Quality of work life among Chinese-American white-collar workers in Houston, Texas

Abstract

This study aims to examine the quality of working life of Chinese American professionals in American work organizations. It applies the grounded theory approach to collect and analyze the data. Data were collected through intensive interviewing of 120 subjects in various kinds of work, work group and work organizations in Houston, Texas. Contingency theory serves as a model that ties theoretical argument of organizational theory together with the empirical findings of the research. Findings of this research indicate that subjects' perceptions of their quality of working life varies with structural variables of the work, work group and work organization. It also finds to be relevant to the environmental factors and the individual's self-construction of reality. Environmental factors include subjects' place where they are in, their minority status and the class and class conflict in the society at large. Structuredness in work, work group and work organization are found to vary along with subjects' perception of their quality of working life, in particular, their perceptions of work requirements and work appraisals. When work, work group and work organization are well structured, subjects perceive clear-cut work requirements and work appraisals. They know what it takes to get them ahead. The reverse is true when work and work place is unstructured. They seem to feel most comfortable in a structured work setting. Structuredness at work setting, however is a result of interface among work, work group and work organization variables. Examples are given that relate subjects' perception of work requirements, work appraisals and opportunity to structuredness at work, work group and work organizations. Structuredness in the work setting, however, is not found to be related to subjects' perceptions of opportunity. This lack of fit between data on the subjects' perception of opportunity and the contingency model may be due to factors that contingency model fails to take into consideration, such as the environment and the location of the individuals in time and space. These environmental factors and the subjects' self-construction of reality are discussed in this study to enrich the contingency model in its explaining of reality. Implications for research in race relations, contingency model and the quality of work life are discussed.