The impact of organizational culture on the job satisfaction of knowledge workers

Purpose – The objective of the paper is twofold: first, to test a framework of the relationship between satisfaction of knowledge workers and organizational culture, developed in a previous theoretical study, within a specific industry, specifically, the pharmaceutical one; second, to investigate which of the constructs that constitute such a framework are the most important in the above mentioned industry. Design/methodology/approach – In order to achieve the above mentioned objectives, the authors adopted multiple case study based research. The case studies were carried out with a series of semi-structured interviews, with all the knowledge workers operating in the R&D business functions of each company, over a two-month period during May and June 2009. Findings – The main result of the research is the validation of the research framework by knowledge workers operating in the pharmaceutical industry. It emerged that a bureaucratic organizational culture has a negative influence on knowledge workers’ job satisfaction, while innovative or supportive organizational culture have a positive impact. Moreover, the study makes it possible to understand which aspects of their job satisfaction are more influenced by the organizational culture. Practical implications – Results indicate to managers the essential features of an organizational culture that positively influence job satisfaction, and in particular to introduce in the industries (like the pharmaceutical one) where R&D is the key activity, carrier ladders and forms of participation for the knowledge workers. Moreover, they help managers in detecting the things to be improved in the organization in order to improve the job satisfaction of their knowledge workers. Originality/value – Since only few studies have investigated the link between the organizational culture on knowledge workers’ satisfaction, in general and within a specific industry in particular, the paper adds elements of discussion to the debate about the evaluation of the impact of organizational culture on job satisfaction of knowledge workers.