Research about overall job satisfaction at hoa sen group

Argument for the relationship among the constructs --- 16 The Goal and Process Clarity and Overall Job Satisfaction --- 16 The relationship between Work Control and Overall Job Satisfact

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM



RESEARCH PROJECT (BMBR5103)

RESEARCH ABOUT OVERALL JOB SATISFACTION AT HOA SEN GROUP

Ho Chi Minh City,July 2016

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ADVISOR’S SIGNATURE

NGUYEN THE KHAI (DBA)

After studying at Hutech I have gained a lot of valuable knowledge from the teacher to be able to complete this topic, and well on her chosen path The first word I would like to thank administrators, teachers taught you in international training institutes a most sincere thank you to the teachers directly teach, mentor and impart to you is professional knowledge while studying in the school

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr KHAI NGUYEN (DBA), who instructed, gave me a chance and inspired me to do this research I also would like to express my thanks to my colleagues who helped me with very useful information to do this assignment Thanks all employees of Hoa Sen Goup for their precious comments and helps to collect data for this research

And, I also specially thank to my members of family, friends and colleagues always mobilize me to finish this research

Thank you very much, HCMC, July 2016

S

ABSTRACT - 1

PART I INTRODUCTION - 2

1.1 About Hoa Sen Group -2

1.2 Research objective - 7

1.3 Object and Scope of Research - 8

1.4 Research Methods - 8

1.5 Research problem statement - 9

1.6 Structure of research - 9

PART II LITERATURE REVIEW - 10

2.1 Definition of Constructs - 10

Overall Job Satisfaction - 10

Goal and Process Clarity - 12

Work Control - l3 Supervisor Support - 14

Performance Appraisal System Knowledge - 15

2.2 Argument for the relationship among the constructs - 16

The Goal and Process Clarity and Overall Job Satisfaction - 16

The relationship between Work Control and Overall Job Satisfaction - 18

The relationship between Supervisor Support and Overall Job Satisfaction - 19

The relationship between Performance Appraisal System Knowledge and Overall Job Satisfaction - 21

2.3 Hypotheses and Research model - 24

Hypothese - 24

Research model - 24

Concept of Research Model - 25

PART III RESEARCH METHODS - 26

3.1 Research design - 26

3.2 Desgin template scale - 25

3.3 Data collection progress - 31

3.4 Data Analysis - 32

PART IV ANALYSIS RESULT - 34

4.1 Reliability statistic - 34

4.2 Descriptive statistic - 35

4.3 Correlation statistic - 35

4.4 Hypotheses Testing Results - 36

Hypothesis 1 Testing Result - 36

Hypothesis 2 Testing Result - 38

Hypothesis 3 Testing Result - 39

Hypothesis 4 Testing Result - 40

PART V CONCLUSION - 42

5.1 The result and discussion - 42

5.2 The Limitation of research - 44

5.3 Recommendation - 44

REFERENCES - 46

APPENDIX - 50

Appendix 1: Survey Questionnaires - 50

Appendix 2: Presentation Slides - 56

LIST FIGURE

Figure 1: Hoa Sen Group Head Office - 2

Figure 2: Organization structure - 4

Figure 3: Ownership structure - 5

Figure 4: Training and HR development - 6

Figure 5: Training activities - 7

Figure 6: Research model - 24

Figure 7: Concept of Reasearch model - 25

LIST TABLE Table 1: Goal and Process Clarity questionnaire - 27

Table 2: Work Control questionnaire - 28

Table 3: Supervisor Support questionnaire - 29

Table 4: Performance Appraisal System Knowledge questionnaire - 30

Table 5: Overall Job satisfaction questionnaire - 31

Table 6: Time table for sending, receiving and checking survey - 32

Table 7: Reliability statistics - 34

Table 8: Descriptive statistic - 35

Table 9: Correlations - 36

Table 10: Model Summary (H1) - 37

Table 11: Coefficientsa (H1) - 37

Table 12: Model Summary (H2) - 38

Table 13: Coefficientsa (H2) - 38

Table 14: Model Summary (H3) - 39

Table 15: Coefficientsa (H3) - 39

Table 16: Model Summary (H4) - 40

ABSTRACT

This research aimed to identify the factors that impact the satisfaction among staff working at Hoa Sen Group The research results indicated four groups of factors (variables) which had impacted on these on these staff’s satisfaction namely Goal and Process Clarity (GPC), Work Control (WC), Supervisor Support (SS), and Performance Appraisal System Knowledge (PASK) on Overall Job Satisfaction (OJS) in Hoa Sen Group Practical data were collected from 256 employees out of

300 employees in the company by means of a questionnaire Statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics, correlation and linear regression were employed The results of the study indicated a positive significant relationship between Supervisor Support, Goal and Process Clarity and Overall Job Satisfaction

Empirical results also indicated that the Work Control were having slightly impact on Overall Job Satisfaction, while, Performance Appraisal System Knowledge was not having significant impact on Overall Job Satisfaction The results can provide the reference for Management Team about the relationship between Goal and Process Clarity (GPC), Work Control (WC), Supervisor Support (SS), and Performance Appraisal System Knowledge (PASK) on Overall Job Satisfaction (OJS) in Hoa Sen Group

I hope results of this research will help the CEO; managers of Hoa Sen group have some reference angle in human resource management to improve and increase our quality resource based on job satisfaction of employees as well as you should have perception clearly that job satisfaction of employees will impact to working effective, ability of competitiveness of the company on Vietnam market

Key Words: Goal and Process Clarity (GPC), Work Control (WC), Supervisor

Support (SS), Performance Appraisal System Knowledge (PASK), Overall Job Satisfaction (OJS)

PART I INTRODUCTION

1.1 About Hoa Sen Group

General introduction

Hoa Sen Group Joint Stock Company (HSG) was established in 2001 In

2007, HSG changed to operate as Group model The Company has two main business divisions including steel products and construction materials, port operation and logistics In construction materials business, it mainly manufactures cold-rolled steel, coated steel alloys and other specialized steel products for construction; including production of plastic-based construction materials Its assembly line applies the most advanced technology of Japan with effective capacity The company's products are distributed to 82 subsidiaries and more than 10,000 agents In the current, the company has got big market share of steel manufacture and consumption being 21% In the ending of March 2015, total chartered capital is VND1008 billion In the end of 2015, the company has 130 subsidiaries and about 10,000 stores Through Nov 2014: The company retained the No.1 market share of galvanized steel sheet and No.2 of steel pipe

Figure 1: Hoa Sen Group Head Office

History

 On Aug 8, 2001: The company originated from Hoa Sen Joint Stock Company was established with the initial chartered capital of VND30 billion

 On Mar 16, 2007: The company increased their chartered capital to VND400 billion and renamed to Hoa Sen Group

 On Nov 8, 2007: The company renamed as Hoa Sen Group Joint Stock Company

 In Dec 2007: The company merged with their subsidiaries including Hoa Sen Tole Joint Stock Company, Hoa Sen Construction Material Joint Stock Company, Hoa Sen Mechanics and Construction Joint Stock Company

 On Nov 5, 2008: The company listed on HOSE with the chartered capital

of VND570 billion

 In 2011: The company inaugurated Phrase 1 in Project of the Phu My Hoa Sen Tole factory, established 13 more retail branches, increased the total branch to 106 branches

 In 2012: The company's export revenue reached USD180 million, became the leading glid tole exporter in South East Asia

 Until March 2015, the company's chartered capital is VND1008 billion

Industry

 Manufacturing of cold-rolled steel, coated steel alloys and other specialized steel products for construction; manufacturing of black, coated-zinc steel pipes and others

 Manufacturing of steel, zinc cell

 Manufacturing of coated steel net, coated-zinc steel wire, and other steel wires

 Manufacturing of PVC ceiling board

 Manufacturing of construction material

 Trading construction materials and consumption goods

Vision and mission

Vision: Become a leading economic group in building material field in Vietnam

and in the region with a sustainable development strategy that focuses on traditional products such as coated steel sheet, steel, plastic and is based on building and

developing core competitive advantages: vertically integrated value chain; distribution - retail network; strong, friendly and community - oriented brand; unique governance system and corporate culture as well as pioneering in technological innovation investment in order to maximize added value for shareholders, employees and society

Mission: Provide products with international quality and reasonable prices under

the Hoa Sen brand in order to meet customers’ needs and contribute to changing the country’s architectural landscape and developing the community

Organization structure

Figure 2: Organization structure

Ownership structure

Figure 3: Ownership structure

Contact information

 Name of Corporation : HOA SEN GROUP

 Headquarters: No.09, Thong Nhat Boulevard, Song Than 2 Industrial Park, Di An Ward, Di An District, Binh Duong Province

 Telephone: +84 650 3790 955 Fax: +84 650 3790 888

 Representative office: 183 Nguyen Van Troi Street, Phu Nhuan District,

Ho Chi Minh City

 Telephone: +84 8 3999 0111 Fax: +84 8 3999 0222

 Website : www.hoasengroup.vn

 Legal representative: Mr LE PHUOC VU – Chairman of the Board of Direct

Information about HR Management

Training and HR development is always a top priority of Hoa Sen Group to which the leaders pay much attention with criteria of “being better, being more professional, being more effective and getting higher incomes” The training target

is to improve professional knowledge, professional skills, management and leadership skills and ethics for each employee to meet the requirements of an active, multidisciplinary and highly competitive business environment, thereby promoting and heightening “Integrity – Community – Development” culture of the Group

In order to implement this target, the Group has implemented a series of policies such as recruitment policy, training policy, management trainee policy, policy for successors and policy for internship

Figure 4: Training and HR development

Along with those policies, many training programs have been implemented for all employees during the last times such as training program for managerial officers, integration training program, foreign language training program, professional skill training program, soft skill training program

Besides, the Group also regularly organizes occupational safety training courses, fire protection training courses, first aid training courses, training courses for awareness of ISO 9001, ISO 14000, OHSAS 18001, etc for new employees to improve their understanding of systems of quality management standards, environmental management standards, occupational health and safety management standards in order that each employee can realize the importance of the application

of those standards to business and production activities

In addition to training activities, the Board of Management also pays attention to retraining activities The retraining activities are held at least once a year, especially training programs for employees of the branches of Distribution Network

Figure 5: Training activities

Management Trainee Model is the model that Hoa Sen Group has applied for many years and it has attracted lots of young and potential employees to join management team of the Group

Along with training activities, the Group continues to cooperate with member universities of Ho Chi Minh City National University, universities and colleges in Binh Duong Province and Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province through scholarships, job fairs, seminars on training quality, etc to attract high quality human resources

1.2 Research objective

In order to help the management team have an overview of the effect of goal and process clarity, work control, supervisor support, performance appraisal knowledge system on overall job satisfaction in the organization, this study assess the validity of the relationship among them in Hoa Sen Group working environment After that management team will define the strategies to satisfy employees, aims to enhance the employee’s performance and commitment Therefor the specific objectives of this study are:

 To assess whether there is a positive relationship between Goal and Process Clarity and the Overall Job Satisfaction

 To assess whether there is a positive relationship between Wok Control and the Overall Job Satisfaction

 To assess whether there is a positive relationship between Supervisor Support and the Overall Job Satisfaction

 To assess whether there is a positive relationship between Performance Appraisal System Knowledge and the Overall Job Satisfaction

1.3 Object and Scope of Research

Audience research is the level of satisfaction in the work of the staff are working at Head Office and Manufacturing Plan in Hoa Sen Group The survey of employee satisfaction will be limited range of issues related to the job The personal information is collected at the Group Lotus

data, opinions, satisfaction of employees working in corporations

through the survey

1.5 Research problem statement

Attainment of a high level performance through productivity and efficiency has always been an organizational goal of high priority In order to do that highly satisfied work force is an absolutely necessity for achieving a high level of performance advancement of an organization Satisfied worker leads to extend more effort to job performance, then works harder and better Thus every organization tries to create a satisfied work force to operate the well- being of the organization

An employee's overall satisfaction with his job is the result of a combination of

factors goal and process clarity, work control, supervisor support, performance appraisal knowledge system Management's role in enhancing employees' job

satisfaction is to make sure the work environment is positive, morale is high and employees have the resources they need to accomplish the tasks they have been assigned

1.6 Structure of research

This study is structured into six sections Section 1, comprises of an introduction to the research study The problem statement briefly outlines the constructs and reasons for this study Research constructs theory and the relation among them are discussed in the literature review of section 2 Next, in the section

3, research methods are discussed Section 4 deals mainly with the statistical analysis of the empirical results of this study The aim of the study is stated, after which the method is explained in depth Further, data analysis is presented, after which the results are discussed Section 5 deals with the conclusion to this study cluding the results of the discussions, the limitations and recommendations suggested

PART II LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Definition of Constructs

Overall Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction has been an important focal point for organizational and industrial psychology In defining job satisfaction the reference is often made to Locke’s (1976) description of job satisfaction as a “pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experiences” (Jex 2002 p.116) The appraisal involves various elements related to the job such as salary, working conditions, colleagues and boss, career prospects and, of course, the intrinsic aspects of the job itself (Arnold et al 1998 p 204)

Different authors have different approaches towards defining job satisfaction Hoppock defined job satisfaction as any combination of psychological, physiological and environmental circumstances that cause a person truth fully to say

I am satisfied with my job (Hoppock, 1935) According to this approach although job satisfaction is under the influence of many external factors, it remains something internal that has to do with the way how the employee feels That is job satisfaction presents a set of factors that cause a feeling of satisfaction

Vroom in his definition on job satisfaction focuses on the role of the employee in the work place Thus he defines job satisfaction as affective orientations on the part

of individuals toward work roles which they are presently occupying (Vroom,1964)

One of the most often cited definitions on job satisfaction is the one given by Spector, according to whom job satisfaction has to do with the way how people feel about their job and its various aspects It has to do with the extent to which people like one dislike their job That's why job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction can appear in any given work situation

Job satisfaction represents a combination of positive or negative feelings that workers have towards their work Meanwhile, when a worker employed in a

business organization, brings with it the needs, desires and experiences which determinates expectations that he has dismissed Job satisfaction represents the extent to which expectations are and match the real awards Job satisfaction is closely linked to that individual's behavior in the work place (Davisetal.,1985) Job satisfaction is a worker’s sense of achievement and success on the job It is generally perceived to be directly linked to productivity as well as to personal well-being Job satisfaction implies doing a job one enjoys, doing it well and being rewarded for one’s efforts Job satisfaction further implies enthusiasm and happiness with one’s work Job satisfaction is the key ingredient that leads to recognition, income, promotion, and the achievement of other goals that lead to a feeling of fulfillment (Kaliski., 2007)

Job satisfaction can be defined also as the extent to which a worker is content with the rewards he or she gets out of his or her job, particularly in terms of intrinsic motivation (Statt, 2004) The term job satisfaction refers to the attitude and feelings people have about their work Positive and favorable attitudes towards the job indicate job satisfaction Negative and unfavorable attitudes towards the job indicate job dissatisfaction (Armstrong, 2006)

Job satisfaction is the collection of feeling and beliefs that people have about their current job People’s levels of degrees of job satisfaction can range from extreme satisfaction to extreme dissatisfaction In addition, to having attitudes about their jobs as a whole, people also can have attitudes about various aspects of their jobs such as the kind of work they do, their coworkers, supervisors or subordinates and their pay (George et al., 2008)

Job satisfaction index was developed by Schriesheim and Tsui (1980) It uses six items to form an index that describes overall job satisfaction The scale includes single questions to assess the degree of satisfaction with the work itself, supervision, co-workers, pay, promotion opportunities, and the job in general Job satisfaction can be considered as one of the main factors when it comes to efficiency and effectiveness of business organizations In fact the new managerial

paradigm which insists that employees should be treated and considered primarily

as human beans that have their own wants, needs, personal desires is a very good indicator for the importance of job satisfaction in contemporary companies When analyzing job satisfaction the logic that a satisfied employee is a happy employee and a happy employee is a successful employee

Goal and Process Clarity

According to Weber and Weber (2001), goal clarity is the degree to which employees understand an organisation’s goals and the means for achieving those goals precisely People are goal-oriented They are driven by their sense of purpose, desire, and value The degree to which change violates a person's sense of purpose, will influence that person’s resistance to the change If change is aligned with people’s sense of purpose, they will engage the change in a positive fashion (Moran and Brightman, 2001) According to Allen-Meyer (2001) all employees have something they would like to address in their jobs When they experience a change initiative as being one that allows them to improve their performance and bolster their own success, they will not only support the change, they will understand clearly what it is and why it is being conducted Often people are confused about the purpose of the change and the expected outcome At the outset, clarity must be brought to the initiative What will success look like? What is the plan for getting there? How will this plan overcome the pain of not changing? The vision should be articulated in a few forceful and memorable words (Covington, 2001; Moran and Brightman, 2001)

Pounder (2001) suggests that the leader ‘walks the talk’ and aligns deeds with words Integrity is a measure of the extent to which a high degree of congruence between the leader’s words and the leader’s actions exists The change leadership group should exhibit strong alignment to the desired future, should develop and communicate a vision, and should stress the need for urgent action first When people know why the change is needed, they can figure out what to change and how

to change it (Covington, 2001) Change should be both top-down and

bottom-up.Change must be top-down to provide vision and create structure, and bottom-up

to encourage participation and generate support (Moran and Brightman, 2001) Ultimately, leading change is a shared responsibility of everyone in an organisation, from top to bottom If the whole organisation is not committed to the change effort,

it will fail The whole organisation must be pulling in the same direction to achieve the change initiative goals it has set (Moran and Brightman, 2001) By creating trust and preventing an ‘us versus them’ mentality, both management and employees can create the proper behavioural consequences that lower resistance to change and drive the behavioural process to maximum fruition (Barret, 2000)

Work Control

For many, work means stress and as we all know, too much stress can lead to ill health But research showing that people in positions of power are not very stressed, may hold clues for how workplaces can help reduce stress for all employees

Dwyer and Granster (1991) describes work control is the extent to which workers perceive they have control over numerous aspects of their work environment These aspects include control over the variety of tasks performed, the order of task performance, and the pace of tasks, task scheduling, task procedures, and arrangement of the physical layout environment

Work control is defined, herein, as a perceived ability to exert some influence over one is work environment, in order to make it more rewarding and less threatening (Ganster, 1989) Theories of occupational health and performance have hypothesized that providing people control over their work serves to improve mental health, job satisfaction, and performance (e.g., the job characteristics model (Hackman & Lawler, 1971), the sociotechnical systems approach (e.g., Emery & Trist, 1960), action theory (Frese & Zapf, 1994; Hacker, Skell, & Straub, 1968), and the demands-control model (Karasek, 1979) In line with these theories of work control and employee health, Terry and Jimmieson (1999) noted, in their review of this research literature, that there appears to be inconsistent evidences that high

levels of worker control are associated with low levels of stress-related outcomes, including anxiety,

Psychological distress, burnout, irritability, psychosomatic health complaints, and alcohol consumption (p 131)

Supervisor Support

Supervisor support is defined as the extent to which leaders value their employees’ contributions and care about their well-being A leader with high

supervisor support is one that makes employees feel heard, valued, and cared

about Although it sounds simple, providing this kind of support is one of the hardest transitions to make when promoted from employee to supervisor The move from “process expert” to “motivational leader” is possibly one of the largest steps one can take in his/her working life If you are a supervisor or manager, take a minute to reflect on how you handled this hurdle Was it easy?

So why is supervisor support so important for effective leadership? Because it

is one of the key behaviors that effective leaders develop as soon as they move from individual contributor to manager (In fact, it leads to positive outcomes at all levels of leadership) In specific terms, organizational research has identified a

myriad of positive outcomes associated with high supervisor support, including:

 Increased job satisfaction

 Stronger person-organization fit (degree to which personality/beliefs/values match organizational culture)

 Increased organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB)

 Improved employee perceptions of organizational support

 Improved relationships with employees

 In-role and extra-role performance

 Reduced job tension

 Reduced work-family conflict

 Reduced turnover (a secondary effect)

Performance Appraisal System Knowledge

Performance Management began around 60 years ago as a source of income justification and was used to determine an employees wage based on performance Organisations used Performance Management to drive behaviours from the employees to get specific outcomes In practice this worked well for certain employees who were solely driven by financial rewards However, where employees were driven by learning and development of their skills, it failed miserably The gap between justification of pay and the development of skills and knowledge became a huge problem in the use of Performance Management This became evident in the late 1980s; the realisation that a more comprehensive approach to manage and reward performance was needed This approach of managing performance was developed in the United Kingdom and the United States much earlier than it was developed in Australia

In recent decades, however, the process of managing people has become more formalised and specialised Many of the old performance appraisal methods have been absorbed into the concept of Performance Management, which aims to be a more extensive and comprehensive process of management Some of the developments that have shaped Performance Management in recent years are the differentiation of employees or talent management, management by objectives and constant monitoring and review Its development was accelerated by the following factors:

 The introduction of human resource management as a strategic driver and integrated approach to the management and development of employees; and

 The understanding that the process of Performance Management is something that's completed by line managers throughout the year - it is not a once off annual event coordinated by the personnel department

2.2 Argument for the relationship among the constructs

The Goal and Process Clarity and Overall Job Satisfaction

Researches show that task performance is affected positively in organization with specific goal clarity than in organization with no goal clarity at all Goal clarity influence organization commitment by affecting task performance of employees Goals Enhancement can serve to clarify the person's role in organization and to intensify the person's awareness of associations among his liability and responsibilities of others If goals of employment are illuminated, a considerable source of role uncertainty is reduced, this in turns affect employee clarity of expectation Goals are sources of professional Challenge the level of challenge being affected by goal difficulty

Amplification in difficulty of goal increases job difficulty (Denis D Umstot, 1994) Locke summarized in number of researches it was depicted magnification of goals intensify performance of employees (Locke, 1976) Oldham It was discovered that it not only boost importance of task but also bring sense to otherwise routine job Goal is focus on end results rather than measuring the ways how to achieve these goals thus making the work environment self- sufficient Goal setting and feedback are interconnected bond that formulate there importance to one another Positive feedback like individual affection with organization, higher performance shows objectivity of goals (Shaw, B., & Oldham, 1978)

The typical experimental paradigm in goal setting studies is as follows: Subjects are given a task to perform (e.g.,brainstorming, simple addition, a management simulation; in field settings, natural work tasks are used) and are assigned various performance goals to attain within a specified time limit [e.g., "do your best";

"attain a score of 25(20, 15)"] They are given feedback showing progress in relation to the goals, where relevant Subjects may also be asked to fill out questionnaires asking them to describe: their personal goals (irrespective of assigned goals); their degree of self-efficacy, their degree of goal commitment, etc There are many variants on this basic model For example, goals may be self-set

rather than assigned; subjects may participate in setting goals; goal conflict may be induced; strategies for reaching goals may have to be discovered, etc (Locke & Latham, 1990)

Goal attributes - A goal as the object or aim of an action Goals have both an internal and an external aspect Internally, they are ideas (desired ends); externally, they refer to the object or condition sought (e.g., a job, a sale, a certain performance level) The idea guides action to attain the object Two broad attributes of goals are content (the actual object sought) and intensity (the scope, focus, complexity etc of the choice process) Qualitatively, the content of a goal is whatever the person is seeking Quantitatively, two attributes of content: difficulty and specificity have been studied

Process clarity in any organization is very important to enable the smooth running of the task After employees have been given their task, responsibilities and performance goals, they are left to find ways to accomplish the task, moving it from start to finish and delivering the necessary results Things can go haywire along the way and confusion can set in, but this can be helped with a clear process with definite action steps The process is clarified mean that employees know their role

to finish the task Role clarity is defined as the degree to which a employee is certain about how he or she is expected to do the job Role ambiguity, the opposite

of role clarity, has been found to have a significant negative effect on satisfaction with the work itself (Behrman and Perreault 1984; Fry et al 1986; Johnston, Parasuraman and Futrell 1989; Teas 1980) If employees are clear about their goals and also know process to meet the goals, they will finish their task and achieved goals easier Employees who receive specific goals usually perform better than those who o not Goal clarity was directly related to satisfaction, and process clarity was indirectly related to satisfaction through goal clarity (Sawyer, 1992)

Hypothesis 1: There is a positive relationship between Goal and Process Clarity and Overall Job Satisfaction

The relationship between Work Control and Overall Job Satisfaction

Dating back to Rotter (1966), locus of control describes the perception of individuals how far they are able to control crucial decisions in their life People scoring high on the internal dimension (“internals”) believe that they have control over critical situations in their life through their own efforts and abilities External locus of control describes a situation where individuals perceive to be heteronomous, i.e they have no or only little control over crucial events in their lives In jobs with performance-related pay, a feeling of self-determination seems to

be a precondition for employees to provide effort or to be satisfied As internals often perceive a strong link between their actions and consequences and are convinced that certain goals are actively achievable by themselves, the process of performance monitoring becomes a useful management tool It has been shown that internal locus of control is positively associated with task performance (rated by supervisors, objective performance measures, and self-rated performance), job feedback and job autonomy (Ng et al., 2006) Furthermore, internal locus of control

is shown to have a positive effect on job satisfaction (Spector, 1986; Spector et al., 2002) as well as motivation and commitment (Ng et al., 2006)

Overall job satisfaction correlated positively with a composite measure of job facets, autonomy, distributive justice, supervisory support, task significance, sensitivity to equity, employee perceptions of performance, and job involvement (Agho et al., 1993;Aryee et al., 1999; Judge et al., 1998; O'Neill & Mone, 1998)

In Abraham and Hansson (1996), job satisfaction correlated negatively with both job-related tension and control problems Job satisfaction correlated positively with job-related well-being, satisfaction with rate of pay, perceived job competence, and perceived job control (Norman et al., 1995; Wright & Cordery, 1999)

Rice, Gentile, and McFarlin (1991) found that facet importance moderated the relationship between facet amount and job satisfaction for each of 12 job facets: pay, hours worked, commuting time, promotion opportunity, interaction with co-

workers, customer/client contact, opportunity to learn new skills, decision making, physical effort required, mental effort required, supervisor contact, and a worker's control over his or her schedule Karasek envisages that under conditions of high work control, a demanding job may actually foster feelings of well-being and enhances employee performance For example, there is evidence of beneficial effects of work control on job satisfaction (Dwyer & Ganster, 1991; Greenberger, Strasser, Cummings & Dunham, 1989; McLaney & Hurrell, 1988; Tetrick & LaRocco, 1987) This is with McLaney & Hurrell's (1988) exception which utilized

a multidimensional measure of work control that assessed levels of task control, decisional control, physical environment control and resource control McLaney & Hurtell failed to find support for Karasek's (1979) interactive model, although tbey did find that levels of task, physical environment and resource control exerted (positive) main effects on job satisfaction

Hypothesis 2: There is a positive relationship between Work Control and Overall Job Satisfaction

The relationship between Supervisor Support and Overall Job Satisfaction

Supervisor support is defined as employees’ belief concerning the extent to which supervisors value their contributions and care about their well-being Employees need motivation to expend greater efforts and more personal resources

in innovative tasks when supervisor exhibit their individual consideration toward followers, followers are likely to perceive the warmth and consideration from their supervisors Similarly, employees who perceive support from their supervisors often feel obligated to pay back supervisors’ favors or kindness by helping supervisors to reach their stated goals (Eisenberger et al 2002)

Jung et al (2003) indicated that leadership is positively associated with employee-perceived empowerment and support for innovation Creativity and innovation is an area where supervisors can have a strong impact on employee creativity through their influence on the context within which employees work

(Shalley and Gilson, 2004) In order for innovative behavior to occur, supervisor needs to foster, encourage, and support creativity (Shalley and Gilson, 2004)

Janssen (2003) found evidence that employees responded more innovatively to higher levels of job demands when they perceived that their efforts were fairly rewarded by their supervisor Oldham and Cummings (1996) found that supportive, non-controlling supervisors created a work environment that fostered creativity Open interactions with supervisors and the receipt of encouragement and support lead to enhanced employee creativity (Tierney, Farmer, and Graen 1999) This means that employees who perceive a fair balance between supervisor’s inducements relative to their work efforts will respond with more innovative behavior According to social exchange theory additional arguments can be derived for a relationship between supervisor support and innovative behavior Direct supervisors can act as organizational agents Employees tend to view actions by agents of the organization as actions of the organization itself

With the importance of organizational support, many researchers have scrutinized the importance of supervisor support and found that employees also expect supervisors to be caring and supportive (Eisenberger et al., 2002; Kottke and Sharafinski, 1988) Griffin et al., (2001) found that supervisor’s support has strong relationship with job satisfaction and Ogilvie (1986) confirmed that supervisors’ actions directly impact the commitment of employees

Supervisors are the agents of the organization As such, they are responsible for monitoring the performance of their subordinates, conducting periodic assessments

of their subordinates’ work, and giving feedback to enhance their subordinates’ contributions and commitment to the organization Therefore, it is natural for employees to interpret their interactions with their supervisors as indicators of the organization’s judgment of their work and career promise According to Hussami, M.A., (2008), employees want supervisors who have a bond with them and who trust them, understand them and show fairness If the supervisor is abusive the worker is left with no choice but to be dissatisfied with their job According to

Williams, E., (2004) supervisors play such an important role in jobs that it would not be wrong to say that employees leave their bosses, not their jobs Often outside the formal process of evaluation, the supervisor gets a chance to discuss the progress of employees Without support from supervisors, employees may feel stressful at work (Lait J & Wallace, J.E., 2002), and as a result may feel dissatisfied with their jobs (Ismail, A., Yao, A & Yunus, N.K.Y., 2009) On the basis of the present research and keeping in mind the prior studies, it can be hypothesized that:

Hypothesis 3: There is a positive relationship between Supervisory Support and Overall Job Satisfaction

The relationship between Performance Appraisal System Knowledge and Overall Job Satisfaction

Performance appraisal may be defined as a structured and formal interaction between a subordinate and supervisor, that usually takes the form of a periodic interview (annual or semiannual), in which the work performance of the subordinate

is examined and discussed, with a view to identifying weaknesses and strengths as well as opportunities for improvement and skills development In many organizations - but not all - appraisal results are used, either directly or indirectly, to help determine reward outcomes That is, the appraisal results are used to identify the better performing employees who should get the majority of available merit pay increases, bonuses, and promotions Employee performance reviews can be one of the best tools to boost performance, improve morale and increase productivity When done properly, performance evaluation is an effective planning tool for managers and provides important feedback to employees

For better performance of the organizations satisfied employees play a vital role Seldon, Ingraham & Jacobson, (2001) reported that more than 90 percent of bigger organizations use performance appraisal system and more than 75 percent are scheduled annually Employee satisfaction is considered a key to organizational success Khan (2007) defines employee satisfaction with job as how well ones personal expectations at work are in line with outcomes Malik, Bibi and Rahim

(2010) state that people enjoy working, and strive to work in those organizations that provide positive work environment where they feel they are making difference and where most people in the organization are proficient and pulling together to move the organization forward The organizations in this regard are struggling hard

to keep their valued employees satisfied

Performance appraisal is frequently performed in organizations for a variety of purposes, including administrative decisions (e.g., raise, promotion), feedback and development, and personnel research Thus, performance appraisals are among the most important human resource systems in organizations insofar as they represent critical decisions integral to a variety of human resource actions and outcomes (Judge & Ferris, 1993) Because of its prevalence and importance in organizations, performance appraisal is also one of the most widely researched areas in industrial/organizational psychology (Murphy & Cleveland, 1995)

Of great concern to scientists and practitioners has been the issue of appraisal effectiveness and its measurement Appraisal effectiveness refers to how well the appraisal system is operating as a tool for the assessment of work performance It is perhaps best regarded as a multidimensional construct or an ultimate criterion (Cascio, 1991) that cannot be directly measured but rather is assessed through the measurement of other subordinate criteria (Cardy & Dobbins, 1994) Cardy and Dobbins suggested that appraisal effectiveness is composed of rater errors, rating accuracy, and qualitative aspects of the appraisal

Although it is often argued that all three classes of criteria are important in the assessment of appraisal effectiveness, in general, performance appraisal research has been dominated by investigations concerning rating errors and rating accuracy

In contrast, less attention has been focused on qualitative criteria such as subordinates' reactions to appraisals and the factors contributing to these reactions (Cardy & Dobbins, 1994; Murphy & Cleveland, 1995) In fact, the relative lack of research attention directed toward reaction criteria compared widi psychometric and accuracy criteria led Murphy and Cleveland to refer to reaction criteria as one class

of ''neglected criteria" that might be critical in evaluating the success of an appraisal system

It seems reasonable to expect that subordinates' reactions to appraisal systems would have just as much impact on the success and effectiveness of an appraisal system as the more technical aspects of the system In fact, Bernardin and Beatty (1984) suggested that subordinates' reactions are usually better indicators of the overall viability of an appraisal system than are more narrow psychometric indices, such as leniency or halo After all, one may develop the most technically sophisticated, accurate appraisal system, but if that system is not accepted and supported by employees, its effectiveness ultimately will be limited (Cardy & Dobbins, 1994; Carroll & Schneier, 1982; Lawler, 1967; Murphy & Cleveland, 1995) Furthermore, Hedge and Borman (1995), in their discussion of the changing nature of performance appraisals, suggested that worker attitudes toward performance appraisal may play an increasingly important role in appraisal processes as the procedures and systems continue to develop

As mentioned previously, the reactions of subordinates regarding their performance appraisal can be an important determinant of the ultimate success and effectiveness of the appraisal process Researchers have assessed many different types of subordinate reactions and have operationalized these reactions in various ways The most frequently assessed subordinate reaction to performance appraisal has been satisfaction (Giles & Mossholder, 1990)

In part, this may be because research has demonstrated that employee satisfaction with the performance appraisal process can affect variables such as productivity, motivation, and organizational commitment (cf Ilgen, Fisher, & Taylor, 1979; Larson, 1984; Pearce & Porter, 1986; Wexley & Klimoski, 1984) Due to the importance of these outcomes of performance appraisal satisfaction, it follows that organizations ought to attempt to increase this type of employee satisfaction It confirms that the performance appraisal system in practice is fair enough to keep all the employees satisfied (Karimi, 2011)

H1(+)

H2(+)

H3(+) H4(+)

Hypothesis 4: There is a positive relationship between Performance Appraisal System Knowledge and Overall Job Satisfaction

2.3 Hypotheses and Research model

 Hypothesis 4: Performance Appraisal System Knowledge is related

positively to Overall Job Satisfaction

Research model

According to the above literature review and to achieve the research objectives the following conceptualized research model (Figure 5) is developed Furthermore, Figure 5 shows that overall job satisfaction of an employee is influenced by various job related factors and they are derived from job context and job content factors Job content factors are related with intrinsic rewards and job context factors are related with extrinsic rewards

Figure 6: Research model

Concept of Research Model

As figure below, there are four independent variables: Goal and Process Clarity (GPC), Work Control (WC), Supervisor Support (SS), and Performance Appraisal System Knowledge (PASK) and one dependent variable is Overall Job Satisfaction

(OJS)

Figure 7: Concept of Reasearch model

Independent variables Dependent variable

1 Goal and Process Clarity

PART III RESEARCH METHODS

3.1 Research design

The aim of this research is to determine the cause and effect relationship between variables The survey technique of data collecting, gathers information from the target employees in Hoa Sen Group by means of questionnaires

3.2 Desgin template scale

The questionnaire total consists of 59 questions The questionnaire will be designed to collect information about Goal and Process Clarity (GPC), Work Control (WC), Supervisor Support (SS), and Performance Appraisal System Knowledge (PASK) and Overall Job Satisfaction (OJS) in Hoa Sen Group

Goal and Process Clarity questionnaire was developed and tested by Sawyer

in 1992, total of 10 items was used It describes two dimensions thought to make up role ambiguity One dimension describes clarity about a job’s outcome goals and objectives The other dimension describes clarity or certainty about a job’s process

or how it should be performed Responses are obtained using a 5- points Likert- type scale where 1 = very uncertain and 5 = very certain Respondents are asked to indicate the degree of certainty about each of the following item:

I Goal and Process Clarity questionnaire

Goal clarity items

1 My duties and responsibility

2 The goal and objectives for my job

3 How my work relates to the overall objectives of my

work unit

4 The expected results of my work

5 What aspects of my work will lead to a positive

evaluation?

Process clarity item

6 How to divide my time among the tasks required of my

job

7 How to schedule my work day

8 How to determine the appropriate procedures of each

work task

9 The procedures I use to do my job are correct and proper

10 Considering all your work tasks, how certain are you that

you know the best ways to do these tasks

Table 1: Goal and Process Clarity questionnaire

Work Control questionnaire was developed by Dwyer and Ganster in 1991,

total of 22 items was used It describes the extent to which workers perceive they have control over numerous aspects of their work environment These aspects include control over the variety of tasks performed, the order of task performance, the pace of tasks, task scheduling, task procedures, and arrangement of the physical layout/environment The response options are 1 = very little, 2 = little, 3 = a moderate amount, 4 = much, 5 = very much