Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Original Articles and Reviews

Collective Efficacy and Organizational Commitment in an Italian City Hall

Published Online:December 16, 2009https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040.14.4.363

Abstract

Employees (N = 170) of a City Hall in Italy were administered a questionnaire measuring collective efficacy (CE), perceptions of context (PoC), and organizational commitment (OC). Two facets of collective efficacy were identified, namely group and organizational. Structural equation models revealed that perceptions of top management display a stronger relationship with organizational collective efficacy, whereas employees’ perceptions of their colleagues and their direct superior are related to collective efficacy at the group level. Group collective efficacy had a stronger relationship with affective organizational commitment than did organizational collective efficacy. The theoretical significance of this study is in showing that CE is two-dimensional rather than unidimensional. The practical significance of this finding is that the PoC model provides a framework that public sector managers can use to increase the efficacy of the organization as a whole as well as the individual groups that compose it.

References

  • Allen, N.J. , Meyer, J.P. (1990). The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63, 1–18. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Bandura, A. (2000). Exercise of human agency through collective efficacy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 75–78. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bandura, A. (2001). Guide for constructing self-efficacy scales. In G.V. Caprara, (Ed.), La valutazione dell’autoefficacia [The assessment of self-efficacy] (pp. 15–37). Trento: Erickson. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Baron, R.M. , Kenny, D.A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 6, 1173–1182. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bentler, P.M. (1995). EQS structural equations program manual. Encino, CA: Multivariate Software, Inc. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Bentler, P.M. , Chou, C.P. (1987). Practical issues in structural modeling. Sociological Methods and Research, 16, 78–117. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Borgogni, L. (2001). Efficacia Organizzativa [Organizational Efficacy]. Milano: Guerini. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Borgogni, L. , Petitta, L. , Amaducci, M. , Mastrorilli, A. (2007). Dal clima alle percezioni di contesto: Uno studio preliminare in ambito sociosanitario [From climate to perceptions of context: A preliminary study in healthcare settings]. Rassegna di Psicologia, 1, 35–51. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Borgogni, L. , Petitta, L. , Mastrorilli, A. (2007). Correlates of collective efficacy in the Italian Air Force. Paper presented at the XIIIth Congress of European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Byrne, B.M. (1994). Structural equation modeling with EQS and EQS/Windows: Concepts, applications, and programming. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Caprara, G.V. , Barbaranelli, C. , Borgogni, L. , Petitta, L. , Rubinacci, A. (2003). Teachers’, school staff’s, and parents’ beliefs as determinants of attitude toward school. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 18, 15–31. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Caprara, G.V. , Barbaranelli, C. , Borgogni, L. , Steca, P. (2003). Efficacy beliefs as determinants of teachers’ job satisfaction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 821–832. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Caprara, G.V. , Barbaranelli, C. , Petitta, L. , Picconi, L. , Steca, P. (2002). Autoefficacia personale, percezioni di contesto, efficacia collettiva e motivazione degli insegnanti [Perceived self-efficacy, perceptions of context, perceived collective efficacy, and motivation of teachers]. Psicologia dell’Educazione e della Formazione, 4, 53–72. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Chen, G. , Bliese, P.D. (2002). The role of different levels of leadership in predicting self- and collective efficacy: Evidence for discontinuity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 549–556. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cook, T.D. , Campbell, D.T. (1979). Quasiexperimentation. Design and analysis issues for field settings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Cronbach, L.J. , Meehl, P.E. (1955). Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin, 52, 281–302. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fernández-Ballesteros, R. , Díez-Nicolás, J. , Caprara, G.V. , Barbaranelli, C. , Bandura, A. (2002). Determinants and structural relation of personal efficacy to collective efficacy. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 51, 327–358. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Flanagan, J.C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51, 327–358. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fleishman, E.A. , Zaccaro, S.J. (1992). Toward a taxonomy of team performance functions. In R.W. Swezez, S. Eduardo, (Eds.), Teams: Their training and performance. Norword, NJ: Ablex. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Gibson, C.B. (1995). Determinants and consequences of group-efficacy beliefs in work organization in U.S., Hong Kong, and Indonesia. Ph.D. Diss., University of California, Irvine. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Gibson, C.B. , Randel, A.E. , Earley, P.C. (2000). Understanding group efficacy: An empirical test of multiple assessment methods. Group and Organizational Management, 25, 67–97. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Guzzo, R.A. (1986). Implicit theories and the evaluation of group process and performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Processes, 37, 279–295. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Guzzo, R.A. , Dickson, M.W. (1996). Teams in organizations. In M.D. Dunnette, L.M. Hough, (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 269–313). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Hoyt, C.L. , Murphy, S.E. , Halverson, S.K. , Watson, C.B. (2003). Group leadership: Efficacy and effectiveness. Group Dynamics, 7, 259–274. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ilgen, D.R. , Hollenbeck, J.R. , Johnson, M. , Jundt, D. (2005). Teams in organizations: From input-process-output models to IMOI models. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 517–543. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Johns, G. (2006). The essential impact of context on organizational behavior. Academy of Management Review, 31, 386–408. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Klein, K.L. , Kozlowski, S.W.J. (Eds.). (2000). Multilevel theory, research, and methods in organization: Foundations, extensions, and new directions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Kozlowski, S.W.J. , Ilgen, D.R. (2006). Enhancing the effectiveness of work groups and teams. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 7(3), 77–124. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Little, B.L. , Madigan, R.M. (1994). Motivation in work teams: A qualitative and quantitative exploration of the construct of collective efficacy. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Houston, TX. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Little, B.L. , Madigan, R.M. (1997). The relationship between collective efficacy and performance in manufacturing work teams. Small Group Research, 28, 517–534. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • MacKenzie, S. (2001). Collective efficacy and collaborative climate in Maine high schools. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities & Social Sciences, 61(9-A) (abstract). First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Mardia, K.V. (1970). Measures of multivariate skewness and kurtosis with applications. Biometrika, 57, 519–530. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Marks, M.A. , DeChurch, L.A. , Mathieu, J.E. , Panzer, F.J. , Alonso, A. (2005). Teamwork in multiteam system. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 964–971. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mathieu, J.E. , Zajac, D.M. (1990). A review and meta-analysis of the antecedent, correlates, and consequences of Organizational Commitment. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 171–194. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mcdonald, R.P. (1999). Test theory. A unified treatment. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Meyer, J.P. , Allen, N.J. (1984). Testing the “side-bet theory” of organizational commitment: Some methodological considerations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 69, 372–378. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Moorman, R.H. , Podsakoff, P.M. (1992). A meta-analytic review and empirical test of the potential confounding effects of social desirability response sets in organizational behavior research. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 65, 131–149. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Pillai, R. , Williams, E.A. (2004). Transformational leadership, self-efficacy, group cohesiveness, commitment, and performance. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 17(2), 44–159. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Pierro, A. , Lombardo, I. , Fabbri, S. , Di Spirito, A. (1995). Evidenza empirica della validità delle misure di job involvement e organizational commitment: Modelli di analisi fattoriale confermativa [Empirical evidence of job involvement and organizational commitment scales’ validity: Models of confirmative factorial analysis]. TPM, 2, 5–18. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Sargent, L.D. , Sue-Chan, C. (2001). Does diversity affect group efficacy? The intervening role of cohesion and task interdependence. Small Group Research, 32, 426–450. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Satorra, A. , Bentler, P.M. (1988). Scaling corrections for χ² statistics in covariance structure analysis. Proceedings of the Business and Economics Section of the American Statistical Association, 308–313. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Schneider, B. (Ed.). (1990). Organizational climate and culture. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Schneider, B. (2001). Fits about fit. Applied psychology: An international review, special issue: Person-organization fit, 50(1), 141–152. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schneider, B. , Bowen, D.E. , Ehrhart, M.G. , Holcombe, K.M. (2000). The climate for service: Evolution of a construct. In N.M. Ashkanasy, C. Wilderom, M.F. Peterson, (Eds.), Handbook of organizational culture and climate. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Schneider, B. , White, S.S. , Paul, M.C. (1998). Linking service climate and customer perceptions of service quality: Test of a causal model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 150–163. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Seijts, G.H. , Latham, G.P. , Whyte, G. (2000). Effect of self- and group efficacy on group performance in a mixed-motive situation. Human Performance, 13, 279–298. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Spector, P.E. (2001). Research methods in industrial and organizational psychology: Data collection and data analysis with special consideration to international issues. In N. Anderson, D.S. Ones, H.K. Sinangil, C. Viswesvaran, (Eds.), Handbook on industrial, work, and organizational psychology. London: Sage. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Spink, K.S. (1990). Group cohesion and collective efficacy of volleyball teams. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 12, 301–311. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Tabachnik, B.G. , Fidell, L.S. (1996). Using multivariate statistics. New York: Harper Collins. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Tasa, K. , Taggar, S. , Seijts, G.H. (2007). The development of collective efficacy in teams: A multilevel and longitudinal perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1, 17–27. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Triandis, H.C. , Suh, E.M. (2002). Cultural influences on personality. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 133–60. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Vandenberghe, C. , Bentein, K. , Stinglhamber, F. (2004). Affective commitment to the organization, supervisor, and work group: Antecedents and outcomes. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 64, 47–71. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Walumbwa, F.O. , Wang, P. , Lawler, J.J. , & Shi, K. (2004). The role of collective efficacy in the relations between transformational leadership and work outcomes. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77, 515–530. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Watson, C.B. , Chemers, M.M. , Preiser, N. (2001). Collective efficacy: A multilevel analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1057–1068. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wood, R.E. , Goodman, J.S. , Beckmann, N. , Cook, A. (2006). Mediation testing in management research: A review and proposals. Working paper, Australian Graduate School of Management. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Yukl, G.A. (1998). Leadership in organizations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Zaccaro, S.J. , Blair, V. , Peterson, C. , Zazanis, M. (1995). Collective efficacy. In J.E. Maddux, (Ed.), Self-efficacy, adaptation, and adjustment. New York: Plenum. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar