Organizational Commitment and Viability of Agri-Based Cooperatives in Palawan

Abstract

One hundred twenty-nine (129) respondents from ten (10) agri-based cooperatives in Palawan were interviewed to assess the background and viability characteristics of these cooperatives and to determine the variables that predict organizational commitment and viability.

Results revealed high viability ratings of the cooperatives attributed to their fast growth as shown by increased number of members, number of linkages, and capitalization. Twelve variables were identified to predict organizational viability based on path analysis. The revised path model identified that organizational viability is directly predicted by organizational commitment which in turn is directly predicted by satisfaction. Satisfaction through organizational commitment indirectly predicts organizational viability and is in turn directly predicted by centralization, distributive justice and feeling of importance. This finding rejects the proposition that personal factors are either direct or indirect predictors of organizational commitment.

Results of this study support Systems Theory which sees human organizations like biological organisms that live, grow, develop and made up of constituent parts that perform specific but interrelated function towards the attainment of organizational goals and partly supports the Exchange and Side Bet Theories which explain the emergence, the rise and decline of commitment of members in their organization, and reinforce the earlier observations that personal factors are not key exchange and side bet variables.