1. JOB SATISFACTION AND INTENTION TO LEAVE AMONG LECTURERS IN PRIVATE
HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS (PHEIs) IN KUALA LUMPUR
MUZAHA ASRAIN BIN MUSTAPHA
UNIVERSITI UTARA MALAYSIA
2009
JOB SATISFACTION AND INTENTION TO LEAVE AMONG LECTURERS IN PRIVATE
HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS (PHEIs) IN KUALA LUMPUR
By
MUZAHA ASRAIN BIN MUSTAPHA
A project paper submitted to the College of Business
Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM),
in partial fulfillments of the requirement for the Degree of Masters of Human Resource
Management
2009
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It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis or parts thereof, for the
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2. [pic]
Kolej Perniagaan
(College of Business)
Universiti Utara Malaysia
PERAKUAN KERJA TESIS
(Certification of Thesis Work)
Saya / Kami yang bertandatangan di bawah, memperakukan bahawa
I / We, the undersigned, certify that
MUZAHA ASRAIN BIN MUSTAPHA
nama penuh
full name
calon untuk ijazah
candidate for the degree of MASTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
telah mengemukakan tesisnya yang bertajuk :
has presented his thesis with the following title :
JOB SATISFACTION AND INTENTION TO LEAVE AMONG LECTURERS IN PRIVATE
HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS (PHEIs) IN KUALA LUMPUR
seperti yang tercatat di muka surat tajuk dan kulit tesis
as it appears on the title page and front cover of the thesis
dan tesis tersebut boleh diterima dari segi bentuk serta kandungan dan meliputi bidang ilmu
dengan memuaskan.
The thesis is acceptable in form and content and that a satisfactory knowledge of the field is
covered.
Penyelia Tesis / Thesis Supervisor
i) Nama / Name : EN. MOHD GHAZALI BIN DIN
Tandatangan / Signature :
Tarikh / Date : 01 SEPTEMBER 2009
ABSTRAK
Kajian ini mengkaji hubungan aspek kepuasan kerja dengan kecenderungan untuk berhenti

3. kerja di Institusi Pendidikan Tinggi Swatsa (IPTS) di Kuala Lumpur. Objektif kajian adalah untuk:
1) mengkaji tahap kepuasan kerja dan kecenderungan untuk berhenti kerja: 2) mengkaji hubungan
kepuasan kerja dengan kecenderungan untuk berhenti kerja: dan 3) mengkaji kesan kepuasan
kerja terhadap kecenderungan pensyarah untuk berhenti kerja.
Berdasarkan kepada ulasan-ulasan terdahulu, satu model hubungan telah dicadangkan dan
dikembangkan untuk mengkaji hubungan antara enam faktor dalam kepuasan kerja dengan
kecenderungan untuk behenti kerja.
Bagi menguji hubungan pembolehubah-pembolehubah di dalam model ini, data daripada 152
pensyarah di lima buah IPTS diguna-pakai. Analisis korelasi dan analisis aneka regrasi telah
dijalankan bagi menguji hubungan hipotesis-hipotesis kajian.
Analisis kolerasi telah menunjukkan satu hubungan yang signifikan dan negatif antara
keenam-enam pembolehubah kepuasan kerja dengan kecenderungan untuk berhenti kerja.
Keputusan analisis hubung-kait mencadangkan kecenderungan pensyarah untuk berhenti kerja
adalah negatif dan nyata berkait rapat dengan kepuasan terhadap penyelia, kepuasan terhadap
kepelbagaian, kepuasan dengan kawan rapat, kepuasan terhadap polisi-polisi pengurusan sumber
manusia dan kepuasan terhadap pampasan. Keputusan analisis hubungkait menunjukkan jika
faktor kepuasan kelima-lima dimensi berada pada tahap tinggi, maka kecenderungan untuk
berhenti kerja akan diimbangi. Bagaimanapun, kepuasan terhadap rakan-rakan sekerja tidak
mempengaruhi hubung-kait dengan kecenderungan untuk meletak jawatan di kalangan para
pensyarah.
Keputusan analisis aneka regresi menunjukkan bahawa antara keenam-enam faktor kepuasan
kerja, kepuasan terhadap kepelbagaian dan kepuasan terhadap penyelia adalah dua pembolehubah
utama terhadap kecendurungan untuk berhenti kerja di dalam institusi-institusi akademik dan
secara negatifnya mempengaruhi keputusan pensyarah untuk meletak jawatan. Keputusan dari
analisis hubung-kait dan analisis aneka regresi seterusnya mencadangkan bahawa pengaruh
kepuasan terhadap kepelbagaian dan kesan terhadap penyelia adalah dua kunci pembolehubah
bebas dalam mengurangkan kecenderungan pensyarah daripada meletak jawatan di IPTS di
Malaysia terutama di lokasi Kuala Lumpur.
Berdasarkan hasil kajian, cadangan-cadangan dikemukakan untuk para pengurus dan para
penggubal dasar organisasi yang terlibat dengan IPTS. Selain daripada itu, had-had batasan
terhadap kajian ini dan kajian seterusnya di masa akan datang di dalam bidang ini juga turut
dibincangkan.
ABSTRACT
The study investigated the relationship between the six facets of job satisfaction and the intention
to leave among lecturers in the Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. The objectives of the study were 1) to examine the level of perceived job satisfaction
and intention to leave, 2) to examine the relationship between job satisfaction and intention tom

4. leave, 3) to examine the effect of job satisfaction in relation to lecturer’s intention to leave.
Based on the literature reviews a model of relationship was proposed and developed to examine
the relationships between the six factors of job satisfaction and intention to leave.
To test the relationship of the variables in the model, data from 152 lecturers from five PHEIs in
Kuala Lumpur, were used. To test the relationship hypotheses of the study, correlation, and
multiple regression analysis were performed.
The correlation analysis suggested a significant and negative relationship among five of the six
job satisfaction variables and the intention to leave The correlation results suggests that lecturers
intention to leave is negatively and significantly associated with satisfaction with supervisor,
satisfaction with job variety, satisfaction with closure, satisfaction with human recourse
management polices and satisfaction with compensation. The result of correlation analysis
indicates that if perceived job satisfaction of the five facets of job satisfaction is experienced at
higher level, lecturer’s intention to quit will be neutralized. However lecturer’s perceived
satisfaction with co-workers did not significantly correlated with intention to leave.
Multiple regression analysis result indicated that among the six factors of job satisfaction,
satisfaction with job variety and satisfaction with supervisor were the two main predictor variables
to lecturer’s intention to leave in the private academic institutes and significantly and negatively
influence lecturer’s intention to leave. Results from correlation and multiple regression analysis
further suggested that satisfaction with job variety and satisfaction with supervisor and satisfaction
with co-workers are three key variables to reduce the lecturer’s intention to leave in the Malaysian
private sector institutes in higher learning.
Based on the findings recommendation and suggestions for private higher education institute’s
policy makers are presented. The limitation of the study and the future research opportunities in
this area are also discussed.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My utmost gratitude goes to my learned supervisor, Encik Mohd Ghazali Din for his expertise,
kindness, and patience to guide me all the time during preparing this thesis. Moreover, honestly
would say that I wouldn't be performing my Master of Human Resource Management without his
continual encouragement supports given to me. To me, he is the one of the talented lecturer that
could be interpreted very deeps between theoretical and practical-base.
My sincere thanks also goes to Wan Ahmad Asrar Wan Yahya, Wan Hisham Nor Wan Harun,
Rosli Yusof and Mejar (B) Saladin Kamarudin for support me during my studies at UUM, Kuala
Lumpur Branch. I also thank to Cybernetics International College of Technology (CICT)
especially my Managing Director (Encik Mohamad Ebrahim Mohideen), Chief Executive (Prof.
Dr. Haji Saidin Teh) and Adjunct Professor (Prof. Madya Abdul Malek Bin A.Tambi) for their
trust in me and allowing me to further studies in Human Resource Management.

5. Finally, I would like to thank my family: My late father (Mustapha Bin Salleh), my mother
(Norrayah Binti Awang Pil), my wife (Wan Nor Azuliana Wan Yazid) and my sons (Amir Asrain,
Bilal Asrain and Habib Asrain) to me all of them at the first place and supporting me spiritually
throughout my life.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE i
PERMISSION TO USE ii
CERTIFICATION OF THESIS WORK iii
ABSTRAK (BAHASA MALAYSIA) iv
ABSTRACT v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii
LIST OF TABLES ix
LIST OF FIGURES x
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.0 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 BACKGROUND 1
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT 6
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 10
1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 11
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 11
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 12
1.7 THESIS OUTLINE 13

6. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 INTRODUCTION 16
2.1 JOB SATISFACTION 16
2.2 INTENT TO LEAVE 17
2.2.1 Job Satisfaction from Measurability Perspective 18
2.3 INTENT TO LEAVE AND JOB SATISFACTION IN EDUCATION SECTOR 22
2.4 SUMMARY 27
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0 INTRODUCTION 26
3.1THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT 26
3.1.1 Hypothesis Development 29
3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN 36
3.2.1 Sampling and Data Collection Procedure 37
3.2.2 Questionnaire Design 38
3.3 INSTRUMENTATION 39
3.3.1 Job Satisfaction 40
3.3.2 Intention to Leave 40
3.3.3 Demographic Information 41
3.4 RELIABILITY TESTING 41
3.5 DATA ANALYSIS 42
3.5.1 Descriptive Analyses 42
3.5.2 Correlation Analysis 42

7. 3.5.3 Multiple Regression Analysis 43
3.6 SUMMARY 44
CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH FINDINGS
4.0 INTRODUCTION 45
4.1 BACKGROUND OF RESPONDENTS 45
4.2 RELIABILITY ANALYSIS 48
4.3 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF MAIN VARIABLES 49
4.4 CORRELATION MATRIX 57
4.5 HYPOTHESES TESTING 58
4.6 MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS 59
4.7 SUMMARY 61
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
5.0 INTRODUCTION 63
5.1 KEY FINDINGS – LEVEL OF JOB SATISFACTION AND INTENTION TO LEAVE
63
5.2 DISCUSSION FROM THE HYPOTHESES RESULTS AND FINDINGS 64
5.2.1 Relationships between Job Satisfaction and Intention to Leave 64
5.2.2 Effect of Job satisfaction on Intention to leave1 67
5.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 68
5.4 RECOMMENDATION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTE’S ADMINISTARTION
69
5.5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 71
REFERENCES 73
APPENDIX “A” Letter and Survey Questionnaire 81

8. LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 summarizes the instruments used for the present study 42
Table 3.2 Pearson’s r Indices of Correlation 43
Table 4.1 Respondents' Background (n = 152) 46
Table 4.2 Reliability Coefficients of the Constructs (n = 152) 48
Table 4.3 Descriptive Statistics of Variables (n = 152) 50
Table 4.4 Descriptive Results of satisfaction with supervisor (n=152) 51
Table 4.5 Descriptive results of Satisfaction with Job Variety (n = 152) 52
Table 4.6 Descriptive Results of Satisfaction with Closure (n = 152) 53
Table 4.7 Descriptive Results of Satisfaction with Compensation (n = 152) 54
Table 4.8 Descriptive Results of Satisfaction with Co-Workers (n= 152) 55
Table 4.9 Descriptive Results of Satisfaction with HR/Management Policies (n = 152) 56
Table 4.10 Descriptive Result of Intention to Leave (n = 152) 57
Table 4.11 Correlations Matrix (n = 152) 58
Table 4.12 Overall Influences of Job Satisfaction on Intention to Leave 59
Table 4.13 Influence of Each Job Satisfaction Variables on Intention to Leave 60
Table 4.14 Summary of Hypotheses Testing Results 62
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1. Outline of the thesis 13
Figure 3.1. Research model 29
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

9. 1.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter is devoted to present the overview of the research background, where focus has
been made to introduce the topic in detail. In particular, in aims to highlight gap in the existing
literature related to the topic of job satisfaction and intention to leave among lecturers or faculty
members in private higher education institutions in Malaysia. In addition, the scope and
significance of the present study are addressed. Finally, a thesis outline is presented in a
diagrammatic form to show how different chapters of this study are relating the entire process of
research.
1.1 BACKGROUND
There are important changes occurring in Malaysian higher education either public or private
education institutions today. As Morris, Yacoob and Wood (2003) point out, these changes include
the implementation of quality standards as well as the growth in mature student entry, the
expansion of courses in the sciences, the removal of the binary divide, the reduction of student
grants, and the likelihood that students will personally have to pay more and more for their
education. Some of these changes have arisen from pressures of demand, the cultural shift in the
way in which higher education is viewed, financial pressures, structural and managerial diversity,
and diversity of university missions or emphases, among other things. These changes would
certainly lead to higher educational institutions in Malaysia towards bringing number of changes
such as implementation of high quality education systems and a n expectations of superior quality
services from faculty member, qualified and trained lecturers in all the disciplines and many other
organizational changes such as hiring and training polices in the institutes. These changes are
directly or indirectly relate to lecturer’s job satisfaction and dissatisfaction of university teachers
and may influence their intention to leave (National Higher Education Research Institute of
Malaysia, 2004)
Recent studies carried out in a number of countries have drawn attention to the degree of job
satisfaction among teachers and have shown that teachers’ work “intensification” (Hargreaves,
1994) mirrors societal trends toward overwork (Naylor, 2001). Imposed and centralized system
accountability, lack of professional autonomy, relentlessly imposed changes, constant media
criticism, reduced resources, and moderate pay all relate to low teacher satisfaction in many
developed countries around the world (van den Berg, 2002; Dinham & Scott, 1998b, 2000a; Scott
et al., 2001; Scott et al., 2003; Vandenberghe & Huberman, 1999). The report presented by
National Higher Education Research Institute of Malaysia (2004), also indicates many problems
in private higher education Institutes in Malaysia (PHIEs), among many of the issues this report
presented, one of the major issue raised in his report was the increasing turn over rate among the
private sector institutes due to many satisfaction or dissatisfaction factors such as better
compensation offered by another institutes, trainings opportunity.
The effects of these trends include declining job satisfaction, reduced ability to meet students’
needs, significant incidences of psychological disorders leading to increased absenteeism, and
high level of claims for stress-related disability (Troman & Woods, 2000). Most importantly,
though, teacher dissatisfaction appears to be a main factor in teachers leaving the profession in
many countries like Malaysia (National Higher Education Research Institute of Malaysia, 2004;

10. Vandenberghe & Huberman, 1999; Woods et al., 1997).
Since new management approaches such a as creating value and satisfaction to consumers
through creating learning organization (Senege, 1990), seek constant development by placing the
human factor in the foreground, and since institutions can only progress based on the views,
attitudes, and perceptions of their human resources, the number of studies related to employee
satisfaction has increased very rapidly (Vandenberghe & Huberman, 1999; Jenkins, 1993).
Although most of the research in this field has been made related to profit making industrial and
service organization, there has been a growing interest in employee satisfaction in higher
education, especially related to quality management, all over the world since the beginning of
1990s. The reason for this growing interest is the reality that higher education institutions are
labor intensive. Their budgets are predominately devoted to personal and their effectiveness is
largely dependent on their employees. Therefore, satisfaction of the employees in higher education
institutions is very important. Although there is an increasing interest in employee satisfaction in
higher education sector, it is clear that the majority of the dominant theoretical and empirical work
in this field is concentrated in the west and shaped mainly by North American and Western
European influence, for example (Kanji & Tambi, 1999;Hargreaves, 1994). Hardly ever has any
research been done in other parts of the world, that is, in developing or underdeveloped countries
on this subject. Therefore, more research is needed to understand the satisfaction of the staff
particularly teachers in higher education in developing or less developed country. So, in a way,
this studies aims to fill the gap in this field in developing country. Thus, the result of this study
will give a new perspective to the findings of the previous studies on the issue of employee
satisfaction in higher education in Malaysian perspective in a somewhat different culture.
According to Koustelos (2001) and Morris et al (2003), one major reason for conducting
research on job satisfaction is that positive or negative attitudes effects towards largely to the
many forms of organizational behavior. The topic of job satisfaction is also important because of
its implications for job related behaviours such as productivity, absenteeism or turnover.
Therefore, apart from its humanitarian utility, it appears to make economic sense to consider
whether and how job satisfaction can be improved. Evidence shows a relationship between low
job satisfaction and intent to leave (Samad, 2006; Zurn, Dal Poz, Stillwell, & Adams, 2004).
While existing studies generally focus on one concept or on the relationship between two
concepts, very few documented studies explore the relationship between the job satisfaction of
lecturers/faculty members in private higher education institutions (PHEIs) and intent to leave,
particularly in countries suffering from knowledge workers shortages. (Moris et al, 2003). While
recognizing the importance of the job satisfaction, it is the objective of this study to investigate
how this phenomenon is related to faculty or school of studies of the university or colleges in
higher education learning in private sector.
The aim of this research is therefore to examine the job satisfaction factors, which contribute
to faculty member’s intention to leave. Moore (2002) gives an argument to the Herzberg et al.,
(1959) expounded the dual factor theory of job satisfaction, which states that there are two groups
of factors, which determine job satisfaction or job dissatisfaction.

11. According to Moore (2002), Herzberg’s (1966) two-factor theory suggests that only job
content-related facets (e.g. achievement, responsibility, the work itself) lead to satisfaction. On the
other hand, job context-related factors (e.g. pay, security, working conditions) lead to job
dissatisfaction but not to satisfaction. As pointed out by Moore, the two-factor theory is not
entirely clear, and there are, at least, five possible interpretations of the theory. Indeed, several
reviews of the Herzberg related literature have cast serious doubt about the validity of his theory
(House &Wigdor, 1967). However it is very important to observe that the many contextual related
factors of this theory such as pay, working conditions are found to be the core factor of
dissatisfaction or satisfaction among teachers in education institutes (Scott & Dinham, 2001;
Shann , 1998).
Recently, Quarstein et al. (1992) posit the situational occurrences theory of job satisfaction,
which contends that job satisfaction is determined by two factors, as does Herzberg’s theory.
However, as the authors indicate, this is the only similarity between the two theories.
The situational occurrences theory argues that job satisfaction is a function of situational
occurrences and situational characteristics and that any given factor, e.g. pay or recognition, can
result in either job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. It does not distinguish between job content or job
context-related. In this study using a situational occurrence theory, a survey questionnaire
developed by wood et al., (1988) is used to capture the employee’s job satisfaction, which can
relates to their intention to leave.
There have been many studies done in different working set up for example evidence for a
relationship between employee’s shortage and low job satisfaction, a relationship between low job
satisfaction and intent to leave and a relationship between low job satisfaction in sales profession
(Sagar, 1994) and employee migration in health care profession (Shields and Ward 2001). While
existing studies generally focus on one concept or on the relationship between two concepts, very
few documented studies explore the relationship between faculty’s job satisfactions, intent to
leave, particularly in countries suffering from faculty shortages. In Malaysia according to National
Higher Education Research Institute of Malaysia (2004), reports that private higher education
institute (PHIEs) are facing serious turn over problems among faculty members and currently it is
at the rate of 4 percent, however it is expected to increase by 7 to 9 percent or even more in the
future.
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
Globalisation – above all, in terms of the increased mobility of capital, the integration of
markets, and rapid technological change has presented individual nations with stark challenges, to
compete or to try to secure a position as a “high-wage, high skill” economy, as opposed to a “low
wage, low skill” one. Crucial to achieving the “high road” is a high level of flexibility through the
optimal utilization of human resources (Storey, 1995), which, in turn, calls for an effective
national skills development infrastructure. Based on Storey (1995) thoughts on globalization and
it overall impact on nation’s economy, it is obvious reality that any industry based nation’s
economy is dependable on highly skilled human resources in Sciences and Technology. For this

12. purpose education institutions in the country and its faculty play a crucial role in developing
skilled human resources. The Malaysian Government’s stated aim of securing the nation’s place
amongst the industrialized countries by the year 2020 has received wide support from all the
Government’s agencies and the private sector as well. In line with the Government call, the
institutions of higher learning in Malaysia have developed their strategy and policy to meet the
demand for graduates of high caliber and professionalism that will be vital in the growth towards a
modern economy. However the Government has often expressed its concern at the high turnover
of academic staff in higher education institution (National Higher Education Research Institute of
Malaysia, 2004; Morris et al, 2003). National Higher Education Research Institute of Malaysia
(2004) presented a research report on the issues and problems in private higher education
institutes in Malaysia. According to the report, nearly 4 percent of the faculty members leave the
institutes in private sector. The report further alarm that this turn over rate among the teachers in
PHEIs or IPTS will increase further to nearly 9 percent. The reason for the increase of this turn
over rate was reported by mentioning the satisfaction factors surveyed in this study. The findings
of this report further suggested that among many factors training opportunity, high standards
expectation (high teaching loads), compensation and working conditions were the major factors to
quite the institutions in IPTS.
There is a lack of studies that investigate whether predictors of intent to leave in Malaysia are
different from such factors in other regions or countries. In fact, quite a few studies have been
conducted among Malaysian workforce in knowledge based sector and intent to leave to asses
how job satisfaction as a single independent variable influence intent to leave (Samad, 2006;
Pearson & Chong, 1997). However, these studies mainly investigated job satisfaction by looking
primarily into a single job satisfaction construct; not many have considered different facets of job
satisfaction (Boles et al., 2003). To accurately measure job satisfaction, a number of
characteristics of the job may need to be evaluated if one hopes to obtain a broad measure of
employee beliefs and attitudes about the job (Churchill et al., 1974). Therefore this study is
significant to the body of knowledge that relates different facets of job satisfaction and intent to
leave study in Malaysian private higher education institutes (PHEIs), which is undergoing
enormous structural changes and reform (Ministry of Higher Education, 2008).
These 2020 reform initiatives have created a very challenging and to some extent turbulent
practice environment for teaching or academic staff in this sector that is bound to impact on their
work satisfaction and teaching freedom. Measuring work satisfaction of these teaching staffs is
therefore important in assessing whether they are making a successful transition to this new
environment, as well as being an essential part of the process of ensuring high quality education
and learning at tertiary level. Dissatisfied providers not only create unstable organizations and
give poorer quality, less efficient services (George & Jones, 1996), there is also evidence of a
positive correlation between services providers’ such as employees’ satisfaction and customer
satisfaction (Taber & Alliger, 1995), and compliance (Weisman & Nathanson, 1985). Low work
satisfaction may also have cost implications in the form of high absenteeism and turnover, low
morale and lower productivity (Mullins, 1999). Work satisfaction is also cited as an important
determinant of where and for whom employees intended to practice (Tag & Gilbert, 1995), as well
as their intention to quit their profession, thus making it an important goal for the recruitment and

13. retention of employees (Shaan, 1998; US Department of Education, 1997).
Despite the importance of lecturer’s work satisfaction from a Higher Education Institutions
(HEIs) outcomes perspective and its importance, as a management goal and policy indicator, the
prevalence and predictors of career satisfaction among private sector Universities/Colleges in
Malaysia have not been comprehensively studied as mentioned earlier in this section. In contrast,
several studies emanating predominantly from the US have shown how employees satisfaction is
related to intent to leave (National Higher Education Research Institute of Malaysia, 2004; Haas et
al., 2000; McMurray, Linzer & Konrad, 2000), to practice structures (Barr, 1995), and to the
various management and cost control strategies employed by administrators and founders (Hadley,
Mitchell & Sulmasy, 1999). Consistent with the lack of empirical studies findings in Malaysian
education sector and the HEIs lecturer’s satisfaction, a new study would likely contribute to the
practical as well as theoretical significance of the relationship between job satisfaction and the
Faculty’s intention to leave in Malaysian higher education sector.
Consistent with overall discussion so far, therefore this study seeks to answer following
questions in a relatively new research setting and hopes to achieve some specific objectives. The
following section discusses research questions and the objective of the study.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Consistent with the discussion so far, this study seeks to answer the following questions on
teaching professionals’ job satisfaction:
1. What is the level (score) of reported job satisfaction and intention to leave among the
participating lecturer’s in PHEIs?
1. Is there any significant relationship between the six facets of job satisfaction and lecturer’s
intention to leave in PHEIs?
1. Which factors(s) of job satisfaction influence the lecturer’s intention to leave in PHEIs?
1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Are lecturers in Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) satisfied with their jobs?
According to Locke (1976), job satisfaction generally implies a positive evaluation of work and a
positive effect deriving from it, that is, it is a “positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal
of one’s job or job experiences” (as cited in Boles et al., 2003, p. 312). Utilizing survey data from
the PHEIs in Malaysia, this research analyzes the nature and scope of job satisfaction, with the
objective of identifying its relationship to faculty’ intention to leave the current job or Institute.
The following objectives of the study are:
1. To examine the level of reported job satisfaction and intention to leave among the
participating lecturers in PHEIs.
1. To investigate the association or relationship between job satisfaction and lecturer’s intention
to leave in PHEIs.
1. To examine the influence of the six facets of job satisfaction on lecturer’s intention to leave in
PHEIs .
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
To my understanding and knowledge, this study is unique in that it looks at the private higher

14. education sector in a developing economy in Asia Pacific region. However, the scope of this study
is limited to Malaysian private HEIs. Private higher education institutes (PHEIs) in Kuala Lumpur
area is the major focus in this study and questionnaires are distributed to the full time lecturers of
the randomly selected Colleges/Universities. While the finding of this research may be limited to
the HEIs in private sector, it is reasonable to expect that some form of generalization of the
study’s findings are possible since HEIs in Malaysia professional complies with the Malaysian
standards and code of conducts of teaching in private sector and hence the findings to some extent
may reflect the teaching profession’s experience all over Malaysia.
See I wrote to “some extent” you can explain to Mr Gazali, this is reseach and we can still be
carefull making our statement of generalization.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This research study tests and investigates empirical evidence of the relationship between
different facets of job satisfaction and intention to leave, if any. The study further validates the
relationship that perceptions of work have significant bearings on how people respond to their
work environment, and in this case to their intention to leave.
From the practical point of view, this study is of significance in the private higher education
institutes (PHEIs) as it attempts to provide an insight to the management or policy makers in the
HEIs to adopt strategies to facilitate faculty members or lecturers to maintain their relationship not
only with their profession but also with the institute and hence to overcome high turn over and
reduce further shortage of qualified faculty members/lecturers in the country either nowadays or in
the future.
1.7 THESIS OUTLINE
Figure 1.1. Outline of the thesis
Figure 1.1 illustrates the structure of this research based on the content of the individual
chapters. The arrows in Figure 1.1 indicate how the chapters are linked to each other. In chapter
one, the background of the study is discussed to understand the purpose of the study. A brief
review of the literature on job satisfaction will be discussed with the understanding of how
perceived job satisfaction is related to intention to leave. The chapter identifies two important
variables of the study that is job satisfaction as independent variable and the intention to leave of
employees as dependent variable. In this chapter research statement, questions, objectives, scope
and significance of the study are clearly discussed.
In chapter two, literature on job satisfaction is reviewed in relation to the various aspects of
organization characteristics to find that how these factors related to job satisfaction and intention
to leave. A summary of the previous findings is also presented in this chapter.
In chapter three, based on literature review, the research model and a theoretical framework
are developed and research hypotheses are discussed. The conceptualization and
operationalisation of the concept and methodological issues are further elucidated in detail.

15. Research approach, research strategy, and research design to sampling, measurement and data
analysis are discussed in detail. The next chapter i.e. chapter four contains the major empirical
part of the study that covers data collection, data recording, data presentation and data analysis.
This chapter is devoted to the analysis, discussion and interpretation of the empirical findings that
result in answering the research problem and test the hypothesis, and presentation of the
hypotheses results to answer research questions.
Finally chapter five provides a summary of the most important empirical and theoretical
findings. Evaluation, revision and interpretation of the empirical findings are also discussed in this
section. Implications for practitioners and policy makers and for future research are provided on
the basis of the findings as well as the limitations of the present research.
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter aims to provide evidence of the selected literature review on intention to leave
and job satisfaction among employees to help in the development of a theoretical framework for
this research. In this chapter, a relevant literature reviews is conducted in a systematic manner to
unfold the disciplines of job satisfaction and empirical studies of job satisfaction in a working
environment related to leaving intentions.
Dependent variable discussed first followed by six factes of job satisfaction as IV
2.1 INTENT TO LEAVE
According to researchers such as Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) and Igbaria and Greenhaus
(1992), intentions are, the most immediate determinants of actual behavior. They are also of
practical value from a research perspective, as once people have actually implemented the
behavior to quit, there is little likelihood of gaining access to them to understand their prior
situation. The validity of studying intentions in the workplace can also be drawn from Sagar’s
(1994) longitudinal study of salespeople, in which intention to quit was found to differentiate
effectively between leavers and non-leavers. However, while it is reasonable to argue that
intentions are an accurate indicator of subsequent behavior, little is known what determines such
intentions.
Numerous researchers have attempted to answer the question of what determines people’s
intention to quit by investigating possible antecedents of employees’ intentions to quit (Kalliath &
Beck, 2001; Kramer, McGraw, & Schuler, 1997). While actual quitting behavior is the primary
focus of interest to employers and researchers, intention to quit is argued to be a strong substitute
indicator for such behavior. In his study, Moore (2002) found that lack of job satisfaction are
among the factors that contribute to people’s intention to quit their jobs; however, it is important
both from the Higher Education Institute’s manager’s and the individual’s perspective to
understand which factors job satisfaction are related to intention to quit in teaching profession.
A recent survey based report in Malaysian context has been done by the National Higher
Education Research (2004), found that in private higher education institutes, the rate of actual
leave in institutes in Malaysia is nearly 4 percent. However the study further investigates the

16. factors influencing the intention to leave in Malaysian private higher education sector (IPTS). This
study found that job satisfaction and dissatisfaction factors such pay, working conditions, teaching
workloads, training opportunities for faculty members were the key motivator or de-motivator
factor for either stay in the institutes or leave the institutes. Therefore, it is clear that teacher’s
intention to leave is related to job satisfaction (Robbins, 2005).
2.2 JOB SATISFACTION
Recent studies carried out in a number of countries have drawn attention to then degree of job
satisfaction among teachers or lecturers in both school and university/college levels and have
shown that teachers’ work “growth” (Morris et al 2003; Hargreaves, 1994) mirrors societal trends
toward overwork (Naylor, 2001). Imposed and centralized system accountability, lack of
professional autonomy, relentlessly imposed changes, constant media criticism, reduced resources,
and moderate pay all relate to low teacher satisfaction in many developed countries around the
world (Van den Berg, 2002; Dinham & Scott, 1998b, 2000a; Scott et al., 2001; Scott et al., 2003;
Vandenberghe & Huberman, 1999).
Trends include job satisfaction, reduced ability to meet students’ needs, significant incidences
of psychological disorders leading to increased absenteeism, and high level of claims for stress-
related disability
The effects of these trends include declining job satisfaction, reduced ability to meet students’
needs, significant incidences of psychological disorders leading to increased absenteeism, and
high level of claims for stress-related disability (Troman & Woods, 2000). Most importantly,
though, teacher dissatisfaction appears to be a main factor in teachers leaving the profession in
many countries (Huberman, 1993; Woods et al., 1997). Thus, research into teacher satisfaction is
becoming more and more important given not only that a growing number of teachers leave the
profession but also that dissatisfaction is associated with decreased productivity (Tshannen-Moran
et al., 1998).
In terms of definitions, there is no generally agreed upon definition of teacher job satisfaction
or of what constitutes teacher satisfaction although there might be some international trends such
as, the notion that teachers are most satisfied by matters intrinsic to the role of teaching: student
achievement, helping students, positive relationships with students and others, self growth and so
on (van den Berg, 2002; Dinham & Scott, 2002). In generally, though, it is argued that context
seems to be the most powerful predictor of overall satisfaction (Dinham & Scott, 1999, 2000a, b).
As Cherniss (1995, p. 166), points out: “People can make their lives better or worse but what they
think, how they feel and what they do are strongly shaped by the social contexts in which they
live”.
2.2.1 Job Satisfaction from Measurability Perspective
Boles et al., (2003) defined job satisfaction as the result of the worker’s appraisal of the degree
to which the work environment fulfills the individual’s need. This definition clearly indicates that
the worker’s evaluation of work task, work environment, freedom in work, opportunities provided
and the benefits are provides are few of the most important needs a worker may perceive toward
job satisfaction.

17. Many studies investigating job satisfaction have looked primarily into a single job satisfaction
construct. Not many have considered different facets of job satisfaction (Boles et al., 2003). To
accurately measure “job satisfaction”, a number of characteristics of the job may need to be
evaluated if one hopes to obtain a broad measure of employee beliefs and attitudes about the job
(Churchill et al., 1974). These characteristics or facets may not be of equal importance to every
individual. For example, an employee may indicate that he is very satisfied with his supervisor,
salary and company policies, but is dissatisfied with other aspects of work, such as the actual work
itself. Organizational research indicates that employees develop attitudes toward such job facets as
work variety, pay, promotion, co-workers, company policies, and supervisors (Johnson & Johnson,
2000; Taber & Alliger, 1995).
One of the most comprehensive and widely used measures for job satisfaction is presented by
Wood, Chonko, and Hunt (1986) and Purani & Sahadev (2007). In this study job satisfaction is
characterized as a multidimensional and it has six major facets namely i) satisfaction with
supervisor, ii) satisfaction with variety, iii) satisfaction with closure, iv) satisfaction with
compensation, v) satisfaction with co-workers, and vi) satisfaction with management and Human
Resource (HR) policies.
In this section definitions of six facets of job satisfaction is presented, however a separate
section in chapter three section 3.1.1 is discussed these factors with intention to leave
Satisfaction with Supervisor
According to Wood et al., (1986), this facet of the job satisfaction determines the level of job
satisfaction on the basis of employees’ perception on how much are they satisfied with the
information or guidelines provided to them by their supervisors to carry out their job.
Satisfaction with Variety
Satisfaction with variety is another dimension of job satisfaction, whereby employees perceive
the level of satisfaction by having variety of tasks such as challenging but not routine. This also
helps them to perceive that there are a lot of opportunities available for them to grow in the
organization. Furthermore this dimension also measures the employee perception of job
satisfaction through the level of perceived freedom in job.
Satisfaction with Closure
Satisfaction with closure is the dimension of perceives job satisfaction, which determines how
an employee perceives his/her job as a source of opportunity that provides him/her enough
opportunity to complete the work from start to finish it.
Satisfaction with Compensation
Compensation is one of the most extrinsic indicators of job satisfaction. This dimension
determines the level of job satisfaction of employees by knowing how much they are satisfied
with the pay or compensation or any other security their jobs have provided to them. Churchill et
al., (1974) consider compensation as one among the dimensions of job satisfaction among sales
people. Satisfaction with the compensation plan would therefore inevitably influence an

18. employee’s inclination to leave. However, the extent to which an employee who is satisfied with
the compensation package will stay back would also depend on his/her overall assessment of
various factors like the compensation package in other organization in relation to the work load
and the possibility of getting better compensation packages.
Satisfaction with Co-workers
Satisfaction with co-workers is the dimension of perceived job satisfaction, which determines
how an employee perceives his/her job accomplishment by the support or the presence of his/her
co-worker’s attitude and behavior such as selfishness, friendly or supportive (Purani & Sahadev,
2007).
Satisfaction with Management and HR Policies
A major dimension of job satisfaction that emerged from Purani and Sahadev’s research
(2007) provided a factor of job satisfaction, which relate to the overall satisfaction with the human
resources policies and strategies of the organization. This is often verbalized in terms of such
statements like “This company always acts for the well being of its personnel” or “I am satisfied
with the overall working conditions”. This is a reflection of the trust in the organization’s
inclination in favor of its employees. Purani and Sahadev (2007) and US Department of Education
study’s (1997) argued that while issues like supervisory behavior and compensation form part of
the micro issues regarding an employee’s engagement with the organization, the overall policies
and strategies regarding the personnel is associated with a macro perspective with regard to the
person’s evaluation of the organization. For instance, even if a particular supervisor is fair and
empathetic, if the overall policies of the organization with regard to personnel are not up to the
satisfaction level of the employee need, he/she may be inclined to quit.
In this study these dimensions or facets of the job satisfaction are under investigation as
independent variables because they represent a comprehensive measure of job satisfaction at
workplace. Furthermore, these facets are related closely to the working conditions lecturers’
experience.
2.3 INTENT TO LEAVE AND JOB SATISFACTION IN EDUCATION SECTOR
Malaysia is currently facing a serious and critical shortage of qualified and well-trained faculty
members/lecturers in order to meet the rapidly growing education requirements (National Higher
Education Research Institute of Malaysia, 2004; Lee & Mitchell, 1994). Buckley, Schneider and
Shang (2004) categorizes factors behind the intention to leave and intention to migration i.e.
attrition. These categories are teacher factors, institution factors and community factors. Salaries,
benefits and course preparation are in teacher factors. Institution factors include working
conditions, availability of resources and responsibility while community factors related to
government policy about institution, budget, authority and regulations. Job satisfaction of faculty
members can be interconnected with rewards for excellence, nature of the job, opportunities for
promotion and growth (Lumsden, 1998). If above factors do not fulfill according to faculty
members perception, either this perception maintain professionalism or nor, then it open the
window of intention to leave and even intention to migration elsewhere.

19. Turnover intention included intention to leave and intention to migration the intention of an
employee for looking forward the available alternative jobs in other place or other job or in other
country. It can be measured by examining the interest of an employee in current job, current
availability of alternative jobs and availability of alternative jobs in near future (Pasewark &
Strawser, 1996). Khatri et al., (2001) take job satisfaction with three perspectives i.e. satisfaction
with salary/pay, supervision and type of work. Moreover, this study also shows that negative
relationship between proposed three perspectives of job satisfaction with employee turnover
intentions. Similarly, the recent study by National Higher Education Research Institute of
Malaysia (2004), also confirmed that in Malaysian private sector institutes, teachers intent to leave
is negatively related to better offer in other IPTS or IPTA, working conditions, training
opportunities and teaching work load. The report also documented that due to these factors the
turn over rate at present is 4 percent which is going to be increased in the future by 7 to 9 percent.
Another recent study by Morris et al (2003) in Malaysian context also reveals that compensation
is a key factor for motivation of teachers in higher education institutes in Malaysia.
The relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intentions is also investigate by Koh
and Goh in 1995 and classified job satisfaction in eight major classes. These are working
conditions, colleague’s behaviour, salary, management, organization’s reputation, nature of work,
amount of work and career growth. DeVaney and Chen (2003) also introduced demographic
factors like age, gender, race and education in the field of faculty member’s attitude. However,
these factors are not strongly correlated with job satisfaction. It has been noticed that employees
of educational institutions prefer working environment, which allow them to use their all-mental
skills (Robbins, 1991). Young and less experienced faculty members leave their profession within
first five years at an alarming rate of 40% (US Department of Education, 1993). This situation
creates anxiety in old faculty members, which later also change their intention to leave their
profession because they are not at the position to leave their profession.
A considerable step taken by Mobley (1977) when he introduced a concept that turnover
(intention to leave & intention to migration) was a complete process. The decision of leave or
migration from the academic institution is the final action which comes forward after a series of
steps that leads to the intention to leave or intention to migration. Each individual analyze his self-
expectation chart before making a decision of leaving or migration. George & Jones (1996) sort
out self-expectation chart in three categories value attainment (how an individual evaluate relative
standards and its values), life satisfaction (the extent to which an individual satisfy with his life)
and positive feelings of an individual with his experiences. Mobley (1977) proposed that turnover
related to main four dimensions from where we understand the proposed turnover process given
by Mobley. These four dimensions are job satisfaction-dissatisfaction, utility of alternative internal
work, utility of external work and values of off-work activities.
Zembylas and Papanastasiou (2004), describe job satisfaction is a behavioral cycle. The
relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intentions is a complicated process. In normal
routine, a person is likely to leave his organization when he is dissatisfied. The measurement of
dissatisfaction depends upon available conditions and varies from country to country even
organization to organization.

20. Organizational commitment indicates the employee’s attitude of belongingness towards
his/her organization (Robbins, 2005), and therefore, it always remains the major concern in
research bodies to describe the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intentions of an
employee. Naylor (2001) study explores the negative relationship between commitment and
turnover intentions. Numerous scholars like (Khatri, 2001), Davies (1994) and Tett & Meyer
(1993), gave organizational commitment as an important predictor of turnover intentions. The
wikipedia general definition of organizational commitment is ‘the psychological attachment and
association to the organization’. Organizational commitment with reference to an employee can be
divided in three dimensions. According to Moore (2002), first one is the emotional commitment of
an employee to organization. Second one is the continuance commitment of an individual and last
one is normative commitment, which deals the individual behavior with the feelings of
responsibilities to the organization.
When issue of intention to leave is discussed among teaching professions in education sector
in developing country, then an issue of teacher’s intent to leave the country is also a corresponding
issue. A miniature literature review is available on the intention of migration of academic
professionals. The surge of academic professionals from all over the world has been exaggerated
by the globalization of higher education. Mostly academic professional’s migration takes place
from developing countries to developed countries. The factors behind these intentions identify by
Ong, Chang and Evans (1992). A big percentage of academic professionals move from poor to
rich countries and the chief motive of this migration is to increase their income (Ong, Chang &
Evans, 1992). Salary discrepancy is the basic reason of academic professional’s migration but this
is not the only reason because some migrations have also been seen for growth and career
development.
However, there is no accepted standard to measure the employee turnover intentions rate that
why people choose to leave the job (Lee & Mitcher, 1994). Employee turnover function consists
of different psychological states (Mobley, 1977; Tett & Meyer, 1993) and availability of
alternative jobs (Norton & Kelly, 1997), which finally turnaround the scenario of job satisfaction
to intention to leave and intention to migration. The relationship between intention to leave and
intention to migration with tenure is very complicated. But it may be the most important factor of
turnover of the employee (Mobley, 1977).
It may be advantageous for an individual but it is a considerable loss especially for the
economy of fastest developing countries like Malaysia. Another aspect of shortage of qualified
faculty members is the scholarship scheme for professionals given by the Malaysia Government
especially Ministry of Education. It is a good initiative for making standards of high education in
universities but the harsh and true side of this picture is that the most of them do not even able to
complete the course/program and come back with the completion of the program.
2.4 SUMMARY
The second chapter of the study has reviewed the relevant literature of job satisfaction to build
an in-depth understanding for the theoretical implication of the concept of job satisfaction, which

21. is considered as one of the greatest concerns of the modern business to sustain their workforce.
This chapter has also reviewed the literature of job satisfaction from various researches setting to
review and understand the ongoing research in the field of job satisfaction with relation to
employee’s attitude to intent to leave, especially among university lecturers.
This chapter also helps to develop the understanding of the subject area and the issues relevant
to job satisfaction and its relationship to employee’s intention to leave framework for the next
chapter (chapter 3).
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0 INTRODUCTION
The main purpose of this research is to examine the perceived level of job satisfaction and its
relationship to intention to leave among faculty members/lecturers. This chapter contains the
following sections relating to methodology: (i) theoretical framework and hypotheses
development, (ii) research design, (iii) instrumentation, (iv) reliability testing (v) analysis of data,
and vi) chapter summary.
3.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT
After careful consideration of the research questions and objectives of this study, and review
of relevant literature in chapter two, the theoretical framework and research model is developed,
and hypotheses are formulated to identify and test the relationship between the various variables
identified (see Figure 3.1). Based on the literature review presented earlier, certain investigative
relationships among the study variables are accomplished.
Figure 3.1. Research model
The six factors constituted as variable job satisfaction, which is an independent variable, and
which is associated to one dependent variable intention to leave for lecturers.
3.1.1 Hypothesis Development
Many research studies in working environment confirmed that employee’s intention to leave
has been negatively associated or related to job satisfaction (Brown, & Peterson, 1994; Jenkins,
1993). Various studies on academic staff’s job satisfaction provided insight that why teachers are
inclined to leave the job (Zembylas & Papanastasiou, 2003; Norton & Kelly, 1997).
As indicated earlier, there are six main facets of job satisfaction proposed to have an influence
on intention to leave. These facets are i) satisfaction with supervisor, ii) satisfaction with variety,
iii) satisfaction with closure, iv) satisfaction with compensation, v) satisfaction with co-workers
and vi) satisfaction with management and HR policies. The following will explain how each facet
of job satisfaction is related to intention to leave to develop the hypotheses for this study.
Satisfaction with Supervisor
Pearson and Chong (1997) also examined the impact of job contents or the job variety and job
information provided by supervisors to perform the employee’s job on organization commitment
and job satisfaction among Malaysian Information Technology (IT) Managers in large private

22. sector. They found that job information provided by supervisors is stronger predictor to
employee’s job satisfaction and therefore argued that intrinsic factors such as job information
provided by supervisors and the contents or the variety of job (perceived career development and
opportunities by performing a particular job) also influence employee’s job satisfaction.
Kohli (1989) argued that the behavior and attitude of the supervisor was one of the main
components of job satisfaction. In a recent study of Purani and Sahadev (2007), several sales
persons stated very explicitly their positive (negative) feelings about the supervisor as an
important dimension of their satisfaction with the job. An employee can be assumed to be very
sensitive about the quality of supervision. At low levels of satisfaction with the supervision, a
lecturer can be expected to be much more inclined to leave. According to Vroom's theory of
motivation (1964) employees believe that effort will lead to performance and performance will
lead to rewards. Rewards may be either positive or negative. The more positive the reward the
more likely the employee will be highly motivated. Conversely, the more negative the reward the
less likely the employee will be motivated and may feel to leave the organization for better
compensation and reward.
Similarly, according to Adams’s Theory (1965), if employees perceive inequity, they would
feel less motivated and may intend to leave. Hence the following hypothesis is offered.
H1: Satisfaction with supervisor will be negatively related to intention to leave among lecturers.
Satisfaction with Variety
This dimension is associated with the perceived satisfaction with the extent to which the
employee is able to apply him/herself skills and gets opportunities to grow while performing a
job/task. The opportunities dimension through task variety used by Churchill et al., (1974) comes
close to this construct. But this construct is also related to the extent to which the employee feels
that his skills are adequately utilized and are given opportunities to grow. While this aspect of job
satisfaction is bound to critically affect the intention to leave, the effect of lecturer’s experience to
intend to quit cannot be ruled out (Behrman & Perreault, 1984).
Thus, at high levels of satisfaction with job variety, freedom, and career opportunity available
through the tasks performed, a lecturer would be stronger in their resolve to stay in the
organization (Dinham & Scott, 2000; Evans, 1998, 2001; Purani & Sahadev, 2007). At lower
levels of satisfaction with this attribute, an employee would be the first to leave if they may have a
good idea about better opportunities available through the job variety. Thus the following
hypothesis is offered.
H2: Satisfaction with variety will be negatively related to intention to leave among lecturers.
Satisfaction with Closure
Wood et al., (1986) explained satisfaction with closure, as one of the dimensions of perceives
job satisfaction, which determines how an employee perceives his/her job as a source of
opportunity that provides him/her enough opportunity to complete the work from start to finish.
Reasons for academic staff’s dissatisfaction have been well documented in the literature. Among
the many reasons lack of flexibility in scheduling and freedom at work to perform task effectively

23. is also one of the major reason for academic dissatisfaction (Cherniss,1995).
Dinham, and Scott, (1997) found that information available to perform employees job, for
example scheduling, proper documentation, resources such as overhead projectors, case studies,
multimedia and other information/guidelines and so on is important to ensure that they have
enough opportunity to complete effectively their tasks from beginning to the end is negatively
associated with employee’s intention to leave. Therefore the following hypothesis is offered:
H3: Satisfaction with closure will be negatively related to intention to leave among lecturers.
Satisfaction with Compensation
Lower compensation is one of the factors of job dissatisfaction can cause employees to leave
and to find the better job that could provide higher compensation (Scott, 2000a, b, 2002; Scott et
al., 2001; Churchill et al., 1974). Satisfaction with the compensation plan would therefore
inevitably influence a lecturer’s inclination to leave (Scott et al., 2001; US Department of
Education, 1997).
However, the extent to which an employee who is satisfied with the compensation package
will stay back would also depend on her/his overall assessment of various factors like the
compensation package in other organization in relation to the work load, the possibility of getting
better compensation packages and etc. Hence, a lecturer’s perceived level of higher levels of
satisfaction with compensation package will influence his/her strength of reluctance to quit will be
much more lesser than that of his/her counterpart, who are dissatisfied with the current
compensation package in the academic institute (US Department of Education, 1997). Hence the
following hypothesis is offered.
H4: Satisfaction with compensation will be negatively related to intention to leave among
lecturers.
Satisfaction with Co-workers
Similarly satisfaction with co-workers is another dimension of perceived job satisfaction,
which determines how an employee perceives his/her job accomplishment by the support or the
presence of his/her co-worker’s attitude and behavior such as selfishness, friendly or supportive.
Purani and Sahadev (2007) found a negative correlation between employee’s satisfaction with co-
workers and intention to leave. Lee and Mitchell (1994) indicate that though approaches to the
study of turnover differ, most include the possibility that turnover is motivated by the disaffection
of the individual with some aspect of the work environment including the job, co-workers, or
organization.
A number of studies conducted in a variety of settings support a relationship between
organizational trust and intention to leave (Cunningham & MacGregor, 2000). It seems that when
trust exists within an organization, then motivational and decision-making processes result in felt
support, attachment and a willingness to stay (Tan & Tan, 2000). Earlier studies have generally
used managers, supervisors or the organization itself as their trust referent. To date there has been
a marked lack of attention given to the exploration of co-worker trust and intent to leave. Co-
worker trust may be associated with lowered intention to leave for similar reasons as

24. organizational trust motivates people to stay. The increased collaboration, connection, and
effective communication stemming from trust in co-workers would most likely lead to positive
social networks, feelings of support, greater attachment and socio-emotional satisfaction. These
outcomes could conceivably be manifested in lowered intention. Hence the following hypothesis
is offered.
H5: Satisfaction with co-workers will be negatively related to intention to leave among lecturers.
Satisfaction with Management and HR Policies
Norton and Kelly (1997) argued that poor management and policies may also lead to job
burnout and stress and ultimately lecturer’s intent to leave. A recent study by Purani and Sahadev
(2007) found a major dimension of job satisfaction that emerged from their depth interviews with
sales persons, was the overall satisfaction with the Human Resources policies and strategies of the
organization.
They argued that it is often verbalized in terms of such statements like “This company always
acts for the well being of its personnel” or the “I am satisfied with the overall working
conditions”. This is a reflection of the trust in the organization’s inclination in favor of its
employees (Purani & Sahadev, 2007).
Purani and Sahadev (2007) further explained that the informed employees tend to scrutinize
the strategy of their present organization in terms of its present strategies, policies and programs.
Elements of the domain that emerged included “The extent to which the management is fair in its
policies towards personnel”, “A clear path for the employee’s advancement”, “Confidence in the
leadership”, “The provision for training”, etc. While issues like supervisory behavior and
compensation form part of the micro issues regarding an employee’s engagement with the
organization, the overall policies and strategies regarding the personnel is associated with a macro
perspective with regard to a sales person’s evaluation of the organization. Hence the following
hypothesis is offered.
H6: Satisfaction with HR and management policies will be negatively related to intention to leave
among lecturers.
In addition to the preceding hypotheses, this study also seeks to examine which facets of job
satisfaction will have the most influence on intent to leave. Because evidence on this is
unavailable, it is hypothesized that each facet will contribute equally to variance in intent to leave.
Therefore the following hypothesis is offered.
H7: Six factors of job satisfaction are negatively influencing the lecturer’s intention to leave.
Next, a discussion on how the research was actually carried out is presented.
3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN
To achieve the research objective, a cross-sectional survey of lecturers in selected colleges and
universities operating in Kuala Lumpur was carried out. The data collection phase started in
second week of July and completed on 28th July 2009.

25. 3.2.1 Population, Sampling and Data Collection Procedure
The population of this study comprises lecturers of the private colleges and universities, which
offered so many varieties degree level programs and those programs are registered with Ministry
of Higher Education (MOHE). There were sixty (60) private higher education institutes in
Malaysia in 2002, out of this, twenty two (22) private higher education institutes (PHEIs) are
operating in Kuala Lumpur (National Higher Education Research Institute of Malaysia, 2004).
The overall strength of the teaching staffs in all PHEIs by 2002 was nearly 15,000 (National
Higher Education Research Institute of Malaysia, 2004). However the actual numbers of the
faculty members in the institutes in Kaula Lumpur is not available in the research report presented
by National Higher Education Research Institute of Malaysia. However, an estimated figure can
be calculated by using average method to reach a cut point as total population of the faculty
members in Kaula Lumpur based institutes is 2500. Therefore by adopting a random sampling
method provided by (Sekaran, 2002, p. 295), 335 faculty members should be the desirable sample
for this study. Therefore 500 questionnaires were self-administrated to 22 PHEIs in Kuala
Lumpur. Each institute was sent out 25-survey questionnaire. Data collection process lasted
around four weeks, from the first week of July 2009 to the end of July 2009. A total of 152
questionnaire found completed, were returned resulting in an overall 30 percent response rate.
3.2.2 Questionnaire Design
As mentioned earlier, data were collected via questionnaires. The survey questionnaire is
developed in English. To allow more ease to respondents an introductory letter was attached with
the questionnaire (see Appendix A). The letter introduced the researcher and the purpose of
research and also ensures the anonymity of the respondent’s personal information will be treated
as completely private and confidential.
The survey questionnaire is composed of three sections (see Appendix A). Section one is to
collect and capture the perceived level of job satisfaction, where as section two is used for
measuring the intention to leave. Section three is used to collect the demographic information of
lecturers.
The languages of the original questionnaire are changed, so that it could be adopted for the
education sector. For example, the original statement of “Organization’s management has a clear
path for employee’s advancement.” was changed to “College/University management has a clear
path for lecturer’s advancement.” See Appendix B for the survey questionnaire.
The following section discusses the operationalization of variables used in this study.
3.3 INSTRUMENTATION
This study involves two important variables. The independent variables pertain to job
satisfaction while the dependent variable intention to leave. Each of how the variable was
measured in this study is discussed as follows.
3.3.1 Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction is defined as the worker’s appraisal of the degree to which the work

26. environment fulfills the individual’s need (Locke, 1976). To measure job satisfaction, the original
instrument developed by Wood et al., (1986) and Purani and Sahadev (2007) was used. Six facets
of job satisfaction were asked. They are satisfaction with supervisor (4 items), satisfaction with
variety (5 items), satisfaction with closure (2 items), satisfaction with compensation (5 items),
satisfaction with co-workers (4 items) and satisfaction with the management and HR policies (4
items). The measures of the job satisfaction are the original work of Wood et al., (1986) and also
adopted from the work of Purani & Sahadev (2007). These items were rated on a five–point
Likert type scales ranging from ‘1’ “strongly disagree” to ‘5’ “strongly disagree.” The items of
respective factors of job satisfaction are computed as average summated score for the data
analysis purpose.
3.3.2 Intention to Leave
Intention to leave is defined as an employee’s plan of intention to quit the present job and look
forward to find another job in the near future (Purani & Sahadev, 2007; Weisberg, 1994). To
measure the intention to leave of lecturer a three item construct adopted by the work of Jenkis
(1993) and Kransz et al. (1995) is used. These items were rated on a five–point Likert type scales
ranging from ‘1’ “strongly disagree” to ‘5’ “strongly disagree.” Respondents were to indicate their
level of agreement or disagreement on items such as, “In the last few months, I have seriously
thought about looking for a new job,”, “Presently, I am actively searching for other job” and “I
intend to leave the organization in the near future.” The items of respective factors of intention to
leave are computed as average summated score for the data analysis purpose.
3.3.3 Demographic Information
In addition to the above questions, respondents were also asked to provide their personal
information such as age, gender, education profile, ethnicity, marital status, and income and length
of working experience. These items were generally measured on a categorical scale.
Table 3.1 summarizes the instruments used for the present study.
Table 3.1 Instruments of Variables
|Variables |Items |
|Job satisfaction | |
|- Satisfaction with supervisor |I am satisfied with the information I receive from my superior
about my job |
| |performance. |
| |I receive enough information from m supervisor about my job
performance. |
| |I receive enough feedback from my supervisor on how well I am doing.
|
| |There is enough opportunity in my job to find out how I am doing.
|
|- Satisfaction with variety |I am satisfied with the variety of activities my job offers.
|

27. | |I am satisfied with the freedom I have to do what I want on my job.
|
| |I am satisfied with the opportunity my job provides me to interact with
others |
| |There is enough variety in my job. |
| |I have enough freedom to do what I want in my faculty related job.
|
| |My job has enough opportunity for independent thought and action.
|
|- Satisfaction with closure |I am satisfied with the opportunity my job gives me to
complete tasks from |
| |beginning to end. |
| |My job has enough opportunity to complete the work I start.
|
|- Satisfaction with compensation |Overall I am satisfied with the college/University’s
compensation package. |
| |I am satisfied with the medical benefits. |
| |I received with the security my job provides me. |
| |I am satisfied with the retirement benefits. |
| |I am satisfied with the holiday (vacation) eligibilities. |
|- Satisfaction with co-workers |My fellow workers are not selfish.
|
| |My fellow workers are pleasant. |
| |The people I work with are very friendly. |
| |The people I work with help each other out when someone falls behind
or gets in a |
| |tight spot. |
|- Satisfaction with management and HR |College/university’s management has a clear path for
lecturer’s advancement. |
|policies |Decisions are made keeping in mind the good of the lecturers.
|
| |Management is extremely fair in personal policies. |
| |Physical working conditions are supportive in attaining quality of
teaching and |
| |research. |
|Intent to leave |In the last few months, I have seriously thought about looking for a
new job. |
| |Presently, I am actively searching for other job. |
| |I intend to leave the college/university in the near future. |
|Respondent’s background |What is your sex? |
| |What is your ethnic origin |
| |What is your marital status? |
| |How old are you? |
| |What is the highest level of your education? |

28. | |How long have you been working in the teaching (lecturing position)?
Approximately |
| |________ years? |
| |What is your job title? |
This is the justification of using reliability test I hope you can understand this sentence so, why
your suervisor cannot?
3.4 RELIABILITY TESTING
Reliability of measure is an indication of the stability and consistency with which the
instrument measures the concept and helps to assess the “goodness” of a measure (Sekaran, 2005).
Furthermore, the reliability of measure will indicate the extent to which it is without bias (error
free) and hence ensures consistent measurement across time and across the various items in the
instrument. To measure the reliability of the instruments used, Cronbach’s alpha is employed.
According to Sekaran (2005), if the Cronbach’s alpha is less than 0.6, this means that the
instrument used has a low reliability (and thus opens for some errors). If the alpha value is within
0.7, the instrument is acceptable for further analysis.
3.5 DATA ANALYSIS
After collection of the data from field survey, the statistical package for the social sciences
(SPSS) 13.0 for Windows is employed to help with the data analysis. Data analysis in the study
includes descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. The following
section describes these analyses in detail for the study.
3.5.1 Descriptive Analyses
Descriptive analyses include frequencies, mean, and standard deviations, which are computed
for all variables to obtain a general profile of the distribution of responses. In particular,
frequencies, mean, and standard deviations are calculated to identify the characteristics of the
sample for the study. By calculating mean and standard deviation of each facet of job satisfaction
and intention to leave, objective 1 (one) of this study would be achieved.
3.5.2 Correlation Analysis
For this study, Pearson correlation analysis is used to inspect whether job satisfaction and
intention to leave have significant relationship to each other. The scale suggested by Hair et al.,
(2003) is used to describe the intensity of relationships between the dependent and the
independent variables of the study as shown in Table 4.2. This analysis is used to test the
relationship between facets of job satisfaction and intent to leave. By testing hypotheses one
through six, using correlation analysis would help to achieve the objective number 2 (two) of this
study.
Table 3.2
Pearson’s r Indices of Correlation
|Pearson’s r |Indication |
|Between ± 0.80 to ± 1.00 |High correlation
|

29. |Between ± 0.60 to ± 0.79 |Moderately high correlation
|
|Between ± 0.40 to ± 0.59 |Moderate correlation
|
|Between ± 0.20 to ± 0.39 |Low correlation
|
|Between ± 0.01 to ± 0.19 |Negligible correlation
|
Correlation coefficient is computed to investigate the strength of association among the
variables. This analysis is used to test the hypothesis one through six. The level of significance is
set at .05 or less.
3.5.3 Multiple Regression Analysis
Regression analysis is used to describe the relationship between the dependent variable
(intention to leave) and the six factors of independent variables (job satisfaction). The multiple
regression models estimate the relationship between the multiple predictor variables and the
dependent variable. Since all the constructs/variables are measured in metric scale, therefore,
regression analysis is appropriate, where six factors of job satisfaction are regressed on single
dependent variable intention to leave to investigate the relationship and effects between the two or
more variables. This analysis is used to test the hypothesis seven of this study to achieve the
objective three (3) of this study.
3.6 SUMMARY
This chapter has described the development of the research model for this study. The research
methodology and the research design have been explained following, the hypothesis generation.
Different statistical tests, such as, descriptive (mean and standard deviations), Pearson correlation,
and multiple regression analysis are used to examine the relationship hypothesized.
CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH FINDINGS
4.0 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the discussion on how the survey was carried out was discussed. Here, the
results of the survey based on the data collected will be presented. Toward this end, this chapter
presents some background information of the respondents first before it goes on to present some
descriptive results of the variables involved. Then, the chapter presented the results of the
hypotheses testing.
4.1 BACKGROUND OF RESPONDENTS
Table 4.1 presents the respondents’ background. The profile of the participating
respondents’ demographic characteristics is presented in Table 4.1. Out of 152 respondents, 78
(51.3%) were female and 74 (48.7%) were male teaching staffs. This finding indicates that female
and male academic staffs in the private higher of educational sectors have been provided equal
employment opportunity. The distribution of ages of the participating academic staffs ranged
between 24 to 43 years. The majority of the academic/teaching staff’s age distribution of about 84

30. (55.3%) were 24 years to 28 years old. While 39 (25.7%) of the academic staffs aged between 29
years to 33 years. While 25 (16.4%) academic staffs aged between 34 years to 38 years of age. A
small number 4 (2.6%) of the respondent’s indicates their age between 39 to 43 years. The overall
age distribution of the academic staff indicates that in private higher education institutes, mostly
lecturers are young, this finding further suggests that young male and females are keen to join the
academic position in Malaysia.
As far as the academic qualification of the participating teachers is concerned, out of 152,
79 (52.0%) hold the degree, while 68 (44.7%) have their Master degree. There are few faculty
members 3.3 percent, also had only a Diploma qualification, The findings of the ethnic origin of
academic staffs indicates that in the private Higher Education Institutes, the majority 113 (74.3%)
of teaching/academic staff are Malays and this confirms the fact that Malays people likelihood
more interesting working in teaching sector compare to the other races.
The majority of the respondents 78 (51.3%) were single, while 68 (44.7%) were married. The
rest are reported as divorced. Out of 152 respondents, 65 (42.8%) of them have been working in
the institute between few months and 2 years, while 19.7% between 3 and 4 years, and 17.8%
between 5 and 6 years. Only a small number of them have been working more than 9 years
(7.2%). As far as the respondent’s job title is concerned, it is revealed that majority 86 (56.6%)
was lecturer, while 52 (34.2%) were junior lecturer. However quite few were working as senior
lectures (9.2%)
Table 4.1 Respondents' Background (n = 152)
| |Frequency |Percentage |
|Gender | | |
|Male |74 |48.7 |
|Female |78 |51.3 |
| | | |
|Marital status | | |
|Single |78 |51.3 |
|Married |68 |44.7 |
|Divorced |6 |3.9 |
| | | |
|Ethnic Origin | | |
| Malay |113 |74.3 |
| Chinese |27 |17.8 |
| Indian |6 |3.9 |
| Others |6 |3.9 |
| | | |
|Working experience (in years) | | |
| 0 Year to < 3 Years |65 |42.8 |
| 3 Years to < 5 Years |30 |19.7 |
| 5 Years to < 7 Years |27 |17.8 |
| 7 Years to < 9 Years |19 |12.5 |

31. | More Than 9 Years |11 |7.2 |
| | | |
|Level of education | | |
|Diploma |5 |3.3 |
|Bachelor |79 |52.0 |
|Master |68 |44.7 |
| | | |
|Job Title | | |
|Junior Lecturer |52 |34.2 |
|Lecturer |86 |56.6 |
|Senior Lecturer |14 |9.2 |
| | | |
|Age | | |
| 24 Years to < 29 Years Old |84 |55.3 |
| 29 Years to < 34 Years Old |39 |25.7 |
| 34 Years to < 39 Years Old |25 |16.4 |
| 39 Years to < 44 Years Old |4 |2.6 |
| | | |
4.2 RELIABILITY ANALYSIS
Reliability of measure is an indication of the stability and consistency with which the
instrument measures the concept and helps to assess the “goodness” of a measure (Sekaran, 2005).
To measure the reliability of the instruments used, Cronbach’s alpha is employed. According to
Sekaran (2005), if the Cronbach’s alpha is less than .6, this means that the instrument used has a
low reliability (and thus opens for some errors). If the alpha value is within .7, the instrument has
acceptable.
The internal consistency reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s alpha) for the scales used in this
study are all well above the level of 0.7, acceptable for the analysis purpose (Sekaran, 2005). In
Table 4.2, alpha scores of all variables with completed response of 152 lecturers are given.
Why not three items what is the problem plz do ask your supervisor even one item can also used
as valid variable for measuring the concept if we use factor analysis and if factor yield one item in
one factor (Hair et al, 2003)
Table 4.2 Reliability Coefficients of the Constructs (n = 152)
|Constructs |No. of Items |Cronbach’s Alpha |
|Satisfaction with supervisor |4 |.730 |
|Satisfaction with job variety |6 |.716 |
|Satisfaction with closure |2 |.617 |
|Satisfaction with compensation |5 |.852 |
|Satisfaction with co-workers |4 |.763 |
|Satisfaction with HR/management policies |4 |.909
|
|Intention to leave |3 |.826 |

32. In the present study reliability analyses were run on seven main measures, i.e. satisfaction with
supervisor, satisfaction with job variety, satisfaction with co-workers, satisfaction with closure,
satisfaction with HR polices and intention to leave. Table 4.2 highlights the reliability coefficients
of the measures. As can be seen from table, the measures are all reliable given the high value of
Cronbach’s alphas, which allow for further data analysis.
I have used the valid instrument/questionnaire and the questionnaire items are already valid and
reliable even for satisfaction with closure having 2 items in it is also valid (wood et al, 1986).
Who told that all dimensions must have 5 items/questions can you ask him to speak with me on
this matter.
4.3 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF MAIN VARIABLES
Table 4.3 highlights descriptive statistics of the main variables of the present study, i.e.
satisfaction with supervisor, satisfaction with job variety, satisfaction with closure, satisfaction
with compensation, satisfaction with co-workers, satisfaction with HR/Management policies and
intention to leave.
As can be seen from the table, the respondents generally perceived that they were moderately
satisfied with their supervisor (mean = 3.58, SD = .56), job variety (mean = 3.97, SD = .47), the
level of closure (mean = 3.90, SD = .58), compensation (mean = 3.01, SD = .80), their co-workers
(mean = 3.92, SD = .58), and the HEIs’s management/HR policies (mean = 3.39, SD = .75).
With respect to intention to leave, the lecturers in the study generally are not inclined towards
leaving the academic institution for higher education (mean = 2.75, SD = 1.14).
Table 4.3 Descriptive Statistics of Variables (n = 152)
|Items1 |Mean |Standard Deviation (SD) |
|Satisfaction with supervisor |3.58 |.56 |
|Satisfaction with job variety |3.97 |.47 |
|Satisfaction with closure |3.90 |.58 |
|Satisfaction with compensation |3.01 |.80 |
|Satisfaction with co-workers |3.92 |.58 |
|Satisfaction with HR/MGT policies |3.39 |.75 |
|Overall satisfaction |3.63 |0.62 |
|Intention to leave |2.75 |1.14 |
Note. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = disagree nor agree, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree.
This is a presentation style , so one must be logical when comment that this is not good, why
not? I think this is good way to present data while using scale . Further you can tell that lower SD
value (between 1 and 3) indicates that the respondents are consistent in responding questions, this
also shows that your questionnaire is valid and reliable)
In the following section, each variable are examined in greater details as to what means in
relation to the mean value found earlier.
Satisfaction with Supervisor
As indicated earlier, four items were used to measure lecturer’s perceived satisfaction with

33. supervisor and that on average the respondents are satisfied with their supervisors in the institute.
Table 4.4 highlights the descriptive statistics for each item. Out of the four items, getting feedback
from the supervisors on how well the performance is being offered (mean = 3.69, SD = .730)
followed by receiving enough information from supervisors shows the second highest mean value
of 3.66 (SD = .652), followed by, satisfied with the information about job performance (mean =
3.49, SD =. 763), and enough opportunity for lecturer’s to find how they are doing their jobs
(mean 3.48, SD = .861). In general, the respondents appear to have moderate satisfaction with
their supervisor with respect to the feedback they receive about their academic job performance.
Table 4.4 Descriptive Results of satisfaction with supervisor (n=152)
|Items |Mean |SD |
|I am satisfied with the information I receive from my superior about my job |3.69
|.730 |
|performance | | |
|I receive enough information from my supervisor about my job performance. |3.66
|.652 |
|I receive enough feedback from my supervisor on how well I am doing. |3.49
|.763 |
|There is enough opportunity in my job to find out how I am doing. |3.48 |.861
|
|Total Mean (Supervisor) |3.58 |.56 |
Satisfaction with Job Variety
As indicated earlier, six items were used to measure lecturer’s perceived satisfaction with job
variety and that on average the respondents are reasonably highly satisfied with job variety in their
respective institutes. Table 4.5 highlights the descriptive statistics for each item. Out of the six
items, the opportunity to interact with people shows the highest level of satisfaction (mean = 4.34,
SD =. 624), followed by freedom to do work (mean = 4.16, SD = .624). Satisfaction with the
availability of the independence thought and action (mean = 3.99, SD = .488). Satisfaction with
the freedom in academic/faculty related tasks (mean = 3.88, SD = .754); job variety and the
activities, mean = 3.87, SD = .778). However, lecturers perceived the lowest level of satisfaction
in the variety of activities (mean = 3.61, SD =.807)
Yes to achieve the objective one of this study we need to calculate mean valaue , ask your
supervisor to read objective one , two and three plz.
Table 4.5 Descriptive results of Satisfaction with Job Variety (n = 152)
|Items |Mean |SD |
|I am satisfied with the variety of activities my job offers. |3.61 |.807
|
|I am satisfied with the freedom I have to do what I want on my job. |4.16 |.624
|
|I am satisfied with the opportunity my job provides me to interact with others. |4.34
|.853 |
|There is enough variety in my job. |3.87 |.778 |
|I have enough freedom to what I want in my faculty related job. |3.88 |.754