THE LEVEL OF JOB SATISFACTION OF AIRLINE CATERING CHEFS AND COOKS SEUNGMILEE

112 Pages·2010·12.12 MB·English

THELEVEL OFJOB SATISFACTION OF AIRLINE
CATERING CHEFS AND COOKS
By
SEUNGMILEE
BachelorofScience
E-Wha Womens University
Seoul, Korea
1995
Submittedto the Faculty ofthe
Graduate College ofthe
Oklahoma State University
Inpartial fulfillment of
The requirements for
TheDegree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE
December, 1999
TIIF LEVELOF JOR. ATl. FA TION OF All L1NF
CATERING IIFF. AND COOKS
Thesis Approved:
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wishto expressmy sincere appreciation to mymajoradvisor, Dr. Lynda Martin
for her intelligentsupervision, constructiveguidance, inspiration and friendship. My
sincere appreciation extendsto my othercommittee membersDr. Jerold Leong, Dr. Bill
Ryan, and Dr. William Warde, whose guidance, assistance, encouragement, and
friendship are also invaluable. I would like to thank Ms. Linda Costas, aRegional
Personnel Manager ofDobbs International Services, Inc. and Young Ho Park in Asiana
Airline Catering, Seoul, Korea, who handled all the detailed procedures ofconducting
surveys and provided strong encouragementand support from their deep warm hearts.
More over, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to those who provided suggestions
and assistance forthis study: Dr. Pat Moreo, Dr, JeffBeck, and Dr. Lea Ebro. And I
would like to thank the School ofHotel andRestaurant for supporting during these two
years ofstudy. Iwouldalso like to give my special appreciation to Donald F. Wood for
his strong encouragement in time ofdifficulties, and specially editingall my writing word
by wordthrough a year, without a moment ofhesitation.
Finally, I want to thank each memberofmy family. My mom and dad, their special
love from far away Korea kept me in faith always. My sisters EWl-Kyoung and Young
la, brothers SeWlg-Hun and Kyoung-Taek, and nephews Jae-Jin and Jae-Sung, without
your support and love, I couldn't even study in America. Thank you so much with all my
heart.
111
TABLE OF CONlENTS
Chapter Page
1. IN'TRODUCTION 1
II. REVIEW OF LI1ERATIJRE 7
Introduction 7
Job Satisfaction 8
DefinitionofJob Satisfaction 12
Measurement ofJob Satisfaction 13
AirlineCatering 17
History ofAirline Catering 18
The Airline'sFoodservice Division 24
Unique Aspects ofAirline Catering 27
Summary 28
Ill. METHODOLOGY 30
Introduction 30
Research Design . 30
Participation 30
Data Collection 31
Survey Procedures 34
DataAnalysis 36
IV. RESULTS 38
Characteristics ofthe Survey Participants 38
Job Satisfaction ofthe Survey Participants 51
Demographic Questions and Subscales ofJob Satisfaction 66
v.
SUMtv1ARY, RECOMMENDATIONS, ANDCONCLUSIONS 69
Summary 69
Conclusion 81
lV
Chapter Page
Recommendations , 83
BIDLIOGRAPHY, 84
APPENDIXES , 88
APPENDIX A - COVERLETTER ,.89
APPENDIXB - TIIE JOB SATISFCATION SURVEY (ENGLISH) 92
APPENDIXC - TIIE JOB SATISFACTION SURVEY (KOREAN) 94
APPENDIXD -DEMOGRAPIflC QUESTIONS (ENGLISH) 96
APPENDIXE - DEMOGRAPIflC QUESTIONS (KOREAN) 98
APPENDIX F - INSTRUCTIONLETTERFORUS SURVEY
lIELPERS. 100
APPENDIX G - IRB APPROVALLETTER 102
v
LIST OF TABLES
ChapterD
Table Page
1. Definition ofJob Satisfaction 12
II. Items from TheMichiganOrganizational AssessmentQuestionnaire Satisfaction
Scales 16
ChapterIV
III. Gender ofRespondents 39
IV. AgeofRespondents 39
V. Nationality ofRespondents 40
VI. Highest Level ofEducation Obtained .41
VII. Status ofEmployment 42
VIII. NumberofYears Employed As a Chefora Cook 43
IX. Number ofYears EmployedInCurrent Company 44
X. Area ofGreatestPercentage ofWork 45
XI. Type ofEmploymentFacility .46
XII. Operation Size (Average Meal Per Day ofthe Overall Kitchen) .47
xm.
Hours ofKitchen Operations (Hours PerDay) 47
XIV. Number ofChefs And Cooks In Overall Kitchen .48
VI
Table Page
XV. Number ofChefs AndCooks In Currently WorkingInKitchen 49
XVI. NumberofEmployees Supervised 50
XVII. Annual SalaryRange 50
XVIII. NumberofAirlines CurrentlyCatering 51
XIX. Comparison ofNational AndAirlineCateringChefs AndCooks' Subscale
Means forthe Job SatisfactionSurvey (1SS) 56
XX. ComparisonofSubscaleAndTotalJob Satisfaction Scoresofthe Study Using
Z-test 62
XXI. Comparison ofNine Facets ofJob SatisfactionLevel BetweenKorea And
the United Satets Airline CateringChefs And Cooks 65
XXII. Comparison ofSubscale AndTotal Job Satisfaction Scores ofthe Study
By Demographic Variables UsingZ-test 68
V11
LIST OF FIGURES
Chapterll
Figure Page
1. ADynamic Model ofMotivation (adapted from Porter andLawler, 1968) 11
ChapterIV
2. Nonnative Profile ofMeanResponses for Organizationson the Nine Facetsof
the Job Satisfaction Survey 55
3. Comparison ofNine SubscaJes' MeansBetweenand the United States Airline
Catering Chefs and Cooks~., 64
Vl11
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1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The food service industry is the largestemployerin the United States with
substantial growth inthe food service field expectedbetween now and the year 2005. The
National RestaurantAssociation estimates that 2.5 million newrestaurantjobs will be
created by 2005 ~ 1995). The Council onHotel, Restaurant and Institutional
Education reports that in 1997, chefs earned an average salary of$45,100 with a median
income of$34,700 (CHRIE, 1997). Chefs who understand the financial, scientific and
culinaryaspects ofthejob, as well asthose who can leada kitchen staff, are in constant
demand.
Since turnover inthe hospitality industryhasbeen foundto be as high as 240%
(200 % more than in other industries), employee turnover is one ofthe largestoperational
difficulties facing hospitalityemployers (Woods & McCaulay, 1989; Malley, 1997).
Researchers tend to understand turnover throughjob satisfaction (Browns, 1990; Porter
& Steers, 1973). Many turnover theories view turnover in light ofemployeejob
satisfaction(Bluedorn, 1982; Mobley, Griffeth, Hand, & Meglino, 1979). People who
have dissatisfaction with theirjobsoften try to find alternative employment. In 1994,
Cramptonand Wagner indicated a significant correlation betweenjob satisfaction and
turnover(Crampton & Wagner, 1994). Spectorsaidthat "this correlation is causal. Job
dissatisfaction leads to turnover" (1997, p. 62). Job satisfaction makes it important to
study further those aspects ofthejobenvironmentthat mightbe improved and thus
2
provide greaterjob satisfaction for chefs working inthis industry(Greenberg& Glaser,
1980).
JobDuties in Airline Catering
Chefs create andprepare a variety ofmeals and desserts in restaurants, hotels,
cruiseships, and in airline catering. Airlinecateringis an extremelydynamic industry. In
spite ofthe dynamics ofthis industry, the basic international service systemhas not
fundamentally changed inthe last 50 years. Trayed meals servedto customers seated in
the airplane are still the nonn in international travel (Jones & Kipps, 1995). Over755
million people fly oncommercial aircraft worldwide eachyear. About9000 aircraft take
offeveryday, at approximate 1000 airports (McCool, 1995).
Unique Aspects ofairline catering include chefs having: less chance ofdirect
contact with consumer. Inadditionchefs have to serve a very high volume offood and
beverage. Chefs also have to pre-produce foods that are then boarded ontothe aircraft.
They work in flight kitchens that operate 24 hours perday, 365 days peryear. Chefs have
strict limitations onthe space & weight offood they prepare and the scheduled service
they provide. Chefs have to handle and deal with an abundant diversityoffood and
customers (McCool, 1995).
Airline Industry
There are 1200 scheduled flights in the world and the airline industry caters to
around 1.25 billion passengers a year which means US$250 billion in revenue. The
airline catering industry employs about 1.5 million people (Hanlon, 1996). Since the first
airline food was served in 1919 on the route between England and France, airline
catering has grown and changed. Chefs must be able to do more than properly pn:pare