This chapter is designed to test which of the competing perspectives, ‘work satisfaction as intermediary’ or ‘work satisfaction as outcome’, is more appropriate to describe the role of work satisfaction in the relationship between climate for efficiency, climate for service and productivity in business units. Longitudinal data obtained from more than 14,000 employees in 171 branches of a financial services organization provided no evidence for the ‘work satisfaction as intermediary’ perspective. Work satisfaction is not related to productivity in this study. In line with a ‘work satisfaction as outcome’ perspective, climate for efficiency is more associated with productivity than climate for service, and climate for service is more associated with work satisfaction than climate for efficiency. Across time a trade-off was found: climate for service at time point 1 is negatively related to productivity at time point 2, and climate for efficiency at time point 1 is negatively related to work satisfaction at time point 2. These findings highlight the need to study the differential effects of strategic climate types on work satisfaction and productivity.

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