Asian Research Consortium

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Asian Research Consortium International Journal of Research in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Vol. 1, No. 3, 2013, pp. 66-74.

1 Asian Research Consortium International Journal of Research in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Vol. 1, No. 3, 2013, pp ISSN International Journal of Research in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management A Study of the Relationship between Time Management and Job Satisfaction Hamdollah Manzari Tavakoli Curriculum Planning PhD, Assistant Professor, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran. Alireza Manzari Tavakoli Philosophy of Science & Education PhD, Assistant Professor, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran. Leila Pouresmaeil * M.S. Student of Educational Management, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran. Received June 10 th, 2013; revised July 5 th ; accepted July 18 th, 2013 Abstract The aim of the present study is to explore the relationship between time management and job satisfaction of 3500 employees of Shiraz Municipality in Iran. According to Krejcie & Morgan (1970), the minimum number of sample size was determined as 348 employees. After distribution of 388 questionnaires with Systematic Random Sampling among employees, 355 usable questionnaires were returned. The analyses of this study were carried out with LISREL; and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were conducted. The factors analysis and the findings show that time management has a significant positive influence on job satisfaction. Further, at the end, a number of suggestions on managerial implementation were provided. Keywords: Time Management, Job Satisfaction, Shiraz Municipality, Iran. * Corresponding author. address: lp5110@yahoo.com 66

2 1. Introduction Tavakoli et al. (2013). International Journal of Research in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Nowadays, one of the most important challenges facing by any organizations is to satisfy and retain their employees who are known as one of the most important differentiating success factors. Managing employees is an important issue in achieving competitive advantages for organizations. According to Nadiri & Tanova (2010), employees play a central role and demand special attention. Job satisfaction is an important concept need to be understood by managers. It should be mentioned that as Gunlu et al. (2010) stated, job satisfaction contributes to efficient services and high performance, and will increase organizational productivity. Further, it should be noted that low levels of job satisfaction leads to turnover intentions (Korp et al., 1973; Atchinson & Lefferts, 1975; Locke, 1976; Tett & Meyer, 1993; Rust et al., 1996) and absenteeism (Porter & Steers, 1973; Scott & Taylor, 1985). Thus, job satisfaction is a key factor to retain and satisfy employees. Also, it is important to identify factors related to job satisfaction. In this study, the authors explore the influence of time management on job satisfaction. Time management has been shown to be related to job performance (Macan et al., 1990; Barling et al., 1996), group performance (Weldon et al., 1991; Janicik & Bartel, 2003) and consequently will contribute to the profitability of organizations. On the other hand, poor time management has been related to stress and strain (Lang, 1992; Jex & Elacqua, 1999), and emotional exhaustion (Peeters & Rutte, 2005). Therefore, time management is an important factor in organizations affects employees activities and behaviors. Little attention has been given to research on the relationship between time management and job satisfaction. Thus, the current study attempts to propose a framework on the mentioned topic among 3500 employees of Shiraz Municipality in Iran. 2. Time Management Reviewing the relevant literature shows that there has been a growing interest in studying time management in organizational contexts. According to Orlikowski & Yates (2002) Because of global competition and the need for immediate availability of goods and services, time management is becoming an important concept in any organization. Time management refers to using time efficiently. Huang & Zhang (2001) stated that time management is a kind of temperament attribute which is reflected as a means of utilizing and managing ones time efficiently. According to Eilam & Ahran (2003), the way of controlling time can be viewed as time management. In this study, the authors used four dimensions for measuring time management as follows: 1. Setting Priorities for daily activities, 2. Planning for achieving determined goals, 3. Avoiding extra paperwork, and 4. Determining deadline for activities. 67

3 3. Job Satisfaction According to Spector (1997), job satisfaction can be described as the degree to which employees like their jobs. According to Locke & Lathan (1976), job satisfaction is a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from employees perceptions about important facets of their jobs. Thus, it is an emotional response to various dimensions of job (Pool et al., 2006; Rastgar et al., 2012). In this study, the authors used six dimensions for measuring job satisfaction as follow: 1. Pay, 2. Autonomy, 3. Interaction, 4. Task requirement, 5. Professional status, 6. Organizational policies. 4. Hypothesis Development By reviewing the relevant literature, it can be seen that time management practices are associated with self-evaluations of academic performance (Macan et al., 1990), objective grade point average (Britton & Tesser, 1991), job satisfaction (Landy et al., 1991), self-perceived organizational performance (Lim & Seers, 1993), and lower level of job stress (lambert et al., 2012). Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed among the employees of Shiraz Municipality: H 1 : Time management has a significant influence on job satisfaction. Figure 1. Research Model 68

4 5. Methodology Tavakoli et al. (2013). International Journal of Research in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, 5.1. Statistical Population Statistical population in this research includes 3500 employees of Shiraz Municipality in Iran. According to Krejcie & Morgan (1970) the minimum number of sample size was determined as 348 people. After distribution of 388 questionnaires, with systematic random sampling, among employees, 355 usable questionnaires were gathered. Table 1 illustrates the Descriptive statistics of the respondents. Table 1. Description of Respondents Item Description Frequency Percentage Gender Male Female % 16% Age Below Above % 66% 19% Education Diploma STP Bachelor Master and above % 12% 72% 7% 5.2. Instrument Five-point Likert type scale was used for all the items. In order to measure time management, the scale developed by Pfaff (2002) was applied. Further, the scale developed by Stamps & Piedmont (1986) was used to measure employees job satisfaction Reliability For reliability evaluation, the authors utilized Cronbach's alpha. As can be seen in table 2, the Cronbach's alpha reliability of all variables are more than 0.7 (α>0.7), which indicates all the scales demonstrate good reliability. 69

5 Table 2. Reliability Test Factors Prioritizing Planning Deadline Paperwork Time Management Pay Autonomy Interaction Task Requirements Professional Status Organizational Policies Job Satisfaction Cronbach's alpha Validity For evaluating the validity of the questionnaires, the authors used used content validity and construct validity. For testing the content validity, the authors asked 5 experts to modify the questionnaire. These experts evaluated all the implemented criteria in the questionnaire and modified it. For testing the construct validity, confirmatory factor analysis was used to investigate the construction of the questionnaire. In the following sections, the results of the confirmatory factor analysis are described Measurement Model of Time Management In the initial step, the authors have tested the relationship between time management and its indicators. Fitness's indices show good fitness of our model, showing that the selected indicators are good representatives for dimensions of time management. Table 3. Measurement Model of Time Management Fitness Indices Chi-Square/df P-value Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) Measure of Index Principle < 3 < 0.05 <

Further, the ranking of time management dimensions is as follows: 1. Prioritizing (factor loading: 0.83); 2. Planning (factor loading: 0.67); 3. Paperwork (factor loading: 0.65); and 4.

6 Further, the ranking of time management dimensions is as follows: 1. Prioritizing (factor loading: 0.83); 2. Planning (factor loading: 0.67); 3. Paperwork (factor loading: 0.65); and 4. Deadline (factor loading: 0.50) Measurement Model of Job Satisfaction Finally, the authors have tested the relationship between job satisfaction and its indicators. Fitness's indices show good fitness of our model, showing that the selected indicators are good representatives for dimensions of job satisfaction. Table 3. Measurement Model of Job Satisfaction Fitness Indices Chi-Square/df P-value Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) Measure of Index Principle < 3 < 0.05 < 0.1 Further, the ranking of time management dimensions is as follows: 1. Autonomy (factor loading: 0.96); 2. Professional Status (factor loading: 0.80); 3. Task Requirements (factor loading: 0.70); 4. Pay (factor loading: 0.65); 5. Interaction (factor loading: 0.61); and 6. Organizational Policies (factor loading: 0.47). 6. Results For testing our main hypothesis, we performed the structural model applying 4 dimensions of time management and 6 dimensions of job satisfaction. Figure 2 shows the results of the Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis. Fitness's indices also show good fitness of the Structural Model. Figure 3. Structural Equation Model 71

7 Table 4. The Results of the Hypothesis Test No Hypothesis Path T-Value Result Coefficient H 1 Time Management Job Satisfaction Confirmed 7. Discussion and Conclusion This study aims to investigate the relationship between time management and job satisfaction of 3500 employees of Shiraz Municipality in Iran. Despite the growing literature about these variables, the authors of this research couldn t find any study exploring the relationship between time management and job satisfaction; which was the main reason this research was carried out. Further, because of the important role of time management in today s organizations and because of the positive consequences of job satisfaction for organizations, studying the relationship between these two variables seems to be useful for researchers and scholars in human resource management and organizational behavior. The results of the current study show that time management has a significant positive influence on employees job satisfaction. Further, according to factor loading of the four dimensions of time management, setting priorities has the most significant influence on job satisfaction of employees. Furthermore, the three other dimensions are in the next levels with minor differences with each other. The results of the current study provide some implications for managers of organization. For improving employees job satisfaction, managers can teach the best way of setting priorities to employees, which will affect managing their time and contribute to increasing in the level of job satisfaction. This study has a limitation. As it was a questionnaire survey, a comprehensive description should be provided for employees to make them interested in filling the questionnaire carefully. Some employees thought that by measuring their job satisfaction, the managers want to discriminate employees in two separate groups (good and bad). Therefore, we clarify the main aim of this study and explain that the results of the current study will leads to improving employees work life. This study has some suggestions for further researches. Future studies can consider the following subjects: Identifying factors affect time management positively/negatively; identifying factors affect job satisfaction positively/negatively. Further studies can also employ a longitudinal study rather than a survey to explore the link between these two variables. References Atchinson, T., & Lefferts, E. (1975). The prediction of turnover using Herzberg s job satisfaction techniques. Personnel Psychology, 25:

8 Barling, J., Cheung, D., & Kelloway, E. K. (1996). Time management and achievement striving interact to predict car sales performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81(6): 821. Britton, B. K., & Tesser, A. (1991). Effects of time-management practices on college grades. Journal of educational psychology, 83(3), 405. Eilam, B., & Aharon, I. (2003). Students planning in the process of self-regulated learning. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 28(3): Gunlu, E., Aksarayli, M., & Percin, N. S. (2010). Job satisfaction and organizational commitment of hotel managers in Turkey. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 22(5): Huang, X., & Zhang, Z. (2001). The Compiling of Adolescence Time Management Disposition Inventory. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 33(4): Janicik, G. A., & Bartel, C. A. (2003). Talking about time: Effects of temporal planning and time awareness norms on group coordination and performance. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 7(2): 122. Jex, S. M., & Elacqua, T. C. (1999). Time management as a moderator of relations between stressors and employee strain. Work & Stress, 13(2): Joreskong, K. G., & Sorbom, D. (1989). LISREL 7: A guide to the program and application, 2Ed, Chicago: SPSS Software. Korp, H., Nickson, J., & Jack, W. (1973). Motivation hygiene deprivation as a predictor of job turnover. Personnel Psychology, 26: Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities, Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30: Lambert, M. D., Torres, R. M., Tummons, J. D. (2012). The influence of time management practices on job stress among beginning secondary agriculture teachers, Journal of agricultural education, 53(1): Landy, F. J., Rastegary, H., Thayer, J., & Colvin, C. (1991). Time urgency: The construct and its measurement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(5), 644. Lang, D. (1992). Preventing short-term strain through time-management coping. Work & Stress, 6(2): Lim, Y. M., & Seers, A. (1993). Time dimensions of work: Relationships with perceived organizational performance. Journal of Business and Psychology, 8(1), Locke, E. (1976). The nature and causes of job satisfaction, in Durincetti, M.D. (Ed.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Rand McNally, Chicago, IL, pp Locke, E. A., & Lathan, G. P. (1990). Theory of goal setting and task performance. Englewood Macan, T. H., Shahani, C., Dipboye, R. L., & Phillips, A. P. (1990). College students time management: Correlations with academic performance and stress. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(4), 760. Moon, J. W., & Kim, Y. G. (2001). Extending the TAM for a world with web context, information and management, 38: Nadiri, H., & Tanova, C. (2010). An investigation of the role of justice in turnover intentions, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behavior in hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 29, pp

9 Orlikowski, W. J., & Yates, J. (2002). It s about time: Temporal structuring in organizations. Organization science, 13(6): Peeters, M. A. G., & Rutte, C. G. (2005). Time Management Behavior as a Moderator for the Job Demand-Control Interaction. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 10(1): 64. Pool, S., Pool, B. E. Richard, & Sandra, J. (2007). A management development model Measuring organizational commitment and its impact on job satisfaction among executives in a learning organization. Journal of Management Development, 26(4): Porter, L., & Steers, M. (1973). Organizational work and personal factors in employee turnover and absenteeism. Psychological Bulletin, 80: Rastgar, A. A., Davoudi, S. M. M., Oraji, S., & Fartash, K.. (2012). Illustrate the important linkage between perception of justice in organization and employees job satisfaction. Asian journal of research in social science and humanities, 2(5): Rust, R., Stewart, G., Miller, H., & Pielack, D. (1996), the satisfaction and retention of frontline employees. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 7: Scott, K. D., & Taylor, G. S. (1985). An examination of conflicting findings on the relationship between job satisfaction and absenteeism: a meta-analysis. Academy of Management Journal, 28: Spector, P. (1997). Job Satisfaction: Application, Assessment, Causes and Consequences, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Tett, R., & Meyer, J. (1993). Job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention, and turnover: path analysis based on meta-analytic findings. Personnel Psychology, 46: Stamps, P. L. & Piedmont, E. B. (1986). Nurses and Work satisfaction. Health Administration Press, Michigan. Pfaff, L. A. (2002). Time management practices inventory (TMPI). Carmel, IN: Performance Assessment Network. 74

Asian Research Consortium

Asian Research Consortium International Journal of Research in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2013, pp. 25-34. ISSN 2320-8724 International Journal of Research in