A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY OF NEED SATISFACTION AND NEED IMPORTANCE FOR OPERATIVE EMPLOYEES

THIS ARTICLE COMPARED THE PERCEPTIONS OF NEED SATISFACTIONS AND NEED IMPORTANCE OF OPERATIVE EMPLOYEES FROM TWO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. A NEED SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE WAS UTILIZED TO COLLECT DATA FROM 83 OPERATIVE EMPLOYEES IN A GLASS FACTORY IN THE UNITED STATES AND 94 OPERATIVE EMPLOYEES IN A SIMILAR GLASS FACTORY IN MEXICO. THE TWO FACTORIES PRODUCED IDENTICAL PRODUCTS FOR THE SAME PARENT COMPANY. PRODUCT LINES, PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY, JOB REQUIREMENTS AND ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE WERE SIMILAR. CULTURE WAS THEREBY ISOLATED AS THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE. THE FINDINGS SHOW THAT THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN NEARLY EVERY NEED ITEM SCORE BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES. THE MEXICAN OPERATIVES WERE GENERALLY MORE SATISFIED IN THE NEEDS AND THEY ALSO PLACED MORE IMPORTANCE ON THE NEEDS THAN DID THE AMERICAN OPERATIVES. REFERENCES.