job satisfaction of teachers

14
JOB SATISFACTION AND COMMITMENT OF OLDER WORKERS IN SMALL BUSINESSES* by Patricia L. Smith and Frank Hoy Extensive research has examined work attitudes such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment and has identified various characteristics which are related to these constructs. For example, studies indicate older workers are more satisfied and com- mitted to their firms than younger employees (Rhodes 1983). The majority of such studies, however, focus on employees in large firms in a variety of work settings. Seldom have these con- structs been addressed in a systematic manner in small businesses. The rela-. tionship between work attitudes and the ages of individuals employed by small businesses has received even less attention. An understanding of such relationships may be just as important to the small business owner as to the manager in larger organizations as both seek to deal with the increasingly older work force predicted by the U. S. Small Business Administration. Traditionally, small firms have em- ployed proportionately more younger •An earlier version of the paper upon whkhthisarticle w bwwd was presented at the meeting uf the Soathrm Manai^nient Association. NowmberH-K). tiWO. OrlanA), Florida. This study was funded by a urant from theSodety of Haman Resource ManaRement Foondatton. l)r. &Jiith i« araislant imrfMMir of buiam»Mi and economics. Berry CoUene. Rome. Geonria. l>r. Hoy isdeanof theColtetteof Busineits AdministrM- tion at the Univomtjf uf Texas at Kl i'aso. and more older workers than large organizations, groups comprised to a great extent of retirees, homemakers, and students(Barth, Cordes, and Haber 1984; U. S. Small Business Adminis- tration 1988). The Office of Advocacy of the U. S. Small Business Administra- tion, however, predicts a decline in both of these groups during the present decade. The lower birth rate of the mid- sixties will decrease the number of younger workers in both relative and absolute terms. Participation in the work force of individuals over 55 will also decline as more workers choose to retire early. With the decline in the labor force of these particular age groups, small businesses may find it increasingly difficult to maintain a work force similar to the one they have employed in the past. They will be at an economic disadvantage as they compete with their larger counterparts for the same pool of prime age(i.e.,35 to54) workers. They may also find it increasingly difficult to accommodate their chang- ing employee base in terms of the need for training, flexibility, and increased productivity. As a consequence, it is incumbent upon the small bosiness owner to identify characteristics of employees who will i^ more satisfi^ and more committed to their firms. At tO6 J<Kirruri

Upload: guest5e0c7e

Post on 13-Jan-2015

2.075 views

Category:

Education


5 download

DESCRIPTION

 

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Job Satisfaction Of Teachers

JOB SATISFACTION AND COMMITMENTOF OLDER WORKERS IN SMALL BUSINESSES*by Patricia L. Smith and Frank Hoy

Extensive research has examinedwork attitudes such as job satisfactionand organizational commitment andhas identified various characteristicswhich are related to these constructs.For example, studies indicate olderworkers are more satisfied and com-mitted to their firms than youngeremployees (Rhodes 1983). The majorityof such studies, however, focus onemployees in large firms in a variety ofwork settings. Seldom have these con-structs been addressed in a systematicmanner in small businesses. The rela-.tionship between work attitudes andthe ages of individuals employed bysmall businesses has received even lessattention. An understanding of suchrelationships may be just as importantto the small business owner as to themanager in larger organizations asboth seek to deal with the increasinglyolder work force predicted by the U. S.Small Business Administration.

Traditionally, small firms have em-ployed proportionately more younger

•An earlier version of the paper upon whkhthisarticlew bwwd was presented at the meeting uf the SoathrmManai^nient Association. NowmberH-K). tiWO. OrlanA),Florida. This study was funded by a urant from theSodetyof Haman Resource ManaRement Foondatton.

l)r. &Jiith i« araislant imrfMMir of buiam»Mi andeconomics. Berry CoUene. Rome. Geonria.

l>r. Hoy isdeanof theColtetteof Busineits AdministrM-tion at the Univomtjf uf Texas at Kl i'aso.

and more older workers than largeorganizations, groups comprised to agreat extent of retirees, homemakers,and students(Barth, Cordes, and Haber1984; U. S. Small Business Adminis-tration 1988). The Office of Advocacy ofthe U. S. Small Business Administra-tion, however, predicts a decline inboth of these groups during the presentdecade. The lower birth rate of the mid-sixties will decrease the number ofyounger workers in both relative andabsolute terms. Participation in thework force of individuals over 55 willalso decline as more workers choose toretire early.

With the decline in the labor force ofthese particular age groups, smallbusinesses may find it increasinglydifficult to maintain a work forcesimilar to the one they have employedin the past. They will be at an economicdisadvantage as they compete withtheir larger counterparts for the samepool of prime age(i.e.,35 to54) workers.They may also find it increasinglydifficult to accommodate their chang-ing employee base in terms of the needfor training, flexibility, and increasedproductivity. As a consequence, it isincumbent upon the small bosinessowner to identify characteristics ofemployees who will i^ more satisfi^and more committed to their firms. At

tO6 J<Kirruri

Page 2: Job Satisfaction Of Teachers

present, there is little research to assistsmall business owners in these en-deavors.

This study attempts to remedy thisomission. It examines the relationshipof work attitudes and characteristics ofemployees of various age groups toidentify those individuals who areinclined to make long-term commit-ments to their companies.

BACKGROUNDBoth job satisfaction and organi-

zational commitment have long beenrecognized as antecedents of employeetenure. Job satisfaction has been de-fined by Locke (1969, 1300) as a" pleasurable or positive emotional stateresulting from the appraisal of one'sjob or job experiences." Organizationalcommitment is viewed as an attitudeinvolving employee loyalty to theorganization, with those individualswho are committed being willing tocontribute something of themselves totheir organizations (Angle and Perry1981; Cook, Hepworth, Wall, and Warr,1981; Morris and Sherman, 1981; Porterand Smith, 1970).

Satisfaction with various aspects ofoccupational experiences is as difficultto characterize as is satisfaction withother forms of everyday experiences(Cook et al. 1981). With increasedawareness of the significance of em-ployee job satisfaction, researchershave designed a number of instrumentswhich attempt to measure employeeattitudes, values and perceptions asthey relate to occupational experiences.Such instruments include specific in-dividual facets such as work, pay,promotions, co-workers and supervi-sion, rather than global measures ofemployee satisfaction, so that explicitareas of low job satisfaction may beidentified.

Scaipello and Campbell (1983) con-tended, however, tiiat global job satis-

faction is more than just the sum ofindividual work facets and that fre-quently some important variables areomitted from the measurement of jobsatisfaction. For example, employeesatisfaction in a small firm, whereowners typically have close workingrelationships with their employees,may be influenced by the employees'assessment of top management.

Studies indicate both satisfactionand commitment may be moderated bysituational and demographic character-istics of employees. Exogenous factorssuch as organizational size (Harari,Crawford, and Rhode 1983; Hodson1984), geographical location (Stepina1985), or type of industry (Brush, Mock,and Pooyan 1987) are said to influencework attitudes. Research findings alsosuggest satisfaction and commitmenthave a strong, positive relationshipwith position level (Kerber and Camp-bell 1987; Stepina 1985) and tenure(Leeand Wilbur 1985) and a negative re-lationship with education (Mottaz1984), while the two constructs areindirectly related to gender (Andrewsand Withey 1976; Weaver 1977).

Based on an extensive review of theliterature on age, Rhodes (1983) con-cluded that overall job satisfaction ispositively associated with age: olderworkers appear to evince greater satis-faction with their employment thanyounger workers. The form of relation-ship, however, is not clear. Whilenumerous studies suggest a linearrelationship (Lee and Wilbur 1985;Mottaz 1987; Weaver 1978,1980), othersreported a U-shaped relationship(Herz-bei^, Mausner, Peterson, and Capwell1957; Kacmar and Ferris 1989). Kalle-berg and Loscocco (1983) contend thatsatisfaction increases until age 40,ihen levels off, and then increasesagain when employees reach their late50s.

107

Page 3: Job Satisfaction Of Teachers

The individual facets of job satisfac-tion (e.g., work, pay, promotions, co-workers, and supervision) have beenexamined in numerous studies to de-termine age-related differences. Resultsstrongly support a positive associationbetween age and work itself (Jamesand Jones 1980; Muchinsky 1978) whilethe results of research examining ageand satisfaction with pay are mixed(Muchinsky 1978). Rhodes(198;5) foundno strong support for relationshipsbetween age and promotions, pay, co-workers, or supervisors in her review ofthe literature. She further stated:

In view of the absence of age-relateddifferences in satisfaction with pay,promotions, supervision,and co-workers,it would seem that the increase in overalljob satisfaction associated with aging isin large part a reflection of the increasein satisfaction with the nature of the job.

Rhodes (1983) reported the results of17 bivariate analyses showed olderworkers to be more committed to theirorganizations than younger workers.Five analyses were less conclusive. Thepreponderance of the evidence fromempirical studies, therefore, identifiesa strong relationship between age ofemployees and organizational com-mitment.

Traditionally, small businesses haveemployed more younger and more olderworkers relative to their other em-ployees than large companies. Duringthe next decade, however, the size ofthese groups is expected to decline. Thefastest growing segment of the work-force will be between the ages of 45 and54, an increase of 72.2 percent and again of almost 13 million workers(U. S.Small Business Administaration 1988).Many of these workers are formeremployees of large con>orations whohave downsized and have chosen torelease their more highly paid em-ployees. While this group of workers

may be experienced, they may be lessflexible and may resist retraining orperforming a variety of functions neces-sary in the small firms.

The purpose of this article is to reportfindings of a study which examinedwork attitudes of 721 employees in 56small husinesses in a metropolitan areato determine the relationships betweenage and other characteristics withvarious aspects of the employees' satis-faction and commitment toward theirfirms. Specifically the following re-search questions were addressed:

1. Are measures of job satisfaction,organizational commitment, and satis-faction with management as well asindividual facets of job satisfaction(i.e., work, pay, promotions, co-workers,and supervision) of employees in smallfirms moderated by demographic andjob-related characteristics(i.e., age, sex,education, tenure, management status,and type of industry)?

2. Are measures of satisfaction andcommitment of older workers in smallfirms greater than that of youngerworkers?

3. Are there interactive effects ofmanagement status and tenure onmeasures of satisfaction and commit-ment of older workers in small firms?

METHODOLOGY

SampleFifty-six organizations (15 construc-

tion companies, 20 manufacturingfirms, and 21 wholesale distributors) ina large metropolitan statistical areawere randomly selected from the SmallBusiness Data Base (SBDB), a collec-tion of statistical information syste-matically organized hy the U. S. SmallBusiness Administration for researchon small husinesses. The influence ofsize and geographical location on satis-faction and conunitment was partiallyconteolled by using tiie segnient of theSBDB identiftring husinesses which

Jounuri of SIMM B i » b i w i MMumwiMNrt

Page 4: Job Satisfaction Of Teachers

employed fewer than 1(K) and morethan 20 employees in a limited geo-graphical area. At the time of the study,14 of the firms had fewer than 25employees, 20 had between 26 and 50employees and 12 had between 50 and100 employees. Four of the organi-zations were less than 6 years old, 12had been in existence between 6 and 10years, 17 between 11 and 20 years, and23 were started more than 20 yearspreviously.

All employees in each organizationwere asked to complete questionnairesand retum them anonymously to theresearcher in individual business-replyenvelopes which were provided. Em-ployee responses ranged from 24 to 72percent of the work force within eachfirm.Questionnaire

The questionnaire completed byresponding employees was designed tomeasure employee satisfaction withwork, pay, promotions, co-workers andsupervision; organizational commit-ment; and satisfaction with top man-agement. It also gathered demographicdata.

Employee job satisfaction. The JobPerception Survey (JPS) (Hatfield,Robinson, and Huseman 1985), a 21-item semantic differential instrument,was used to assess individual satisfac-tion with five dimensions of jobs (work,pay, promotions, co-workers, and super-vision). Internal reliability coefficientsin the present study for the five se-mantic differential scales of the JPSranged from 0.89 to 0.99 with a Cron-bach alpha of 0.96 for the compositemeasure of satisfaction.

Organizational commitment. Nineitems were selected from the scaledeveloped by Porter and Smith (1970)to assess commitment to the oi^aniza-tion. Evidence indicates high conver-gent and discriminant validity of this

instrument with other measures oforganizational commitment(Cook, Hep-worth, Wall, and Warr 1981) and con-sistently high internal reliability (Mow-day, Steers, and Porter 1979). Internalreliability for the organizational com-mitment scale in the present study was0.92.

Satisfaction with management. Toincorporate a full assessment of globalsatisfaction and to develop a valid andreliable measure of this construct, thepresent study included a measure ofemployee satisfaction with top man-agement. Subject matter in severalscales (Cook and Wall 1980; Taylor andBowers 1972) was used to construct afive-item semantic differential scale toassess this area of interest. Internalreliability for the satisfaction withmanagement scale was 0.96.

ANALYSES AND RESULTSOf the 721 employees who returned

questionnaires, 134 were employed byconstruction companies, 230 by manu-facturing firms, and 357 by wholesaledistributors. Two hundred ninety-sixwere females and 425 were males. Awide variety of education levels wasreported with 79 respondents (11 per-cent) having less than a twelfth-gradeeducation, 171 (24 percent) havingcompleted the twelfth grade, and 471(65 percent) having some form of highereducation.

The respondents were classified intofour age groups: less than 31 years ofage (n = 286), between 31 and 40 (n =183), between 41 and 50 (n = 154) andover 50 (re = 98). Two hundred (28percent) of the employees had beenwith their firms for less than one year,295 (41 percent) for one to five years,and 226 (31 percent) for over five years.Five-hundred fourteen (71 percent) wereclassified as non-management and theremaining as management.

109

Page 5: Job Satisfaction Of Teachers

Initial analyses involved the use ofmultiple regression to examine theeffects of the five employee variablesand type of industry on overall jobsatisfaction, organizational commit-ment, and satisfaction with manage-ment. Results, shown in table 1, revealthat age and management status werepositively and significantly related tothese measures. Education was neg-atively related to organizational com-mitment and to satisfaction with man-agement. Regression was also used toexamine the effects of the employeevariables on the individual facets of jobsatisfaction. In addition to the influ-ence of management status and age onseveral of these variables, the analysesrevealed negative relationships of ten-ure with pay, promotions, co-workersand supervisors, and education withco-workers, and positive relationshipof sex and promotions.

To test the significances of the agedifferences in employee satisfaction,two separate multivariate analyses ofvariance (MANOVAs) were employedusing age as the categorical indepen-dent variable. First, recognizing theinteraction of satisfaction and commit-ment and because of the highly signifi-cant intercorrelation of overall jobsatisfaction, organizational commit-ment, and satisfaction with manage-ment of the firm (p < .0001), a MANOV Awas used to test the effect of age onthese three measures simultaneously.Results indicated that age was signif-icantly related to total job satisfaction(f-value = 4.06,p < .01), organizationalcommitment (f-value = 8.11, p < .0001)and satisfaction with management (JF-value = 2.82, p < .05). Table 2 presentsmeans scores, standard deviations andMANOVA results for these ihree vari-ables by age category.

Next, once again using MANOVAs,the effects of age on the five individualmeasures of job satisfaction were

examined simultaneously. Results re-veal significant differences in satis-faction with work (F-value = 6.45, p <.0003), pay (F-value = 7.81, p < .0001),and promotions (F-value = 5.01, p <.001) due to age differences of the em-ployees. Table 3 presents mean scores,standard deviations, and MANOVAresults for each individual measure ofjob satisfaction by age category.

The results of the study demonstratethat a linear relationship exists be-tween age and work satisfaction, butthere was a slight decrease in satisfac-tion with pay and promotions for the41-50 year age group. The relationshipof age and satisfaction with co-workersand supervision was slightly higherfor the youngest group of employees,decreased slightly for employees in the31 to 40 and 41 to 50 year age groups,and then rose for the older group.Overall job satisfaction (i.e., the sumtotal of the five individual facets of theJPS) rose slightly for the 31 to 40 yearage group, declined for the 41 to 50 yeargroup, and then rose again. Analysisalso revealed a linear relationshipbetween age and organizational com-mitment and age and satisfaction withmanagement.

Finally, because of the significanceof management status on commitmentand on all but one of the satisfactionmeasures and of tenure on four of theindividual facets of job satisfaction, itwas deemed advisable to perform sub-sequent analyses to determine theextent to which these variables wererelated to the four age categories.Results of MANOVAs are shown intables 4 and 5. In a separate analysis,intemctions between tenure and man-agement status were not found to besignificant As tables 4 and 5 show,there are significant relationshipsbetween management status and eachdependent variable, except satisfactionwith management and satisfaction

110 of SnuM Bwinen M«ii««nent

Page 6: Job Satisfaction Of Teachers

Table 1RESULTS OF REGRESSION ANALYSIS SHOWING EFFECTS

OF DEMOGRAPHICS, JOB-RELATED CHARACTERISTICS, AND INDUSTRYON MEASURES OF EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION AND COMMITMENT

DependentVariable

Total Job Satisfaction

Organizational Commitment

Satisfaction withManagement

Satisfaction with Work

Satisfaction with Pay

IndependentVariables

AgeSexEducationTenureManagement StatusType of IndustryR-SquareF-Value

AgeSexEducationTenureManagement StatusType of IndustryR-SquareF-Value

AgeSexEducationTenureManagement StatusType of IndustryR-SquareF-Value

AgeSexEducationTenureManagement StatusType of IndustryR-SquareF-Value

AgeSexEducationTenureManagement StatusType of Industry

R-SquareF-Value

StandardizedBeta Coefficients

0.097"0.040

-0.059-0.0590 .169" "

-0.037

0.0465 .685" "

0.140"*0.010

-0.078*0.0550.108**0.0190.0546.811****

0.111**0.013

-0.078*-0.CW30.093**0.0120.0253.043**

0.122**0.040

-0.0280.0230.169****0.069

0.0607.474-—

0.087*0.0250.0610.088*0.146****

-^.053

0.0617.646****

111

Page 7: Job Satisfaction Of Teachers

Table 1 (conttnued)

DependentVariable

Satisfaction withPromotions

Satisfaction withCo-workers

Satisfaction withSupervisor

IndependentVariables

AgeSexEducationTenureManagement StatusType of IndustryR-SquareF-Value

AgeSexEducationTenureManagement StatusType of IndustryR-SquareF-Value

AgeSexEducationTenureManagement StatusType of Industry

R-SquareF-Value

StandardizedBeta CoeNicients

0.138****0.076*

-0.056-0.108**0.187****

-0.0480.0678.394****

0.010-0.022-0.141***-0.119**0.075*

-0.0140.0334.035***

0.0540.017

-0.038-0.122**0.019

-0.0500.0151.837

' p<.05. " p<.001, "** p<.0001.

Table 2MEANS, STANDARD DEVIATIONS, AND MANOVA RESULTS

FOR TOTAL JOB SATISFACTION, COMMITMENT, AND MANAGEMENT SATISFACTION,BY AGES OF EMPLOYEES

< 3 0Variables

31-40n = 183)

Ages

(n = 154)>50

F-Value

Total JobSatisfaction

MeanS.D.

OrganizationalCommitment

MeanS.D.

ManagementSatisfaction

S.D.

17.7833.411

32.5388.863

3.7131.121

18.1503.820

34.5908.856

3.7361.109

17.8763.655

35.1317.603

0 956

19.2193.766

37.0317.619

4.0531.046

4.06**

8.11"**

2.82*

* p<.05. ** p<.01.**** p<.0001.

112 Jmutiai

Page 8: Job Satisfaction Of Teachers

DependentVariables

Table 3MEANS, STANDARD DEVIATIONS, AND MANOVA RESULTS

FOR INDIVIDUAL FACETS OF ,IOB SATISFACTION,BY AGES OF EMPLOYEES

<30(n = 286)

31-40(n = 183)

Ages41-50

(n=154)>50

F-Value

WorkMeanS.D.

Pay

MeanS.D.

PromotionsMeanS.D.

Co-worker

MeanS.D.

Supervisors

MeanS.D.

***p<.001,**** p<.0001.

3.7840.810

2.9441.062

3.1551.166

3.9500.920

4.0090.815

3.9040.820

3.2291.146

3.3861.194

3.8341.042

3.8730.925

3.9500.872

3.0711.090

3.2791.152

3.8920.986

3.9170.900

4.1990.745

3.5291.037

3.6721.161

3.8800.995

4.0920.874

6.45***

7.81*

5.01*

0.54

1.78

Table 4RESULTS OF MANOVAS TO DETERMINE RELATIONSHIP OF MANAGEMENT STATUS

AND TENURE WrTH MEASURES OF OVERALL SATISFACTION,ORGANIZATIONAL COMMrTMENT, AND SATISFACTION WITH MANAGEMENT,

BY AGES OF EMPLOYEES^

DependentVariables

Overall Work

Management StatusTenure

Organizational CommitmentManagement ^atusTenure

Management Satisfaction

Management StatusTenure

<30(n = 286)

8.36**1.93

2.811.47

0.170.46

Ages31-40

(n = 183) 1

1.461.30

0.071.43

2.570.68

41-50(» = 154)

6.41**0.79

2.240.01

1.971.26

>50(fl = 98)

4.20*0.56

6.05**1.46

1.451.76

*p<.05, **p<01.Entries in tatilira are f-vaiue». not means.

113

Page 9: Job Satisfaction Of Teachers

Table 5RESULTS OF MANOVAS TO DETERMINE RELATIONSHIP

OF MANAGEMENT STATUS AND TENURE WITH MEASURESOF SATISFACTION WITH INDIVIDUAL FACETS OF JOB SATISFACTION

BY AGES OF EMPLOYEES"

DependentVariables

Satisfaction

with WorkManagement StatusTenure

with PayManagement StatusTenure

with PromotionsManagement StatusTenure

with Co-workersManagement StatusTenure

with SupervisionManagement StatusTenure

*p<,05. **p<.01."Entries in tatHes are F-values,

<30(n = 286)

9.59**0.20

5.55**0.15

9.06**1.86

1.092.06

0.994.26**

not means.

Ages

31-40(n = 183) 1

0.514.29

3.172.36

6.57**0.33

0.400.71

0.982.19

41-50[n = 154)

8.08**0.13

3.85*1.16

6.40**0.93

4.09*0.60

0.160.62

>50(n = 98)

3.63*1.93

2.112.96

2.300.75

1.730.93

0.500.28

with supervision, in at least one agecategory. Of the remaining dependentvariables, only organizational commit-ment was not significantly related tothe responses of 41 to 50 year olds. Theyoungest group of respondents scoredsignificantly on management statusand overall work satisfaction andsatisfaction with work, pay and pro-motions. Only two significant relation-ships with tenure were found, withwork for respondents between 31 and40, and with supervision for respond-ents 30 and under.

DISCUSSIONA prime difficulty small business

owners encounter in maintaining suc-cessful, ongoing enterprises is in staff-ing—finding and retaining competent

employees (Hisrich and Brush 1987,Hoy and Vaught 1980). Small firms areoften economically constrained in theirability to recruit employees by provid-ing more attractive salaries, compre-hensive benefit packages, and greateradvancement opportunities (Brown,Hamilton, and Medoff 1990; Schulerand MacMillan 1984). In addition,small business owners, just as theircounterparts in large organizations,face an ever increasing challenge inselecting employees who not only willbe productive but who will remain withtheir firms. Unfortunately, many smallbusiness owners have traditionallyrelied upon interviews and applicationblanks as their sole selection tools,methods which are less valid and

114 Journal

Page 10: Job Satisfaction Of Teachers

reliable than the more sophisticatedtechniques used by larger organiza-tions. Improper selection of employeesleads ultimately to high turnover whichcan be particularly devastating forsmall businesses. Results of this re-search identified two employee char-acteristics—age and management sta-tus—that were positively related tomeasures of job satisfaction and organ-izational commitment, while tenurewas positively related to satisfactionwith pay. However, the study revealedthat the more educated employees inthe sample were less satisfied withmanagement and their co-workers andless committed to the firm. Femaleemployees appear to be j ust as satisfiedand committed to their firms as males.This may be of particular interest to thesmall business owner as the number offemales in the work force increases.

The high score of workers (over 50years old) on the organizational com-mitment measurement(p < .0001) couldbe interpreted in many ways. Olderworkers were more likely to have beenwith their companies for a longerperiod of time than younger workers.Thus, their sense of commitment maybe due to their tenure with their organi-zations as much as, or more than, theirage. This may be disputed, however, bythe lack of a significant relationshipbetween tenure and commitment inthis study.

Similarly, prior research has shownolder workers to be less likely to havean intention to leave an organisationthan younger workers. Studies haveconsistently reported a negative rela-tionship between age and tumoverusing both bivariate analyses (Arnoldand Feldman 1982, Martin and Hunt19M) and multivariate analyses (Arn-old and Feldman 1982; Mobley, Homer,and floUingsworth 1978).

An altemative explanation mi^htbethat older workers are more likely to

hold higher level positions in the organ-izations' hierarchies than youngerworkers. Results of this study suggestthat management status has a signifi-cant effect on the commitment measurein the over-5() category. As mentionedearlier, there was no significant rela-tionship for tenure by age. Since othershave held that managers are difficultto retain in small organizations due tolack of advancement opportunities, itmay be that the older workers in thissample are having a disproportionateimpact on the commitment of higherlevel employees. A third possible inter-pretation is the most obvious from thedata gathered: older workers are morecommitted to their organizations inthis particular sample. If replicationsof this study show this finding to beconsistent, it has important implica-tions for small businesses as will bediscussed in the conclusions section.

Results of this study must be viewedwith caution for several reasons. First,analyses reported in this study arebased solely on cross-sectional datawhich allow only the identification ofassociative relationships and precludecausal interpretation. Second, age vari-ations in work satisfaction may reflectnumerous factors such as nonwork-related rotes which are not addressedin the study. For example, the valueassigned to financial rewards may be afunction of marital status, the numberof dependents, or possibly perceptionof equity. Finally, self-report data aresubject to challenges of their veracityand always involve the risk of responsebias.

CONCLUSIONSThe U. S. Small Business Adminis-

tration (1988) predicted that one of thet h i ^ major trends that will affect smallbusings through the 1990s is changingdem%taphics(the others are changingtechnologies and internationalization).

115

Page 11: Job Satisfaction Of Teachers

A critical component of the changingdemographics is the aging of the jwpu-lation in general and the labor forcespecifically. Firms will be dependenton this group of workers, not simplybecause of their increasing numbers,but because of the skills and experiencethey possess if higher levels of pro-ductivity are to be attained. However,firms that are not growing rapidly orwhere technologies are not changingsignificantly may find an older workforce makes them less competitive. Thisis undoubtedly true in large firms whereseniority systems exist and where olderworkers historically resist learningnew skills. The reluctance of the pre-viously trained and experienced olderworkers to learn new skills may affectthe smaller organization even moreseverely.

If older workers have more favorableattitudes toward work, the increase inthe proportion of employed workers inthe older age ranges has positive impli-cations for the small business owner.Job satisfaction and organizationalcommitment have been recognized ascentral in decisions to remain with afirm (Mobley 1982, Mowday, Porter,and Steers 1982; Williams and Hazer1986) and can contribute substantiallyto organizational maintenance objec-tives as represented by turnover (Mob-ley 1982, Angle and Perry 1981).

This study was not designed to drawconclusions regarding the motivationalattitudes of older workers. If futureresearch supports the notion that work-ers over 50 are more committed to theirsmall business employers, then condi-tions underlying the commitmentshould be examined. For example, olderworkers laay have fewer expectationsof taking over the business. Additional-ly, they may be less likely to be seekingto gain expertise to use in openingcompeting businesses. Small business

owners have much to gain from re-search along these lines.

REFERENCESAndrews,F.M.,andS.B.Withey(1976),

Social Indicators of Well Being inAmerica: The Development andMeasurement of Perceptual Indi-cators. New York: Plenum.

Angle, H. L., and J. L. Perry (1978),Organizational Commitment: Exten-sion of a Concept to Urban MassTransit. Graduate School of Admin-istration and Institute of Transpor-tation Studies, University of Cali-fornia, Irvine.

Arnold, H. J., and D. C. Feldman (1982),"A Multivariate Analysis of theDeterminants of Job Turnover,"Journal of Applied Psychology 67,350-360.

Barth, J. R., J. I. Cordes, and S. Haber(1984), "Employee Characteristicsand Firm Size: Are There Any Sys-tematic Empirical Relationships?"Research study proposed for U. S.Small Business Administration,Washington, D. C.

Brush, D. H., M. K. Mock, and A.Pooyan (1987), "Individual Demo-graphic Differences and Job Satis-faction," Journal of OccupationalBehavior 8 (2), 139-155.

Campbell, D. T., and D. W. Fiske (1959),"Convergent and Discriminant Vali-dation by the Multitrait-Multimeth-od Matrix," Psychological Bulletin56,81-105.

Cook, J., and T. D. Wall (1980), "NewWork Attitude Measures of Trust,Organizational Commitment andPersonal Need Non-Fulfillment,"Journal ofOccupa tional Psychology53,39-52.

Cook, J. D., S. J. Hepworth, T. D. Wall,and P. B. Warr (1981), The Experi-ence of Work. London: AcademicPress.

116 Jmimal of SmaH BiwhiMS Mmag^mwit

Page 12: Job Satisfaction Of Teachers

Harari, O., K. S. Crawford, and J. G.Rhode (1983), "Job Satisfaction andthe Size of the Pond," IndustrialRelations (Winter), 64.

Hatfield, J., R. B. Robinson, and R. C.Huseman (1985), "An EmpiricalEvaluation of a Test for AssessingJob Satisfaction," PsychologicalReports 56,3945.

Herzberg, F., B. Mausner, R. O. Peter-son, and D. P. Capwell (1957), JobAttitudes: Reuiew of Research andOpinion. Pittsburgh: PyschologicalService of Pittsburgh.

Hisrich, R. D., and C. G. Brush (1987),"Women Entrepreneurs: A Longi-tudinal Study," in Frontiers of Entre-preneurial Research, ed. K. Vesper,Wellesley, Mass.: Babson College,187-199.

Hodson, Randy (1984), "Corporate Struc-ture and Job Satisfaction: A Focuson Employer Characteristics," Soci-ology and Social Research 69 (1),2245.

Hoy, Frank, and Bobby C. Vaught(1980), "The Rural Entrepreneur—AStudy in Frustration,," Journal ofSmall Business Management 18 (1),19-24.

James, L. R., and A. P. Jones (1980),"Perceived Job Change and JobSatisfaction: An Examination ofReciprocal Causation," PersonnelPsychology 33,97-135.

Kacmar, K. M., and G. R. Ferris (1989),"Theoretical and MethodologicalConsiderations in the Age-Job Satis-faction Relationship," Journal ofAppUed Psychology 74 (2), 201-207.

Kalleberg, A. L., and K. A. Lascocco(1983)," Aging, Values and Rewards:Explaining A re Differences in JobSatisfaction," American Sociologic-al Review 48,78-90.

Kerber, K. W., and J. P. Campbell(1987), "Component Structure of aMeasure of Job Facet Satirfaction:Stabitity Acrofss Job Levels," Edu-

cational and Psychological Measure-ment 47 (3), 825-835.

Lee, R., and E. R. Wilbur (1985), "Age,Education, Job Tenure, Salary, JobCharacteristics and Job Satisfac-tion: A Multivariate Analysis,"Human Relations 38 (8), 781-791.

Locke, E. A. (1976), "The Nature andCauses of Job Satisfaction," in Hanc -book of Industrial and Organiza-tional Psychology, ed. M. D. Dun-nette, Chicago, 111.: Rand McNally,1297-1349.

Martin, T. N., and J. G. Hunt (1980),"Social Influence and Intent toLeave: A Path-Analytic ProcessModel," Personnel Psychology 33,505-528.

Mobley, W. H. (1982). Employee Turn-over: Causes, Consequences andControl. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.

Mobley, W. H., S. O. Homer, and A. T.HoUingsworth (1978), "An Evalua-tion of Precursors of Hospital Em-ployee Turnover," Jourraa/ofylpp/JedPsychology 63,408-414.

Morris, J. H., and J. D. Sherman (1981),"Generalizability of an Organiza-tional Commitment Model," Acad-emy of Management Journal 24,512-526.

Mottaz, Clifford (1987), "Age and WorkSatisfaction," Work and Occupa-tions 14 (3), 387-409.

(1984), "Education and WorkSatisfaction," Human Relations 37(11), 985-1004.

Mowday, R. T., Lyman Porter, and R.M. Steers (1982). Employee-Organi-zation Linkages: The Psychology ofCommitment, Absenteeism, and Turn-over. San Diego, Calif.: AcademicPress.

Murray, M., andT. H. Atkinson (1981),"Gender Differences in Correlates ofJob Satisfaction," Canadian Journalof Behavioral Science 13,44-52.

Muchinsky, P. M. (1978), "Age and Job

117

Page 13: Job Satisfaction Of Teachers

Facet Satisfaction: A ConceptualReconsideration," Aging and Work1,175-179.

Porter, L. W., and F. J. Smith (1970)."The Etiology of OrganizationalCommitment," unpublished manu-script. University of Califomia atIrvine.

Rhodes, S. R. (1983), "i^e-RelatedDifferences in Work Attitudes andBehaviors: A Review and Concep-tual Analysis," Psychological Bul-ietm 93 (2), 328-367.

Scarpello, V. G., and J. P. Campbell(1983), "Job Satisfaction: Are All theParts There?" Personnel Psychology36,577-6(».

Smith, P. C, L. M. Kendall, and C. L.Hulin (1969), The Measurement ofSatisfaction in Work and Retirement.Chicago, 111.: Rand-McNally.

State of Small Business: A Report ofthe President (1988). Washington,D.C, U.S. Govemment PrintingOffice.

Stepina, L. P. (1985), "Position Char-acteristics, Oi^anizational SettingCharacteristics and Employee Re-actions: Test of Conceptual Frame-work," International Journal ofPsychology 20,255-275.

Taylor, J. C, and D. G. Bowers (1972).Survey of Organizations: A MachineScored Standardized QuestionnaireInstrument. Ann Arbor: Institute forSocial Research, University of Mich-igan.

U. S. Small Business Administration,Office of Advocacy (1988). SmallBusiness in the American Economy.Washington: U. S. GovernmentPrinting Office.

Weaver, C. N. (1980), "Job Satisfactionin the United States in the 1970s,"Journal of Applied Psychology 65,364^7.

(1978),"Black-White Correlatesof Job Satisfaction," Journal ofApplied Psychology 63,255-258.

(1977), "Relationships amongPay, Race, Sex, Occupational Pres-tige, Supervision, Work Autonomy,and Job Satisfaction in a NationalSample," Personnel Psychology 30,437-445.

Williams, L. J., and J. T. Hazer (1986),"Antecedents and Consequences ofSatisfaction and Commitment inTurnover Models: A ReanalysisUsing Latent Variable StructuralEquation Methods," Journal of Ap-plied Psychology 71 (2), 219-231.

Tlie contents appearing in thispublication are indexed by

OSIANmCOKHNTS

fmtititt pleMe

RO.«C»tia7«>.llUAIA LUMPUR 50788. ««*MySIAM 2 7 1 7 TtXaoaaeW

118 Jmimal of SimM

Page 14: Job Satisfaction Of Teachers