Adhocracy vs. Hierarchy: Divergent Pathways to Employee Commitment in Contemporary Organisations

This article focuses on the different pathways in which adhocracy and hierarchy influence employee commitment in contemporary organisations. It has three objectives: ascertaining the place of adhocracy culture on continuance commitment, and the place of hierarchy culture on affective and normative commitment. The survey research method was used to gather data from 338 employees from a sample size of 250 and 88 from Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua and Heritage Polytechnic, Eket respectively. The Weighted Mean Score, Pearson Product Moment Correlation and ANOVA were the statistical tools used to analyse the data. The hypothesis revealed that adhocracy culture has a significant relationship on continuance commitment, but the ANOVA result showed no statistically significant relationship which the Weighted Mean Score of 1.8 validates, meaning that adhocracy does not promote continuance commitment. In contrast, hierarchy culture has a positive significant relationship on both affective and normative commitment as validated by 2.5 and 2.9 weighted mean score respectively, as well as the ANOVA and Pearson Correlation results. Conclusively, the article submits that adhocracy culture has no statistically significant association with continuance commitment, but hierarchy culture has a significant association with both affective and normative commitment. Therefore, it can be extrapolated that adhocracy and hierarchy cultures influenced employee commitment in diverse ways beyond the Meyer and Allen’s Three-Component Model of organisational commitment: affective, continuance and normative.

Adhocracy culture, Hierarchy culture, Affective commitment, Normative commitment and Continuance commitment

1. Akanmu, D., Badmus, A., Olaogun, R., & Olawuyi, E. (2025). Effectiveness of personnel retention strategies on labour turnover in Nigerian tertiary institutions: A case study of Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, Igboora, Nigeria. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 9(5), 976–983. https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.90500082 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Allen, N. J. (2016). Commitment in the workplace: Toward a general model. In P. D. Bliese, S. I. Tannenbaum, & M. A. Ford (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of organizational climate and culture (pp. 384–402). Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Denison, D. R. (2023). Denison organisational culture survey: Technical manual. Denison Consulting, LLC. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Egbelagu, C., & Nwachukwu, P. (2024). Employees commitment and organisational performance in Port-Harcourt City Local Government (Phalga), Rivers State. International Journal of Economics and Business Management, 10(5), 60–71. https://doi.org/10.56201/ijebm.v10.no5.2024.pg60.71 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Harb, H., Eyupoglu, S., & Tashtoush, L. (2023). The relationship between administrative empowerment and organisational commitment: The mediating role of job satisfaction amongst academic staff in higher education. SAGE Open, 13(4), 21582440231218229. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231218229 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Inegbedion, H. (2022). Motivators of employee commitment at multinational organisations in emerging economies: Empirical evidence from Nigeria. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 9, Article 234. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01169-6 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. McShane, S. L., & Von Glinow, M. A. (2024). Organisational behaviour: Emerging knowledge, global reality (10th ed.). McGraw Hill. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Meyer, J. P. (2016a). Commitment and motivation. In J. P. Meyer (Ed.), Handbook of employee commitment (pp. 101–114). Edward Elgar Publishing. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Meyer, J. P. (2016b). Commitment in organisations: Theory, research, and application. In P. D. Bliese, S. I. Tannenbaum, & M. A. Ford (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of organizational climate and culture (pp. 367–383). Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Meyer, J. P., & Maltin, E. R. (2010). Employee commitment and well-being: A critical review, theoretical framework and research agenda. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 77(2), 323–337. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Ngwu-Lemchi, V. O., & Chikwe, J. E. (2025). Formalization structure and employee work attitude in deposit money banks in Rivers State. International Journal of Academic and Applied Research, 9(5), 191–201. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Nongo, E. S., & Ikyanyon, D. N. (2012). The influence of corporate culture on employee commitment to the organisation. International Journal of Business and Management, 7(22), 21–28. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Ogunkoya, O., Soremekun, O., Hassan, B., & Fadeyi, A. (2024). Organisational justice and employee commitment in Nigeria banking sector. Development Management Journal, 23(2), 2–14. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Olise, F., & Ikpe, E. (2010). Aesthetics and corporate image: A study of sense perception in Nigerian organisations. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 2(2), 115–125. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Riketta, A. (2020). The malleability of organisational commitment: A meta-analytic examination of the relationships between organisational commitment and its antecedents. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 41(4), 512–530. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2401 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Schein, E. H., & Schein, P. A. (2023). Organisational culture and leadership (6th ed.). John Wiley & Sons. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Sulistiyana, C., Purwadi, P., & Andriani, R. (2026). The influence of organisational culture and organisational commitment on employee engagement and its implications on doctor performance. Jurnal Medisci, 3(4), 384–415. https://doi.org/10.62885/medisci.v3i4.1072 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Is Strike Relevant in the Modern Era? Evidence from Indian Manufacturing, IT/Ites, FMCG, Electronics and Emerging Sectors
• A Qualitative Exploration of Work-Life Balance Among Private Universities Lecturers in Klang Valley
• Leadership Styles and Employee Motivation: Examining the Impact on Job Satisfaction and Turnover
• Human Resource Management, Organizational Culture, and Good Governance Practices: A Structural Equation Model on Service Orientation among Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation in Davao Region
• Cost of Silence: Exploring the Impact of Organisational Silence on Employee Engagement