Showing papers on "Job design published in 1986"

Perceived Control by Employees: A Meta-Analysis of Studies Concerning Autonomy and Participation at Work

Abstract: Perceived control by employees is a variable that has been heavily researched in two popular areas, job design (as autonomy) and participative decision-making. A meta-analysis was conducted of studies relating perceived control variables to 19 employee outcome variables. For all studies combined, it was found that high levels of perceived control was associated with high levels of job satisfaction (overall and individual facets), commitment, involvement, performance and motivation, and low levels of physical symptoms, emotional distress, role stress, absenteeism, intent to turnover, and turnover. A similar pattern was found for the autonomy and participation studies analyzed separately, with one exception. Participative decision-making was not associated with absenteeism in the single study available.

The dispositional approach to job attitudes: A lifetime longitudinal test.

Abstract: This research was supported in part by grant AG 4178 from the National Institute of Aging to the Institute of Human Development (John Clausen, principal investigator) and by a University of California faculty research grant to Barry Staw. Correspondence regarding this paper should be sent to Barry M. Staw, School of Business Administration, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720. Recent debates between the job enrichment and socialinformation-processing perspectives have led to a trend toward greater situationalism in organizational research. This paper, however, argues for a more dispositional approach in which the role of the person is emphasized. Using a longitudinal sample, measures of affective disposition from as early as adolescence were used to predict job attitudes in later life. Results showed that dispositional measures significantly predicted job attitudes over a time span of nearly fifty years. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of both theories of job attitudes and organizational development activities that attempt to alter employee job satisfactions

On the Causal Ordering of Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment

Abstract: In this article the authors discuss research they have conducted that examines the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment. They briefly discuss the definitions of each ...

Communication satisfaction, job satisfaction, and job performance

Abstract: This field study of 327 hospital nurses investigated the relationship between perceived satisfaction with organizational communication and job satisfaction and job performance. The researcher developed a research model incorporating nine dimensions of communication satisfaction and hypothesized their varying relationships with job satisfaction and job performance. Correlation, multiple regression, and canonical correlation analyses revealed significant positive relationships between communication satisfaction and job satisfaction, and communication satisfaction and job performance. The communication satisfaction-job satisfaction link was stronger. The same facets of communication—supervisor communication, communication climate, and personal feedback—were found to be most strongly related to both job satisfaction and performance. Although the importance of the superior-subordinate communication relationship was confirmed, top management communication also was substantially related to job satisfaction and, to a lesser degree, job performance. Rank-order correlation results of this study were compared to several other studies and some congruent patterns were found.

Method Versus Substance: How Strong are Underlying Relationships Between Job Characteristics and Attitudinal Outcomes?

Abstract: This study compared the relative strengths of the effects of method versus substance on relationships between job characteristics and attitudinal outcomes. Reports from both job incumbents and nonincumbents on job characteristics and job attitudes were compared for 509 employees of four organizations. Substantive relationships were observed between job characteristics and effort, supporting the job characteristics model. Common method effects, however, inflated relationships between job characteristics and affective outcomes, thereby supporting the social information processing model. Implications are discussed for other areas of organizational research that rely on single data sources.

Psychology of Work and Unemployment

Abstract: This book is directed at industrial psychologists, human resource managers, consultants and social scientists interested in the psychological effect of employment and unemployment on people. It is an integration of research and theories about this effect. As far as employment is concerned it emphasizes that a significant number of employees have jobs which do not fully use their skills or provide personal satisfaction, and that the long term effects of such jobs include deterioration of employees' self image, personal control, intellectual functioning and social adjustment. The psychological effects are similar in kind to those experienced by people in unemployment - stress, helplessness, fatalism, and the implications for efficiency and motivation at work are serious. The book seeks to do more than give an account of factors affecting or affected by work behaviour - it considers the whole experience of employment, underemployment and unemployment and reviews the current state of our understanding of employment, leisure and retirement, as it relates to work attitudes, goals and performance. The book offers a critique of job design theories and guidance on improving work performance and job satisfaction.

The Proliferation of Job Titles in Organizations.

Abstract: An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1985 American Sociological Association annual meeting, Washington, D.C. The authors were supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation (SES 79-24905) and by generous research funds from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. The Occupational Analysis Division of the U.S. Employment Service graciously provided data and assisted us in this research. Teri Bush, Kelsa Duffy, and Ann Bucher worked wonders on the manuscript. Howard Aldrich, Glenn Carroll, Paul DiMaggio, Frank Dobbin, John Meyer, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Peter Reiss, and the ASQ editors and reviewers offered assistance and helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. This paper develops and tests hypotheses about the characteristics of organizations and their environments that favor the proliferation of detailed job titles to describe work roles. A method for measuring the proliferation of job titles is proposed and applied to a sample of 368 diverse work organizations. It is hypothesized that proliferation is linked to four main factors: technical and administrative imperatives; internal political struggles over the division of labor; the institutional environment and its role in shaping personnel practices; and the market environment. Crosssectional and longitudinal analyses indicate that job titles proliferate most in organizations that are large, bureaucratic, rely on firm-specific skills, have a professionalized workforce, and are in institutional sectors. We describe howfragmentation among job titles imposes status gradations and gender distinctions in organizations, noting some important theoretical and practical implications of the phenomenon.*

Social support, autonomy, and hierarchical level as moderators of the role characteristics-outcome relationship†

Abstract: Although previous theory suggests that social support, job autonomy, and hierarchical level moderate role characteristics-employee outcome relationships, the strength of these moderating effects among 2046 bank employees was practically zero. These theoretical moderators and three role characteristics (conflict, ambiguity, and overload) did have direct relationships with the outcomes (job satisfaction and job search intent), as summarized by canonical correlation. Recommendations for future research are offered.

Humanistic Management and Organizational Success: The Effect of Job and Work Environment Characteristics on Organizational Effectiveness, Public Responsiveness, and Job Satisfaction:

Abstract: This paper is based on a 1983 attitudinal survey of Iowa public employees examining the effect of job (job challenge, role clarity, and performance appraisal fairness) and work environment (personal significance, supervisory relationship, and employee freedom), characteristics — used here as indicators of humanistic management — on organizational success (perceptions of organizational effectiveness, public responsiveness, and job satisfaction). The results document three findings: (1) organizations are perceived as being successful, (2) job and work environment characteristics are viewed as favorable, and (3) an across-the-board, albeit moderate, relationship between organizational success and humanistic management practices is perceived to exist.

The relationship between skill utilization, professional orientation and job satisfaction for pharmacists

Abstract: Technological changes in the manufacture of drugs have caused community pharmacists to lose control over the use of their specialized knowledge The study described here sought to examine the consequences of these structural changes for pharmacists' perceptions of their skill utilization, job influence and job satisfaction It was predicted that the job satisfaction-job attribute relationship for pharmacists would be moderated by their professional orientation—the degree to which they wanted to use their specialized skills and have influence over drug distribution This prediction was tested with a sample of 396 South Australian pharmacists using hierarchical multiple regression It was found that community, but not hospital, pharmacists had significantly lower levels of skill utilization and job satisfaction than that found for other professional occupations Professional role orientation was not a significant moderator of the relationship between skill utilization, job influence and job satisfaction Skill utilization was the major predictor of job satisfaction and accounted for up to 32 per cent of unique variance in job satisfaction

Correlates of Job Satisfaction: A Study of the Two Factor Theory in an Educational Setting

Abstract: This study investigated the generality of the dual factor theory of job satisfaction as proposed by Herzberg, Mausner, and Snyderman (1959). Two questionnaires were employed to examine the sources of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction for elementary school principals in Israel. Results generally supported the two factor theory. Factors designated by Herzberg et al. as satisfiers were dominant sources of job satisfaction in this study as well. A comparison of the answers to the two questionnaires indicated that the attitudes toward the items are usually consistent. Results also showed that the two factor theory is contingent on individual factors.

Impact of the technological environment on programmer/analyst job outcomes

Abstract: Recent research has shown that key DP/IS personnel job outcomes (e.g., turnover, organizational commitment, job satisfaction) are affected by job design, leadership characteristics, and role variables. This study investigates another class of variables, the technological environment faced by DP/IS personnel, that might impact these job outcomes. The technological environment includes (1) development methodologies employed, (2) project teams and reporting relationships, and (3) work characteristics. Variables from all classes were found to impact DP/IS job outcomes. Over 11 percent of the variance in DP/IS job satisfaction is explained by these variables.

Job Satisfaction of School Psychologists in a Primarily Rural State.

Abstract: Job satisfaction of school psychologists practicing in West Virginia (n = 106) was studied using a modified version of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. More than 35% of the responding prac...

The Influence of Occupational Image Subculture on Job Attitudes, Job Performance, and the Job Attitude-Job Performance Relationship

Abstract: The occupational image subcultures associated with the nursing role (professional, traditional, bureaucratic, and utilitarian) affected job attitudes and the job attitude-performance relationship, but did not seem to have a direct effect on job performance. Implications of these findings are discussed and a model linking occupational and organizational socialization to job attitudes and job performance is presented.

Management discovers the human side of automation

Abstract: To realize the full potential of automation, leading-edge companies are integrating workers and technology in "sociotechnical" systems that revolutionize the way work is organized and managed. This is an immensely important trend, one that is producing a new model of job design and work relations that will shape the workplace well into the 21st century.

The impact of expectations on faculty job satisfaction.

Abstract: Although job satisfaction of nurses within the clinical area has been heavily studied, the satisfaction of nurse faculty members has seldom been examined. This study looks at the relationship of the role of the department chairperson to the satisfaction of faculty. The sample was composed of 163 faculty in eight state supported baccalaureate/masters programs. Age, length of service, size of the department, and the size of the program served as control variables. Two self-designed instruments (CPQ-E and CPQ-P) based on Need Fulfillment Theory created an Expectation Discrepancy Score for each faculty member. Job satisfaction was measured by the JDI. The relationship between the Expectation Discrepancy Score and job satisfaction was found to be significant (Fg = 15.786, p less than 05). Several recommendations were suggested.

Professionals in Bureaucracies: A Study of the Effect of Employment in Chain Organizations on Pharmacists' Job Satisfaction

Abstract: The objective of this study was to cxaminc the effects of employment in chain organizations on community pharmacists' perceived autonomy and job satisfaction. It was hypothesized that larger organizations were more bureaucratic and that pharmacists employed in them would have less autonomy and job satisfaction. Data from 202 community pharmacists were analyzed using the LISREL VI program for analysis of structural equation models. Results indicated that pharmacists employed in larger organizations perceived themselves to have less autonomy and job satisfaction, and that these negative perceptions may have been a result of the more bureaucratic structures of the chain organizations.

Job satisfaction of child care workers: A review

Abstract: Studies of job satisfaction of child care workers are reviewed using the Work Adjustment Theory as a framework. Pay and benefits, working conditions, relationships on the job, perception of control, advancement, interaction with children seem to be associated with job satisfaction. Research done to date is assessed and suggestions for future research are offered.

An Integration Theoretical Analysis of Expected Job Attractiveness and Satisfaction

Abstract: Two experiments were performed to study judgment about jobs, using the method of information integration theory. Prospective job seekers rated hypothetical job descriptions according to (a) how much they would like to accept the job, and (b) how satisfied they would feel with the job of that kind. Job descriptions were constructed using two kinds of information: Context (e.g., pay, working conditions) and Content (e.g., achievement, work itself) in a two-factor design. Judgments of liking and expected satisfaction ratings both showed near-parallelism, though a small nonadditive component was also present. The averaging model was able to account for both the additive and nonadditive patterns, whereas the adding rule and the multiplying rule could not. A practical implication of the averaging rule is that adding a minor fringe benefit, positive in itself, may actually decrease job satisfaction and attraction.

Self‐esteem and sense of competence as moderators of the job satisfaction of professionals in dual career families

Abstract: esteem, be used in future investigations. Sekaran's (1982, 1983) research on dual career families, however, would seem to indicate that both concepts may be equally important moderators for professional married couples to experience satisfaction at the workplace. This study examined the moderating effects of both self-esteem and sense of competence on the relationship between four work variables - career salience, job involvement, income, and discretionary time or personal time spent on job-related activities - and the job satisfaction of professionals in dual career families. More specifically, it examined if each of these two variables would explain incremental variance in job satisfaction over and above the other. If they did, both variables must be considered to be relevant for future research on professional couples. If such is not the case, and self-esteem is not a variable which significantly contributes to the incremental explained variance, then Tharenou and Harker may be right in saying that it is not a useful variable for organizational research.

The application of the job severity index to job design for the control of manual materials-handling injury.

Abstract: This paper discusses the job severity index method for the design of manual materials handling tasks. The development and testing of the method are reviewed. In addition, a complete application procedure is presented with a numerical example.

The Dynamics of Job Satisfaction — A Longitudinal Study

Abstract: Personnel managers are concerned with making effective use of people. Job satisfaction is thus an issue of fundamental importance in personnel management. Interest in job satisfaction has been maintained largely because of the costs which dissatisfaction entails. Job dissatisfaction has been linked with labour turnover, absenteeism, poor performance and productivity, and low morale. Many of these areas are ones which personnel managers have been able to cost. Job dissatisfaction has also been linked to industrial phenomena such as strikes, grievances, industrial accidents and sabotage.