A Study On The Relationships Between Achievement Motivation, Job Satisfaction And Performance Of The Administrators In The SRI Lankan University System

This study investigates the relationships between achievement motivation, job satisfaction and performance of the administrators in the Sri Lankan university system. The fundamental goal of the research was to ascertain which indicators of administrators' achievement motivation and job satisfaction predict dimensions of their contextual and task performance.During the review of the literature, an analysis was undertaken on achievement motivation, job satisfaction, and administrators' performance. Accordingly, major theoretical developments were incorporated to establish relationships between the conceptual bases of the study constructs. The theory of Helmreich and Spenchs was identified as the most comprehensive combination of research into achievement motivation. In addition, evidence has emerged to propose that administrators' job performance consist of both contextual and task performance domains.Though decades of research are replete with the studies between job satisfaction and performance, they were unable to establish a strong link between job satisfaction and performance. Further, it is also noticed that achievement motivation has rarely been used as a predictor of administrators' job performance out comes. In spite of the mixed empirical evidence, there is support in the literature to propose that relationships exist between achievement motivation, job satisfaction and administrators' performance. However, to date, there is no specific empirical research into the impact of achievement motivation and job satisfaction on administrators' contextual and task performance.Further, a sequence of auxiliary research questions, underlining the main goal of the study, was developed from the gaps identified in the literature. In addition, established questionnaires were derived from the literature to produce the achievement motivation, job satisfaction, and administrators' contextual and task performance scales. These questionnaires were administered to collect the data. A sample of 250 respondents was selected from the Sri Lankan university system by utilizing convenience sampling procedures and a total of 122 useable questionnaires were returned, representing a response rate of 49%. Self report data were used to measure achievement motivation and job satisfaction, while supervisors' ratings provided an assessment of administrators' contextual and task performance. An empirical methodology was used to test the hypotheses to enable the research questions to be answered and to propose a partial model of administrators' achievement motivation, job satisfaction and performance.Pearson correlation was used to analyze the linear combination of administrators' achievement motivation and job satisfaction with contextual and task performance whereas One-Way ANOVA was used to analyze relationships between the personnel characteristics of university administrators and the studied variables. Further, Cronbach's Alpha was used to ensure the reliability of the study constructs. Accordingly, indicators of achievement motivation and job satisfaction were found to predict dimensions of administrators' performance.Achievement motivation self report (Work Orientation) was positively associated with dimensions of supervisors' report on contextual performance (Volunteering) and on task performance (Influencing and Guiding). Self report of Job Satisfaction (Intrinsic Satisfaction) was positively associated with dimensions of supervisors' report on contextual performance (Endorsing) and on task performance (Planning, Communicating, Representing, Coordinating, Persisting to reach goals, Handling Crisis, and Delegating). Similarly, Extrinsic Satisfaction was positively associated with a contextual performance dimension (Persisting) and with task performance dimensions (Training, Representing, Staffing, Communicating, Delegating, and Influencing). In addition, positive association for a dimension of achievement motivation self report (Work Orientation) was negatively associated with a dimension of supervisors' report on task performance (Monitoring). As predicted, high achievement motivation and job satisfaction were related to enhance administrators' performance whereas low achievement motivation and job dissatisfaction indicated diminished performance.The contribution made by this study to the body of management theory and practice were discussed. It provided qualified support for some of the theories of performance management, which is an effort to develop an approach to enhance administrators' performance. Recommendations were made about the initiatives that policy makers should consider to enhance administrators' achievement motivation, job satisfaction and performance in order to improve overall organizational effectiveness. The limitations of the study and opportunities for future research were also discussed. The partial model of administrators contextual and task performance developed in this study is suitable as a guide to design a performance appraisal scale to evaluate administrator's performance.