Expectation gaps, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment of fresh graduates

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The aim of this research is to attempt to reveal the difference between what fresh graduates expect and their actual experiences pertaining to the working environment. Design/methodology/approach -Using a set of self-administered questionnaires, data were collected from 128 graduates. They were asked to indicate their preferences on organizational culture, leadership, communication, decision making, team working, motivation, and development. Using the same dimensions, the respondents then reported their actual experiences, thus enabling gaps to be determined. Findings -The results from paired-sample t-tests suggest that significant expectation gaps exist in all the areas surveyed. While communication, decision making and motivation are found to be significantly related to job satisfaction, none of the seven variables is found to be significantly correlated to organizational commitment. Research limitations/implications -The study focuses only on a rather limited sample size of Malaysian graduates; therefore it cannot ensure generalization of results obtained. Practical implications -The resulting expectation gaps, and their influence on the graduates' job satisfaction and organizational commitment, have implications for the important roles played by employers, higher learning institutions, and graduate themselves. Originality/value -This study makes significant contributions in three key areas. First, it is perhaps one of the earliest studies to comprehensively address the issue of expectation gaps using a myriad factors. Second, it is also one of the few that examines the influence of the expectation gaps on job satisfaction and commitment. Third, instead of focusing on employees as a whole, which has been the practice of prior research, this study concentrates only on fresh graduates who have been in the workforce for less than two years.

The Expected Job Satisfaction Affecting Entrepreneurial Intention as Career Choice in the Cultural and Artistic Industry

“…Secondly, in the context of the results of Jusoh et al [26], the bigger the discrepancy in the expectation of working conditions (wage, work time, independence, autonomy and stability), the lower the expected job satisfaction. This finding means that the expected utility of employment is perceived to be low.…”

“…In considering monetary and non-monetary benefits such as expected profits, necessary expenses, opportunity costs and working conditions, individuals might select between employment, self-employment and unemployment [7]. The gaps between individual expectations of workplace communication, decision making, motivation and actual working conditions influence job satisfaction [26]. Artists will consider working conditions such as wage, working hours, autonomy, Sustainability 2017, 9, 1689 4 of 16 authority and stability when they choose between employment and self-employment.…”

“…The measures for the perceived employability were taken from Rothwell et al [44] who studied the perceived employability of university students. The measure for the gap of job condition was based upon the work of Jusoh et al [26], Douglas and Shepherd [8] and Guerra and Patuelli [28]. The measures of expected job satisfaction were based on the study of Guerra and Patuelli [28] and Lee et al [45].…”

An empirical study to determine effective factors on organizational commitment

“…These studies have identified the critical issues, which need to be addressed to incorporate the accuracy of Meyer and Allen's model. Jusoh et al (2011) performed an investigation to find out the effects of various factors on organizational culture, communication, leadership, decision-making, motivation, team working and development. The survey gathered the necessary information based on a set of self-administered questionnaires from 128 graduates.…”

A Phenomenological Analysis of Managerial Capability in SMEs in Nigeria

“…Ku et al (2010) From the foregoing, several authors have emphasised the importance of several skills, talents, competence which constitute managerial capability and human resource actions that require managerial capability all in a bid to increase performance and foster Firm Growth. They include Human Relations Skills encompassing emotional intelligence, selfmanagement, flexibility, synergy, conflict resolution, time management and employee coaching, team work and learning (Jantunen et al, 2005;Gastro, 2007;Balkundi and Harrison, 2006;Ireland et al, 2009;Yang, 2010;Jusoh et al, 2011 andKhalili, 2012).…”