Do Individual Cultural Values Influence What Drives Job Satisfaction, and to What Extent?

Abstract

The importance of finding appropriate ways to drive job satisfaction is paramount. Satisfied employees have been found to perform better and, consequently, contribute to organizations’ success. With growing globalization, multinational organizations increasingly struggle to find effective ways to deal with workforces in highly diverse cultural contexts. Using a field survey, the impact of three job characteristics – opportunities to grow within the company, achievement recognition and interpersonal trust (with regards to management) – on job satisfaction was measured, along with the moderating effect of cultural values, specifically individualism/collectivism and power distance. First, confirming past studies, a moderated multiple regression analysis showed that all three aspects of the job have a positive effect on job satisfaction, irrespectively of individual cultural values. Second, results presented evidence of an interaction between power distance and achievement recognition, showing that power distance negatively moderates the relationship between achievement recognition and job satisfaction. These findings have implications for modern-day managers and human resource practitioners who should consider power distance when dealing with multicultural teams, acknowledging that an approach such as achievement recognition will be more effective in increasing satisfaction in individuals with lower levels of power distance. The study integrates the culture factor with job satisfaction theory shedding light on how each job characteristic affects job satisfaction. This dive into cross-cultural variations extends existing research since cultural values are measured at the individual level rather than through a country- or regional-level generalization. Moreover, it analyses the effect of cultural values on the relationship between specific job characteristics and job satisfaction.