title: Impact of Participation in Decision Making on Job Satisfaction: An Organizational Communication Perspective.
abstract: Participation in organizational decision-making has received considerable attention from scholars. Beyond the perspectives proposed in past studies, we offer a new account, based upon a communication perspective, to explain why and when participation in decision-making can influence job satisfaction. Drawing from social capital theory, we examine whether communication openness mediates the relationship between participation in decision-making and job satisfaction. We also investigate how information adequacy moderates this mediated process. Results from a sample of 184 employees in China showed that the four-factor model was the best fitting solution (CFI = .91, GFI = .90, RMSEA = .09). The analyses indicated that employees' participation in decision-making positively affected their job satisfaction (β = .32, p < .001), and the effect was mediated by communication openness (direct effect became non-significant when communication openness was included: β = .06, n.s.). Results also found that decision-making information adequacy positively moderated the relationship between participation in decision-making and communication openness (β = .13, p < .05). Thus, open communication and the free flow of information within organizations should be encouraged.
authors.affiliation: Harbin Institute of Technology (China).
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Harbin Institute of Technology (China).
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Harbin Institute of Technology (China).
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D003142:Communication; D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D015279:Organizational Culture
keywords: decision-making; job satisfaction; organizational communication