In this study, a validation of the Meyer and Allen (1991) three component conceptual model of organizational commitment was undertaken, using their reduced and modified 18 item instrument. Three hundred and seventy-three employees and their supervisors in 201 small firms in the industrial, commercial and service sectors in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, were interviewed. Factor analysis, which confirmed the tree dimensional commitment structure: affective, continuance and normative, was utilized for the validation. Applying Cluster analysis to the factor scores and combining commitment components, individuals were grouped into eight distinct patterns of organizational commitment. The relationships existing among patterns of organizational commitment and individual job performance, measured by supervisors' evaluation on the bases of productivity, work centrality and organizational commitment, were examined. The patterns of commitment that differentiate the individuals in relation to their work performance: the affective-normative pattern of commitment, the pattern of commitment on the three components and the continuance-affective pattern, were identified by the use of analysis of variance.
work commitment; organizational commitment; Meyer and Allen model; employee performance; organizational behavior
