An Analysis of Organizational Behavior in Enhancing the Quality of Life of the Elderly within the Subdistrict Administrative Organizations in Khon Kaen Province

Abstract

The purposes of this research were as follows: 1) to examine the internal and external factors that affect the functions that enhance quality of life for the elderly by the Subdistrict Administrative Organizations (SAOs) of Khon Kaen Province based upon Organizational Behavior Theory, and 2) to investigate the correlation between these internal and external factors. This research employed a quantitative method using an organizational level of analysis. The SAOs’ chief administrators or those individuals, who have been appointed and who had assumed a relevant role as the representative of each SAO, were the respondents, who totaled 111. Descriptive statistics were utilized in the data analyses, and the relationships between the variables were examined by employing Pearson's correlation coefficient. The research findings revealed a robust correlation (r =.770**) between the bureaucratic cultures and the organizations’ structural-functional tasks. Nevertheless, the subcultures presented a limited association with both the bureaucratic cultures and the SAOs’ structural-functional tasks. The link between the internal and external factors also showed that the external missions had exhibited a weak relationship with both the structural-functional tasks of the organizations and the subcultures. Indeed, there was a very weak relationship between the external missions and the bureaucratic cultures. The low quality of life among the elderly in Khon Kaen Province is partly due to the responses to organizational behaviors in those SAOs that prioritize the organizations’ structural-functional tasks and strong bureaucratic cultures. The organizational behaviors of the SAOs did not align or adequately respond to the external missions, which included the problems or needs that related to the quality of life of the elderly.