The Impact of Growth and Social Needs on the Job Enrichment Process-- a Laboratory Experiment.

摘要

Job enrichment is of interest to management because it offers a solution to motivational problems. Job enrichment programs, however, sometimes fail to increase worker satisfaction and performance as originally intended. It is suggested that until its theoretical foundations are clearly understood, job enrichment will not achieve its full potential as a tool for organizational improvement. This research focused on the importance of inter-personal differences. It attempted to determine, through laboratory experimentation, whether individual growth and social need strength moderates the reaction to a job enrichment process. The research design involved a 2 x 2 fixed effects factorial experiment with enrichment (high or low) and task approach (team or individual) manipulated to create four different work situations. Results confirmed that job enrichment increases satisfaction and found support for the moderating influence of growth need strength. Social need strength had a strong impact on amount of satisfaction obtained in a group work situation.