So, to become a good leader, besides qualities and knowledge, leaders need to have effective leadership behaviors to lead and arouse strength, inspire, help employees develop and develop
Trang 1INTRODUCTION The need for the research:
The issue of leadership has long received the attention of not only many scholars but also many practitioners In the past, studies have approached leadership capacity based on personal qualities and characteristics of leaders, but they found that outstanding personal qualities often solve the question of who is a leader which cannot explain the question of leadership effectiveness The biggest gap in the personality approach is to separate the leader from the concrete action environment, from the leader-to-follower relationship A clear trend is
to shift research focus and broaden the scope of leadership research from individual leaders to their relationships with employees and contextual and situational factors affecting effectiveness leader Therefore, the behavioral approach has shifted the focus of research to understand, analyze and predict the actions that demonstrate leadership in the organizational environment
Leadership behavior is one of the factors constituting a leader's capacity The fact that
a leader has leadership qualities, has understanding and is able to apply leadership knowledge
is only considered a "necessary condition" of leadership capacity, but a "sufficient condition"
is for leadership qualities and that leadership knowledge, the leader demonstrates the behavior (action) of leading that organization in practice In addition, according to Kerstin Keen (2000) emphasized the relationship between leadership knowledge and leadership behavior Leadership behavior is formed through the application of learned knowledge and specific leadership work Therefore, it can be understood that knowledge is an input and behavior is an output in the leadership capacity of each individual So, to become a good leader, besides qualities and knowledge, leaders need to have effective leadership behaviors
to lead and arouse strength, inspire, help employees develop and develop self-enhancement for employees This is a factor that directly affects the success of the leader in the process of running the organization
The publication of many domestic and foreign researchers has also confirmed the position of leadership behavior, and pointed out types of leadership behavior, tools to measure leadership behavior, research on customer satisfaction employees, those satisfaction measures, prove the relationship between leadership behavior and employee satisfaction by empirical studies in different industries and countries
SMEs in the North Central Region are possessing leaders whose leadership behaviors are typical of the Region (created by its natural, socio-cultural characteristics) How satisfied are employees in SMEs in the North Central area? There can be many different reasons, but one of them is definitely the “leadership behavior” of the SME leaders
Although studying the impact of leadership behavior on employee satisfaction has become a trend of interest in the world for many decades, in Vietnam, in SMEs and in the North Central region, it is still is a fertile land that needs to be further explored because of the limited number of studies, limited research diversity, especially empirical research
Stemming from all the above reasons, the author has chosen the topic "Impact of leadership behavior on employee satisfaction - Research in small and medium-sized
Trang 2enterprises (SMEs) in the North Central region" for his research thesis The research results will be suggestions for leaders in SMEs in the North Central region in regulating endogenous factors to improve employee satisfaction
Research purposes:
Objectives of the study
The main research objective of the thesis is to measure the impact of leadership behavior on employee satisfaction - research in SMEs in the North Central region, thereby proposing recommendations to strengthen leadership behaviors Effective leadership for leaders at SMEs in the North Central region brings satisfaction to employees
Research questions
To elucidate issues related to leadership behavior and the impact of leadership behavior
on employee satisfaction in SMEs in the North Central region During the research process, the following research questions should be clarified:
• How will people-oriented leadership behavior and task-oriented leadership behavior affect employee satisfaction at small and medium enterprises in the North Central area?
• How will the typical leadership behaviors of leaders in SMEs in the North Central region affect employee satisfaction?
• What recommendations should be made to encourage effective leadership behaviors
in SMEs in the North Central area in order to bring about employee satisfaction
Object and scope of the study:
About research space: The North Central region includes 6 provinces: Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue However, when conducting research, the author found that Nghe Tinh cultural sub-region is considered a representative cultural sub-region of the North Central region, research on Nghe Tinh cultural sub-region will clarify cultural sub-region of North Central Vietnam Therefore, within the framework
of the thesis, the author focuses on the cultural sub-region of Nghe Tinh (including Ha Tinh province and Nghe An province)
About the research period: secondary data was collected in 4 years 2017-2021, primary data was collected from 6/2020 to 12/2020
Trang 3Research Methods:
Data collection method: secondary data source, primary data source
Data analysis method: all data is analyzed and processed raw, then the most relevant
information will be selected for the research topic The thesis uses SPSS 22 software to process and analyze data
Thesis structure:
In addition to the introduction and conclusion, the thesis is structured into 5 chapters
as follows:
Chapter 1: Overview of related studies and research gaps
Chapter 2: Theoretical foundations, models, context and research methods
Chapter 3: Qualitative research - Behavior of SME leaders in the North Central region
- adjusted research model
Chapter 4: Quantitative research- Impact of leadership behavior on employee
satisfaction in SMEs in the North Central area
Chapter 5: Discussion of research results and recommendations
CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW OF RELATED WORKS AND RESEARCH CAPACITY
1.1 Overview of research works on leadership behavior
1.1.1 Overview of research on approaching leadership behavior according to outstanding behavior groups
Many studies have been conducted according to the behavioral leadership approach The first study was conducted at Ohio State University in the late 1940s, building on the findings of Stogdill's (1948) Around the same time, another group of researchers at Michigan State University explored how leadership works in small groups A third line of research, begun by Blake and Mouton in the early 1960s, explores how leaders use task behavior and relationship behavior in organizations
Ohio State University researchers, Hemphill (1949) and colleagues began a series of extensive and systematic studies to identify leadership behaviors related to group performance
or an organization
Ohio State University researchers, Hemphill (1949) and colleagues began a series of extensive and systematic studies to identify leadership behaviors related to group performance
or an organization
• Consideration leadership behavior
• Initiating structure leadership behavior
To measure these two groups of behaviors, Hemphill (1949) built "the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire - LBDQ" (the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire) with
40 questions LBDQ continues to be developed and perfected through the work of Hemphill, Coons, (1957); Shartle (1957); Halpin, Winer (1957); Fleishman (1957), LBDQs were sent
Trang 4to hundreds of people in educational, military, and industrial settings, and the results showed that several clusters of prominent leader behavior emerged
Six years later, Stogdill (1963) published an abridged version of the LBDQ—this new form, known as the LBDQ-XII, became the most widely used tool in leadership research The Leader Behavior Descriptive Questionnaire - XII is designed to assess 12 aspects of leadership behavior, including: Representation, Need Reconciliation, and Demand Reconciliation behavior of patience (Tolerance of uncertainty, behavior of persuasiveness), behavior of leadership concern for employees (Consideration), behavior of commitment (Integration), behavior of concern for work (Initiation) of structure), motivating behavior (Tolerance and Freedom), nominal leadership behavior (Role asumption), performance-oriented behavior (Production Emphasis), predictive behavior (Predictive Accuracy), promotion behavior (Superion Orientation) The behaviors identified by LBDQ-XII represent the core of the behavioral approach and are at the heart of what leaders do
Instead of trying to describe the different behaviors that leaders display in the workplace, the University of Michigan researchers tried to identify how leader behaviors impact job performance groups effectively (Cartwright & Zander, 1960; Katz & Kahn, 1951; Likert, 1961, 1967) They concluded that four types of leadership behaviors are related to job performance: Supporting leadership, facilitating communication, emphasizing goals, and facilitating job performance
Continuing to inherit and develop these two models are Robert R Blake and Jane S Mouton and with The Managerial Grid model - (The Managerial Grid) first appeared in the early 1960s and has been modified many times (Blake & McCanse, 1991; Blake & Mouton, 1964,
1978, 1985) It is a model that has been widely used in the organization The management grid has been renamed to the leadership grid The “Leadership Grid” model continues to use two groups of leader behaviors: task-interested behavior and people-interested behavior
These two variables are divided into two levels, from level 1 being the lowest to level
9 being the highest and connected on a diagram From there identify positions on the map that represent different leadership styles
1.1.2 Overview of research approaches to leadership behavior in the leadership context
One of the next research directions is to consider leadership behavior in situations such as: employee characteristics, the type of work organization that the organization performs, some factors of the external environment Effective leadership depends not only on the personal qualities or behavior of the leader himself, but also on the beliefs, needs, and willingness of employees to accept leadership
According to research by P Hersey and Blanchard (1969, 1982) has placed leadership behavior with employee's development level: task-oriented leadership behavior (Leadership Directive Behavior), Leadership behavior oriented according to people (Leadership Support Behavior), Development level of Employees (Development level of Employees)
Research by Fiedler (1964, 1971, 1976) places leadership behavior in favor of leadership context: Task-oriented leadership behavior, Human relations-oriented leadership behavior, Level of leadership facilitation of the leadership context
Trang 5Following this line of research, Yulk (2002) also put leadership behavior in change: Leadership behavior towards task, Leadership behavior towards human relations, Behavior towards change In 2012, Yukl continued to add leadership behaviors in addition to the 2 main groups of leadership behaviors, Yukl also added 2 more groups of behaviors, which are change-oriented behaviors and external behaviors
By providing contextual factors and how favorable or unfavorable situations are, case studies have shown the relative nature of leadership behaviors and the applicability of leadership behaviors this behavior in different contexts and situations of the organization
1.1.3 Overview of research approaches to leadership behavior in the influence between leaders and employees
If the previous approaches stopped at the quality and capacity of leaders to influence employees so that they act and work under the guidance, the researches of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century have focused on The study focuses on the process of interaction between leaders and employees, emphasizing the development and self-elevation of employees The most discussed leadership models are: transformational leadership behavior, transactional leadership behavior, and liberal leadership behavior
Transformational leadership is one of the studies of leadership behavior The first study was introduced by Downton (1973), who was the first to use the term "transformational leadership", but the term did not gain attention until James Burn's book, titled “Leadership” was published in 1978 Avolio, Bass & Jung (1995; 1999) pointed out the factors of “transformational leadership” including: influence, inspiration, intellectual stimulation intelligence, personal concern Transformational leaders are those who develop, excite, and inspire their followers to achieve results that exceed expectations by eliciting higher levels of employee needs, building trust and put organizational interests above personal interests Yukl (1989, 2006), transformational leadership behavior affects employees, makes them feel respected, trusted, admired, loyal, and towards leaders, thereby motivating to work better than originally expected
Transactional leadership began in the 1960s, flourished in the 1960s and 1980s, and is still noticed in recent studies (Van Wart, 2012) Bums (1978) asserted that transactional leadership behavior is the process by which leaders provide rewards/punishments in exchange for employee effort and performance Transactional leadership involves a transaction, or exchange, that is a necessary component between a leader and an employee The leader relies on redundant rewards and manages by exception (Bass, 1985a) Caldwell and Spinks (1992) assert that this type of leadership includes behaviors such as: monitoring performance, providing redundant personal rewards, and providing redundant physical rewards when tasks are completed on time
To measure transactional leadership behavior and transformational leadership behavior, Bass (1985) launched the "Multi-component Leadership Questionnaire" MLQ and post-measurement studies are also based on this first version There are two types of MLQ, one is for leaders to self-assess their style (Leader Form), the second is for everyone to evaluate their leadership (The MLQ Rater Form)
A new approach to leadership behavior is the research of Greenleaf (1977) which first conceptualizes servant leadership behavior and puts it in the context of organizational
Trang 6activities Servant leadership is considered as one of the important leadership that has a significant impact on employee behavior (Farling et al., 1999; Laub, 1999; Liden et al., 2008; Russell and Gregory Stone, 2002; Sendjaya and Pekerti, 2010) Increased research emphasis
on serving leadership behaviors is consistent with a shift in paradigm that places an increasing emphasis on ethical responsibility, sustainable development, and long-term values that deliver value to everyone , for organization and society (Bobbio et al., 2012)
1.2 An overview of research on employee satisfaction
In recent years, employee satisfaction has been the subject of extensive research (Aydogdu & Asikgil, 2011; Belias, Koustelios, Vairaktarakis, & Sdrolias, 2015) Employee satisfaction impacts employee productivity, absenteeism, dedication, and employee health, which in turn leads to overall life satisfaction (Al-zu, 2010; Aydogdu & Asikgil, 2010) 2011; Vakola &Nicholaou, 2012; Agarwal, 2016; Giannouli, 2017; Tschuor, Raptis, Morf, Staffelbach, Manser, & Clavien, 2014)
Employee satisfaction was first studied by scholars such as Maslow (1943), Adam (1963) and McClelland (1958) This was followed by the work of Herzberg (1968) and Alderfer (1969) and later the work of Kreitner and Kinick (2007) and many others These studies can be reviewed under the following themes:
- Satisfaction with the nature, nature, characteristics of work, working time: Weiss et al., 1967; Smith et al., 1969; Hackman and Oldhan, 1980; Ronan, 1981; Christensen and Staines, 1990; Miskeli & Miskell, 1994; Boeve, 2007; Morris and Venkatesh, 2010; Antocic
& Antocic, 2011; Abdulla et al., 2011; Khan et al., 2014; Koustelios and Mpagiati 1997; Lottrup, Stigsdotter, Meilby, & Claudi, 2015
- Remuneration, welfare and reward: Weiss et al., 1967; Smith et al., 1969; Phillips, & McFarlin, 1990; Koustelios and Mpagiati, 1997; Brasher & Chen, 1999; Crossman & Basen, 2003; Ricardo & Jolly, 2003; Williams, McDaniel, & Nguyen, 2006; Spector, 2007; Antocic
& Antocic, 2011; SHRM, 2009, 2012; Zain et al 2009; Jehanzeb, Rasheed, Rasheed, & Aamir, 2012; Onorato & Zhu, 2015; Giannouli, 2017a
- Working environment and conditions: Weiss et al., 1967; Koustelios and Mpagiati, 1997; Crossman & Basen, 2003; SHRM, 2009, 2012; Aarons & Sawitzky, 2006, Coetzee, 2007
- Opportunities for promotion and professional development training: Weiss et al., 1967; Smith et al., 1969; Koustelios and Mpagiati, 1997; Oswald, 2002; Ricardo & Jolly, 2003; Spector, 2007; Noe, 2008; Zain et al 2009; SHRM, 2009, 2012; Antocic & Antocic, 2011; Shah et al., 2012
- Relationship with leaders and colleagues: Weiss et al., 1967; Smith et al., 1969; Koustelios and Mpagiati, 1997; Spector, 2007; Boyad et al., 2012; SHRM, 2009, 2012; Antocic & Antocic, 2011; Abdulla et al., 2011
- Corporate culture, organization, management policy and future orientation: Ricardo
& Jolly, 2003; Aarons & Sawitzky, 2006; Coetzee, 2007; Zain et al 2009; Zang & Li, 2013
- Communication and information: Ricardo & Jolly, 2003; Spector, 2007; Zain et al 2009; SHRM, 2009, 2012; Tsai, 2011; Shah et al 2012
Trang 7- Personality, gender, age: Brush et al., 1987; Watson et al., 1987; Moyle & Parkes, 1999; Siu, Lu, & Cooper, 1999; Connolly & Viswesvaran, 2000; Niakas, 2010; Kooij; Tsai, 2011; Hill, & Henn, 2015; Riza, Ganzach, & Liu, 2015
1.3 Overview of studies on the impact of leadership behavior on employee satisfaction
Leadership behavior and job satisfaction have long been a major area of research for organizations Many studies have examined the relationship between the two variables and concluded that leadership behavior has an effect on a wide range of job outcomes including employee satisfaction (Boehnke et al., 2003; Chang and Lee) , 2007; Griffith, 2004; Shaw and Newton, 2014; Siddique et al 2011)
There are many studies supporting the existence of this relationship between employee satisfaction and leadership behavior (Halpin, 1954; Patchen, 1962; Nealy and Blood, 1968; Greene and Schriesheim, 1977; Katerberg and Horn , 1981; Wycoff and Skogan, 1994) However, within these studies is a debate about the nature of this relationship, whether positive or negative
Previous research has shown that considering leadership behavior has a positive impact
on employee job satisfaction, and structural leadership behavior has a positive impact negatively on job satisfaction (Nealy and Blood, 1968; House and Filley, 1971; Greene and Schriesheim, 1977) Some findings suggest that employee-oriented leadership behavior has a negative impact on job satisfaction (Halpin, 1954; Patchen, 1962; Hodge, 1976), while other studies show both behavior Both employee orientation and task orientation have a positive impact on employee job satisfaction (Katerberg and Horne, 1981)
Research by Kylie Bartolo and Brett Furlonger, University of Melbourne, Australia (1999) has determined the relationship between leadership behavior and satisfaction The results of the study show that employee-oriented leadership behavior and task-oriented leadership behavior both have a positive impact on satisfaction However, employee-oriented behavior has no relationship with job satisfaction
Ahangar (2009) investigates the relationship between transformational leadership behavior, transactional leadership behavior and laissez-faire leadership behavior with job satisfaction The results show that all of these leadership behaviors have a significant positive impact on employee satisfaction, the main difference being the size of the relationship According
to research by Trottier et al (2008), Hiaz and Haider (2010), Quinley (2014) Transformative leadership behavior predicts more satisfaction than the other two leadership behaviors
1.4 Gaps and research directions of the topic
As mentioned above, theories of leadership in general and leadership behavior in particular have been formed and tested in Western countries with a long-standing developed economy of management science This theory also needs to be proven relevant or needs to be changed to suit the culture, business tradition, level of economic development, level of governance in Eastern countries, where Vietnam- typical North Central region was chosen as the research background
Through an overview of domestic and foreign researches, it shows that leadership behavior is one of the factors constituting a leader's capacity So, to become a good leader,
Trang 8besides qualities and knowledge, leaders need to have effective leadership behaviors to lead and arouse strength, inspire, help employees develop and develop self-enhancement for employees This is a factor that directly affects the success of the leader in the process of running the organization
In studies on leadership capacity, it has also been shown that leadership behavior (action) is the factor that has the strongest impact on leadership results compared to leadership qualities, leadership knowledge (Tran Thi Phuong Hien, 2014; Le Van Thuan, 2019), it is leadership behavior that will help employees respect, trust, admire and be loyal to the leader, thereby creating excitement at work and bringing satisfaction for employees, even leadership behavior can affect employee productivity, engagement, organizational commitment or intention to leave However, there has not been a single study that independently studies leadership behavior and the relationship between leadership behavior and employee satisfaction
Therefore, the study of leadership behavior of leaders to build an effective set of leadership behaviors, thereby contributing to improving the effectiveness of leadership is a necessary research direction, to study part of the gap in previous studies
CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL BASIS, MODEL, CONCEPT AND RESEARCH METHODS
2.1 Theory of leadership behavior
2.1.1 Leader
Leadership has long been a topic of interest for researchers Scholars and researchers around the world have given many different definitions for the term “leadership” and these definitions also change over time Leadership has been defined in terms of a position's personal qualities, behaviour, influence on others, interaction patterns, roles, relationships, and occupations
Leadership is the process by which a leader influences and influences others to guide and facilitate activities and relationships within a group or organization
2.1.2 Perspectives on leadership behavior
There are many different approaches to leadership behavior Leadership behavior in the thesis is understood as the concretization of leadership qualities as well as understanding
of leadership techniques of leaders in specific organizational contexts Leadership behavior
is what leaders do in specific leadership situations that shape specific leadership behaviors
Within the scope of the research, the author uses Stogdill's (1963) approach and behavior classification as the main basis for analyzing and evaluating the impact of leadership behavior on employee satisfaction According to research by Stogdill (1963), effective leadership behavior includes 12 behaviors and the author divides these 12 behaviors into 2 groups of behaviors, which are people-oriented behaviors and task-oriented behaviors This approach is based on the authors' approach (Ohio, Michigan (1940), Blake and Mouton (1964)
Human-oriented behavior includes the following behaviors: Representation, Demand Reconciliation, Tolerance of uncertainty, and Persuasiveness , leadership behavior cares about employees (Consideration), behavior engagement (Integration)
Trang 9Task-oriented behavior includes the following behaviors: Initiation of structure, Tolerance and Freedom, Role asumption and Role asumption Productivity Emphasis, Predictive Accuracy, and Superion Orientation
2.1.3 Factors influencing leadership behavior
According to research by McCrae and Costa (1999, McCrae, 2004) individual behavior
of people is influenced by many factors, including personal factors and external factors (culture and problems) happens in life….) Research by Triandis (1989) also shows that differences in cultural background also have an effect on individual qualities, which in turn affect each person's behavior
Figure 2.1: A reduced model of factors that form individual behavior
Source: McCrae and Costa (1999), McCrae (2004)
Therefore, the author studies the influence of regional cultural factors on the behavior
of an individual or a leader, through two groups of factors:
• Features of natural conditions
• Historical and cultural conditions
2.2 Stogdill's Leadership Behavior
2.2.1 People-oriented behavior
As mentioned above, there are many different studies on personal behavior of people
in general and leadership behavior in particular Within the scope of his thesis, the author chooses Stogdill's (1963) approach and gives leadership behaviors as the basis for the leadership behavior approach
Representative behavior (Representation): According to Stogdill (1963) research, leaders show their representative behavior in ceremonies, signing documents, contracts with customers and partners, they is the symbol of the organization or business Their behavior reflects the image of the organization, the business they lead, and to some extent also shows the basic features of the organizational culture of that business
Demand Reconciliation: In the process of leading an organization, leaders always have
to deal with unexpected surprises that disturb the normal business operations of the organization, such as: conflicts between individual goals of members and the common goals
of the organization, conflicts between responsibilities and interests between departments and individuals in the organization, conflicts of interests between enterprises and suppliers, Therefore, a leader is the one who resolves conflicts and conflicts within the enterprise as well as between the enterprise and related organizations and individuals, in order to ensure stability in the business organization (Stogdill 1963)
Personal qualities
Trang 10Tolerance of uncertainty: Leaders exhibit patient behavior in that they are able to accept risks in the development of the organization, they are patient with expectation and uncertainty Certainly, even if there are future changes to the organization that they themselves cannot predict, they still calmly, do not panic and patiently monitor that change to have a plan of action Patience behavior is understood to mean that a leader can tolerate uncertainty and procrastination without worrying or becoming frustrated (Stogdill, 1963)
Persuasiveness: Persuasive behavior shows leaders with confidence, strong arguments, grounded, they convince employees to believe in their decisions, believe in the development organization, helping employees believe that their actions will bring certain benefits to themselves and to the organization Leaders who demonstrate persuasive behavior also have the ability to inspire and motivate employees to work, so that employees are motivated to work and stick with the organization more Thus, the persuasive behavior of the leader is a demonstration of effective persuasion and a strong personal belief in the leader and strong belief in the organization (Stogdill, 1963)
Leadership behaviors that care about employees (Consideration): Leadership behaviors that care about employees are understood as expressions that leaders care about the comfort, happiness, status and contributions of employees in the organization office They build a friendly, open, happy, safe organization Always listen to employees' opinions before making decisions, always respect and be fair to all members Keeping promises, explaining
to employees about their actions, even they are ready to change if necessary
Intergration behavior: The manifestation of this behavior is that the leader helps members to work together, maintains a close solidarity, and helps employees integrate quickly into the organization office If there are conflicts in the organization, they quickly resolve those conflicts to restore the stability of the organization (Stogdill, 1963)
2.2.2 Action towards the mission
Careful Behavior (Initiating Structure): Leaders bring their ideas to the organization, letting people know their expectations Leaders develop a clear work plan, decide what will
be done and how to do it, analyze possible work for employees, set standards for work performance, and require employees to follow organizational rules and standards in their functions, they can clearly show their working regime with employees (Stogdill, 1963)
Motivational behavior (Tolerance and Freedom): leaders assign specific tasks to employees and allow employees to handle and take initiative in work Let employees do things the way they think is best, encouraging employee creativity Give employees another chance if their previous attempts failed Leaders trust and appreciate the efforts of employees (Stogdill, 1963)
Role asumption: the leader does not perform his or her own leadership role but assigns leadership to others In fact, they are just "puppet" leaders They do not overcome the challenges posed, do not bear enough responsibility when things arise They let some members of the organization take advantage, authorize employees to do some work that should not be authorized, they lose leadership in the organization Therefore, they have no influence over the organization and are inferior to maintain leadership positions (Stogdill, 1963)
Trang 11Productivity Emphasis: It is the process by which leaders put pressure on organizational performance In order to achieve efficiency and progress, leaders always work hard, putting pressure on the organization to become a leading organization Besides, they also motivate, encourage and motivate employees to work harder to achieve better results (Stogdill, 1963)
Predictive Accuracy: The ability to predict and predict accurately what is about to happen to an organization They can predict trends, laws of issues and events Therefore, leaders can make plans to cope and solve (Stogdill, 1963)
Superion Orientation: shows the leader's actions to maintain an intimate relationship with his superiors, to have influence with his superiors, the leader is striving for higher positions Manifestations of this behavior are that the leader is very "fit" with the superiors, the proposals always receive the support of the superiors, they have the opportunity to advance at work (Stogdill, 1963)
2.3 Employee satisfaction
2.3.1 Perspectives on employee satisfaction
In general, employee satisfaction is seen as the overall feeling about the job, or the attitude about different aspects of the job (Spector, 1997) There are many different definitions of employee satisfaction In fact, the employee's satisfied or dissatisfied state is evaluated through different criteria In this thesis, employee satisfaction is understood as "the state when they have
a feeling of enjoyment, comfort and show a positive response to aspects of their work"
2.3.2 Criteria for assessing employee satisfaction
In the thesis, to measure employee satisfaction, the author uses the ESI questionnaire - Employee Satisfaction Inventory (Koustelios, 1991; Koustelios and Bagiatis, 1997) to assess the employee's job satisfaction level- ESI measures 6 criteria: Job characteristics, Salary, Promotion opportunities, Satisfied with the leader, Satisfied with the working environment, Satisfied with the organization in general
The author finds that there are 3 groups of criteria (Satisfaction with salary, job characteristics, satisfaction with promotion opportunities) that are similar to satisfaction with the internal environment, 3 groups of criteria (satisfaction with the internal environment) with the working environment, satisfaction with the leader, general satisfaction) is satisfaction with the external environment, this determination is similar to the study of MSQ (Weiss et al., 1967) as presented presented above Therefore, in the final model, the author expects to have 2 dependent variables and adjust the name as follows:
* Satisfaction with the business includes (satisfaction with the working environment,
satisfaction with the leader, general satisfaction)
* Satisfied with the value received and the opportunity for personal development
(salary, nature of work, promotion opportunities)
2.4 Overview of the situation of SMEs in the North Central region
2.4.1 Overview of the socio-economic situation
2.4.2 Overview of the situation of SMEs
2.4.3 Management and leadership issues in SMEs in the North Central region
2.5 Research model of the impact of leadership behavior on employee satisfaction
Trang 122.5.1 Model building base
Based on the research overview, the author selects and uses the research model of Kylie Bartolo and Brett Furlonger, University of Melbourne, Australia (1999) as the basis for building a research model for the thesis The two authors studied 256 firefighters in Victoria and New South Wales Leadership Behavior Questionnaire version 12 (LBQXII) was used to measure employees' perception of superior leadership behavior (Stogdill, 1963)
However, the author does not use this model originally, but has some additions to suit the context and research objectives Specifically, these adjustments are as follows: Using Stogdill's (1963) approach to leadership behavior as the main basis for analyzing and evaluating the impact of leadership behavior on employee satisfaction, and divide these 12 leadership behaviors into 2 groups: people-oriented behaviors and task-oriented behaviors, Using the ESI scale - Employee Satisfaction Inventory, (Koustelios, 1991; Koustelios and Bagiatis, 1997) Adjusted to measure employee satisfaction, Research on cultural factors in the North Central region to add some specific leadership behaviors of the region, thereby considering the impact of behavioral groups This micro to employee satisfaction
2.5.2 Expected research model
Based on the research overview, theoretical basis, and research objectives, the author proposes the proposed research model of the impact of leadership behavior on employee satisfaction as follows:
Figure 2.1: Research model of the impact of leadership behavior on employee satisfaction
Source: Recommended by the author
Satisfied with the value received and the opportunity to develop