Personal aspirations and employment requirements : coalescing, clashing and outcomes.

First of all, I would like to thank God for giving me the chance, energy and drive to complete this thesis. Finally, I would like to thank my closest family and friends for the prayers and encouragement to keep going and persevere.

Introduction

Purpose Of The Research

Problem Statement

If there is fusion, then the employee has job satisfaction and the company achieves its goals. If there is a conflict, the employee experiences job dissatisfaction and more often than not, the company's goals will only be partially achieved.

Objectives Of The Research

There is a discrepancy between the result they want and what they receive' (Sweeney, McFarlin and Inderrieden 1990:423). On the one hand, there is the employee with his desires and potential, and on the other hand, there is the company with its vision, goals and limited resources.

Research Questions To Be Answered

To find out whether this alienation results in movement of employees from one job to another iv). To find out if employees feel that they have lost control of their lives because of their own.

Scope Of The Research And Research Methods

Limitations Of The Research

Structure Of The Research

This includes the use of measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion, such as frequency distributions, means, medians, ranges, variances, and standard deviations. The final chapter summarizes the main findings of the research and makes recommendations for management and further research.

Conclusion

Introduction

Definition And Usage Of The Term Alienation

Dehumanization – due to the prevailing conditions highlighted above, the worker ends up as part of a process or as a cog in the wheel of capitalism. He suggests that Marx believed that because of capitalism, workers were dehumanized by their jobs.

Work And Alienation

Having defined what the concept of alienation means and how it has been applied in previous studies, it would be ideal to look at what the average employee strives for when he or she is hired and how this relates to alienation.

Personal Aspirations

Autonomy/Independence
Security/Stability
Sense Of Service/Dedication To A Cause/Fulfilment
Lifestyle/Work Life Balance
Feedback And Recognition
Opportunity/Career Advancement
Role Clarity
Pay Commensurate To Effort
Social Interactions
Goal Determination
A Learning Activity And Choice Of Assignment
Flexible Working Hours And Time Off From Work
Personal Praise: Verbal, Public And Written
Increased Autonomy And Authority In Their Job
Time with their Manager

Job dissatisfaction arises when the employee feels that the effort/reward ratio is negative for him/her; they put in a lot of effort and get little reward. This means that the amount of interactions will decrease, and conversely job satisfaction will decrease.

Work Requirements

Nelson (2003) states that giving employees more autonomy and authority at work is the highest form of recognition an employer can give to an employee. It says that the employer entrusts the employees with the organization's resources to do the right thing and achieve results for the company.

Job Satisfaction

The Causes of Job Satisfaction

Need Fulfilment Models
Discrepancies
Value Attainment
Equity
Dispositional/Genetic Components

These types of models suggest that job satisfaction depends on the extent to which job characteristics enable an individual to fulfill his or her needs. If the employee feels that he or she is treated fairly compared to other colleagues, there will be job satisfaction and vice versa.

Correlates and Consequences of Job Satisfaction

Organizational Citizenship Behaviour
Withdrawal Cognitions
Age

This is supported by research conducted to measure the relationship between personal characteristics and job satisfaction. They further add that a meta-analysis of 21 independent studies involving 7,031 individuals showed “…a significant and moderately positive correlation between organizational citizenship behavior and job satisfaction.”

Table 2.1 shows variables that are correlated to job satisfaction. Kreitner and Kinicki explain that the relationship of the variables to job satisfaction can be either positive or negative, whilst the strength of that rel

Ways in Which Dissatisfied Employees React

Loyalty - an employee who chooses to remain loyal to the organization acts passively and constructively in the hope that working conditions will improve. Neglect – an employee who neglects his/her work acts passively and destructively.

Confidence

Clear life goals – to have a sense of direction for where one's life is going, as well as being able to set realistic short- and long-term goals for one's life, and. McMahon (2007) argues that a lack of self-confidence inhibits one's professional effectiveness and career advancement, as well as one's happiness and satisfaction with life.

Conclusion

This chapter deals with the way in which data were collected and analyzed to answer the research questions. The theory behind the research methodology is reviewed and its application to this research is discussed and elaborated.

Types Of Research Strategies

Research Design And Nature Of The Study

Sampling Theory And Choice Of Sample

Reasons For Sampling

Choice Of Sample

Research Instrument

Questionnaire Design

In this part of the questionnaire, there were twelve statements with which the respondent had to agree or disagree. In this part of the questionnaire, there were ten statements with which the respondent had to agree or disagree.

Pilot Study

This is especially more so in a self-completion survey, as the respondent will have no one to ask questions about or to clarify anything they do not understand in the questionnaire. The study aimed to check the time it took each respondent to complete the questionnaire as well as to check whether the questionnaire was understandable, easy to answer and achieved its objectives of testing personal aspirations and job requirements.

Administering The Questionnaire

There is a high possibility that e-mail invitations to answer the questionnaire may be perceived as a nuisance and ignored. Bryan and Bell (2007) state that with web-based surveys, there is a fear among respondents that fraudsters or hackers may compromise their security and privacy while online. This was mitigated by ensuring that the link to the questionnaire was sent via a secure link.

Data Analysis Process

Preparing Data For Analysis

Editing
Handling Blank Responses
Coding
Categorization
Entering the Data

Data Analysis And Interpretation

Feel for the Data

Testing The Goodness Of The Data

Reliability
Validity

Data Interpretation And Hypothesis Testing

Pearson's Correlation
Regression Analysis

Sekaran (2003) says that the test for the goodness of the data is done by checking for reliability and validity. Sekaran says that "it is a test of the consistency of respondents' answers to all the items in a measure". They define the correlation coefficient as "a measure of the strength of the linear relationship between two variables".

Figure 3.2 Testing Goodness of Measures: Forms of Reliability and Validity

Conclusion

Reliability Statistics

Results Of The Research

Descriptive Statistics

47 of the respondents agreed with the statement while 42 disagreed with it and 23 were neutral about it. 81 of the respondents agreed with the statement, 16 were neutral about it and 15 disagreed with the statement. 53 of the respondents agreed with the statement, 36 were neutral about it while 23 disagreed with the statement.

Inferential Statistics

Descending Means and Standard Deviations
Relationships between Key Variables in the Research
Regression Analysis
Cross-Tabulations

The results of the regression analysis show that about 33% of the variance that appears in the dependent variable Q.5 "I feel angry at work" can be explained or attributed to the independent variable Q.24 "I feel helpless at work". The results of the regression analysis show that about 19% of the variation that occurs in the dependent variable Q.5 "I feel angry at work" can be explained or attributed to the independent variable Q.2 "My job offers me enough opportunities to advance in life and career". The results of the regression analysis show that approximately 26% of the variation that occurs in the dependent variable Q.5 "I feel angry at work" can be explained or attributed to the independent variable Q.7 "I feel I have no control over my activities at work" .

Table 4.2 Descending means and standard deviations

Conclusion

This chapter also examines whether the research has answered the research questions set out in chapter 1.

Interpreting The Descriptive Statistics

93 Respondents also felt strongly that they did not blame their families for the problems they had at work. As shown in Figure 4.26, 96% of respondents did not or strongly disagreed that their family was responsible for the problems they experienced at work. This makes sense if you imagine that someone would rather blame his or her problems on his or her job than on his or her family.

Interpreting The Relationships Between Key Variables In The Research

Correlation Analyses

Correlation between Q.10 and Q.11
Correlation between age and Q.5

This relationship means that as an employee's sense of lack of control over his/her work activities increases, so does his/her anger about the work he/she does. This relationship implies that as a person's feelings of powerlessness at work increase, his/her feelings of alienation will also increase. This means that as an individual experiences an increase in feelings of powerlessness in the workplace, his/her self-confidence as a person will decrease.

Regression Analysis

Regression Analysis between Q.24 (independent) and Q.18
Regression Analysis between Q.17 (independent) and
Regression Analysis between Q.17 (dependent) and Q.24
Regression Analysis between Q.5 (dependent) and Q. 24

I am angry at work” can be explained or attributed to the independent variable question 24 “I am powerless at work”. I am angry at my job” can be explained or attributed to the independent variable question 2 “My job offers me enough opportunities to get ahead in life”. I feel angry at work” can be explained or attributed to the independent variable question 7 “I feel like I have no control over my activities at work”.

Answering The Research Questions

Do Personal Aspirations Clash or Coalesce with Employer Requirements? 104
Does Feeling Alienated Cause Employees to Move from One Job to Another?
Do Employed People Feel Like they have Lost Control of their Lives Due to
Will Employees Move to Another Company that Recognizes them More for
My Job Offers Me Enough Chance of Advancing in Life

As can be seen from Table 4.29, which shows the cross-tabulation between Q.8 and Q.26, about 51% of the respondents agreed with the statement in Q.8 that they felt satisfied with what they are currently doing at work. . On the other hand, 87% of respondents agreed with the statement in Q.26 that they identify with the products and/or services offered by their organization. The results in Figure 4.12 showed that just over 64 people, representing 54% of the respondents, disagreed with the statement that they had no control over their activities at work.

Addressing the Research Objectives

Conclusion

The next chapter (chapter 6) summarizes the key findings of the research as well as recommendations for further research. This chapter provides a summary and overview of the research discussed in the preceding chapters. This chapter will focus on an overview of the research process and recommendations, a look at whether the research objectives were achieved, a look at some of the most important findings of the research, recommendations that can be adopted by management in organizations and finally areas for further research.

Addressing the Problem Statement

Major Findings of the Research

A strong correlation exists between being afraid to disagree with your boss and minding your own business at work. A negative correlation exists between being a confident person and being afraid to disagree with your boss. A negative correlation exists between self-confidence at work and feeling that one has no control over work activities.

Recommendations

The respondents feel happiest when they are left to determine their own tasks and goals. Managers should aim to empower employees so that they can take matters into their own hands, become innovative and go beyond the call of duty. Management in organizations must foster a culture that allows employees the freedom to disagree with their bosses without any negative consequences.

Limitations of the Research

Sampling Technique

Management should strive for work schedules that balance the work demands and family needs of the employee.

Research Instrument

Further Research

Conclusion

Available from http://proquest.umi. com/pqdlink?vinst=PROD&fmt=6&startpage=1&ver=1&vname=PQD&RQT=309. Available from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&hid=113&sid=. 2004) “Effects of work involvement on organizational citizenship, work performance, voluntary. Available from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?ob=. 1995) "Employee Satisfaction: Maximizing the Return on Human Capital."

Ethical Clearance Approval

Letter of Introduction

Letter of Informed Consent

Questionnaire

I feel happiest at work when I am left to determine my own tasks, schedules and procedures. I feel the best way to manage in my job is to mind my own business and do as I'm told.

Turnitin Digital Receipt

Responses to Job Dissatisfaction

Flow Diagram of Data Analysis Process

Testing Goodness of Measures: Forms of Reliability and Validity

The Strength and Direction of the Coefficient of Correlation

Response Rate

Gender Distribution

Age Distribution

Education Level

Level in Organization

Q.1 A Lifestyle that Balances My Career with Family Needs is Very Important to Me

Q.2 My Job Offers Me Enough Chance of Advancing in Life

Q.3 I Feel Happiest When I am Left to Determine My Own Tasks, Schedules and

Q.4 I Partly Blame My Job for The Problems I am Experiencing at Home

Q.5 I Feel Angry at Work

Q.6 I Do Not Want to Feel Restricted by My Employer

Q.7 I Feel I Have No Control Over my Activities at Work

Q.8 I Feel Fulfilled With What I am Currently Doing at Work

Q.9 I “Work to Live” Not “Live to Work”

Q.10 Who I am is More Important than My Job

Q.11 Who I am is More Important Than the Organization I work For

Q.13 I Would Gladly Move, for the Same Salary, to a Company that Recognized Me

Q.15 My Job Requirements Leave me with Very Little Time for Family

Q.21 Even Though I Work as Part of a team, I Experience a Feeling of Aloneness

Q.17 I am Afraid to Disagree with My Superior

Q.18 I Feel the Best Way to Manage in my Job is to Mind My Own Business and Do

Q.19 My Job Makes me Feel Alienated from Society

Q.20 My Organization Accepts my Personality While Encouraging me to be Unique

Q.21 I Blame my Family for the Problems I have at Work

Q.22 My Company Values me for the Monetary Value I Give It

Q.23 My Company Provides me with Job Security

Q.24 I am Powerless at Work

Q.25 I am Confident at Work

Q.26 I Identify with the Products or Services we Sell

Q.27 My Life Outside Work is More Important than my Life at Work

Correlates of Job Satisfaction

Fundamental Differences between Quantitative and Qualitative Research Strategies

Reliability Statistics

Descending Means and Standard Deviations

Correlation between Q.10 and Q.11

Correlation between age and Q.5

Regression Analysis between Q.24 (independent) and Q.18 (dependent)

Regression Analysis between Q.17 (independent) and Q.18(dependent)

Regression Analysis between Q.17 (dependent) and Q.24 (independent)

Regression Analysis between Q.5 (dependent) and Q. 24 (independent)

Cross-Tabulation between Q.1 and Q.15