The self-concept of book publishers and its significance for job satisfaction and satisfaction with economic success

Abstract

1. Aim of the studyIn the German literature on Business Administration (Betriebswirtschaftslehre) a distinction is made between formal goals (Formalziele) and goals which are directed towards contents (Sachziele). Content-related goals refer to goods and services (consumer goods, machinery, counseling etc.); formal goals refer to functional requirements of enterprises as for example liquidity, profit, and rate of return (Wohe & Doring, 2010, p. 73). Typically one assumes a means-end reladon: firms produce computers, cars, groceries etc. because of the profits they promise. When profits diminish, the product is taken out of the market and replaced by a variant or a new product. But in reality, things are not that simple, especially in industries where the entrepreneur has an intense sense of mission and in industries, where the entrepreneur develops a strong personal idendficadon with his products. An industry branch where one can find a lot of idealistic entrepreneurs with such strong content-related goals is the book publishing industry. This article therefore deals with two fundamental orientations: the emphasis on economic goals on the one hand and the emphasis on cultural goals on the other. We ask whether these orientations have an impact on the satisfaction of the publisher with his economic success and on his satisfaction with his work as a publisher. In a first step we present a theoretical frame of reference. Building on that, we formulate eight hypotheses, which are examined in the subsequent sections. The data for our analysis stem from a survey of 196 book publishers. In our article we focus on the situation of small and medium-sized publishing houses because in the German book publishing industry one can only find a few large firms which follow their own logic and therefore deserve a special analysis.2. Theoretical backgroundThe purpose of this paper is to explain why many publishers are satisfied and why others are not satisfied with their jobs. For that we do not deliver a new theory of entrepreneurship (in the publishing industry); we rather use elements of existing theories and combine important behavior variables in an integrated model. With this we follow a generally re-commended methodology to explain concrete phenomena (Bunge, 1973, Nienhiiser, 1996), which is also common in studies about entrepreneurial behavior (e.g. Baum, Locke, & Smith, 2001; Li, 2013; Dahan & Shoham, 2014). Our model is based on two considerations (figure 1). Firstly, we do not only look at the dispositions of the publishers but also at the challenges of the task environment of the publishing houses (for similar approaches see Rauch & Frese, 2007; Shane, 2003; Chell, 2008, pp. 145-173). Secondly, we look at two classes of behavior, the entrepreneurial function of managing the company and the publishing function, which is directed at activities as for example editing, design of the books, supporting and nurturing authors, networking etc. The managing function is the main subject of the entrepreneurial research, the working function is a main topic in motivation research. In our model we use both theoretical traditions. The influence of situational variables is also analyzed in various research areas. Contingency theories explain the relationship between properties of the economic environment on the structure and behavior of firms, and at the level of the working place a lot of theories in work psychology explain the impact of the work environment on motivation and task behavior. In our explanatory model we use elements of all the mentioned research areas, i.e. contingency theory, motivation theory, work psychology and entrepreneurial research.However, in these research areas one can find a wide range of theoretical approaches and empirical studies and many different variables which cannot all be used at the same time. Entrepreneurial research, for example, looks primarily at success factors which are located in the person of the entrepreneur, motivations (need for achievement, need for independence), attitudes (risk proneness, competitive orientation, passion), personality variables (extraversion, stability, tenacity), beliefs (self-efficacy, locus of control, tolerance for ambiguity), behavioral styles (aggressiveness, proactivity, determination) and abilities (intelligence, experience, social capital). …