Abstract
The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether cultural orientations which were pervasive and salient in the society of SMEs’ entrepreneurs predict employees’ job satisfaction. Paternalism, collectivism, individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance were assessed as pervasive and salient attributes for Turkish society. Data were gathered from 217 male SMEs entrepreneurs and 1140 employees. The cultural orientations scales together with some questions related to the firms and demographics, and job diagnostic index (JDI) with demographical questions were applied to entrepreneurs and employees, respectively. The findings of this study revealed that paternalism, collectivism and power distance predicted employee job satisfaction significantly. It was argued that the congruency between entrepreneurs’ cultural orientations and employees’ cultural background and expectations, which was shaped by the organizational socialization process, might lead these results.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Akgemici, T.: 2001, KOBI’lerin temel sorunlari ve saglanan destekler (The Basic Problems of SMEs and the Structure of Support provided their Development). (KOSGEB Yayinlari, Ankara) (Small and Medium Industry Development Organization Publication)
S. Ayata (1996) ArticleTitle‘Patronage, party, and state: The politicization of Islam in Turkey’ The Middle East Journal 50 40–57
Z. Aycan R.N. Kanungo (2000) ‘Toplumsal kültürün kurumsal kültür ve insan kaynakları uygulamaları üzerine etkileri (The impacts of national culture on organizational culture and human resource practices)’ Z. Aycan (Eds) Türkiye’de yönetim, liderlik ve insan kaynakları uygulamaları (Management, leadership and human resources practices in Turkey), Türk Psikologlar Derneği Yayınları Turkish Psychology Association Press Ankara 25–53
Z. Aycan R.N. Kanungo Mendonca et al. (2000) ArticleTitle‘Impact of culture on human resource management practices: A ten-country comparison’ Applied Psychology An International Review 49 192–220 Occurrence Handle10.1111/1464-0597.00010
B.J. Babin J.S. Boles (1996) ArticleTitle‘The effects of perceived co-worker involvement and supervisor support on service provider role stress, performance and job satisfaction’ Journal of Retailing 72 57–75 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0022-4359(96)90005-6
F. Becattini (1990) ‘The Marshallian industrial district as a socio-economic notion’ F. Peyke G. Becattini (Eds) et al. Industrial Districts and Inter-firm Cooperation in Italy International Institute of Labour Studies ILO Geneva 37–51
T.M. Begley W.L. Tan (2000) ArticleTitle‘The socio-cultural environment for entrepreneurship: A comparison between East Asian and Anglo-Saxon countries’ Journal of International Business Studies 32 537–544
J. W. Bennett I. Iwao (1963) Paternalism in the Japanese Economy: Anthropological Studies of Oyabun-Kobun Patterns University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis, MIN
S.N. Bhuian A.G. Abdul-Muhmin (1997) ArticleTitle‘Job satisfaction and organizational commitment among “guest-worker” salesforces: the case of Saudi Arabia’ Journal of Global Marketing 10 27–44 Occurrence Handle10.1300/J042v10n03_03
S.N. Bhuian M.S. Islam (1996) ArticleTitle‘Continuance commitment and extrinsic job satisfaction among a novel multicultural expatriate workforce’ The Mid-Atlantic Journal of Business 32 35–46
R. Bilgic (1998) ArticleTitle‘The relationship between job satisfaction and personal characteristics of Turkish workers’ The Journal of Psychology 132 549–557 Occurrence Handle10.1080/00223989809599287
D. Birnbaum M.J. Somers (1993) ArticleTitle‘Fitting job performance into a turnover model: An examination of the form of the job performance-turnover relationship and path model’ Journal of Management 49 1–11
S. Brusco (1990) ‘The idea of industrial district: Its genesis’ F.G. Peyke Becattini (Eds) Industrial Districts and Inter-firm Cooperation in Italy International Institute of Labour Studies, ILO Geneva 10–19
D.M. Cable T.A. Judge (1996) ArticleTitle‘Person-organization fit, job choice decisions, and organizational entry’ Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 67 249–311 Occurrence Handle10.1006/obhd.1996.0081
D.M. Cable T.A. Judge (1997) ArticleTitle‘`Interviewers’ perceptions of person-organization fit and organizational selection decisions’ Journal of Applied Psychology 82 546–561 Occurrence Handle10.1037/0021-9010.82.4.546
R. Chaganti P.G. Greene (2002) ArticleTitle‘Who are ethnic entrepreneurs?: A study of entrepreneurs’ ethnic involvement and business characteristics’ Journal of Small Business Management 40 IssueID2 126–144 Occurrence Handle10.1111/1540-627X.00045
G.T. Chao A.M. O’Leary-Kelly S. Wolf H.J. Klein P.D. Gardner (1994) ArticleTitle‘Organizational socialization: Its content and consequences’ Journal of Applied Psychology 79 730–743 Occurrence Handle10.1037/0021-9010.79.5.730
J.A. Chatman (1991) ArticleTitle‘Matching people and organizations: Selection and socialization in public accounting firms’ Administrative Science Quarterly 36 459–484 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2393204
R. Christopher S.A. Wasti (2002) ArticleTitle‘Organizational individualism and collectivism: Theoretical development and an empirical test of a measure’ Journal of Management 28 544–566 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0149-2063(02)00143-5
J. Jonge ParticleDe W.B. Schaufeli (1998) ArticleTitle‘Job characteristics and employee well-being: A test of Warr’s vitamin model in health care workers using structural equation modeling’ Journal of Organizational Behavior 19 387–407 Occurrence Handle10.1002/(SICI)1099-1379(199807)19:4<387::AID-JOB851>3.0.CO;2-9
C. Boer ParticleDe (1978) ArticleTitle‘The polls: Attitudes toward work’ Public Opinion Quarterly 34 565–581
DIE, The State Institute of Statistics: 1999, Mersin ili imalat sanayii işyerleri sayımı sonuçları (The results of survey about firms in manufacturing sector in Mersin). (Devlet Istatistik Enstitüsü Yayınları, Ankara), (The State Institute of Statistics Publications)
Dore R. P.: 1958, City Life in Japan (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA)
Erder, S.: 1998, `Kökene dayanan dayanı ışma ve kentte ortak yaşama (Roots-based solidarity and collective urban life),’ in Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi (ed.), Türkiye’de bunalıım ve demokratik çıkış yolları (Crisis in Turkey and democratic solutions), (TUBITAK, Ankara, Pub. No. 423, October), pp. 56–78
T. Erman (2001) ArticleTitle‘Rural migrants and patriarchy in Turkish cities’ International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 25 118–133 Occurrence Handle10.1111/1468-2427.00301
Esmer Y.: 1998, ‘Ahlaki değerler ve toplumsal değisme (Moral values and social change),’ in Turkiye Bilimler Akademisi (ed.), Turkiye’ de bunalım ve çıkış yolları (Crisis in Turkey and democratic solutions), (TUBITAK, Ankara, Publication No. 423, October), pp. 12–33
T. Fang (2003) ArticleTitle‘A critique of Hofstede’s fifth national culture dimension’ International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management 3 329–347 Occurrence Handle10.1177/1470595803003003005
C. Fletcher R. Williams (1996) ArticleTitle‘Performance management, job satisfaction and organizational commitment’ British Journal of Management 7 169–179 Occurrence Handle10.1111/j.1467-8551.1996.tb00112.x
A. Furnham J. Walsh (1990) ArticleTitle‘Consequences of person-environment incongruence: absenteeism, frustration, and stress’ The Journal of Social Psychology 132 187–204
I. Gamal G. Vaughan (2003) ArticleTitle‘Ethnic business development: Toward a theoretical synthesis and policy framework’ Journal of Economic Issues 37 1107–1119
W.B. Gartner (1985) ArticleTitle‘A conceptual framework of describing the phenomenon of new venture creation’ Academy of Management Review 10 696–706 Occurrence Handle10.2307/258039
W. Groot H.M. Brink (1999) ArticleTitle‘Job satisfaction of older workers’ International Journal of Manpower 20 343–360 Occurrence Handle10.1108/01437729910289701
G. Hofstede (1980) Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work Related Values Sage Beverly Hills, CA
G. Hofstede (1991) Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind McGraw-Hill Mastricht, the Netherlands
J. L. Holland (1985) `Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environment EditionNumber2 Prentice Hall Englewood Cliffs, NJ
J.H. Humphrey Schmitz (1996) ArticleTitle‘The triple C approach to local industrial policy’ World Development 24 31–45
M. Igbaria T. Guimaraes (1993) ArticleTitle‘Antecedents and consequences of job satisfaction among information center employees’ Journal of Management Information Systems 9 145–174
R. Inglehart W. Baker (2000) ArticleTitle‘Modernization, cultural change and the persistence of traditional values’ American Sociological Review 65 19–51 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2657288
R. Inglehart (1997) Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies Princeton University Press Princeton, NJ
A. Inkeles (1994) ‘Industrialization, modernity and the quality of life’ W. V. M. Y. D’Antonio Sasaki Yonebayashi (Eds) Ecology, Society and Quality of Social Life Transaction London 52–75
A. Inkeles (1969) ArticleTitle‘Making men modern: on the causes and consequences of individual change in the developing countries’ American Journal of Sociology 75 208–225 Occurrence Handle10.1086/224767
B. Iris G.V. Barrett (1977) ArticleTitle‘Some relations between job and life satisfaction and job importance’ Journal of Applied Psychology 56 301–304 Occurrence Handle10.1037/h0033095
T. Jackson (2001) ArticleTitle‘Cultural values and management ethics: A 10-nation study’ Human Relations 54 1267–1303
Y. Jeongkoo R.T. Shane (2002) ArticleTitle‘A dual process of organizational commitment: job satisfaction and organizational support’ Work and Occupations 29 97–124
T.A. Judge J.W. Boudreau R.D. Bretz (1994) ArticleTitle‘Job and life attitudes of male executives’ Journal of Applied Psychology 79 767–782 Occurrence Handle10.1037/0021-9010.79.5.767
C. Kagitcibasi (1994) ‘A critical appraisal of individualism and collectivism: Toward a new formulation’ U. H. C. Kim Triandis Kagitcibasi (Eds) Individualism and Collectivism: Theory, Method and Application Sage Beverly Hills CA 52–66
C. Kagitcibasi (1996) Family and Human Development Across Cultures: A View from the Other Side Lawrence-Erlbaum Hillside, CA
D. Kandiyoti (1988) ArticleTitle‘Bargaining with patriarchy’ Gender and Society 2 274–290
U.M. Kim (1994) ‘Significance of paternalism and communalism in the occupational welfare system of Korean firms: A national survey’ U. H. C. C. S. G. Kim Triandis Kagitcibasi Choi Yoon (Eds) Individualism and Collectivism: Theory, Method and Application, A: Sage Thousand Oaks 251–266
M.K. Kozan (1989) ArticleTitle‘Cultural influences on styles of handling interpersonal conflicts: Comparisons among Jordanian, Turkish and US managers’ Human Relations 42 787–799 Occurrence Handle10.1177/001872678904200903
M.K. Kozan (1993) ArticleTitle‘Cultural and industrialization level influences on leadership attitudes for Turkish managers’ International Studies of Management and Organization 23 7–17
A.L. Kristof (1996) ArticleTitle‘Person-organization fit: An integrative review of its conceptualizations, measurement, and implications’ Personnel Psychology 49 IssueID1 1–49
J.R. Lincoln A.L. Kalleberg (1985) ArticleTitle‘Work organization and workforce commitment: A study of plant and employees in the U.S and Japan’ American Sociological Review 50 738–760 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2095502
J. Lincoln M. Hanada J. Olson (1981) ArticleTitle‘Cultural orientations and individual reactions to organizations: A study of employees’ Administrative Science Quarterly 26 93–115 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2392603
E.A. Locke (1984) ‘Job satisfaction’ M.T. Gruneberb Wall (Eds) Social Psychology and Organizational Behavior John Wiley Sons New York 93–117
D. C. McClelland (1961) The Achieving Society D. Van Nostrand Princeton, NJ
B.M. Meglino E.C. Ravlin (1998) ArticleTitle‘Individual values in organizations: Concepts, controversies, and research’ Journal of Management 24 351–389 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0149-2063(99)80065-8
K. Mellahi G. Wood (2003) ArticleTitle‘From kinship to trust: Changing recruitment practices in unstable political context’ International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management 3 369–381 Occurrence Handle10.1177/1470595803003003007
B. Menguc (1996) ArticleTitle‘Testing the applicability of a conceptual model for the effect of effort on sales performance and job satisfaction: evidence for Turkish industrial salespeople’ European Journal of Marketing 30 33–51 Occurrence Handle10.1108/03090569610105771
D. Miller (1983) ArticleTitle‘The correlates of entrepreneurship in three types of firms’ Management Science 29 770–791 Occurrence Handle10.1287/mnsc.29.7.770
P.M. Muchinsky (1977) ArticleTitle‘Employee absenteeism: A review of the literature’ Journal of Vocational Behavior 10 316–340 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0001-8791(77)90066-5
P.M. Muchinsky M.L. Tuttle (1979) ArticleTitle‘Employee turnover: An empirical and methodological assessment’ Journal of Vocational Behavior 14 43–77 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0001-8791(79)90049-6
T. Nichols N. Sugur A.C. Tasiran (2003) ArticleTitle‘Sign of change in Turkey’s working class: Workers’ age-related perceptions in the modern manufacturing sector’ British Journal of Sociology 54 527–545 Occurrence Handle10.1080/0007131032000143573
T. Nichols N.E. Sugur Demir (2002) ArticleTitle‘Globalised management and local labour: The case of the whitegoods industry in Turkey’ Industrial Relations Journal 33 68–85 Occurrence Handle10.1111/1468-2338.00220
C.A. O’Reilly J.A. Chatman D.F. Caldwell (1991) ArticleTitle‘People and organizational culture: A profile comparison approach to assessing person-organization fit’ Academy of Management Journal 34 487–516 Occurrence Handle10.2307/256404
A. Palloni D.S. Massey (2001) ArticleTitle‘Social capital and international migration: A test using information on family networks’ The American Journal of Sociology 106 1262–1299 Occurrence Handle10.1086/320817
T. Parsons E. A. Schils (1951) Toward a General Theory of Action Harvard University Press Cambridge, MA
M.F. Peterson A.S. Ruiz-Quintanilla (2003) ArticleTitle‘Cultural socialization as a source of intrinsic work motivation’ Group Organization Management 28 188–227 Occurrence Handle10.1177/1059601103028002002
R. Rabelotti (1995) ArticleTitle‘Is there an industrial district model?: Footwear districts in Italy and Mexico compared’ World Development 23 29–41 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0305-750X(94)00103-6
M. Ram P. Edwards M. Gilman (2001) ArticleTitle‘The dynamics of informality: Employment relations in small firms and the effects of regulatory change’ Work, Employment & Society 15 845–861 Occurrence Handle10.1177/095001701400438233
S.G. Redding A. Norman A. Schlander (1994) ‘The nature of individual attachment to the organization: A review of East Asian variations’ H.C. Triandis M. D. Dunnette L.M. Hough (Eds) Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology NumberInSeriesvol. 4 Consulting Psychologists Press Palo Alto CA 647–688
S. Ronen (1989) Comparative and Multinational Management Wiley New York
M. Roznowski (1989) ArticleTitle‘An examination of the measurement properties of the Job Descriptive Index with experimental items’ Journal of Applied Psychology 74 805–814 Occurrence Handle10.1037/0021-9010.74.5.805
Sarıaslan H.: 1996, Türkiye ekonomisinde küçük ve orta ölçekli işletmeler: İmalat sanayi işletmelerinin sorunları ve yeni stratejiler (Small and Medium Enterprises in Turkish Economy: Problems of the Manufacturing Sector and New Strategies), (DIE Yayınları, Ankara) (DIE Publication)
Sarikaya B.: 1995, KOBİ’lerin Türkiye ekonomisindeki yeri (The Importance and Place of SMEs in Turkish Economy) Izmir: Izmir Ticaret Odası Yayını (Izmir Chamber of Commerce Publication No. 20)
E. H. Schein (1992) Organizational Culture and Leadership Jossey-Bass San Francisco, CA
E.H. Schein (1996) ArticleTitle‘Culture: The missing concept in organization studies’ Administrative Science Quarterly 41 229–240 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2393715
H. Schmitz (1995) ArticleTitle‘Collective efficiency: Growth path for small-scale industry’ Journal of Developmental Studies 31 529–566
H. Schmitz (1999) ArticleTitle‘Collective efficiency and increasing returns’ Cambridge Journal of Economics 23 465–483 Occurrence Handle10.1093/cje/23.4.465
J. A. Schumpeter (1934) The Theory of Economic Development Harvard University Press Cambridge, MA
S. Schwartz (1994) ‘Beyond individualism/collectivism: New dimensions of values’ H. C. C. U.Kim Triandis Kagitcibasi (Eds) Individualism and Collectivism: Theory Application and Methods Sage Beverly Hills, CA 85–119
J. Shaheena (2003) ArticleTitle‘The sustainability of social capital within ethnic networks’ Journal of Business Ethics 47 31–43 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1026288811107
S.A. Shane (1992) ArticleTitle‘The Effect of cultural differences in perception of transaction costs’ Management International Review 32 295–306
P. C. Smith L. M. Kendall C. L. Hulin (1969) The Measurement of Satisfaction in Work and Retirement Rand McNally Chicago, IL
E. Suh E. Diener S. H. C. Oishi Triandis (1998) ArticleTitle‘The shifting basis of life satisfaction judgements across cultures: Emotions versus norms’ Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 74 482–493 Occurrence Handle10.1037/0022-3514.74.2.482
R.J. Taormina T.N. Bauer (2000) ArticleTitle‘Organizational socialization in contrasting cultures: Results from the United States and Hong Kong’ International Journal of Organizational Analysis 8 262–289
M.H. Tayeb (1995) ArticleTitle‘The competitive advantage of nations: The role of HRM and its socio-cultural context’ International Journal of Human Resource Management 6 588–605
M. H. Tayeb (1988) Organizations and National Culture: A Comparative Analysis Sage London
Tönnies F.: 1957, Community and Society (C.P. Loomis, ed. And Trans.) (Harper & Row, New York, Original work published 1887)
S. Wai-sum (2001) ArticleTitle‘Small firm marketing in China: A comparative study’ Small Business Economics 16 279–293 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1011179823847
P. Warr (1990) ArticleTitle‘Decision latitude, job demands, and employee well being’ Work and Stress 4 285–294
S.A. Wasti (2000) ‘Orgutsel bağlılığı belirleyen evrensel ve kültürel etmenler: Türk kültürüne bir bakış (Etic and emic factors of organizational commitment: The Turkish culture case)’ Z. Aycan (Eds) Türkiye’de liderlik, yönetim ve insan kaynakları uygulamaları (Management, leadership and human resource practices in Turkey) Türk Psikoloji Derneği Yayınları (Turkish Psychological Association Press) Ankara 201–225
S.A. Wasti (2003) ArticleTitle‘Organizational commitment, turnover intentions and the influence of cultural values’ Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 76 303–321 Occurrence Handle10.1348/096317903769647193
S.A. Wasti (1998) ArticleTitle‘Cultural barriers in the transferability of Japanese and American human resources practices to developing countries: The case of Turkey’ International Journal of Human Resource Management 9 609–631 Occurrence Handle10.1080/095851998340928
D. Weiss R. Dawis G. England L. Lofquist (1967) Manual for the Minnesota satisfaction Questionnaire University of Minnesota Industrial Relations Center Minneapolis
InstitutionalAuthorNameWorld Values Survey Group (1994) World Values Survey, 1981–1984 and 1990–1993. Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) version (computer file) Institute of Social Research, University of Michigan Ann Arbor Michigan
U. Yavas M. Bodur (1999) ArticleTitle‘Satisfaction among expatriate managers: Correlates and consequences’ Career Development International 4 261–269 Occurrence Handle10.1108/13620439910279743
U. Yetim (2001) The Happiness Scenes: From Society to Individual (in Turkish) Baglam Istanbul
U. Yetim (2003) ArticleTitle‘The impacts of individualism/collectivism, self-esteem, and feeling of mastery on life satisfaction among the Turkish university students and academicians’ Social Indicators Research 61 297–317 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1021911504113
U. Yucelt (1982) ArticleTitle‘Job satisfaction, absenteeism and workers choice in the Turkish industrial sector’ The Journal of Psychology 111 247–254 Occurrence Handle10.1080/00223980.1982.9915364
A.G. Zapalska Fogel (1998) ArticleTitle‘Characteristics of Polish and Hungarian entrepreneurs’ Journal of Private Enterprise 13 132–144
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yetim, N., Yetim, U. The Cultural Orientations of Entrepreneurs and Employees’ Job Satisfaction: The Turkish Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Case. Soc Indic Res 77, 257–286 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-005-4851-x
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-005-4851-x