The aim of this paper is to determine the relationship between climate and job satisfaction in the context of a public university. Data were collected from 318 administrative and technical employees. Multilevel analyses were conducted to test the cross level effects of climate −occurring at a level of administrative areas− and individual job satisfaction. Kopelman, Brief and Guzzo’s (1990) model provides a theoretical framework to show the relationships between climate and cognitive and affective states, such as job satisfaction. Results show that climate in administrative areas has a significant and possitive effect on job satisfaction, which has important implications for the development of innovative practices of human resources that encourage the welfare and commitment of employees on the building of a healthy and socially responsible organization.

Resumen Este trabajo analiza el papel que ejerce el clima organizacional como elemento modulador entre la comunicación de funciones directivas y el conflicto de rol. En el presente estudio han participado 315 trabajadores de cooperativas hortofrutícolas almerienses. Los resultados generales mostraron que el clima es un elemento modulador de la relación entre la comunicación de funciones directivas y el conflicto rol. En concreto, indicaron que la influencia de la comunicación de funciones directivas hace disminuir el conflicto de rol y este efecto se incrementa cuando aumenta la percepción de clima de apoyo, clima de innovación y clima de orientación a reglas. Se discuten las implicaciones prácticas del estudio, junto con las limitaciones y sugerencias para futuras investigaciones derivadas del mismo.

Job demands are factors that are associated with a physical and psychological cost when it comes to coping with them, but which can also positively affect the motivational process. Demands such as overload, defined as an excessive workload, have not presented positive results in any of the studies that have related it to employee engagement. The present study aims to delve into the possible positive effect of this demand on the intellectual bonding of employees. It is hypothesized that: (a) Initially, the increase in the perception of work overload will show a negative influence on the intellectual engagement of the employees; but (b) high perceptions of overload will change this effect, producing an increase in the intellectual dimension of engagement. The sample is made up of 706 employees of a Spanish multinational company. The results support this asymmetric curvilinear influence. The level of intellectual engagement is significantly reduced when the role overload increases from the lower values of the scale. However, upon reaching high levels of role overload, the intellectual engagement response begins to grow. These results challenge the conceptualization of overload as only negative and opens the door to consider that the positive response to a demand can also occur at high levels of it.