Developing commitment in Japanese organization in Hong Kong: Interdependence, interaction, relationship and productivity

Deutsch's theory of cooperation and competition may be usefully extended to understand how employees decide to commit to their organizations. Results of structural equation analyses on data colkcted from interviews of Chinese and Japanese employees of Japanese multinational organizations operating in Hong Kong indicate that cooperative goals contributed to open discussion between employees, which resulted in productive work and stronger work relationships, which in turn led employees to feel committed. Competitive and independent goals were largely negatively correlated with dynamics and outcomes. These results argue that the theory of cooperation and competition is useful for understanding interdependence and interaction in Asian as well as North American organizations. The theory may have the potential for structuring interaction that rewards employees, facilitates their relationships and productivity, and results in commitment.