Future Parameter Explains Job Satisfaction and Turnover Candidates in Japanese Companies

Abstract

Do members of Japanese companies behave according to Takahashi’s (1996a, 2013b) leaning on future principle? This paper attempts to directly validate this, focusing on organization members’ decision to participate, that is, whether organization members continue to participate in the organization or leave the organization, and to clarify the underlying reasons behind the decision to participate from the viewpoint of the future parameter. This paper adopts Takahashi’s (1996a) “perspective index” as a future parameter. Using data from the JPC Survey, an annual survey of around 9,000 people taken from 1992 to 2000, the perspective index can adequately explain job satisfaction and turnover candidates: Near-perfect linearity between perspective index and job satisfaction ratio/turnover candidate ratio. This paper also shows that as the perspective index rises, the correlation between job satisfaction and turnover candidates disappears. Only when the future parameter remains at a low level, we can observe the correlation between job satisfaction and turnover candidates in Japanese companies