ABSTRACT
This book examines and explores commitment to a variety of foci. When discussing commitment that contributes to achievement or organizational excellence, however, the implied focus is commitment to action by which such achievement is attained. For example, a committed workforce plays a critical role in developing and maintaining competitive advantage (Lado & Wilson, 1994; O’Reilly & Pfeffer, 2000). Competitive advantage is realized through commitment to actions such as providing excellent customer service and developing innovative products. Action commitment, as conceptualized in this chapter, is an attachment or bond to an action. This bond to action can be to a particular and identiable action or to the actions necessary to achieve a particular target. In other words, action commitments can focus on action that is a means to an end as well as the end itself. Action commitments can differ in target level from individual goals to group norms and in the tangibility of the target from intangible individual values to tangible goals for organizational change. In addition, the targets of action commitments can range from broad strategic goals or the organization’s culture, to narrow emotional display rules or one’s implicit goal orientation. Later in this chapter we discuss four categories of action commitments that differ in the level and tangibility of the target.
