The study of accountants turnover intention in nha trang luận văn thạc sĩ

The purpose of this study is to examine accountants’ job satisfaction focusing on the relationship among job characteristic and job attitude, and behavioral intention represented by turn

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

International School of Business

-

BUI THI THU HA

THE STUDY OF ACCOUNTANTS’ TURNOVER

INTENTION IN NHA TRANG

MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours)

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

International School of Business

-

BUI THI THU HA

THE STUDY OF ACCOUNTANTS’ TURNOVER

INTENTION IN NHA TRANG

MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours)

SUPERVISOR: Ass Prof Le Nguyen Hau

Especially, I would like to give my special thanks my family for supporting

me spiritually throughout my life

Ho Chi Minh City,

Bui Thi Thu Ha

ii

TABLES OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT 7

CHAPTER I 7

1.1 Introduction 7

1.2 Research background and problem 9

1.3 Research question and objectives: 10

1.4 Scope of the study: 11

1.5 Organization of the study: 11

CHAPTER II 12

2.1 Introduction: 12

2.2 Theoretical review 12

2.2.1 Job autonomy 12

2.2.2 Task Interdependence 13

2.2.3 Job Satisfaction 14

2.2.4 Affective Commitment 14

2.2.5 Turnover Intention 16

2.3 The relationship among hypothesized variables 17

2.3.1 Job autonomy and Job satisfaction 17

2.3.2 Task interdependence and Job satisfaction 17

2.3.3 Job satisfaction and Affective commitment 17

2.3.4 Job satisfaction and Turnover intention 18

2.3.5 Affective commitment and Turnover intention 18

2.4 Concept framework of the study 19

CHAPTER III 20

3.1 Research Process 20

3.2 Conceptual variables and measurement scales 20

3.2.1 Job autonomy 21

3.2.2 Task interdependence 21

3.2.3 Job Satisfaction 21

iii

3.2.4 Affective commitment 22

3.2.5 Turnover intentions 22

3.2.6 Questionnaire’s measurement items: 23

3.3 Sampling method 24

3.3.1 Sampling 25

3.3.2 Data collection 25

3.4 Statistical Method 25

CHAPTER IV 27

4.1 Sample characteristics 27

4.2 Evaluation of measurement scales 30

4.2.1 Testing the reliability of variables 30

4.2.2 Scale testing by using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) 31

4.3 Correlation analysis 34

4.4 Hypotheses testing 35

4.5 The relationship between demographic variables and continuous variables: 40 4.6 Conclusion 45

CHAPTER V 47

5.1 Introduction 47

5.2 Summary 48

5.2.1 Relationship between Job characteristic and Job attitude: 48

5.2.2 The Internal relationship of job attitude: 48

5.2.3 Job attitude and behaviour intention 48

5.3 Managerial implications 48

5.4 Limitations and Recommendation for the future research 49

APPENDICES 58

iv

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: A Conceptual Model 19 Figure 4.1 histogram 39 Figure 4.2 normal P-P of regression standardized residual 39

v

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: Demographic characteristic of respondents 27

Table 4.2: Reliabilities Analysis 30

Table 4.3 EFA result of variables 32

Table 4.4 Rotated Component Matrix 32

Table 4.5 Correlation among factors 34

Table 4.6 Regression analysis - ANOVA 35

Table 4.7 Regression analysis - ANOVA 36

Table 4.8 Regression analysis - ANOVA 37

Table 4.9 Multiple Comparisons 41

Table 4.10 Conclusion 45

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, role of accountants in every organizations are more and more important Their duties now are not restricted only to bookkeeping but they are involved in different managerial levels, analyze past, examine and evaluate present conditions and make financial decision for future activities of organizations

The purpose of this study is to examine accountants’ job satisfaction focusing on the relationship among job characteristic and job attitude, and behavioral intention represented by turnover intention of accountants in Nha Trang organizations In this study, job characteristic is utilized with two variables which are job autonomy and task interdependence Job attitude is utilized with two variables which are job satisfaction and affective commitment Behavioral intention is utilized with turnover intention The data of this study are collected form 231 accountants who are working in Nha Trang The study used SPSS version 20 to analyze the data The study’s results indicate that in general the job attitude is affected by job characteristic The relationship within the variables of job attitude also indicated the job satisfaction has a positive relationship

to affective commitment Moreover, the relationship between Job attitude and behavioral intention was showed that affective commitment and job satisfaction have positive influence on turnover intention

Dess & Shaw (2001), turnover of trained employees is social loss for the organization

Several previous research have examined job satisfaction as a foundation of

turnover intentions (Mobley et al., 1979; Price and Mueller, 1981; Shore and Martin, 1989; Ghiselli et al., 2001; McBey and Karakowsky, 2001), however, these research

are conducted in the United States and Canada In addition, these research focus on hospitals, military and food-service companies However, the research found that turnover intention is predicted by job satisfaction, the strength of the job satisfaction and turnover intentions varies according to each setting

The main purpose of any organizations is to improve their productivity, their performance and to become more competitive and gain a larger market share HR departments or managers of organizations should be concerned about their employees’ needs and work To every manager, understanding their employees’ psychology will help him to organize their organization better, as well as, improve the working effects

in their organization They also want to establish satisfactory working conditions to enhance employees’ satisfaction

Every people know that the role of accountants in every organization is very important Their duties now are not restricted only to bookkeeping but they are involved in different managerial levels, analyze past, examine and evaluate present conditions and make financial decisions for future activities of organizations Therefore, research to find what make their satisfaction is important too

Autonomy involves responsibility for the outcomes of the work which results in outcomes like high work efficiency and higher levels of intrinsic motivation (Hackman

& Oldham1976; Langfred & Moye, 2004) According to Cordery & Wall (1985), Job

autonomy is the core of job characteristic It relates to the individual’s freedom in his/her work If the freedom can partly reduce the stress in the job, then he/she can promote their ability in the job Therefore, autonomy can make the job productivity Hackman & Oldham, (1975); Morgeson, Delaney-Klinger &Hemingway, (2005) suggest that Job autonomy is the degree to which the job offers considerable liberty, proving free hand and choice to the individual in scheduling the work and also defining the means to achieve the tasks According to Saragih (2011), Job autonomy results in an improved job performance because individuals think and consider themselves skillful and creative in accomplishing their tasks

Autonomy and independence are not the same as autonomous workers may depend on interpersonal communication in order to complete the interdependent tasks (Dee, Henkin & Chen, 2000) Campion et al (1993, 1996) have also examined task interdependence as a job characteristic and they used employees’ perceptions to measure the variable They found employee task interdependence perceptions were positively related to employee satisfaction (Campion et al., 1993), employee and manager judgments of effectiveness (Campion et al., 1996), and productivity (Campion et al., 1993), suggesting a direct relationship between perceptions and team outcomes

According to Meyer and Allen (1997), affective commitment refers to an employee's emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization Affective commitment is the affective bond an individual feels toward the organization, characterized by identification and involvement with the organization

as well as njoyment in being a member of the organization (Allen and Meyer, 1990; Meyer and Allen, 1997; Mowday, Porter, and Steers, 1982)

Job satisfaction has effect on to determine staying in or leaving the organization

If employees are dissatisfied with their work they are likely to leave from the organization If employees believe that they are treated fairly and getting rewards they are unlikely to leave the organization Focusing on accountant’s job satisfaction, Strawser et al (1969) are among the first to examine the impact of job satisfaction on the productivity level within this profession Prodromos, Eftichia, Eleni , Elena and Anastastios (2011) also have a Structural Equation Model about Greek accountants’ satisfaction and turnover intentions

1.2 Research background and problem

Accounting is said to be the language of business Business or not-for-profit organization need accounting to identify, record, summarize and report financial transactions used to form decisions Accountant is an individual or person who performs any or all of the accounting procedures, the identifying, recording, classifying, reporting and interpreting the financial condition and performance of a business or not-for-profit organization However, the role of the accountants has been developed through the years Their main duties used to be only to gather and report company’s past activities Nowadays, accountants are not restricted only to bookkeeping but they are involved in different managerial levels, analyze past, examine and evaluate present conditions and make financial decisions for future investments Without an accountant business organizations can’t work effectively Therefore, every business organization needs accountants Given the reasons above, every organization should not disregard the human contribution specially accountants’ role which is critical for the success

In Vietnam, the increasingly complicated economic environment coupled with heavy reporting requirements from the Government mean that it's more and more difficulties for investors, small business owners and even large companies to navigate their way through their financial interests So, managers are asking more from their accountants than ever before

However, the situation of lacking of good accountants in companies is very popular lately According to LaoDong (newspaper) online (http://laodong.com.vn/cong-doan/lao-dong-nganh-ke-toan-bo-viec-hang-loat-118207.bld), the turnover rate of Vietnamese companies has been dramatically increased recently, especially in accounting field From April to May in 2013, Employment Support Office of Laodong newspaper has received 1.300 applications Almost the applications are belonged to unemployed accountants (accounting for over 600 applications) Lao Dong online suggests that there are many reason leads to the high rate of accountants’ turnover, however, the main reason causes high turnover rate of accountant is job dissatisfaction, such as low salary, low working condition and etc Lao Dong online also stated that almost accountants who quit their job are working on small and average companies

This causes many troubles for Vietnamese companies, such as recruitment and training

Therefore, this research is conducted to find out the most factors affecting job satisfaction in order to make a contribution into reducing turnover rate of Vietnamese accountants This research conducts on accountants who are working in companies in Nha Trang City The purpose of this research is to explore perceptions of accountants

in Nha Trang companies and their working environment, their effect on job satisfaction and turnover intention In more detail, the study examines the possible effects of job characteristics, internal work motivation, and commitment (professional and organizational)…on accountants’ job satisfaction and turnover intention

1.3 Research question and objectives:

The purpose of this study is to find out the relationship among the job characteristic, job attitude and behavioral intention of accountants in Nha Trang Whereas, Job characteristic includes job autonomy and task interdependence; Job attitude includes Job satisfaction, Affective commitment; Behavioral intention includes turnover intention

The study divides the problem into 3 stages: Job characteristic, job attitude, and behavioral intention These 3 stages are defined as (1) Job characteristic factor (job autonomy, task interdependence), Job attitude factor (job satisfaction, affective commitment), and behavioral intention (turnover intention) The Job characteristics will influence on Job attitudes, then Job attitudes will predict and result their turnover intention Three groups related close with each other

Understanding this process can help manager understand more his/her accountants that he/she can adjust the condition to appropriate with the organization in order to reduce the rate of accountants’ turnover and increase their productivity of work

According to above discussion, the proposed research questions are as follows: (1) What are the relationship among job characteristics, job attitude on accountants’ behavioral intention?

(2) What is the relationship between turnover intention and selected demographic variables?

The research objectives are:

(1) To find the relationship of job characteristic, job attitude on accountants’ behavioral intention in Nha Trang

(2) To find the relationship of turnover intetnion and the selected demographic variables

1.4 Scope of the study:

The study is conducted in Nha Trang The respondents of this study are chief accountants, general accountants and accountants who are working in all kinds of organizations in Nhatrang

1.5 Organization of the study:

This research is constructed in five parts as followed:

Chapter 1: Introduction

The introduction of the study will give the overview information of the research

Chapter 2: Literature review and hypotheses

Literature review will review the theoretical of job characteristic, job attitude and behavioral intention, then, the study review the theoretical relationship between them Moreover, this chapter will show information about the model and hypothesis will be tested in this research

Chapter 3: Research method

This chapter is divided into 5 part: the first part is the research process; the second part

is conceptual variables and measurement scales; the third part is the results of in-depth qualitative research interviews; the forth part is sampling methods; and the last part introduces the methods to analyze data includes explanation of survey measurement, the questionnaire data analysis using method

Chapter 4: Research Findings and discussion

This chapter will show the results of questionnaire survey and the study’s discussion

Chapter 5: Conclusion and implications

Based on results of the study, this chapter will explain how managers in organizations can apply to reduce their accountants’ quitting rate Moreover, this chapter will present limitations of this research and imply how to apply this research correctly also how to develop this research further

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES

2.1 Introduction:

This research shows the relationship among job autonomy, task interdependence, job satisfaction, affective commitment and turnover intention of accountants in Nha Trang organizations (enterprises/ companies) This chapter also provides an overview

of turnover intention which has been conducted by previous researchers Based on these studies, a conceptual model is proposed

2.2 Theoretical review

This chapter provides an overview of the literature review relevant to this study

It discusses literature related to job autonomy, task interdependence, job satisfaction, affective commitment and turnover intention

2.2.1 Job autonomy

Autonomy is the extent to which employees have the freedom and discretion to plan, schedule, and carry out their jobs as desired Hackman and Oldham (1975) suggest that autonomy leads to the critical a psychological state of “experienced responsibility for outcomes of the work”, which in turn leads to outcomes such as high work effectiveness and high internal work motivation Saragih (2011) finds that Job autonomy is defined as the degree to which the job provides substantial freedom, independence, and discretion to the individual in scheduling work and in determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out

Morgeson, Delaney-Klinger and Hemingway, 2005 say that Job autonomy has been defined to reflect the extending to which job allows discretion, freedom, and independence to schedule work, or lets employees to make decisions and select methods to execute their tasks

Job autonomy is the essential characteristic in shaping worker attitudes, motivation, and behaviour (Fried & Ferris, 1987; Hackman & Oldham 1975) Job autonomy is defined as “The degree to which the job provides substantial freedom, independence, and discretion to the employee in scheduling the work and in

determining the processes to be used in carrying in out” (Hackman and Olham, 1980, p.79; Hornung, Rousseau, 2007)

Breaugh (1985) identifies three facets of job autonomy are:

(1) Work method autonomy: the degree of discretion or choice individuals have

regarding the procedures or methods they utilize in going about their work

(2) Work schedule autonomy: the extent to which workers feel they can control the

scheduling, sequencing or timing of their work activities

(3) Work criteria autonomy: the degree to which workers have ability to modify or

choose the criteria for evaluating their performance

Saragih (2011) also states that Job autonomy is believed could influence on job satisfaction Morgeson et al (2005) explain that job autonomy becomes a critical factor in raising employees’ intrinsic motivation and job satisfaction

2.2.2 Task Interdependence

Interdependence is the degree to which the job depends on others and others depend on it in order to complete the work Task interdependence is the job relationship to each other According to Kiggundu (1981), there are two distinct forms

of interdependence: the extent to which work flows from one job to others jobs and the extent to which a job is affected by work from others Wageman and Baker (1997) suppose that task interdependence reflects the degree to which an individual’s task performance depends on the efforts or skills of others

According to Kiggundu (1981); Lee, Earley, Lituchy, Wagner (1991), task interdependence is the interconnectedness between tasks such that successful performance of the other task Thompson (1967) suggests that task interdependence increases, there must be a corresponding increase in co-worker co-ordination, communication, and mutual adjustment However, cooperative efforts inhibit successful performance of low interdependent tasks

Goal setting provides relatively little coordination and works best in situations of low to moderate levels of task interdependence When task interdependence is high, the setting of specific and difficult goals for individual outputs cannot be directly measured If tasks are low in interdependence, this will allow individuals to performance in a quasi-autonomous fashion such that the setting of individual’s goals does not adversely affect performance

According to Wageman & Baker (1997), task interdependence is often considered the extent to which an individual’s task performance depends on the efforts and skills of others

2.2.3 Job Satisfaction

Locke (1976) suggests that job satisfaction as a ‘pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experiences’ Thus, job satisfaction is often considered as a work-related attitude with potential antecedent conditions (such as autonomy and pay) and potential consequences (such as absenteeism and job performance)

According to Spector (1997), job satisfaction is considered as an emotional reaction to work and the different facets of work nature This reaction can be positive

or negative as it stems from the congruence between personal and work values

Rose (2001) states job satisfaction can be divided into intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction Intrinsic satisfaction is associated with the content of one’s job, such as autonomy, degree of responsibility, variety of skills, supervision .; extrinsic satisfaction is also associated with one’s work environment (working conditions), such

as working hours, safety, promotion opportunities, tangible rewards and other bonuses Therefore, it is necessary to adopt a more detailed measurement of satisfaction for both intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics

Apart from the impact of satisfaction on performance and intention to leave, the former also serves as an indicator of cost saving In organizations, the rates of turnover and other kinds of costs are directly proportional If the employees quit their job, expenses of their organizations will increase These expenses include the cost of hiring and training the new personnel According to Silverthorne (2005), if employees feel low or dissatisfaction, their efforts contribute to the achievement of the organizational goals is decreased This leads to a decrease of organizational performance

2.2.4 Affective Commitment

Meyer & Allen (1997) suggest that this component is the emotional attachment

of identification and involvement, established between workers and an organization Affectively committed workers are in the disposition of affecting important efforts for benefiting the organization, as well as having strong intention of maintaining in it (Lillian, Freeman, Rush & Lance, 1999) Meyer and Allen (1997) suggest that

affectively committed employees are expected to have a set of positive reactions and behaviors in workplaces, as well as willingness to contribute for the organization purposes The effects of affective organizational commitment have been a clear focus

of literature, especially regarding its consequences on workers performances Following this line of reasoning, the literature has been relating affective organizational commitment with absenteeism (Hackett, Bycio, & Hausdorf, 1994), turnover intentions (Somers, 1995), organizational citizenship behaviours (Meyer and Allen, 1997), organizational perception of justice (Randall & Mueller, 1995; Viswesvaran & Ones, 2002), and job satisfaction (Rue & Byars, 2005; Chen, 2007) Because affective commitment is component of organizations, this part will discuss about organizational commitment Then it will explain why this research chooses affective commitment to be variable

2.2.4.1 Organizational commitment

According to Allen & Meyer (1990), organizational commitment is regarded as

an attitude, as it relates to individuals’ mindsets about the organizational Gbadamosi (2003) says that the more favourable an individual’s attitudes toward the organizational, the greater the individual’s acceptance of the goals of the organizational, as well as their willingness to exert more effort on behalf of the organization Meyer and Allen (1991) introduces three-component model of organizational commitment is therefore of relevance to this research This model includes affective commitment (One’s emotional attachment to his or her organization), continuance commitment (being cognizant of the costs associated with leaving one’s organization), and normative commitment (feeling obligated to remain with an organization)

Meyer & Allen (1997) also show that affective commitment is employees’ wanting to stay, continuance commitment is employees’ needing to stay, and normative commitment is employees’ feeling though one ought to stay Armenakis et

al (2007), believe that commitment is an important criterion variable in assessing the ways in which organizational change affects the relationship of organization - employee

Mowday et al, (1982) suggest that commitment is considered as an attitude that reflects the nature and quality of the linkage between an employee and an

organization, an employee and organization’s goals Individuals come to organizations with certain needs, skills, expectations and they hope to find a work environment where they can use their abilities and satisfy their needs When an organization can provide these opportunities, the likelihood of increasing commitment is increased It is obvious that this exchange doesn’t mean exploitation of employees

2.2.4.2 Why this research choose affective commitment as a variable

This research focuses on affective commitment because it is a psychological and individual-level variable that primarily hinges on the fulfilment of personal needs (e.g growth need strength), while the others such as normative and continuance commitment rely on some extent on factors external to the individual (e.g, social norms and job market quality (Meyer & Allen, 1996) Moreover, according to Mathieu

& Zajac, 1990; Meyer et al.( 2002), affective commitment tends to correlate strongly and consistently with organizational-relevant and employee-relevant outcomes, whereas the relationships that exist between such outcomes and normative and continuance commitment tend to be inconsistent and not as strong It is for these reasons that other researchers (e.g., Chen, Goddard, & Casper, 2004) have also focused their research on affective commitment, rather than all three forms of commitment

Affective commitment, one of three component dimensions, refers to an emotional attachment to the organization based on feelings of loyalty toward the employer Most empirical studies of organizational commitment have focused on affective commitment Rhoades et al (2002) suggest that affective commitment is the strongest and most consistent predictor of organizationally desired outcomes such as employee retention

2.2.5 Turnover Intention

According to Nazim (2008), employee turnover is defined as the intention to exit

an organization voluntarily The job satisfaction and turnover intention are inversely related Vecchio (2000) sates intention to leave is strong when total job satisfaction is low, when job satisfaction remains at a high level, employee turnover is low Nevertheless, it must be stressed that this relationship is not necessary observed in all circumstances Some people remain in their jobs although they do not feel satisfied

2.3 The relationship among hypothesized variables

2.3.1 Job autonomy and Job satisfaction

According to Hackman and Oldham (1975, 1976), job autonomy refers to the degree which task allows the operator the freedom to control and make decisions about his own work processes Menguc and Bhuian (2004) indicate that a high degree of job autonomy, control in scheduling, and freedom in doing the job This investigation offers interesting findings because respondents (salespersons) reported higher level of satisfaction if they perceive their job provides higher level of autonomy, identity, and feedback The result of research shows that job autonomy was positively and significantly related to job satisfaction for the establishment group and for the maintenance group, but for the exploration group

Job autonomy also promotes positive affect such as higher job satisfaction Smith, El-kot and Leat (2003) found the work criterion, autonomy, was associated with job satisfaction in a non -Western context (Egypt) through a manufacturing facility study The purpose of this research is to check the relationship between job autonomy and job satisfaction of accountants in Nha Trang organizations

Saler-H1: Job autonomy directly and positively influences on job satisfaction

2.3.2 Task interdependence and Job satisfaction

Interdependence reflects the degree to which the job depends on others and others depend on it in order to complete the work As such, interdependence reflects the connection of job to each other When task interdependence requires employees to coordinate their work with others on an ongoing basis, interaction and proximity heighten the vividness of contrasts (Kiggundu, 1983), such as those based on employment status

Shaw et al (2000) found that task interdependence and preference for group work activities were positively associated with satisfaction and performance Van der Vegt

et al (2000) also reported a positive relationship between task interdependence and individual job satisfaction and commitment

H2: Task interdependence directly and positively influences on job satisfaction

2.3.3 Job satisfaction and Affective commitment

Luthans (1992) stated that organizational commitment is directly related to the desire to maintain membership in the organization, the willingness of employees to

exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization and a strong belief in and acceptance of an organization’s goals and values According to Meyer and Allen (1991), the components of organizational commitment are Affective Commitment, Continuance Commitment, Normative Commitment Affective commitment is the affective bond an individual feels toward the organization, characterized by identification and involvement with the organization as well as enjoyment in being a member of the organization (Allen and Meyer, 1990; Meyer and Allen, 1997; Mowday, Porter, and Steers, 1982)

According to Yücel (2012), job satisfaction is one of the most antecedents of organizational commitment and turnover intention The finding suggests that high levels of job satisfaction results in higher commitment and lower turnover intention Therefore job satisfaction positively influences on affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment while it is negatively impact on turnover intention

H3: Job satisfaction is directly and positively influences on affective commitment

2.3.4 Job satisfaction and Turnover intention

Turnover intention has been incorporated into most employee turnover models in the published literature Turnover intention is defined as an employee’s intent to find a new job with another employer within the next year

Job satisfaction has been shown to be the main predictor of turnover intention (Larrabee, et al., 2003; Parry, 2008) Ding and Lin (2006) found that the negative direct effect of job satisfaction on turnover intentions and the indirect effect through organizational commitment are stronger for U.S hospital employees than for Taiwanese hospital employees

Lambert et al (2001) states that employee turnover can be predicted using comprehensive measures of job satisfaction; otherwise stated, high job satisfaction is associated with low employee turnover In addition, the research shows that the relationship between job satisfaction and actual employee turnover is moderated by intentions

H4: Job satisfaction is directly and negatively influences on Turnover intention

2.3.5 Affective commitment and Turnover intention

Stallworth (2004) examines organizational commitment in the accounting environment by focus on the antecedents and the consequences of organization commitment and turnover intention Results suggest that organizational commitment, especially affective commitment, is the best predictor of turnover

Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, and Topolnytsky (2002) indicate that affective commitment is negatively correlated with turnover and job satisfaction Griffeth, Hom & Gaertner, (2000) and Meyer et al., (2002) proves that affective commitment is negatively correlated with employees turn over intention Employees with affective commitment are more to have intentions to remain with the organization (Meyer, et al., 1993)

Affective commitment has developed strong research background with turnover intention (Mowday, Porters & Steers, 1982; Griffeth et al., 2000)

H5: Affective commitment is directly and negatively influences on Turnover intention

2.4 Concept framework of the study

Based on the above studies, a conceptual model is proposed Details about a conceptual model and it hypotheses as follows:

Figure 2.1: A Conceptual Model

Where:

H1: Job autonomy directly and positively influences on job satisfaction

H2: Task interdependence directly and positively influences on job satisfaction

H3: Job satisfaction is directly and positively influences on affective commitment H4: Job satisfaction is directly and negatively influences on Turnover intention

H5: Affective commitment is directly and negatively influences on Turnover intention

Job autonomy

Affective commitment

Job Satisfaction

Task

Interdependence

Turnover Intention

H5 (-)

H3 (+)

H4 (-)

H2 (+) H1 (+)

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter is divided to five parts: the first part is the research process; the second part is conceptual variables and measurement scales; the third part is the results

of in-depth qualitative research interviews; the forth part is sampling methods; and the last part introduces the methods to analyze data includes explanation of survey measurement, the questionnaire data analysis using method

3.1 Research Process

The process of this study is conducted as given in the table below:

Table 3.1: Research process

The process of this study

Step 6 Final measurement and Questionnaire forming

Step 8

Data analysis

1 Reliability Analysis - Cronbach’s Alpha

2 Validity Analysis - Exploratory Factor Analysis

3 Hypothesis Testing - Regression and ANOVA Analysis

3.2 Conceptual variables and measurement scales

The questionnaire was designed jointly by collecting information from the previous researchs These sessions were designed to gain qualitative insights about the current situation of accountants in Nha Trang and identify matters that were important for them

Multiple-item Likert-type instruments were used to measure the study constructs Responses to each item were elicited on 7-point scale, ranging from strongly disagree

to strongly agree or from strongly dissatisfied to strongly satisfied and from very

unlikely to very likely

3.2.1 Job autonomy

Autonomy was measured by using the three items from the Job Diagnostic survey (Hackman and Oldham, 1980) Sample items are “the job gives me considerable opportunity for independence and freedom in how I do the work” and “My job permits

me to decide on my own how to go about doing the work.” However, this research uses the four items to measure job autonomy from Ahuja, Macknight, Chudoba, Kacmar, and George (2007), for example, “I control the content of my job”, “I set my own schedule for completing assigned tasks”

3.2.2 Task interdependence

Langfred(2007) also adopt the instrument with 6 items from Kiggundu (1983) The items included “Team members frequently have to coordinate their efforts with each other” and “Team members have to work together to get team task done”

Saler-Smith, El-Kot, & Leat (2003) who adopt a five-item scale developed by Van der Vegt, Emans and Van de Vliert (2000) based on previous research by Kiggundu (1983) used to assess the extent to which individuals have to work interdependently with others in their workplace A sample item is “I depend on my colleague for the completion of my work” This research also adopts the instrument of Kiggundu (1983) for measuring the task interdependence The sample items “The job depends on the work of many different people for its completion”, “Unless my job gets done, other job cannot be completed”

In this research, we use job satisfaction measured items from Youself (2000) In his research, Job satisfaction was measured using 24 items adopted from the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) developed by Hackman et al (1976) Six dimensions

of job satisfaction, namely working conditions, payment, promotion, supervision,

co-workers, and security were measured Each subscale of the six subscales consists of four items

In this research, we just use 6 items that represent for 6 dimensions of job satisfaction: working condition, pay, promotion, supervision, co-workers and security

to measure job satisfaction A seven-point response scale was employed, ranging from

1 (strong dissatisfied) to 7 (strongly satisfied)

3.2.4 Affective commitment

Mowday, Steers and Porter (1982) used 8 items scale to measure affective organizational commitment Meyer et al (1993), used 12 items to measure organizational commitment This scale is designed to measure two dimensions of organizational commitment (affective commitment and continuance commitment) However, there was 5 items scales which using to measure affective commitment in this research

Respondents used a 7-point Likert-type scale (1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly agree) to rate their agreement with statement such as, “I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career with this organization”

3.2.5 Turnover intentions

In research of Vakola and Nikolaou (2005), the respondents’ answers show clearly their turnover intention (1=highly leave the company within the next six months, 7= very likely to leave the company within the next six months) Karatepe, Uludage (2008) used three-item scale with 5-point scale to measure employees’ turnover intention He adopted the instrument from Singh et al (1996) These three items are “It is likely that I will actively look for a new job next year”, “I often think about quiting”, “I will probably look for a new job next year”

However, this research applies the five items to measure turnover intention from Michaels and Spector (1982); Allen and Meyer (1990); Meyer, Allen, and Smith, (1993) with the scale of measurement is seven-point scale (1=very unlikely, 7=very likely)

3.2.6 Questionnaire’s measurement items:

(The questionnaire’s measurement items are built on the adjusted questionnaire from pilot survey.)

Table 3.2: Measurement scale

resource

QA

I Job Autonomy

1 I control the content of my job

2 I have a lot of freedom to decide how I perform assigned task

3 I set my own schedule for completing assigned tasks

4 I have authority to initiate project at my job

Ahuja, Macknight, Chudoba, Kacmar, Joey

F George (2007)

QI

II Task interdependence

1 The job requires me to accomplish my job before others

complete their job

2 Other job depend directly on my job

3 Unless my job gets done, other job cannot be completed

4 The job activities are greatly affected by the work of other

III Job satisfaction

1 I am satisfied with my working condition

2 I am satisfied with my pay

3 I am satisfied with my promotion

4 I am satisfied with my supervision

5 I am satisfied with my co-workers

6 I am satisfied with my security

Yousef, 2000

QAF

IV Affective commitment

1 I really feel as if this organization’s problems are my own

2 I feel like “part of the family” at my organization

3 I feel emotionally attached to this organization

4 This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me

5 I would very happy to spend the rest of my career with this

organization

Meyer and Allen, 1990,

1993

QT

V Turnover intention

1 I intend to leave the organization

2 I intent to make a genuine effort to find another job over the

next few months

3 I often seriously consider leaving my current job

4 As soon as I can find a better job, I will quit at this organization

5 I have started to look for other jobs

Michaels and Spector (1982) (Allen and Meyer, 1990; Meyer, Allen, and Smith, 1993)

3.3 Sampling method

After conducting qualitative survey, the survey questionnaire is completed The model in this study has 25 variables include 9 independent variables, 5 dependent variables and 11 intermediate variables Hair, Black, Babin, and Anderson (2010) sated that a general rule, the sample size should be 100 or greater and the minimum sample should have a desired ratio of 5 observations per variable

n > 100 samples and n=5k (where k=the number of variables)

This study has 25 variables, so the minimum size for this research is: n = 5*25 = 125 For standard multiple regression analysis the desired level is:

n > 50 + 8m (where m= number of independent variables)

This study has 9 variables, therefore, the required sample is: n > 50 + 8*9 = 122

3.3.1 Sampling

A sample of 231 respondents was collected from chief accountants, general accountants and other accountants who are working in every organization in Nha Trang The sampling was conducted based on convenient sampling

3.3.2 Data collection

The questionnaire was delivered to the accountants by both electronic survey and handout survey from October to December, 2013 Electronic survey contributed 30 samples and 201 samples were collected from handout survey All the samples are accepted The total number of samples was collected and used for data analysis is 231 samples

3.4 Statistical Method

SPSS Version 20 was used to analyze the collected data In this research, Cronbach’s alpha reliability analysis, EFA and multiple regression analysis function were enabled to support

Reliability analysis:

Cronbach’s alpha reliability analysis method was used to test the reliability of the measurement scales According to Joseph (2010) it mentioned that when Cronbach’s α with values of 0.70 to 0.98 is acceptable Besides, those items which have the value of Corrected Item-to-total Correlation less than 0.3 could be discarded in order to improve reliability level of the measurement scale

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA):

Norris and Lecavalier (2010) supposed that “EFA is based upon a testable model and can be evaluated in terms of its fit to the hypothesized population model; fit indices can be generated to help with model interpretation” And “EFA’s purpose is to identify latent constructs underlying a set of manifest variables”

Factor analysis is appropriate to data if:

- The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value (KMO) is 0.6 or greater

- The Bartlett’s test of sphericity is statistically significant: p < 0.05

- The number of factors is determined when:

- The components have an eigenvalue of 1 or more

- The total variance explained by these components should be above 50%

- Factor loading criteria should be 0.5 or more to ensure a practical

significance

Multiple Regression Analysis

The main task of statistic analysis is applied in the Multiple Linear Regression in order to study the correlation and measure the prediction of independent factors on dependent factor The research also uses R-square value to express how much of the variance in the dependent variable was explained by the model

CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter showed detail information of data analysis process, data summary to provide the information of the sample, the Cronbach’s Alpha was used to test the reliability of measurement scales, EFA was used to test validity of measurement scales and data reduction purpose and defined new factors for regression Simple and multiple linear regression was used to test the relationship among job satisfaction, affective commitment and turnover intention, One-way ANOVA for other demographic variables

4.1 Sample characteristics

There are 231 replies from accountants who are working in Nha Trang

organizations The characteristics of the respondents including seven major items in this study: (1) Gender, (2) Martial, (3) Age, (4) Education, (5) Salary, (6) Occupation in organization, (7) Position in organization, (8) Working years of current job The

information was presented in to table 4.1

Table 4.1: Demographic characteristic of respondents Characteristic Categories Frequency Percent

From 8 to less than

From 7 to less than

Degree of education:

The majority of participants were graduated from university n=72 which were presented by 45.0%, 23.8% of them accounted for n=55 were graduated from college Respondents who were graduated from professional school were n=72 which were presented by 31.2%

respectively

Position in organization:

Because most of participants were quite young, then positions were almost accountants with n=160 (69.3%), General accountant were 57 (24.7%), Chief accountant were 14 with 6.1%

Working years of current job:

The majority of respondents were in their job from 3 to 5 years, accounted for 50.2% with n=116 Number of participants (n=69) whose working years were less than

3 years made up 29.9% The participants who worked in their organization 5 - 7 years were 18 which were presented by 7.8%, n=13 respondents were their current positions for year from 7 to 10 years were accounted for 5.6% The rest n=15 (6.5%) respondents who worked in their organization more than 10 years

4.2 Evaluation of measurement scales

In this research, Cronbach’s alpha and EFA are used to evaluated the

4.2.1 Testing the reliability of variables

Table 4.2 shows the result of Cronbach’s alpha of each scale The alpha values of the overall constructs were higher than the alpha if item deleted All the values of Cronbach’s alpha are in the range 0.7 through 0.9; the highest was 0.923 (Affective commitment) and the lowest was 0.734 (Job autonomy) In addition, all the corrected item – total correlation are larger than 0.30 That means the data is good for conducting exploratory factor analysis

Table 4.2: Reliabilities Analysis

Items Scale Mean if

Item Deleted

Scale Variance if Item Deleted

Corrected Item-Total Correlation

Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted

QA- Job Autonomy: Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.734

4.2.2 Scale testing by using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

After testing Cronbach‘s Alpha coefficient, the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) Method conducted to test the validity of the measurement of scales The EFA indicated that there were five factors extracted and total variance extracted was 64.912% (greater than requirement of 50%), the KMO = 0.888 that is larger than 0.7 and Sig = 0.000 that is less than 0.05 Thus, variance extracted matched requirement

Table 4.3 EFA result of variables

KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy

.888 Bartlett's Test of

e

Cumulative % Total

% of Variance

Cumulati

ve % Total

% of Varianc

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis

Table 4.4 Rotated Component Matrix

Rotated Component Matrix a

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis

Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization a Rotation converged in 6 iterations

According to the table above, EFA analysis modified the measurement scale with

5 factors, including: Job autonomy (4 items); Task interdependence (5 items); Job satisfaction (5 items); Affective commitment (5 items) and Turnover intention (5 items)

4.3 Correlation analysis

The relationship between the independent variables and turnover intention was tested by standard multiple regression analysis It is necessary for testing correlation between variables by using Pearson correlations (see Table 4.) The results present that the explanatory variables are not correlated with each other

Table 4.5 Correlation among factors

**

Turnover

Pearson Correlation -.281

**

-.230** -.602** -.624** 1 Sig (2-tailed) 000 000 000 000

The hypotheses are follows:

H1: Job autonomy directly and positively influences on job satisfaction

H2: Task interdependence directly and positively influences on job satisfaction

Table 4.6 Regression analysis - ANOVA

a Dependent Variable: Satis

b Predictors: (Constant), Inde, auto

The first table shows the predictor variables (Job autonomy and task interdependence) with correlation coefficient r = 0.478 This means that if Job autonomy and task interdependence increase by one unit then there will be an increase

in Job satisfaction 0.478 unit This table also shows coefficient of determination (R2= 0.228) So 22.8% of variation in Job satisfaction is explained by the variation in task interdependence and job autonomy The value of correlation coefficient suggests a positive relationship among Job satisfaction, Task interdependence and Job autonomy The F test is used to examine whether there is a significant linear relationship between entire set of interdependent variables and the dependent variable F = 33.715, and sig=.000 this really means p <0.05 indicates that there is a significant linear relationship among Job autonomy, Job interdependence and Job satisfaction Therefore, Job Autonomy and Job Interdependence are significantly related to Job satisfaction

The last table shows beta value of 0.331 and 0.345 with positive sign indicating a positive relationship between among these variables: Job autonomy and Task interdependence are meaningful impact to Job satisfaction because both of them have

the Sig<0.05 Therefore, there is an evidence to affirm the hypothesis that Job

autonomy and Task interdependence directly and positively influences on job satisfaction

H3: Job satisfaction directly and positive effects on affective commitment

Table 4.7 Regression analysis - ANOVA

a Dependent Variable: Affect

b Predictors: (Constant), Satis

Coefficients a

Coefficients

Standardized Coefficients

t Sig

a Dependent Variable: Affect

The first table shows the model summary for the predictor variable of job satisfaction The value of r is 0.688, which means that if Job satisfaction changes by one unit, Affective commitment, the dependent variable, will change by 0.688 units The value of R2 = 473, which means that 47.3% of the variation in dependent variable (affective commitment) is explained by the independent variable (Job satisfaction) The F test is used to examine whether there is a significant linear relationship between entire set of interdependent variables and the dependent variable F = 205.565, and sig=.000 this really means p<0.05 indicates that there is a significant linear relationship between Affective commitment and Job satisfaction Therefore, Affective Commitment is significantly related to Job satisfaction

The last table shows the beta value of 0.688 having a positive sign This positive sign reveals that there is a positive relationship between job satisfaction and affective commitment and Job satisfaction meaningful impact to Affective commitment because of the Sig <0.05 Therefore, there is an evidence to affirm the

hypothesis that Job satisfaction directly and positive effects on affective commitment

H4: Job satisfaction is directly and negative effects on turnover intention

H5: Affective commitment is directly and negative effects on turnover intention

Table 4.8 Regression analysis - ANOVA