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A Comparative Study of Communication Satisfaction in Two Guatemalan Companies
Varona, Federico
Varona, Federico
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Abstract
It is rather well established that communication is essential to an organization. Since communication is a vital element, there is a need for communication analysis in any organization. The relationship between communication and satisfaction in the organizational context have received considerable attention in the research done in the United States. Some studies have also been done in Nigeria, Germany and Mexico. However, no research of this type has been reported regarding the Guatemalan organizational context. Therefore, this study focuses on communication satisfaction, the relationship between communication satisfaction and job satisfaction, and communication satisfaction and perceived productivity in two Guatemalan companies: LitografÃa Zadik, S.A. and LitografÃa Mayaprin, S.A.
The following research questions were formulated for the purpose of this study. 1) What are the relationships between each of the eight dimensions of the Communication
Satisfaction Questionnaire and the participants' levels of job satisfaction in Litrografia Zadik and LitografÃa Mayaprin? 2) What are the relationships between each of the eight dimensions of the Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire and the participants' levels of perceived productivity in LitografÃa Zadik and LitografÃa Mayaprin? 3) How do the departments within the two Guatemalan organizations (LitografÃas Zadik and Mayaprin) compare on the eight communication satisfaction factors, overall job satisfaction, and overall level of perceived productivity? 4) What impact does work tenure in LitografÃas Zadik and Mayaprin have on the eight communication satisfaction factors and overall job satisfaction and perceived productivity? 5) What are the differences and similarities in responses between job satisfied and dissatisfied participants in LitografÃas Zadik and Mayaprin for the eight communication satisfaction factors, and perceived productivity? 6) What are the differences and similarities in responses between supervisors and nonsupervisors for the eight communication satisfaction factors, job satisfaction, and perceived productivity. 7) How do the
responses between LitografÃas Zadik and Mayaprin compare
with peer organizations of the United States for the
eight dimensions of the Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire?
The instrument used for collecting the data was the
"Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire" developed by
Cal W. Down and Michael D. Hazen. This instrument was
administered to 22 3 employees of LitografÃa Zadik and 51
employees of LitografÃa Mayaprin.
The data collected from the two companies were
analyzed, utilizing the Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences (SPSSX), to perform the following statistical
procedures. First, descriptive statistics were conducted
to get frequency distributions, means, and rank
order of all items and eight factors. Second, correlation
was made to determine the relationship between the
eight communication satisfaction factors and jobs satisfaction
within each company and the eight communication
satisfaction factors and perceived productivity. Third,
One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to compare:
l)Litografia Zadik vs. LitografÃa Mayaprin,. 2)
Departments. 3) Employees varying lengths of Tenure. 4)
Productive vs. nonproductive employees. 5) Satisfied vs.
dissatisfied employees. 6) Supervisors vs.
nonsupervisors. Fourth, the Communication Satisfaction
Factors of six American companies were compared with the
two Guatemalan companies. Fifth, content analysis procedures
were used to examine the responses to the two
open-ended questions of the questionnaire.
Twelve major conclusions were derived from this research:
1) Employees in both Guatemalan companies are
satisfied with the communication practices in their organizations,
although certain communication factors were perceived as having greater levels of satisfaction for
the employees than others. 2) The two companies are significantly
different in their levels of satisfaction on
the communication factors. Mayaprin employees are much
more satisfied than Zadik employees with their communication
practices. 3) Employees in both Guatemalan companies
are satisfied with their jobs and perceive themselves as
productive. 4) Communication satisfaction appears to
have a strong correlation with job satisfaction in both
Guatemalan companies. 5) Communication Satisfaction factors
appears to have some significant relationship with
perceived productivity. 6) The differences between supervisors
and nonsupervisors on satisfaction with the
communication practices were very different in the two
companies. 7) On the basis of this research no clear cut
conclusions can be made about the relationship between
communication factors and tenure. 8) Employees in both
Guatemalan companies who are satisfied with their jobs
are also more satisfied with the communication satisfaction
factors than are employees who are dissatisfied with
their jobs. 9) Sales department employees in both Guatemalan
companies are more satisfied than employees from
other departments with the communication practices in the
organization. 10) Employees in both Guatemalan companies
that perceived themselves as productive are more
satisfied than nonproductive with all of the communication factors. 11) Guatemalan and American employees have
similar satisfaction levels with the communication practices
in their organizations. Nevertheless, cultural
differences may influence the satisfaction intensity.
12) The communication Satisfaction Questionnaire has
proved to be a useful tool for diagnosis in the two Guatemalan
organizations as it has been in a wide range of
organizations in the U.S.A., Nigeria, Germany and Mexico.
Description
The University of Kansas has long historical connections with Central America and the many Central Americans who have earned graduate degrees at KU. This work is part of the Central American Theses and Dissertations collection in KU ScholarWorks and is being made freely available with permission of the author through the efforts of Professor Emeritus Charles Stansifer of the History department and the staff of the Scholarly Communication program at the University of Kansas Libraries’ Center for Digital Scholarship.
Date
1988-06-16
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University of Kansas