Relationship between perceived organizational support, leadership behavior, and job satisfaction: An empirical study in Iran

As the second largest producer of cement after Egypt in the Middle East, Iran planned to increase production from 33 million ton/yr (Mt/yr) currently to 70 Mt/yr by 2021 due to increase in local demand and also to compete in export markets (Dehqan, 2002). Thus, Iran is experiencing some changes in workforce participation in order to achieve high level of organisational performance and effectiveness. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of leadership behavior and perceived organisational support on the job satisfaction of Iranian employees. Data were collected through questionnaire from 136 employees working in Tehran Cement Company. Consideration leadership behavior was found to have significant impact on both intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction whereas perceived organisational support was significantly related to extrinsic job satisfaction. Interestingly, the interaction of leadership behavior and perceived organisational support were not significantly related to job satisfaction. The implications to human resource development for organizations that want to increase employee commitment is to focus on improving the quality of the supportive relationships between the employees and both the leader and the organisation.