Relationship between Satisfaction, Attitudes, and Performance at an Organization Level Analysis - Article Example

Article Critique Name Course Instructor’s name Date The relationship between satisfaction, attitudes, and performance: an organization level analysis One major technique of building on the data that we already have is by reviewing the works of other intellectuals in our intended field of study. This can only be achieved through the employment of systematic methods to obtaining, confirming and advancing on the data that is already available (Allen & Earl 15- 24). The significance of this is that, it offers the application of up to date information when it comes to the actual field work, for example, when it comes to the relationship between employee satisfaction and organization performance. In order to achieve this, it is vital to engage in the employment and review of the research findings linked with the pertinent field of the study. This paper seeks to offer a critical review of an article concerning the relationship between satisfaction, attitudes, and performance at an organization level analysis in order to build a body of knowledge that could be employed by managers in order to improve organization performance. The purpose of the paper is to recognize the diverse types of evidence, together with the author’s strengths and weaknesses through the employment of the appraisal tools. Critique Topic The article’s title- the relationship between satisfaction, attitudes, and performance at an organization level analysis is appropriately phrased. The topic relates clearly with the authors purpose and ideas in the entire article. Besides, the topic of this article is very essential to the understanding of organization behavior, management and advancement of organizational effectiveness in UAE. This is evidenced by the fact that, as the topic states, the paper seeks to find out how employee satisfaction, adjustment, commitment and psychological stress are linked to the performance of the organization. It is evident that, employee motivation is greatly affected by the organization behavior, management, and its effectiveness which as a result affects greatly the performance of such an organization (Laffaldano & Muchinsky 251-273). This therefore implies that, organizations should seek to understand the linkage between performance and employee satisfaction. Abstract In the abstract, the author considers the key words that are essential in assisting the readers understand what the article centers on. The abstract outlines the subtopics and the main key point of the article including the purpose of the study, methodology, data analysis methods, finds and the implications of the study. Although the abstract is not well detailed, it is well presented as it provides the readers a picture of what is discussed in the article. In addition, the abstract is well presented using qualitative research and this is evidenced by its style of writing as the author avoids the use of self, the description of sample size, and the article is also appropriately organized as the discussions and results are separated. Introduction and Problem statement The author has offered an introduction that provides the readers a clear overview of the topic of the article- the linkage between organization performance and employee satisfaction. The introduction is well stated and is based on other peer reviewed works by other authors. The question as to whether job satisfaction is linked to job performance has received different opinions from different researchers, as indicated in the introduction part. Additionally, in this part, the author has discussed these different opinions which give the article an argumentative background. This is evidenced by the fact that, some authors on organization effectiveness focuses on staff satisfaction as a key measure of organization success whiles others employee attitudes as major predators of success (Laffaldano & Muchinsky 251-273). This question which forms the problem statement is clearly stated and well explained through out the article. Literature review As in the introduction part, the author has offered a literature review from other peer reviewed works related to the research topic. The literature review is well detailed and this provides the readers with a clear background on the relationship between organization performance and employee satisfaction. Moreover, the literature provides data which supports the author’s position concerning the subject of the article (Paula 131). Furthermore, the literature review has been written critically which means that, the author has reflected on previous works which helps in further understanding of the research topic. This is evidenced by the fact that, he has quoted different ideas by other authors linked with the research topic. It is therefore true that, the literature review is comprehensively addressed. Beside, the literature review is up to date. This is due to the fact that, most of the references used are modern. The use of modern secondary sources of data is very resourceful and consistent in this study. Research reveals that, secondary sources of data which includes books, articles and journals among others are used in quantitative research and they are considered to offer accurate information which is not obtainable in primary research (Paula 131-140). Strengths and weaknesses of the article The article has been presented in a style that makes it easy for the readers to understand its contents. The introduction part comes first, which in essence should always be put first, in order to introduce the readers to the topic of study and enhance their understanding. In addition, diagrams such as tables and charts have been used to provide more understanding about the study. The key aim of the study was to identify if there exist a relationship between employee satisfactions, job related attitudes such as psychological stress and the organizational performance. The article has provided an in depth definition of this problem. Previous research works that attempted to study this correlation have further been provided in order to enable the readers recognize the need for conducting the study. Concerning the methodology that was applied in collecting the data for the study, random sampling was applied which indeed is applicable when dealing with larger samples, considering the fact that this is a study that involved an extensive area of study. From the 36 states, 364 schools were randomly sampled (Ostroff 966). However, the sampled schools are few considering the fact that the area of study is wide, and therefore there is a tendency that the results obtained could be more generalized. Data was obtained through questionnaires, which were mailed to the selected schools. They were expected to be filled by students, teachers and the principals. Despite the fact that this is a cost effective mode of collecting data, especially when it comes to a wider area of study, but then it would more accurate if personal interviews and observations could be carried out alongside the questionnaires to ensure the data collected is more accurate. However, in terms of originality, the article is creative since it seeks to explore a field that has been for a long time been disregarded. It highlights areas where ideas have been borrowed by inserting citations from which the data has been obtained. The limitations of the study have as well been outlined to enable the readers understand the nature of the findings presented regarding this specific study. For instance, it has been highlighted that there is a possibility that the relationship between performance and satisfaction in this study could have been underestimated since an overall satisfaction measure was used. The other limitation is that the correlations identified in this study may be highly inflated since almost all measures were obtained from the same respondents then cumulated to the school level (Ostroff 969). Research studies highlight that attitude measures that are more specific are better predictors compared to the overall measures of satisfaction (John 92). However, the conclusion has not been provided. It is always important to provide conclusions since not all readers are interested in reading the whole article but can prefer to go through the conclusion to get a glimpse of what the article entails. The in-text citations have as well been provided to support to the authors claims, however the references used are not up-to-date. Most of the references are old. Article implications It is apparent that, this article contributes to a wider body of knowledge area in organizational behavior. Though the literature review offered, the discussion and findings, adequate information is offered regarding organizations and how internal sources influences the overall performance of such organizations. Such measures as employee turnover and satisfaction which are determined by the organizational management and effectiveness are clearly and substantially expounded on. Besides, various factors contributing to satisfaction have been put forth and issues such as whether satisfaction of employee are a measure of the performance of the organization are also explained (Ford & Schellenberg 49-58). This gives a wider area of discussion and argument on such issue thus; we may say that, the article offers a wider body of information in organization behavior. Generally the findings are known as this article reciprocates works carried out by other authors. Furthermore, the findings of this study are very significant as they can be employed by practitioners and academicians in their works. Moreover, these findings can also form basis in which other studies related to the research topic can be based on. Therefore, the findings are not trivial. Readability level Generally, the article is easy to read. The introduction part gives the readers an overall introduction to the topic of study and defines the problem under investigation. It then illustrates the method of study before providing the results of the study. It offers a systematic flow that enables the readers to read and understand the article easily. However, the author ought to have provided a definition of some of the vocabularies used in the article to ensure the readers’ ability to understand. Such definitions ought to be outlined in the article’s footer or on a separate page before the article; so that readers could refer to it just to ensure effective understanding is attained. Nonetheless, the article offers benefits to both academic and practitioners. For instance, the findings of this study postulate that the school’s internal social processes are key determinants of school effectiveness as well as student achievement (Ostroff 970). The social processes include satisfaction and attitudes of both the teachers and the students, and therefore if full satisfaction is attained and issues such as background characteristics are controlled then the school is bound to be effective. Such a fact can be applied by contemporary schools to ensure effectiveness is attained. The same can be applied to organization, as it is speculated that when the employees are satisfied, then their performance levels tend to accelerate. The findings can therefore be beneficial to organizational managers to ensure effectiveness is attained. In addition, the findings can be used by other researchers to either back up their studies or identify areas that need to be further researched on. This study can therefore of benefit to organizational researchers since it identify gaps and more topics that need to be researched on. Furthermore, the study builds on the already existing knowledge regarding organizational effectiveness. Conclusion This critique talks of an article concerning the relationship between satisfaction, attitudes and performance. Issues that have been discussed in this paper include the topic, literature review, strengths and weaknesses, analysis of the findings and the benefits the article offers to the academics and to the practitioners. This is aimed at enhancing understanding of the article and identifies the weaknesses and the strengths of the article. Works Cited Allen, R., and Earl, R. Research methods for social work. London: Cengage Learning, 2010. Ford, J. D and Schellenberg, D.A. conceptual issues of linkage in the assessment of organizational performance. Academy of Management Review, 7 (1982): 49-58. Johns, G, Substantive methodological constraints on behavior and attitudes in organizational research. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 49, (1991): 80-104. Laffaldano, M. T., and Muchinsky, P.M. Job satisfaction and job performance: A metaanalysis. Psychological Bulletin, 97, (1985): 251-273. Ostroff, Cheri, The Relationship Between Satisfaction, Attitudes, and Performance: An Organizational Level Analysis. Journal of Applied Statistics, 77, 6 (1992): 963-974. Paula, D. Literature Reviews Made Easy: A Quick Guide to Success. London: IAP, 2010. Read More