Managing Immigrants: An Examination of Organizational Attitudinal Commitment, Perception of Culture Being Valued and Cultural Identity, a Case Study of Sindhi Asian Indian Immigrants in the U.S.A.

Date of Submission

2001

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Science in Management Systems (Sc.D.)

Department

Management

Advisor

Judith A. Neal

Committee Member

Zeljan Schuster

Committee Member

Laurel Goulet

LC Subject Headings

Diversity in the workplace, Organizational commitment, East Indian Americans, Sindhi (South Asian people)

Call No. at the Univ. of New Haven Library

AS 36 .N290 Mgmt. Syst. 2001 no. 2

Abstract

Through the understanding of workplace variables such as Organizational Attitudinal Commitment (OAC) and Perception of Culture Being Valued (PCBV), U.S. managers can gain a better understanding of Sindhi professional immigrants in particular, and other Sindhi immigrants and Asian Indian immigrants, in general, as they contribute to an organization’s performance. The results of this study can assist managers in integrating and encouraging more effective and efficient utilization of Asian Indian immigrant employees by tapping their full potential in the workplace.

This study explored the relationships between Sindhi Asian Indian immigrants' (SAII) perception of the extent that their cultural identity was valued in the workplace and their attachment to their cultural values and Organizational Attitudinal Commitment.

Data was collected through a questionnaire, part of which was distributed and collected at the two annual conventions of both Sindhi immigrants groups, i.e., Muslims and Hindus. Both conventions were held in July 1999, one in San Francisco, California for Muslims, and the second in Orlando, Florida for Sindhi Hindus. In order to increase the return rate, additional questionnaires were distributed and collected over a three month period. A total of 77 usable surveys made up the data base, and data on demographic variables were also collected and described descriptively.

The findings of this research identified a very significant positive relationship between affective commitment and Perception of Culture Being Valued, and a significant negative relationship between continuous commitment and Perception of Culture Being Valued. There was a not a significant relationship between overall OAC and PCBV, and there was a not a significant relationship between normative commitment and PCBV.

There are several factors that could have contributed to the mixed results obtained in this study. First, intra-group differences, or conversely, similarities, between the Indian sub-continent cultures represented in this research might not have been large enough to be significant. As well, other immigrant groups could provide more depth to the data.

The results of the study supported previous research findings that AC, CC, and NC are multidimensional and that each component develops as a function of different sets of antecedents - in this case, the set of variables comprising PCBV and CI. However, this study had mixed findings from several variables on related to organizational commitment. This analysis was based on a 63 question survey completed by 87 immigrant Sindhi professionals. Of the returned surveys, 77 were usable for this research.

The findings of this study provide insights on the Organizational Attitudinal Commitment and Perception of Culture Being Valued constructs. The relationship among these variables advances the conceptual understanding of these constructs. Although PCBV was a newly developed measure, it has achieved acceptable reliability and validity. The regression findings of this study support the general literature on valuing diversity, hence this study clarifies and extends knowledge and the understanding of the understudied field of immigrant management.

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