Job satisfaction and teamwork: the role of supervisor support

The link between teamwork and job satisfaction was investigated in a sample of 48 manufacturing companies comprising 4708 employees. Two separate rese arch questions were addressed. First, it was proposed that supervisor suppo rt would be a weaker source of job satisfaction in companies with higher le vels of teamworking. Multilevel analysis indicated that the extent of teamw ork at the company level of analysis moderated the relationship between ind ividual perceptions of supervisor support and job satisfaction. Second, it was proposed that the extent of teamwork would be positively related to per ceptions of job autonomy but negatively related to perceptions of superviso r support. Further, it was proposed that the link between teamwork and job autonomy would be explained by job enrichment practices associated with tea mwork. Analyses of aggregated company data supported these propositions and provided evidence for a complex mediational path between teamwork and job satisfaction. Implications for implementing teamwork in organizations are d iscussed. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.