Revista Venezolana de Gerencia (RVG)
Año 30 No. 110, 2025, 1186-1201
Abril-Junio
ISSN 1315-9984 / e-ISSN 2477-9423
Como citar: Guamán-Guevara, M. D., Ipanaqué-Costilla, J., y Guamán-Guevara, F. (2025). Assessment of Organizational Commitment and Psychosocial Risk Factors: Empirical evidence from micro-enterprises in Ecuador. Revista Venezolana De Gerencia, 30(110), 1186-1201. https://doi.org/10.52080/rvgluz.30.110.11
Assessment of Organizational Commitment and Psychosocial Risk Factors: Empirical evidence from micro-enterprises in Ecuador
Guamán-Guevara, María Dolores*
Guamán- Guevara, Fabricio***
Abstract
The present research aims to establish the underlying factors influencing the current organizational commitment levels presented by salespersons of trading companies in the footwear sector in the Tungurahua Province-Ecuador. Between January and July 2024, 237 salespersons completed a semi-structured questionnaire regarding sociodemographic and company-related variables, psychosocial risk factors, and the traditional organizational commitment model components (affective, normative, and continuum). The collected data were quantitatively analyzed using Spearman’s correlation and multiple linear regression model. Findings showed a moderate negative relationship between psychosocial risk factors and organizational commitment levels (r =-0.558). Furthermore, the three organizational commitment components and external factors positively influenced organizational commitment. In contrast, leadership, recovery and company location negatively influenced organizational commitment. These findings underscore the critical role of organizational and environmental conditions in shaping employees’ engagement, reinforcing prior research that emphasizes the deleterious effects of workplace stressors.
Keywords: Psychosocial risk; organizational commitment; salespersons; footwear sector.
Recibido: 16.12.24 Aceptado: 24.03.25
* Master in Business Administration: Universidad de Chile. Professor at the Department of Business Administration, School of Management, and researcher at the Territorial Development, Business and Innovation–DeTEI: Universidad Técnica de Ambato-Ecuador. Estudiante del Programa de Doctorado en Administración, Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, E-mail: mguaman@unitru.edu.pe, md.guaman@uta.edu.ec; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4771-6412 (Corresponding author)
** PhD in Administration: Universidad Nacional de Trujillo. Professor at the Postgraduate School, Universidad Nacional de Trujillo- Perú. E-mail: joipanaque@unitru.edu.pe, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6019-8184
*** PhD in Geography and Geosciences: University of St Andrews, UK. Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación, Universidad Técnica de Ambato, Ambato-Ecuador. E-mail: lf.guaman@uta.edu.ec; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1008-1452
Análisis del compromiso organizacional y los factores de riesgo psicosocial: Evidencia empírica de microempresas comercializadoras de Ecuador
Resumen
La presente investigación se enfoca en establecer los factores que influyen en los actuales niveles de compromiso organizacional que presentan los trabajadores de las empresas comercializadoras del sector calzado en la Provincia de Tungurahua-Ecuador. Entre enero y julio de 2024, 237 trabajadores completaron un cuestionario semiestructurado sobre variables sociodemográficas y de la empresa, factores de riesgo psicosocial, y los tres componentes del compromiso organizacional (afectivo, normativo, y continuo). Los datos se analizaron cuantitativamente mediante la correlación de Spearman y el modelo de regresión lineal múltiple. Se encontró una moderada relación negativa entre el riesgo psicosocial y el compromiso organizacional (r = -0,558). Además, los tres componentes del compromiso organizacional, más los factores externos influyeron positivamente en el compromiso organizacional. Por el contrario, el liderazgo, la recuperación y la ubicación de la empresa influyeron negativamente en el compromiso organizacional. Estos resultados recalcan el papel fundamental de las condiciones organizacionales y ambientales en moldear el compromiso de los empleados, lo que refuerza investigaciones previas que enfatizan los efectos nocivos de factores estresantes en el lugar de trabajo.
Palabras clave: Riesgo Psicosocial; compromiso organizacional; trabajadores; sector del calzado.
1. Introduction
Currently, organizations face unprecedented challenges due to the complexity of the work environment and constant changes in economic, political, and social structures. These challenges have shaped the business environment where adaptability and resilience have become imperatives for all companies, regardless of size (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean [ECLAC], 2020; El-Farr, 2024). However, in many cases, companies do not achieve the adaptability and resilience required to overcome these problems, placing them in a complex scenario of uncertainty, directly affecting the employees’ health and well-being, and ultimately compromising the overall organizational commitment, business’s long-term sustainability, and success (Duchek, 2020). In this context, organizational commitment stands out among the most critical components affected by frequent problems observed in the workplace, including a negative work environment, lack of effective communication, poor human resource management, interpersonal conflicts, and increased work demands (Schwarz et al., 2023).
Despite having several concepts and definitions, organizational commitment can be defined as the psychological bond or attachment of employees towards the workplace (i.e., the company where people work) (Klein & Park, 2021). Therefore, commitment, job satisfaction, motivation, well-being, performance, employee turnover rate, prosocial behavior, and talent retention will depend on the degree of intensity and quality of this work connection (Chiang et al., 2023; Cohen & Diamant, 2017). This concept is crucial for companies seeking to improve workforce stability and productivity, due to engaged and motivated employees are more likely to demonstrate correspondingly a higher level of loyalty, job satisfaction, lower absenteeism and turnover, better physical and psychological health, and strong alignment with the company goals and values (Meyer & Maltin, 2010; Orgambídez & Extremera, 2020). On the contrary, adverse factors in the work environment can attenuate this connection and, consequently, increase the probability of promoting counterproductive work behaviors, considerably reducing job performance and loyalty towards the organization (Tang & Vandenberghe, 2019).
Despite its importance, organizational commitment still faces several challenges and controversies, mainly due to the variability observed in levels of commitment among employees of different organizations or between units and departments within the same organization (Vidal, 2022). Critically, this asymmetric response in organizational commitment has been consistently influenced by internal and external factors associated with the organization’s features. In the first case, commitment can differ significantly between organizations depending on the business sector, type of work, organizational culture, leadership style, human resource policies, work context, generational diversity in the workforce, company size, and socioeconomic environment (Cohen & Diamant, 2017). Concerning external factors, economic stability and specific competitive pressures in the marketplace may help explain the observed variability of commitment obtained from theoretical and empirical-based models mainly derived from large organizations in developed countries (Bodjrenou et al., 2019). However, in some cases, current models may not appropriately capture the individual or collective impact of those factors (Wziatek-Stasko et al., 2023; Coronado-Guzmán et al., 2020).
Various theories have widely discussed the motivations behind an employee’s dedication and commitment towards their organization, particularly the three-component model proposed by Meyer and Allen (1997), which has provided one of the more structured frameworks to understand these dynamics. This theory of organizational commitment encompasses three main components: affective, continuity, and normative commitment; each reflects the perception of belonging to the company and the workgroup; hence contributing differently to employee behavior and organizational outcomes (Herrera & De Las Heras-Rosas, 2021; Jiatong et al., 2022). Thus, affective commitment is characterized by emotional ties to the organization, whilst continuity commitment focuses on the perceived costs associated with a possible departure from the company, and normative commitment arises from a sense of obligation to remain in the company (Meyer et al., 2002; Xia et al., 2022).
Measuring organizational commitment remains a complex issue due to individual differences and the multifaceted nature of the constructs currently applied, which still generates debates about the most effective strategies to evaluate commitment within organizations (Meyer et al., 2002; Cohen & Diamant, 2017). In this context, researchers face the challenge of developing or adapting theories and measurement methods that are highly flexible and robust enough to identify specific patterns of commitment in different organizational contexts, helping to build more integrative and applicable theories (Ćulibrk et al., 2018). Hence, more empirically based studies are still required to evaluate not only the three main components of organizational behavior but also to estimate the contribution of other critical internal or external factors that could affect the success of organizations (Devece et al., 2016; Vidal, 2022), particularly those factors associated with psychosocial risks.
Psychosocial risk factors represent a set of conditions observed in the workplace that can potentially affect salespersons physical and psychological well-being (Pavlista et al., 2021). These risk factors, among others, encompass long-term stress, performance pressures, organizational change, work overload, increased job demands, and harassment that can lead to unfavorable outcomes, such as productivity loss, reduced job satisfaction, increased turnover rates, and low organizational commitment; consequently, negatively influencing organizational functioning and effectiveness (Backhaus et al., 2024; Schreibauer et al., 2020).
Research highlights the intricate relationship between levels of organizational commitment and psychosocial risks, each influencing employee behavior and overall workplace dynamics. In addition, the three types of organizational commitment can interact with psychosocial risks in distinct ways; hence, in general terms, employees exposed to high psychosocial risks may develop lower levels of any of the commitment components, ultimately leading to disengagement from their work (Tang & Vandenberghe, 2019). In a more specific context, high levels of affective and normative commitment are generally associated with lower stress and enhanced job performance, while continuance commitment regularly correlates with increased stress and dissatisfaction (Backhaus et al., 2024). Importantly, other factors such as job stability/instability, supervisory style, salary, recovery after work, communication and cooperation with clients, work intensity, interruptions, and task prioritization can act as strong predictors of organizational engagement levels and psychosocial risks (Salvador, 2019), perceived organizational support (Hngoi et al., 2024), and work organization (Wagner et al., 2022).
Understanding the nuances of these crucial relationships between organizational commitment and psychosocial risks is vital for leaders, owners, and managers of all enterprise sizes, from micro-enterprises that employ one to nine individuals to large organizations with 250 or more employees. Each type of enterprise faces unique challenges regarding organizational commitment and psychosocial risk management. For instance, micro- and small enterprises are regularly characterized by informal structures with close interpersonal relationships between employees and owners/managers fostering an increase in productivity and workplace harmony. These organizations can leverage these dynamics to enhance commitment but may need help with resource allocation for effective interventions. In contrast, large enterprises constantly rely upon hierarchical systems that can inadvertently weaken interpersonal connections, highlighting the necessity for tailored strategies to foster commitment while mitigating psychosocial risks. Thus, by addressing psychosocial risks proactively, organizations can enhance employee well-being and strengthen organizational commitment, leading to a positive organizational environment, improved performance, reduced turnover, and increased productivity.
Despite the progress in understanding the complexity of the detrimental impacts of psychosocial risks on organizational commitment, most research has focused on individual effects rather than the interplay between both variables. In addition, psychosocial risk and organizational assessments have been hardly conducted in micro- and small-sized enterprises (MSEs) (Engels et al., 2022; Pavlista et al., 2021); consequently, this knowledge area has remained largely neglected by diverse industry and business sectors, authorities, and academia. Specifically, micro-enterprises play an essential role in national economies because these organizations constitute a significant proportion of the global workforce, significantly contributing to job creation and social cohesion, particularly in developing countries in Latin-American, such as Ecuador (Guamán, 2022; Valle et al., 2021).
Notably, the manufacturing and trading of footwear and related products embrace numerous small-scale enterprises with substantial economic and social contributions. However, in the last two decades, this particular sector together with other significantly productive sectors in Ecuador, has faced multiple economic and financial problems derived from prolonged economic, social, political, labor, and fiscal issues, as well as the recent COVID-19 pandemic, and energy problems, smuggling, removal of import tariffs, and consumer expenditure decline due to household financial distress (El Heraldo, 2024; Guamán-Guevara et al., 2021). These problems, whether individually or collectively, have strongly reduced income and competitiveness, setting at risk the ability to generate employment and investment due mainly to drastic fluctuations in production and sales (i.e., including exports) (Cisneros-Martínez & Salazar-Carranco, 2018), thus rendering this commercial segment more susceptible to become a high-unemployment sector.
Furthermore, given that previous research has focused separately on psychosocial risk factors and organizational commitment, chiefly in large organizations from developed countries, there is still a significant gap in understanding the relationship and interaction of both variables in commercial enterprises within emerging markets with high-unemployment sectors. The present study aims to establish the underlying factors influencing the current level of organizational commitment exhibited by salespersons of trading companies in the footwear sector in the Tungurahua Province, in central Ecuador. It is hypothesized that all salespersons from this relevant economic sector are experiencing organizational commitment loss due to a direct influence of several external and internal (i.e., psychosocial risk factors, company features, and commitment mindsets) factors.
Finally, it is thought that findings from the current research may provide
a more contextualized or personalized approach to better understand and manage the varying levels of commitment found across organizations, as expected by previous studies (Ćulibrk et al., 2018). Subsequently, comprehensive tailor-made interventions can be implemented to bolster suitable working conditions (e.g., workforce stability), improve employees’ well-being, enhanced productivity, morale, and job satisfaction.
2. Materials and methods
The following is a description of the materials and methods used to obtain the results and to determine the factors that influence the current levels of organizational commitment of the workers of the commercialization companies of the footwear sector in the Province of Tungurahua-Ecuador.
2.1. Survey data collection and sample
A cross-sectional in-site survey was conducted between January and June 2024. A total of 237 salespersons of trading companies in the footwear, fully responded to a semi-structured questionnaire. All participants were selected through non-probabilistic convenience sampling and belonged to footwear trading companies across the nine cities within the Tungurahua Province, in Central Ecuador. Accordingly, all salespersons were fully informed about the research objectives and other essential information to be collected that would be confidential and anonymous. In addition, respondents were allowed to decline to answer any questions or refuse to complete the questionnaire at any time. Following these instructions, all participants gave oral consent following the Declaration of Helsinki principles and agreed to participate in the survey willingly and voluntarily.
The semi-structured questionnaire merged pre-existing items and dimensions from instruments used in previous studies separately evaluating psychosocial risk factors and organizational commitment. In the first section, a questionnaire was designed to collect data associated with sociodemographic (e.g., age, gender, degree achieved, and job tenure) and company characteristics (e.g., location, type of company, length of service). Secondly, the applied construct allowed the evaluation of diverse psychosocial risk factors (i.e., based on the official instrument of psychosocial assessment set by the Ministry of Labour of Ecuador (2018), 15 dimensions), external factors (i.e., smuggling-associated informal trade, removal of import tariffs, and household financial strain-driven sales reduction) and organizational commitment (i.e., based on Meyer and Allen (1997)), three dimensions). For further comparison among results, both original instruments with 6- and 4-point Likert-type evaluation scales were adapted to a 5-point scale, with a response scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree, including a neutral mid-point. This is consistent with the methodology suggested by previous national and international studies (Devece et al., 2016; Engels et al., 2022; Guamán-Guevara & Teneda, 2023; Guamán-Guevara et al., 2021). This modification also involved the adaptation of the global scores and the cut-off points for each dimension of the questionnaire.
As this study was survey-based, it was exempted from ethical approval by the Research Committee from the School of Economics Sciences at the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo (UNT).
2.3. Statistical Analysis
SPSS software version 25 was used to analyze all data collected quantitatively. The reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, which showed an overall value of 0.877, underlining a high consistency among instrument items and respective dimensions (Taber, 2018).
Sociodemographic data were analysed using descriptive statistics (i.e., percentages). However, all factors and associated dimensions were used for further analysis using ANOVA and multivariable linear regression method to identify and quantify the key factors influencing significantly the estimated levels of organizational commitment among salespersons in the footwear sector of Tungurahua, as similarly applied in previous studies (Guamán-Guevara & Teneda, 2023; Guamán et al., 2023).
3. Empirical and theoretical findings
Given the critical knowledge gap in understanding the nuanced relationship between organizational commitment and external and internal (i.e., psychosocial risk factors and company features), particularly in commercial enterprises within developing economies, where this type of research study remains underrepresented in the literature (Kortum et al., 2011); this study aimed to bridge this gap by exploring the interaction between multiple factors influencing the current level of organizational commitment exhibited by salespersons of trading companies in the footwear sector in the Tungurahua Province, in central Ecuador. The main findings are summarized and discussed below:
3.1 Sociodemographic variables and company characteristics
The results showed an asymmetric demographic distribution regarding gender, with a female predominance of 62% (n= 147) compared to 38% of male participants (n = 90). Regarding age distribution, the results showed an inclination towards older age ranges: 55.7% of the participants (n= 132) are over 43 years old, followed by 22.8% of salespersons (n = 54) under 35 years old. The job tenure of participants is also distributed heterogeneously, with a greater proportion between 3 and 10 years (58.6%, n = 139), followed by 11 to 20 years (30%, n = 71). In terms of the educational profile, the participants were mainly characterized by holding a high school level with 51.9% (n = 123), followed by basic education with 27% (n = 64), and higher education (21.2%, n = 50). The empirical results revealed a preponderance of middle-aged females with significant work experience and average educational levels in the footwear marketing sector, reflecting a trend that could be related to specific variables such as the segmentation of the labor market and specific predominant roles within this commercial sector. A more detailed understanding of the role of women in key sectors of the economy would help to make visible the socioeconomic implications of their predominant participation and address possible disparities in job stability, remuneration, and professional development opportunities.
Regarding the company characteristics, the distribution by type of company showed a predominance of footwear trading companies (70.5%, n = 167), followed by mixed companies (21.5%, n = 51) and footwear production-associated companies (8%, n = 19). The geographical distribution revealed a significant concentration of companies in two main cities: Ambato (72.2%, n = 171) and Cevallos (17.3%, n = 41), while the remaining cities represented marginal values of less than 3% each. Most of those companies have been in service for over 15 years. In the case of Ambato city, these results support other studies indicating its reality as the most substantial industrial and business district in Central Ecuador, placing Ambato among the first four cities with the highest number of companies in Ecuador (Valenzuela, 2024).
3.2 Relationship between Psychosocial Risk factors and Organizational Commitment
Graphic 1, displays the dispersion of empirical data obtained in the footwear trading micro-enterprises sector. Thus, the X axis shows the psychosocial risk levels (independent variable), while the Y axis displays the organizational commitment levels. This figure revealed a moderate negative correlation between both variables, suggesting that psychosocial risk levels increase as organizational commitment decreases significantly. Spearman’s correlation coefficient of -0.558 confirmed this relationship (Figure 1) and this inverse trend is similar to that expected by the methodologies adopted for this study (Meyer and Allen, 1997; Ministry of Labor of Ecuador, 2018). Additionally, the coefficient of determination R² = 0.4075 suggests that around 40.75% of the variance in levels of organizational commitment can be explained by levels of psychosocial risk.
Graphic 1
Levels of Psychosocial Risk and Organizational Commitment among salespersons from footwear trading companies
This analysis demonstrated that psychosocial factors are critical determinants of organizational commitment, emphasizing the need to design strategies that foster a positive and supportive work environment.
On the other hand, the multiple linear regression analysis allowed the quantification of the underlying factors significantly associated with the observed organizational commitment levels.
The standardized beta coefficients indicate the relative strength and direction of each predictor’s association with organizational commitment. For instance, Affective Component (β=0.403, p<0.001), Normative Component (β=0.351, p<0.001), Continuum Component (β =0.318, p<0.001), and External Factors (β=0.248, p<0.001) positively influenced organizational commitment. In contrast, factors such as leadership (β=−0.130, p<0.01) and Recovery (β=−0.108, p<0.05) showed negative relationships. Additionally, regarding the company location (β = -0.061; p < 0.05), the analysis suggests a negative and statistically significant influence on organizational commitment although this effect is marginal.
A diagram of the relationships between multiple predictor variables and organizational commitment is shown below (Diagram 1).
Diagram 1
Key factors influencing organizational commitment levels of salespersons from the footwear sector.
Findings aligned with those few studies evaluating the collective contribution of the three components of the conceptualized organizational commitment to the overall score of organizational commitment estimated. Specifically, that affective commitment consistently shows the highest average score and the subsequent effect on organizations when comparing the three components, followed by normative and continuance commitment (Coronado-Guzmán et al., 2020). These results suggest that emotional ties and a sense of obligation towards the organization are the strongest drivers and predictors of estimated commitment levels compared to perceived costs of leaving. Furthermore, by analyzing the moderate negative relationship between organizational commitment and psychosocial risk factors as well as the contribution of each component to the overall score of organizational commitment (Figure 1), it is important to emphasize that future interventions should focus on improving simultaneously the three mindsets/components of organizational commitment to obtain better employee and organizational outcomes, including citizenship behavior and job performance, particularly in those salespersons showing medium and low levels of overall behaviors and attitudes towards their respective organizations.
Concerning psychosocial risk-related factors, unlike previous studies indicating a strong relationship between a specific organizational commitment component (i.e., normative, affective, or continuance) and a particular leadership style adopted (transformational, transactional, among others) (Daud & Afifah, 2019; Łucjan et al., 2023; Ribeiro et al., 2018; Udin, 2020), findings from this research suggested that a negative leadership- as an overall component/dimension- is adversely affecting the overall organizational commitment levels observed (β=−0.130, p<0.01).
In general terms, the present work and previous studies underscore the significant influence of leadership (leader behavior) on organizational commitment (employee behavior); hence future studies should focus on determining which leadership style and associated behaviors/strategies can help micro-enterprises’ owners or managers to create constructive working conditions that will lead to higher employee commitment, organizational performance, and effectiveness levels.
In the same context of analysis, recovery (psychosocial risk also called recovery from work) is negatively associated with organizational commitment levels estimated in this study (β=−0.108, p<0.05). These results suggest that salespersons from trading micro-enterprises are experiencing incomplete recovery or low recovery levels, affecting their organizational commitment levels. This interesting finding deserves more attention from authorities, practitioners, academia, and researchers, as this relationship has been poorly investigated, and studies available do not address such relationships directly (Steed et al., 2019). Thus, only a few studies have investigated this workplace issue; for instance, (Sonnentag et al.,2012) reported reciprocal relationships between recovery and work engagement, explaining that recovery levels are a strong predictor of work engagement and vice versa; however, some job stressors including situational or unexpected constraints may weaken such reciprocal relationships.
Thus, work engagement may help predict indirectly organizational commitment because the former drives positive employee behaviors and attitudes towards the organization and fosters mainly affective organizational commitment. Consistently, empirical findings from the current and previous studies highlight the significant influence of employees’ recovery and their associated physiological and psychological states on organizational commitment (employee behavior). Therefore, future works should focus on how employers may help salespersons reach better recovery levels and increase their mental health and emotional well-being, particularly after long journeys under prolonged work-related stress and demands. Achieving considerable recovery experiences and positive workplace emotions, chiefly during the day, may help create a more positive workplace climate and coworker relationships, ultimately affecting positively work engagement and employee well-being (Lim et al., 2021).
Assessment studies of the relationships between external factors related to the social, political, and economic context, competitive pressures in the marketplace, and organizational commitment have also been underexplored (Bodjrenou et al., 2019); however, the present study succeeded in indicating that external factors dimension (i.e., smuggling-related informal trading, removal of import tariffs, and household financial strain-driven sales reduction) has a moderate influence in the organizational commitment levels observed. This means that despite the external factors affect employees considerably, they can hold or increase their organizational commitment and subsequent performance. These findings suggest that employees are likely to unconsciously apply various negotiation strategies and personal initiatives (e.g., proactive person) to overcome such evaluated external factors that may put at risk their jobs. This intriguing finding warrants further investigation and holds the potential to unveil significant insights for authorities, practitioners, academia, and researchers.
Significantly, this research contributes to the knowledge gaps in the literature on the simultaneous impact of external and internal factors on organizational commitment in emerging market contexts, particularly in developing countries such as Ecuador. These findings confirm the initial assumption that a combination of factors affects significantly employee organizational commitment levels in trading micro- companies linked to the footwear sector in the Tungurahua province. Therefore, the results of this study have fundamental implications for human talent management in this business sector and, potentially, in other similar industry sectors.
The moderate and significant influence of multiple factors on organizational commitment should be an urgent wake-up call to authorities, people in business, and associations linked to the footwear sector and related parties to take practical preventive actions and tailor-made policies to improve employees’ mental health and well-being, supportive workplace, and job security. Therefore, timely emotional well-being and psychological support programs could be particularly beneficial for this critical economic sector of the Tungurahua Province.
On the other hand, despite its contributions, this study has limitations that must be considered in future studies. The cross-sectional nature of the data limits more robust causal inferences; thus, longitudinal studies should be conducted to evaluate the significant factors and others not studied in this research, also incorporating more micro-enterprises and SMEs geographically disperse and evaluated over prolonged periods, providing new insights into the long-term impact of several factors on the organizational commitment in a crucial economic sector with work environments poorly investigated and negatively impacted by a long-standing social crisis-economic, political, energy and security.
4. Conclusions
This study represents a pioneering contribution to understanding the intricate relationship between psychosocial risk factors and organizational commitment within the commercial footwear sector in Ecuador. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first empirical study in the country to reveal a moderate negative correlation between increasing levels of psychosocial risk and organizational commitment.
This finding underscores the critical influence of work-related psychological stressors on employees’ emotional and professional attachment to their organizations.
Beyond this fundamental relationship, the study highlights the complex and multicausal interplay of internal and external factors shaping organizational commitment yet showing divergent effects. On the one hand, the three dimensions of commitment—affective, normative, and continuance—alongside selected external factors demonstrated a moderate yet positive association with organizational commitment levels. On the other hand, variables such as company location and specific psychosocial risks, particularly those related to leadership and recovery, exhibited a significant negative correlation with employees’ commitment levels in the footwear trading sector of Tungurahua Province.
These insights highlight the dual nature of organizational dynamics, where structural and managerial dimensions intersect with individual psychological processes, shaping employees’ commitment trajectories. Most importantly, these findings underscore the critical role of organizational and environmental conditions in shaping employees’ engagement, reinforcing prior research that emphasizes the deleterious effects of workplace stressors on job attachment, job satisfaction, and overall retention.
From a theoretical perspective, this research contributes substantially to the growing body of knowledge on the psychosocial work environment in micro-enterprises, which is a sector that, despite its socio-economic significance, has remained largely underexplored in academic literature and neglected by local authorities and various industrial and business sectors. By shedding light on the persistent challenges faced by human capital in this industry, the study bridges a critical knowledge gap and reinforces the necessity of tailored interventions that address organizational and employee well-being. Furthermore, the empirical evidence presented enhances organizational theory by demonstrating the critical role of psychosocial risks management in sustaining workforce stability and engagement, particularly in micro-sized enterprises that serve as economic and social pillars within local and national commercial structures.
Beyond its theoretical implications, the findings offer valuable practical applications in human resource management. Industries and sectors facing similar psychosocial stressors (e.g., manufacturing and services) could benefit from strategically implementing well-being and emotional support programs. When designed to mitigate chronic stress and burnout, these timely interventions can enhance organizational climate, foster job stability, and promote the retention of highly skilled and experienced professionals, particularly female talent in commercial
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