A Comparison of Work Attitudes of American R&D Automotive Engineers Employed in a U.S. Corporation and a Japanese Subsidiary
比较了在美国汽车公司及其日本子公司工作的美国研发工程师的组织承诺和工作满意度，发现美国公司员工满意度更高但承诺更低。
This study compares the organizational commitment and job satisfaction of American R & D engineers working in an American automobile corporation with their counterparts working in an American subsidiary of a Japanese automobile corporation. The results shows that engineers working in a U.S. corporation, compared to their counterparts in the a Japanese - owned subsidiary, have higher levels of job satisfaction but lower levels of organizational commitment. The implications of these findings are examined. The globalization practices of Japanese companies have undergone significant transformation since the 1970s, from an export orientation to an overseas production orientation. (Belderbos & Sleuwaegen, 1996). Japanese investment abroad is predicted to increase at an average annual rate of more than 10 percent up to the year 2000 (Murakami, 1987), and the number of subsidiaries in the United States is expected to grow (Hennart & Park, 1994). Whereas research once focused on of Japanese and American management styles, the scope has broadened to include a comparison of U. S. companies and Japanese subsidiaries in the United States (Hatvany and Pucik, 1981-1982). A major segment of these studies examined the management and human resource practices in the automobile industry (Pucik, Hanada & Fifield, 1989). Yet, work related to employees either has been anecdotal (Merwin, 1986) or has surveyed personnel practices (Inaba, Block & Moore, 1987; Pucik, Hanada & Fifield, 1989). Few empirical studies have specifically compared levels of commitment and job satisfaction between American R & D engineers working for a U.S. Automobile manufacturer and for a U.S. subsidiary of a Japanese automobile corporation. This group is important because R & D engineers give an organization its absorptive capacity and its ability to identify, assimilate, and, use new technologies (Cohen & Leventhal, 1990). The organizational commitment and job satisfaction of R & D engineers in the automotive industry are significant given the highly competitive nature of this global economic sector, and the crucial role they play in the acquisition and development of new technologies. This article compares two groups of U.S. automotive engineers, those working for A U.S. manufacturer and those employed by the U.S. subsidiary of a Japanese firm, in terms of commitment and job satisfaction. RESEARCH HYPOTHESES Organizational Commitment Employee commitment is an important factor in organizational effectiveness, especially at a time when competition is so intense. Most of the evidence points to higher commitment in Japanese than in American organizations (Hatvany & Pucik, 1981), although Luthans, McCaul & Dodd (1985) found that American employees were more committed than their Japanese and Korean counterparts. When operating in developing countries Japanese subsidiaries tend to adopt local management practices, but in developing countries, they try to use Japanese practices (Negandhi et al., 1985). Therefore, they place a great deal of emphasis on selecting employees who are compatible with their management styles, on training, employees and on social activities to encourage a sense of harmony and family (Inaba, Block, & Moore, 1987). This approach fosters high organizational commitment among employees. In addition, the organization goes to great lengths to avoid layoffs and make workers feel psychologically secure (Murakami, 1987). In contrast, U.S. companies tend to emphasize the day laborer model which weakens employee attachments. Therefore it is hypothesized that American R & D engineers in U.S. automotive companies will have less organizational commitment than their counterparts in U.S. subsidiaries of Japanese Corporations. Job Satisfaction Because Japanese corporations tend to demand conformity and discourage individualism (Woronoff, 1983), American R & D engineers working in U. …