An Analysis of the Effect of Internal Communication Satisfaction on Organizational Commitment in the Turkish National Police (TNP)

Abstract

The main purpose of this study, which used two different survey questionnaires for data collection, was to examine the relationship between organizational- communication satisfaction, as measured by the Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ), and organizational commitment, as measured by the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) in the Turkish National Police (TNP). The target population for this study was Turkish officers who were pursuing a master's degree or a doctoral degree and those who already had one of these degrees from an institution of higher learning. Therefore, this is a study of officers aspiring to the command level of the TNP. The quantitative data were collected by an electronic version of the translated two research questionnaires, which were sent through e-mail as a hyperlink to the Web page for recipients to record their responses. The survey yielded 358 usable responses, equating to approximately a 55.5 percent response rate. The statistical results showed that Turkish officers rated their overall satisfaction with communication practices at the midrange on a scale of 1 (very dissatisfied) to 7 (very satisfied). The mean score of the overall communication satisfaction for the entire data set was 4.01, which was very close to the "indifferent" category. This means that Turkish officers were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the overall communication practices of the TNP. They actually reported neutral attitudes toward the degree of satisfaction with overall communication procedures. TNP officers were more satisfied with certain communication practices within their organization. For example, they were more satisfied with Horizontal Communication than they were with other communication aspects within the TNP. On the other hand, satisfaction with communication concerning Organizational Perspective received the lowest score. The Turkish officers rated their level of agreement with the commitment questions above the midrange on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The mean score of commitment for the entire data set was 4.88, which was near the "somewhat agree" category. This means that highly educated Turkish officers were committed to their organization. In stepwise multiple-regression analysis, three communication-satisfaction factors (i.e., Communication Climate, Organizational Integration, and Relationship and Communication with Superiors) and their corresponding items were found to have the most statistically significant predictive power for organizational commitment to the TNP. The Pearson correlation coefficients between the communication-satisfaction factors and overall organizational commitment show that all communication-satisfaction factors have moderately strong positive correlation with the overall organizational-commitment composite. The Pearson correlation coefficients between these variables for the entire data set range from 0.537 to 0.313 and significant at the 0.01 level. In addition, the data showed that there is a positively and moderately strong relationship between the overall organizational-commitment and the overall communication satisfaction of highly educated officers in the TNP. A positive value of the Pearson correlation coefficient (0.567) suggests that the nature of the relationship is moderately strong and linearly positive. The Pearson correlation coefficient between the commitment composite score and Intent to Remain (0.670) shows that Intent to Remain and the commitment-composite variables are positively and linearly correlated variables. Eventually, the intentions of Turkish officers to remain with the TNP tend to increase positively and linearly as their commitment goes up to the TNP. Briefly, Communication satisfaction has a positive impact on organizational commitment and eventually intent to remain with the TNP. The key demographic and professional characteristic (e.g., tenure, rank, educational level, unit assignment, and age) exhibited too small of a correlation with overall organizational commitment to be considered, and none of results were significant. Therefore, the data provide sufficient evidence to conclude that tenure, rank, educational level, unit assignment, age, and overall organizational commitment were not correlated variables in the TNP. These variables have no effect on the level of officers' commitment to the organization. Similarly, the results showed that there were no significant relationship between the key demographic and professional characteristics and overall communication satisfaction. Hence, officers' overall level of satisfaction with communication practices of the TNP is not changed by length of tenure, educational level, and unit assignment. In conclusion, Turkish officers' job outcomes, such as organizational commitment and intention to remain, are affected by their perceptions of communication within the TNP. The more satisfied officers are with communication procedures within the TNP, the higher their commitment level; conversely, the less satisfied that officers are with TNP communication procedures, the less commitment they have to the organization. In other words, more committed officers are significantly more satisfied with communication practices than less committed officers in the TNP. Eventually, the intentions of highly educated Turkish officers to remain with the TNP tend to increase positively and linearly as their commitment goes up.