Relationship between productivity, satisfaction, ability, age, and salary in a military R&D organization

The overall objective of this study is to analyze the results of data obtained from 94 questionnaires administered to 100 scientists and engineers employed in the Missile Systems Laboratory of the U.S. Army Missile Command in order to empirically investigate and identify the most important features of an engineer´s or scientist´s work environment as they relate to job satisfaction and productivity, and to recommend necessary steps for improvement of working climate in the laboratory. More specifically, the data are analyzed 1) to determine the factors involved in job satisfaction; 2) to relate productivity to job satisfaction, salary, and age of respondents; and 3) to determine, using a chi-square test of independence of classification, if there is any relationship between productivity and job satisfaction. The general conclusions arrived at, based on the sample information, are that 1) job satisfaction is a multidimensional factor; 2) there is general agreement between the findings of this study and similar studies — the points of similarities and dissimilarities are discussed; and 3) there is statistically, significant relationship between productivity and satisfaction.