Management-employee relations, firm size and job satisfaction
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the job satisfaction in relation to managerial attitudes towards employees and firm size using the linked employer-employee survey results in Britain.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors first investigate the management-employee relationships and the firm size using maximum likelihood probit estimation. Next various measures of job satisfaction are related to the management-employee relations via maximum likelihood ordered probit estimates. Four measures of job satisfaction that have not been used often are considered. They are satisfaction with influence over job; satisfaction with amount of pay; satisfaction with sense of achievement and satisfaction with respect from supervisors.
Findings
Main findings indicate that management-employee relationships are less satisfactory in the large firms than in the small firms. Job satisfaction levels are lower in large firms. Less satisfactory management-employee relationships in the large firms may be a major source of the observed lower level of job satisfaction in them.
Practical implications
These results have important policy implications from the point of view of the firm management while achieving the aims of their organizations in particular in the large firms in the area of management-employee relationships. Improving the management-employee relations in large firms will increase employee satisfaction in many respects as well as increase productivity and reduce turnover.
Originality/value
The nature of the management-employee relations with firm size and job satisfaction has not been investigated before.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
JEL Classifications – J28, J5, J21, D23
Professor Dr Saziye Gazioglu was a native of Cyprus where she grew up. She was very fond of her country and she would go back for visit often. She majored in mathematics for her undergraduate degree at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara and moved to the UK for her graduate studies. She taught at various Scottish universities after completing her studies. Her last appointment was at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. Her research interests were varied and ranged from financial economics to labor economics. She had both personal and professional interest in international migration issues and her writings in this area left a mark in the professional literature. She was friendly and made many friends at the places where she worked. She is survived by two sons who live in the UK. She is missed sorely both as a colleague and a friend by many in the UK and in Turkey.
Citation
Tansel, A. and Gazîoğlu, Ş. (2014), "Management-employee relations, firm size and job satisfaction", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 35 No. 8, pp. 1260-1275. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-09-2014-0179
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited