Organisational commitment, an attachment to one's employing organisation, continues to interest researchers and managers and remains a vibrant research topic because of its central role in understanding and predicting workplace behaviour. Commitment research has mostly focused on the variable-centred approach (see Meyer et al., 2002), which identifies the differences in relationships between variables involving the three-component model of organisational commitment (discussed later). However, recent efforts have focused on a person-centred approach, termed the configuration or profiles of commitment (Meyer & Herscovitch, 2001). The configural approach involves identifying homogenous subgroups of individuals within a population, groups that share similarities on the components of commitment (Kam, Morin, Meyer & Topolnytsky, 2013; Sinclair, Tucker, Cullen & Wright, 2005). Thus, commitment components may combine and relate differently to other variables within these subgroups. Hence, the defining feature of the configural approach is internal cohesion amongst profile members: the reliable occurrence of others. This concept assumes that research populations are not homogeneous and that the same theoretical framework and empirical findings may not apply uniformly to all sampled respondents (Meyer, Stanley & Vandenberg, 2013).

Whilst the three-component model has been applied in the African context (e.g. Beukes & Botha, 2013; Simons & Buitendach, 2013), little is known about the psychology of commitment profiles (configurations) and their effect on work outcomes. Thus, commitment profiles are an excellent means for gaining a better understanding of the dynamics amongst the three bases of commitment in relation to work outcomes (Somers, 2009), but there is limited research on the holistic view of commitment mindset using the three-component model of organisational commitment in an African context. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to test the concept of commitment profiles amongst samples of respondents from Ghana and to examine the credibility of the emergent clusters in terms of their relationships with a number of contextual variables and demographic factors. Consequently, the theoretical justification of this study lies in testing the generalisability of the configural perspective of commitment to an African country: Ghana.

Commitment is a psychological state and individuals may experience different bases of commitment simultaneously (Klein, Molloy & Cooper, 2009). This mental frame may lead to a unique psychological state for employees in terms of their attachment to the organisation, with implications for job behaviours. Hence, the focus on the configural approach (person-centred), instead of the variable-centred approach, signals the importance of individuals in the work context (Meyer & Herscovitch, 2001). According to Kam et al. (2013), the configural approach treats individuals in a more holistic fashion and allows commitment mindsets to be experienced differently and have different implications in combination than they do individually. Therefore, focusing on the psychology of commitment through configuration will provide new insight into the study of commitment and augment the variable-centred approach. The above suggests the possibility of a synergistic effect of the commitment components for organisations. The terms configural approach and profiles of commitment are used interchangeably in the rest of this article.

Using the threshold enumerated in study 1, the CFA proves the adequacy of the three-component model with the following fit statistics: χ²/df = 1.94, RMSEA = 0.066, TLI = 0.95, CFI = 0.97, GFI = 0.95. Thus, the three-factor solution was a better fit to the data than the competing models examined: two-factor (χ²/df = 7.65, RMSEA = 0.175, TLI = 0.72, CFI = 0.80, GFI = 0.83) and one-factor (χ²/df = 13.85, RMSEA = 0.243, TLI = 0.52, CFI = 0.64, GFI = 0.72). Items loaded significantly onto their respective constructs (three items each for AC, CC and NC, equivalent to the condensed scales), with significant loadings ranging from 0.60 to 0.84. The internal consistencies assessed by the Cronbach's alphas (Table 6) are greater than 0.70, except NC (0.68), although this is acceptable (Hair et al., 2006).

Descriptive statistics, in terms of means, standard deviations and correlations are presented in Table 6. The pattern of correlation involving the refined CC scale and the other components of commitment were in line with prior research and similar to those of study 1. CC correlated positively with AC (0.24) and NC (0.40). Also, the CC scale correlated positively with job security (0.20) as in study 1. Moreover, as reported in study 1, job security correlated positively with age and tenure, which are both highly correlated. Thus, those who feel secure on their job will stay longer and achieve high tenure (aged).

The objective of this study was to test the applicability of the profile typology postulated by Meyer and Herscovitch (2001) in Ghana, an African context. Based on data from two studies, the profiles of commitment may generalise to this context, although without support for the hypothesised eight-cluster solution. The emergent profiles across both studies include the highly committed and the uncommitted groups, the AC–NC dominant group (moral imperatives), the CC and NC dominant groups (trapped and obligated respectively), the AC dominant group (attached) and the AC–CC dominant group (invested). The AC–NC group includes employees who have both the desire and moral obligation to stay; they are referred to as moral imperatives, whilst employees in the AC dominant group with only the desire to stay are known as the attached (Sinclair et al., 2005). Similarly, employees in the AC–CC dominant group have both desire and cost-based reasons (e.g. financial needs) to stay and, therefore, they are described as the invested, whilst the CC dominant group employees with only cost-based attachment are referred to as trapped and the NC dominant group employees are known as the obligated. Five profiles out of the six-cluster solutions that emerged in both studies were similar. Thus, the observed difference between the two studies was the emergence of the AC–CC dominant profile in study 1 and the AC dominant profile in study 2. This outcome could be attributed to a number of possible reasons including the sample size, the organisation or the industry of study. Another plausible reason is the increased agitation for better working conditions by health workers (study 1) in the country; hence, CC may be important to their psychology of commitment.

Obviously, the small sample sizes in the two studies compared to previous studies on profiles may have contributed to our inability to extract the theoretically postulated eight-cluster solution. However, reproducing less than an eight-cluster solution is not unusual since very few researchers have replicated the eight-profile typology (except Gellatly et al., 2006). A number of studies have reported fewer clusters than the hypothetical eight-cluster solution, including research in non-Western settings (e.g. Tsoumbris & Xenikou, 2010; Wasti, 2005), see Table 2. However, theoretically, all the types of profiles postulated by Meyer and Herscovitch (2001) emerged across the two studies (when counting profiles in both studies), except for the NC–CC dominant profile which did not emerge in any of the studies. Amongst the well-documented profiles in the literature are the fully committed, AC–NC dominant, CC dominant and the uncommitted groups (Meyer et al., 2012), which were all replicated in both studies, supporting the credibility of the emerged clusters in this context. In addition, the NC dominant profile emerged in the two studies, although this profile is hardly reported in the literature (Kam et al., 2013). This finding suggests the salience of NC in this collectivist setting, as asserted in the literature (e.g. Wasti, 2002). Also, commitment influenced by economic factors is salient in this setting since the country is classified as developing (The World Bank, 2012). These outcomes together suggest that the typology of commitment profiles is generalisable to Ghana, an African context.

The analysis of the mean differences amongst the profiles revealed that the uncommitted group reported lower mean scores on the positive outcome variables (pay satisfaction, job security), but a higher score on the negative organisational outcome (propensity to strike). The only outcome concerning mean difference that was replicated in both studies was job security since it was the only outcome variable measured in both studies, though with different items. As was expected, the highly committed group in both studies felt more secure in their jobs than the uncommitted, in spite of the different items used. The highly committed group, the AC–CC dominant group and the CC dominant group reported higher levels of pay satisfaction in study 1. Health care workers may be amongst some of the well-paid workers in Ghana (GhanaNation, 2012), especially after the implementation of a universal pay system. Continuance commitment is cost based (financial need); hence, those who may have invested their time, effort and resources in the organisation (the invested) or those who may feel trapped may be in for the economic accruals including pay. This is especially true for a country with low per-capita income (high economic need country) such as Ghana (The World Bank, 2012). For these groups, pay may be an important factor for their overall involvement in the organisation. Conversely, for the AC–NC group (moral imperatives) who may be immersed in their work, pay may not be at the top of their concerns in employment relations. Since the highly committed and AC–CC dominant groups reported higher mean level for positive work outcomes, CC may not have attenuated the effect of AC as asserted by Meyer and Herscovitch (2001). Kam et al. (2013) assert that casting commitment as a profile for each employee, including CC, offers a more holistic view of the concept that moves away from an AC-centric model. The uncommitted group expectedly reported higher mean levels of strike propensity. Thus, those who feel unattached are more likely to experience negative attitudes and behaviours on the job, including stoppage.

With respect to psychological collectivism, the outcome is contrary to what we expected, in terms of the relationship between commitment and culture. For example, Clugston et al. (2000) found that collectivism was highly related to normative commitment, but in this study, the purely NC group did not report higher collectivism than the other groups. Instead, the highly committed, and the AC and AC–NC dominant groups reported higher level of collectivism. It has been noted that the emotional desire to stay with the organisation may be accompanied by obligated tendencies amongst collectivists due to the generalised cultural expectations (Wasti, 2002). The non-association of NC, though surprising, could be due to the different approaches to the study of commitment. Assertions about NC and culture are based on variable-centred approach to the study of commitment (Meyer et al., 2012), whilst this study is person-centred. Although it has been argued that the profile approach would augment the variable-centred findings, this is not the case with the NC profile in this study. This outcome could also be due to the NC scale in study 2; only three items loaded significantly with an alpha value below the recommended threshold. The NC dominant profile emerged in both studies, but the relation with collectivism was only examined in study 2 because collectivism was not measured in study 1. It should be noted that the samples used in this article were two different studies conducted on two different occasions with different goals. The NC dominant profile is not amongst the popular profiles reported in previous studies; hence, further tests would be required before a firm conclusion may be drawn.

The outcome with respect to the demographic factors (significant only in study 1) is in line with past research findings, which have shown that age and tenure are associated with high commitment (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Meyer et al., 2002). The highly committed and AC–CC dominant groups may be older and have higher tenure than the uncommitted group. Sinclair et al. (2005) assert that those who are not committed may exit the organisation by self-selection. Since age and tenure are highly correlated, the invested group who have both the desire and the need to stay may have stayed longer with the organisation and, hence, accrued tenure. Thus, when one is invested in the organisation, one is likely to stay longer. These should be amongst the most experienced employees and an important source of human capital for the organisation. This outcome, however, was not replicated in study 2 because the AC–CC group did not emerge in this sample.

Clearly, this study is not without limitations, particularly the small sample sizes used in the profile analysis. For example, two of the clusters in study 2 had cluster sizes that were below 10% of the sample size, but this includes the uncommitted group. Having a small cell size for the uncommitted group should not be entirely surprising and may even be beneficial to the organisation since these individuals may self-select out of the organisation (Sinclair et al., 2005). However, it could potentially affect the power of the analysis, although significant mean differences were found that are theoretically sound, even with a more conservative post hoc test (Scheffe). In addition, sampling only one country is not representative enough to generalise the specific outcome beyond the West African region. However, the finding in this study is significant and important in terms of theory testing and application. African countries may be different in a number of respects, including culture, but they may share similar job attitudes like commitment, job satisfaction, job security and so on. For instance, research has shown that the three-component model of commitment is generalisable to other African contexts (e.g. Beukes & Botha, 2013; Bosman et al., 2005; Simons & Buitendach, 2013). Hence, researchers may further test the theoretical postulations of commitment profiles by designing studies that will sample multiple countries in Africa, with larger sample sizes to enable the test of the postulated eight-cluster solution.

Further, the data sets employed in this study are cross-sectional data: data collected over a single period without manipulation of the respondents or the environment. Hence, cause-and-effect relationships cannot be inferred from the findings in this study, as it does not consider what happens before or after the responses were elicited. Moreover, the data may be viewed as secondary since it was not originally intended for configural analysis. Therefore, the full range of potential variables, including performance, turnover and absenteeism, could not be examined in this study. This study only focused on contextual and demographic variables. For instance, we only used two items as proxy for pay level satisfaction: a single dimension of the multi-factor pay satisfaction measure. However, this does not negate the findings, but rather it indicates the need for further tests to validate the outcomes reported in this study. Thus, future research may investigate commitment profiles in this region, focusing on outcome variables such as in-role performance, citizenship, absenteeism and turnover intentions, as suggested by Meyer and Herscovitch (2001).

Again, different outcome variables and measures were used in the two studies, except for the demographic factors. For the commitment measures, some of the items, especially, the CC items were different, as a refined CC scale was used in study 2. Future field studies on commitment profiles should be designed to examine the same variables and to elicit responses using the same measures in multi-sample studies over a number of periods. The different outcomes from the two cross-sectional data sets suggest the need to examine the temporal stability of the commitment profiles in Ghana. Kam et al. (2013) reported in their study in Canada that profile membership may be stable over time, but it remains to be determined if profile membership will stabilise over time in Ghana or other African contexts.

The limitations notwithstanding, the findings of this study provide preliminary evidence of the applicability of commitment profiles to Ghana. Hence, it is the first step towards testing the profile approach and its generalisability to the African context. Although the profiles that emerged in the two samples are similar, the outcome also suggests different profiles may emerge in different contexts and that the profiles that emerge may depend on the sample, the organisation or the industry of study. The level of one commitment component may influence the effect of other components and profiles dominated by CC and NC may also be salient and may augment the influence of AC on positive work outcomes. Thus, different patterns of commitment may associate differently with positive and negative work outcomes, with implications for organisations. Researchers interested in examining commitment and its outcomes in Ghana or other African contexts may employ the configural approach to the study of commitment.