Job Satisfaction in Manufacturing SMEs During Digital Transformation

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore and identify how the various factors, such as inclusive leadership, organizational justice, work engagement, and perceived organizational support simultaneously affect employee job satisfaction in Polish SMEs during digital transformation. Design/methodology/approach: This research applies fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs/QCA). The sample consists of 61 Polish small and medium manufacturing enterprises, and the fieldwork contains information from a series of surveys. The survey includes four scales (inclusive leadership, organizational justice, work engagement, and perceived organizational support) in the form of statements to which respondents indicate their level of agreement/disagreement on a five-point Likert scale. Findings: The empirical results show that different configurations of variables such as inclusive leadership, organizational justice, work engagement, and perceived organizational support can lead to the same outcome (job satisfaction) in multiple ways. The research found three configurations of factors. Practical implications: The results have practical implications for managers and owners of manufacturing SMEs because they provide the configurations of factors that lead to job satisfaction in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Originality/value: This article not only presents selected factors leading to job satisfaction in SMEs but also attempts to show how different configurations of the analyzed factors lead to job satisfaction in the conditions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.