Syed Kazim Shah MCE

8228

Characteristics of Good Review of

Literature
A Literature review is the summary and critical
evaluation of pervious published or unpublished researches made by
various scholars and researchers. The source of literature review may be
newspapers, articles, journals, magazines, books, thesis, reports etc. It
may also include discussions, methodological issues and suggestions for
future research.

It must be written clearly and accurately. Simple and easily

understandable wording should be used in a review and unnecessary
statements, jargon should be avoided. It must be written in such a way
that it keeps reader’s attention and don’t make him bore. Don’t make it
too complex. Simplify discussion.

A good literature review gives only the relevant details, findings

and feelings of the researcher comprehensively otherwise the reader lose
the interest & attention. Here Comprehensiveness does not mean that
you should mention every research report, article or paper that has ever
been published on your subject. Concentrate on the most widely cited
authors and the most significant findings. No Wastage of efforts.

A review of literature tells the researchers’ knowledge about the

topic, there focus upon the specific problem whether they are logically
developed and plan about the research area & major issues. When a
researcher studies various research articles and thesis, he should write
them in literature review as it is either he is agreed with it or not.
 The literature review provides the bases for the development of
theoretical fame work by identifying variables that are very important, as
determined by the previous research findings. Though it is based on
assumptions but the researchers must use them near to the fact.
Remember it is not a fiction or the researcher embossed his writing skills
on the readers mind. He must be very clear to the objectives of the
research and follow them accordingly. Variables, that are the foundation
of the research and are taken to highlight the problem, should be simple
and easily understandable for the readers as it increases the readers’
confidence in the ability, competency and professionalism of the
researchers.

All the details in a review should be synchronized in such a

manner that it will not leave any flaw in the readers’ mind. As a review
tells us what has already find out about a specific problem so it will help
the future researcher to plan out their framework in different dimensions
using different type of variables in the different situations to reach the
result.

A literature review ensures that you are at least familiar with the
body of research in your field before starting your own investigations.
Writing a literature review also provides practice in critical thinking.
Once you have applied critical thinking skills to the findings of past
researchers, you are in a better position to apply these same skills to
your own work.

A comprehensive literature review enables the researcher to select

most appropriate method of research. It tells us that which procedure
and methods was used in previous studies and if there is any problem
with these procedure and methods, what kind of strategy should be
taken to avoid them. Repetition is never being appreciated in any
literature as it bothers the reader. You have to avoid this if you want to
engage the reader till the end.

A review tells the whole story of the research so it should

comprehensively precise including all necessary details about the topic,
situation, variables that are taken and kind of questionnaire that are
asked. After reading your literature review, the reader should come away
with a deeper understanding of your topic. A good literature review sets
out the gaps in current understanding. It seeks to explain these reasons
why gaps persist. Some problems have not been thoroughly investigated
for technical or practical reasons. In other cases, gaps are the result of
methodological or theoretical "blind-spots". Identifying these can lay the
foundation for new insights.

A review of the literature on

Job Satisfaction & Employee Turnover

The industrial and business sectors of various countries specially

developing countries including Pakistan (where per capita income is very
low) are facing the problem of job dissatisfaction among the employees
and high rate of turnover. JOB SATISFACTION is regard to one’s feeling
or state of mind regarding the nature of their work. Job satisfaction can
be influenced by variety of factors such as kind of supervision,
organization policies & administration, salary & quality of life etc.
 Employers have a need to keep employee from leaving and going to
work for other organizations. The best way of retaining employees is to
provide the job satisfaction and opportunities to build up their careers.

“The good hope is hard to find, is even truer these days than ever before
because the job market in becoming increasingly tight”. (Eskildesen,
Hammer)

Theresa gave the study to examine the job satisfaction and intent to
turnover using the co relational design. He takes the sample (n = 107)
consist of direct support professional who worked for non profit
organization located in South Carolina that served People with
disabilities development. Two instruments were utilized that measure the
overall (Specter job satisfaction) and facet job satisfaction and intent to
turnover (Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire).
Demographic information regarding age and tenure were examined. Data
analysis includes descriptive and inferential statistics. The result from
the study suggests that there is a significant and negative correlation
between job satisfaction and intent to turnover. It was demonstrated that
tenure is related to job satisfaction and having positive & low relation.
There was little evidence that suggest that age was significantly related to
either job satisfaction or intent to turnover. Theresa take sample from
single organization which in non profit organization. The non profit
organizations are some extent running by the charity & donation and the
remunerations for the employees in such organizations are low.1

Bhatti & Qureshi collect the information regarding the Name of

organization, Life of organization in years, Number of employee,
Employee participation, Job satisfaction, Employee commitment &
Employee Productivity from the first line managers and their immediate
1
Theresa Ricke-Kely. USA
bosses. The Managers were given a questionnaire and were asked to give
the answer at their best knowledge with reference to working conditions
in their organization. Questionnaire was divided in to two portions. First
line manager had to answer the question regarding name of organization,
life of organization, number of employees, employee participation, job
satisfaction and employee commitment. While the immediate bosses was
to answer the question from the portion of employee productivity.

The questionnaire consists on relationship among job satisfaction,

employee commitment, and employee productivity. They used Likard
scale questionnaire. They take sample from communication sector,
banking sector and oil & gas sector of Pakistan. 34 organizations were
selected for study. They measured job satisfaction by using the variables,
employee productivity, employee commitment and employee participation
and their hypothetical research found strong and positive relationship
between the job satisfaction and mentioned variables. The finding
suggests that management of organization should increase the
satisfaction among employees with compensation, policies and working
conditions in order to attain high level of employee commitment and
reduce turnover.2
The sample size was not enough to reflect image of the
organizations functioning in Pakistan. Data collection method for
research is very common. Other methods could have been used for this
research study like group discussion / discussion forum.

The late 1920s one of the first studies of job satisfaction

undertaken by Mayo & Hawthorne. This study referred to & focused on
employee attitude and its impact on production levels. The study
highlighted that employees & workers develop their own perceptions of
the work situation and the social environment, which affects their
2
Komal Khalid Bhatti & Tahir Masood Qureshi.
attitudes towards their work. The findings of the study provided
consistent results with the observations of Taylor in 1911, that
individual workers wants economic incentives/monetary rewards and are
willing to work harder for it. He used the global approach to measure job
satisfaction.
The study found that 88% of the surveyed were classified as being
satisfied, and there was a direct linear relationship between occupational
level and job satisfaction3

This section examines the literature regarding theories and models

used to explain the determinants of job satisfaction. There are two broad
categories to classify job satisfaction theories, that is, process and
content theories.

Content theories are predominantly concerned with the identification of

specific needs or motives most conducive to job satisfaction. The
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy and Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory are examples
of content theories.
Process theories go further than identifying basic needs that motivate
people. They focus on the individual’s dynamic thought processes and
how they produce certain types of behavior/attitudes.
Equity Theory, Need-Fulfillment Theory, Social Comparison Theory,
Facet-Satisfaction Model, Job Characteristics Model.

To better understand employee attitudes and motivation, Frederick

Herzberg performed studies to determine which factors in an employee's
work environment caused satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The studies
included interviews in which employees where asked what pleased and
displeased them about their work. Herzberg found that the factors
causing job satisfaction were different from that causing job
3
Mayo & Hawthorne study
dissatisfaction. He developed the motivation-hygiene theory to explain
these results. He called the satisfiers motivators and the dissatisfier
hygiene factors, using the term "hygiene" in the sense that they are
considered maintenance factors that are necessary to avoid
dissatisfaction but that by themselves do not provide satisfaction. He
describes that factors leads to job satisfaction are Achievement,
Recognition, Work itself, Responsibility, Advancement and Growth and
the factors which leads to dissatisfaction are Company policy,
Supervision, Relationship with Boss, Work conditions, Salary,
Relationship with co workers
Herzberg argued that management not only must provide hygiene
factors to avoid employee dissatisfaction, but also must provide factors
intrinsic to the work itself in order for employees to be satisfied with their
4
jobs.

The two-factor result is observed because it is natural for people to take

credit for satisfaction and to blame dissatisfaction on external factors.
Furthermore, job satisfaction does not necessarily create a high level of
motivation or productivity.
Herzberg's theory has been broadly read and despite its weaknesses.
True motivation comes from within a person and not from KITA factors
(Kicks in the Pants).

Maslow suggested that there exists a hierarchy of human needs,

commencing with physiological needs then safety, social, esteem and at
last self actualization need. He says that these needs must be satisfied in
the order listed. Maslow's theory says, there are some important
implications for management. There are opportunities to motivate

4
- Frederick Herzberg 1959
employees and provide them job satisfaction through management style,
job design, company events, and compensation packages.5

Physiological needs provide lunch breaks, rest breaks, and wages that
are sufficient to purchase the essentials of life. Safety needs provide a
safe working environment, retirement benefits, and job security. Social
needs create a sense of community via team-based projects and social
events. Esteem needs recognize achievements to make employees feel
appreciated and valued. Offer job titles that convey the importance of the
position. Self-Actualization provides employees a challenge and the
opportunity to reach their full career potential.6

Evaluation of Literature Review.

I have read almost 14 articles & theories about my topic and discussed
some of them which were easy to understand for me. The Source which I
used for study was internet.The literature review given above is easy to
understand and covered findings of home (Pakistan) and abroad
researcher also. At the end of every researcher’s finding the criticism on
their research is also given in such a comprehensive manner that it
shows the clear picture of all findings and lacking area of research. I
used the way which attract the readers and tried to carry them till end.
The variables used by the researchers are discussed in detail and their
dependency & impact on problem. Some researcher used single variable
to check the job satisfaction and some use two or more. I discussed both.

5
- Maslow 1943
6
- (www.netmba.com)
 The review given tells that there are many factors which influence
the job satisfaction in an organization but in Pakistan are remunerations
and monetary rewards as the research work done by Komal Khalid
Bhatti & Tahir Masood Qureshi.

The literature shows the clarity and accuracy. It provide the base
for further working and having complete knowledge about the topic that
what has been done in the field so far. I tried to avoid the reputation of
statements and convey the whole story in short wordings.

The bad factor of my literature review is that I have only discussed

five researches & Theories but that was only because of shortage of time
and restrictions.

Theoretical Foundation
Many theories support The Topic Job satisfaction and Employee
Turnover and define the characteristics of satisfaction and to some
extent dissatisfaction. Some of the theories are discussed in detail here.
Job Characteristics Model
Hackman & Oldham proposed the Job Characteristics Model which is
widely used as a framework to study how particular job characteristics
impact on job outcomes, including job satisfaction. The model states that
there are five core job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task
significance, autonomy, and feedback). These impact three critical
psychological states (experienced meaningfulness, experienced
responsibility for outcomes, and knowledge of the actual results), in turn
influencing work outcomes (job satisfaction, absenteeism, work
motivation, etc.). The five core job characteristics can be combined to
form a motivating potential score (MPS) for a job, which can be used as
an index of how likely a job is to affect an employee's attitudes and
behaviors.
Maslow Hierarchy of Need

Maslow suggested that there exists a hierarchy of human needs,

commencing with physiological needs then safety, social, esteem and at
last self actualization need. Maslow says that these needs must be
satisfied in the order listed. According to theory, there are some
important implications for management. There are opportunities to
motivate employees and provide them job satisfaction through
management style, job design, company events, and compensation
packages.

Physiological needs provide lunch breaks, rest breaks, and wages that
are sufficient to purchase the essentials of life. Safety needs provide a
safe working environment, retirement benefits, and job security. Social
needs create a sense of community via team-based projects and social
events. Esteem needs recognize achievements to make employees feel
appreciated and valued. Offer job titles that convey the importance of the
position. Self-Actualization provides employees a challenge and the
opportunity to reach their full career potential.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Self-Actualization

Esteem Needs

Social Needs

Safety Needs

Physiological Needs
Herzberg's Motivation - Hygiene Theory
(Two Factor Theory)
To better understand employee attitudes and motivation, Frederick
Herzberg performed studies to determine which factors in an employee's
work environment caused satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The studies
included interviews in which employees where asked what pleased and
displeased them about their work. Herzberg found that the factors
causing job satisfaction were different from that causing job
dissatisfaction. He developed the motivation-hygiene theory to explain
these results.

He called the satisfiers motivators and the dissatisfiers hygiene

factors, using the term "hygiene" in the sense that they are considered
maintenance factors that are necessary to avoid dissatisfaction but that
by themselves do not provide satisfaction.

The following table presents the top six factors causing dissatisfaction
and the top six factors causing satisfaction, listed in the order of higher
to lower importance.

Factors Affecting Job Attitudes

Leading to Dissatisfaction Leading to Satisfaction

• Company policy • Achievement

• Supervision • Recognition
• Relationship w/Boss • Work itself
• Work conditions • Responsibility
• Salary • Advancement

• Relationship w/Peers • Growth

Summary of Literature Review.
The industrial and business sectors of various countries specially
developing countries including Pakistan (where per capita income is very
low) are facing the problem of job dissatisfaction among the employees
which is causing the less productivity, less job commitment, and
increasing turnover.
Employers have a need to keep employee from leaving and going to work
for other organizations. The best way of retaining employees is to provide
the job satisfaction and opportunities to build up their careers.

What is Job Satisfaction?

Jobs Satisfaction is regard to one’s feeling or state of mind regarding the
nature of their work. Job satisfaction can be influenced by variety of
factors such as kind of supervision, organization policies &
administration, salary & quality of life etc. Organizations invest a lot
on their employees in terms of training, developing, maintaining
and retaining them in their organization. Therefore, managers at all
costs must minimize employee’s turnover.
What is Employee Turnover?
Employee turnover is a ratio comparison of the number of
employees a company must replace in a given time period to the average
number of total employees. Many factors play a role in the employee
turnover rate of any company, and these can stem from both the
employer and the employees. Wages, company benefits, employee
attendance, and job performance are all factors that play a significant
role in employee turnover.
“The good hope is hard to find, is even truer these days than ever before
because the job market in becoming increasingly tight”. (Eskildesen,
Hammer)
Theresa examine he job satisfaction and intent to turnover using the co
relational design. Two instruments were utilized that measure the overall
(Specter job satisfaction) and facet job satisfaction and intent to turnover
(Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire). Demographic
information regarding age and tenure were examined. Data analysis
includes descriptive and inferential statistics. The result from the study
suggests that there is a significant and negative correlation between job
satisfaction and intent to turnover. It was demonstrated that tenure is
related to job satisfaction and having positive & low relation.
Bhatti & Qureshi collect the information regarding the Name of
organization, Life of organization in years, Number of employee,
Employee participation, Job satisfaction, Employee commitment &
Employee Productivity from the first line managers and their immediate
bosses. The Managers were given a questionnaire and were asked to give
the answer at their best knowledge with reference to working conditions
in their organization. Questionnaire was divided in to two portions. First
line manager had to answer the question regarding name of organization,
life of organization, number of employees, employee participation, job
satisfaction and employee commitment. While the immediate bosses was
to answer the question from the portion of employee productivity.

The questionnaire consists on relationship among job satisfaction,

employee commitment, and employee productivity. They used Likard
scale questionnaire. They take sample from communication sector,
banking sector and oil & gas sector of Pakistan. They measured job
satisfaction by using the variables, employee productivity, employee
commitment and employee participation and their hypothetical research
found strong and positive relationship between the job satisfaction and
mentioned variables. The finding suggests that management of
organization should increase the satisfaction among employees with
compensation, policies and working conditions in order to attain high
level of employee commitment and reduce turnover.

The late 1920s one of the first studies of job satisfaction

undertaken by Mayo & Hawthorne. This study referred to & focused on
employee attitude and its impact on production levels. The study
highlighted that employees & workers develop their own perceptions of
the work situation and the social environment, which affects their
attitudes towards their work. The findings of the study provided
consistent results with the observations of Taylor in 1911, that
individual workers wants economic incentives/monetary rewards and are
willing to work harder for it. He used the global approach to measure job
satisfaction. The study found that 88% of the surveyed were classified as
being satisfied, and there was a direct linear relationship between
occupational level and job satisfaction.
The study of job satisfaction and its effects have been of concern and of
interest to organizations and researchers since Hoppock’s first study of
the topic in 1935. Studies have found that the lack of satisfaction can
have serious consequences. One is the intent to turnover. Turn over is a
serious problem is and it’s seriously effect the quality of service,
productivity and ultimately overall organizational success.

Research Design
OBJECTIVES.

1. To Study the basic characteristics of Job satisfaction & Employee

turnover
2. To analyze the job satisfaction in a particular sector and reasoning
of dissatisfaction among the employees
3. To identify the variables influence the job satisfaction
4. To measure the employee productivity, employee commitment and
loyal ness to their organization.

DATA-
Date will collected from the Accounts employees of various organizations.
The variable used will be employee turnover. 20 to 30 people will be
selected for the collection of data.

Methods of Data Collection

The broader purpose of the present study is to explore the relationship
among employee job satisfaction and employee Turn over. Data will be
collected from the accounts employees of various organizations. A
questioner technique will be used in order to obtain data and employees
will be asked to give the answers of questions in accordance to their best
knowledge. Questionnaire will be divided in to two parts dissatisfaction
factors and satisfaction factors

Methods of Data Analysis

Data will be analyze according to job experience with respect of salary
and secondary data will be used to make calculations and analysis.
END REFERENCES.
1- Theresa Ricke-Kiely, University of South Coroline, U.S.A.

2- *Komal Khalid Bhatti, Business Administration Department,

Mohammad Ali Jinnah University,
**Tahir Masood Qureshi, Business Administration Department,
Mohammad Ali Jinnah University,

3- Myo his colleagues & Hawthorne study

4- Frederick Herzberg 1959 The Motivation to Work

5- Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation.

6- www.netmba.com