Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among extrinsic rewards, intrinsic rewards, social rewards, and the organizational commitment (OC) of 27,854 employees who work for 64 Japanese manufacturing companies in China. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that variables included to measure extrinsic, social, and intrinsic rewards were strongly related to OC. These findings suggest that the antecedents of organizational commitment in Japanese companies are different from those in other kinds of corporations in China, where extrinsic and social rewards are more correlated with OC than intrinsic rewards. They also differ from companies in the West, where intrinsic rewards are more correlated with OC than extrinsic and social rewards. Overall, balanced HRM will work best given Japanese companies’ combination of Western and Chinese characteristics. Managers should not simply focus on one particular type of reward but offer a variety of rewards to enhance employees’ OC, especially for employees with less formal education.
The comparison between university graduates and non-graduates showed that extrinsic and intrinsic rewards had a stronger influence on OC for graduates, while social rewards had a weaker influence, suggesting that university graduates are more individualistic than other employees. As Japanese companies are sometimes said to be less attractive as workplaces, especially for university graduates, the results of this research could be utilized to reconsider future human resource management of these companies, to help them attract and employ the best employees who can contribute to the companies on a long-term basis.