Conference Paper

Job satisfaction is important because of its effects on employees' performance and behavior (Oshagbemi, 1999). Prior studies have shown a close connection between job satisfaction and organizational outcomes (Meyer et al., 1989; Bitner, 1990; Tett et al., 1993; Locke&Latham, 1990) and personal outcomes such as workplace turnover and life satisfaction (Judge et al. 2001; Dickter et al., 1996; Morrison, 1997). Recent papers suggest that while a good deal of empirical research has been conducted on job satisfaction in various business settings (Nikolescu et al., 2009), very little empirical research has investigated cross-country differences in levels of job satisfaction and motivation. This paper identifies and examines the factors which contribute to job satisfaction and motivation amongst white collar employees at the workplace in four countries at different stages of EU membership: the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo (UNMIK), Bulgaria and Turkey. The results of this study are expected to contribute to the identification of organizational issues related to job satisfaction and employee motivation in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. The availability of these results will facilitate future efforts by behavioral scientists to understand disparities in the effectiveness of job enrichment methods between countries at different stages of EU integration and economic development. In addition, results from previous studies (Hackman and Oldham, 1974; Kamdron, 2005) will be used as control group.