The article reports on a study by Bahrami, Barati, Ghoroghchian, Montazer-alfaraj, and Ezzatabadi (2016) on the impact of organisational climate on organisational commitment in teaching hospitals. The changing scenario developed by the authors included assessing the correlation between nurses’ organisational commitment and perceived organisational climate and focusing the management’s efforts on improving organisational climate, in accordance with the results of the study (Bahrami et al., 2016). A total of 90 nurses from two separate teaching hospitals in Iran participated in the study and completed questionnaires.
The theory behind the change is fully explained in the introductory section of the report. The authors provide an adequate exploration of the key concepts involved in their study. They present a detailed overview of organisational commitment and its effects on the organisation. For example, Bahrami et al. (2016) state that high organisational commitment positively affects the quality of services provided by the organisation, whereas low organisational commitment impairs performance. Also, organisational commitment is not a separate concept and can be influenced by several workplace factors, including organisational climate. Bahrami et al. (2016) define organisational climate in terms of employees’ perceptions and feelings about the organisation. It can affect organisational commitment by enhancing or decreasing job satisfaction, as well as by facilitating or obstructing a positive working environment (Bahrami et al., 2016). The theory of a positive correlation between organisational climate and organisational commitment was also supported by previous studies. The authors sought to apply the theory to teaching hospital settings in order to enhance the understanding of this relationship in healthcare and develop recommendations based on the results.
The change was managed in two steps. First, the authors completed their study of the relationship between organisational climate and commitment. Secondly, the authors provided recommendations for managers based on the results of the study. The research included collecting data using two separate questionnaires: Allen and Meyer’s organisational commitment questionnaire and Organisational Climate Description Questionnaire, developed in one of the past studies (Bahrami et al., 2016). Questionnaires were distributed to 100 nurses with a response rate of 90%, and the results were analysed for correlation using statistical software.
The results showed a strong positive relationship between organisational climate and organisational commitment. In the final section of the article, the authors recommended that managers should focus on activities and efforts enhancing organisational climate in order to improve commitment. For example, Bahrami et al. (2016) stated that “managers should be familiar with the organisational goals and be committed to achieving them in order to be good examples for staff and to create influence and motivation with their behaviour” (p. 100). Overall, the authors applied the chosen quantitative design appropriately and achieved solid results, which enabled them to provide adequate recommendations.
The main limitation of the study was that it did not assess the outcomes of the change. In order to improve the study, the authors should have repeated their research within 2-3 months after the managers implemented recommendations for change. Another problem of the study was the relatively small sample size. The study used cross-sectional sampling with 90 respondents, which affects the possibility of generalising its findings to other populations and organisations.
As the authors did not report on the final results of change, it is unclear whether the recommendations were effective in improving organisational commitment or not. Nevertheless, the results of the study can be used as a foundation for future change initiatives in similar settings.