Presidential Leadership Style and Faculty Job Satisfaction: Illustrated by Cultural Factors

Transcription

1 Presidential Leadership Style and Faculty Job Satisfaction: Illustrated by Cultural Factors Dr. Frances Chifang Lu, Dep. of Marketing Management, Shih-Chen University, Kaohsiung Campus Dr. Wen-Chiang Chen, Dep. of Marketing Management, Shih-Chen University, Kaohsiung Campus Dr. Ming-Tsang Wu, Department of Public Finance, Meiho Institute of Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan Dr. James Shan-Kou Chiu, Yung-Ta Institute of Technology & Commerce ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to explore the possible relationship between presidential leadership style and faculty job satisfaction in 11 private institutes of technology in the south of Taiwan by conducting surveys. The results showed that a positive correlation between faculty job satisfaction and presidential behaviors, significant differences in faculty job satisfaction based on presidential leadership style, significant interaction between presidential leadership style and faculties demographics on the faculty job satisfaction, and significant differences in faculty job satisfaction based on faculties demographics. Faculty job satisfaction tended to increase with the faculties age, number of years of teaching at the institute, level of education, teaching title, and monthly salary. Further, higher job satisfaction was found for male versus female faculties, married versus single faculties, and faculties participating in administrative duties versus faculties without participation in administrative duties. Moreover, Taiwanese culture plays a vital role in this research. Key words: leadership, leadership style, job satisfaction INTRODUCTION Taiwan s economy has grown rapidly over past few decades. D. C. Smith (1999) confirmed that along with the rapid transformation of Taiwan s economy is the development of the educational system, and the two are closely correlated. Technological and vocational education (TVE) is one of formal education systems in Taiwan. The TVE in developing a trained and skilled workforce and accumulating human resource capital for use in economic development contributes tremendously to a prospering Taiwan (G. C. Chen, & Shih, 1989). At present time, private institutes of technology (college level) with the majority position in higher education play an important role in the supply workforce needed for the development of Taiwan s economy. However, private institutes of technology in the south of Taiwan have faced a quite disadvantageous position for in the competition for recruiting new students, due to unbalanced district development policy, shortage of financial support, and decreasing birth rate. An important consideration is how these institutes can make themselves more effective under present circumstances, so that they could solve the problems they are facing. Purposes and Objectives Increased effectiveness in institutes of technology will be important to help the institutes survive in the competitive educational market in Taiwan. In order to run more effectively, these institutes need to make some reforms and The Journal of Human Resource and Adult Learning * May

2 adjustments. The pressure for success at each school ultimately falls upon the principal who is responsible for motivating and training the teacher to make the necessary change effectively (Zigrang, 2000, p. 6). Kuchler (2001) contended, job satisfaction and organizational effectiveness are linked closely to proper application of leadership behavior (p. 11). Hence, the president has to be aware of the importance of his/her leadership to school effectiveness, and faculties must interact with presidents to help create school effectiveness. The relationship between the president and faculty deserves much attention. The purpose of this research was to explore the possible relationship between presidential leadership style and faculty job satisfaction in 11 private institutes of technology in the south of Taiwan. Faculty perceptions of presidential leadership styles of these institutes were investigated, faculty job satisfaction was measured, and the correlation between the perceived leadership of presidents and faculty job satisfaction was assessed. Due to cultural factors in Taiwan, various demographic aspects were examined for their relationship with the primary variables of this research. This study used the theoretical definitions in the following: (a) Presidential leadership style is the pattern of behavior of the president in an attempt to impact faculties behaviors and beliefs (Robinson, 1993), and is observed by the perceptions of the faculties on two dimensions, consideration and initiating structure. (b) Faculty job satisfaction is an affective reaction to a job that results from the incumbent s comparison of actual outcomes to those which are desired (P. C. Smith, 1992, p. 1). This was measured in the five dimensions of work, school environment, supervision, pay, and promotion. LITERATURE REVIEW Leadership and Leadership Style Leadership is a very common human activity; however it is too abstract to define. Although there are many definitions of leadership made from different aspects, most of them point toward leading followers to reach a specific achievement. J. M. Smith (2000) conducted research on perceived behaviors of principals by teachers in elementary schools, and defined, leadership is the process or activity of influencing an individual or group in efforts towards achieving a goal (p. 4). Owens (1991) stated that leadership is the interpersonal patterns of finding followers potential needs and gratifying followers needs so that the goals of the organization can be reached by influencing these followers. Hackman and Johnson (2000) defined leadership from a communication perspective, and explained, leadership is human communication which modifies the attitudes and behaviors of others in order to meet shared group goals and needs (p. 36). Most leadership approaches originated from the United States, so it may be a problem applying these approaches to another culture, especially in the Far East such as in Taiwan, due to cultural differences. Among these approaches, the Ohio State University Leadership Studies (the Ohio Leadership Studies), which was classified as a behavioral approach, was proven to be applicable in Taiwan by many studies, especially in educational field (He, 1996; M. D. Lin 2000; Pan, Liang & Chen, 2000). The Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ), a prevalent survey instrument for measuring perceived leadership styles, was developed in It was revised by Halpin and Winer (1957b) and administrated to 64 educators and 132 aircraft commanders to describe how an ideal leader should behave. Results of this research showed that leaders who exhibited high consideration and high initiating structure were regarded as effective and led to followers job satisfaction (Halpin & Winer). 22 The Journal of Human Resource and Adult Learning * May 2006

3 The LBDQ is widely used in educational institutions and other settings in the United States and in Taiwan (Pan, Liang & Chen, 2000). In Taiwan, however, due to cultural differences, researchers usually create their own instruments based on the two dimensions of consideration and initiating structure by revising the LBDQ to fit their own research. The dimensions of initiating structure and consideration were defined and explained in many studies in Taiwan. All of the studies pointed out that consideration is more relation-oriented and focuses on interpersonal relations, social behavior, and emotional expression; initiating structure is more task-oriented and focuses on rulemaking, organizing procedure, and goal achievement. The definitions are the same as those of initiating structure and consideration in the United States. In addition, M. D. Lin (2000) discovered that the research of school leadership has been given increased importance, and the trend of giving attention to a school leader s leadership and the effect of that leadership are the same as in the United States. Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction has been a popular research field, especially in relation with organization related factors (P. C. Smith, 1992). According to Bass (1990), job satisfaction is the most frequently researched factor with leadership. Studies devoted to the definition and construct of job satisfaction. Locke (1976) defined job satisfaction as a pleasure or positive emotional state, resulting from the appraisal of one s job or job experiences (p. 1300). Porter, Lawler, and Hackman (1975) noted that job satisfaction is determined by the difference between the amount of some valued outcome that a person receives and the amount of the outcome he feels he should receive (p. 53). Based on previous definitions, P. C. Smith (1992, p. 1) asserted job satisfaction is an affective reaction to a job that results from the incumbent s comparison of actual outcomes those which are desired. Studies on job satisfaction date from the beginning of the twentieth century when scientific management theory was prevalent and much attention was paid to improving production efficiency. In this period, psychological and sociological variables were ignored (Hoy & Miskel, 1996), and workers and production equipment were thought of as parts of the process of production; so studies focused on extrinsic factors such as salary and materiel. The intrinsic factors, human relations, were not attached with importance until the 1920 s in the Hawthone Studies. Taiwanese Culture Cultural factors play a critical role in understanding leadership and job satisfaction in educational field in Taiwan. From the viewpoint of Taiwan history, many Taiwanese immigrants mainly emigrated from China either sixty years ago or several hundred years ago. Therefore, the cultural heritage of China was brought to Taiwan and dominated the development of Taiwanese culture. However, the Japanese colonial experience 60 years ago and the close relationship with the United States after World War II has made Taiwanese culture more multicultural than it originally was. Through the mixture of these different cultures, Taiwan has established a culture of its own. Despite its diversity, however, Confucianism still sits at the core of Taiwanese culture because Confucius teachings laid a strong foundation for the development of Taiwanese culture. METHODOLOGY This research was designed to assess the relationship between perceived presidential leadership styles and faculty job satisfaction in private institutes of technology in the south of Taiwan, so this was a correlational research conducted by the quantitative approach. The population was full time faculties who taught at their institute for at least one year in The Journal of Human Resource and Adult Learning * May

4 11 private institutes of technology in southern Taiwan. By non-proportional stratified random sampling, 660 subjects were randomly selected from the institutes in The instruments used were the President Leadership Behavior Questionnaire which was administered to faculties serving under the president whose leadership was assessed and was used to measure presidential leadership styles as perceived by faculties primarily in terms of consideration and initiating structure, and the Teacher Job Satisfaction Questionnaire which was used to measure faculty job satisfaction in the dimensions of work, school environment, supervision, pay, and promotion. The instruments were created by S. F. Lin (1983) by revising the LBDQ and the JDI. In order to assess the possible relationship between presidential leadership style and faculty job satisfaction in private institutes of technology in the south of Taiwan, the primary null hypothesis posited here was: There is no relationship between total faculty job satisfaction as well as different dimensions of faculty job satisfaction and the two dimensions of presidential behavior, consideration and initiating structure. Under this primary hypothesis, several sub-hypotheses were also assessed as follows: (a) Sub-Hypothesis One: There is no significant difference in total faculty job satisfaction based on different presidential leadership styles. (b) Sub-Hypothesis Two: There is no significant difference in different dimensions of faculty job satisfaction based on different presidential leadership styles. (c) Sub-Hypothesis Three: There is no significant interaction of different presidential leadership styles and different demographic characteristics of faculties on total faculty job satisfaction. (d) Sub-Hypothesis Four: There is no significant difference in total faculty job satisfaction based on different demographic characteristics of faculties. (e) Sub-Hypothesis Five: There is no significant difference in different dimensions of faculty job satisfaction based on different demographic characteristics of faculties. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS Presidential leadership and teacher job satisfaction (primary hypothesis, sub-hypothesis one, and sub-hypothesis two). In spite of the development and change in the Taiwanese society due to rapid industrialization and modernization, the educational settings still retain mostly conservative and traditional characteristics and adhere to the culture heritage indicated previously. Thus, the result shows similarly faculties perception of the two dimensions of presidential behaviors, consideration and initiating structure. High consideration and high initiating structure of perceived presidential leadership style was related to the highest faculty job satisfaction compared to the other presidential leadership styles, and low consideration and low initiating structure of perceived presidential leadership style was related to the lowest job satisfaction. This research confirmed findings of the related studies in the U.S. For example, Keeler and Andrews (1963) noted that teacher job satisfaction was positively correlated with both principal s consideration behavior and initiating structure behavior. In addition, Snarr (1995) reached the same conclusion in his studies. However, other studies showed 24 The Journal of Human Resource and Adult Learning * May 2006

5 that either consideration behavior or initiating structure behavior alone was correlated with job satisfaction; a few studies showed negative or no correlation with job satisfaction (Punch, 1968; Schriesheim, 1982; Zigrang, 2000). Faculties demographics and presidential leadership style (sub-hypothesis three). Influenced by Confucianism, educational settings in Taiwan are conscious of rank, respectful of seniority, and are more concerned with organizational status symbols. This certainly impacts school leaders when they practice leadership in their schools. As indicated previously, the faculties gender, age, number of years of teaching at the institute, teaching title, and level of education are closely related to the cultural norms. Based on Confucianism, school leadership is also influenced by the awareness of role-position of teachers and the president. Even with societal changes in Taiwan, the Confucianism cultural heritage still retains much of its force. The results of the relationship of faculties demographics to presidential leadership style on faculty job satisfaction are inconsistent. However, presidential leadership style of high consideration and high initiating structure, which is the most suitable and welcomed leadership style in Taiwanese organizations and is regarded as managing by the family model (Hsu, 1982; Redding, 1990), appears to be influenced by all of these faculties demographics. Faculties demographics and faculty job satisfaction (sub-hypothesis four and sub-hypothesis five). The special relationship of Confucianism on Taiwanese education influences the way faculties demographics is related to faculty job satisfaction. Another aspect of Confucianism, Ren, of Confucianism, benevolence, human kindness, and love for others, is the core concept and the golden rule of Confucian teachings from which the other Confucian teachings evolved. Ren means being conscientious and altruistic. According to Lunyu (Analects), the book of famous Confucius teachings, the concept of ren is signified by the teaching of reciprocity: What you do not want others do to you, do not do to others (Ruan, 1985). The expression of ren involves the showing of affection not only to oneself but also to others, especially the showing of affection and respect to elders. Devotion to those with whom one has a close relationship, such as parents and elders in the family, is the first priority and the foundation of spreading affection to others. Therefore, according to Mencius, Respect and take care of the elder and show kindness to the young with whom one has close relationship, and then the affection could spread to others (Ruan, 1985). The Commonwealth State of the Record of Rites, Book IX noted that Caring for the old is one of the symbols when the world is overwhelmed by perfect order (Ruan, 1985). Several conclusions were drawn from the research results. Faculties perceiving the presidential leadership of high consideration and high initiating structure were the most satisfied with their jobs; on the other hand, faculties perceiving the presidential leadership of low consideration and low initiating structure were the least satisfied with their jobs. Also, based on Taiwanese culture, organizations are managed with the family model, and the presidential leadership of high consideration and high initiating structure is regarded as suitable for the institute. Among the dimensions of faculty job satisfaction, faculties are the most satisfied with work, but least satisfied with school environment. The results also indicate that male faculties were more satisfied with their jobs than female faculties, married faculties were more satisfied with their jobs than single faculties, and faculties who do not participate in administration duties were more satisfied with their jobs than faculties who participate in administration duties. Also, faculty job satisfaction mostly increased with the faculties age, number of years of teaching at the institute, level of education, teaching title, and monthly salary. The results showed that faculty job satisfaction was potentially influenced by Taiwanese culture, and presidents have to give more encouragement to faculties in the least satisfied groups with these demographic variables. In addition, research hypotheses were examined as follows: The Journal of Human Resource and Adult Learning * May

6 Correlation coefficients between the presidential behaviors and different dimensions of faculty job satisfaction ranged from.427 to.810, and showed that these variables were positively correlated. In addition, there were significant differences in total faculty job satisfaction and different dimensions of faculty job satisfaction based on different presidential leadership styles. Significant mean differences in total faculty job satisfaction resulted from combinations of presidential leadership styles and the faculties gender, age, number of years of teaching at the institute, level of education, or teaching title. Significant differences existed in total faculty job satisfaction and different dimensions of faculty job satisfaction based on the different faculties gender, age, level of education, teaching title and monthly salary; on the other hand, significant difference existed only in some dimensions of faculty job satisfaction based on the different faculties marital status, number of years of teaching at the institute, and participation in administrative duties. Research in this field contributes to the important emphasis in studying leadership in particular cultural contexts, and it is necessary for the development of the field in organizational leadership. REFERENCES Bass, M. B. (1990). Bass & Stogdill s handbook of leadership Theory, research, and managerial applications (3rd ed.). New York: The Free Press. Chelladurai, P. (1999). Human resource management in sport and recreation. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Chen, G. C., & Shih, M. (1989, Dec). Vocational education at the crossroads The case of Taiwan. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Vocational Education and Training Association. Orlando, FL. Hoy, W. K., & Miskel, C. G. (1996). Educational administration: Theory, research, and practice (5th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. Hackman, M. Z., & Johnson, C. E. (2000). Leadership A communication perspective (3rd ed). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press. Hsu, F. L. K. (1982). American and Chinese: Passage to differences. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press. Keeler, B. T., & Andrews, J. H. M. (1963). Leaders behavior of principals, staff morale and productivity. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 9, Kuchler, W. J. (2001). The association of perceived leadership behaviors with subordinate job satisfaction at selected NACC Division III Midwest college athletic departments. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, United States Sports Academy, AL. Lawler, E. E. III (1973). Motivation in work organizations. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. Lin, S. F. (1983). Research on relationship between presidential leadership style and teacher job satisfaction in junior colleges. Unpublished master s thesis, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan. Locke, E. A. (1976). The nature and causes of job satisfaction. In M. D. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp ). Chicago: Rand McNally. Lawler, E. E. III (1973). Motivation in work organizations. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. Pan, H. L., Liang, U. J., & Chen, I. S. (2000). Analysis on master s theses and doctoral disserttions on education in the last ten years: Feminist s viewpoint. Journal of Female and Gender, 11, Halpin, A. W., & Winer, B. J. (1957b). The observed leader behavior and ideal leader behavior of aircraft commanders and school superintendents. In R. M Stodgill, & A. E. Coons (Eds.), Leader behavior: Its description and measurement (pp ). Columbus, OH: College of Administrative Science, The Ohio State University. He, D. R. (1996). Meta-analysis on leadership behavior and job satisfaction-- Conducted on master s theses and doctoral dissertations in Taiwan. Unpublished master s thesis, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan Lin, M. D. (2000). Effect of the Principal s Leadership: Analysis of the research results in the last 30 years. Journal of National Science Council: Humanities and Social Sciences, 10(2), Owens R. G. (1991) Organization behavior in education (4th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Porter, L. W., Lawler, E. E., & Hackman, J. R. (1975). Behavior in Organizations. New York: McGraw-Hill. Punch, K. F. (1968). Bureaucratic structure in schools and its relationships to leader behavior: An empirical study. Dissertation Abstracts, 29, Redding, S. G. (1990). The spirit of Chinese capitalism. New York: De Gruyter. Ruan, I. (1985). Commentary on the Thirteen Scriptures. Taipei, Taiwan: I-Wen. Robinson, G. H. (1993). A study of the relationship of leadership styles of principals and teacher job satisfaction. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Arkansas, AR. 26 The Journal of Human Resource and Adult Learning * May 2006

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