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CHAPTER I DESIGN AND EXECUTION OF THE STUDY 1.1 JOB SATISFACTION: Job satisfaction is one of the important factors that have drawn the attention of the administration in any organization. Various studies have been conducted to find out the factors which determine job satisfaction and the way it influences productivity in the organization. Though there is no conclusive evidence that job satisfaction affects productivity directly because productivity depends upon so many variables, it is still a prime concern for the administration. Job satisfaction is another important technique used to motivate the employees to work harder. It has often been said that A Happy Employee is a Productive Employee. A happy employee in generally is that employee who is satisfied with his job. So, job satisfaction is very important because most of the people spend a major portion of their life at their working place. Moreover, job satisfaction has its impact on the general life of the employees also because a satisfied employee is a contented and happy human being. A highly satisfied worker has better physical and mental well being though it is debatable paint as to which one is the cause and the other is the effect, but they are correlated to each other. 1.2 DEFINITION OF JOB SATISFACTION: The term job satisfaction can be defined as, the extent of positive feeling and attitudes that individuals have towards their jobs. When a person says that he really likes his job, feels good about it and values his job highly. E.A. Locke says, Job satisfaction is a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job or job experience. Dobbins has defined the job satisfaction in terms of pleasure and contentment when he says that, Job satisfaction is the amount of pleasure of contentment associated with a job. If you like your job intensely, you will experience high job satisfaction. If you dislike your job intensely, you will experience job dissatisfaction.

1.3 PROCESS OF JOB SATISFACTION: Every human being has his own needs and desires, of them, some are conscious and some are unconscious. These needs become strong in an individual and create tension to stimulate behaviors towards fulfilling his needs. But all needs never completely or permanently satisfied those of an individual who entertains extraordinary high hope and which are beyond capacity to fulfill. His needs are not satisfied, a person but to aim at alternative goals, which hold a promise of satisfaction or indulge in some kind of defensive behaviors in an attempt to assuage his feelings. Non attainment of the goal may cause serious problems within an individual. When an individual satisfied his needs in an acceptable manner to the society and which satisfies his Ego, he is known as an adaptive or an adjusted person. Such type of person is goal oriented, adopting healthy flexible and having the attitude of problems solving for the satisfaction of his need. This type of behavior is called as Positive Defensive Behavior. When an individual, on the other hand, incapable of satisfying or fails to satisfy his particular needs or satisfied them in an unacceptable manner to the society, he is known as a social inadequate. As he is unsatisfied in his needs, he becomes disorganized and adopts a productive behavior to exhibit his frustration. This type of behavior is called as Negative Defensive Behavior. Behavior is generally motivated by a desire to attain some goal. This behavior is a series of activities. As human beings we are always doing something, such as walking, talking, working, sleeping and the like. At any moment we may decide to change our activity from one to another. 1.4 MODELS OF JOB SATISFACTION:

1.4.1 AFFECT THEORY: Edwin A. Lockes Range of Affect Theory (1976) is arguably the most famous job satisfaction model. The main premise of this theory is that satisfaction is determined by a discrepancy between what one wants in a job and what one has

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in a job. Further, the theory states that how much one values a given facet of work (e.g. the degree of autonomy in a position) moderates how satisfied/dissatisfied one becomes when expectations are/arent met. When a person values a particular facet of a job, his satisfaction is more greatly impacted both positively (when expectations are met) and negatively (when expectations are not met), compared to one who doesnt value that facet. To illustrate, if Employee A values autonomy in the workplace and Employee B is indifferent about autonomy, then Employee A would be more satisfied in a position that offers a high degree of autonomy and less satisfied in a position with little or no autonomy compared to Employee B. This theory also states that too much of a particular facet will produce stronger feelings of dissatisfaction the more a worker values that facet.

1.4.2 DISPOSITIONAL THEORY: Another well-known job satisfaction theory is the Dispositional Theory.It is a very general theory that suggests that people have innate dispositions that cause them to have tendencies toward a certain level of satisfaction, regardless of ones job. This approach became a notable explanation of job satisfaction in light of evidence that job satisfaction tends to be stable over time and across careers and jobs. Research also indicates that identical twins have similar levels of job satisfaction. A significant model that narrowed the scope of the Dispositional Theory was the Core Self-evaluations Model, proposed by Timothy A. Judge in 1998. Judge argued that there are four Core Self-evaluations that determine ones disposition towards job satisfaction: self-esteem, general self-efficacy, locus of control, and neuroticism. This model states that higher levels of self-esteem (the value one places on his/her self) and general self-efficacy (the belief in ones own competence) lead to higher work satisfaction. Having an internal locus of control (believing one has control over her\his own life, as opposed to outside forces having control) leads to

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higher job satisfaction. Finally, lower levels of neuroticism lead to higher job satisfaction. 1.4.3 TWO-FACTOR THEORY (MOTIVATOR-HYGIENE THEORY): Frederick Herzbergs Two factor theory (also known as Motivator Hygiene Theory) attempts to explain satisfaction and motivation in the workplace. This theory states that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are driven by different factors motivation and hygiene factors, respectively. An employees motivation to work is continually related to job satisfaction of a subordinate. Motivation can be seen as an inner force that drives individuals to attain personal and organizational goals (Hoskinson, Porter, & Wrench). Motivating factors are those aspects of the job that make people want to perform, and provide people with satisfaction, for example achievement in work, recognition, promotion opportunities. These motivating factors are considered to be intrinsic to the job, or the work carried out. Hygiene factors include aspects of the working environment such as pay, company policies, supervisory practices, and other working conditions. While Hertzberg's model has stimulated much research, researchers have been unable to reliably empirically prove the model, with Hackman & Oldham suggesting that Hertzberg's original formulation of the model may have been a methodological artifact. Furthermore, the theory does not consider individual differences, conversely predicting all employees will react in an identical manner to changes in motivating/hygiene factors. Finally, the model has been criticised in that it does not specify how motivating/hygiene factors are to be measured.

1.4.4 JOB CHARACTERISTICS MODEL: Hackman & Oldham proposed the Job Characteristics Model, which is widely used as a framework to study how particular job characteristics impact on job outcomes, including job satisfaction.

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The model states that there are five core job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback) which impact three critical psychological states (experienced meaningfulness, experienced responsibility for outcomes, and knowledge of the actual results), in turn influencing work outcomes (job satisfaction, absenteeism, work motivation, etc.). The five core job characteristics can be combined to form a motivating potential score (MPS) for a job, which can be used as an index of how likely a job is to affect an employee's attitudes and behaviors. A meta-analysis of studies that assess the framework of the model provides some support for the validity of the JCM. 1.5 DETERMINANTS OF JOB SATISFACTION: While analyzing the various determinants of job satisfaction, we have to keep in mind that: all individuals do not derive the same degree of satisfaction though they perform the same job in the same job environment and at the same time. Therefore, it appears that besides the nature of job and job environment, there are individual variables which affect job satisfaction thus all those factors which provide a fit among individual variables, nature of job, and the situational variables determine the degree of job satisfaction. Let us see what these factors are. A. INDIVIDUAL FACTORS: Individuals have certain expectations from their jobs. If there expectations are met from the jobs, they feel satisfied. other factors. 1. Level of Education: Level of education of an individual is a factor which determines the degree of job satisfaction. For example several studies have These expectations are based on an individuals level of education, age, and

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found negative correlation between the level of education, particularly higher level of education, and job satisfaction. The possible reason for this phenomenon may be that highly educated persons have very high expectations from their jobs which remain unsatisfied. more quickly. 2. Age: Individuals experience different degree of job satisfaction at different stages of their life. Job satisfaction is high at the initial stage, gets gradually reduced, starts rising up to certain stage, and finally dips to a low degree. phenomenon are like this. The possible reasons for this an individual joins an When In their case, Peters principle which suggests that every individual tries to reach his level of incompetence, applies

organization, He may have some unrealistic assumptions about what they are going to derive from their work. These assumptions make them more satisfied. However, when these assumptions fall short of reality, job satisfaction goes down. It starts rising again as the people start to asses the jobs in right perspective and correct their assumptions. At the last, particularly at the fag end of the career, job satisfaction goes down because of fear of retirement and future outcome. 3. Other Factors: Besides the above two factors, there are other individual factors which affect job satisfaction. If an individual does not have favorable social and family life, he may not feel happy at the work place. Similarly other personal problems associated with him may affect his level of job satisfaction. B. NATURE OF JOB:

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Nature of job determines job satisfaction which is in the form of occupation level and job content. 1. Occupational level: Higher level jobs provide more satisfaction as compared to lower levels. This happens because high level jobs carry prestige and status in the society which itself becomes source of satisfaction for the job holders. For example, professionals derive more satisfaction as compared to salaried people; factory workers are least satisfied. 2. Job content: Job content refers to the intrinsic value of the job which depends on the requirement of skills for performing it, and the degree of responsibility and growth it offers. A higher content of these factors provides higher satisfaction. For example, a routine and repetitive job provides lesser satisfaction; the degree of satisfaction progressively increases in job rotation, job enlargement, and job enrichment. C. SITUATIONAL
VARIABLES :

Situational variables related to a job satisfaction lie in organizational context-formal and informal. As we shall see in the next part of text, formal organization is created by the management and informal organization emerges out of the interaction of individuals in the organization. Some of the important factors which affect job satisfaction are given below. 1. Working conditions: Working conditions, particularly physical work environment, like conditions of workplace and associated facilities for

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performing the job determine job satisfaction. These work in two ways. First, these provide means for job performance. Second, provision of these conditions affects the individuals perception about the organization. If these factors are favorable, individuals experience higher level of job satisfaction. 2. Supervision: The type of supervision affects job satisfaction as in each type of supervision; the degree of importance attached to individuals varies. In employee-oriented supervision, there is more concern for people which is perceived favorably by them and provides them more satisfaction. In job-oriented supervision, there is more emphasis on the performance of the job and people become secondary. This situation decreases job satisfaction. 3. Equitable Rewards: The type of linkage that is provided between job performance and rewards determines the degree of job satisfaction. If the reward is perceived to be based on the job performance and equitable, it offers higher satisfaction. If the reward is perceived to be based on considerations other than the job performance, it affects job satisfaction adversely. 4. Opportunity for Promotion: It is true that individuals seek satisfaction in their jobs in the context of job nature and work environment but they also attach importance to the opportunities for promotion that these jobs offer. If the present job offers opportunity of promotion in future, it provides more satisfaction. If the opportunity for such promotion is lacking, it reduces satisfaction.

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5. Work Group: Individuals work in group either created formally or they develop on their own to seek emotional satisfaction at the workplace. To the extent, such groups are cohesive; the degree of satisfaction is high. If the group satisfaction out of their interpersonal interaction and workplace becomes satisfying, leading to job satisfaction. 1.6 EFFECT JOB SATISFACTION :

OF

Job satisfaction has a variety of effects. These effects may be seen in the context of an individuals physical and mental health, productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. a. Physical and Mental Health: The degree of job satisfaction affects an individuals physical and mental health. feeling, health. its Since job satisfaction is a type of mental or unfavourableness affects the favorableness

individual psychologically which ultimately affects his physical For example Lawler has pointed out that drug abuse, and mental and physical health result from alcoholism,

psychologically harmful jobs. Further, since a job is and important part of life, job satisfaction influences general life satisfaction. The result is that there is spillover effect which occurs in both directions between job and life satisfaction. b. Productivity: There are two views about the relationship between job satisfaction and productivity: 1. A happy worker is a productive worker. 2. A happy worker is not necessarily a productive worker.

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The first view establishes a direct cause-effect relationship between job satisfaction and productivity; when job satisfaction increases, productivity increases; when job satisfaction decreases, productivity decreases. The basic logic behind this is that a happy worker will put more efforts for job performance. However, this may not be true in all cases. For example, a worker having low expectations from his job may feel satisfied but he may not put his efforts more vigorously because of his low expectations from the job. Therefore, this view does not explain fully the complex Another view: that is a satisfied worker is not necessarily a productive worker explains the relationship between job satisfaction and productivity. Various research studies also relationship between job satisfaction and productivity.

support this view. This relationship may be explained in terms of the operation and organizational expectations from individuals for job performance. 1. Job performance leads to job satisfaction and not the other way round. The basic factor for this phenomenon is the The rewards (a source of satisfaction) attached with performance. There are two types of rewards-intrinsic and extrinsic. intrinsic reward stems from the job itself which may be in the form of growth potential, challenging job, etc. the satisfaction on such a type of reward may help to increase productivity. The extrinsic reward is subject to control by management such as salary, bonus, etc. increase satisfaction. 2. A happy worker does not necessarily contribute to higher productivity because he has to operate under certain technological constraints and, therefore, he cannot go beyond certain output. Further, this constraint affects the managements any increase in these factors does not help to though these factors increase job productivity

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expectations from the individual in the form of lower output. Thus, the work situation is pegged to minimally acceptable level of performance. However, it does not mean that the job satisfaction has no impact on productivity. A satisfied worker may not necessarily lead to increased productivity but a dissatisfied worker leads to lower productivity. c. Absenteeism: Absenteeism refers to the frequency of absence of a job holder from the workplace either unexcused absence due to some avoidable reasons or long absence due to some unavoidable reasons. concern. It is the former type of absence which is a matter of This absence is due to lack satisfaction from the job Thus, Job satisfaction is related to

which produces a lack of will to work and alienate a worker from work as far as possible. absenteeism. d. Employee Turnover: Turnover of employees is the rate at which employees leave the organization within a given period of time. As discussed earlier in this chapter under defense mechanism, when an individual feels dissatisfaction in the organization, he tries to overcome this through the various ways of defense mechanism. If he is not able to do so, he opts to leave the organization. Thus, in general case, employee turnover is related to job satisfaction. However, job satisfaction is not the only cause of employee turnover, the other cause being better opportunity elsewhere. For example, in the present context, the rate of turnover of computer software professionals is very high in India. However, these professionals leave their organizations not simply because they

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are not satisfied but because of the opportunities offered from other sources particularly from foreign companies located abroad. 1.7 THERE ARE THREE IMPORTANT DIMENSIONS TO JOB SATISFACTION: 1) Job satisfaction cannot be seen, it can only be inferred. It relates to ones feelings towards ones job. 2) Job satisfaction can be determined, how the employees expectations are fulfilled by an organization. If the employees are working in a feel, that they are working much harder than others in the department, but receiving lower rewards, they will be dissatisfied and have a negative attitude towards their job and if they feel that they are being paid equitably and treated well by the organization/department, they will be satisfied with their jobs and have positive attitudes. 3) Job satisfaction and job attitudes are typically used inter changeably. Positive attitudes towards the jobs are theoretically equivalent to job satisfaction and negative attitudes towards the job practically equivalent to job satisfaction. 1.8 BENEFITS OF JOB SATISFACTION: If job satisfaction studies are properly planned and administered, they will usually produce a number of important benefits, both general and specific. Additional Benefits Surveys have many other benefits. They gives better ideas for the administration of organization/ department to plan for the improvement of the job satisfaction of the employees and convey the immediate needs and rectify their difficulties to the administrative. 1.9 IMPROVING JOB SATISFACTION: Job satisfaction plays significant role in the organization. Therefore, managers should take concrete steps to improve the level of job satisfaction. These steps may be in the form of job redesigning to

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make the job more interesting and challenging, improving quality of work life, linking rewards with performance, and improving overall organizational climate. 1.9.1 FIVE TIPS FOR IMPROVING THE EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION: Human Performance Institute describes five ways employers can create a satisfying work environment: 1. Build employees' competence and self-confidence through training, feedback and recognition. "There is a very close relationship between high job satisfaction and feelings of effectiveness on the job," says Dr. Loehr. "Encouragement of genuine self-confidence is probably the number one way to achieve higher job satisfaction." 2. Communicate the value of the organization's products and services, and the role the organization plays in the marketplaces where it operates. "People with high job satisfaction also report an extraordinarily high sense of mission, vision and passion for their work," says Loehr. "They feel their work is consistent with their values. They couldn't achieve that feeling if their employers didn't enable them to get meaningful insight about the value they provide to customers." 3. Encourage and reward thoughtful risk-taking. "People with high job satisfaction also score high on the desire to try novel approaches, face challenges and perform problemsolving both individually and in groups," says Loehr. "They appear to have an appetite for mission-driven change. They also rate themselves very high on perseverance." 4. Encourage positive workplace relations. "People who are highly satisfied in their jobs report good feelings about their bosses, peers and coworkers," says Loehr. "Their feelings of opportunity are elevated, and they perceive a low hassle-factor." 5. Encourage meaningful rest breaks and light diversion. "High job satisfaction correlates strongly with the feeling of having fun at work," says Dr. Loehr. "Highly

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satisfied individuals also report that, they find it easy to wake in the morning, and that their sleep is deep and restful." He adds: "This is consistent with our thirty years of research on world-class athletes. Top performers in every field know how to enhance performance through rest and recovery." 1.10 REVIEW OF LITERATURE: Job satisfaction is simply defined as the affective orientation that an employee has towards his or her work (Price, 2001). In other words, it is an affective reaction to a job that results from the comparison of perceived outcomes with those that are desired (Kam, 1998). Shortly, job satisfaction describes the feelings, attitudes or preferences of individuals regarding work (Chen, 2008). Furthermore, it is the degree to which employees enjoy their jobs (McCloskey and McCain, 1987). And also, it is possible to see a number of theories developed to uderstand its nature in literature. Vroom (1964), need/value fulfilment theory, states that job satisfaction is negatively related to the discrepancy between individual needs and the extent to which the job supplies these needs. On the other hand, Porter and Lawler (1968) collect the influences on job satisfaction in two groups of internal and external satisfactory factors. According to them, internal satisfactory factors are related the work itself (such as feeling of independence, feeling of achievement, feeling of victory, self-esteem, feeling of control and other similar feeling obtained from work), whereas external satisfactory factors are not directly related to work itself (such as good relationships with colleagues, high salary, good welfare and utilities). So, the influences on job satisfaction can be also divided into workrelated and employee-related factors (Glisson and Durick, 1988). On the other hand, Arvey and Dewhirst (1976), took 271 scientists as a study sample, and found that the degree of job-satisfaction of the workers with high achievement motivation exceeded that of workers with low achievement motivation. Also autonomy is an important concern for employees job satisfaction. For example, Abdel-Halim (1983) investigated 229 supervisory and nonsupervisory employees in a large retail-drug company and concluded that individuals who

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have high need-for-independence performed better and were more satisfied with high participation for non-repetititive tasks (Kam, 1998). Additionally, administrative styles, professional status and pay are known as important factors influencing job satisfaction. For example, Carr and Kazanowsky (1994) successfully showed that inadequate salary was very lelated to employees dissatisfaction. And recent studies showed that a participative (democratic) management style was mostly prefered by todays managers to increase their employees job satisfaction (Dogan and bicioglu, 2004; Knoop, 1991). Consequently, numerous researches have been going on job satisfaction for many years. And it is common thought that job satisfaction influences organizational behavior, namely it positively affects employee working performance and organizational commitment, and negatively influences employee turnover (Agarwal and Ferrat, 2001; Poulin, 1994; Chen, 2008). Moreover, the relationships between job satisfaction and many variables such as motivation, stress, salary, promotion, role conflict, distributive and procedural justice, role ambiguity, autonomy, workload, leadership style, educational level, emotional intelligence are still being analyzed in different fields as an attractive and important subject of management literature (Ross and Reskin, 1992; Agho et al., 1993; Stordeur et al., 2001; Chu et al., 2003; Kafetsios and Zampetakis, 2008). For example, Sengin (2003), and Hinshaw and Atwood (1984) identify variables that influence employee job satisfaction as: (1) demographic variables: education, experience, and position in the hiererchy; (2) Job characteristics: autonomy, tasks repetetivenes, and salaries; and (3) organizational environment factors: degree of professionalization, type of unit. And Mrayyan (2005) says that the variables of encouragement, feedback, a widening pay scale and clear job description, career development oppurtunity, supportive leadership style, easy communication with colleagues and social interaction positively affect job satisfaction, whereas role stress has a negative influence on it. Similarly, the research made by Chu and his friends (2003) demonstrates that satisfaction is positively related to involvement, positive affectivity, autonomy, distributive justice, procedural justice, promotional chances, supervisor support, co-worker support, but it is negatively

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related to negative affectivity, role ambiguity, work-load, resource inadequacy and routinization.