Teacher's Organizational Commitment in Mechanistic School Structures: A Study Conducted on the Job Characteristics of a Private School in Abu Dhabi

Abstract

Organizational structures are fundamental requirements of schools; the structure determines the components of the organization, which in turn contribute to the formation of job characteristics. Job characteristics affect labor motivation and satisfaction while feeding into the organizational commitment of the staff. The study investigates the effect of mechanistic structures on job characteristics and their combined impact on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) and Motivational Potential Score (MPS) investigate the perceptions of an international school's teaching staff in Abu Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The findings indicate teachers possess affective commitment towards the school yet perceive their roles as severely curtailed in terms of authority and autonomy and limited in their ability to utilize diverse skill sets due to the extreme specialization inherent in their roles. Teachers view the organization as highly centralized due to the bureaucracy with high degrees of specialization and formalization. Still, they are motivated due to their perception of the importance of their roles. The number of cases is the limitation of the study, although it helped to focus on depth. Future studies may consider more cases for a broader understanding.