Evaluating the motivating environment in Finland compared to the United States-A survey

A comparison was made of perceptions of IS personnel-especially of analysts, programmers and managers-on factors relating to motivation and goal setting in Finland and the United States. The JDS/DP, a modification of the job diagnostic survey instrument, was used to collect data in these locations. The survey covered a statistically unbiased and representative sample in both countries. The results indicated significant similarities between the two populations. Not only were individual characteristics of growth-need and social-need similar, but their perception of job-related variables were also quite similar. The only differences found were in the job satisfaction of technical experts and in the feed-back on goals in most job-categories, both of which were lower in the Finnish population. In addition, the growth-need perceptions in both populations are among the highest of all jobs measured by JDS. Therefore, computer personnel tend to be more like each other, regardless of their country and origin, than their own cultural counterparts. With this information, IS managers in both countries can use proven techniques, such as job characteristic theory, to improve the motivation of IS personnel.