The relationship of organizational structure and job satisfaction in Iranian iron companies

• Main Author: Khaef, Ahmad Ali
• Other Authors: Stiehl, Ruth
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Iron industry and trade > Iran; Industrial organization > Iran > Case studies; Job satisfaction > Iran > Case studies
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1957/38232

This study examined the ralationship of organizational structure and job satisfaction in Iranain iron companies. Sixteen of 27 Iranian iron companies were randomly selected for the study, and 195 middle managers in the 16 companies were surveyed with a three part instrument consisting of Likert's (1967) Profile of Organizational Characteristics; Smith, Kendal and Hulin's (1969) Job Description Index; and a short demographic questionnaire. For each company, responses to the Profile of Organizational Characteristics were tabulated, means were calculated, and an organizational structure was assigned to the company based on Likert's (1967) classification of organizational structures: System 1, Exploitative/ Authoritative; System 2, Benevolent/Authoritative; System 3, Consultive; and System 4, Participative. The mean job satisfaction of middle managers was also calculated from responses to the Job Description Index, and results from the demographic questionnaire were tabulated. These results were statistically analyzed using Analysis of Variance, the Student-Newman-Keuls Procedure, Pearson's r test, and a correlation coefficient test. The findings revealed no single organizational structure present in Iranian iron companies; however, 14 of the 16 companies had a System 3, Consultive, organizational structure. A positive correlation of job satisfaction with organizational structure was found; as structure changed from more authoritarian/less participative to less authoritarian/more participative, job satisfaction of middle managers increased. No significant relationship was found between organizational structure and organizational size, no significant differences were found in job satisfaction of middle managers in different companies, and no significant relationships were found between job satisfaction and any of the four demographic variables: Type of Work, Education, Job Location, and Marital Status. === Graduation date: 1990