Discussion

Demographic factors on job satisfaction: A case Study of two Malaysian

universities on factors influencing jobs satisfaction indicated that demographic factors

which include gender, age and designation (position/rank) of employees had a great

influence on how an employee is satisfied with their work. Various researchers have

presented diverse opinions in regards to the relation between job satisfaction and these

factors (Hooi 2012,Kosteas 2009,Hanif & Kamal 2009,and Chimanikire et

al.2007).Kosteas (2009) showed that there is a U-shaped relationship between age and

satisfaction.

Socio demographic profile

This part of the study deals with socio demographic profile of the employees of the

organization. Their age, nativity, educational qualification and income was studied in

this part I.

Gender: In early times in India especially in Andhra Pradesh women especially in

rural areas did not show inclination for jobs. But the concept of influence of

westernization has changed the perception of women and started taking up new

careers. In cooperative setup also they found their place. The gender profile of the

sample here showed sharp polarity as the number of female employees is very less

compared to men. With regard to gender of the 234 respondents, 90.2% belongs to

male category and the remaining i.e. 9.8 % belongs to female category.

Age: C5 dis Jules Carrière(2007) Third, age had a minor negative correlation with

job satisfaction (r = -.22, p < .05) suggesting that younger employees were slightly

more satisfied with their job than older employees. Age is found to be an important

factor in communication and especially with regard to job satisfaction. Hence the

samples age was analyzed and found that 36.3% belong to 31- 40 years range,
followed by 51-60 years (17.5%), 25-30 years (18.4%), 41-50 years (16.3%), 60

above (7.7%) and Below 25 years age (3.8%).

The distribution of staff in the organization shows that more number of them are

found in 31-40 compared to other group indicate that more of them are

concentrated in this range the reason being that after 1995 many of the staff are

appointed exclusively under the company act and are bound by company rules.

Another reason is that the company preferred to employ those who have

educational qualifications and also skills.

Correlations

Age Level of

Education

Pearson Correlation 1 .302**

Age Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 234 234

Pearson Correlation .302** 1

Level of Education Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 234 234

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Caste: The state of undivided Andhra Pradesh is known for diversity of castes and

this distribution of respondent’s shows that 64.4% of the respondents belong to Open

Category, followed by Backward Community (26.1%), Scheduled Caste (8.1%) and

Scheduled Tribes (0.4%)

As per the distribution of the population and educational status even those from SC

community are also found which indicates that despite the company which was in
cooperative and now headed by a board dominated with upper caste people is

getting more professional and recruiting people with talent and skill.

Cross tabulation

Level of Education Total

Post Graduation Degree Intermediate SSC Below SSC None

OC 58 71 11 10 2 1 153

BC 23 29 1 4 4 0 61
Caste
SC 8 7 1 1 1 1 19

ST 0 0 0 1 0 0 1

Total 89 107 13 16 7 2 234

𝒙𝟐 =25.902 df=15 p value = 0.039 and is significant at 0.05 level

Religion: Religion has been attributed a significant place in the Indian culture. It is

considered to be an important component in the individual’s life. Hence, in this

context it was enquired by the researcher and found that religion wise distribution is

more wide spread and in this study 91.9% of the respondents belong to Hindu

Religion, followed by Muslim (5.6%), Christian (2.1%) and other Religions (0.4%).

Though there are good number of Muslims and Christians in this area they are in

meager number in the sample indicates the dominance of Hindus. This is probably

the company’s top management is filled with Hindus and rule of reservation is not

followed as in case of government recruitment system.

Marital Status: With regard to marital status, 86.8% of the respondents are got

married and the remaining 13.2% comes under unmarried category.

Some of the staff are unmarried indicates that employees are joining at an early age

and probably are waiting to settle down well in terms of job security and for good

pay perspective.

Native Place: As this dairy is placed in a rural area and the majority of its

stakeholders belong to rural areas. The researcher tried to find out the nativity of the

respondents. With regard to nativity of respondents, 77.8% belong to rural areas

followed by urban (16.7%) and semi urban (5.6%).

Since the company is located in the rural area and deals with milk collection which

is purely rural operated job.

Mother Tongue: It is a well-established fact that, mother tongue would help in

effective communication. Though the company is located in Andhra Pradesh it is

very natural that most of the employees belong to telugu community. But Guntur

district to which it belongs has a good number of Muslim population. Hence, the

researcher tried to find out composition of the sample. The data shows that out of 234

respondents, 94.9% are have telugu as mother tongue and the remaining 5.1% are

having urdu as mother tongue.

Many of the sample hail from this Telugu speaking state only and those who speak

Urdu are Muslims.

Annual Income: In any organization the employees would be placed at different

hierarchies and their income also would vary from one cadre to other. Apart from the

salary some of the staff might be claiming other incomes also which is likely

influence the communication pattern as well as the satisfaction. With regard to annual

income of the respondents, 40.2% are belongs income range of Rs.1-2 lakhs, followed

by Rs.2-3 lakhs (22.6%), Rs.5 - 10 lakhs (12%), Below Rs. 1 lakh (9.8%), Rs.4-5

lakhs (6.4%), Rs.3-4 lakhs (6%) and Rs.10-20 lakhs (3%). Mean income of the

sample is Rs.317219.65 and the Standard deviation value is 291358.93.

Graph skewness

Like the employees who belong to various levels of employment the income also is

ranging from minimum to a maximum. This could have been due to the reason that

scales fixed mostly on the lines of private company which will have a good range.
Most of them fall in the range of 1to 3 lakhs also indicates that majority of staff are

at subordinate level.

Level of Education: Generally in any organization many of the jobs would be

divergent and so are the educational qualifications as many of them would be specific

in nature. Some of the jobs would be skilled and some may not require them. If the

education qualifications of the staff members are known it will help in understanding

the educational status and so is the pattern of communication. As the company has

many departments and different types of duties are performed the range of

qualifications would also be interesting. Since professional and non-professional jobs

are performed by the employees both the types of staff are found working in the

company. To gain an entry into any organization a trainee needs to have minimum

qualification and some of them may acquire others also. There is intense competition

to get admissions into these courses, and applicants must demonstrate the

perseverance, motivation and resilience required to succeed in the job, in order to find

a way into the industry. With regard to level of education of the respondents, 45.7%

have qualification of degree followed by Post Graduation (38%), SSC (6.8%),

Intermediate (5.6%), below SSC (3%) and no education (0.9%).

Most of the respondent’s educational level is undergraduate level. As majority of

staff are in the middle level or supervisory level and the qualification for the jobs

would have been degree, many for the sample are found to have degrees. Many of

them also have post graduates shows that professionalism is found in the

organization. Another interesting feature is that majority are either graduates and

post graduates and very few have minimum education qualifications.

Diploma Certificates: Out of 234 respondents only 36.8% said that they have diploma

certificates indicates that not much significance.

This is also shows that the employees have professional tendencies in educational

qualifications also for the reason that nearly one thirds of the sample have diplomas

and probably the reason for others not having the diplomas is due to the fact that they

might be in the administration which doesn’t need any professional qualification.

Out of 86 respondents (Diploma holders), 77.9% completed diploma before taking

up the job, indicates that as discussed earlier since many are professional in nature

they are joining the job only after acquiring the necessary diplomas. After joining

the company not much thrust is given by the employees as well as company also.

Training for the job: As discussed earlier there are different types of jobs and those

who have suitable qualifications only will gain entry in to the jobs. Training is also

equally important for these employees as it imparts the skill and knowledge. Out of

the 234 respondents, 67.1% taken up training for the job i.e., nearly two third were

trained.

Again the same reason of being the tendency of recruiters or the jobseekers is

professional in nature, the demand for jobs are witnessed.

Generally organizations that utilize the services of professionals try to train the newly

recruited as per their requirements because it would help the employer to extract

maximum benefit with less wastage of time and perfection. At later stages also efforts

to update their knowledge and skills are taken up by the organization itself. For

skilled jobs the employees either acquire the training before joining the job or after
the joining the organization. In specific cases the organizations would impart training

to suit the needs such as technology.

Out of 157 respondents, 66.2% i.e., nearly two thirds were trained in the current

organization indicates that the company give thrust to the training of the employees.

The rest are also trained in other previous organization indicated that during the

appointments also their training is being considered.

Reasons for joining the job: When reasons for joining the job were enquired three

fourth have given 1st rank to career, illustrates that the company which was started in

rural cooperative venture has turned into a potential hub of employment. Some others

cited unemployment (12.8%) and “more salaries (4.3%)” also indicate that the diary

has been potential employment hub.

Part II: Details of Employment

This part of the study deals with details of the employment pertaining to the

employees of the organization. Their work place, type of appointment, age of joining,

years of experience, shift pattern etc. was studied in this part II.

Work Place: With regard to work place of the respondents, three fourth are working

in rural areas, followed by urban (13.7%), semi urban (9.4%).

It indicates that, as the main plant is situated in the rural area most of the

employees would be rural based and those in marketing and ancillary units would

be semi urban and urban centered.

Type of appointment: Type of appointment of staff is crucial for individual

employees as well as the organization as the duties and responsibility would vary and

communication practices and ultimately the communication climate would differ from

one to other. With regard to type of appointment, 57.3% of the respondents employed

temporarily followed by permanently (22.6%), contract basis (17.1%) and others

(3%).

In the context of study of communication the nature of employment is also essential

as it would differ from permanent or temporary employment. It is astonishing to

know that hardly one fourth of the employees are permanent and rest all in one

form or the other of the temporary in nature. Main functionaries’ are permanent

and mostly they were appointed before 1995 when the company was in cooperative

sector. When the dairy has become company some of the key positions many other

posts are filled with temporary and contract employees indicates that the job

security is not completely assured. And the quantity as well as the mode of

employment reflects the pattern of communication.

As seen from the data, 61.1% of the respondents knew about the present job through

advertisements followed by the organization itself (12.8%), through friends (12.8%),

through relatives (7.3%) and other sources (6%).

Despite its ownership dichotomy i.e. cooperative sector and later private company

structure sector the recruitments were taken up in a professional manner. Nearly

Two thirds are appointed through advertisements show that the company handles

them in a professional manner. Those who joined the company would have been

referred by someone who is very close to management which is the general practice

in private companies. Only a few join with reference and the rest by the
organization indicates that the appointment is done in a systematical and need

based approach. Probably the others are hired by means of outsourcing pattern.

With regard to the age of the respondents at the time of joining, 83.3% joined in the

job between the age interval of 20-30 years, followed by 30-40 years (9.8%), 40-50

years (4.7%) and above 50 years (2.1%).

Majority are joining between 20 years to 30 years indicates that the formal

appointments are done in a formal manner and selections are professional. Others

would have joined as and when the vacancy arises. From the educational

qualifications of the staff it is evident that the staff majorities are graduates and

joined with graduation. Hence majority joined in the 20-30 years range. Due to the

experience or other reasons the rest have joined at a late age. This also reflects the

typical private company pattern of appointment of staff.

It support the next concept that the experience of employees. The employees have

diversity of experience reflecting all the ranges. Just as the age groups diversified

the experience is also widely ranging. Many have either few or more years of

experience shows that there is a stagnation of appointments in the dairy at a certain

point of time and appointments were vigorous from the last ten years.

Jules Carrière (2007) organizational tenure had a moderate negative correlation with

paramedics’ perception of communication practices (r =-.31, p < .05), communication

satisfaction (r = -.34, p < .01), job satisfaction (r = -.32, p < .01), and affective

organizational commitment (r = -.33, p < .01). This implies that perceptions of

communication practices, communication satisfaction, job satisfaction and affective

organizational commitment deteriorate as length of service with the organization

increases. The data show that 56.3% of the total variance in communication

satisfaction is explained by the model, 49.8% of which is attributable to the

organizations’ internal communication practices. The remaining 6.5% of explained

variation is attributable to the shift pattern control variable.

Organizational Commitment: Organizational communication is linked to organiza-

tional commitment in several ways. Ng, Vandenberg, and Wilson, (2006) found that

organizational communication, work schedule flexibility through effective

interpersonal communication, and opportunity for learning affect organizational

commitment. Effective organizational communication leads to organizational

commitment to total quality management (Allen, 1992) and effective organizational

communication is key to employee satisfaction (De Rider, 2004). In this context the

length of service was ascertained by the researcher. With regard to the experience of

the respondents in the present job 34.6% of the respondents have above 15 years of

experience followed by 0-5 years (29.9%), 6-10 years (27.8%) and 11-15 years

(7.7%).

According to Jules Carrière(2007) shift pattern had a moderate positive correlation

with communication satisfaction (r = .26, p < .05), job satisfaction (r = .30, p < .01),

and affective organizational commitment (r = .23, p < .05). This suggests that

employees working 12-hour shifts had higher levels of communication satisfaction,

job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment compared to their colleagues

working 8-hour shifts. With regard to the respondent’s duties in shifts, 53.4% need

not work in shifts in duties and the remaining 46.6% need to work as per the

scheduled shifts.
As was discussed earlier almost half of the employees are production based which

need to work in shifts and the rest are either into marketing or administration that

don’t demand shift duties. Generally in companies less number of employees works

in night shifts compared to those in day shifts. But here all the three shifts have

more or less equal number of employees are found working as it is a milk and milk

products manufacturing Company. Milk is collected in evening also and processed

in the night to distribute in early hours.

The communication spectrum of employees is not very broad in this case. Majority

interacts with maximum of 50 persons and the rest do not come under their ambit.

This reflects the tendency of private companies where the communication is highly

structured and limited medium which is evident. With regard to the number of

employees the respondents deal regularly with, among the sample 53% said that

they would interact with below 20 employees followed by 20-50 employees (40.6%),

50-100 employees (4.3%) and above 100 employees (2.1%).

Mean distribution also shows that the interaction with the peer groups and other is

more. Very few people communicate regularly with top management and superiors

also. Compared to them employees communicate more with lower cadre i.e.

subordinates.

Research undertaken by Foehrenbach and Ruch in the 1980s demonstrated an

important link between an employee’s satisfaction with organizational communication

and the communication efforts of top management (Pincus, 1986). A review of the

literature on the communication-job satisfaction relationship reveals a significant

relation. In this context, researcher has tried to study with how many members the

employees generally communicate with others. Study reveals that, respondents were
generally communicated with others at an average of 19.62 persons followed by 10.20

in peer group, 6.44 in sub-ordinates, 2.18 in superiors and at an average of 1.08

persons in Top Management.

As the number of peers and top managers so is the number of people with whom they

ineract with.

Part-III: Communication channels and processes

This part of the study deals with Communication channels and Communication

processes of the organization. The frequency of communication, adequacy of

communication, feedback, effectiveness of channels and employees attitude towards

communication etc., was studied in this part III.

Jules Carrière (2007) found that the link between internal communication practices

and employee communication satisfaction is well established. Communication audits

reveal that greater communication efforts tend to result in higher levels of

communication satisfaction (Hargie et al., 2002). While some researchers have

suggested that an organization’s members will desire “more information from other

organization members regardless of the amount of information they currently receive”

(Zimmerman et al., 1996), others have shown that improved internal communication

decreases the gap between the amounts of information that employees desire and the

amount of information they receive (Hargie et al., 2002).

When the frequency of communication with the members at various levels was

studied it was very rare with the top management indicates that has not much

interaction. Much of the communication is concentrated in the middle levels i.e.

with the peer and subordinates as is it’s a regular process. The communication is
normal with the superiors. Very regular communication is also noticed with the

peer and subordinates indicate that the process is skewed and is limited to certain

levels. Even the superiors also seem to be away from this ambit.

Communication with certain depts. like cattle welfare and agro based activities are

not priority for the company as well as staff and communication in with such depts.

would be very routine.

Respondents were questioned about the frequency of interaction with employees at

various levels on various issues such as personal, job related, general and others.

The issues which are dealt in the communication process are also skewed on the

above lines. Whatever the staff discusses with top management is professional and

somewhat general issues. Scope for personal issues which strengthens the bond

between the employer and employee is very rare and unseen. The same trend is

observed with the superiors also. Mostly job related and somewhat issues figure in

the discussion personal issues don’t find place here. It indicates the trend that apart

from professional matters the other issues do not figure much in the discussion.

Overall a personal link and belongingness have been found to be missing.

The findings are in support of McKinsey’s survey which shows that a large number of

top level executives are usually not satisfied with their performance especially when it

comes to people skills (see Eich, 2012), which explains the feeling of being constantly

judged. Such findings are also in line with the Leader Member Exchange Theory by

Graen, Novak & Sommerkamp (1982) which argues that the way superiors

communicate is different from subordinates. Unlike the other sub-groups in the

organization, the management team in the organization has less number of strategies

that are perceived as impactful to creating a supportive communication climate.

Feed back: The process needs to work from either side in that, both management and

employees are considerate in the communication and applaud feedback that helps in

achieving greater success (Trombetta 2008). Studies indicate that, employees who

experience open communication in their organizations are led to increased

performance and job satisfaction (Neves& Eisenberger 2012). Abugre (2011)

indicates that, open communication permits employees to be more involved in

organizational matters and understand that their engagement is important in achieving

the success of the organization. He further notes that, it ensures that employees

conceive the bigger picture and the portion they contribute in the success of the

organization. Generating an open communication climate leads to greater job

satisfaction reduced stress, team building, increased loyalty and commitment by

employees to the organization plus mutual respect all over the organization. Open

communication assures a more industrious and productive work environment with a

positive workplace (Kumar BP 2008). Employees would be satisfied with the

organization if there is a positive feedback both vertically involving managers and

employees and horizontally between workers (Emmert and Taher, 1992; Abugre,

2010b), and a participative style of management used by superiors in organizations

(Kim, 2002).

The specific areas on which the respondents are found to interact with their

colleagues is also very much skewed. Compared to others policies are rarely

discussed. Dealing with problems and updates is also not very encouraging. But

feedback seems to be regular and suggestions are also encouraged. This situation
shows that only particular communication is noticed among the members of the

company. Especially role of staff with regard to policy making and problem solving

is limited. Updates are also not found to be encouraging.

As the interviews show the company’s publications are very limited. The manner in

which the company publishes brochures, pamphlets and others rarely. Hence, the

respondents seem to be not much in favor of them. Only little more than half say

they are interesting and helpful.

But the respondents are mostly asked, whether the meetings well organized or not,

92.8% have said that the meetings were well organized indicates the earlier opinion

the communication is highly structured. In a periodical manner i.e. for every ten

days, two weeks, and for every month the staff would meet. Hence, they are

regularly organized.

Same is noticed with the written directives and reports. Almost all of them said that,

they are clear and concise indicates the professionalism in the organization. Since

the policies, problems are handled in written formats their role is acknowledged.

With regard to the respondent’s attitude towards communication in the

organization, not all say it is healthy only 82.5% of the respondents said that the

communication is healthy indicates that the atmosphere is not fully in favor of

healthy communication and certainly there gaps to be filled. The same opinion is

also expressed about adequacy as only 84.6% of the respondents are said that, there

is adequacy. This is also supporting the point that there is gap in the organization

with regard to communication.

The respondent’s perception and usage of various channels of communication is

also interesting. Communication on a day to day basis is not regular. Only certain

channels such as phone calls, face to face meetings, SMS and emails are daily. The

rest are used rarely and on a monthly basis. The above mentioned channels would

have their own effect on the receiver and with regard to effectiveness of face to face

meetings. Interestingly the reports, publications which are used regularly and some

are noticed to be used on a monthly basis. It seems that whatever channels that

support the business are used regularly. As supervision of milk procurement,

distribution and marketing requires regular follow-up on a day to day basis these

channels which sends and receives information are used profusely. Printed formats

are encouraging indicates that information is sent through those channels which

can be speedier and assured of guaranteed.

A major study by Shockley-Zalabak and Ellis (2000) of 2,000 employees in 21

companies across 7 countries showed that the receipt of information was the factor

that correlated most highly with job satisfaction and organizational effectiveness.

But with regard to effectiveness the channels that are meagerly used i.e letters,

circulars, meetings are considered to be effective. Only face to face meetings i.e

interpersonal meetings are

The sample was also asked to respond about the adequacy of information

disseminated to them again compared to others meetings proved to be valuable as

19.2% said that they are very effective. As they are conducted in a very regular

manner and a rigid scheduled is implemented automatically that is imbibed in the

system. the information received about various topics for communication is also

appreciated some what (very much effective 16.7%), compared to adequacy of

information sent about various topics for communication (13.2%), adequacy of follow

up versus amount desired adequacy of information received from various sources are

very much effective only to the tune of 14.1%. The rest such as information received

from various channels (10.7%), follow-up information (12.4%), other information for

communication (3.4%) are appreciated as very effective by very limited sample.

This indicates the monotony and unilateral approach of management in allowing

only certain channels in to the system and not taking a range of other channels,

topics and follow-up in communication. This is noticed especially in follow-up to be

taken up based on the feedback received from employees as well as other

stakeholders. Except a routine follow-up sensible, emotional as well as personal

communication is not observed either. As the dairy is a very big institution catering

to lakhs of stakeholders the communication should be beyond structurization and it

shall be more humane and courteous.

Part- IV: Usage of communication tools

This part of the study deals with Usage of Communication tools and its impact in the

organization. The quality of information, sharing of information with regard to

organizational integration and different aspect of communication in organization

perspective view etc., was studied in this part IV.

With regard to the level at which the respondents often meet for communication the

study found that in case of One to One Group, only one fifth said they would meet

very regularly. In case of Department and all staff, are somewhat better only to the

extent of 13.5% and 14.1% compared to small group which is very regularly only to

the tune of 3% (Table 35.1). This is also supporting the concept of formal
structured communication system with limited scope for the employees. They

seemed to be bound by formalities and lack freedom to open up freely.

The employees of an organization would discuss about various issues in meetings

and only certain issues such as review of work (24.8%), problems at work (17.5%)

conflict settlement (15.4%), exchange of ideas (15.8%) are very regularly discussed.

Policies and evaluation (12.0%) and cultural issues (3%) are highly limited. It

reflects that the company is concerned mainly with the business rather than the

populist and welfare dimension of the stakeholders (Table 35.2).

Jules Carrière,(2007 )said communication is central to the practice of management.

Managers spend 75% or more of their work time in engaging in some form of

communication (Mintzberg, 1973, p. 38; Klemmer & Snyder, 1972). There is good

reason for this. Evidence suggests that, to some extent, more is better when it comes

to internal communication. Research by Yammarino and Naughton (1988)

demonstrates a positive relationship between the amounts of time spent

communicating and important work outcomes such as the level of effort expended by

employees and employee job satisfaction. Muchinsky (1977) Campbell, Dunnette,

Lawler, and Weick (1970) report that many previous studies have identified the

existence of a climate dimension dealing with organizational structure. It seems

plausible that such a climate dimension should be related to an organizational

communication dimension such as accuracy of communication, as both dimensions

assess characteristics of work procedures. Conversely, other climate and

communication dimensions share little conceptual communality and thus should

logically be unrelated.
Respondent’s opinion about satisfaction with the quality of information received

from various resources such as top management, superiors, peer group and others

is also partial. On an average only a quarter of the sample said that they are very

much satisfied. It is evident from the data usefulness and timeliness are somewhat

better placed than the aptness as only 20.1% in top managements, 22.2% in

superiors, 20.9% of peer group and 16.7% of the subordinates said it is very

effective. Compared to timeliness and accuracy are appreciated as it is a common

practice in private organizations. They implement only tailor made communication

practices and doesn’t give scope for flexibility (Table 36).

In case of organizational integration the situation is much worse as only 15% said

the Dept./Org. Policies and goals very regularly (15%) communicated. The rest are

much more worse as 8.1% (requirements of Job), 9.0% (pay and benefits), 5.1%

(promotions), 5.6% in case of progress in job, 6.8% (mistakes) are dealt very

regularly. Only 5.1% and 1.3% said that failures and others are very regularly

discussed. Here also personal benefits are not found to be significant which is

evident from the samples response.

With regard to Organizational Perspective also hardly one quarter of the sample

said that to a great extent organizational perspective is imbibed in the minds of the

stakeholders. Though it is the staff which needs to work in an all round manner to

support the organization and protect the interests of milk producers and milk

consumers the motivation seems to be missing. Only 26.5% say organization

encourages difference of opinion, 22.6% influence on operations in their unit,

extent of involvement in achievement of Organization goals are followed to a great

extent by 33.8%. In other case, 61.1% of the respondents to a great extent liking to
work for organization is much better and so is the fact that boss understand their

job needs as 44% say it is implemented to a great extent. Table 38.

Respondents satisfaction with the Organizational Perspective is also meager is

evident from the data that only 34.6% very much satisfied about company policies

and goals, followed by decisions made(24.4%), technical aspects(21.8%),

programs/Services, (20.9%). It is very much dismal in case of about relations with

unions, Government action affecting the organization, accomplishments or failures

of the company as hardly 9.0%, 8.1% and 17.9% are very much satisfied. In case of

company’s profits and financial standing it is very satisfactory is in the sense that

company is not open to other aspects other than its profits and polices as they are

essential for spreading the tempo in the employees and keep them engaged

effectively to realize the targets of the company and the human touch would be

missing (Table 39).

Part-V: Communication Climate/ Organizational Climate

This part of the study deals with communication climate in the Organization. How far

communication plays vital role in employees identity, handling of conflicts, gate

keeping, communication relationship with Top management, supervisors, peer group

and sub ordinates, effectiveness of communication pattern in the organization was

studied in this part V.

Muchinsky (1977)"The communication pattern(s) used by the organization has an

immediate impact upon the individual's life within that same organization and may be

a vital, yet currently unexplored, aspect of organizational climate" (Lawler et al.,

1974, p. 153).While there are no previous empirical studies in the literature relating
climate to communication upon which to draw specific hypotheses, the wealth of

previous studies on organizational climate would suggest that certain dimensions of

organizational communication would be related to certain dimensions of climate.

Schneider (1975) has commented on the multidimensional nature of organizational

climate and has cautioned against the logic and practice of seeking a relatively

simplistic relationship between climate and other multidimensional variables.

Out of 234 respondents, only 29.5% said that company’s communication make

their identity or feel a vital part to a great extent.

Among the respondents, only 29.5% of the respondents were having opinion

that to a great extent staff has ability at various levels as communicators (Table 41)

Among the respondents, 95.7% have received information needed to do the

job in time (Table 42).

Among the respondents, only 35.9% said that to a great extent, the

communication pattern of the organization motivates enthusiasm to meet its goals

(Table 43). Limited scope and seems to be not much motivating to take up tasks

voluntarily.

Nordin et al.(2014) Effective communication skills can be the most useful tool in

dealing with organizational and personal conflicts. Fischer and Koue (1991) argued

that “communication is inherent in almost any organizational conflict” (p.145).

Out of 234 respondents, 77.4% were said that, conflicts in the

organization are handled appropriately through proper communication channels

(Table 44).

Out of 234 respondents, 82.9% have over all desire for interaction,

followed by no (9.0%) (Table 45).

 When the respondents were asked, whether the communication be

summarized, 86.3% said yes (Table 46).

Right from The measure of organizational communication was the questionnaire

developed by Roberts and O'Reilly (1974a)who pioneered the communication

satisfaction many scholars identified the importance of some factors such as mobility

desire for interaction, accuracy, summarization, gate keeping and overload.

With regard to gate keeping, 12.8% of the respondents said that of stopping of

communication in the organization is noticed. Out of 30 respondents majotiry

found the presence of gate keeping in Management (46.7%) and in the Department

(43.3%).

With regard to Overload in communication, 9% of the respondents said that, there

is overload in communication in the organization is experienced and few are not

sure (Table 49).

Communication Climate in the Organization: The organization’s communication

climate may impact the atmosphere in and around the organization which could either

boost or hamper upward, downward and horizontal communication among the

employees (Azrai Abdullah et al 2013).Communication climate has been

differentiated from other climates such as motivational climate and organizational

climate in that, management has the sole responsibility of controlling the

communication climate in an organization (Zaremba, 2003).

According to Buchholz (2001), workers feel free to make voice complaints, express

opinions and give suggestions to their supervisors and superiors through an open

climate. Several studies indicate that there is an increased trust in management when
both of parties, the top management and its employees, are open to views in decision

makings (Mishra & Morrissey, 1990; McCauley & Kuhnert, 1992; Meznor & Nigh,

1995). Studies indicate that open communication enhances productivity as well as

profitability toward an organization (Rosenberg & Rosestein, 1980). Positive

communication amplifies identification which serves employees’ self enhancement in

the organization (Ale Smidts et.al, 2000).

Open communication climate can decrease uncertainty where it provides the

personnel as interactants with some level of predictability (Bercerra & Gupta, 2003).

Moreover, communication openness in such climate is a key component in decreasing

any detrimental effect of conflict on trust (Lewicki and Bunker, 1995).

Communication therefore is seen as vital to building trust within an organization

(Atkinson and Butcher, 2003; Aubert and Kelsey, 2003) resulting in reduced conflicts

and increased positive organizational climate.

Communicative behaviors displaying mutual trust and openness in accepting others’

views could enhance supportive communication climate in an organization (Gibbs,

1999). The considerably high mean score indicates equality in the communication

climate of the organization instead of superiority. Such display of concerns by the

personnel is line with Buchholz’s (2001) research on open climate, which similarly

suggest that when workers express their grievances, perspectives as well as provide

propositions to their supervisors or superiors. Such positive communication climate is

essentially crucial to the success of the organization as studies indicate that there is a

positive relationship between the communication climate in the organization and the

level of commitment of the employees to the organization (e.g. Trombetta and

Rogers, 1988).
According to Jules Carrière (2007) managers must provide employees with timely

and highly valued information. This demands that managers develop a clear

understanding of which communication practices are most valued by employees, as

well as the quantity and quality of information these individuals require to perform

their jobs well. Only then can managers design and implement an effective and

efficient internal communication system capable of meeting employees’

communication needs and wants.

With regard to Management Communication/Relationship, 49.1% of the

respondents trust the top Management to a great extent, followed by to some extent

(42.7%) and about boss trusting them 51.7% of the respondents said that, to some

extent their boss trust them, followed by to a great extent (40.6%). With regard to

sincerity of management in giving information 49.6% of the respondents said that, to

some extent, followed by to a great extent(37.6%). In the case of their boss listening

to what they say 52.1% of the respondents said that, to some extent followed by to a

great extent (32.9%). In the case of feeling free to disagree with their boss 33.8% of

the respondents said that, it is at an average rate followed by to some extent (22.2%),

to a great extent (15%). With regard to telling their boss that things are going wrong

32.1 of the respondents said that they can communicate to some extent to a great

extent (22.2%). In the case of their boss praising them for taking up a good job 38%

of the respondents said that he would praise to some extent to a great extent (20.1%).

When asked the sample as to whether the boss maintains friendly relations with them

28.6% of the respondents said to a great extent(Table 50).

 In the case of communication/Relationship with Supervisor and with

regard to supervisor listening and paying attention to them 55.1% of the

respondents said that it is to some extent followed by to a great extent (34.2%).

In the case of supervisor offering guidance in discharging duties 51.7% said that

it is to some extent followed by a great extent (38%). In the case of supervisor

trusting them 49.6% of the respondents said that it is experienced to some extent

followed by to a great extent (36.8%), as far as superior opening to ideas 49.6%

of respondents said that it is to some extent followed by to a great extent (38.5%).

When the amount of supervision is right 38.9% of the respondents said that it is

to some extent followed by to a great extent (33.3%) (Table 51).

Horizontal communication: This style of communication works best in decentralized

power (Larkin and Larkin 2004).It is believed that when such horizontal

communication happens frequently, job satisfaction also increases. Miller (2007)

through a survey discovered that decentralization of some strategic decision making

causes more interaction amongst employees yielding greater job satisfaction.

whether the grapevine is active in organization 47% of the respondents said that it is

at an average followed by to some extent (9.4%), to a great extent(3.8%). Only 17.1%

said that horizontal communication with other employees is accurate and free flowing

is observed to a great extent and to some extent 44.4%.

Possibility of the adoptability of communication practices to emergencies 47.4%

of the respondents said that it is to some extent followed by to a great extent

(31.6%). With regard to compatibility among group members 49.6% of the

respondents said that it is to some extent followed by to a great extent (35.0%).

The informal communication is very minimal as only 7.7% said that informal

communication is active and accurate to a great extent in the organization only

32.5% said that it is experienced to some extent. It is very much evident from the

study might be because there is not much scope for it. The top management and

managers established such a system that every type of communication is

designed to suit the needs of the company that not much scope is left for freedom.

Probably this is the reason for lack of flexibility.

(Table 52). .

Upward Communication: All these avenues when left open, more often than not,

improves employee attitude towards their work and morale (Goldhaber,2008:Bulutlar

2008).Upward communication could also entail reports, complaints, grievances and

even rumors which flow from subordinate to superior management. Giri and Kumar

(2009) indicate that, such communication flow inspire employees to take part in

forming policies for the organization and eventually facilitates the acceptance of the

same.

Downward communication: A study conducted by Candace (2004) on employees of

large, diverse organizations in the United States indicate that the most crucial source

of communication is direct from the head of the organization. Employees are always

doubtful of trickle-down information.

Here in this study the upward and downward communication are operating

significantly. With regard to Communication/Relationship with Subordinates, only

32.5% respondents said that Subordinates are responsive to downward and

directive communication to a great extent, and 28.2% subordinates anticipate their

needs for information to a great extent, around 35% feel overload of

communication to a upper level indicate that instead of freedom they are

experiencing the burden. Only one fourth said that subordinates are open to ideas

to a great extent and very few are receptive to Evaluation, Suggestions and criticism

also shows the rigidity in the system. Less than one third only will feel responsible

for initiating accurate and upward communication shows that only some of the

sample are active in realistic communication (Table 53).

Part-VI: Levels of communication and satisfaction

This part of the study deals with communication satisfaction and job satisfaction of

the employees in the organization. Various levels of communication satisfaction,

evaluation of communication, satisfaction with amount of information, and areas of

communication need to be improved etc., were studied in this part-VI.

With regard to level of Communication and Satisfaction in upward communication it

is observed that trust for management determines the communication, superiors

having influence in Communication and importance of communication determining

the upward mobility are also predominant which indicates that the much of the sample

is not most ly dependent on the system and are not independent enough. Superior has

understanding of the problems faced by the Subordinates is also at its lowest ebb

supports the above matter.

With regard to Frequency of work judged, 64.5% of the respondents said that,

their work judged regularly, followed by very regularly (26.1%),

With regard to Idea of Evaluation, 48.7% of the respondents said that, they

have idea about how they are being evaluated,

 With regard to frequency of feedback, 65.8% of the respondents said that,

Management received it regularly followed by very regularly (17.9%),

Out of 234 respondents, 64.1% of the respondents said that, specific

arrangements were made to get feedback in the organization,

Out of 150 Respondents, who said specific arrangements were made to get

feedback, 66.7% of the respondents said that through meetings management gets

feedback, followed by Specific preforma (20.7%), Others (9.3%) and letters (3.3%)

(Table 59).

Out of 234 Respondents, 64.1% were said that, they get reports about

how their problems were handled in the organization followed by no (29.5%)

(Table 60).

When the sample was asked about the recognition to their work only

89.3% said that, their work was recognized in the organization (Table 61).

With regard to respondent’s satisfaction with the amount of information

received from different sources, in case of Top Management, only one quarter,

slightly one fourth superiors, slightly more of one fifth of peer Group, and same

number of subordinate and very less of others are very much satisfied which

indicates that mutual trust is conspicuous in its absence(Table 62).

With regard to respondent’s satisfaction with the amount of information

received about specific job items also not much solicited. In job related issues it is

somewhat better as 29.1% are very much satisfied compared to Personal issues(

17.9%) general(15%) others (9.4%)(Table 63).

With regard to respondent’s overall satisfaction with communication in

the organization 70.5% of the respondents were satisfied, followed by very much

satisfied (20.5%) (Table 64).

Pearson Correlation

Using SPSS, Correlation was tested between Communication satisfaction and Age, it

gives the result that there is not significant relationship between age and

communication satisfaction r(234) = -0.040 and p value = 0.539 > 0.05. And also

there is no significant relationship between Annual income and communication

satisfaction r(234)=0.018 and p value = 0.780 > 0.05. There is no significant

relationship between level of education and communication satisfaction r(234) =-

0.091 and p value = 0.167> 0.05. It is also observed that, there is no significant

relation between experience in years and communication satisfaction r(234) =- 0.055

and p value = 0.402 > 0.05. ( Table 67)

Annual Level of Experience

TABLE 67 Age
income Education in years

Pearson
-.040 .018 -.091 -.055
Correlation
Overall satisfaction
Sig. (2-
with communication .539 .780 .167 .402
tailed)

N 234 234 234 234

Further, among the sample, it was also tested the correlation between communication

satisfaction variable with the respondents satisfaction with job, Supervision, pay,

promotion and co workers. With regard to Satisfaction with job there is a significant

relationship with communication satisfaction r(234) = 0.427 and p value = 0.000 ≤

0.01 . With regard to Satisfaction with Supervision there is a significant relationship

with communication satisfaction r(234) = 0.526 and p value = 0.000 ≤ 0.01 . With

regard to Satisfaction with pay, there is a significant relationship with

communication satisfaction r(234) = 0.450 and p value = 0.000 ≤ 0.01 . With regard

to Satisfaction with promotions there is a significant relationship with communication

satisfaction r(234) = 0.386 and p value = 0.000 ≤ 0.01. With regard to Satisfaction

with Co workers there is a significant relationship with communication satisfaction

r(234) = 0.403 and p value = 0.000 ≤ 0.01. All the variables i.e., Satisfaction with

job, satisfaction with supervision, satisfaction with pay, satisfaction with promotions,

satisfaction with coworkers shows positive correlations that means higher levels of

satisfaction in these variables associated with higher levels of communication

satisfaction and lower levels of satisfaction associated with lower level of

communication satisfaction. (Table 68)

Overall satisfaction with

TABLE 68
communication

Pearson Correlation .427**

Satisfaction with job Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 234

Pearson Correlation .526**

Satisfaction with
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
supervision

N 234

Satisfaction with Pay Pearson Correlation .450**

 Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 234

Pearson Correlation .386**

Satisfaction with
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
promotions

N 234

Pearson Correlation .403**

Satisfaction with Co-

Sig. (2-tailed) .000
workers

N 234

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level ( 2-tailed)

Further, among the sample, it was also tested the correlation between adequacy of

communication and its satisfaction. The result shows that, there is a significant

relationship between adequacy of communication and communication satisfaction

r(234) = 0.321 and p value = 0.000 ≤ 0.01 that means lower level of adequacy gives

lower of communication satisfaction and higher levels of adequacy gives higher level

of satisfaction in communication.
 Ann Level Experi Commun Adequac
Job
ual of ence ication y of
Variable Mean SD Age satisfa
Inco Educ in satisfacti Commun
ction
me ation years on ication

Age 40.38 11.955

Annual 317219 291358 .47

Income .6581 .9343 5**

Level of
.30 .137
Educatio 1.94 1.056
2** *
n

Experien
.92 .540 .312*
ce in 13.79 10.933
2** ** *
years

Commun
-
ication
1.89 0.565 .04 .018 -.091 -.055
Satisfacti
0
on

Adequac

y of .04
1.22 0.558 .090 -.100 .066 .321**
Commun 6

ication

Job
.02
Satisfacti 1.54 0.615 .012 .021 .035 .427** .172* (1)
7
on
Table.1 Mean, Standard deviation, Correlations, and scale reliability.

Scoring Template for Control Variable : Age-Number; Annual Income-Number; Level

of Education- 1=Post Graduation, 2=Degree, 3=Intermediate, 4=SSC, 5=Below SSC, 6=

None; Experience in years-number, Adequacy of communication – 1=yes, 2=no,

3=Cant say; Communication satisfaction & Job Satisfaction- 1=Very much satisfied,

2=Satisfied, 3=Normal, 4=Not satisfied, 5=Not at all satisfied. n=207, **Correlation is

significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-

tailed).

With regard to improvement in the areas of communication, interpersonal

and printed formats are claimed to be much sought after by many. Compared to

them other important channels are very much in demand as most of the

respondents want them to be improved to a great extent. Though notice boards

much inutility still 32.9% want them to be improved indicates that a lot has to be

done. So also meetings(41.5%), Phone Calls (36.3%), SMS(23.5%), emails(45.3%)

newsletters(45.7%) and others(41.9%) which need to be improved much more. It

aim to be is interesting to note that despite their popular usage employees seem to

be not satisfied and want them to enhanced. Keeping the changing times that seems

to be essential also (Table 65).

With regard to Satisfaction in case of work only half of the respondents were

very much satisfied but supervision (39.1%), pay (25.6%), promotions (16.9%), co-

workers (30.9%) need improvement. They are very low and should be made to

improve further. This is in match with the perception that in private companies job

motives are given more attention than the pay and promotions. But to sustain the

progress of the company they need to be improved which shall ultimately result in
better results for the lakhs of beneficiaries in the form of milk vendors and the milk

consumers as well (Table 66). In such a case better communication supports the

efforts of top managements so that the aspirations of the stakeholders are fulfilled

and then the cooperative movement shall witness its old glory.

Following the analysis of the results, we tested the hypothesis via a Chi-Square test to

determine the relationship between organizational communication and worker

satisfaction. Worker satisfaction was the dependent variable. The test results show

that there is a significant relationship between organizational communication and

worker satisfaction in organizations as the chi-square analysis illustrates (χ2=52.37

df=4, p< 0.01), where the p-value = 0.00001 is less than the level of significance at

0.01)

Regression analyses and interpretation of results

To further test the hypothesis, we conducted mediated regression analyses, using the

procedure outlined by Baron and Kenny (1986). Testing for mediation effects requires

multiple stages of analyses. The first step requires demonstration that the independent

variables are related to the mediating variable. The second step requires showing the

independent variables are related to the dependent variables. The third step involves

demonstrating that the mediating variable is related to the dependent variables. The final

step involves demonstrating that the relationship between independent variable and

dependent variables is non-significant (full mediation) or is significantly reduced (partial

mediation ) when the effect of mediator on the dependent variable is statistically controlled.

The results are presented in Table-II.

Predictors related to potential mediator: Linear regression analysis was performed to test

the hypothesis that Adequacy of Communication will be significantly and positively related
with Communication satisfaction (H1).The control variables (age, annual income, level

education, and experience in years) were entered in the first step. The control variables

accounted for 2.5% of variance in Adequacy of Communication variable. In the second step,

the Communication satisfaction variable was entered into regression equation. The

communication satisfaction variable was significant (β= 0.317, t=5.075 P<0.001) and

accounted for an additional variance 9.9% on Adequacy of Communication variable. Thus

communication satisfaction is positively related to Adequacy of Communication. H1, which

proposed that, Adequacy of Communication will be significantly and positively related with

Communication satisfaction, was therefore supported. The results suggest that, the

respondents who have adequate communication in jobs were more likely to display stronger

levels of communication satisfaction.

Predictors related to job satisfaction: Linear regression analysis was performed to test the

hypothesis that Respondent’s communication satisfaction will be significantly and positively

related to job satisfaction (H2a). The control variables (age, annual income, level education,

and experience in years) were entered in the first step. The control variables accounted for

no significant variance on Job satisfaction variable. In the second step, communication

satisfaction variable was entered into regression equation. It has significant regression

coefficient (β= 0.437 t=7.277 P<0.001) and accounted for an additional 18.8% variance on

job satisfaction variable. Thus communication satisfaction is positively related to job

satisfaction. H2a, which proposed that, Respondent’s communication satisfaction will be

significantly and positively related with job satisfaction, was therefore supported. The

results suggest that, overall satisfaction of communication were more likely to experience

higher levels of satisfaction in their jobs.

Testing for mediation effect of Adequacy of communication on job satisfaction: Two series

of linear regressions were performed to test the hypothesis that, the adequacy of

communication will mediate the relationship between communication satisfaction and job

satisfaction (H2b). The results of these analyses are presented in Table II. In the first model

Job satisfaction was regressed on Adequacy of communication variable in order to

demonstrate that the mediating variable is related to the dependent variable. The control

variables (age, annual income, level education, and experience in years) were entered in the

first step. The control variables accounted for no significant variance on Job satisfaction

variable. The Adequacy of Communication variable was then entered into regression

equation. The regression coefficients of adequacy of communication variable (β= 0.176

t=2.665 P=0.008<0.01) was significant and also accounted for an additional 3% of variance

on job satisfaction variable. Thus the mediating variable of adequacy of communication is

positively related to job satisfaction. In the second model, job satisfaction was regressed on

Adequacy of communication and communication satisfaction in order to determine whether

the relationship between communication satisfaction and job satisfaction is non-significant

(full mediation) or is significantly reduced (partial mediation) when the effect of adequacy of

communication on job satisfaction is statistically controlled. The control variables (age,

annual income, level education, and experience in years) were entered in the first step and

accounted for no significant variance on job satisfaction variable. The adequacy of

communication variable was entered into the regression equation and was not significant on

job satisfaction variable. When the variable of communication satisfaction was entered in

the next step it was significant (β= 0.424, t=6.689, P=0.000<0.001) with an additional

variance of 6.9% on job satisfaction variable. Thus the effect of adequacy of communication

is significantly reduced (partial mediation) when the relation between communication

satisfaction and job satisfaction was statistically controlled. H2b, which proposed that,
adequacy of communication, would mediate the relationship between communication

satisfaction and job satisfaction was therefore supported.

Table - II

Step-1

Predictors related to potential Mediator

(n=207)

𝑅2 𝛥𝑅2 β T P

0.124

Age -.101 -.624 NS

Annual Income .048 .648 NS

Level of Education -.104 -1.588 NS

Experience in years 0.025 .183 1.079 NS

Overall satisfaction with 0.099 .317 5.075 .000

communication

Step- 2

Job satisfaction as dependent variable

(n=207)

𝑅2 𝛥𝑅2 β T P

.190

Age -..080 -.514 NS

Annual Income -.040 -.558 NS

Level of Education .046 .734 NS

Experience in years .002 .140 .857 NS

Overall satisfaction with .188 .437 7.277 .000

communication
Step- 3

Potential Mediator related to dependent

(n=207)

𝑅2 𝛥𝑅2 β T P

.032

Age -.028 -.168 NS

Annual Income -.023 -.290 NS

Level of Education .034 .490 NS

Experience in years .002 .051 .289 NS

Adequacy of Communication .030 .176 2.665 .008

Step – 4

Testing for mediation effect model

(n=207)

𝑅2 𝛥𝑅2 β T P

.191

Age -.076 -.487 NS

Annual Income -.042 -.584 NS

Level of Education .050 .795 NS

Experience in years .002 .132 .809 NS

Adequacy of Communication .030 .040 .627 NS

Overall satisfaction with .069 .424 6.689 .000

communication