The effect of autonomy, training opportunities, age and salaries on job satisfaction in the South East Asian retail petroleum industry

South East Asian petroleum retailers are under considerable pressure to improve service quality by reducing turnover. An empirical methodology from this industry determined the extent to which job characteristics, training opportunities, age and salary influenced the level of job satisfaction, an indicator of turnover. Responses are reported on a random sample of 165 site employees (a 68% response rate) of a Singaporean retail petroleum firm. A restricted multivariate regression model of autonomy and training opportunities explained the majority (35.4%) of the variability of job satisfaction. Age did not moderate these relationships, except for employees >21 years of age, who reported enhanced job satisfaction with additional salary. Human Capital theory, Life Cycle theory and Job Enrichment theory are invoked and explored in the context of these findings in the South East Asian retail petroleum industry. In the South East Asian retail petroleum industry, jobs providing employees with the opportunity to undertake a variety of tasks that enhanced the experienced meaningfulness of work are likely to promote job satisfaction, reduce turnover and increase the quality of service

Organizational citizenship behavior in the People"s Republic of China

Western scholars have increasingly emphasized the importance of employee actions that are not specifically designated in their formal job duties, or organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Most of these studies were conducted in the U.S. using US employee population as samples. Using an inductive approach, we examined forms of OCB in the People’s Republic of China, a socialist country with strong collectivism. From a diverse sample of 166 employees and managers in 75 state-owned, collective, joint venture, and private enterprises in the PRC, we collected 756 OCB items that were commonly observed at workplace. These items were then subjected to a rigorous content analysis to identify major forms of OCB. Results of our analysis revealed 11 dimensions of OCB with six dimensions not evident in the Western literature. Types of organizations influenced the reporting of various forms of OCB. Results suggested that Chinese formulation of OCB differs from its Western counterparts, and is embedded in its unique social and cultural context

Contextual inhibitors of employee creativity in organizations: The insulating role of creative ability

This study highlights the importance of negative predictors of employee creativity. The authors identified a set of work environment characteristics that may inhibit employee creativity. Using data collected from 123 Canadian employees in various industries, the authors empirically tested the relationships between these inhibiting factors and peer-rated creative performance. Aversive leadership and unsupportive organizational climate were negatively related to creativity, whereas close monitoring was positively associated with creativity. Interaction analyses indicate that creative ability of employees may either enhance or attenuate the detrimental effects of inhibitory contextual factors. Complementing the existing studies that have largely focused on facilitators of creativity, the present study introduces a more balanced perspective to the organizational creativity literature by examining inhibitory contextual factors