The major objectives of this study are to investigate the effects of professionalism and climate perception on R＆D professionals' motivation and work attitude. Though professionalism and climate perception are frequently studied themes the results are not consistent, and this inconsistency is due to partly the lack of attempt to integrate them in interactionist perspective.
In this thesis, six professionalism dimensions suitable for explanation and prediction of R＆D professionals' behaviors/attitudes, and seven climate dimensions necessary for the creative and innovative R＆D organizations are derived. A field study was undertaken to investigate the hypothesized relationships among professionalism, climate perception and outcome variables. Data were collected from 170 R＆D professionals of six Korean R＆D organizations. Correlation analyses, T-test, ANOVA and regression analyses were employeed to test the hypotheses.
The major findings of this study are as follows:
1) Each professionalism dimension showed the positive relationships with motivation, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. These results are different from those of previous studies that regard the inherent conflict between researchers and organizations, stating that when innovative climates are formed individuals can have affirmative attitude to the organization.
2) Climate dimensions showed positive relationships with outcome variables.
3) Fit between professionalism and climate perceptions were positively related with outcome variables, advocating the interactionists' assertions.
4) Effectiveness of reward system and the degree to which leader's key roles are well-performed were positively related to climate perception.
5) The degree of professionalism showed differences in terms of academic degree and type of organizations.
6) Three types of R＆D professionals were derived by cluster analysis. The influence that cimate perceptions exert on outcome variables showed different figure among those types.
Implications for managers and future research directions are suggested.
