Organizational climate and job satisfaction: a conceptual synthesis

Abstract

This paper starts from the standpoint that there is confusion about the meaning and measurement of the concepts of organizational climate and job satisfaction. Three questions are examined: (1) Are organizational climate and job satisfaction operationally the same? (2) Is organizational climate a concept applicable to organizations or individuals? (3) Are measures of organizational climate and job satisfaction descriptive or affective? These three problem areas are taken as facets and facet analysis (Foa 1965) is used to explicate the nature of the concepts. This analysis reveals eight conceptual types. Some confusion in past research is described.