Abstract:
he purpose of this study is to explore the effects of Employees’’ Perceived Corporate Social
Responsibility and Organizational Support on Organizational commitment in Leather Sector,
one of the leading manufacturing industries for its economic benefits, export earning,
employment opportunities and attracting foreign direct investment in Ethiopia. Studies showed
that the sector is characterized by relatively low wages, which contributes to high labor turnover
rates caused by lack of employees’ commitment. However, it is generally claimed that committed
employees will favorably impact on the success of businesses and considered as important asset
for the company survival, continuity and advancement of the businesses. Many previous studies
in other countries have reported that employee’ perceived corporate social responsibility
initiatives and perceived organizational support substantially elevate the types of attachment
employees’ have towards their organization. The essence of the research is emanated from the
need to fill the research gap in this area in Ethiopia context and to come up with practical
recommendations for improving employees’ organizational commitment. In this study,
quantitative research approach was employed to explore the relationship between the predictor
and the outcome variables. To collect relevant data, the researcher together with Human
Resource Manger administered structured questionnaires in hard and soft copy to selected 250
target population using simple random sampling technique. The analysis was performed by
descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS software. The finding showed that employees’
Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility is positively related to the employees’ organizational
commitment. Furthermore, the way employees’ perceived their organizational support also has
positive association with employees’ organizational commitment. Finally, it was found that the
effect of Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility on employees’ organizational commitment
was stronger than the perceived organizational support variable in the Leather Sector, Addis
Ababa. The findings and recommendations of this study can serve as valuable guide for the
management as it provides crucial information regarding the types of activities companies could
strengthen and engage in relation to CSR and organizational support initiatives. In due course,
such involvement would further improve employees’ organizational commitment.
