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1. Introduction
In the era of the knowledge economy, human capital is the highest value, hence a development-oriented organisation must demonstrate supreme care in this area. The HRM system plays an important role in this process (Sonnenberg et al., 2011; Krot and Lewicka, 2011; Rau, 2012). The purpose of the activities within this system is to activate the human capital in the organisation by: maintaining a high level of employee commitment, obtaining outstanding results, creating innovative solutions, supporting learning, gaining knowledge and its use (Chow et al., 2008, Zakrzewska-Bielawska, 2008; Nankervis and Stanton, 2010). Positive feelings related to work contribute to the higher productivity and quality of life of employees. Therefore, it is worth focusing on examining factors influencing the quality of the work environment. Vital importance should be attributed to factors shaping affective commitment. An important issue to deal with is what conditions should be ensured by organisations so that people employed in them are able and willing to commit themselves (Coyle-Shapiro and Shore, 2007). Thus, this study is aimed at examining the influence of the HRM system, trust and calculative commitment on the perception of affective commitment.
2. Organisational commitment
In literature, the issue of commitment in business relations has emerged only recently and related research areas, while often covered by researchers, have not been sufficiently explained. For this reason, the authors use different terms naming similar or even identical aspects. Despite some inconsistencies in terminology, research results have led to the identification of three dimensions of commitment: affective, continuance and normative commitment (Meyer and Allen, 1997).
The literature underlines the importance of organisational commitment due to the belief that organisations employing committed employees are more efficient because committed employees identify themselves with the organisation’s objectives to a larger extent than their less committed colleagues, and they exhibit more attachment to the organisation (Meyer and Allen, 1997).
Affective commitment refers to attachment to the organisation, identification, loyalty and a desire for affiliation. People with strong affective attachment remain in the organisation by choice (Meyer and Allen, 1991; Meyer et al., 2006). Links between affective commitment and high job performance are often emphasised (Becker et al., 1996). Research also indicates that there is a negative relationship between affective commitment and...