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Organizational Involvement and Commitment to Organization and Profession Author(s): Russell Thornton Source: Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Dec., 1970), pp. 417-426 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2391333 . Accessed: 05/02/2014 06:24 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Sage Publications, Inc. and Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Administrative Science Quarterly. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 128.248.155.225 on Wed, 5 Feb 2014 06:24:56 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: Organizational Involvement and Commitment to Organization and Profession

Organizational Involvement and Commitment to Organization and ProfessionAuthor(s): Russell ThorntonSource: Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Dec., 1970), pp. 417-426Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of the Johnson Graduate School of Management,Cornell UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2391333 .

Accessed: 05/02/2014 06:24

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Sage Publications, Inc. and Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University are collaboratingwith JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Administrative Science Quarterly.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 128.248.155.225 on Wed, 5 Feb 2014 06:24:56 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Organizational Involvement and Commitment to Organization and Profession

Russell Thornton

Organizational Involvement and Commitment to Organization and Profession

This research investigates the effects of professional and nonprofessional types of organizational involvement on the compatibility of organizational and pro- fessional commitments for junior college teachers. Hypotheses are examined about the effects of professional and nonprofessional criteria of performance, authority over subordinates, and kind of supervision on the compatibility of these two commitments. It was found that the two commitments are more likely to be compatible when the involvement is professional than when it is nonpro- fessional. The implications of this for the treatment of professional employees are discussed.

The interest in professionals as organiza- tional members dates from Weber's (Par- sons, 1947) formulation of the principles of bureaucracy in which knowledge was a re- quirement for the rational operations of this form of organization. The expert, as de- scribed by Weber, was a critical organiza- tional member, since he was the supplier of knowledge. However, Weber neglected pos- sible incompatibilities between experts and their employing organizations, as Parsons (1947), Gouldner (1954), and Etzioni (1964) have noted; and each has argued that there is a basic incompatibility be- tween professionals and organizations, which is related to divergent authority patterns. The professional is seen as responding to authority based on expertise, while the organization is characterized by authority based on hierarchical position. Much of the research on organizational professionals has assumed this incompatibility between them and their employing organizations (Reiss- man, 1949; McEwen, 1956; Gouldner, 1957 and 1958; Wilensky, 1959; Corwin, 1961; Blau and Scott, 1962; Kornhauser, 1962; Pelz and Andrews, 1966; and Scott, 1966). Consequently, the professional entering an organization is often seen as having to choose between commitment to his profes- sion and commitment to his organization (Reissman, 1949; Gouldner, 1957 and 1958; Wilensky, 1959; and Blau and Scott, 1962).

It has only infrequently been realized that organizational professionals may be com- mitted both to their professions and their organizations (Bennis et al., 1958; and Glaser, 1963). The present study focuses on conditions of organizational involvement that may facilitate the compatibility of com- mitments to both the profession and the organization for one group of professional employees, junior college teachers.'

DIMENSIONS OF ORGANIZATIONAL INVOLVEMENT

Studies of how professionals find satisfac- tion in organizations and the types of recip- rocal adaptation by professionals and orga- nizations indicate that professionals are able to harmoniously relate their organizational and professional activities if their situation within the organization reaffirms certain principles of professionalism (Barber, 1965; Clark, 1966; Glaser, 1963; Kornhauser, 1962; Marcson, 1960; Pelz and Andrews, 1966; Vollmer, 1966; and Wilensky, 1959). The degree of professionalism in the organiza- tional involvement of professionals might

1 The research reported here was sponsored in part under Grant No. OEG-1-7-070453-3891 from the U.S. Office of Education, and the support is gratefully acknowledged. Additionally, the author wishes to thank Robert E. Herriott and Neal Gross for their most helpful comments and suggestions concerning the paper.

417

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therefore be an important determinant of the compatibility of the two commitments of interest here.

To explore this possibility it was neces- sary to develop certain dimensions of the organizational involvement of professionals that could vary with the degree of profes- sionalism found in organizations. Organiza- tional position was the point of departure for this. Each position in an organization represents one point in a system of inter- related positions and is characterized by a certain set of activities. According to Katz and Kahn (1966: 173), "these activities constitute the role to be performed, at least approximately, by any person who occupies that office." When a professional enters an organization he becomes dependent upon both his position in it and his professional abilities and/or membership in order to perform his role.

Although it is typical for studies of orga- nizational members to focus on various types of positions and the activities associated with these positions, here three dimensions of the organizational positions of profes- sionals were selected, and professional and nonprofessional bases of each considered in relation to the compatibility of organiza- tional and professional commitments.

1. Criteria of performance. Organizations employ professionals for a variety of rea- sons, and there are various criteria for evaluating a professional's performance and success. These criteria of performance can be considered either professional, such as experience and ability, or nonprofessional, such as personality or influence.

2. Authority over subordinates. Although all authority relations in an organization are related to differential positions in the hier- archy, a professional in an organization can also claim authority over subordinates be- cause of his membership in a profession and his possession of certain knowledge and skills; that is, he has two bases of authority. His authority over others is professional if related to his greater competence and/or his professional membership, but nonprofes- sional when defined as based on a differen- tial position in the hierarchy, or even on factors such as age or sex.

3. Kind of supervision. In organizations it is usually necessary to have some degree of supervision over professional employees. If the professional is supervised by one having greater or comparable expertise, the involvement can be described as profes- sional; if, however, the superior has less expertise, then the involvement is non- professional.

With these dimensions of involvement, and the possibility of each being either professional or nonprofessional, three hy- potheses can be formulated about the com- patibility of organizational and professional commitments.

Hypothesis 1. The more professional the criteria of performance, the more compatible the organizational and professional commit- ments.

Hypothesis 2. The more professional the authority over subordinates, the more com- patible the organizational and professional commitments.

Hypothesis 3. The more professional the kind of supervision, the more compatible the organizational and professional commit- ments.

Although these hypotheses are relevant to almost any professional group in an organi- zation, the degree of professionalism pres- ent in organizational involvement may vary widely. Compare the organizational situa- tion of the elementary school teacher with that of the university professor; the profes- sor can be considered to be more profession- ally involved with respect to these three dimensions than the teacher. A population on which the hypotheses can be tested should have enough variation on the pro- fessional-nonprofessional variable of each dimension to permit the type of analysis desired. A heterogeneous professional group involved in organizations is required, and junior college teachers constitute such a group.

JUNIOR COLLEGE TEACHERS As Professionals

Becker (1962), Cogan (1953), Goode (1957), and Greenwood (1957) indicated that essential characteristics of a profession range from training and knowledge through

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Thornton: ORGANIZATIONAL INVOLVEMENT AND COMMITMENT 419

a service orientation to associations and control by the professional group. None seem more important, however, than the level of education of the members of the profession. This is especially important when considering organizational profession- als, since their expertise is the primary basis for their employment, and the inde- pendence derived from their professional knowledge and skills is often considered an important reason for their conflict with the organization.

Although many junior college teachers are former elementary and secondary teachers who have moved into the ranks of the junior college cadre (Medsker, 1960: 171-174), they have higher professional qualifications than elementary and secondary school teach- ers. Almost 75 percent of the junior college teachers in Medsker's national sample had either a master's or doctor's degree, and were in this respect more like college and university teachers than elementary and secondary school teachers. In this study, 96 percent of the junior college teachers re- sponding had either a master's or doctor's degree. This higher level of education is probably the primary basis of their profes- sionalism.

As Organizational Members

Junior college teachers are also some- wvhere between college or university teach- ers and elementary or secondary school teachers in the type of involvement in the organization. Stroup (1966: 76-77) dis- tinguished between collegial and monocratic hierarchies. In the collegial system, faculties would be typically grouped into departments or divisions, which act as buffers between the faculties and the upper hierarchy. In monocratic systems these units are absent or weak, and sole authority is in the hands of the top administrator. The junior college is similar in organization both to the more monocratic form of organization found in the elementary and secondary school and the collegial form found in the college and university.

Therefore, it would seem that junior col- lege teachers offer sufficient variation both in professional qualifications and organiza-

tional situation to permit a test of the hy- potheses.

PROCEDURES

Sampling

Because the primary focus of the study was on conceptualization and the extension of existing research into a new area, it was felt that the representativeness of the sample would not be as crucial as its heterogeneity with respect to the variables. Therefore, the primary determinant in selecting the sample was that it permit a valid test of the theoret- ical framework, not that it permit a descrip- tion of the actual distribution of any of the variables or generalization to any predefined population.

The sample consisted of 8 of the 27 public junior colleges in Florida. Since a relatively large number of data cases was needed for the analysis, it was decided to administer questionnaires to all the faculty except part- time and certain vocational and technical faculty, who were omitted because they did not fulfill the requirements of professional- ism, and because they constituted small seg- ments of the total faculties.

To ensure greater heterogeneity in orga- nizational structure, a determined effort was made to select both old and new, and large and small junior colleges. The institutions selected ranged from 3 to 35 years old, and the number of faculty members from 23 to 178.

Questionnaires were mailed to the facul- ties, with full guarantee of anonymity. Of the 661 questionnaires mailed, 401 were returned, 383 of these usable for analysis, making a response rate of 61 percent. Al- though this moderate response rate raised the question of sample representativeness, comparison with a survey of junior colleges in Florida (Montgomery, 1962) and with Medsker's (1960) national sample indicated comparability among the three on certain key characteristics. For example, males con- stituted 63 percent of the present sample, 65 percent of the state survey, and 72 per- cent of the national sample; respondents holding a graduate degree were 96 percent, 93 percent, and 74 percent respectively. In addition this response rate compares very

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favorably with that obtained in other studies of professionals (Hall, 1968; Abrahamson, 1965; and Gross, 1968).

Measurement of Variables

Each of the variables required for testing the hypotheses was measured through items in the questionnaires. Organizational com- mitment was assessed by finding the extent to which the junior college teacher would allow the organization to structure his teach- ing role, since teaching represents a merger of professional and organizational activities. Two important areas of professionalism are professional associations and the profession as a lifelong occupational pursuit. Therefore, professional commitment was established through membership in professional associa- tions and reluctance to leave the teaching role.

Information was also collected for the three dimensions of involvement. In the

academic profession, the research function is the epitome of professional activity and the primary standard of professional success, as well as an important factor in organiza- tional employment; therefore the importance of research to successful role performance was used to measure the criteria of perfor- mance. Authority over subordinates was ex- amined by asking the faculty why they felt they had authority over their students. For kind of supervision, the relative educational attainment of the person determining the courses taught was used; since the primary activity of the junior college teacher is teach- ing, and the courses taught are of primary concern.

Scaling

Scales for organizational and professional commitment were devised. Table 1 lists the original 8 items designed to measure organi- zational commitment and the percentages

TABLE 1. RESPONSE PERCENTAGES FOR ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT ITEMS

Response percentages

Strongly Strongly No agree Agree Undecided Disagree disagree response

Items (SA) (A) (U) (D) (SD) (NR)

1. It's a good idea for a junior college to have a manual of rules and regulations. 43.9 45.2 7.0 3.1 .4 .4 2. There is no point in having pol- icy manuals if the policies are not followed. 46.0 40.2 5.0 7.8 1.0 .0 3. In order to be a good junior college teacher, it's necessary to follow the rules and regulations of one's junior college. 19.4 43.3 13.4 21.1 2.3 .5 4. The rules and regulations of this junior college are "made to be broken." 2.3 5.6 10.9 50.4 30.3 .5 5. It's best for a teacher to teach the same way to different sections of the same course. 5.0 15.9 10.2 52.7 16.2 .0 6. Every teacher should be per- mitted to teach the way in which he or she wishes. 27.7 48.4 10.2 12.8 .5 .4 7. Different teachers teaching the same course should follow the same lesson plan. 4.7 16.9 5.3 48.3 24.8 .0 8. All sections of the same course taught by different teachers should be given the same final examina- tion. 3.1 12.3 8.9 45.0 34.7 .0 N = 383

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Thornton: ORGANIZATIONAL INVOLVEMENT AND COMMITMENT 421

responding to the various response alterna- tives. The 8 items were subjected to Gutt- man scale analysis. On the basis of a preliminary item analysis, item 6 was elimi- nated. The remaining 7 items formed a scale, summarized in Table 2. (Note that "no response" scored as negative.)

Seven items of the questionnaire were de- signed to ascertain professional commit- ment; 3 referred to membership in profes- sional associations, and 4 to reluctance to leave the professional role. Table 3 shows the percentage responding to each alterna- tive for the 7 items. These items were also

TABLE 2. PROPERTIES OF GUTTMAN SCALE MEASURING ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

Item number Frequency of scale scores

from Positive Positive Scale Table 1 response marginal score N N

8 SA, A .154 7 16 4.8 5 SA,A .209 6 16 4.8 7 SA,A, U .269 5 33 8.6 1 SA .439 4 95 24.8 3 SA, A .627 3 93 24.3 4 D, SD .807 2 90 23.5 2 SA, A .862 1 27 7.1

No positive response to any item 0 13 3.4

Test statistics Coefficient of reproducibility .901 Coefficient of chance reproducibility .877 Difference .024

TABLE 3. RESPONSE PERCENTAGES FOR PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT ITEMS

Response percentages

Current Previous Never a No member member member response

Items (CM) (PM) (NM) (NR)

Listed below are some organiza- tions to which junior college teachers frequently belong. Please indicate whether you now are, have been, or have never been a member of the fol- lowing organizations. 1. American Association of University Professors 26.6 7.8 60.4 5.2 2. National Education Association 22.7 34.2 39.2 3.9 3. Florida Education Association 36.8 29.5 31.9 1.8

Definitely Probably Probably Definitely No would would would not would not response (DW) (PW) (PWN) (DWN) (NR)

If you were offered an administra- tive position with no teaching duties at your junior college would you ac- cept it if the salary was: 4. $1,000 less than your present one? .8 .5 4.9 88.5 1.3 5. the same as your present one? 1.6 8.1 17.8 71.2 1.3 6. $2,000 more than your present one? 8.4 23.5 27.4 39.9 .8 7. $5,000 more than your present one? 26.4 30.8 20.4 21.4 1.0 N = 383

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422 ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY

subjected to Guttman scale analysis. A pre- liminary item analysis eliminated items 3 and 4. The remaining 5 items, 2 referring to membership in professional associations and 3 to reluctance to leave the profession, formed a Guttman scale as shown in Table 4, with a coefficient of reproducibility ex-

true only for junior college teachers in cer- tain organizational situations. The commit- ments may be compatible for junior college teachers in other organizational situations. What was important, therefore, were the relationships between these two types of commitments when the three dimensions of

TABLE 4. PROPERTIES OF GUTTMAN SCALE MEASURING PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT

Item number Frequency of scale score

from Positive Positive Scale Table 3 response marginal score N %

2 CM .227 5 27 7.1 1 CM, PM .345 4 41 10.7 7 PWN, DWN .418 3 103 26.9 6 PWN, DWN .674 2 87 22.7 5 PWN, DWN .890 1 84 21.9

No positive response to any item - 0 41 10.7

Test statistics

Coefficient of reproducibility .928 Coefficient of chance reproducibility .884 Difference .044

ceeding established requirements. ("No re- sponse" scored as negative.)

FINDINGS

The overall relationship between organiza- tional and professional commitment was as- certained before examining each hypothesis. To facilitate this and subsequent analysis, the scale scores for each type of commitment were collapsed into three larger categories: low, medium, and high. For organizational commitment, as shown in Table 2, scale scores 0, 1, and 2 were classified as low, 3 and 4 as medium, and 5, 6, and 7 as high. For professional commitment, as shown in Table 4, low was defined as 0 and 1, medium as 2 and 3, and high as 4 and 5. As shown in Table 5, the overall relationship between the two commitments is -.192 and is sig- nificant at the .01 level.

For testing the hypotheses, however, the overall relationship is of only cursory in- terest. Although in general, organizational and professional commitments are incom- patible for these 383 junior college teachers, as evidenced by the significant negative re- lationship reported in Table 5, this may be

organizational involvement were examined. Table 6 gives the percentages for the re- sponse alternatives for the dimensions of organizational involvement. Responses to each question were dichotomized into pro- fessional and nonprofessional. For criteria of performance, the first three responses were defined as professional since research was perceived to be of some importance, and the fourth as nonprofessional because of the unimportance of research. For authority over

TABLE 5. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

ORGANIZATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL

COMMITMENT

Organizational Professional commitment

commitment Low Medium High Total

High 22 32 11 65 Medium 71 94 24 189 Low 32 64 33 129

Total 125 190 68 383

Test statistics Gamma -.192 z-score 2.870 p < .01

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Thornton: ORGANIZATIONAL INVOLVEMENT AND COMMITMENT 423

TABLE 6. RESPONSE FREQUENCIES FOR ITEMS

MEASURING THREE DIMENSIONS OF

ORGANIZATIONAL INVOLVEMENT

Response frequencies

Items N %

How important do you feel your ability to do research is with regard to your being able to perform suc- cessfully the various activities asso- ciated with your role as a junior col- lege teacher at the junior college where you now teach?

1. Very important 18 4.7 2. Fairly important 43 11.3 3. Somewhat important 77 20.2 4. Not important 244 63.8

Being a teacher in a junior college, you are said to have authority over your students. Why do you feel that you have authority over them?

1. Because I know more about what I teach than they do. 188 49.1 2. Because I'm their teacher 99 25.8 3. Because I'm older than they are. 4 1.1 4. Other (Please specify) 92 24.0

Think for a moment about the per- son (other than yourself) who was the most influential in determining what courses you would be assigned to teach this term. Does this person have:

1. More formal education than you. 165 43.3 2. About the same amount of formal education as you. 157 41.2 3. Less formal education than you. 59 15.5

subordinates, the first response was perceived as professional, since it reflected a knowledge differential, and the other responses as non- professional because they did not. For kind of supervision, professional supervision was measured as supervision by one having more formal education, response 1, and nonpro- fessional supervision as supervision by one having the same amount or less formal education, responses 2 and 3. Given the distinction made between professional and nonprofessional supervision, it might have been more consistent with the earlier reason- ing to make the dichotomy between super- visors with less education and those with the same or more education. Although it could be argued that this treatment is not congruent with the view of supervision de-

veloped earlier in which comparable ex- pertise was stressed, it should be noted that the dichotomy is an amount of education, therefore the reasoning about comparable expertise cannot be directly tested. Further- more, this treatment makes it more difficult to support the hypotheses. The dichotomiza- tion was made at this point primarily because only 16 percent of teachers had supervisors with less education than themselves.

The three variables were found to be separate dimensions of organizational in- volvement, empirically as well as theoret- ically. The obtained gammas from tables formed from the dichotomous variables were -.007 between criteria of performance and authority over subordinates, +.051 between criteria of performance and kind of super- vision, and +.125 between authority over subordinates and kind of supervision. None were significant at the .05 level. The rela- tionship between organizational and pro- fessional commitment was reassessed for each state of each dichotomy: the findings are reported in Table 7. Although a universe rather than a sample was being considered, the observed relationships were tested for significance to prevent unwarranted gen- eralizations. Also, testing for significance was a good way to differentiate between the relationships, which was necessary for testing of the hypotheses. The larger study on which this one is based (Thornton, 1968) con- sidered and tested several alternate ways of measuring the dimensions of organizational involvement. Generally, these other tests supported the ones considered here, although certain inconsistencies were noted. Table 7 shows that the relationship dropped from the significant one of -.192 overall to a non- significant one of -.114 for faculty in posi- tions in which performance was professionally based. Therefore there is no apparent re- lationship between the two commitments. For those with nonprofessional performance criteria, there is a negative organizational- professional commitment relationship of -.209, significant at the .05 level. These findings support hypothesis 1, since the in- troduction of criteria of performance into the analysis produced the two different re- lationships that were expected, one zero and the other negative.

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TABLE 7. RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT FOR

THREE DIMENSIONS OF ORGANIZATIONAL INVOLVEMENT

Dimensions of Professional Dimensions of commitment ~~~~~~~~~~~Test statistics

organizational Organizational commitment involvement commitment L M H Gamma z-score p

Professional criteria H 7 17 4 -.114 .863 p > .05 of performance M 28 35 7

L 10 20 10 Nonprofessional criteria H 15 15 7 -.209 2.184 p < .05

of performance M 43 58 17 L 22 44 23

Professional authority H 8 22 7 -.037 .323 p> .05 over subordinates M 38 40 11

L 17 31 14 Nonprofessional authority H 14 10 4 -.311 2.995 p < .01

over subordinates M 32 54 13 L 15 34 19

Professional supervision H 3 10 5 -.065 .517 p> .05 M 29 40 9 L 20 35 14

Nonprofessional supervision H 19 22 6 -.273 2.785 p < .01 M 42 53 15 L 12 29 18

The relationships for the dichotomous states of authority over subordinates were a nonsignificant one of -.037 for those faculty characterized as having perceived profes- sional authority and one of -.311 significant at the .01 level for those with perceived non- professional authority, thereby supporting hypothesis 2.

The computation of gamma for each of the two kinds of supervision showed a nonsig- nificant relationship between organizational and professional commitment of -.065 for those having professional supervision, and a -.273 relationship significant at the .01 level for those faculty having nonprofessional supervision. This supports hypothesis 3.

DISCUSSION

The research reported here requires quali- fications of the frequently discussed and documented incompatibility of professional and organization commitments. The typical view has been that the professional employee must choose between his profession and his organization, since the values of each con- flict. Consequently, the professional is said to become either a local and accept the organization or a cosmopolitan and maintain

his professional allegiance. The findings here indicate that this is not necessarily true.

Large variations were found in the type of organizational involvement, that is, profes- sional or nonprofessional, on the three dimensions of criteria of performance, au- thority over subordinates, and kind of super- vision. Based on these variations, the impact of different types of involvement on the compatibility of organizational and profes- sional commitments was studied. A test of three hypotheses indicated that professional and organizational commitments can be compatible under certain conditions. Gen- erally, the extent to which the organizational professional experiences and perceives an organizational situation as reaffirming and exemplifying certain principles of profes- sionalism determines the compatibility of the two commitments.

These findings suggest different strategies that organizations can follow with profes- sional employees. Two problems arise when organizations attempt to bring professionals into their structure and operations: (1) maintaining the special knowledge and skills of the professional employees, qualities presumably forming the basis for their em-

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Thornton: ORGANIZATIONAL INVOLVEMENT AND COMMITMENT 425

ployment in the first place; and (2) obtain- ing some degree of commitment to the organization from them. Simultaneous com- mitment to both profession and organization seems desirable, and in fact essential.

One way of incorporating a professional into the organization is to attempt to make him primarily an agent of the organization through organizational, that is, nonprofes- sional, involvement. Under such circum- stances the professional must choose between his organization and his profession, and a subsequent decision in favor of one is detrimental to the other. The second strategy is to allow the professional to remain an agent of his profession, thus avoiding the necessity of such a choice. The findings in- dicate that this course approximates the optimum solution of the two problems-high commitment to the profession and the organization.

Russell Thornton is an assistant professor in the sociology of education at the University of Pennsylvania.

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