Effects of informal controls and psychological empowerment on job satisfaction

ABSTRACT The aim of this article was to investigate the effects of informal controls on psychological empowerment and job satisfaction. Despite previous studies having analyzed the role of certain management control systems in individual results, such as psychological empowerment and job satisfaction, the evidence on informal controls within this context is inconclusive. Credit union systems play a considerable role in economic growth, regional development, and employability. We therefore explore the perception of directors and managers of business units of one of the biggest cooperative systems regarding the informal controls used. Considering that job satisfaction has a series of implications for organizations (for example in employee loyalty and job performance), it is important to understand its determinants. The literature points to the growing concern among contemporary organizations about informal controls. Various studies focus on understanding the role of these controls and their respective effects on organizational and individual behaviors. From the individual perspective, there is a need to analyze the indirect effects of management controls on individual aspects by means of psychological variables. Thus, this study provides new evidence on informal controls in organizations by exploring the intervening role of psychological empowerment and the (beneficial) effects on job satisfaction. In addition, the study provides a methodological contribution to the national research on management control by adding an analysis based on mixed methods. A survey was applied to directors and managers of business units of one of the biggest credit union systems in Brazil. The data were analyzed using a mixed methods approach: partial least squares structural equation modeling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Informal controls are directly and indirectly associated (via empowerment) with job satisfaction. Moreover, the findings indicate more than one solution for high job satisfaction.

Exploring the Unison of Socio-Technical Assemblage

Work from home (or remote working) has become the new normal ever since the pandemic hit the world. This new normal, which represents the unison of social and technical assemblage, has been used as a backdrop in the study to explore the nature of employee job behaviour and its impact on job satisfaction. The sample consisted of employees who are working remotely from their homes in the information technology sector. The Cronbach alpha of the questionnaire was found to be .862. The results indicate that dimensions of employee job behaviour like enhanced work association, need for interaction for information exchange, and increased work responsibility were found to be highly correlated in the backdrop of work from home. Further, employee job behaviour was found to be significantly impacting job satisfaction of employees in the backdrop of work from home.