While the job characteristics model (JCM, Hackman & Oldham, 1975) stipulating skill variety, task identity, task significance, feedback from job and autonomy as the five motivational determinants for job satisfaction, is well researched and mostly supported by empirical studies with low complexity occupations, we argued that the JCM would have limited utility to more complex occupations particularly those which demand collective effort for successful task completion. Data obtained from surveying 2,265 job incumbents of 14 different occupations supported our proposition suggesting that in high complex occupations, job satisfaction is affected primarily by the nature and quality of co-operation whereas in low complex jobs, job satisfaction is determined both by the effects of motivational attributes and the potential compensatory effects of co-operation. Based on this evidence, we proposed an extended multi-level model of job characteristics addressing the effects of occupational complexity and co-operative work. The practical implications of this model for job redesign are discussed.
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