.3. Pearson’s correlation test Pearson's analysis results showed that all sig. are less than 0.05, so the Pearson correlation coefficients of the model are statistically meaningful and satisfied requirement. 4.3. Test results of research model and hypotheses 4.3.1. Test results of 3 models studying the relationship between top management commitment with affective, continuance and normative commitment of employees Multiple regression analysis showed that Top Management Commitment explained 30.7% change of affective commitment, 18.0% change of normative commitment and 22.6% change of continuance commitment. All tests of affective commitment are sig. <0.05 in both the ANOVA table and the Coefficients table so the relationships were statistically significant where affective commitment bears the most impact from top management commitment (standardized beta of 0.556 ), then continuance commitment (0.477) and finally the normative commitment (0.426). 4.3.2. Test results of 3 models studying the relationship between HRM practices with affective, continuance and normative commitment of employees Multiple regression analysis showed that 5 HRM practices explained 52.7% of the change in affective commitment, 23.5% change of normative commitment and 28.9% change of continuance commitment. All tests of affective commitment have sig. <0.05 in both the ANOVA table and the Coefficients table, therefore the relationships were statistically significant where the factor that most influenced affective commitment was training and development (0.302), followed by appraisal system (0.169), employee compensation (0.156), working environment (0.124) and recruitment and selection (0.100). Tests of normative commitment have sig <0.05 excluding sig of appraisal system (0.94) and working environment (0.44) so these 2 variables are rejected. The variables with the strongest influence on normative commitment are employee compensation (0.253) followed by training and development (0.235) and recruitment and selection (0.14). Tests of the continuance commitment have sig <0.05 excluding appraisal system (0.34) and working environment (0.57) so these 2 variables are rejected. The variables with the strongest influence on continuance commitment were employee compensation (0.271) followed by training and development (0.239) and recruitment and selection (0.16). 4.3.3. Test results of contingency impact of HRM practices on the 3 models studying the relationship between top management commitment with affective, continuance and normative commitment Multiple regression analysis showed that the moderation impact of 5 HRM practices on the relationship between Top management commitment and affective commitment explained 47.2% change in it, 24.3% change in normative commitment and 30.3% change in continuance commitment. All tests of affetive commitment have sig. <0.05 except for the moderation relationship of recruitment and selection (0.75), working environment (0.88) and employee compensation (0.44) on the relationship between Top Management Commitment and affective commitment therefore these 3 variables are disqualified. The remaining relationships are statistically significant, in which the variable has a stronger moderation effect is training and development (0.353), then Appraisal system (0.310). Tests of normative commitments have sig <0.05 except for the moderation relationship of appraisal system (0.098) and working environment (0.133) on the relationship between Top management commitment and normative commitment hence these 2 variables are disqualified. The remaining relationships were statistically significant, with the most influential variable on normative commitment being training and development (0.332), followed by employee compensation (0.252) and recruitment and selection (0.17). The test of the continuance commitment have sig. <0.05 except for the moderation relationship of appraisal system (0.31) and working environment (0.06) on the relationship between Top management Commitment and continuance commitment. The relationship is statistically significant in which the variable with the strongest moderation influence is training and development (0.323), followed by employee compensation (0.281) and recruitment and selection (0.185). 4.3.4. Hypotheses test results. Table 4.25: Overview of all hypotheses related to affective commitment Item Code Hypothesis Conclusion Top management commitment H1 (0,556) Top management commitment has a positive direct relationship with affective commitment of employee Support HRM practices H4 (0,100) Recruitment and selection has a positive direct relationship with affective commitment of employee Support H7 (0,300) Appraisal system has a positive direct relationship with affective commitment of employee Support H10 (0,302) Training and development has a positive direct relationship with affective commitment of employee Support H13 (0,124) Working environment has a positive direct relationship with affective commitment of employee Support H16 (0,156) Employee compensation has a positive direct relationship with affective commitment of employee Support Moderation impact of HRM practices on the relationship between Top management commitment and affective commitment H19a Recruitment and selection moderates the relationship between top management commitment and affective commitment positively Reject H20a (0,310) Appraisal system moderates the relationship between top management commitment and affective commitment positively Support H21a (0,353) Training and development moderates the relationship between top management commitment and affective commitment positively Support H22a Working environment moderates the relationship between top management commitment and affective commitment positively Reject H23a Employee compensation moderates the relationship between top management commitment and affective commitment positively Reject Bảng 4.26: Overview of all hypotheses related to normative commitment Item Code Hypothesis Conclusion Top management commitment H2 (0,426) Top management commitment has a positive direct relationship with normative commitment of employee Support HRM practices H5 (0,140) Recruitment and selection has a positive direct relationship with normative commitment of employee Support H8 Appraisal system has a positive direct relationship with normative commitment of employee Reject H11 (0,235) Training and development has a positive direct relationship with normative commitment of employee Support H14 Working environment has a positive direct relationship with normative commitment of employee Reject H17 (0,253) Employee compensation has a positive direct relationship with normative commitment of employee Support Moderation impact of HRM practices on the relationship between Top management commitment and normative commitment H19b (0,170) Recruitment and selection moderates the relationship between top management commitment and normative commitment positively Support H20b Appraisal system moderates the relationship between top management commitment and normative commitment positively Reject H21b (0,332) Training and development moderates the relationship between top management commitment and normative commitment positively Support H22b Working environment moderates the relationship between top management commitment and normative commitment positively Reject H23b (0,252) Employee compensation moderates the relationship between top management commitment and normative commitment positively Support Bảng 4.27: Overview of all hypotheses related to continuance commitment Item Code Hypothesis Conclusion Cam kết của nhà quản trị cấp cao H3 (0,477) Top management commitment has a positive direct relationship with continuance commitment of employee Support Các hoạt động quản trị nhân sự H6 (0,164) Recruitment and selection has a positive direct relationship with continuance commitment of employee Support H9 Appraisal system has a positive direct relationship with continuance commitment of employee Reject H12 (0,239) Training and development has a positive direct relationship with continuance commitment of employee Support H15 Working environment has a positive direct relationship with continuance commitment of employee Reject H18 (0,271) Employee compensation has a positive direct relationship with continuance commitment of employee Support Quan hệ điều tiết của các biện pháp HRM lên mối quan hệ giữa Cam kết của nhà quản trị cấp cao và cam kết lợi ích H19c (0,185) Recruitment and selection moderates the relationship between top management commitment and continuance commitment positively Support H20c Appraisal system moderates the relationship between top management commitment and continuance commitment positively Reject H21c (0,323) Training and development moderates the relationship between top management commitment and continuance commitment positively Support H22c Working environment moderates the relationship between top management commitment and continuance commitment positively Reject H23c (0,281) Employee compensation moderates the relationship between top management commitment and continunace commitment positively Support CHAPTER 5 IMPLICATION AND RECOMMENDATION 5.1. Research result discussion and implications 5.1.1. Research results discussion - On the impact of top management commitment and HR practices on employees’ organizational commitment: Employees at garment companies appreciate the influence of top management at both 3 dimensions of commitment. The factor most strongly influenced by top management commitment is