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INTRODUCTION

Modern banking legislations was born in an era of bank failures and economic depression which forced banking institutions and government to fundamentally restructure the financial markets. New management, accounting, auditing and reporting requirements emerged, and regulatory bodies were established to monitor the financial aspects of these institutions.

More recently, the number of techniques that investment bankers have been expected to master has increased. The turbulence generated by this relatively complex and evolving operational environment where investment bankers face increased performance pressures, role diffusion and job stress could potentially manifest itself through job dissatisfaction (Gianakis and McCue, 1997).

Job satisfaction is an important theoretical and practical concept because it may affect the capacity of the job incumbent to perform effectively and to deal with job demands successfully. Low job satisfaction, at the organizational has been linked to decreased task performance, increased absenteeism, job turnover and deteriorating organizational morale (Hamel and Mattieu, 1989). Gianakis et al. (1982 as cited in Verburgee, 1997) states that at the individual level, job dissatisfaction has been associated with employee burnout, high levels of stress and a variety of psychological and physiology problems.

Given the importance of job satisfaction to organizational and individual performance, it is not surprising that the concept has been the subject of extensive research across a wide array of professions, occupations, and sectors of the economy. Though there are many similar studies undertaken by researchers with similar objectives, this study assumes a special significance in the light of recent economic troubles and changes in Ð''work ethics'.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The relationship between job satisfaction and job performance has been the centre of numerous studies for more than 10 decades. One of the primary conclusions that can be drawn from this body of research is that job satisfaction and job performance relationships are complex (Jacobs and Solomon, 1977). Intuitively, one would expect higher levels of job satisfaction to be associated with higher levels of job performance, but these variables do not consistently correlate as stated by Niebuhr and Norris (1970 as cited in Cummings and Schwab, 1984). What maybe more important in establishing a job performance-job satisfaction relationship are the causes to which successful job performance is attributed.

Early studies (Maslow, 1945; Herzberg, 1968) concentrated on the importance of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and rewards towards satisfaction. Maslow (1945) argues that people are universally motivated to satisfy a sequence of five categories of needs Ð'- see appendix A. Maslow argues that people must satisfy their lower-level needs before they can progress up the hierarchy to satisfy higher level needs. Once needs are satisfied, they no longer motivate behaviour.

In his study of job satisfaction and motivation, Herzberg (1968) identified a number of attitudinal factors concerning job satisfaction and motivation. He stated that positive satisfaction is due to good experiences, and that these are due to Ð''motivators' Ð'- achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility and advancement. Dissatisfaction is due to bad experiences caused by Ð''hygiene' factors - supervisors, fellow workers, company policy, working conditions, and personal life Ð'- see appendix A.

Although motivation is not the key point for this study, since the motivation has been identified as an important component of job satisfaction (Graham & Messner 1998:196) it is nevertheless useful to gain an insight into this area as well as the concepts and theories of job satisfaction.

More recent research has investigated differences in job satisfaction levels according to age (Crossman, Chinmeteepituck and Sarket, 2003). Earlier studies suggest age is positively associated with job satisfaction, while others use length of service, or tenure,