Factors Affecting the Institutional Motivational Orientation of Public University Teachers in China: Evidence From H University

Abstract

Work motivation of employees can determine the work efficiency, which is a key factor affecting the success of an organisation in a competitive market. Compared to the employees working in business organisation, people who work public sector are not only affected by individualistic motivational orientation, but also affected by the institutional motivational orientation. Like western countries, the public sector has also undergone some significant changes with meeting the transformation of the economy in China. Therefore, it is necessary to explore if Public University teachers can keep their institutional motivational orientation under the background of privatisation trend of public sector in China and what factors can influence their institutional motivational orientation. Therefore, there is a merit in a systematic investigation of the institutional motivational orientation of public university teachers. This paper sought to fill this gap in the literature. Using a case of H University in China, this paper investigated what factors are closely related to the institutional motivational orientation of Public University teachers in three contexts: transformation context, education sector context and societal culture context.  The findings revealed that the institutional motivational orientation of public university teachers is affected by both organisational factors happened in transformation context and societal culture context but is more influenced by the societal culture context. The demographic factors of public university teachers and their institutionalised beliefs in education have no effect on their motivational orientation.