Public Relations Review 39 (2013) 563 565

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Public Relations Review

Research in Brief

The impact of internal communication satisfactiondimensions on job satisfaction dimensions and themoder

Milan NiOlga Hada Department ob University of

a r t i c

Article history:Received 24 MReceived in reAccepted 12 S

Keywords:Internal commdimensionsJob satisfactioLeader-membTransition

1. Introdu

The aim satisfactionin the Serbitowards edemployees Nedeljkovicdetermine wdimensionsAt that timeself-managin the decitype domin

CorresponE-mail ad

ohadzic@dmi.1 Tel.: +3812 Tel.: +3813 Tel.: +381

0363-8111/$ http://dx.doi.oating role of LMX

kolic a,, Jelena Vukonjanskia,1, Milena Nedeljkovic b,2,zic b,2, Edit Tereka,3

f Management, University of Novi Sad, Technical Faculty Mihajlo Pupin, Djure Djakovica bb, 23000 Zrenjanin, Serbia Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Trg Dositeja Obradovica 4, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia

l e i n f o

ay 2013vised form 22 August 2013eptember 2013

unication satisfaction

n dimensionser exchange relationship

a b s t r a c t

This paper presents the results of the research on the predictive role of internal communi-cation satisfaction dimensions on job satisfaction dimensions of middle managers from 131companies in Serbia and the moderating inuence of the leader member exchange relation-ship between middle managers and their supervisors (LMX) on that role. The research hasshown that some internal communication satisfaction dimensions have statistically posi-tive impact on job satisfaction dimensions and the moderating effect of LMX has also beennoticed.

2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ction

of this paper is to examine the relationship between the internal communication satisfaction dimensions and job dimensions in Serbian companies. This is highly signicant because of the transition process that is still presentan economy. Since job satisfaction is an antecedent of many organizational outcomes it is an imperative to workucating organizations on the importance of job satisfaction and specic variables that can assist in leading theto a better job satisfaction (Kang, 2010; Pincus, Knipp, & Rayeld, 1990; Vukonjanski, Nikolic, Hadzic, Terek, &, 2012). Many employees in Serbian companies are not satised with their jobs, making it very important tohether and how internal communication satisfaction dimensions can contribute to increasing job satisfaction

. In Serbia, during the period of socialism, a so-called self-management system was introduced in organizations. employees expected that management took into account their opinions related to many decisions. Under the

ement system a two-way communication style was almost a rule and employees were to some extent involvedsion making process. The workers self-management system was meant to provide the opposite of a Soviet-ance over the worker; the new Yugoslav worker, by contrast, was intended to have democratic control and a

ding author. Tel.: +381 064 248 5763; fax: +381 023 550 520.dresses: mikaczr@sbb.rs (M. Nikolic), jelena.vukonjanski@gmail.com (J. Vukonjanski), milena.nedeljkovic@gmail.com (M. Nedeljkovic),uns.ac.rs (O. Hadzic), terekedita@gmail.com (E. Terek).

063 520 707; fax: +381 023 550 520. 021 485 2850; fax: +381 021 635 0458. 063 893 2625; fax: +381 023 550 520.

see front matter 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.rg/10.1016/j.pubrev.2013.09.002

564 M. Nikolic et al. / Public Relations Review 39 (2013) 563 565

democratic voice in the daily activity of work. We hope that our results would be of some theoretical and practical benetfor scientic community and top management in Serbian companies as well.

2. Method and hypotheses

The resethat was senwith the Elehave Bache

The Cominternal comworker comsatisfaction& Uhl-Bien,

We prop

H1. Interndimensions

H2. Interndimensions

H3. LMX ljob satisfac

3. Finding

The valunication satwhere all co

Multiplependent vabest predicisfaction wsupervisionisfaction wiinformal cozontal and is 0.33); anand commu

Hierarchsatisfactionsupervisionwith supercontingent horizontal acontingent municationbetween in

4. Analysis

We obtaaccompaniecommunicaof the overapolicy and pay middlecompetitiveof the methSerbia is velose their jarch was carried out in 131 Serbian companies. The survey was conducted during 2011 by a web-based surveyt to the respondents (320 middle managers) via personalized emails. The online questionnaire was programmedctronic Fields Survey. The total of 256 managers answered the questions. All the middle managers in the samplelors and Masters degrees, 136 of them are male and 120 female.munication Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ) (Downs & Hazen, 1977) was used as an instrument for measuringmunication satisfaction. The dimensions are: personal feedback, supervisory, subordinate communication, co-munication, organizational integration, corporate information, communication climate, and media quality. Job

is measured by the Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1985) and LMX is measured by the LMX-7 instrument (Graen 1995).ose the following hypotheses:

al communication satisfaction dimensions have statistically signicant correlations with the job satisfaction.

al communication satisfaction dimensions have statistically signicant predictive effects on the job satisfaction.

evels have a moderating effect on the correlation between internal communication satisfaction dimensions andtion dimensions.

s

es of Cronbachs alpha for all questionnaires range from = 0.703 to = 0.920. All correlations between commu-isfaction dimensions and job satisfaction dimensions are positive, except for dimension operating procedures,rrelations are negative. This conrms hypothesis H1.

regression analysis was used to determine the predictive effect of internal communication dimensions (inde-riables) on job satisfaction dimensions (dependent variables). Results of the regression analysis show that thetors of: satisfaction with pay is satisfaction with communication on organizational perspective (R2 is 0.422); sat-ith promotion is satisfaction with communication on organizational perspective (R2 is 0.403); satisfaction with

is satisfaction with communication with supervisors (R2 is 0.518); satisfaction with contingent rewards are sat-th communication related to organizational perspective; personal feedback communication and horizontal andmmunication (R2 is 0.500); satisfaction with co-workers are satisfaction with communication climate and hori-informal communication (R2 is 0.430); satisfaction with nature of work is personal feedback communication (R2

d general satisfaction with communication are satisfaction with communication on organizational perspectivenication with supervisor (R2 is 0.526). Hence, H2 is conrmed.ical regression analysis with LMX as the moderator conrmed that LMX moderates the regressions between:

with contingent reward and satisfaction with communication on organizational perspective; satisfaction with and communication satisfaction with supervisors; satisfaction with contingent rewards and communicationvisors; satisfaction with contingent rewards and satisfaction with communication climate; satisfaction withrewards and satisfaction with personal feedback; satisfaction with contingent rewards and satisfaction withnd informal communication; satisfaction with promotion and satisfaction with media quality; satisfaction withrewards and satisfaction with media quality; and satisfaction with contingent rewards and satisfaction with com-

on organizational integration. It can be concluded that high LMX leads to the strengthening of the relationshipternal communication satisfaction and job satisfaction. This conrms hypothesis H3.

and conclusion

in the result that the increase of the values of communication satisfaction with organizational perspective isd by the increase of satisfaction with pay. One possible explanation is that the increase of the value of thetion satisfaction with organizational perspective means that there are good opportunities for realistic analysisll nancial position of the organization in the market and policy of organizations, including the remuneration

the promotion of employees, which helps employees to realistically perceive the organization and its ability to managers. Serbian companies are under the pressure to improve their performance and to become increasingly. In such a competitive environment, the rst consideration for many organizations is their protability and oneods to gain this goal is to determine sources of cost-savings. On the other hand, the level of unemployment inry high (over 25%) which highly inuences the perception of employees on job insecurity i.e. the fear they mightobs and become unemployed. The above-mentioned facts reduce the expectation of employees with respect

M. Nikolic et al. / Public Relations Review 39 (2013) 563 565 565

to the pay and increase the level of satisfaction of employees with the pay. A similar explanation can be given for therelationship between the increase of the satisfaction with promotion and the increase of the communication satisfaction withorganizational perspective. The increase of the communication satisfaction with supervisor is accompanied by the increase ofthe satisfaction with supervisor. This conclusion is in accordance with the social exchange theory-SET since social exchangetheory views the exchange relationship between specic actors as actions contingent on rewarding reactions from others.There are at least two reasons that personal feedback is the most inuential communication satisfaction dimension withrespect to satisfaction with nature of the work. The rst reason is that personal feedback provides the persons knowledgeon how successful their work has been which in turn enables them to learn from mistakes or to raise self-esteem in the casethat personal feedback is positive. The second reason is that personal feedback connects employees to their outputs (productor service) thus giving further purpose and meaningfulness to the work and increase the satisfaction with the nature of thework. High scores for satisfaction with supervisors communication means that the supervisor is ready to listen to employees(middle managers) complaints, and in this case, the communication from down to top is good.

Utilizing the ndings from this study in communication training programmes, organizations will assist in greater jobsatisfaction of middle managers. The employees need to be given regular information about company goals and objectives,plans for the future, achieved results and company perspective. By creating appropriate internal communication and a highlevel of LMX, it is possible to achieve (relatively easily and quickly) a better job satisfaction, without making an enormousinvestment.

The complete study can be requested from the authors.

References

Downs, C. W., & Hazen, M. D. (1977). A factor analytic study of communication satisfaction. Journal of Business Communication, 14(3), 6373.Graen, G. B., & Uhl-Bien, M. (1995). Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over

25 years, applying a multilevel multidomain perspective. The Leadership Quarterly, 6(2), 219247.Kang, J. A. (2010). Ethical conict and job satisfaction of public relations practitioners. Public Relations Review, 36(2), 152156.Pincus, J. D., Knipp, J. E., & Rayeld, R. E. (1990). Internal communication and job satisfaction revisited: The impact of organizational trust and inuence on

commercial bank supervisors. Public Relations Research Annual, 2, 173192.Spector, P. E. (1985). Measurement of human service staff satisfaction: Development of the job satisfaction survey. American Journal of Community Psychology,

13(6), 693713.Vukonjanski, J., Nikolic, M., Hadzic, O., Terek, E., & Nedeljkovic, M. (2012). Relationship between GLOBE organizational culture dimensions, job satisfaction

and leader-member exchange in Serbian organizations. Journal for East European Management Studies, 17(3), 333368.

The impact of internal communication satisfaction dimensions on job satisfaction dimensions and the moderating role of LMX1 Introduction2 Method and hypotheses3 Findings4 Analysis and conclusionReferences