Professional and organizational commitment among engineers: conflicting or complementing?

Organizational commitment and professional commitment have been viewed as both complementary and conflicting in their effects on organizational outcomes. Engineering has many characteristics of a profession, but its practitioners usually have careers in organizational settings. Thus, the effects of these commitments on job satisfaction, job performance and job problems are particularly important in an engineering work environment. Results of this study based on data collected from 114 engineers in a bureaucratic work environment indicate that organizational commitment has a significant and direct effect on job satisfaction and job performance and a significant inverse effect on job problems. Professional commitment was marginally significant in respect to job performance. In addition, the highest levels of satisfaction and performance were reported by individuals high on both forms of commitment, while the lowest levels of satisfaction and performance were reported by individuals with low organizational commitment and high professional commitment. Results were mixed for job problems.>