Chinese employees' work values and turnover intentions in multinational companies: the mediating effect of pay satisfaction by Christina

Yu-Ping Wang, Mei-Huei Chen, Bill Hyde, Lillian Hsieh Workers in the People's Republic of China have become accustomed to the varying aspects of employment. Today, many view job choice and turnover intent as distinct aspects of work and are aware that these are directly related to their job. However, since this was not always the case this new attitude of workers has created problems in the current labor market in China. Younger generations of Chinese workers have become individualistic and materialistic and also tend to seek more challenges and changes, thus causing them to pursue better employment opportunities and seek higher wages (Ralston, Egri, Stewart, Terpstra, & Kaicheng, 1999). From a human resource management (HRM) perspective, these conditions have created other problems that are associated with employment in China. Allen and Meyer (1996) found that turnover intentions were negatively associated with organizational commitment. This indicated that attention needs to be given to the strategies that are used currently to prevent employee turnover. Turnover is costly to an organization because of the losses that are associated with it (Lum, Kervin, Clark, Reid, & Sirola, 1998). HRM professionals need to focus their efforts on reducing employee turnover in order for Chinese businesses and industries to operate efficiently. Mitchel (1981) concluded that if personal and organizational context variables have any effect on turnover or turnover intention, it is probably through role perceptions. Although researchers have examined the effect of commitment on turnover intention, of pay satisfaction on organizational commitment, and of work values on organizational commitment, few have tried to determine if there is a relationship between these factors in a Chinese context. To predict turnover intention adequately it is necessary to examine current Chinese employee work values and the factors that are related to these. In the current study we examined literature on the topic of current employment issues in China. It became apparent that multinational corporations operating in China (MNCs) need to address present employment issues so that they can continue to meet the challenges and changes that continue to evolve in a corporation today. MNC managers have been found to experience a variety of problems with workers, some of which resulted from cultural differences. However, it was also thought that these problems were related to the fact that industry in China continues to undergo changes. LITERATURE REVIEW

CHINESE CULTURAL VALUES In a survey of values, Hofstede (1980a) identified four cultural dimensions; power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism, and masculinity/femininity. However, it should be noted that in the analysis of data in the survey of Chinese values a dimension that resembled uncertainty avoidance was not found. In contrast, the fourth dimension in the data was rooted in the teachings of Confucius. Chinese people are known for having values that are oriented towards the future like thriftiness and persistence; they also value respect for tradition and fulfilling social obligations (Hofstede, 1993). WORK VALUES Values are regarded as the essential concepts that are possessed by individuals and a society. Schwartz (1999) defined value as a desirable concept that guides the way people select their actions, evaluate people and events, and explains their actions and evaluations. Super and Hoppock (1950) investigated job satisfaction and found that aspects of work such as wages, hours worked, opportunities to help others, and independence were related to an employee's level of satisfaction with his/her job. Super and Super (1957) observed that individuals share similar values that are work related and termed these work values. In later research, Super (1970) described work values as the qualities that are desired by an individual in their activities, life situations, and acquisitions. Work values have been more narrowly defined as the end states people desire and feel they ought to be able to realize through working (Nord, Brief, Atieh, & Doherty, 1988). Zytowski (1970) reasoned that work values mediate an individual's preferences and work goals (e.g., when a promotion is offered, the degree of preference varies according to personal values). Other researchers have found that work values are involved in an individual's career selection, career planning, degree of contribution, job performance, and work intent (Locke, 1969; Super, 1970). King and Bond (1985) found that Confucianism encourages the pursuit of long-term benefits (perseverance) as a trade-off for suffering short-term loss (thriftiness). Adherence to this philosophy stresses the value of diligence and working hard to achieve long-term goals which can be related to the work values of self-enhancement, rewards, stability, and personal interest. Jaw, Ling, Wang, and Chang (2006) provided a model for Confucian dynamism that further reinforced the emphasis placed on self-enhancement in that, in their model, Chinese work values are directly related to self-enhancement and openness to change. For MNCs to be successful in China, they must integrate Confucian dynamism into their management practices in order to motivate Chinese workers to strive for the self-achievement and openness to change that is valued in Chinese culture. Jaw

and colleagues suggest that Western cultural experience can build on the main cultural value of Chinese Confucian dynamism. PAY SATISFACTION Pay satisfaction can have a positive or negative impact on an individual's feelings about his/her pay level. Porter and Lawler (1968) defined pay satisfaction as the feelings or affective perceptions that an individual experiences in relation to the existing pay system. Pay satisfaction also operates as an expression of comparison between what exists and what is expected (Locke, 1969; Porter, 1961). Graham and Messner (1998) described pay satisfaction as a successive reaction that demonstrates negative and positive values. It is these negative and positive values that indicate how an individual feels about their work (Miceli & Lane, 1991). The best known models of pay satisfaction are the equity and discrepancy theories. Both theories are built on the hypothesis that satisfaction is a direct result of the psychological state that an employee has when the pay he/she is receiving with the pay he/she expects to receive. However, it is believed that the expectancy theory is more closely linked to pay satisfaction. Porter and Lawler (1968) described how an individual bases his/her personal expectations and perceptions on returns, which assist him/her in deciding how much effort he/she will expend to perform a particular task. The model these authors proposed has three main elements; effort, expected rewards, and performance. Negative consequences of pay satisfaction that have been reported are unwanted behaviors including absenteeism, lower performance levels, lower turnover commitment, and a willingness to strike (Orpen & Bonnici, 1987). Chiu and Kosinski (1999) found that people who have a positive outlook on life tend to experience greater job satisfaction. Organizational Commitment There are a number of definitions of organizational commitment. Sheldon (1971) defined organizational commitment as an attitude or orientation toward the organization, which links or attaches the identity of the person to the organization. Weiner (1982) referred to organizational commitment as the internalized pressures for acting in a way that meets the organization's goals and interests. Organizational commitment has also been described as the bond between an employee and the organization (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990). A central theme in the numerous definitions and descriptions is the psychological attachment that an individual develops with an organization. Organizational commitment has been an active area of research and most of the findings have provided insight into the attitudes and behaviors that are displayed at work. Some researchers have found that organizational commitment is seen in employee behaviors

such as absenteeism, job searching, prosocial behavior, and turnover or turnover intention (Gellatly, 1995; Morrow, 1993; O'Reilly & Chatman, 1986; Somers, 1993; Steers, 1977); attitudinal constructs such as high motivation, job involvement, job performance, and job satisfaction (Farrell & Rusbult, 1981; Gregson, 1992); characteristics of the job such as flexibility, responsibility, and role conflict; and other variables including age, gender, and length of tenure (Bateman & Strasser, 1984; Mathieu & Zajac, 1990). TURNOVER INTENTION The time always comes when an individual considers the possibility of terminating his or her employment with an organization (Mobley, 1982). Turnover intention has been defined as a conscious psychological willingness to leave an organization (Tett & Meyer, 1993). It also represents thoughts of quitting a job or searching for new employment opportunities. Price and Mueller (1981) described how there are diverse factors that affect turnover, which can make it difficult to predict turnover behavior accurately. However, turnover intention (or the intention to leave) has been identified as the best predictor of turnover because researchers have demonstrated that intention to leave has been consistently correlated with turnover (Bedeian, Kemery, & Pizzolatto, 1991; Mobley, Homer & Hollingsworth, 1978; Newman, 1974). Compared to job search behavior, turnover intention has been found to be a more consistent antecedent (Kopelman, Rovenpor, & Millsap, 1992; Vandenberg, Self, & Seo, 1994). Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) identified the best predictor of an individual's behavior as the strength of his/her intention to perform that behavior. WORK VALUES AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT Herzberg (1966) defined organizational commitment as an exchange process of an employee's values and the work rewards that are provided by an organization. Some researchers view work values as a specific and important variable that helps to explain organizational commitment (Kidron, 1978; Putti, Aryee, & Liang, 1989). In other studies researchers have classified work values into extrinsic and intrinsic dimensions as a method of investigating organizational commitment. Intrinsic work values have been found to influence organizational commitment more significantly when compared to extrinsic work values (Mottaz, 1986; Putti et al., 1989). This finding formed the basis of our first hypothesis: Hypothesis 1: Work values will affect both normative and continuance organizational commitment. WORK VALUES, PAY SATISFACTION, AND TURNOVER INTENTION

Schwartz (1999) suggested that the pursuit of intrinsic work values (e.g., personal growth or opportunities for creativity) was likely to be seen as desirable and justified when the value of autonomy is emphasized. Hofstede (1980b) suggested that in patriarchal societies motivation may be based more on the acquisition of money and possessions than on quality of life because money is associated with security and stability. Jaw and colleagues (2006) believed that, in this respect, Western culture has had an effect on Chinese Confucian dynamism. A possible explanation for this is that people in management positions in Chinese industries/businesses who have been exposed to Western cultures are thought to work more diligently so they can obtain more rewards that are related to performance, and this is a major feature of management practices in the Western work environment (Jaw et al., 2006). These findings formed the basis of the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 2: Work values will affect an individual's intention to leave. Hypothesis 3: An individual's level of pay satisfaction will have a mediating effect on the relationship between work values and intention to leave. PAY SATISFACTION, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, AND TURNOVER INTENTION Williams and Hazer (1986) suggested that rather than simply categorizing the determinants of turnover, researchers should try to identify the sequence of emotional responses in the turnover process. Job attitude and psychological factors have been found to affect turnover intention. Researchers have investigated the relationships among job satisfaction (JS), organizational commitment (OC), pay satisfaction, and turnover intention (TI) with several different models being developed from the analyses. The first model was based on the proposition that organizational commitment acts as a mediator of job satisfaction and turnover intention (i.e., JS>OC>TI). Porter et al. (1974) found that job satisfaction contributed to organizational commitment based on the specificity and stability argument. Steers (1977) found that there was an exchange between the two components in that employees elevate their level of commitment as their expectations are satisfied. In the second model, organizational commitment was presented as the cause of job satisfaction (i.e., OC>JS>TI). Bateman and Strasser (1984) described how commitment initiates a rationalizing process through which individuals make sense of their current situation by developing attitudes that are consistent with their commitment.

In the third model a correlation was found between organizational commitment and job satisfaction; with both components interacting and influencing turnover through turnover intention. Williams and Hazer (1986) found that job satisfaction and organizational commitment acted as a deterrent to turnover intention, and reduced turnover was the consequence. Farkas and Tetrick (1989) reported that job satisfaction and organizational commitment appear to have a strong predictive value for turnover intention and found that the two variables were related. Elangovan (2001) found that there had been an inadequate understanding of the roles played by satisfaction and commitment in turnover intentions and that there was some confusion regarding the relationship between pay satisfaction and commitment. In this study we sought to clarify these differing views and build an explicit model to illustrate the causal relationships among job satisfaction, commitment, and intention to quit one's job. Mobley (1977) identified satisfaction as the obvious antecedent to behavior intentions. Bretz, Boudreau, and Judge (1994) found in their study of employed managers that dissatisfaction was caused by the diverse aspects of the job and organization. In their study Campbell and Campbell (1997) examined the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention in Singapore and found that Singaporeans regard pay as the most important factor that would cause them to leave an organization. Other researchers have provided evidence that pay satisfaction is negatively associated with turnover intention (Bluedorn, 1982; Chiu & Kosinski, 1999; Spector, 1997). From these various findings we formed the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 4: The greater an individual's pay satisfaction the lower will be his/ her intention to leave. In previous studies, it has been found that the relationship between pay satisfaction (job satisfaction) and organizational commitment is variable and at times results are contradictory. Bateman and Strasser (1984) determined that organizational commitment was the initial affective factor and was an antecedent to job satisfaction. Porter et al. (1974) held the opposite view, arguing that satisfaction represents one specific component of organizational commitment. Williams and Hazer (1986) were of the view that satisfaction does causally affect organizational commitment, while Steers (1977) found that as an employee's needs are satisfied by the organization, they develop more commitment to the organization. Chen and Francesco (1995) adopted the view that pay satisfaction has a causal influence on organizational commitment. Based on these divergent views, we formed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 5: The greater an individual's pay satisfaction the stronger will be his/her organizational commitment. Organizational commitment has been described as an antecedent of turnover intention (Poznanski & Bline, 1997). Other researchers have demonstrated the importance of organizational commitment in explaining turnover intention (Bluedorn, 1982; Mitchel, 1981; Porter, Steers, Mowday, & Boulian, 1974). Organizational commitment, procedural justice, and job-changing attitudes have been identified as the three main factors that are associated with turnover intention. Affective commitment has been found to be negatively related to turnover intention (Allen & Meyer, 1996; Chen & Francesco, 2000; Dunham, Grube, & Castaneda, 1994). Individuals with high affective commitment levels may choose to stay with an organization because they have a strong psychological belief in the organization and its mission. Organizational commitment has also been recognized as having a significantly negative association with turnover intention. The hypothesis we developed to test this was: Hypothesis 6: The stronger an individual's organizational commitment the lower will be his/her intention to leave. METHOD RESEARCH FRAMEWORK The aim in this study was to ascertain the effects of an individual's work values on pay satisfaction and organizational commitment and also to establish whether or not this set of values has negative associations with intention to leave. In the study, work values and pay satisfaction were taken as the determinants of organizational commitment and turnover intention. In the light of this view there was a need to ascertain whether or not there were any mediating effects that might occur between pay satisfaction, turnover intention, and work values. The semiconductor business was chosen as the subject of the study because it is a recently developed industry, because the sector has an engineering orientation. Figure 1. Research framework. SAMPLING PROCEDURE A total of 260 questionnaires were distributed randomly to employees of three selected foreign-funded MNCs in the semiconductor business operating in the area around Shanghai, China in May of 2005. Respondents were limited to citizens of China; expatriates from other countries (e.g., Taiwan, America) were not invited to participate in the survey. All participants were assured of anonymity. A total of 125 questionnaires were returned and 112 were determined to be valid, giving a response rate of 43%.

MEASURES The questionnaire consisted of 20 work value items, 16 pay satisfaction items, 20 organizational commitment items, and six turnover intention items. The questionnaires were written in English initially and then translated into Chinese by the authors, using back translation to ensure accuracy of the translation. The measuring scales were selected as described below. Work Values Three dimensions of work values were defined in this study: people-related, job outcome, and the job itself. People-related factors included relationships with colleagues and supervisors, personal growth, recognition, the use of expertise, knowledge, and competence. Job outcome represented the desire for respect, economic rewards, secure and stable lifestyle, benefits, prestige, and social status. Finally, the job itself focused on working conditions, hours worked, degree of autonomy, ideal pursuance, and meaningfulness of job content. The 20 items that were used for measurement of work values were taken from the Work Values Scale (Elizur, Borg, Hunt, & Beck, 1991). Participants rated their opinions on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Pay Satisfaction Heneman and Schwab (1985) categorized pay into four dimensions: level, benefits, pay increases, and structure. In the current study these dimensions were condensed down to 2 factors--financial satisfaction and structural satisfaction. Financial satisfaction incorporates the first three dimensions of Heneman and Schwab's model and structural satisfaction remained the same as the original factor. Pay satisfaction was measured using a 16-item scale similar to the items used in Heneman and Schwab's Pay Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ; 1985). Responses followed a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = very dissatisfied to 5 = very satisfied. The questions in the PSQ were used to explore the two dimensions as follows: financial satisfaction (questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, and 14) and structural satisfaction (questions 7, 8, 10, 11, 15, and 16). Organizational Commitment Meyer and Allen (1991) developed a 3-component conceptualization that we adapted to measure organizational commitment in this study. The questionnaire contained 18 items classified as affective commitment (1-6), continuance commitment (7-12), and normative commitment (13-18). In our study we used only Questions 8-17, omitting the dimension of affective commitment. Participants rated their responses using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Turnover Intention In order to investigate how often respondents seriously considered quitting their job, whether or not they wanted to quit, and/or were actually planning to quit, six items were extracted from a scale developed by Konovsky and Cropanzano (1991). Responses followed a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree.

RESULTS FACTOR ANALYSIS Exploratory factor analysis was used in this study in order to construct condensed dimensions. There were diverse variables in the instruments and factor analysis assisted with extracting the common factor of the specific instrument and established a more understandable factor structure. Factor analysis results provided us with the rearranged dimensions of each variable. As already described above, the work value dimensions were reclassified to people-related, job outcome, and the job itself instead of intrinsic, extrinsic, and concomitant. Four pay satisfaction dimensions were combined into financial and structural aspects. As for the organizational commitment dimensions, the affective dimension was not included in this study because normative and continuance aspects were the targets. We employed the refined factors of each variable, which were more suitable for the respondents; the statistical results are shown as Appendices 1, 2, and 3 at the end of this paper. DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS Table 1 shows the demographic distribution of the participants. CORRELATIONS RESULTS We performed correlations to test the six hypotheses. A Pearson's correlation illustrated that work values, pay satisfaction, and organizational commitment were positively correlated and that these three variables were negatively associated with turnover intention. DEMOGRAPHICS Each demographic factor was loaded separately into the SPSS program as a dependent variable and all the other factors were loaded as independent variables. All the variables and factors were confirmed to be homogeneous (p > 0.05). There was no significant difference caused by age, gender, or marital status. There were some differences that we found interesting in the t test and one-way ANOVA statistical results. First, it was found that education had a significant impact on the dimension of the job itself in work values. Employees with higher education backgrounds were more concerned about job aspects, such as job autonomy, job content, and having a meaningful job, than were those who had less education. Different degrees of normative commitment and turnover intention were found in each group according to the number of years they had been working for the company.

Employees who had been with a company for 5 or more years had a higher normative commitment than those who had been with the company for fewer than 5 years. The group that had been employed for longer tended to feel more obligated towards the company and possessed a higher level of commitment. Additionally, the group who had been employed for fewer than 5 years was found to have a lower satisfaction with pay and less commitment, but they also demonstrated a lower level of intention to leave. One possible explanation for this is that staff members who have been employed for a shorter time had less work experience and, possibly, less competence; so they were less sure of their ability to find a new and better job. A high level of pay satisfaction (both financial and structural) and of organizational commitment was found in the management group, which suggested two things. First, because management-level employees are well paid and receive a better benefit package in comparison to the nonmanagement group and because the potential cost of seeking a new job was higher, so management-level employees tended not to leave a company and demonstrated a higher organizational commitment as compared to the nonmanagement group. REGRESSION ANALYSIS WORK VALUES AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT REGRESSION The people-related work values dimension was found to have a positive and significant influence on normative commitment ([beta] = 0.339, t = 3.025). The job outcome dimension was also found to have a positive influence on continuous commitment ([beta] = 0.220, t = 2.134). These results suggested that individuals place a high degree of importance on their relationships with colleagues and supervisors. WORK VALUES, PAY SATISFACTION, AND TURNOVER INTENTION AND THE MEDIATOR EFFECT Table 4 confirmed that work values and pay satisfaction (financial and structural) were significantly influenced by turnover intention (p < 0.001), which indicated that pay satisfaction was able to explain 35.5% of turnover intention. Financial satisfaction was also found to have a highly negative ability in predicting turnover intention ([beta] = -0.515, p < 0.001), which indicated that an individual that has financial satisfaction is less likely to leave an organization PAY SATISFACTION, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, AND TURNOVER INTENTION

Table 6 revealed a highly significant effect of pay satisfaction and turnover intention on organizational commitment ([beta] = 0.543, p < 0.001), which led us to assume that employees who expressed a high level of financial pay satisfaction possessed a higher level of organizational commitment, for both continuous commitment ([beta] = 0.359, p < 0.01) and normative commitment ([beta] = 0.468, p < 0.001). The research results supported our final hypothesis and were consistent with the results of previous research (Steers, 1977). DISCUSSION In summary, work values, pay satisfaction, and organizational commitment were all found to have a significant influence in predicting turnover intention. This supported our hypotheses. All three variables were able to explain 56.7% of turnover intention. DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS OF WORK VALUES AFFECT AN INDIVIDUAL'S INTENTION TO LEAVE Work values were confirmed to have a high influence and a negative coefficiency variance on turnover intention. The people-related dimension of work values was found to have a significant effect on turnover intention, which implied that, in terms of intention to leave their job, among the three dimensions of work values, the respondents were more influenced by people-related issues like personal growth and their relationships with their supervisor and colleagues. This may be a result of emphasis that the Chinese culture places on interpersonal relationships, especially when compared to Western cultures (see e.g., Chou, Cheng, Huang, & Cheng, 2006). AN INDIVIDUAL'S LEVEL OF PAY SATISFACTION HAS MEDIATING EFFECTS ON THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN WORK VALUES AND INTENTION TO LEAVE Pay satisfaction was found to have a significant influence on turnover intention. So it was not surprising to find that employees who displayed a high level of pay satisfaction had less intention to leave. When financial pay satisfaction was fulfilled, the intention to leave reduced dramatically. By adding pay satisfaction into the equation of work values and turnover intention, the new equation more strongly predicted turnover intention (R2 increased from 0.172 to 0.411). In the new environment of social-capitalism in China, younger generations of Chinese workers have become more individualistic and materialistic. They tend to seek more personal growth and recognition tied to financial rewards. If they do not receive the expected financial rewards they are more likely to leave an organization than were their

forbears. We believe that this situation explains the research results of pay satisfaction mediating the relationship between work values and turnover intention. AN INDIVIDUAL'S LEVEL OF PAY SATISFACTION HAS A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT AND ITS DIMENSIONS Pay satisfaction and organizational commitment proved to be positively correlated in that pay satisfaction had a significant influence on organizational commitment. Pay satisfaction accounted for 38% of organizational commitment. When broken down into each dimension, financial pay satisfaction was found to have a highly significant influence and to be strongly predictive of organizational commitment. Implications of these results are, firstly, that compared to pay structure, the actual financial payment was of greater concern to the employee than it was to the managers. Second, management could assess the degree of an individual's organizational commitment by investigating the employee's level of pay satisfaction. AN INDIVIDUAL'S ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT IS NEGATIVELY RELATED TO TURNOVER INTENTION In the past, researchers have confirmed the relationship between organizational commitment and turnover intention (Mitchel, 1981; Mobley, 1977). In this study we found that organizational commitment was negatively correlated with turnover intention, and this result has significance for the ability to predict intention to leave. Employees attach themselves to a company by aligning their personal interests and goals with the company. When an employee is able to have more input and spontaneously puts more effort and time into his/her work, he or she tends not to be as likely to leave the company. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS In this study, work values, pay satisfaction, and organizational commitment were found jointly and individually to have a significant influence on turnover intention. It was found that the way in which people relate to others plays a significant role in Chinese companies. We found that when a company's management supports its employees' value systems, the employees tended to have a higher commitment to the organization. In the literature review, work values were shown by many researchers to dominate an employee's work intent, job performance, and contribution. Individuals place different values on the same things and so with a better knowledge of the employee's value system the employer should be able to increase the employee's organizational commitment. Respondents in this study valued interpersonal relationships and individual growth,

which provides management with an opportunity to create an atmosphere that is more family-like and caring to take advantage of this focus. The results of this study may provide some guidelines for managers in understanding the work vales of the younger generation of Chinese employees, and this could lead to implementation of more effective policies for improving employee retention. Some companies in China have not tried to find ways to reduce turnover because the labor supply has been plentiful. This situation has changed and it has become increasingly difficult for Chinese firms to recruit new employees. Our results confirming that pay satisfaction and organizational commitment were strong predictors of turnover intention, indicate that companies should conduct periodic surveys of employees on their pay satisfaction and organizational commitment. This could lead to a better understanding of employee reactions and feelings about, and opinions of, the company's current operations or policies; it could also help management to take precautions against unexpected developments. Reducing the turnover rate has always been an important area for human resource managers to focus on. This study has provided three directions for positive development; understanding the employee's work values, evaluating pay satisfaction, and measuring organizational commitment. Human resource managers should combine these objectives into their functions of recruitment, education, and evaluation. The study was not without limitations. There are certain factors that should be kept in mind when interpreting the results. First, the target of the investigation was a single industry. The respondents possessed a high level of education and other specializations, so they are not necessarily representative of the general workforce in China (e.g., people working in the service and manufacturing industries might possess different work values relating to organizational commitment and turnover intention). Future researchers should test the reliability of the findings with other sectors of business and industry, as well as taking demographics into account as control variables in the analysis. Additionally, there is a possibility that the structure of this research might have been too simplistic, and the survey may also suffer from common method variance. Attempts to explain an increase or decrease in the level of organizational commitment and turnover intention can involve many factors. Work values and pay satisfaction are just two factors that were used in this study; however, there are many other factors that could be considered or examined. This study might also have been limited by the quantification methods that were used. Future researchers could include qualitative measures for obtaining additional information from the participants. Generalizing the opinion of individuals could provide a more complete picture of the relationships between organizational commitment and turnover intention. Additionally, the

questionnaires were distributed in the Greater Shanghai area; hence, their representation might not be generalizable to other areas in China.
APPENDIX 1 FACTOR ANALYSIS OF WORK VALUES Item 1. 2. Factor loadings (rotated) Work involves loyalty to my firm. Work provides me with personal growth and self-improvement. Work requires my expertise, knowledge, and ability Work involves serving and contributing to society. Work involves maintaining good relationships with colleagues. I receive fair treatment from my superior at work. I obtain good evaluations about my job performance. My position earns me respect. My main reason for working at my job is the salary. Work gives me security and stability in life. My job provides me with benefits. Work gives me popularity and increases my social status. My job allows for autonomy and independence. My job is meaningful. My job increases my self-actualization. Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3

0.602

-0.112

0.060

0.662 0.623 0.509 0.574 0.684 0.596 0.066 0.061 0.072 0.237 -0.072

0.097 0.131 0.139 0.111 0.065 0.350 0.571 0.726 0.601 0.650 0.720

0.312 0.321 0.393 0.043 0.126 0.317 0.380 0.180 -0.047 0.035 0.249

3. 4. 9. 10. 18.

13. 14. 15. 16. 20.

5. 6. 7.

0.185 0.304 0.272 2.875 19.166 19.166

0.123 0.079 0.327 2.483 16.556 35.722 0.8611 0.7991

0.790 0.725 0.603 2.233 14.885 50.607

Eigenvalue (rotated) Variance explained (%) Accumulated variance Explained (%) Cronbach's alpha value for each dimension

0.8385

0.8065

Notes: Factor 1: people-related; Factor 2: job outcome; Factor 3: the job itself.

APPENDIX 2 FACTOR ANALYSIS--PAY SATISFACTION Item 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 9. 12. 13. 14. Factor loadings (rotated) My salary is high. My employer offers worthwhile benefits. I am satisfied with my most recent pay raise. My boss was fair in my recent pay raise evaluation. I am satisfied with the benefits offered by my employer My previous pay rises were acceptable. My salary matches my abilities. I am satisfied with my current salary. I am satisfied with the current benefits provided by my job. I agree with the criteria used for assessing who is due for a pay raise. I am satisfied with the pay information provided by my employer. I agree with the pay rates for other positions at my work. The pay policy is consistent at work. I agree with the pay differences across various positions at work. I agree with the payment methods offered. Factor 1 0.878 0.783 0.626 0.506 0.868 0.606 0.683 0.775 0.780 0.599 Factor 2 0.107 0.188 0.353 0.335 0.229 0.364 0.440 0.309 0.327 0.480

8. 10. 11. 15. 16.

0.510 0.514 0.284 0.425 0.022

0.527 0.538 0.725 0.549 0.543

Eigenvalue (rotated) % of variance explained Cumulative % of variance explained Cronbach's alpha value Cronbach's alpha value for each dimension Notes: Factor 1: financial pay satisfaction; Factor 2: structural pay satisfaction. APPENDIX 3 FACTOR ANALYSIS--ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT Item Factor loadings (rotated)

5.974 2.784 39.825 18.562 39.825 58.386 0.9372 0.9364 0.7877

Factor 1

Factor 2

8. 9. 10.

12.

I would find it hard to leave my current job. My life will be negatively impacted if I leave my job. I will have a limited selection of jobs if I decide to leave my current employment. It will be hard to find a job if I leave my current employment. Due to the current opportunities my job provides, I would choose not to leave. I would feel disloyal if I left. The company has earned my loyalty. I will not leave because I feel obligated to stay.

0.739 0.710

0.090 -0.008

0.879 0.639

-0.013 0.173

14.

15. 16. 17.

0.218 0.205 0.310 -0.093

0.789 0.633 0.531 0.550

Eigenvalue (rotated) % of variance explained Cumulative % of variance explained Cronbach's alpha value Cronbach's alpha value for each dimension Notes: Factor 1: continuance commitment; Factor 2: normative commitment. TABLE 1 DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS n Gender Age Male Female 20-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 Senior high school College Master's degree Doctorate Married Single Less than 1 year 1-2 years 3-5 years More than 5 years 73 39 55 43 12 2 15 88 7 2 21 91 57 38 13 4

2.441 1.967 27.126 21.859 27.126 48.985 0.7611 0.828 0.757

% 65.2 34.8 49.1 38.4 10.7 1.8 13.4 78.6 6.3 1.8 18.8 81.2 50.9 33.9 11.6 3.6

Education

Marital Status Tenure

Position

Nonmanagement Management

102 10

91 9

Note: N = 112 TABLE 2 CORRELATIONS ANALYSIS Correlations M Work values People-related Job outcome Job itself Pay Satisfaction Financial Structural Organizational Commitment Continuous commitment Normative commitment Turnover Intention SD Work Values Peoplerelated 1.000 0.294 ** 0.557 ** 0.273 ** 0.264 ** Job outcome Job itself

4.143 3.500 4.030 2.933 3.231

0.514 0.668 0.741 0.695 0.598

1.000 0.381 ** 0.066 0.196 * 0.116 0.153 **

2.410 3.102 2.609

0.810 0.625 0.694

-0.141

0.147

-0.102 0.125 -0.172 *

0.307 ** 0.127 -0.371 ** -0.143

Pay Satisfaction Financial Work values People-related Job outcome Job itself Pay Satisfaction Financial Structural Organizational Commitment Continuous commitment Normative commitment Turnover Intention Structural

Organizational Commitment Continuance Normative

1.000 1.000 0.713 **

1.000

0.346 **

0.227 **

1.000 0.201 * -0.255 ** 1.000 -0.623**

0.520 ** 0.398 ** -0.551 ** -0.436 **

Notes: * Correlation is significant at p < 0.05 (1-tailed); ** Correlation is significant at p < 0.01 (1-tailed).

TABLE 3 ONE-WAY ANOVA ANALYSIS Dependent Job itself Education Senior high school Bachelor's degree Master's degree Doctoral degree < 1 1-2 3-5 > 5 year years years years Normative commitment Turnover intention

3.489 4.112 4.190 4.000 3.329 * 3.133 2.916 3.354 3.600 2.859 * 2.465 2.825 2.718 2.250 2.697 *

Tenure

F test M

Position

Nonmanagement Management

F test M t test

Financial pay satisfaction Education Senior high school Bachelor's degree Master's degree Doctoral degree < 1 1-2 3-5 > 5 year years years years M

Structure pay satisfaction

Tenure

F test M

Position

Nonmanagement Management

F test M t test

2.873 3.530 -2.947 * Continuous commitment

3.193 3.620 -2.197 *

Education

Senior high school Bachelor's degree

Master's degree Doctoral degree Tenure < 1 1-2 3-5 > 5 year years years years F test M

Position

Nonmanagement Management

F test M t test

2.329 3.225 -3.501 *

Note: * p < 0.05 TABLE 4 MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS: WORK VALUES DIMENSIONS TO PAY SATISFACTION Financial pay satisfaction Work values People-related Job outcome Job itself Standardized [beta] 0.352 -0.043 -0.113 Pay satisfaction Work values People-related Job outcome Job itself Standardized [beta] 0.346 0.040 -0.104 t values t values Structural pay satisfaction Standardized [beta] 0.285 0.129 -0.080 t values

2.872 ** -0.417 -0.886

2.272 * 1.234 -0.613

2.799 ** 0.385 -0.814

Notes: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 TABLE 5 MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS: PAY SATISFACTION DIMENSIONS TO TURNOVER INTENTION Turnover intention Standardized Coefficients [beta] t values Significance

Financial pay satisfaction Structural pay satisfaction F = 6.88, p < 0.001 R [R.sup.2] Method entered

-0.515*** -0.097

-4.315 -0.831

0.000 0.408

0.596 0.355

* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.00 TABLE 6 MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS: PAY SATISFACTION AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT Continuance Commitment Standardized [beta] Financial pay satisfaction Structural pay satisfaction t values Normative Commitment Standardized [beta] t values

0.359 -0.076 Organizational Commitment Standardized [beta]

2.761 ** -0.595

0.468 0.068

3.751 *** 0.557

t values

Financial pay satisfaction Structural pay satisfaction

0.543 -0.020

4.619 *** -0.178

Method entered * p < 0.05, ** p <0.01, *** p < 0.001 TABLE 7 HIERARCHICAL REGRESSION: WORK VALUES, PAY SATISFACTION, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, AND TURNOVER INTENTION Turnover Intention

Model 1

Model 2 [beta] 5.641

Model 3

Constant Work Values people-related job outcome job itself Pay Satisfaction Financial Structural Organizational Commitment Continuance Commitment Normative Commitment F R [R.sup.2]

4.722

6.315 -0.124 -0.008 -0.126

-0.430 ** -0.180 -0.058 -0.068 -0.029 -0.089

-0.487 ** -0.211 -0.051 -0.054

-0.126 -0.494 ** 2.199 ** 0.172 0 5.892 ** 0.411 0.239 9.177 ** 0.567 0.156

* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001