Abstract
Since 1924 when Elton Mayo began to study how to improve the productive well-being of organizations, 100 years have passed. Since then, the study of the work climate has been a recurring aspect in such disciplines as psychology and sociology, even though all the efforts to define and model it have not reached any definitive conclusions. This paper studies the chronological evolution of the inconclusive construct of work climate by focusing on about 80 bibliographic entries and 65 definitions. This wide range of definitions and models, far from giving a single, best answer as might have been expected, reveals the multi-faceted nature of the work climate as well as the plurality of perspectives, approaches, experiences, variables and sectors that the more than 185 authors have investigated here. Although they have been unable to provide a clear characterisation, certain connections have been made with, for example, organisational culture, job satisfaction, motivation and productivity. The documentary analysis carried out discusses the main definitions and models that have been used – quite disperse and isolated – and an interpretation of the construct work climate is provided for those researchers who require a theoretical foundation for their studies.
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