Designing and Testing a Model of Important Precedents and Outcomes of Work Motivation of National Iranian South Oil Company Employees in Ahvaz Region, Iran

A model of the precedents and outcomes of work motivation was developed and tested with survey responses from 652 employees of National Iranian South Oil Company in Ahvaz region, Iran. The variables in the model were arranged in five layers, which included: 1) distal precursors of motivation (motivational traits, procedural constraints and job goal difficulty), 2) proximal precursors (Islamic work ethic, pay satisfaction, basic psychological needs, self-efficacy, job characteristics and job security), 3) work motivation variable, 4) proximal outcomes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job involvement, effort and turnover intention), and 5) distal outcomes of motivation (job performance and job stress). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) through AMOS-7 and SPSS-15 software packages were used for data analysis. The results of the hypothesized CFA model indicated that the relationship between each indicator variable and its respective latent variable was statistically significant. On the basis of the overall model fit indices, findings indicated that the revision of the hypothesized structural model was warranted. Better fit and more meaningful results were obtained by developing optimal model. The implementation of χ2 difference test had also indicated the improvement trend of the final model. Implications for designing work motivation systems are discussed.