Exploring Organisational Commitment During Organisational Change: The Impact of Employee Motivation, Leader-Member Exchange, and Emotional Intelligence in the Georgian Banking Industry
Abstract
Organisational change is a pervasive reality in the contemporary banking sector, driven by technological disruption, shifting regulatory landscapes, and intensifying competitive pressures. Sustaining high employee commitment is crucial for ensuring continuity of service quality, safeguarding institutional knowledge, and enabling successful change implementation. This study investigates the impact of employee motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions), leader-member exchange (LMX) processes, and the emotional intelligence (EI) competencies of organisational leaders on the affective, continuance, and normative dimensions of employee organisational commitment during organisational change in Georgia's private banking sector. The researchers adopt an integrative theoretical framework that draws on Self-Determination Theory, LMX Theory, and the ability-based model of emotional intelligence; employ a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design with internationally validated instruments; and analyse the data using hierarchical regression analysis, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation in IBM SPSS Statistics. The study's novelty resides in its contextual focus on the Georgian banking industry, its integrative theoretical framework, and its applied contribution in generating evidence-based recommendations for banking executives navigating digital transformation and regulatory change. During such transitions, sustaining high levels of employee organisational commitment is not merely desirable but strategically imperative for ensuring continuity of service quality, safeguarding institutional knowledge, and enabling successful change implementation.
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