Article Review

Article Review ; Journal of Managerial Issues- Summer, 2002 Authors Names: James P. Burton Thomas W. Lee Brooks C. Holtom Research Design: A survey research deign was employed to study the performance of customer service employees with respect to their commitment to the organizations output. The surveys were carried out on the employees in one department of a big national retailer. Variables involved: The independent variables included the ability to attend work and the motivation to attend work, which were used to determine the attendance of the employees. The dependent variable was the attendance of the employees because it depended on the ability of the employees to attend or if they are motivated to do so. Relationship proposed: The relations were based on Steers and Rhodes model that proposes that attendance is predicted by motivation to attend while ability to attend has an indirect effect on attendance. Conclusion: The results of this study portrays that an employees ability work coupled with lack of motivation to attend work notably leads to his or her absenteeism. This kind of absenteeism is attributed to several family issues. On the other hand, a motivated employee may fail to attend due to such issues as illnesses and sickness. This study also supports the view that absenteeism is a multidimensional concept that should not jus be viewed in one orientation of either ability or motivation (Burton, Thomas, and Brooks, 2002). It is recommended that future researches should involve both specific and overall dimensions of absenteeism. Critique: This study has several implications on management of firms since it helps to monitor the reasons for absenteeism of employees. This study was however limited by the failure of the items for measuring ability to form the underlying construct making it impossible to determine the exact measure of attendance influenced by ability. The use of predictive design of determining the results was the strength of this article presenting the attitudes of the employees about commitment and absenteeism long before they try to do so.