Work motivation as a determinant of organisational and professional commitment in temporary organisations: theoretical lenses and propositions

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Ravikiran Dwivedula
Christophe Bredillet
Ralf Müller

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical framework to investigate the relationship between work motivation, organisational commitment and professional commitment in temporary organisations. Through a review of theory, we contend that work motivation has two major patterns — internal motivation (which includes intrinsic, need-based and self-deterministic theories), and external motivation (which includes cognitive or process-based theories of motivation) through which it has been investigated. We also hold the nature of employee commitment to be of three types — affective, continuance and normative. This commitment may be towards either the organisation or the profession. A literature review revealed that the characteristics of the temporary organisation — specifically tenure and task — regulate the relationship between work motivation, organisational commitment and professional commitment. Testable propositions are presented

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Author Biographies

Ravikiran Dwivedula, Emirates College for Management and Technology, Dubai, U

Ravikiran Dwivedula, MBA (Osmania) PhD (SKEMA Business School) is Director of Research Services and Academic Assessment at Emirates College for Management and Technology, Dubai, UAE. His research interests are in the area of work motivation in project-based organisations and projects. He is currently working on a research project (with Christophe Bredillet and Ralf Müller), which investigates the role of work motivation as an antecedent to project management success with organisational and professional commitment as intervening variables. Ravi teaches project management, organisational behavior and human resource management. He has published in PMJ, IJPM and JPPPM and has presented in PMI, IRNOP and EURAM research conferences. He is a reviewer for IJPM, PMJ and JPPPM.

 

Christophe Bredillet, Queensland University of Technology

Christophe Bredillet, PhD, IPMA Level A, FAPM, FIoD, is Director of the Queensland University of Technology Project Management Academy, Australia, and specialises in portfolio, program and project management (P3M) research, consulting and corporate education. From 1992 to 2010, he was Dean of Postgraduate Programs and Studies, and Professor and Head of School of Strategic Management and P3M at ESC Lille. In 2001 he launched a series of International P3M Weeks hosted by ESC Lille, incorporating the first EDEN doctoral seminar in project management in 2008. Christophe’s main interests and research activities are in the philosophy of science and practice in P3M, including principles and theories of P3M, dynamics of evolution of the P3M field, bodies of knowledge, standards as conventions and dynamics of standardisation of/by organisations, observation of P3M practices and contexts, and their links with governance, organisational project management and performance at macro, meso and micro levels. He was Executive Editor of the Project Management Journal from 2004 to 2012.

 

Ralf Müller, BI Norwegian Business School

Ralf Müller, MBA (Heriot Watt), DBA (Brunel), PMP, is Professor of Project Management at BI Norwegian Business School, Norway. His principal research interests are in leadership and governance of projects, programs, portfolios and PMOs. He is the author/coauthor of more than 150 publications and has received the 2012 IPMA Research Award (along with Monique Aubry and Brian Hobbs) as well as the Project Management Journal’s 2009 Paper of the Year Award. Before joining academia, he spent 30 years in industry. He has consulted with large enterprises and governments in more than 50 different countries and has also held line management positions such as the worldwide director of project management at NCR Teradata.