Does humane orientation matter? A cross-cultural study of job characteristics needs-supplies fit/misfit and affective organizational commitment

Purpose: Drawing from job characteristic theory and person-environment fit theory, the authors examine the relationship between job characteristics needs-supplies fit/misfit and affective organizational commitment across countries and how humane orientation moderates this relationship. Design/methodology/approach: To test the authors’ hypotheses, the authors conducted a number of multilevel polynomial regressions with three-dimensional surface analyses on a sample of 19,049 employees from 24 countries drawn from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) 2005. Findings: Results indicate that job characteristics needs-supplies fit is positively related to affective organizational commitment, while job characteristics needs-supplies misfit is negatively related to affective organizational commitment. In addition, results reveal that humane orientation is relevant to increasing affective organizational commitment when external rewards job characteristics needs are higher than external rewards job characteristics supplies. Originality/value: These results weaken the universality of job characteristics and call for a departure from a one-size-fits-all approach to human resources.