Date of Award

8-1992

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. Patrick M. Jenlink

Second Advisor

Dr. Rosalie Torres

Third Advisor

Dr. Ralph Chandler

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate to what degree Western education and Saudi Arabian employees' degree of participation in quality circle programs influences their job satisfaction. These variables were investigated using a survey administered to 150 Saudi Arabian employees working in the production department of a Saudi Arabian company. The Questionnaire of Participation and Satisfaction (QPS) instrument that was used in this investigation is a 20-item questionnaire; items 1-13 were developed by the researcher, and items 14-20 were developed by Abbas (1985). The questionnaire consisted of three components designed to determine: where employees were educated, as well as highest level of education attained; degree of participation in quality circle programs within the production department; and, level of employee job satisfaction. Data collected were analyzed using the i test for independent means and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

The findings from this study indicated that Western-educated employees are more likely to participate in quality circle programs than those employees who have been educated within Saudi Arabia. Further, the investigation demonstrated that Western-educated employees are more likely to be satisfied in their job than are those employees who have been educated within Saudi Arabia. Also, this investigation demonstrated that employees' degree of participation in quality circle programs, whether high or low, does not influence their job satisfaction. Finally, this investigation demonstrated that there are no significant relationships among employees' type of education (Western or Arabian) and degree (high or low) of participation in quality circle programs, and their job satisfaction. That is, there were no significant differences between employees' job satisfaction levels as related to their degree of participation in quality circle programs. Employees who participated in quality circle programs to a high degree expressed no significantly higher levels of job satisfaction than employees who participated to a lesser degree in the quality circle programs. Job satisfaction levels were not considerably higher in employees participating to a high degree in quality circle programs, regardless of where their education was received. Employees educated in Saudi Arabia or in Western countries who participated to a lower degree in quality circle programs showed almost the same levels of job satisfaction as their co-workers who participated to a higher degree.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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