Factors influencing job satisfaction: A case study of generation Z in white - collar sector in Ho Chi Minh City, 2022

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING THE STATE BANK OF VIET NAM

BANKING UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

LE THUY TUYET NGHI

FACTORS INFLUENCING JOB SATISFACTION:

A CASE STUDY OF GENERATION Z IN WHITE-COLLAR SECTOR

IN HO CHI MINH CITY

GRADUATE THESIS

MAJOR: BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

CODE: 7340101

SUPERVISOR

Dr. Bui Duc Sinh

HO CHI MINH CITY, 2022

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING THE STATE BANK OF VIET NAM

BANKING UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

LE THUY TUYET NGHI

FACTORS INFLUENCING JOB SATISFACTION:

A CASE STUDY OF GENERATION Z IN WHITE-COLLAR SECTOR

IN HO CHI MINH CITY

GRADUATE THESIS

MAJOR: BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

CODE: 7340101

SUPERVISOR

Dr. Bui Duc Sinh

HO CHI MINH CITY, 2022

i

ABSTRACT

Job satisfaction is a high priority for the Human Resources workforce since

the level of employees’ contentment could lead to higher productivity, profitability,

and complete organizational commitment. In recent years, most organizations have

faced considerable challenges in attracting and retaining employees from

Generation Z since they appear to have higher requirements for their jobs compared

to their predecessors. Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate the factors

influencing Generation Z employees working in offices in Ho Chi Minh City.

Preliminary quantitative research was initially conducted with 50 participants to

modify the scales and eliminate unreliable items. Subsequently, official data were

collected from 300 Generation Z employees in Ho Chi Minh City via an online

questionnaire. The results reveal seven proposed factors contributing to Generation

Z officers in Ho Chi Minh City. In which, Salary & Benefits have the most decisive

effect on job satisfaction of this age group, while the weakest component is

Working environement. The study also presents practical implications and further

research directions to enrich this aspect of human resources management.

Keywords: Job satisfaction, Generation Z, Human Resources Management

ii

DECLARATION

I formally declare that I wrote this thesis under the guidance of Dr. Bui Duc

Sinh; and the findings presented in this thesis are honest and not against ethical

issues in conducting research.

I clearly listed all the literature and sources that I employed while writing

this academic research. Moreover, I commit that the data collected were

confidential and solely used for this thesis.

I am fully responsible if the violation of this regulation is found in my thesis.

Author’s signature

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Words cannot describe my gratitude to my family and beloved friends who

emotionally and mentally supported me whenever I struggled with my thesis. This

endeavor could not have been possible without their encouragement.

Besides, I sincerely appreciate every respondent who was willing to

participate in the survey so that the data collection process could occur efficiently.

Eventually, I would like to express my appreciation to Dr. Bui Duc Sinh. His

instructions and constructive advice have helped improve my thesis significantly.

Without his supervision, this thesis would not have been completed effectively.

iv

TABLES OF CONTENT

ABSTRACT............................................................................................................... i

DECLARATION...................................................................................................... ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...................................................................................... iii

LIST OF ACRONNYMS....................................................................................... vii

LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................. ix

LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................x

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION............................................................................1

1.1 Research Statement........................................................................................1

1.2 Research Objectives ......................................................................................2

1.3 Research Questions........................................................................................3

1.4 Research Subjects and Scope ........................................................................3

1.5 Research Methodology..................................................................................3

1.6 Research Significance....................................................................................4

1.7 Research Structure .............................................................................................4

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................6

2.1 Generation Z..................................................................................................6

2.1.1 Definition of Generation Z .....................................................................6

2.1.2 Characteristics of Generation Z..............................................................6

2.2 Job Satisfaction..............................................................................................7

2.2.1 Definitions of job satisfaction.................................................................8

2.2.2 Measures of job satisfaction ...................................................................9

2.3 Theories on motivation................................................................................10

2.3.1 Abraham Maslow’s Need Theory (1943).............................................11

2.3.2 Herzberg’s two-factor theory................................................................13

2.3.3 Vroom’s expectancy theory..................................................................14

2.4 Previous Studies ..........................................................................................15

2.4.1 Domestic Studies ..................................................................................15

v

2.4.2 Foreign Studies.....................................................................................17

2.5 Research Model and Hypotheses.................................................................20

2.5.1 Research Model ....................................................................................20

2.5.2 Hypotheses............................................................................................22

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 2 ...............................................................................31

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY.........................................................................32

3.1. Research Process .........................................................................................32

3.2. Research Design ..........................................................................................33

3.3. Data Collection ............................................................................................34

3.3.1 Sample Size...........................................................................................34

3.3.2 Sampling method ..................................................................................34

3.3.3 Scale formulation..................................................................................34

3.3.4 Questionnaire Design............................................................................38

3.4 Preliminary quantitative research ................................................................38

3.4.1 Preliminary quantitative research process ............................................38

3.4.2 Preliminary quantitative research results..............................................38

3.5 Formal Research ..........................................................................................40

3.6 Data Analysis Techniques...........................................................................42

3.4.1 Descriptive statistics.............................................................................42

3.4.2 Cronbach’s Alpha Analysis..................................................................42

3.4.3 Exploratory factor analysis (EFA)........................................................43

3.4.4 Regression analysis...............................................................................44

3.4.5 Testing differences based on Controlled Variables..............................44

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 3 ...............................................................................45

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS........................................................................................46

4.1 Descriptive Statistics ...................................................................................46

4.2 Scale Reliability Testing..............................................................................48

4.3 Exploratory Factor Analysis........................................................................51

4.3.1 Factor analysis for the independent variable ........................................51

vi

4.3.2 Factor analysis for the dependent variable ...........................................53

4.4 Correlation Analysis....................................................................................54

4.5 Regression Analysis ....................................................................................55

4.5.1 Tests of Model Fit.................................................................................55

4.5.2 Regression Coefficients........................................................................56

4.5.3 Hypothesis Testing ...............................................................................57

4.6 Testing differences based on Controlled Variables.....................................61

4.6.1 Testing differences in gender................................................................61

4.6.2 Testing differences in income...............................................................62

4.6.3 Testing differences in experience .........................................................64

4.6.4 Testing differences in specialization ....................................................64

4.7 Result discussion .............................................................................................65

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 4 ...............................................................................67

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION...............................................................................68

5.1 Conclusion ...................................................................................................68

5.2 Managerial Implications..............................................................................69

5.3 Limitations and further research..................................................................72

REFERENCES........................................................................................................73

APPENDIX 1: MEASUREMENT SCALES OF OBSERVED VARIABLES .....84

APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY .....................................................87

APPENDIX 3: PRELIMINARY RESEARCH RESULTS .................................92

APPENDIX 4: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS.....................................................97

APPENDIX 5: CRONBACH’S ALPHA.............................................................104

APPENDIX 6: EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS (EFA).....................108

APPENDIX 7: CORRELATION ANALYSIS ...................................................113

APPENDIX 8: REGRESSION ANALYSIS .......................................................115

APPENDIX 9: TESTS OF DIFFERENCES ......................................................118

vii

LIST OF ACRONNYMS

Acronyms Meaning

SB Salary & Benefits

WE Working environment

JC Job Characteristics

TP Training & Promotion

SV Supervisor

CW Co-workers

WLB Work-life Balance

JS Job Satisfaction

SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

SIG Significance level

ANOVA Analysis of Variance

EFA Exploratory Factor Analysis

KMO Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin

VIF Variance inflation factor

JDI Job Descriptive Index

MSQ Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire

JSS Job Satisfaction Survey

JDS Job Diagnostic Survey

GJS Global Job Satisfaction

viii

JIG Job in General Scale

HRM Human Resource Management

ix

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 - Previous studies summary ......................................................................18

Table 2.2 - Summary of the author's hypotheses and expectations ..........................30

Table 3.1 - Measurement scale of observed variables..............................................35

Table 3.2 - Scale Reliability Testing of Preliminary quantitative research ..............39

Table 3.3 - Formal Research Scale ...........................................................................40

Table 4.1 - Sample Description.................................................................................47

Table 4.2 - Reliability Analysis Results....................................................................49

Table 4.3 - Factor analysis for the independent variables.........................................51

Table 4.4 - Factor analysis for Dependent variable ..................................................53

Table 4.5 - Pearson correlation analysis ...................................................................55

Table 4.6 - Model Summary .....................................................................................55

Table 4.7 - ANOVA Analysis...................................................................................56

Table 4.8 - Coefficients Analysis..............................................................................56

Table 4.9 - Summary of hypothesis testing results...................................................59

Table 4.10 - One-way analysis of variance by gender..............................................61

Table 4.11 - One-way analysis of variance by income .............................................62

Table 4.12 - Post Hoc test by Income .......................................................................62

Table 4.13 - One-way analysis of variance by Experience.......................................64

Table 4.14 - One-way analysis of variance by Specialization ..................................65

Table 4.15 - Beta synthesis and the influence level of 7 factors...............................66

x

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 - Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs ...............................................................11

Figure 2.2 - Herzberg’s two-factor theory ................................................................13

Figure 2.3 - Vroom’s expectancy theory ..................................................................14

Figure 2.4 - Proposed research model.......................................................................22

Figure 3.1 - Research Process...................................................................................33

Figure 4.2 – Completed research model ...................................................................61

1

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1 explains why this topic was chosen and provides an overview of

research objectives, questions, methodologies, and research scope. Additionally,

this chapter also presents the research’s significance in terms of academics and

practice. Eventually, the presentation structure of this research is outlined.

1.1 Research Statement

Job satisfaction is one of major priorities of Human Resources personnel since

high job satisfaction could reduce turnover, increase work productivity and build

organizational loyalty within employees. Because of its significance, job

satisfaction has sparked the widespread interest of social psychologists, researchers

and administrators. They have developed instruments to measure the level of

satisfaction of employees towards their jobs, some of which are Minnesota

Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) (Weiss et al., 1967), Job Description Index (JDI)

(Smith, Kendall & Hulin, 1969), Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) (Hackman, Oldham,

1974) and Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1997).

However, those instruments seem quite general since they failed to fully reflect

different aspects of both typical and specific organizations. Some of them were

proposed based on white-collar jobs while the others were solely applicable for

specific sectors such as healthcare and service workers (Astrauskaite et al., 2011).

On the other hand, this diversity has demonstrated different aspects of

organizational sectors and provided academic scholars a variety of options which

suit the sample of their research. As a result, most previous studies related to job

satisfaction, researchers had to modify the chosen instrument or combine it with

another in order to propose a model thats fit their organizations.

It is noticeable that each generation has different patterns in perceptions,

working styles and job satisfaction because they grow up in dissimilar economic