Examining the relationship between organisational structure, job involvement, job satisfaction, and empowerment: implications for human resource development

Concern about human resource development (HRD) increased after a realisation that technology alone cannot yield the best outcomes if people do not advance. This study examined the relationship between the organisational structure (formalisation, centralisation and complexity) and specific components of HRD (job involvement, job satisfaction, and empowerment). One hundred and two respondents working as managers, officers, and supporting staff of a successful business organisation participated by responding to a structured questionnaire. Significant positive correlation of age with salary, experience, and promotion, experience with promotion, and promotion with empowerment was found. Centralisation was positively correlated with job involvement but negatively with job satisfaction and empowerment. It reflected on organisational reality, where people could be working even without having satisfaction with their job and getting a feeling of empowerment. Negative correlation of centralisation with job satisfaction and empowerment emphasised on the importance of decentralisation. The study showed that motivating people is still a difficult and challenging task. Keeping methodological limitations in the background, the implications of the findings for the management and policy makers are discussed.