| Culture and Psychological Contracts: Effects on Job Satisfaction and Guilt |
| | Ng, Yee | Michigan State U. | ngkok@pilot.msu.edu | (517)-353-6913 |
| | Ilgen, Daniel R. | Michigan State U. | ilgen@pilot.msu.edu | (517)-432-3513 |
| | It is argued that culture influences the psychological contracts
employees bring to the workplace. Psychological contracts, in turn, frame
employee reactions. Specifically, perceptions of failure to meet the
contract on the part of the organization lower job satisfaction, and
perceptions of employee' own failures to meet their obligations lead to
feelings of guilt. Cultural values and psychological contracts were
assessed for the two major cultural groupings of U.S. and Asian graduate
students before they commenced their job as teaching assistants. A second
assessment occurred three months later, when job experiences and reactions
(satisfaction and guilt) were measured. As predicted, degree of fulfillment
of employers' obligations of the psychological contract correlated with
job satisfaction, and degree of fulfillment of employees' obligations
correlated with guilt. Cultural moderators were observed. Specifically,
job satisfaction was more strongly influenced by the extent that employers'
obligations were perceived to be met in the U.S.subsample than in the
Asian subsample. Conversely, the strength of the relationship between
employees' perception that they fulfilled their own obligations and guilt
was stronger in the Asian subsample than in the U.S.subsample. These and
other effects are discussed in light of the impact of employees' initial
values and expectations on reactions to work settings.
|
| | Keywords: Psychological contracts;; Culture;; Affective reactions |
| The Moderating Effects of Employee Perceptions of Behavioral Discretion on the Relationship Between OCB and Job Satisfaction |
| | Putka, Dan J. | Ohio U. | dp391288@oak.cats.ohiou.edu | (740)-593-1061 |
| | Vancouver, Jeffrey B. | Ohio U. | vancouve@oak.cats.ohiou.edu | (740)-593-1071 |
| | Recent studies suggest that traditional beliefs held in the OCB literature regarding the uniform perception among organizational members that OCBs are discretionary may be in doubt (Morrison, 1994; Pond, Nacoste, Mohr, & Rodriguez; 1997). These findings create problems for the way research has typically explained the reasons for the positive OCB-job satisfaction link. Meanwhile, they also provide an opportunity to more finely test the soundness of the theoretical reasoning used to explain this link. Specifically, the general finding of higher correlations between OCB engagement and satisfaction than between job performance and satisfaction (Organ & Ryan, 1995; Iaffaldano & Muchinsky, 1985; Petty, McGee, & Cavender, 1984), although indicating consistency with OCB theory, does not provide a direct test of the essential components of it at a level consistent with the theory itself. The study presented here does. Generally, the data from this study is consistent with theory. Although job satisfaction was more related to employees' engagement in behaviors that they viewed as more discretionary rather than less discretionary, some interesting aspects the analyses did not come out as expected. This study provides an important step for the OCB literature by: (a) providing a broader examination of employees' perceptions of OCB than has been previously done, (b) considering the impact these perceptions have for OCB theory, and (c) conducting the first test of OCB theory at a level of analysis consistent with the theory itself. |
| | Keywords: OCB; discretion; satisfaction |
| Job Satisfaction And Leadership Practice Related to Safety Performance: A Case for a Manufacturing Firm |
| | Kim, Chong W. | Marshall U. | Kim@marshall.edu | (304)-696-2682 |
| | Barady, Charles T. | Inco Alloy International, Inc. | cbarady@inco.net | (304)-526-5145 |
| | Heck, Karl A. | Inco Alloy International, Inc. | kheck@inco.net | (304)-526-5764 |
| | Koepp, David R. | Inco Alloy International, Inc. | dkoepp@inco.net | (304)-526-5523 |
| | Pinkham, Scott R. | Inco Alloy International, Inc. | spinkham@inco.net | (304)526-5689 |
| | The world's leading producer of nickel-base alloys has its first priority in safety performance when making
all business decisions. Over the past few years the company has made dramatic plant-wide improvements
in safety record, but has reached a plateau. As a search for ways to tke safety to the next level,
four manufacturing departments of the company were analyzed based on a satisfaction survey and
secondary data. The results show that there is a significant impact to employees' safety performance
by leadership behaviors and employee job satisfaction. This study not only provides additional evidence
to support the literature, but also gives important implcations to managers for improving employees'
safety performance through job redesigning, structure, and effective leadership. |
| | Keywords: Saftey; Satisfaction; Leadership |
| Identifying the Sources of Non-Equivalence in Job Satisfaction Measures |
| | Scarpello, Vida | Georgia State U. | mgtvgs@langate.gsu.edu | 404-651-0198 |
| | Hayton, James | Georgia State U. | James_Hayton@msn.com | 404-651-2005 |
| | The general purpose of this study is to identify the sources of nonequivalence of measures of job satisfaction. We examine th eetent to which six popular measures of job satisfaciton (Job Descriptive Index; Minnesota Satisfaciton Questionnaire; Hoppock Job Satisfaction Blank; Brayfield-Rothe Index of Job Satisfaction; Job in General Scale; and a single-item global measure) measure the same thing, and test the three dominant explanations for empirical nonequivalence of facet-based and global measures: 'frame-of-reference'; 'alternative combinatory models'; and 'omitted facts.' The study's subjects are 579 employees of a regional healthcare organization in the United Kingdom. Full and reduced regression analysis reveals that occupation and career-related considerations are included within general measures of satisfaciton to a greater extent than the facet-based measures, supporting the 'omitted facets'explanation for observed nonequivalence. Implications for the selection of job satisfaction measures for research are discussed. |
| | Keywords: attitudes; job satisfaction; validity |