Psychological empowerment and job satisfaction a comparison of manufacturing and services industry in vietnam

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business
------------------------------

Truong Ngoc Anh Thu

PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT
AND JOB SATISFACTION: A
COMPARISON OF MANUFACTURING
AND SERVICES INDUSTRY IN
VIETNAM

MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours)

Ho Chi Minh City- Year 2015


UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business
------------------------------

Truong Ngoc Anh Thu
ID: 22120075

PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT
AND JOB SATISFACTION: A
COMPARISON OF MANUFACTURING
AND SERVICES INDUSTRY IN
VIETNAM

MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours)

SUPERVISOR: Dr. Tran Phuong Thao

Ho Chi Minh City- Year 2015


ABSTRACT
In this research, we can have a deep insight of overall findings for the relationship
between four dimensions of psychological empowerment and the employee’s job
satisfaction. In particular, that relationship was put into the comparison in two
industries service and manufacturing. To examine the research model, the survey
questionnaires were used to circulate to employees in service companies and
manufacturing companies in Ho Chi Minh City through mail survey with the sample
size of 200 respondents. This study used the SPSS Statistic to analyze the data by
using reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis and multiple linear regression
analysis.
Some findings in this study indicated that the degree of job satisfaction may differ
from service to manufacturing but all the factors of psychological empowerment
impact on it. And among these factors, the empowerment self-determination impacts
the most and the empowerment competence has less impact than the others, the
impact of four dimensions of psychological empowerment on the employees’ job
satisfaction in service industry and manufacturing industry are not the same. In
service industry, the empowerment meaning affects on employees’ job satisfaction
stronger than in manufacturing industry. The empowerment competence and
empowerment impact in this case the stronger one belongs to service industry, and in
manufacturing industry they impact slightly to employees’ job satisfaction.
This study also points out some implications for management to improve
employees’ capability, productivity in their work, which can contribute to
development of the company.
Keywords: psychological empowerment, empowerment meaning, empowerment
competence,

empowerment

self-

determination,

satisfaction, service, manufacturing.

i

empowerment

impact,

job


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research could not finish if there are not help, encouragement and supports
during long time from many people who are gratefully acknowledged here.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Tran
Phuong Thao, for her clear guidance, advices and correction for my thesis. Her
support during the time of thesis motivated me, gave me valuable suggestions as well
as good criticism to complete my Master’s thesis.
Secondly, I would like to thank all the ISB Research Committee, the lecturers, and
the staff at International School of Business during all process of my course.
Thirdly, I would like to express my special thanks to my family and friends who
provided continuously support, encouragement in my life.
Finally, I would like to say thank you to those who participated in this study.

Ho Chi Minh City, June 6, 2015
TRUONG NGOC ANH THU

ii


TABLE OF CONTENT

ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. ii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background of the study ...................................................................................... 1
1.2 Research problem ................................................................................................. 3
1.3 Research objective and questions......................................................................... 4
1.4 Scope of the research ........................................................................................... 4
1.5 Significances of the research ................................................................................ 5
1.6 Structure of the research....................................................................................... 6
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW, HYPOTHESIS AND RESEARCH MODEL ... 7
2.1 Theoretical foundations ....................................................................................... 7
Models of Employee Involvement ............................................................................... 7
Models of Empowerment ............................................................................................. 8
Theory of Motivator – Hygiene .................................................................................... 8
2.2 Overview on psychological empowerment and job satisfaction .......................... 9
2.2.1 Psychological empowerment ............................................................................... 9
2.2.2 Job satisfaction ................................................................................................... 11
2.3 Hypothesis development .................................................................................... 12
2.3.1 Empowerment meaning and job satisfaction ..................................................... 12
2.3.2 Empowerment competence and job satisfaction ................................................ 12
2.3.3 Empowerment self-determination and job satisfaction ...................................... 13
2.3.4 Empowerment impact and job satisfaction ........................................................ 14

2.4 Research model .................................................................................................. 14
2.5 Chapter summary ............................................................................................... 15
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY............................................................... 16
3.1 Research process ................................................................................................ 16
3.2 Research design .................................................................................................... 17
3.2.1 Questionnaire design .......................................................................................... 17
iii


3.2.2 Measurement scale ............................................................................................. 18
3.3 Pilot test .............................................................................................................. 21
3.4 Main survey ........................................................................................................ 22
3.5 Chapter summary................................................................................................ 25
CHAPTER 4: EMPIRICAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ....................................... 26
4.1 Preliminaries of data analysis............................................................................. 26
4.2 Reliability analysis ............................................................................................. 27
4.3 Exploratory Factor Analysis .............................................................................. 29
4.4 Correlation analysis ............................................................................................ 31
4.5 Multiple Linear Regression Analysis ................................................................. 32
4.6 Chapter summary ............................................................................................... 43
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR
FURTHER STUDIES ....................................................................................................... 44
5.1 Key findings of the thesis ................................................................................... 44
5.2 Implications ........................................................................................................ 48
5.3 Limitation and directions for further studies...................................................... 50
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 51
APPENDIX A ................................................................................................................... 58
APPENDIX B.................................................................................................................... 61
APPENDIX C.................................................................................................................... 64
APPENDIX D ................................................................................................................... 66

iv


LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2. 1: Conceptual framework of the study .............................................................. 14
Figure 3.1: Research process ............................................................................................ 17
Figure C. 1: The Histogram .............................................................................................. 64
Figure C. 2: The Normal P-P Plot of Regression Standardized Residual ........................ 64
Figure C. 3: Scatterplot ..................................................................................................... 65

v


LIST OF TABLES
Table 4. 1 : Summary of employees’ profile .................................................................... 27
Table 4. 2: Cronbach’s Alpha ........................................................................................... 28
Table 4. 3: KMO and Barlett’s test................................................................................... 29
Table 4. 4: Total Variance Explained ............................................................................... 29
Table 4. 5: Rotated Component Matrix ............................................................................ 30
Table 4. 6: Correlations .................................................................................................... 31
Table 4. 7: Model Summary ............................................................................................. 33
Table 4. 8: ANOVA.......................................................................................................... 34
Table 4. 9: Coefficients .................................................................................................... 34
Table 4. 10: Model Summary ........................................................................................... 35
Table 4. 11: Model Summary ........................................................................................... 36
Table 4. 12: ANOVA........................................................................................................ 36
Table 4. 13: Coefficients .................................................................................................. 36
Table 4. 14: Model Summary ........................................................................................... 38

Table 4. 15: ANOVA........................................................................................................ 38
Table 4. 16: Coefficients .................................................................................................. 39
Table 4. 17: Model Summary ........................................................................................... 39
Table 4. 18: Coefficients .................................................................................................. 40

vi


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
This research studies factors of psychological empowerment which impacts on job
satisfaction of employees in two industries, namely service and manufacturing. This
chapter provides an overview of research including research background, research
problem, research objectives, scope of study, and significance of the study. In this
chapter, an overall structure of the research is also suggested.
1.1

Background of the study
Nowadays, in an evolving environment, organizations are working under
highly competitive context.

In order to survive in such a tough environment,

organizations try to seek out their competitive advantages. The most critical
challenges they have to face are the need to increase productivity, enhance
organizational capabilities, expand into global markets, develop and implement new
technologies…, etc. (Burke and Cooper, 2005).
Employee is regarded as a back bone of an organization that performs critical
tasks for the survival of the organization. With the needs of changing for the growing
nowadays, organizations have forced not only to develop the quality of product of
service but also the organization capabilities, especially their employee through their

performance. However, the impact of human resources on operational systems has
often been overlooked (Boudreau et al. 2003). An empowered and committed
workforce is generally claimed to be essential for the effective functioning of
modern organizations (Bowen et al, 1992; Sparrowe, 1995; Kirkman et al, 1999).
In organizations, empowerment means delegating responsibilities to
employees with complete confidence and trust so as to assume a more active and
responsible role. This strengthens their sense of effectiveness as well as by sharing
power, information and the responsibility to manage their own work as much as
possible.
There is a broad context of empowerment in many dimensions as well as
perspectives. Some approach by individual to proactive work orientation by
increasing employee’s performance and some can be viewed as managerial practices
1


to improve employee autonomy and responsibility. Researchers such as Burke
(1986) and Kanter (1977) have also defined empowerment in terms of job structure
the transfer of power or authority or job support structures such as the sharing of
resources and information (Blau and Alba, 1982; Hardy and Leiba O’Sullivan,
1998). In these studies, empowerment is viewed from the perspective of the leader’s
role in empowering employees. Many others studies view empowerment as
individual task motivation (Conger and Kanungo, 1988; Thomas and Velthouse,
1990) or motivation from person and environment fit relationship (Zimmerman,
1990) while Randolph (1995) asserts that employee empowerment is a transfer of
power from the employer to the employees.
Most of the literature which reviewed many perspective of empowerment
concludes that an empowered workforce will lead their organization to achieve a
competitive advantage. Employee empowerment increases productivity by
increasing employee pride, self- respect and self- worth. In recent studies, one of the
dominant classifications of employee empowerment accepted by many researchers is

given by Spreitzer (1995). The author defines psychological empowerment as “the
intrinsic motivation manifested in meaning, competence, self-determination, and
impact, in which an employee feels able to shape his role in work and context”. The
concept is employed in a number of studies such as Avolio et al. (2004), Corsun et
al. (1999), Carless (2004) and Jha et al. (2008).
According to Hofstede and Bond (1984), “power distance is defined as the
extent in which less powerful members of organization accept that power is
distributed unequally”. In Vietnam, power distance is influenced by the
Confucianism, in which the ordering relationships are in the hierarchical fashion and
the behaviors in society are based on these orders, Gudykunst (2000). Taking more
responsibility and authority always goes along with additional benefits in Vietnam.
Vietnamese are quite indecisive in delegating power. Being a social republic state
and high power distance, Vietnam is the country in which the power is not
distributed equally and regarded as the basic fact in society. In organizations, close
supervision, fear of disagreement with supervisors, lack of trust among co-workers,

2


and directed supervision are well manifested more in high power distance cultures
than in low power distance cultures.
1.2

Research problem
After becoming an official member of the World Trade Organization,
Vietnam has opportunities as well as challenges to adapt with globalization trend in
the world. In order to moving forward successfully, organizations in Vietnam should
take the advantages of not only the new technology but also improve their workforce
with high competence, empowerment and development.
In the literature, many prior studies on psychological empowerment (Tsui et

al., 1997; Shaw et al., 1998; Gerhart and Rynes, 2003) indicate that management of
the organization must improve employee satisfaction and that can encourage
employees to improve the performance of their tasks and boost the level of their
work performance, which in turn contribute to the company’s growth. Hunjra et al
(2011) and Bowen and Lawler (1992) found that there is association between
psychological empowerment and job satisfaction. So it is essential to take these
factors into account.
According to Hofstede center (2010), Vietnam with the score of 70 is
considered as high power distance country. That means Vietnamese people accept
hierarchical order. The eldest person has the most influence. In addition, hierarchy
can be classified in terms of age, education level and job positions. Power distance
exists not only in workplace but also in daily life. In a high power distance cultures,
powerful individuals strive to maintain or increase influence at the expense of less
powerful ones, who accept and present no challenge to the status quo (Hofstede,
2001). As such, understanding psychological empowerment and job satisfaction in
the Vietnamese context is crucial for the organizational development.
The literature, there are many researches for psychological empowerment in
Western countries, but little empirical studies for Eastern ones especially in Vietnam,
except from Thang et al (2007) who considerate the employee empowerment in
3


Vietnam’s firms. In addition, difference from the previous studies, this research
focuses on the comparison in the two industries service and manufacturing, which
plays decisive roles in developing the national economy. According to
Looney (2014), the rapid growth of manufacturing output keeps the high share of
manufacturing in Vietnam’s GDP, while service keeps growing. Hence, more than a
third of Vietnam’s growth is attributed to structural change caused by the movements
of labor from low productivity agriculture toward more productive manufacturing
and services (McCaig and Pavcnik 2013). As such, due to continuous changes of the

economic context in Vietnam, a study on the relationship between psychological
empowerment and job satisfaction is needed to investigate.

1.3

Research objective and questions
The objective of this thesis is to investigate the relationship between
psychological empowerment and job satisfaction. Four factors of psychological
empowerment as given by Spreitzer (1995), Thomas and Velthouse (1990) are taken
into consideration in this thesis, namely empowerment meaning, empowerment
competence, empowerment self- determination, empowerment impact.
More specifically, two research questions are given as follows:
Question 1:

Do

the

empowerment

meaning,

empowerment

competence,

empowerment self- determination and empowerment impact affect the job
satisfaction in Vietnam? If yes, to what extent do these above factors affect the job
satisfaction in Vietnam?
Question 2: Is there any difference on the impacts of psychological empowerment on

the job satisfaction between the service industry and manufacture industry in
Vietnam?
1.4

Scope of the research
In the literature, empowerment can be classified into two main streams namely
structural empowerment and psychological empowerment (Laschinger, 2004 and
Thomas and Velthouse, 1990). This research only investigates the influence of four
4


factors

of

psychological

empowerment,

namely

empowerment

meaning,

empowerment competence, empowerment self- determination, empowerment impact
towards job satisfaction instead of structural empowerment.
In addition, the research only focuses on employees in organizations in the
Vietnamese context. More specifically, this study collects data only from Ho Chi
Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City is selected because this is the most dynamic city in

Vietnam, where attracts many companies or enterprises from many kind of
industries.
To investigate the impact of four dimensions of psychological empowerment
on job satisfaction of employee in many companies in Ho Chi Minh City, the
manufacturing and service industries are selected. These industries are selected
because: services and manufacturing are increasingly important facilitators and
sources of economic growth, in the next future Vietnam is expected to implement
far-reaching regulatory, administrative and economic reforms that will provide an
increasingly favorable environment for foreign providers in Vietnam and open new
markets for Vietnamese service and manufacturing firms. So the workforce has the
drastic move of employment away from agriculture toward services and
manufacturing and play more important in total labor force of Vietnam.
1.5

Significances of the research
This research differs from previous studies in the following ways. First, prior
studies have mainly focused on the Vietnam context. Then, there have been little of
studies which investigates the impact of employee empowerment on employee
satisfaction and their productivities in two industries service and manufacturing in
Vietnam, in the scope of this study it is essential to have deep insight into the four
dimensions of employee empowerment so as to identify the impact on the employee
job satisfaction as well as the company overall performance because the job
satisfaction will increase productivity, creativity, innovative, service quality and
reduce turnover rate.

5


1.6

Structure of the research
This thesis is organized into five chapters. The contents of the chapters are as
follows:
Chapter 1 presents the overview of research background, research problem,
research objectives, scope of study, significance of the study and research structure.
Chapter 2 focuses on the literature review, including the definition of each
concept, rationale for hypotheses as well as proposed the conceptual model for the
research.
Chapter 3 illustrates the detailed research methodology: research process,
research design, measurement of the constructs, question design and data collection
procedure.
Chapter 4 describes empirical results and discussions based on the data
collected: characteristics of the sample, analyzing the reliability and validity, testing
the assumption of regression and testing hypotheses.
Chapter 5 summarizes the discussions on the research results, theoretical
contributions, suggest for practical implications, limitations of the study are
recognized for the future researches.

6


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW, HYPOTHESIS AND
RESEARCH MODEL

This chapter reviews the literature and gives an overview of what
research already has been done, regarding the main variables mentioned in the
introduction.

First, theoretical foundations are

discussed

to

gain

a

better

understanding of this unknown concept. Second, an overview of on psychological
empowerment and job satisfaction is outlined. Third, the dependent variable and
independent variable performance are described in hypothesis development. Finally,
the conceptual model will be presented together with the hypotheses.
2.1 Theoretical foundations
Models of Employee Involvement
The concept of employee empowerment came from the concept of “Employee
evolvement” which was defined by Lawler and Mohrman (1989). In this concept,
information, influence and incentives are required to access for employees. A Model
of Employee Involvement was developed by Lowin (1968), Saskin (1976), Locke
(1979) and Leana (1987) etc. Lowin (1968) present a model that the effectiveness of
involvement depends on the personalities and attitudes of those who involved, the
extent, importance, the quality of the participation process, and visibility of the
issues. Saskin (1976) defined a model that focuses on the psychological target of the
Employee Involvement with four types as: goal setting, decision making, problem
solving and change. Locke and Schweiger (1979) presented a model of the
participation process which differentiated between cognitive effects and motivational
effects. Leana (1987) differentiated between employee participation and delegation,
which emphasized giving employees more involvement, autonomy and participation
in decision making.

7


Models of Empowerment
The concept of empowerment began with a five stage model of empowerment by
Conger and Kanungo (1988). In this model, the experience of empowerment comes
from the self sufficiency and confidence by using of participative management, job
enrichment. There are some other previous models by Lowin (1968) who focused on
attitudes about the process, Saskin (1976) who studied on commitment to change.
From those concepts and models, empowerment was developed as a concept,
philosophy, an organizational program, and set of organizational behavioral practices
by Ripley and Ripley (1992). Ripley and Ripley (1992) focused on granting
authorization and drawing company vision. As a concept: Empowerment is
providing with power and authority to make decision. As a philosophy and
behavioral practices: team can manage itself and individuals can follow their
assignment with personal orient, while company and personal goals toward the
shared company vision. As an organizational program: giving the workforce
permission basing on the provided framework in order to pursue, develop their skills
and broaden their knowledge to contribute to the organization as well as themselves.
Different aspects of the employee or organization interaction, the nature of the
environment, market, product, the technology involved in organization were focused
in different models above. So organization can approach to empowerment by using a
suitable definition and can take the advantage of its own market, challenges and
opportunities.
A unifying model is emerging which allows for such different approaches. The
empowerment model starts with the need to change driven by external forces such as
competitiveness, globalization and the introduction of the advanced technology. The
empowered organization in which high performance employees are born will
increase in its efficiency and productivity.

Theory of Motivator – Hygiene
This theory is developed by Herzberg et al. (1959). According to them there are
many factors at any workplace that are related to the job satisfaction or job
8


dissatisfaction. The factors that are related to the job satisfaction are regarded as
"motivators" and the factors which results in job dissatisfaction are known as
"hygiene". Herzberg et al. (1959) indicated these factors are regards as Motivators:
work itself, recognition, achievement, responsibility, advancement. The Hygiene
factors are including: salary, supervision, policy and administration, working
conditions, interpersonal relations. Herzberg et al. (1959) identified these factors but
their description in the scenario of education is provided by the Padilla-Veles (1993).
Theory of Motivator – Hygiene by Herzberg et al. (1959) is one of the theories to
study job satisfaction. There are two other theories: Discrepancy theory was
presented by the Locke (1969) and Equity theory was developed by Mowday (1992)
A review of these above theories of job satisfaction could be found in the studies
by Siddiqui and Saba (2013).

2.2 Overview on psychological empowerment and job satisfaction
2.2.1

Psychological empowerment

In the literature, there are several definitions on the empowerment.
Specifically, Newstrom and Davies (1998) define empowerment as process that
provides greater autonomy by sharing of relevant information and control over
factors affecting job performance while Zimmerman (1990) viewed empowerment
with reference to behavior or performance related outcomes. Empowerment has also
been described as dependent on management or leadership actions (Bennis and

Nanus, 1985; Block, 1987) and human resource practices (Conger and Kanungo,
1988; Lawler, 1986).
It could be seen that there are two types of empowerment: structural
empowerment and psychological empowerment (Laschinger, 2004, Spreitzer, 1995;
Thomas and Velthouse, 1990). Specifically, structural empowerment is limited to the
workplace conditions; it depends on the perceived actual conditions of empowerment
within the workplace. It is mainly about the empowering of management/work
9


practices, delegation of decision rights from high level employee to their
subordinates and giving employees access to needed information or diverse
resources to accomplish tasks autonomously. Another type of empowerment,
psychological empowerment, is focused on employee mainly. It is the reaction of
employees to structural empowering conditions. Therefore,

this type of

empowerment is referred to as increased intrinsic task motivation, with four
dimensions which reflects the individual’s orientation to his or her work role.
Spreitzer (1995) defines psychological empowerment as “the intrinsic
motivation manifested in meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact, in
which an employee feels able to shape his role in work and context”. Recent studies
shows that psychological empowerment is becoming a concern of many researchers
such as Avolio et al. (2004), Corsun et al. (1999), Carless (2004), Jha et al. (2008)
etc. So in this study applies the definition of Spreitzer (1995) including four types of
empowerment as follows:
- Meaning: involves a fit between requirements of a work role and beliefs
values, and behaviour.
- Competence: is an individual’s belief in his or her capability to perform a

job well.
- Self- determination: the feeling of having choice in initiating and regulating
behaviour.
- Impact: the belief that individual can influence over strategic, administrative
or operational outcomes at work.
The theory supported for the empowerment is developed by several
researchers. Specifically, the theory came from the concept of “Employee
evolvement” which was defined by Lawler and Mohrman (1989). In this concept,
information, influence and incentives are the combination of employees. A Model of
Employee Involvement was developed by Lowin (1968), Saskin (1976), Locke
(1979) and Leana (1987) etc. which emphasized giving employees more
involvement, autonomy and participation in decision making. Coming after that

10


model, some researchers who address some concepts of empowerment in Model of
Empowerment such as Conger and Kanungo (1988), Ripley and Ripley (1992) etc.
2.2.2

Job satisfaction
There is an increasing attention for job satisfaction theme in the literature.

Job satisfaction is defined as the feelings an employee has about the job in general
(Smith et al. 1975) or as an individual’s positive or negative attitude towards their
job (Wollack et al. 1971). Robbins and Judge (2007) defined job satisfaction as a
positive feeling about one’s job based on evaluation of the characteristics. George
and Jones (2008) define job satisfaction as “the feelings a worker has about his
job. Thus, it could be concluded that job satisfaction is the pleasure of employees
when he/she have positive feeling about the jobs.

There are a number of specific facets of satisfaction related to pay, work,
supervision, professional opportunities, benefits, organizational practices and
relationships with coworkers (Misener et al. 1996). A review of prior study
showed a strong correlation between turnover and negative feelings about the job
Herzberget al. (1957). Research has shown that attitudes about one's job influence
the way the job is done (Herzberg 1959). Conversely, studies have reported a
positive correlation between negative feelings about the job and turnover (Robbins
1979) and a strong positive correlation among initial lateness, then absence and
subsequent turnover (Rosse 1988). Employee satisfaction (and customer
satisfaction) was also found to impact changes in sales by Keiningham et al.
(2006). Job dissatisfaction leads to absenteeism, problems of grievances, low
morale and high turnover (Gangadhraiah et al. 1990, Martin 1990).
Many studies have found that employee satisfaction is a strong determinant
of organizational commitment and loyalty (MatzlerSRenzl 2006; Mak Sockel
2001; Martensen and Gronholdt 2001), negatively related to turnover (Tekleab et
al. 2005; Ward 1988) and absenteeism (Muchinsky 1977).
There are numerous of theories related to job satisfaction which can help to
understand more about it such as Theory of Discrepancy by Locke (1969), Theory
11


of Equity by Mowday (1992), Theory of Motivator - Hygiene by Herzberg et al.
(1959). A review of the theories could be found in the studies by Siddiqui and Saba
(2013).
2.3 Hypothesis development
2.3.1 Empowerment meaning and job satisfaction
In the research of Thomas and Velthouse (1990), empowerment meaning
concerns the value of the task or purpose which has the relationship to the
employees’ ideas, their beliefs or their standards. Spreitzer et al. (1997) indicated the
fit relationship between the employees’ needs in the job and their own values, their

beliefs and their behaviors. Empowerment meaning has been linked to work
satisfaction by previous research (Hackman and Oldham 1980; Spreitzer et al.,
1997). And from these researches empowerment meaning among the other
dimension can directly present the relation between the person and the job, that is,
the fit between the job role requirements and the employee’s beliefs and values. An
employee does not feel enthusiastic about the job if he/she does not get energized
about work, an employee will not feel empowered (Thomas and Velthouse, 1990).
Literature shows that a positive relationship is found between meaning and
job satisfaction (Spreitzer, Kizilos and Nason, 1997; Hackman and Oldham, 1980;
Bennis and Nanus, 1985). If work is more meaningful for a person it will lead to
more satisfaction with his or her work which will result in an increase in employee
satisfaction. Whereas low levels of meaningful work will lead to lower levels of
work satisfaction. We can formulate the following hypothesis.
Hypothesis 1 (H1): Empowerment meaning is positively related to job
satisfaction.
2.3.2 Empowerment competence and job satisfaction
According to Thomas and Velthouse (1990), empowerment competence, or
sometimes understood as self-efficacy, is the degree a person beliefs he or she can
12


skillfully perform a set of task or activities when he or she tries. A person will feel
more satisfied with his work when he feels more competent about their work.
Although limited research is done on the relationship between empowerment
competence and performance, Spreitzer et al. (1997) found a positive relationship
between competence and productivity. Locke (1991) indicated that self-efficacy has
a powerful impact on task performance. Multiple empirical studies reviewed by Gist
and Mitchell (1992), report a positive relationship between self-efficacy and a
variety of work-related performance measures, such as sales and research
productivity and adaptability. Thus it is expect that empowerment competence is

positively related to employee satisfaction.
Hypothesis 2 (H2): Empowerment competence is positively related to job
satisfaction.
2.3.3 Empowerment self-determination and job satisfaction
Hackman (1987),

and Susman (1976)

defined

empowerment self-

determination is the degree to which employees experience freedom, independence,
and discretion within the organization while (Deci, Connell, and Ryan, 1989) defined
self-determination as the ability that an individual has a choice to perform works by
themselves. It enables an employee, not only delegate tasks to the employee. By
enabling, which can heighten intrinsic motivation through development of personal
efficiency, an employee will feel motivated (Conger and Kanungo, 1988). In
addition, according to (Spreitzer et al. 1997; Wagner 1995), empowerment selfdetermination refers to the belief that one has autonomy or control over how one
does his or her tasks at work. So self-determination consists of the sense of personal
control and causal responsibility for ones actions (Thomas en Velthouse 1990).
Individuals who experience more autonomy in their work are likely to get more
intrinsic rewards from their work (Thomas en Velthouse 1990) and thus be more
satisfied employees. This leads to the following hypothesis:

13


Hypothesis 3 (H3): Empowerment self-determination is positively related to
job satisfaction.

2.3.4 Empowerment impact and job satisfaction
According to Spreitzer et al. (1997), empowerment impact is the perception
that one, as an individual, can influence strategic, administrative or operating
outcomes at work. This dimension of empowerment is positively related to
effectiveness. While Ashfort (1989) considers empowerment impact as the degree to
which one is able to influence administrative, operating, or strategic outcomes at
work to make a difference. This leads to the following hypothesis.
Hypothesis 4 (H4): Empowerment impact is positively related to job
satisfaction.
2.4 Research model
Based on the above discussion, the research model presenting the relationship
between the psychological empowerment factors on job satisfaction in service and
manufacturing industry is suggested as follow:
Empowerment

H1 (+)

meaning

Job
H2 (+)
Satisfaction

Empowerment
competence

H3 (+)

Empowerment
Self- determination

H4 (+)

Empowerment
impact

Figure 2. 1: Conceptual framework of the study
14


Accordingly, four hypotheses are suggested, including
Hypothesis 1: Empowerment meaning is positively related to job satisfaction.
Hypothesis 2: Empowerment competence is positively related to job
satisfaction.
Hypothesis 3: Empowerment self-determination is positively related to job
satisfaction.
Hypothesis 4: Empowerment impact is positively related to job satisfaction.

2.5 Chapter summary
In conclusion, this chapter reviews the various definitions of psychological
empowerment and job satisfaction from many of previous authors to provide concept
of the four main factors of psychological empowerment in the relationship with job
satisfaction. From the literature, we expose four hypothesis. Finally, the conceptual
model for the research is proposed for studying.

15


CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the detailed research methodology applied for the
conduction of this study. The chapter examines from the objectives of the study, the
techniques used to conduct the research, as well as the design of the questions,
sample, the data collection procedure and the data analysis method. Moreover,
justification of each choice of method made regarding the mentioned objectives are
included, in order for the research design to be supported. In the following sections,
this research describes our research method containing pilot study and main survey
to approach to a better understanding of four dimensions of psychological
empowerment affecting on job satisfaction.
3.1 Research process
The thesis investigates the relationship between the four dimensions of
psychological empowerment and the job satisfaction of employees in Vietnam and in
particular how the differences on the effect of psychological empowerment on the
job satisfaction between the service industry and manufacture industry in Vietnam
are. To achieve this objective, the thesis process covers several stages including
literature review, research design, pilot test, main survey and data analysis which are
illustrated in the below process. After formulating research problem, and basing on
the literature review on this theme, identifies the models after developing of
hypothesis and research question. Then we have research design by indicating
questionnaire design and measurement scales. After that the pilot test is conducted.
Finally the quantitative research in the main survey to collect data for testing the
model.

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Formulating Research problem
Literature Review

Development of hypothesis, Research questions

Research design

Questionnaire design
Measurement scale

Pilot test
Main survey

Data analysis
Descriptive Statistics
Reliability analysis
Exploratory Factor Analysis
Correlation analysis
Testing of Hypotheses (Multiple Linear
Regression Analysis

Conclusions & Implications
Figure 3.1: Research process

3.2 Research design
3.2.1 Questionnaire design
The questionnaire is divided into seven parts: personal information,
empowerment

meaning,

empowerment

competence,

empowerment

self-

determination, empowerment impact, employee satisfaction and productivity. The 5point Likert scales, which are rating scales widely used for asking respondents’
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