An Empirical Study on Critical Factors Affecting Employee Satisfaction

■ Research Paper

An Empirical Study on Critical FactorsAffecting Employee Satisfaction

Siqing Shan*, Cangyan Li, Wei Yao, Jihong Shi and Jie RenDepartment of Information System, School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing, China

With the rapid development of information technology (IT), IT service quality has becomea popular topic in both academic circles and enterprises. Based on the literature, thefactors influencing employee satisfaction in Lenovo Group were studied. In terms of usersin IT enterprises, a comprehensive evaluation index system of employee satisfaction wasestablished based on a survey and a thorough data analysis. Using the structural equationmodelling method, the critical factors affecting employee satisfaction and their interrelation-ships are identified. This method has practical value and can be used as a reference foremployee satisfaction measurement and management in IT service enterprises. Copyright ©2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords customer satisfaction; IT service evaluation model; index system; structural equationmodelling

INTRODUCTION

Employee satisfaction has been widely studied inthe field of organizational behavior research(Howard and Gengler, 2001). Human resource isan extremely important factor for enterprises(Campbell-Allen et al., 2008). Many organizationsare actively seeking ways to promote andprovide value for the services they offer. Giventhat competition has been increasing over the pastseveral decades, enterprises have considered effi-ciency and quality as their principal competitiveadvantages (Yee et al., 2008). Antoncic andAntoncic (2011) investigate the correlations among

employee satisfaction, intrapreneurship, and firmgrowth. They conclude that employee satisfactionhas a positive impact on intrapreneurship andfirm growth. The result has also social implicationsby allowing increased creation of new wealthin the society.

Some studies report that service managementaffects customers positively, increasing levels ofcustomer satisfaction and loyalty (Nagar andRajan, 2005). Gummerus et al. (2004) demonstratethat understanding the customer’s requirementsand developing the service based on these re-quirements increase satisfaction and trust. Franěkand Večeřa (2008) state that how employees feelabout their work environments may vary by per-sonal traits, and these differences may determineemployees’ satisfaction with their work envi-ronments and intention to remain in the firm. To

*Correspondence to: Siqing Shan, Department of Information System,School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing100191, China.E-mail: [email protected]

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Systems Research and Behavioral ScienceSyst. Res. 31, 447–460 (2014)Published online 25 March 2014 in Wiley Online Library(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/sres.2284

manage small and medium-sized enterpriseseffectively and efficiently, Küller et al. (2011)establish a simplified information technology(IT) service management method.

Nevertheless, there is little evidence about theimpact of IT service management on employeesatisfaction, which is particularly significant inIT enterprises. This paper attempts to fill thisgap using an empirical analysis of Lenovo Groupas an example. Lenovo Group offers IT productsand services to systematize and improve theirinternal processes, which can greatly benefitorganizational and financial returns. The resultsof this study will be beneficial for similar typesof enterprises.

The next section briefly reviews the literature onITservice management and employee satisfaction.In section on Hypotheses, a model is developed toassess the relationship between IT service andemployee satisfaction. The model is tested andvalidated in section on Research methodologyand data analysis. Some suggestions are presentedin section on Discussion, and conclusions areprovided in section on Conclusions.

RELATED WORK

IT Service and IT Service Quality

As many countries have shifted from manufactur-ing-based to service-oriented economies, bothenterprises and academia have begun to payattention to service management. Quality in anorganization is defined in terms of excellence,value, conformity to specifications and meetingcustomer expectations (Reeves and Bednar, 1994).Researchers define service quality as the cus-tomer’s overall attitude towards the company.Bitner (1990) defines service quality as theconsumer’s overall impression of the relative infe-riority/superiority of the service provider.

Heskett et al. (1994) propose the service profitchain model, which is a conceptual frameworkin service management. Abdullah et al. (2009)investigate employee satisfaction and its impacton loyalty in the hotel industry based on theservice profit chain. They list 13 satisfactionvariables and conclude that all of them have a

positive relationship with loyalty. Kim et al.(2012) investigate the service profit chain and stra-tegic perspectives and their effects on hotel perfor-mance. They conclude that consumer satisfactionis critical to hotel performance.

Many scholars have studied the measurement ofservice quality (Li and Warfield, 2011; Ronnie andReich, 2013; Elisabeth and Dominique, 2014). Themost common approach is SERVQUAL, in whichcustomers appraise service quality by comparingtheir expectations of the service providedwith theirperceptions of the actual service received from aparticular service provider (Godwin et al., 2011;Charles and Kumar, 2014). Malhotra and Malhotra(2013) investigate the switching behavior of mobileservice consumers in America in terms of servicequality, innovation and lock-in strategies andpropose the m-SERVQUAL model. To determinethe measurement method, Jiang et al. (2012)compare the abilities of three SERVQUAL vari-ations to measure information system servicequality. Structural equation modelling (SEM) isalso a method to examine and test the factorsaffecting the results and the relationship amongfactors. Yee et al. (2013) study the relationshipsamong leadership, goal orientation and servicequality in high-contact service industries basedon SEM. Pantouvakis and Mpogiatzidis (2013)explore the correlation between service features,job satisfaction, and customer satisfaction. Theydesigned a questionnaire to collect data andused both SEM and regression analysis to testthe hypotheses.

Internal services create a network of functionalunits that are linked together to deliver serviceto external customers (Marshall et al., 1998).Internal service quality (ISQ) is defined as theperceived quality of the service provided bydistinctive organizational units or the peopleworking therein to other units or employeeswithin the organization (Stauss, 1995). Choiet al. (2013) identify the factors of customercontact in employees’ perceptions of ISQ andtest their influence on employee loyalty to con-sumer service. They demonstrate the criticalimpact of ISQ. Pantouvakis and Mpogiatzidis(2013) explore the relationship between ISQ,learning organization, and clinical leaders’ jobsatisfaction in hospital care services. Exploratory

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factor analysis and multiple linear regressions areused to process the data.Swanson (1997) presents the framework of IT

quality. Excellence in IT quality involves usingstate-of-the-art technology, following industry‘best practice’ software standards and delivering‘error-free’ performance (Gorla et al., 2010). ITservice can assist internal customers (employees)in their information-related and technology-related work (Najjar and Smith, 2010). IT serviceis critical to organizations, and its failure canlead to their collapse (Wan and Jones, 2013).McColl-Kennedy and Sparks (2003) conclude thatservice failure can be attributed to one of fourmajor areas, which can manifest in IT services asfollows: (i) problems with the service itself; (ii)problems associated with the service provider;(iii) problems outside the service provider’scontrol; and (iv) problems related to the customers.Liu et al. (2013) propose a conceptual IT servicequality evaluation model based on SERVQUAL.A two-dimensional IT service quality evaluationmodel including human delivered service qualityand system delivered service quality is proposed.The human delivered service quality includes fivedimensions, which are tangibility, reliability,responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Systemdelivered service quality includes two dimensions,which are system quality and information quality.

Employee Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a term used in organiza-tional behavior psychology. Customer satisfactionis defined as the assessment of the incompatibilitybetween a customer’s expectation and the service/product performance that he or she perceived.If the performance that the customer experiencedmeets or exceeds his or her expectations,the customer is considered to be satisfied.Otherwise, the customer is not satisfied (Andersonand Sullivan, 1993). Customer satisfaction isinfluenced by service quality, product quality,price, and personal and situational factors (Lin,2007). The notion of an employee as a customerhas long been accepted.According to Jawahar (2006), performance

evaluation is an important element of satisfaction

because it is positively related to job satisfactionand organizational commitment and is negativelyrelated to turnover intention. Satisfaction is amultifaceted construct (Lagace et al., 1993). Themost accepted and common facets of satisfaction(Judge et al., 2001) are satisfaction with pay,promotion opportunities, co-workers, supervisionand the work itself. Jawahar (2006) states thatemployee satisfaction is connected to loyalty.Turkyilmaz et al. (2011) identify the factors thatinfluence the level of employee satisfaction andpro-pose a model linking the employee satisfaction andloyalty constructs. Swarnalatha and Sureshkrishna(2013) explore the relationship between employeeengagement and job satisfaction in the automotiveindustry.

The primary purpose of the organization isthe distribution of products or services forcustomer satisfaction. However, to ensure bothexternal customer satisfaction and internalcustomer satisfaction, employee satisfactionshould be provided first. Pantouvakis andMpogiatzidis (2013) demonstrate that emplo-yee satisfaction is rooted in interactive andphysical features of services and positivelyaffects customer satisfaction. Their results canhelp managers understand the correlation be-tween service quality and job satisfaction andthus make better decisions. Latif et al. (2013)explore the correlation between employee sat-isfaction and organizational performance, con-sidering such factors as rewards, age, sex,and experience. They conclude that employeesatisfaction has a positive impact on organiza-tional performance.

HYPOTHESES

As mentioned in the preceding texts, we investi-gate the influence of IT services on employeesatisfaction using Lenovo Group, an IT firm inChina, as a case study. On the succeeding textsis a brief introduction of this firm.

LenovoGroup is a high-tech enterprise involvedin computers, communication technology, systemintegration and application development. Itmainly focuses on IT planning, business processmanagement, application development, system

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Factors Affecting Employee Satisfaction 449

integration, hardware infrastructure services,maintenance, hardware installation, distribution,and retail. It offers a full range of IT services forindustry, enterprise, and individual consumers.It has established good strategic cooperative part-nerships with over 100 of the world’s leadingIT brands, withmore than 1million agent partnersacross China. Lenovo Group provides themost convenient and high-quality IT services forChinese users.

Lenovo Group takes ‘digital China, IT services’as its mission and commits to offering advanced,suitable IT applications to Chinese users. It aimsto drive the innovation of work and life throughscience and technology and to promote the digi-talization of China. Lenovo Group establishedan IT services group in 2005 and began to focuson the IT service business. By 2011, the IT servicebusiness had reached a considerable scale, with astaff of nearly 4000 people providing customerswith integrated business software developmentand software. Lenovo strives to become the most

influential IT distribution brand and aims to pro-vide customers with excellent and comprehensiveIT services through continuous innovation.

Based on a literature review and our interviewswith Lenovo leaders and employees, we identified19 critical factors that affect employee satisfaction.These factors are described in detail in Table 1,which represents the typical product, platform,application, and support.

Based on the previously mentioned analysis,we hypothesize that IT service management haspositive effects on employee satisfaction and thateach IT service also affects all other IT services.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DATAANALYSIS

Research Methodology

In SEM, it is generally assumed that the bestfunctional multiple regression model is one that

Table 1 Index system

ID Index Specification

x1 B2B Platform B2B Platform is used to establish the marketing relationship with otherenterprises.

x2 Mobile-phone mailstraveler service

Mobile-phone mails help employees to receive, read, reply and send emailvia mobile terminal.

x3 ERP application service All kinds of resources are integrated and projected through ERP.x4 Inner instantaneous

messageInner instantaneous message helps employees to collect,process and publish message.

x5 UUIP (user uniqueidentification portal)

UUIP judges the validity of login user and controls the use of resource.

x6 DC One DC One is a communication platform for employees in Lenovo.x7 Call centre Call centre is a central point in Lenovo from which all

customer contacts are managed.x8 IT system operation IT system offers service to employees continuously and stably.x9 Team cooperation

spaceTeam cooperation space supports cooperation andcoordination among employees.

x10 IT security IT security guarantees that the information and service are safe and reliable.x11 IT requirements IT requirements response instantly and satisfy the requirement of employees.x12 IT hotline service IT hotline service offers support service via hotline 7888.x13 IT online support IT online support offers support service via Internet platform.x14 IT class training IT class training offers general and necessary training for employees.x15 IT professional

trainingIT professional training offers professional training for advancedusers of IT service.

x16 IT online training IT online training provides online training, and employeescan obtain it according to their own.

x17 Business support IT service can support the process of business procedure.x18 Reliability Reliability refers to overall reliability, and it offers reliable service to users.x19 High workability High workability helps employees to work efficiently.




can account for both unique and shared contribu-tions. Moreover, similar to a priori modelling,SEM does not simply explore data to search for re-lationships between the response and explanatoryvariables; instead, it sets out to test and parameter-ize hypothesized relationships among variables.Thus, SEM can be used to develop accurate andmeaningful final multiple regressionmodels whencollinearity among explanatory variables issuspected (Shipley, 1999).Hypothetical causal links among variables

(both unique and shared contributions) arespecified, and structural equations (models) aredeveloped to represent each potential combina-tion of links. The regression coefficients are then

parameterized simultaneously for each link ofeach model, and the overall fit of the models iscompared as with ‘all possible subsets’ techniques.In its generalized form, SEM directly incorporateslatent variables into its models, which can repre-sent shared contributions.

Based on SEM, this study studies the employeesatisfaction evaluation model to explore the keyfactors influencing satisfaction as well as thecorrelations among these factors. The results canserve as a reference for similar IT firms seekingto assess employee satisfaction.

Based on the literature, we designed a ques-tionnaire and conducted a survey to obtain infor-mation related to IT service management and

Table 2 Questions used to evaluate the impact of IT service on employee satisfaction in the questionnaire

IT service Questions Degree of agreement

External communication Q1. The B2B platform can support me to managethe resources.

1 2 3 4 5

Platform Q2. The mobile-phone mails can satisfy me in sendingand receiving mails.

1 2 3 4 5

IT product Q3. The ERP application service can enable me to managethe resources in organization.

1 2 3 4 5

Q4. The inner instantaneous message can help me to obtainthe latest message.

1 2 3 4 5

Q5. The UUIP can guarantee the overall safety of the systemor platform in organization.

1 2 3 4 5

Q6. The DC One makes me receive the notice from thesuperior and information from the co-worker.

1 2 3 4 5

Q7. Call centre provides good environment to supportyour work.

1 2 3 4 5

IT reliability Q8. The operation of IT system is stable and continuous. 1 2 3 4 5Q9. The team cooperation space offers good environmentfor your cooperation with your co-workers.

1 2 3 4 5

Q10. The IT service you receive is safe. 1 2 3 4 5Q11. The requirements you propose can be met instantlyand effectively.

1 2 3 4 5

IT support Q12. The hotline 7888 can solve your questions rapidlyand effectively.

1 2 3 4 5

Q13. The online support can help you to settle the problems. 1 2 3 4 5Q14. You can obtain necessary skill to manipulate the ITapplication and platform in group.

1 2 3 4 5

Q15. You can obtain the professional knowledge in ITprofessional training.

1 2 3 4 5

Q16. IT online training can make me obtain the neededinformation conveniently.

1 2 3 4 5

Employee satisfaction Q17. The IT service and application that the group offerscan support your business effectively.

1 2 3 4 5

Q18. You can obtain reliable service and information fromthe platform or application.

1 2 3 4 5

Q19. The IT service and application that the group offerscan support your work effectively.

1 2 3 4 5




employee satisfaction in Lenovo. A total of 3000questionnaires were distributed, and 2318 validresponses were returned. The responses receivedconstituted a massive volume of highly dimen-sional data, requiring the application of advanceddata analysis methods. Highly dimensional dataare often transformed into lower dimensional datavia principal component analysis (PCA), whichenables coherent information to be analysed moreclearly. In this study, we use SPSS 19.0 to conductPCA and Amos 17.0 for SEM.

Questionnaire Design

A questionnaire was developed to measure theeffect of IT services on employee satisfaction. Itwas designed based on a comprehensive literaturereview and preliminary research. The 19 questionsused to measure the impact of IT services onemployee satisfaction in the questionnaire areshown in Table 2. We designed the questions andused five-point Likert scales to evaluate the impactof IT services on employee satisfaction. Respon-dents were required to indicate their degreeof agreement with each statement using thescale of 5= strongly agree, 4 = agree, 3 =neutral,2 =disagree, and 1= strongly disagree.

Reliability of the Scale

Cronbach’s alpha, which ranges from 0 to 1, isused to measure the inter-item consistency in ourstudy. A higher value indicates higher consistency.The overall result (Table 3) shows that Cronbach’salpha is 0.893, which is larger than 0.8, indicatingthat the scale is reliable. The specific results areshown in Table 4. Cronbach’s alpha does not varydramatically after deleting each variable systemat-ically, showing that the scale does not suffer fromredundancy and has high reliability.

Validity Analysis

(1) Content validity

This questionnaire was revised many timesbased on the literature and expert interviews. Therevision ensured that all indicators accuratelyexpress the required content and that contentvalidity is achieved.

(2) Construct validity

Construct validity, which shows the extent towhich measures of a criterion are indicative ofthe direction and size of that criterion, is analysedthrough factor analysis. To use PCA to reduce theoriginally high dimensionality of the data, wemust apply a correlation test, as it is meaningfulto conduct PCA only when the correlation testreturns positive results. The correlation testingincludes the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) mea-sure and Bartlett’s test, and the results are shownin Table 5. The KMO value ranges from 0 to 1,with values closer to 1 being preferable. In ourstudy, the KMO is 0.918, exceeding the suggestedminimum. Bartlett’s test tests the null hypothesis

Table 3 Reliability statistics

Reliability statistics

Cronbach’s alpha No. of items0.893 19

Table 4 Item-total statistics

Item-total statisticsScale mean

if itemdeleted

Scalevariance ifitem deleted

Correcteditem-totalcorrelation

Cronbach’salpha if

item deleted

x8 78.37 39.718 0.631 0.884x10 78.49 39.284 0.630 0.884x9 78.40 40.350 0.580 0.886x12 78.29 40.471 0.599 0.885x13 78.40 40.711 0.606 0.885x5 78.10 39.833 0.603 0.885x7 78.05 40.074 0.608 0.885x16 78.32 40.379 0.637 0.884x15 78.44 41.115 0.558 0.887x14 78.42 40.712 0.619 0.885x1 78.68 43.740 0.063 0.907x2 78.68 43.735 0.062 0.907x11 78.53 39.774 0.573 0.886x4 78.06 40.205 0.645 0.884x3 78.03 40.799 0.564 0.886x6 78.02 40.530 0.613 0.885x17 78.30 40.370 0.624 0.885x19 78.32 40.428 0.619 0.885x18 78.34 40.793 0.590 0.886




that the correlation matrix is an identity matrix.The values in the study are feasible. Given thepreviously mentioned results of the two tests,performing a PCA is reasonable.

Factor Analysis

The communalities and total variance explainedare shown in Tables 6 and 7, respectively. Commu-nalities are the proportion of each variable’svariance that can be explained by the principalcomponents. The eigenvalues are the variances ofthe principal components. The first ‘total’ columncontains the eigenvalues, the ‘% of variance’ col-umn contains the per cent of variance accountedfor by each principal component, and the ‘cumula-tive %’ column contains the cumulative percent-

age of variance accounted for by the current andall preceding principal components.

We extracted five principal components whoseeigenvalues were 1 or greater, and the cumulativepercentage of variance was 70.76%, indicatingthat the five principal components could explain70.76% of all of the variance.

The rotated component matrix is obtained byvarimax rotation, which is shown in Table 8.Principal component 1 extracted the primitive var-iables x12, x13, x14, x15, and x16. Principal compo-nent 2 extracted the primitive variables x3, x4, x5,x6, and x7. Principal component 3 extracted theprimitive variables x8, x9, x10, and x11. Principalcomponent 4 extracted the primitive variablesx17, x18, and x19. Principal component 5 extractedthe primitive variables x1 and x2.

According to the load distribution of the com-mon factors and themeaning of high-load variablesincluded in the common factors, the integratedindex system is obtained, as presented in Table 9.

Structural Equation Modelling

After the reliability and validity analyses, weanalysed the model using SEM with Amos 17.0.After continuous revision based on the adapta-tion degree index and the index of the model,the final evaluation index is obtained. This indexis shown in Table 10.

To appraise the overall model fit, five absolutefit measures [chi-square, CMIN/DF (minimumvalue of the discrepancy function divided bydegrees of freedom), adjusted goodness-of-fitindex (AGFI), GFI, and root mean square error ofapproximation (RMSEA)], three incremental fitmeasures [normed fit index (NFI), incremental fitindex (IFI), and comparative fit index (CFI)] andtwo parsimonious fit measures [parsimony NFI(PNFI) and PCFI] are used. The recommendedvalues of these fit indices for the satisfactory fit ofamodel are presented in Table 11. All of the indicessatisfy the recommended value, meaning that themodel used in this study possesses good fit.

To explore the findings further, we proposed adetailed model, as shown in Figure 1. The figuredepicts the SEM results regarding the impact ofIT service on employee satisfaction. Each path in

Table 5 KMO and Bartlett’s test

KMO and Bartlett’s test

KMO measure of sampling adequacy 0.918

Bartlett’s test ofsphericity

Approximationof chi-square

24 125.077

df 171Significance 0.000

Table 6 Communalities

CommunalitiesInitial Extraction

x8 1.000 0.776x10 1.000 0.810x9 1.000 0.800x12 1.000 0.546x13 1.000 0.716x5 1.000 0.667x7 1.000 0.650x16 1.000 0.637x15 1.000 0.672x14 1.000 0.748x1 1.000 0.749x2 1.000 0.746x11 1.000 0.588x4 1.000 0.654x3 1.000 0.568x6 1.000 0.629x17 1.000 0.858x19 1.000 0.872x18 1.000 0.760




Table 7 Total variance explained

Total variance explained

Initial eigenvaluesExtraction sums ofsquared loadings

Rotation sums ofsquared loadings

Component Total% of

varianceCumulative

% Total% of

varianceCumulative

% Total% of

varianceCumulative

%

1 7.721 40.637 40.637 7.721 40.637 40.637 3.304 17.392 17.3922 1.742 9.170 49.807 1.742 9.170 49.807 3.156 16.611 34.0033 1.498 7.885 57.692 1.498 7.885 57.692 2.991 15.741 49.7444 1.293 6.805 64.497 1.293 6.805 64.497 2.495 13.130 62.8745 1.190 6.262 70.759 1.190 6.262 70.759 1.498 7.885 70.7596 0.675 3.554 74.3137 0.604 3.178 77.4918 0.530 2.791 80.2829 0.478 2.517 82.79910 0.462 2.430 85.22911 0.443 2.333 87.56312 0.397 2.092 89.65413 0.358 1.884 91.53814 0.330 1.736 93.27415 0.309 1.625 94.89916 0.295 1.553 96.45217 0.285 1.499 97.95218 0.233 1.224 99.17619 0.157 0.824 100.000

Table 8 Rotated component matrix

Rotated component matrixComponent

1 2 3 4 5

x8 0.161 0.285 0.808 0.129 0.000x10 0.173 0.239 0.837 0.150 �0.012x9 0.184 0.138 0.856 0.115 0.000x12 0.599 0.364 0.177 0.151 �0.012x13 0.788 0.205 0.133 0.189 �0.012x5 0.343 0.724 0.152 0.021 0.043x7 0.262 0.733 0.187 0.096 0.006x16 0.687 0.296 0.185 0.207 �0.006x15 0.777 0.104 0.182 0.155 0.013x14 0.805 0.143 0.161 0.231 0.026x1 �0.010 0.021 �0.017 0.010 0.865x2 0.020 �0.008 �0.001 �0.011 0.863x11 0.212 0.276 0.673 0.113 �0.018x4 0.195 0.702 0.259 0.237 �0.025x3 0.091 0.662 0.246 0.247 �0.014x6 0.135 0.698 0.223 0.272 0.016x17 0.239 0.245 0.165 0.845 0.008x19 0.235 0.232 0.174 0.856 �0.016x18 0.323 0.188 0.127 0.777 0.006

Table 9 Integrated index system

ID Combined index Index

x1 Externalcommunication

B2B Platform

x2 Platform Mobile-phone mailstraveler service

x3 ERP application servicex4 Inner instantaneous

messagex5 IT product UUIPx6 DC Onex7 Call centrex8 IT system operationx9 IT reliability Team cooperation spacex10 IT securityx11 IT requirementsx12 IT hotline servicex13 IT online supportx14 IT support IT class trainingx15 IT professional trainingx16 IT online trainingx17 Business supportx18 Employee satisfaction Reliabilityx19 High workability




the figure shows the related hypothesis as well asthe estimated path coefficients. The goodness-of-fit measures used to assess the fit of the data tothe hypothesized model are presented in Table 12.

The model is continuously revised based onthe previous analysis. The path graph, including4 latent variables and 10 observed variables, isshown in Figure 1. The path graph implies therelationships among the variables in the model.

The path coefficients and their significancelevels are shown in Table 12. It can be observedthat IT production (0.55, p= 0.000) and IT support(0.44, p=0.000) have a significant influence on em-ployee satisfaction. Additionally, IT reliability(0.11, p=0.000) and IT production (0.09, p=0.000)have a significant impact on IT support. Lastly, ITproduction (0.14, p=0.000) has a prominent effecton IT reliability.

DISCUSSION

Information technology service management isan important prerequisite of ITemployee satisfac-tion. IT application and service support rely on aset of reasonable mechanisms and methods forservice delivery and daily operation manage-ment. It also requires a customer-oriented

Table 10 Integrated index system

ID Combined index Index

x3 Employee satisfactionx6 IT product DC Onex7 Call centrex8 IT reliability IT system operationx11 IT requirementsx13 IT support IT online supportx15 IT profession trainingx17 ERP application service Business supportx19 High workability

Table 11 Results for fit measures

Fitting index Assumed model Referenced value

Absolute fit measuresChi-square 32.65 Significance

(p= 0.067) p> 0.05CMIN/DF 1.484 1~ 3AGFI 0.982 >0.9GFI 0.991 >0.9RMSEA 0.145 <0.05Incremental fit measuresNFI 0.978 >0.9IFI 0.993 >0.9CFI 0.993 >0.9Parsimonious fit measuresPNFI 0.598 >0.5PCFI 0.607 >0.5

Figure 1 Structural model of the impact of IT service on employee satisfaction




organization to respond rapidly and accurately tocustomer needs and deliver the qualified products.

Information technology products and servicesare the foundation upon which employee activi-ties rest. Based on the scope of business and de-velopment needs, Lenovo offers the necessaryproducts and services to meet staff needs. SEMshows a positive relationship between IT productand employee satisfaction. The estimated stan-dardized coefficient is found to be positive(0.55) and significant (significance< 0.05).The rel-evant IT products include enterprise resourceplanning (ERP) application services, DC Oneand call centre. ERP application services are usedto integrate the resources in an enterprise and canintegrate the internal and external informationacross the entire organization, including finance,manufacturing, marketing and service, customerrelationship management, and so on (Xu, 2011;Wang et al., 2012; Yang et al., 2012; Chen andFang, 2013; Tan et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2013;Zeng and Skibnieeewski, 2013). The objective ofERP is to facilitate the flow of information amongall business functions inside the organization andmanage the connections to the outside (Wanget al., 2005, 2006; Qi et al., 2006; Xu et al., 2006,2008a, 2008b, 2009, 2012; Li et al., 2008a, 2008b,2008c; Duan and Xu, 2012; Guo et al., 2012; Li,2012; Olson and Staley, 2012; Gao et al., 2013;Kataev et al., 2013; Niu et al., 2013; Xu, 2013).ERP systems run on a variety of hardware andnetwork configurations (Li et al., 2008a, 2008b,

2008c; Wang and Xu, 2008; Wu et al., 2009; Liet al., 2012; He and Xu, 2014). DC One is a com-munication platform for employees in Lenovo,on which the employees and the managers postuseful information. This platform has been foundvery useful for increasing employee satisfaction.Heskett et al. (1994) state that workplace condi-tions, information and communication and ade-quate tools to serve customers are factors thatlead to employee satisfaction. Downs and Hazen(1977) propose that satisfaction with communica-tion positively contributes to employee satisfac-tion. Call centre is a core product in Lenovo. Itplays a critical role in today’s business worldand is often the primary source of contacts forcustomers (Miciak and Desmarais, 2001). Organi-zations in many enterprises utilize call centre tocommunicate with their customers and increasecustomer satisfaction. Call centre is a typical ser-vice system that consists of many employeesand technologically diverse devices, and it offersa good environment and training field for servicemanagement. Through the previously mentionedanalysis, we can conclude that IT products arecritical for employee satisfaction. Therefore, themanagement of Lenovo Group should prioritizeits IT products and promote the ERP applicationplatform, DC One, and call centre.

Structural equation modelling reveals a posi-tive relationship between IT support and em-ployee satisfaction. The estimated standardizedcoefficient is found to be positive (0.44) and

Table 12 Hypotheses test

Estimate SE CR (composite reliability) p

Employee satisfaction <--- IT product 0.55123751 0.04938302 11.16249022 <0.01Employee satisfaction <--- IT support 0.43805683 0.05062016 8.65380169 <0.01IT support <--> IT reliability 0.10648788 0.00631101 16.87335846 <0.01IT support <--> IT product 0.0912041 0.005111 17.84466292 <0.01IT reliability <--> IT product 0.13636 0.00703097 19.39418926 <0.01x13 <--- IT support 1x15 <--- IT support 0.86249448 0.04101412 21.02920901 <0.01x8 <--- IT reliability 1x11 <--- IT reliability 0.99546297 0.03639917 27.34850641 <0.01x3 <--- IT product 1x6 <--- IT product 1.09149582 0.04641202 23.51752505 <0.01x7 <--- IT product 1.06890964 0.05432533 19.67608304 <0.01x17 <--- Employee satisfaction 1x19 <--- Employee satisfaction 0.99972071 0.01855669 53.87388118 <0.01

<--> is a two-way relationship, and <--- is a one-way relationship.




significant (significance< 0.05). Service supportis the impulse to promote employee satisfaction,including basic and supportive services, whichwill help employees to make full use of the func-tion of the core product (Narayan et al., 2008).Lenovo offers basic products and applicationservices for employees as well as support services,including IT online support and IT professionaltraining. Training is also a major factor affectingemployee satisfaction. Sturgeon (2006) agrees thattraining is one of the main drivers that affect em-ployee satisfaction. Tarasco and Damato (2006)identify training as an important contributory fac-tor to employee satisfaction. Training and develop-ment greatly contribute to employee loyalty foremployees who want the opportunity to growand be promoted within the company. The find-ings of this study can be used by managers inLenovo as well as other enterprises to developstaff-training programmes to create satisfied andloyal employees. Costen and Salazar (2011)explored the relationships between training anddevelopment, employee satisfaction, loyalty andintent to stay in the hotel industry. The resultsdemonstrate that employees who received train-ing perceive that they have more opportunities todevelop new skills and they are more satisfiedwith their jobs, more loyal and more likely to stayin the enterprise.Structural equation modelling also revealed a

positive relationship between ITreliability and em-ployee satisfaction. The estimated standardizedcoefficient is found to be positive (0.11) and signif-icant (significance< 0.05).This finding indicatesthat to satisfy the employee, it is necessary to guar-antee the stable and continuous operation of the ITsystem and to ensure that the employee cancomplete his or her task rapidly and effectively.In conclusion, as shown in the previously

mentioned analysis, it is necessary to improveand optimize IT service management in Lenovobased on the SEM results.First, understanding key business areas and

modes can be useful for the business departmentin terms of business process and business processmanagement (Tan et al., 2008; Xu et al., 2008a,2008b; Li et al., 2014). Lenovo has three importantbusinesses, namely, distribution, system integra-tion, and IT services, and each has different

characteristics and IT requirements. It is alsoimportant to deeply understand the content ofdifferent businesses and their development pathsand patterns. Appointing IT managers is a feasi-ble way to obtain a deep understanding of thebusiness, and many enterprises abroad adopt asimilar approach. IT managers should offer ITsolutions for business and consulting combinedwith technical ability relevant to business.

Secondly, it is critical to track advancedbusiness solutions and guide the development ofthe business department. As IT service competi-tion among enterprises is becoming increasinglyfierce, business model and IT systems are becom-ing increasingly important for the competition.To provide better support for businesses, it isimportant to study similar business IT solutions.

Lastly, it is urgent to establish smooth channelsfor business requirements at different levels andkeep regular business communication to satisfythe customer’s requirements. Because of differentneeds and requirements of various customers, ITsystem needs and expectations also vary signifi-cantly. Therefore, it is beneficial to build differentcommunication channels for both advanced andnovice users.

CONCLUSIONS

This study investigates the relationship betweenemployee satisfaction and IT service. The researchdata are obtained from a survey distributed in alarge IT enterprise in China. The survey data areanalysed using SPSS, and the reliability of themodel is analysed by Amos. The results show thatthe service satisfaction evaluation index can be usedto better evaluate employee satisfaction. The criticalfactors influencing employee satisfaction and thecorrelation among various factors are identified.

This study can help ITcompanies to establish em-ployee satisfaction evaluation models based on ITservice. The ITservice quality can be analysed effec-tively according to the obtained factors and theircorrelations. This study has both academic andpractical value and can be used as a reference foremployee satisfaction evaluation and managementin IT enterprises. From the academic point of view,this research can provide strategic planning for




enterprise informatization. From the point ofview of practice, the application of this researchachievement will enhance the enterprise employeecohesive force and improve the enterprise manage-ment. As mentioned in the preceding texts that therelationship between employee satisfaction andIT service is multifaceted, high-dimensional, ourfuture research will more focus on system researchmethods (Jackson, 1995; Chen et al., 2013; Lin et al.,2013; Wan and Jones, 2013).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was supported by the National NaturalScience Foundation of China (Grant Nos.70971004, 91224007, 71301011, 71271013, and71301152), the National Social Science Foundationof China (Grant No. 11AZD096), the NationalKey Technology Research and DevelopmentProgramme of the Ministry of Science and Technol-ogy (Grant Nos. 2013BAK04B02, 2006BAK04A23,and 2013BAH17F01), Quality Inspection Project(Grant Nos. 201010268 and 2012104018), CommonService Center Project (Grant No. 2011307460), Sci-ence and Technology Project of Beijing (Grant No.Z121100000312018), Beijing Natural Science Foun-dation (Grant No. 9142012). The authors gratefullyacknowledge the support of the Key Laboratory ofComplex System Analysis, Management and Deci-sion (Beihang University), Ministry of Education,and the Beijing Key Laboratory of Emergency Sup-port Simulation Technologies for City Operations.

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An Empirical Study on Critical Factors Affecting Employee Satisfaction