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Assessing the impact of hygiene factors on faculty motivation and satisfaction in online teaching will advance the literature. It will especially demystify that both factors (hygiene factors and motivator) can cause job satisfaction in online education. The purpose of this paper is to firstly determine the level of faculty motivation and satisfaction in online teaching. Secondly, this study analyses the extent to which hygiene factors affect motivation and faculty satisfaction with online teaching.

The population of this study consists of university faculty in Indonesia and Malaysia. The sample is randomly chosen in 50 higher education institutions in Indonesia and Malaysia. The sample size is 206. The participants completed a survey, including perceived student engagement, institutional support, motivation, faculty satisfaction and demographical questions. To test the model, PLS-SEM was used using SmartPLS3 software. The hygiene factors construct was operationalized as a second-order construct consisting of first-order construct: student engagement and institutional support.

There were no statistically significant differences concerning institutional support and motivation by country of residence. However, there were significant differences in student engagement and faculty satisfaction by country residence. Concerning satisfaction and motivation, the most satisfied and motivated was the faculty member in Indonesia. Hygiene factors were found as the antecedent to faculty motivation and faculty motivation multiplying hygiene factors' effect on job satisfaction. The results showed that student engagement has the highest impact on faculty satisfaction, followed by motivation. Work motivation mediates the relationship between hygiene factors and faculty satisfaction.

This study has limitations; firstly, causal inferences are not warranted as the data is cross-sectional. However, a future direction is to analyse the causal relationship between the hygiene factors, and motivation factors on faculty satisfaction using a formative first-order construct through a longitudinal study. Secondly, the results’ generalizability is another limitation of this study because the sample comprised only Indonesia and Malaysia faculty across 51 higher education institution in big cities in the island of Java in Indonesia and Malaysia peninsular only; however, the factors determined in this study represent the job-related aspects taken from the literature and the researchers’ experiences; other parts influence faculty satisfaction with online teaching. Therefore, identifying other elements is a future path.

When managers aim at increasing faculty satisfaction, the priority should be given to improve the performance of indicators with the highest effect but a relatively low in performance. All of this implies that higher education institution first needs to find ways to increase motivation by rewarding faculty in many forms, and improve the quality of instruction. Secondly, implementing policies and make some decisions that require an investment such as providing a learning management system.

Indonesia and Malaysia higher education institutions may ameliorate faculty satisfaction with online teaching in several ways. Firstly, before the online course begins, higher education institutions should attempt to have faculty believe teaching online is worthwhile and understand the institution itself also believes it is significant. Administer training for faculty, especially regarding increasing connections with and between students, gives faculty the time needed to design an online course and provide faculty with a course management system with multiple capabilities. Secondly, during the online course, higher education institutions should support technical issues and try to have faculty believe they have an accommodating work schedule and independence with the online course.

This research firstly contributes to the literature by establishing the relationship between hygiene factors and motivation, and hygiene factors and satisfaction, which did not exist according to the two-factor theory in the past. Secondly, the authors provide evidence of motivation constructs as a mediating variable. Thirdly, this study broadens the literature scope by including faculty in two countries (Indonesia and Malaysia). It includes faculty from 51 higher education systems (e.g. public and private four-year universities), incudes graduate school in seven big cities in two countries, Indonesia and Malaysia.