Career satisfaction at march 29 textile garment joint stock company

Research results show that all four elements of the research model : Career Satisfaction CJ Career – Family Attitude CF Developmental Experiences DE Fairness In Skill Based Pay FP Percei

RESEARCH PROJECT (BMBR5103)

STUDENT’S FULL NAME: NGUYEN CHANH TIEN

ADVISOR’S NAME & TITLE: Dr KHAI NGUYEN

CAREER SATISFACTION AT MARCH 29 TEXTILE - GARMENT JOINT STOCK

COMPANY

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Advisor’s Assessment

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between the variables in the model study with the overall satisfaction of work Results empirical studies were conducted in Hachiba Company with 291 employees being asked Research

methodology uses quantitative research methods with multivariate statistical

techniques such as using Cronbach’s Alpha testing, exploring factor analysis,

correlation analysis and linear regression, analysis of variance Research results show that all four elements of the research model :

Career Satisfaction (CJ)

Career – Family Attitude (CF)

Developmental Experiences (DE)

Fairness In Skill Based Pay (FP)

Perceived Ability – Job Fit (PJ)

Among the factors considered are demographic factors showed that age that affect relationships and work colleagues The study also gives some recommendations implications for managers in order to raise the level of satisfaction with the work of employees Finally the study also points out the limitations and future research

directions for the same research

Keywords: Career Satisfaction , Career – Family Attitude, Developmental

Experiences, Perceived Ability – Job Fit, Fairness In Skill Based Pay

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

During the implementation of this thesis, I have received much help from many people Without that help, I can not finish my thesis, so I would like to express thanks to all of you

I know that this project is not my personal achievement, but the result of many people that I will be forever grateful In particular, I would like to express my sincere gratitude

to my family during theses

Special thanks to Dr Khai Nguyen has guided me from the start of this journey, and always being there to share experiences and his guidance I also thank the other

members of my guide and my classmates Each person has assisted in the development and evaluation of this project, and I really thank them all

Sincerely thanks !

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CONTENTS

ABSTRACT 3

1 Introduction 8

1.1 The foundation of research 8

1.2 Company introduction 10

1.3 Problem statement 17

1.4 Research Objectives 18

2 LITERATURE REVIEW 19

2.1 Career Satisfaction 19

2.2 Career – Family Attitude 21

2.3 Developmental Experience 23

2.4 Perceived Ability – Job Fit 23

2.5 Fairness In Skill Based Pay 25

3 RESEARCH MODEL AND HYPOTHESES 27

3.1 RESEARCH MODEL 27

3.2 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES 27

3.3 INSTRUMENTS 29

3.4 RESEARCH DESIGN 35

3.5 RESEARCH METHODS 35

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4 DATA ANALYSIS AND REPORT 36

4.1 Descriptive statistics 37

4.2 Correlations Matrix 38

4.3 Cronbach’s Alpha 39

4.4 Hypothesis testing results 40

5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 46

5.1 DISCUSSION 46

5.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH 47

5.3 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY 48

5.4 CONCLUSIONS 48

5.5 FURTHER RESEARCH DIRECTION 49

REFERENCE 50

Appendix 1: Survey Questionnaires 54

Appendix 2: Presentation Slides 60

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LIST OF TABLE

Table 01: Descriptive statistics 7

Table 02: Correlations Matrix 8

Table 03: Cronbach’s Alpha 9

Table 04: Multiple Regression of Hypothesis 1 40

Table 05: Multiple Regression of Hypothesis 2 41

Table 06:Multiple Regression of Hypothesis 3 42

Table 07: Multiple Regression of Hypothesis 4 44

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 The foundation of research

The trend of regionalization and globalization more physical ports on competitiveness among enterprises To maintain and develop the market, all businesses need to

maintain and enhance the power to have an advantage over other businesses and any competitors and confirms its position The changes in the business sector must accept that the only advantage as well as the most sustainable advantage is the human factor Any change in the business sector, the pressure on the company, request a change, needs people to actively creative, using advanced technology, create new products and new services to meet the growing needs of customers Meanwhile, this also requires companies that to attract workers with higher qualifications, maintain and improve human resources

One of the first criteria to assess the quality of the investment climate is labor

resources It is impossible for a business to make a breakthrough if their employees are not eligible or are not honest The workers' organizations must be proficient to

maximize their strength

According to experts, human resources, assess job satisfaction of employees is an important task for an entrepreneur to develop a sustainable workforce Of course, this task must be performed on a number of criteria for the different positions and must be carried out periodically It does no good if a recruit staff without a job description Because without a job description, the candidate can not imagine their duties in an interview and after being recruited, it is very difficult during later work Besides, the appointment of a location, the leader must consider the characteristics of an employee

In Vietnam, the study of satisfaction of employees (if any) can only be done within the

HR department This is still pretty much limited experience, costly and time

investment, no concrete results have to do with the goal, not the human resources department to create enough influence to convince s successful operation

Black & Porter (2000) suggests that all the activities in an organization can be traced to the involvement of people in the organization The determinants of job satisfaction has been extensively studied in many developed countries in the world (Cranny et al

1992)

Similarly, Ting (1997) states that the empirical evidence consistently shown that job characteristics such as satisfaction with salary, advancement opportunities, a clear mandate and the relationship with colleagues and directors police have a major impact

on job satisfaction of employees Also, a study conducted by Ellickson and Logsdon (2002) reflects that the job satisfaction of employees was significantly affected by the perception of satisfaction of employees on wages, opportunities development,

relationship with supervisor, employee performance management system and welfare

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1.2 Company introduction

MARCH 29 TEXTILE - GARMENT JOINT STOCK COMPANY establish under number 9312 / QD-Committee dated 29/12/2006 of People's Committee of Da Nang City transforming 100% state capital into Joint stock Company Before the move operating company named Company of the port number 29/3 Textile Industry Da Nang city water established by Decision so3156 / QD-UB

11/03/1992 of People's Committee of Quang Nam Da Nang formerly

Textile 29/3, Da Nang city water established in 1976

Official name: MARCH 29 TEXTILE - GARMENT JOINT STOCK COMPANY International Business name: MARCH 29 TEXTILE - GARMENT JOINT STOCK COMPANY

Company names referred to are: HACHIBA

Address: So60 Me Nhu, Thanh Khe Ward, Hai Chau District, Da Nang City

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Workers with college degrees in the proportion of 20 1.54%

Workers with university degrees is 601 people proportion 46.23%

Workers with college degrees is 147 percentage of 11.31%

Labour has an intermediate level, workers are 532 people proportion 40.92%

Company leaders include President and Director of the Company; 01 inspectors; 04

Deputy Director of the Company; 01 full-time trade union chairman and Deputy

Secretary of Party Committee of the Company

Image01 : Hachiba

The development stage of the Company:

Phase from 1976-1978:

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On 29/03/1976 an anniversary of the Liberation of the People's Committee of Quang Nam - Da Nang has signed a decision to establish "The complex weave cotton towels 29/3" This is the first stage in the training of skilled workers and guidance acquainted with machinery Total initial capital of 20000 dollars, the total number of workers 58 people Is the primary routes in this phase is difficult to serve the market presence inland

On 28.11.1978 officially signed province decided to move "Sets 29/3 cotton towel woven "into" public-private enterprise 29/3 "

Phase from 1979-1984:

During this period the enterprise has made steady step, done already diversifying

product mix by producing extra towels meet water Domestic demand and exports began to participate

On 03/29/1984 at the time PPC has decided to move factories a "textile factory 29/3" operation aimed mainly handling food jobs for the labor force of the province, raising incomes for the workers employees in the factory During this time the plant repeatedly exceeded and until the end of 1984 the plant was the industrial sector is the leading vote and be State Labor Medal Class II

The period from 1985-1988:

In conditions of severe deprivation and also the abundant one level economy, home Machine was pleased to make a pilot for a new management mechanism With the arrangement, technical improvements technical, technological change has spurred the development of production During these years factory always exceeded production output year after year

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Previous and products exporter to market has the Soviet Union and eastern countries Europe This is a flourishing period of the plant

Phase from1989-1992:

State 1986 switch mechanism, remove the subsidy mechanism as replacement

Batch of policy mechanisms: taxation, finance making plant having very many difficulties Competition in the domestic market has stiff, material prices as so main raw guava, chemicals rising In overseas markets, the USSR, Germany unilateral termination of the contract Facing this situation, the plant decided Downsized to invest to produce garments

On 03.01.1992 by decision so315 / City People's Committee of UBND Da Nang factory was renamed the "Company Textile 29/3", with the trade name Hachiba business, an organizational have legal status, have the right and means conservation and development funds are allocated Having autonomy in all aspects freezing their production and business

Phase 1993 so far:

This is the period of agricultural products trading company constantly development, the company's increasingly rich and diverse with many new categories, such as washcloths, khaki pants, shirts Markets are Morong to many countries, Japan, Australia, Taiwan Especially in recent years Public

Company has completed in excess of planned production expansion conditions premises manufacturing, equipped machinery more productive and higher quality Besides, the Company was focused on training to improve skills workers, gradually stabilize and grow

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Under Decision so9312 / QD-Committee of the Municipal People's Committee

Da Nang December 29, 2006 to approve the equitization plan

1/4/2007, 29/3 Textile Co officially renamed "JSC Textile 29/3 "and running hot with new leadership

Products and services :

Textiles towels: Production of all kinds of towels: hand towels, bath towels, towel Cutting ring, handkerchief, towel Jacquard

Apparel: Producing all kinds of garments: trousers, khakis, wash, the clothing for sports, Jackets

Export and import of products and raw cotton scarf apparel Textile materials, Sewing

Ever-improving technology and enhancing quality production products to meet the increasing demands of customers Develop markets, expanding cooperation with the countries with countries in the region and around the world

Resolve jobs for local workers and create conditions to improve the quality of life of employees

Donate a portion of the State budget

Power:

As commodity business unit is planning to meet demand growing field Have legal personality and an independent economic accounting, self business owners, are direct import and export rights To be entitled to extend, Home hot all forms of joint venture,

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linking research institutions, groups of fish or the organization's scientific progress to meet new science and technology

Proactively identify funding to implement the program production joint venture,

association other business establishments To be entitled to borrow, trade foreign currency at banks, entitled warlords Joint stock capital, external loans and noisy

convention officers and employees of the Company

Having autonomy balance production capacity, perfect product structure as required by new technology processes, develop products to improve the quality of products

Having the right to organize production management business towards entry effective, proactive planning business production

faction of employees in Hachiba

In addition, the development of a research program on the satisfaction of employees in apparel companies in Vietnam during this period is very important After years of work, the managers and the staff was trying to operate and develop the company However, recently, while the managers were trying to promote the business, they face

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trouble with human resources Specifically, there are many employees increasingly dissatisfied with the work on the impact on business performance and image of the Company

1.4 Research Objectives

affects job satisfaction, such as: wage policy, work experience, balance family and work job

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CHARPTER 2 : LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Career Satisfaction

Career satisfaction is an important topic in career research because subjective feelings

of success are related to many facets of work behaviour and well-being (e.g., Abele & Spurk, 2009; Ng, Eby, Sorensen, & Feldman, 2005) Our knowledge about how career satisfaction develops over time is still very limited However, applied psychology and career research (cf Hall, 2002; Roe, 2008; Van Der Heijden, Schalk, & van

Veldhoven, 2008) call for more studies that explicitly address the role of time and focus on the question ‘what happens’ rather than ‘what is’ (cf Roe, 2008) A

developmental and applied perspective on career research requires measurement tools that are reliable for assessing mean change over time (cf Chan, 1998)

Career satisfaction as individuals’ idiosyncratic evaluations of their own careers is often seen as one central indicator of subjective career success (Abele, Spurk, &

Volmer, 2011; Boudreau, Boswell, & Judge, 2001; Judge, Cable, Boudreau, & Bretz, 1995; Ng et al.,2005) It is the evaluation of an individual’s progress towards meeting different careerrelated goals (e.g., income, achievement, development) and career-related successes (e.g., overall career success; see also Hofmans, Dries, & Pepermans, 2008) The Career Satisfaction Scale (CSS; Greenhaus, Parasuraman, & Wormley, 1990; Hofmans et al.,2008) is a widely accepted measure of career satisfaction

The present research analyses the adequacy of the CSS for measuring mean change over time First, we will test its longitudinal measurement invariance Second, we will analysis intra-individual change trajectories in career satisfaction by means of multiple indicator latent growth model (MLGM; Chan, 1998) Theoretical implications with respect to career satisfaction and, more generally, to subjective career success as well

as different types of change processes, namely alpha, beta, and gamma change (cf de

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Jonge, van der Linden, Schaufeli, Peter, & Siegrist, 2008; Golembiewski, Billingsley,

& Yeager, 1975) will be discussed

Measurement invariance can be considered as the degree to which measurements conducted under different conditions show identical psychometric properties (cf Cheung & Rensvold, 1999) In longitudinal measurement invariance analyses, these different conditions refer to the different times of measurement By placing equality constraints on specific model parameters, three different forms of measurement

invariance can be tested Two of these forms, namely weak and strong measurement invariance, provide a qualitative understanding of the underlying construct (Chan, 1998; Cheung & Rensvold, 1999; Wu, Chen, & Tsai, 2009) Specifically, in case of career satisfaction weak invariance would mean that the relative importance of single items measuring career satisfaction does not change over time (Steenkamp &

Baumgartner, 1998) Strong invariance would mean that the stability of the latent career satisfaction construct over time is not due to response biases (Cheung &

Rensvold, 1999) The third form, strict invariance, tests whether the reliabilities of the single items are the same over time

Golembiewski et al (1975) have introduced a taxonomy of change processes (i.e., alpha, beta, and gamma change) Quantitative changes are called alpha change defined

as ‘a variation in the level of some existential state, given a constantly calibrated

measuring instrument related to a constant conceptual domain’ (cf Golembiewski et al., 1975, p 134) In case of alpha change individuals’ increase or decrease in career satisfaction can be clearly interpreted as a quantitative ‘more’ or ‘less’ of satisfaction over time

Alpha change, however, can only be meaningfully interpreted as true change in the absence of beta and gamma change Beta and gamma change provide further

information about change processes of the underlying construct (de Jonge et al., 2008)

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Beta change is defined as ‘a variation in the level of some existential state, complicated

by the fact that some intervals of the measurement continuum associated with a

constant conceptual domain have been recalibrated’ (cf Golembiewski et al., 1975, p 135) Weak and strong invariance demonstrates the absence of beta change (Chan, 1998; de Jonge et al., 2008)

Furthermore, equal CSS factor variances over time are an indicator for the absence of beta change (de Jonge et al., 2008; Schaubroeck & Green, 1989) For example, in the case of beta change individuals might readjust the relative importance of different aspects of career satisfaction like, for instance, autonomy becoming more important over time

Gamma change is ‘a redefinition or reconceptualization of some domain, a major change in the perspective or frame of reference within which phenomena are perceived and classified, in what is taken to be relevant in some slice of reality’ (cf

Golembiewski et al., 1975, p 135) A test for gamma change would test for equal factor variances within each time point and for the same factorial structure across different time points (de Jonge et al., 2008; Schaubroeck & Green, 1989) We here propose a one-factorial construct of career satisfaction and we will therefore test for the same (one factorial) structure over time (see also Schaubroeck & Green, 1989),

representing an additional test for measurement invariance (Chan, 1998)

2.2 Career – Family Attitude

Companies are increasingly to heart and have a variety of backgrounds to help

employees balance work and family Feeling stressed because of work - family occurs also by a factor of demographics of the workforce is changing Developed by Sanders, Lengnick-Hall, Lengnick Hall, and Steele-Clapp (1998) It uses 50 items to assess employee attitudes toward managing their career and family interface The measure

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was designed to be gender neutral and to assess not only what respondents expect for themselves but also what they expect from their spouse in the area of career-family conflict The measure includes subscales that assess family-career interface from the standpoint of the extent to which the respondent defers career matters to take care of family matters as well as the extent to which a spouse defers his or her career The measure covers possible conflicts in the areas of career, household, and child care responsibilities (family focus); the extent of equal balance in sharing home and career chores (balance); the extent to which a respondent may pay more attention to career than to marriage or children (career focus); the extent to which the respondent has decision power in the household and the spouse defers his or her career to raise

children (dominance); the extent to which a spouse will sup-port the respondent's career by giving in on issues, moving, and so on (spousal support); and the extent to which spouses socialize or vacation in-dependent of the other

Family focus correlated negatively with educational aspirations and an employee's grade point average Balance correlated negatively with male gender of respondent and positively with educational aspirations and a respondent's grade point average Career focus correlated positively with educational aspirations and an employee's grade point average Dominance correlated positively with being a male respondent and living in a rural set-ting Spousal support correlated positively with being male and correlated negatively with educational aspirations and grade point average Independence

correlated negatively with being a male respondent and positively with educational aspirations and grade point average (Sanders et al., 1998) Factor analysis of the scale items found six factors corresponding to family focus, balance career focus,

dominance, spousal support, and independence

The family focus factor was subsequently separated into "I defer" and "someone

defers" subscales (Sanders et al., 1998)

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2.3 Developmental Experience

While education and training are important to skill development, it is also known that only 10 percent of adult learning happens in the classroom, from books, tapes, or online learning activities This is often because learning in these formats is more

passive Most adult learning, a full 70 percent, happens by doing Learning by doing can take place through on-the-job and leadership experiences

This measure, developed by Wayne, Shore, and Liden (1997), describes the formal and informal developmental experiences a job affords employees

The measure focuses on the extent to which an organization makes discre-tionary investments in formal and informal training and development of an employee

Reliability Coefficient alpha was 87 (Wayne, Shore, & Liden, 1997)

Validity In a factor analysis of the items used to measure developmental experiences, perceived organizational support, leader-member exchange (LMX), affec-tive

commitment, intentions to quit, and employee favor-doing, the four items measuring development experiences loaded on a single factor by themselves Development

experiences were correlated positively with the number of promotions an employee has received, perceived organizational support, affective commitment to the organization, and organizational citi-zenship behavior (Wayne, Shore, & Liden, 1997)

2.4 Perceived Ability – Job Fit

The fit perception involves a cognitive process, in which an individual compares his needs, aspirations and abilities to the work environment (Cable & Judge, 1997)

Usually formed during individual’s work experience, such perception is influenced by several sources such as job characteristics, organizational characteristics and the

individual’s interactions with other staffs within the organization (Rynes, Bretz &

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Gerhart, 1991) Initially, no serious attention was paid to this concept in the studies of organizational behavior (Ahmed, 1981) It however has been subsequently accepted when researches found that individuals who could fit into their jobs are more able to solve various work-related work behavior issues (Forbes & Barret, 1978) Though earlier conception of person-job fit perception covered several aspects such as

individual’s readiness to carry out job demands; the sense of how well individual’s abilities and skills are fully utilized in current job; and how much the job is perceived

by individual to provide the opportunity in practicing his or her best skills, Kristof (1996) has later simplified it as the evaluation of congruence between an employee’s abilities and his or her job demands Saks and Ashforth (2002) measured the concept as the perception of suitability between an individual’s knowledge, skills and abilities with his or her job requirements; of job’s ability to fulfill an individual’s needs;

suitability of the job; and last but not the least, individual’s perception on the freedom

in carrying out one’s job Quite close to the definition, Cable and DeRue (2002) have focused on three levels of fitness or suitability in their effort to explain this concept First is the fitness between job demands and individual’s personal skills Second is the fitness between individual’s ability and training with the job requirements And third is the fitness between individual’s personal skills and educational level with his or her job demands Again, all these definitions have highlighted the concept as a subjective evaluation related to one’s job competency and work effectiveness Even though it is a subjective concept, acknowledgment has been made in accepting an individual’s self-report on his or her level of capability (Artwater, Ostroff, Yammarino & Fleenov, 1998)

Developed by Abdel-Halim (1981), uses five items to assess an employee's perceived ability-job fit According to the person environment fit model of stress, whether a given level of job demands is stressful to a jobholder is determined by his or her ability

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(or perceived ability) to perform the job (Xie, 1996) Xie and Johns (1995) found that employees with lower perceived ability-job fit are affected to a greater degree by job demands than those who have higher job-ability fit Reliability Coefficient alpha values ranged from 73 to 74 (Xie, 1996; Xie & Johns, 1995) Validity Xie (1996) found through factor analysis that perceived ability-job fit, decision latitude, and job demands were empirically distinct Perceived Ability job fit correlated positively with job

demands, control, job satisfaction, life satisfaction, age, adequacy of income, and tenure Ability-job fit correlated negatively with anxiety and depression (Xie, 1996) 2.5 Fairness In Skill Based Pay

Society constantly growing, the needs of people on the rise both physically and

mentally However, wages remain important factors, plays a decisive role governance process human resources of each enterprise and the whole nation

COMPETITIVE not paid, not paid FAIR is a major cause for the employee to leave the business, is the cause of yield and high quality, makes now a waste of resources So how to solve this important problem?

Fairness in Skill-Based Pay developed by Lee, Law, and Bobko (1998), assesses

perceived fairness in a skill-based pay program Skill-based pay systems pay

employees for the range, depth, and types of skills applied on jobs Employee

perceptions of the skill-based pay program are likely to be influenced

by their perceptions that certification procedures are objective and consistent across people, times, and skills; include opportunities for employees to ask questions about the decisions made; and incorporate the use of accurate information

Coefficient alpha for the fairness measure was 80 (Lee et al., 1998)

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Validity Confirmatory factor analysis showed that measures of fairness, three skill based pay system characteristics (training, understanding, and advancement), and perceived benefits of skill-based pay and pay satisfaction were empirically distinct Perceived fairness of skill-based pay correlated positively with the amount of pay at risk, pay satisfaction, perceived benefits of skill-based pay, training/job rotation provided, understanding of the skill based pay plan, and understanding of how to advance in the plan (Lee et al.,1998)

3.2 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

A prediction about the relationship between 2 constructs

Hypothesis 1 : Career – Family Attitude is positive related Career Satisfaction

- Balancing career and family is harmony between family responsibility with social responsibility Career - Family Attitude is a factor of the situation so that it acts

on the attitude that is Career Satisfaction If workers accept spending time with family, the less work they'll do better

development needs of staff and the support programs needed by the enterprise should provide to help them achieve this goal Developmental Experiences is a factor of the situation so that it acts on the attitude that is Career Satisfaction

Hypothesis 3 : Perceived Ability – Job Fit is positive related Career Satisfaction

- Self-awareness skills will not only help promote the potential capacity of

oneself but also useful for businesses Today, with the fierce competitive environment, the organizational structure flatter and increasingly fewer employees, so requires

employees and managers must manage ourselves better to be able to work

independently A business with employees and managers self-awareness skills will operate more efficiently because they both have the ability to work independently, both capable of good team work Aware of the strengths and points to improve themselves and the staff will help business managers to promote their full capacity and staff, and training plans, developed in line box Perceived Ability – Job Fit is a factor of the perception so that acts on the attitude that is Career Satisfaction

Hypothesis 4 : Fairness In Skill Based Pay is positive related Career

Satisfaction

- For millions of workers wage, salary is an everyday concern for them Indeed, wage income is the main industry to maintain and improve the living standards of workers and their families At a certain level, the salary can be considered as evidence

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of value, status and reputation of the employee for individuals and society So wages are the driving force stimulating the employees worked hard through which promote production and business activities of enterprises effectively The equitable

remuneration paid have a positive impact on attitudes correspond career staff in any organization

3.3 INSTRUMENTS

The questionnaire total consists of 24 questions Sections will be designed to collect information about Career Satisfaction , Career – Family Attitude, Developmental Experiences , Perceived Ability – Job Fit, Fairness In Skill Based Pay in Hachiba + Career Satisfaction used 5 questions It measures satisfaction with career success, an internally generated and defined career outcome Besides general satisfaction with career progress, the measure assesses the extent to which an employee has made

satisfactory progress toward goals for income level, advancement, and development of skills Reliability Coefficient alpha ranged from 83 to 89 (Aryee, Chay, & Tan, 1994; Greenhaus et al., 1990; Seibert, Crant, & Kraimer, 1999) Validity Career satisfaction correlated positively with having a job in general management, salary level, number of promotions received, perceptions of upward mobility, sponsorship within an

organization, acceptance, job discretion, supervisory support, career strategies,

perceived personal-organization value congruence, presence of an internal labor

market, and job performance It correlated negatively with having reached a career plateau (Aryee et al., 1994; Greenhaus et al., 1990; Seibert et al., 1999) Confirmatory factor analysis showed that general perceptions of career satisfaction are empirically distinct from financial success and hierarchical success in an organization (Aryee et al., 1994)

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Responses are obtained on a 5-point Likert-type scale where 5 = strongly disagree, 4 = disagree to some extent, 3 = uncertain, 2 = agree to some extent, and 1 = strongly agree

Items :

1 I am satisfied with the success I have achieved in my career

2 I am satisfied with the progress I have made toward meeting my overall career goals

3 I am satisfied with the progress I have made toward meeting my goals for income

4 I am satisfied with the progress I have made toward meeting my goals for

advancement

5 I am satisfied with the progress I have made toward meeting my goals for the

development of new skills

+ Career – Family Attitude used 6 questions The measure includes subscales that assess family career interface from the standpoint of the extent to which the respondent defers career matters to take care of family matters as well as the extent to which a spouse defers his or her career Reliability Coefficient alpha values for the subscales were 78 for family focus, 78 for balance, 84 for career focus, 75 for dominance, 67 for spousal support, and 66 for independence (Sanders et al., 1998)

Validity: Family focus correlated negatively with educational aspirations and an employee's grade point average Balance correlated negatively with male gender of respondent and positively with educational aspirations and a respondent's grade point average Career focus correlated positively with educational aspirations and an

employee's grade point average Dominance correlated positively with being a male respondent and living in a rural setting

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Spousal support correlated positively with being male and correlated negatively with educational aspirations and grade point average Independence correlated negatively with being a male respondent and positively with educational aspirations and grade point average (Sanders et al., 1998)

Factor analysis of the scale items found six factors corresponding to family focus, balance career focus, dominance, spousal support, and independence

The family focus factor was subsequently separated into "I defer" and "someone defers" subscales (Sanders et al., 1998)

Responses are obtained on a 5-point Likert-type scale where 5 = strongly disagree, 4 = disagree to some extent, 3 = uncertain, 2 = agree to some extent, and 1 = strongly agree

Career focus items:

1 I expect that there will be times when my spouse will have to pay more attention to job problems than to our relationship

2 Sometimes I will have to pay more attention to my job than to my family

3 I do not expect to ever have to pay more attention to my job than to my relationship with my spouse (R)

4 I expect that sometimes my spouse will have to pay more attention to his or her job than to our family

5 I expect there will be times when I will have to pay more attention to my job than to

my relationship with my spouse

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6 I expect that neither my spouse nor I will pay more attention to our careers than to our family (R)

Items denoted with (R) are reverse scored

+ Developmental Experiences used 4 questions The measure focuses on the extent to which an organization makes discretionary investments in formal and informal training and development of an employee Reliability Coefficient alpha was 87 (Wayne, Shore,

& Liden, 1997) Validity In a factor analysis of the items used to measure

developmental experiences, perceived organizational support, leader-member exchange (LMX), affective commitment, intentions to quit, and employee favor-doing, the four items measuring development experiences loaded on a single factor by themselves Development experiences were correlated positively with the number of promotions an employee has received, perceived organizational support, affective commitment to the organization, and organizational citizenship behavior (Wayne, Shore, & Liden, 1997) Responses are obtained on a 5-point Likert-type scale where 5 = strongly disagree, 4 = disagree to some extent, 3 = uncertain, 2 = agree to some extent, and 1 = strongly agree

Items:

1 In the positions that I have held at [company name], I have often been given

additional challenging assignments

2 In the positions that I have held at [company name], I have often been assigned projects that have enabled me to develop and strengthen new skills

3 Besides formal training and development opportunities, to what extent have your managers helped to develop your skills by providing you with challenging job

assignments?

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4 Regardless of [company's name]'s policy on training and development, to what extent have your managers made a substantial investment in you by providing formal training and development opportunities?

+ Perceived Ability – Job Fit uses five items to assess an employee's perceived job fit Reliability Coefficient alpha values ranged from 73 to 74 (Xie, 1996; Xie & Johns, 1995) Validity Xie (1996) found through factor analysis that perceived ability-job fit, decision latitude, and job demands were empirically distinct Perceived

ability-abilityjob fit correlated positively with job demands, control, job satisfaction, life satisfaction, age, adequacy of income, and tenure Ability-job fit correlated negatively with anxiety and depression (Xie, 1996)

Responses are obtained on a 5-point Likert-type scale where 5 = strongly disagree, 4 = disagree to some extent, 3 = uncertain, 2 = agree to some extent, and 1 = strongly agree

Items:

1 I feel that my work utilizes my full abilities

2 I feel competent and fully able to handle my job

3 My job gives me a chance to do the things I feel I do best

4 I feel that my job and I are well matched

5 I feel I have adequate preparation for the job I now hold

+ Fairness In Skill Based Pay used 4 questions Employee perceptions of the based pay program are likely to be influenced by their perceptions that certification procedures are objective and consistent across people, times, and skills; include

skill-opportunities for employees to ask questions about the decisions made; and incorporate

training/job rotation provided, understanding of the skillbased pay plan, and

understanding of how to advance in the plan (Lee et al., 1998)

Responses are obtained on a 5-point Likert-type scale where 5 = strongly disagree, 4 = disagree to some extent, 3 = uncertain, 2 = agree to some extent, and 1 = strongly agree

Items:

1 Supervisors do a good job of certifying employees for skill-based pay raises

2 The skill-based pay certifications are a fair test of employee ability to perform a task

3 If an employee really knows how to perform the tasks that make up a skill level, the employee will be able to pass the certification tests for that skill level

4 The skill-based pay plan is fair to most employees