Impact of person-environment fit and English language proficiency on organizational commitment of Chinese employees in multinational corporations: Case study: A Finnish MNC’s Chinese subsidiary

Abstract

This study was conducted under the research project entitled “Person-Environment Fit and foreign language proficiency on Organizational Commitment of employees in multinational companies” led by Dr. Wei Lu. The primary objective of this study is to examine how the four different components of Person-Environment (P-E) Fit – Person-Organizational (P-O) Fit, Person-Job (P-J) Fit, Person-Group (P-G) Fit and Person-Supervisor (P-S) Fit – impact the Organizational Commitment of Chinese employees through the case study of a Finnish MNC’s Chinese subsidiary. The second goal is to examine if English language proficiency has influence on Organizational Commitment in this context.

The majority of research in P-E Fit and Organizational Commitment was mainly conducted in Western countries. Studies in an Asian or Chinese context are limited. Additionally, previous research concentrated on either P-E Fit as a whole or P-O Fit alone, so the specific effects of P-J Fit, P-G Fit and P-S Fit on Organizational Commitment are still remain under-researched. Therefore, to fill the void, this paper will cover all these four categories of P-E Fit.

The empirical part of my study was conducted through a single case study adopting a mixed approach of quantitative and qualitative research method. Data was collected through an online questionnaire for the local employees working in a Finnish Multinational Corporation’s Chinese subsidiary. The questionnaire was composed of Likert-scale formatted multiple-choice questions and optional open-ended questions.

It is revealed by the findings that Person-Organizational Fit and Needs-Supplies Fit dimension of P-J Fit, in line with existing study, have a positive relationship with Organizational Commitment. In addition, this study contributes to the under-researched P-G Fit area by showing the most significantly positive correlation with Organizational Commitment. No significant correlation was found between English language proficiency and Organizational Commitment. Respondents held opposite opinions regarding the role language proficiency played in their commitment to the company.