social capital and its impact on job satisfaction

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INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESSUNE

2011

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Social Capital and its Impact on Jo Satis!actionSeyyed Ali Akbar Ahmadi

Public management Department, Payame Noor university, 19395!"9# $ehran, %&'& o( %'AN)reyedon Ahmadi

Public management Department, Payame Noor university, 19395!"9# $ehran, %&'& o( %'AN

Arghavan *andiehPublic management Department, Payame Noor university, 19395!"9# $ehran, %&'& o( %'AN

Ast"act

Purpose- This paper aims at finding the relationships between social capital and job satisfactionin private service organizations (hospitals). esign!methodolog"!approach- #n e$perimental

method is performed to stud" the relationship between social capital variables and job

satisfaction in three private hospitals to anal"ze their direct!indirect relationships with jobsatisfaction. %indings- The present paper indicates that there is a direct& positive& and significant

relationship between trust and job satisfaction. Trust will lead to more satisfaction. There is alsoan indirect& positive& and significant relationship between formal networ's and job satisfactionbut through trust variable. There is no direct!indirect relationship between action norms and job

satisfaction. t has also been found that there is a direct& significant& but negative relationship

between educational level and job satisfaction. esearch limitations!implications- This anal"sishad been performed in private organizations and further anal"sis shall be done in non-private

organizations. Practical implications- *ocial capital is so tied to trust that in almost all

organizations efforts have to be ta'en to promote trust among members and between members

and organization. +riginalit"!value- There is neither direct nor indirect relationship betweenaction norms and job satisfaction& so social capital can either be supportive or not supportive.

#$%&o"ds- *ocial capital& ,ob satisfaction

Int"od'ction*cholars such as oleman (//0) and Putnam (//1) in an attempt to e$plain non-economic

factors in e$plaining success of certain economic processes drew on the concept of social capital.

That is wh" at present& besides human& financial& and economical capitals& a new realit" as socialcapital is being e$tensivel" utilized in the literature of social and organization realms. %u'u"ama

(///) believes that a number of definitions had been given with respect to social capital but the"

refer to its manifestation rather than to social capital itself. e sa"s 3social capital is aninstantiated informal norm that promotes co-operation between two or more individuals4

(%u'u"ama& ///). Putnam (//5) also defines social capital as 3The characteristics of the social

organization such as networ's& norms and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation

for mutual benefit4. +n the other hand& job satisfaction in organization& has long been animportant issue and of grate concern and has attracted the attention of man" researchers. an"

researches have targeted the assessment of job satisfaction in different group settings and the

factors related to job satisfaction and their impacts on organizational productivit"& job turnovers&absenteeism& and emplo"ee efficiencies (6rass& /72& elbert& //& 6ulder et al. //5& odson&

//8). 9et& less attention has been paid to social capital and its relation to job satisfaction.

Ta'ing into account the above issues& we intend to stud" the relationships between social capitaland job satisfaction. The evidence is drawn from some private hospitals in Tehran& ran.


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Lit$"at'"$ "$(i$&

*ocial capital is less ph"sicall" tangible in comparison with other resources such as ph"sical&

human and cultural. Ph"sical capital is created through changes on materials to form tools which

facilitate production. uman capital is generated b" changing individuals through new s'ills andcapabilities in them in a wa" that the" are empowered to behave in a new wa" (oleman& ///).

ultural capital is a set of s"mbols& habits& characters& linguistic methods& training documents&

zeal and tact& and life methods which are current among individuals. This capital is less tangibleand objective in comparison to economical capital. *ocial capital is defined as the vast and

complete panorama of social and communicative networ' ;ualities which one utilizes to promote

his!her personal attitudes (,aeger and olm& 2008). %u'u"ama defines social capital as aninstantiated informal norm that promoted co-operation between two or more individuals (///).

e believes that all aspects of social capital such as trust& networ's& civil societ"& and the li'e are

all secondar"& or as he himself call& epiphenomenal to social capital which arise as a result of

social capital not constituting social capital itself (%u'u"ama& ///). #ccording to oleman

(//0) and Putnam (//1) social capital is defined with regard to such peculiarities of socialstructure such as inter-individual trust& mutual norms& and bi-directional contributions that can

lead to the persistence of resources which facilitate group or individual interpla" to gain groupactivities. Trust& mutual action norms& and lateral (horizontal) networ's which are self-

reinforcing and self-generating are considered as social capital resources b" Putnam (//1). e

believes that regenerating peculiarities of social capital will lead to social interactions of highestcooperation& trust& mutual transaction& civil partnership& and social welfare. Putnam believes that

the e$istence of these peculiarities in ever" societ" is an indication of its civic. e considers this

trait as promoting good performance of democratic institutions.

1. Social Capital Resources) oleman (//0) has classified the main resources of social capital

as per following< () =overnmental factors< #n institution is said to be a law& a tradition& a

custom& or an organization which is effective in human>s political or social lives and rules out anoriented s"stem towards the needs of an organized societ". =overnment is a tangible e$ample ofinstitution? institutional factors are either rational or irrational. *ome laws are enacted rationall"

as an institutional factor to reinforce humans for participation. (2) #utomaticall" factors< #ll

norms which are formulated automaticall" through mutual actions of social members& rather thanlaws and other formal institutions& and are not due to purposeful options are called automatic

factors. These factors are in turn classified as automaticall" rational and automaticall" irrational.

#utomaticall" norms are considered rational when individuals> interactions in societ" are on thebasis of intellectuals and thoughts& even if not purposeful. #utomaticall" factors are considered

irrational if mutual actions are random and not logical& such as hone" bees> cooperation in

building hives which happens without intellectualit" and thoughtfulness and is absolutel"

instinctive. (1) @$ternal factors< These factors refer to norms originated from the sources ratherthan the specific societ" in which it has been utilized. These comprise factors such as religion&

ideolog"& culture& or common historical e$periences. (A) Batural factors< Two factors are

observable here as 3famil" relations4 and 3ethnic or racial solidarit"4. The importance ofrelatives in comparison to other social structures differs from one societ" to another& but in none

of the societies it is completel" vanished. There are considerable findings in natural science

claiming that human socialization is somehow rooted in culture and is also related tofundamental approaches of socialization relatedness to genetic issues.


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2. The two sides of social capital) +ne of the main and major advantages of social capital isproviding ample information with a low cost and time involved. t facilitates trust& mutual

relationships& strong social norms& and permanent solidarit" of cooperation in social behaviors.

Therefore& group social capital is achievable and there la"s benefits not onl" for those who have

created it but also for some more grater networ's (Calter& Dechner& and Eellermanns& 2008).nter-organizational networ's resulted from social factor have several organizational advantages

such as ac;uiring new s'ills and 'nowledge b" networ' members. Power gaining and influence(pervasiveness) are other advantages of social capital. reating solidarit" among members is

another merit. *trong norms and beliefs create a strong social networ' which encompasses

certain customs& traditions& and regulations which substitute control methods. %u'u"ama (200)concludes that social capital will reduce the transaction costs associated with formal co-

ordination mechanisms li'e contracts& hierarchies& bureaucratic rules& and the li'es. e believes

that formalities cannot replace social capital. 3The fact of the matter is that co-ordination based

on informal norms remains an important part of modern economies& and arguabl" becomes moreimportant as the nature of economic activit" becomes more comple$ and technologicall"

sophisticated4& sa"s %u'u"ama (///). Though social capital inherits m"riad potentials butcannot be considered a 3throughout remed"4 for all situations. Ce will consider some of thedisadvantages. %irst& there is no guarantee that considerable relationships will be established

among humans in all cases. There is a possibilit" of setting up inappropriate or undesirable

relations just for dissimulating or misuse. *econd& establishing and maintaining social capitalre;uires considerable financial capitals which in some cases are higher than the merits gained

from social capital. Third& the strong lin's and relations established through social capital are less

effective in comparison to wea' lin'ages of groups in which the tas's are performed faster and in

a better wa". %ourth& the solidarit" of social capital ma" adversel" affect& due to the fact that thisunification among members will involve individuals in their relationships at the e$pense of main

targets and objectives and in some cases will lead to means-ends displacement. *ocial capital

ma" also lead to the enhancement of malicious behaviors among members& resistance to newinformation& oppositions to their assessments& and the increase of organization vulnerabilit"

when facing amplified environmental changes. %u'u"ama (///) also ma'es an objection to

oleman>s comment that social capital is a public good (oleman& /77). 3This is clearl" wrong trust to an organizationespeciall" public organizations (ohseni and Dindstorm& 2008)& and (1) =overnmental trust. t

means the e$tent of trust to formal and governmental institutions. n this paper& this trust is

measured in connection with Tehran hospitals.

Norms Act. Borms act are of two categories< reciprocal and non-reciprocal. The former refers toacts which are considered as e$change process in social relations through which goods and

services are e$changed from one place to another& and the latter refers to behaviors such asvoluntar" acts.

4. Job Satisfactio) There are man" definitions for job satisfaction. *ome of them are

concentrated on job itself while others concentrate on both jobs and their dependant factors.

*tephen obins (/A1) refers to job satisfaction as individual>s overall attitude towards his job.f job satisfaction is high then the attitude will be more positive and vice versa (#>rabi and

Parsae"an& 200A).

!. The Relatioship betwee Social Capital ad Job Satisfactio) 6rass (/72)& arlebert

(//)& 6ulder& et al& (//5)& and odson>s (//8) studies on this issue differ considerabl" witheach other. %or instance& urlebert (//) considers individual networ's which do encompass

wor'ing relations inside the networ' and concludes that networ' members have access to more

resources such as training. odson (//8) found a positive impact of emplo"ees> solidarit" onjob satisfaction. 6rass did not succeed in finding an association between the core of a wor'ing

networ' and job satisfaction. 6ulder& et al. (//5) did not find an" relationship between job

satisfaction and the number of e$isting relationships in the networ' or the number of individualsin that networ'. +n the contrar"& the" found that networ' diversit" would have negative impacts

(%lap and Fol'er& 2005). outhit (///) calls human and social capitals as individual

investments which "ield positive output in individual>s job in the form of objective and tangiblecapitals. e assumes that potential resources of human and social capitals manifest themselves in

more tangible wa"s such as job satisfaction. *ocial capital facilitates and fosters recognition of

opportunities and their increase for the purpose of more income on the side of the individuals.

*ocial capital theor" predicts that the efficienc" of intelligence& training& and superiorit" in

different sections are related to the individual>s status in his!her organizational social structure.#s outhit (///) sa"s& the social capital ma'es it possible to adapt individuals to their social

scenes in a wa" that all their potentials can be utilized (outhit& ///). *ocial capital has threedistinct impacts on job satisfaction. %irst& networ' structure and job satisfaction through job

dependence and job-related strategic networ's produce solidarities which promote satisfied

emplo"ees through different job aspects such as income& safet"& and job opportunities. *econd&closed networ's improve emplo"ee satisfaction in social aspects of job such as overall social

condition of job& cooperation with management& and cooperation with colleagues. Third& a


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networ' with integral arc structure (where a pivotal person adjoins mutuall" two or moree$clusive members together) has intensive negative impacts on job satisfaction& in spite of the

fact it encourages trust in satisfaction networ's of social aspects of job.

". Social #i$s ad Job Satisfactio. ,ou'isari and Burmi (2005) found that there is a

relationship between social capital and those who are see'ing for good social status b" finding along-term job which is also well-suited to their educations. The reason lies in the fact that social

lin's would determine resources such as information and social impacts which formulate anindividual networ' as more advantageous to personal profession than networ's of lower social

levels.

%. The &mpact of Social S$ills o Satisfactio. *ocial s'ills are capable in empoweringindividuals in their interactions with others and pla" a pivotal role in most models and also

professional interpla"s. @$perienced outcomes of individuals in different conte$ts such as job

interviews& performance anal"sis& and even legal practices show that social s'ills have positive

impacts on them. #n increase of social capital would increase emplo"ees> enthusiasm andcommitments& promote effective communication with public& absorbs effectivel" the re;uired

personnel and partners& improve networ's and commercial relations& establish trust& andlegitimize trade with others. The higher the social s'ills in entrepreneurs& the more financialsuccess the" ma" have. %urthermore& the" ma" contribute to entrepreneurs in mutual strategic

benefits with other companies& more regular re;uests from customers& and etc. (ar'man and

6aron& 2001).

M$t*odolo+%

The present research is an applied stud" in which the data have been gathered through a

;uestionnaire and the" have been anal"zed b" utilizing statistical methods. The societ"comprises first grade hospitals in Tehran among which three hospitals had been chosen as

samples in which the possibilit" of gathering data through ;uestionnaires have been achieved.

Guestionnaires have been administrated in hospitals> three different wor'ing shifts (morning&afternoon& and night shifts). ue to the limited number of personnel in these hospitals& thereb" allhave been invited to complete the ;uestionnaires. elated literature had been accumulated

through a librar" research and for the compilation of ;uestionnaire a throughout research in

internet have been performed in which standards ;uestionnaires have been considered and theviewpoints of professionals were ta'en into consideration& as well. The ;uestionnaires covered

;uestions which were capable in measuring job satisfaction and social capitals in individuals and

can also assess the impact of social capital in job satisfaction. Twent" ;uestionnaires in threehospitals have been preliminar" administrated and then through ronbach #lpha anal"sis the

most valid ;uestionnaire had been chosen. The reliabilit" of the chosen ;uestionnaire e;ualed

0.785 which guarantees the appropriateness of all ;uestions. *tatistical Pac'age for the *ocial

*cience (*P**) and D*@D software have been utilized for test of h"potheses and data anal"sis.The degree of social capital and job satisfaction and their relationships have been measured

through the use of out #nal"sis model and Pearson orrelation oefficient.

R$s'lts and disc'ssion

1. Ro't anal%sis o! "$lations*ip $t&$$n social capital and ,o satis!action. n this sectionthe relationship between social capital variables and job satisfaction variables is definedand assessed both directl" and indirectl" through D*@D software. 6efore the

implementation of


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rout anal"sis we have anal"zed and considered the test of Bormalit"& Dinearit"& and @;ualit" ofvariances and also pert values. #t the beginning we have to identif" and nominate all the

variables in rout anal"sis. The dependant variable is job satisfaction and the independent

variables are< gender& marital statues& educational level& and place of education& e$perience&

emplo"ment status& trust& formal networ's& and action norms. %irst& direct relationship betweenall independent variables and dependant variable are considered in order to identif" the

independent variables which have a direct relationship with dependant variable. n diagram andon the basis of 3t4 coefficient& the significance of relationship between independent variable ($)

and dependant variable (") can be e$amined. ue to the fact that t-value is less than two

(measurement criteria)& then it can be claimed that there is no meaningful significance betweendependant and independent variables. Ta'e in diagram

#s it can be seen in diagram & there are onl" two independent variables in which 3t4 coefficient

is grater than two ( in D*@D model 3t4 values grater than two are in blac' and smaller than

two are in red). Trust variable (tH.2) and educational level variable (tH2.:) have a directrelationship with job satisfaction with a // percent level of confidence. +ther independent

variables with 3t4 values less than two have no direct relationship with job satisfaction. t has tobe noticed that educational level variable is an e$ternal variable. Bow& the possibilit" of directrelationship between other independent variables and job satisfaction through trust variable

which functions as a mediating variable is e$amined.

2. The Aal'sis of (irect Relatioships of &depedet Variables. +ne of the advantages ofD*@D is its capabilit" to identif" both direct and indirect relationships between dependant and

independent variables. n order to improve model>s criteria we will stud" indirect relationships of

independent variables which do not have a direct relationship with dependant variable through

the use of those independent variables which have direct relationships with independent variable.D*@D model has the potential to suggest routs of mutual relationships between those variables

that if added to model can establish a meaningful significance between other independent

variables. iagram 2 shows the anal"sis. n this diagram we have studied indirect relationshipsof other independent variables (gender& marital statue& and educational level& place of graduation&

e$perience& emplo"ment status& formal networ's& and action norms) through the use of trust

variable. Ta'e in diagram 2#s it can be seen in diagram 2& internal dependant variable 3trust4 and e$ternal independent

variable 3educational level4 have direct relationship with dependant variable 3job satisfaction4.

+ther independent variables do not have a direct and significant relationship with jobsatisfaction. The independent variable 3formal networ's4 through trust variable has an indirect

relationship with job satisfaction.

3. )ial Rout Aal'sis) At this stage all routs having values less than two and not being

significant as per findings in the second stage of anal"sis are eliminated thereb" the final values

of parameters will be obvious and apparent. n diagram 1 standardized values are shown& allpossible relationships between dependant and independent variables are also shown. Trust

variable has a direct relationship with dependant variable while educational level and formalnetwor's have relationships with job satisfaction through trust variable. Ta'e in diagram 1n diagram 1 the value of error variance in job satisfaction variable is 0.25 which means 25

percent of job satisfaction variable variance is not due to e$isting variables in model. t is ;uite

clear that 85 percent of job satisfaction variable variance is under the effects of e$isting variables


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which is a promising value for the description of the variables under consideration. n table Afinal root anal"sis model distribution is shown. This distribution is ;uite a desirable one.

riteria Falue #cceptable range esult

I2!df 0./:1 I2!df J2 odel approved

P value 0.A075 PK 0.05 odel approved

*@# 0.00 *@#L 0.0/ odel approved

0.0077 K 0 odel approved

=% 0.// =%K 0.0/ odel approved

#=% 0./8 #=% K 0.75 odel approved

B% 0.// B% K 0./ odel approved

% % K 0./ odel approved

% % K 0./ odel approved

Table A. istribution criteria of final rout anal"sis

#ll criteria show the appropriateness of model and even the D*@D software in an attempt to

improve model criteria did not recommend an" other routs e$cept those discussed here.

4. Structural *+uatios) The following is the structural e;uation of final rout anal"sis models @conomic& ultural& and *ocial apital @$plain

the *ocial lass @ffect on @ducational #ttainment in the *candinavian obilit" egimeS4&

Social Science 'esearch& 1:& 8/-8AA

,ou'isari& . and Burmi ,. @. (2005)& 3ompan" atters< =oal-elated *ocial apital in theTransition to Cor'ing Dife4&+ournal o( /ocational ehavior& @lsevier& :8& A1-A27

ar'man& =. .& and 6aron& . (2001)& 3Person-entrepreneurship %it< Ch" *ome People #re

ore *uccessful as @ntrepreneurs than +thers4& 0uman 'esource -anagement 'evie.&Pergamon& 1& 27-10

ohseni& . and Dindstorm& . (2008)& 3*ocial apital& Trust in the ealth-care *"stem and

*elf-related ealth< The ole of #ccess to ealth are in a Population-based *tud"4&Social Science and -edicine& @lsevier& :A& 181-171.

Putnam& . (//5)& 36owling alone< #merica>s eclining *ocial apital and Public Dife4&

+ournal o( Democracy, :& & :5:-87obins& *. .(//7)& 3+rganizational 6ehavior oncepts& ontroversies and #pplications3& 7

th

ed.

Calter& ,.& Dechner& .& and Eellermanns %. C. (2008)& 3Enowledge Transfer between and

within #lliance Partners< Private versus ollective 6enefits of *ocial apital4&+ournal o(

usiness 'esearch& @lesevier.


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#nne$ure

iagram . The preliminar" rout anal"sis model with t coefficient

iagram 2. *econd stage rout anal"sis diagram


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iagram 1. %inal model of rout anal"sis of standardized value for the anal"sis of direct!indirect relationships


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social capital and its impact on job satisfaction

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