THE INFLUENCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL TRUST AND ORGANIZATIONAL EMPOWERMENT ON EMPLOYEE JOB INVOLVEMENT AT A MULTINATIONAL ORGANIZATION IN GHANA; THE MODERATING ROLE OF JOB INSECURITY BY NANABEA YAA ASANTEWA NKRUMAH (10226160) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY DEGREE JULY, 2013 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i DECLARATION I, NANABEA YAA ASANTEWA NKRUMAH, Hereby declare that this thesis has been conducted by me under the supervision of Dr. Maxwell Asumeng and Dr. Benjamin Amponsah. This thesis has never been presented either in part or in whole to any institution for the award of any degree. Where the views and ideas of others have been used, they have been duly acknowledged. All the errors and omissions are therefore mine. ……………………………………… NANABEA YAA ASANTEWA NKRUMAH DATE: ......../......./20… (STUDENT) This thesis has been submitted for examination with approval of: ……………………. DR. M. ASUMENG DATE: ......../......./20... (PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR) ................................... DR. B. AMPONSAH DATE: ......../......./20… (CO-SUPERVISOR) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my late mother and father Nana Akua Afrifa Antwi and Joseph Davidson Kwaku Nkrumah, my grandma, Emily Donkor, uncle, Owusu Sekyere Antwi, sister, Mame Ama Kweiki Dsane, my brother, Ato Dear Dsane, sister- in –law, Nana Adjoa Konadu Dsane, my nephew and niece, Owura Kwaku Adyei Dsane and Mame Adjoa Ayeyi Dsane. You have provided me with immense support throughout the challenges I went through in attaining the successful completion of my studies. Thank you, I could not have accomplished this without your help, prayers and guidance. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii ACKNOWLEGEMENTS I thank the Lord my God for seeing me through this very difficult and challenging period, I would not have made it here without your abundant grace and love. I would like to further show appreciation to my supervisors, Dr. Asumeng and Dr Amponsah, for the time and patience and guidance in reviewing the drafts of each chapter until the successful completion of this work. To the management and staff of Nestle Ghana Limited, I say thank you. For without you there would not have been any data to analyse to complete this work. To my grandma, Emily Donkor, my uncle, Owusu Sekyere Antwi, my sister Mame Ama Kweiki Dsane, my brother Ato Dear Dsane and my sister-in-law Nana Adwoa Konadu Dsane who gave financial, psychological and social support and also took personal interest in my educational development from my undergraduate level until now, Thank you and God bless you. Just looking up to you encouraged me to keep pressing on. Finally, to my friends, Mary Ayi- Bonte, Andrew Torgbe, Osbert Odoi and Evelyn Assan, who gave support in various ways, thank you all very much, may the good Lord continue to bless you. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv ABSTRACT The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between organizational trust and organizational empowerment on employee job involvement. A random sample of 192 workers from the Nestle Ghana Limited participated in the survey. The moderating effect on the relationship between organizational trust and organizational empowerment on employee job involvement was also examined. It was hypothesised that, the presence of organizational trust and organizational empowerment would cause employees to reciprocate with job involvement and also the presence of perceived job insecurity of employees will impact the strength of the relationships between trust and empowerment on employee job involvement. Hierarchical regression and moderation analysis were run on the data. Results indicated a positive relationship between organizational trust and job involvement. Organizational empowerment also had a positive relationship with employee job involvement, with job insecurity moderating this relationship as predicted. However job insecurity did not moderate the relationship between organizational trust and job involvement. Within the sub dimensions of empowerment also, fluidity in information sharing was a better predictor of employee job involvement dynamic structural framework and control of work place decisions. Organizational empowerment was a better predictor of employee job involvement than organizational trust. The results are described within the framework of social exchange where the tenets of the theory are clearly seen in the reciprocation of the amount of trust and empowerment given dictating the amount of job involvement to be received. The results of job insecurity moderating in some instances, reflects that the psychological contract theory needs to be reappraised, by identifying and explaining the exceptions that exist with contract violations and subsequent withdrawal of services. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................ i DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................... x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the study ................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Problem statement .......................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Rationale of the study .................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Research questions ......................................................................................................... 8 1.5 Aim and objectives ........................................................................................................ 8 1.6 Relevance of the study ................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER TWO ..................................................................................................................... 11 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................ 11 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 11 2.1.1 Theoretical framework. ........................................................................................................... 11 2.1.1.1 Social exchange theory. .................................................................................................... 11 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi 2.1.1.2 Psychological Contract theory.......................................................................................... 15 2.2 Review of related studies ............................................................................................. 18 2.2.1 Trust and job involvement. .................................................................................................. 18 2.2.2 Empowerment and job involvement. ................................................................................... 24 2.2.3 Job insecurity and employee involvement. .......................................................................... 29 2.2.4 Key variables in the study. .................................................................................................. 32 2.3 Statement of hypotheses .............................................................................................. 32 2.4 Proposed conceptual framework .................................................................................. 33 2.5 Operational definition .................................................................................................. 34 CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................. 35 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................. 35 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 35 3.2 Population and sample ................................................................................................. 35 3.3 Sampling techniques .................................................................................................... 36 3.4 Design .......................................................................................................................... 37 3.5 Measures / instruments ................................................................................................ 37 3.5.1 Dependent measure/ instrument. ......................................................................................... 38 3.5.2 Independent measures / instruments. ................................................................................... 38 3.5.3 Moderating measure/ instrument. ........................................................................................ 39 3.6 Procedure ........................................................................................................................... 40 3.6.1 Pilot study. ........................................................................................................................... 40 3.6.2 Main study. .......................................................................................................................... 41 3.7 Ethical considerations ........................................................................................................ 42 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vii CHAPTER FOUR .................................................................................................................... 43 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................ 43 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 43 4.2 Preliminary Results ............................................................................................................ 43 4.2.1 Factor analysis. .................................................................................................................... 44 4.2.2 Analysis of the normal distribution of variables ...................................................................... 52 4.2.3 Reliability Analysis of the Scales ............................................................................................ 53 4.2.4 Descriptive statistics ................................................................................................................ 53 4.2.5 Pearson correlations among study variables ............................................................................ 54 4.3 Hypothesis testing .............................................................................................................. 55 4.3.1 Testing for Moderation effect. ................................................................................................. 56 4.4 Additional Analysis ........................................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER FIVE ..................................................................................................................... 66 DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................................... 66 5.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 66 5.1.1 Relationship between organizational trust and job Involvement. ....................................... 67 5.1.2 Relationship between organizational empowerment and job involvement. ........................ 69 5.1.3 Moderating effect of Job Insecurity on Trust and Involvement Relationship. .................... 72 5.1.4 Moderating effect of Job Insecurity on Organizational Empowerment and Involvement Relationship. ................................................................................................................................. 74 5.1.5 Organizational Empowerment accounted for a higher variance in job involvement of employees than organizational trust. ............................................................................................ 76 5.2 Implications and Recommendations for future research ................................................... 77 5.3 Limitation of the study ....................................................................................................... 81 5.4 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 82 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 85 APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................... 99 APPENDIX A: Ethical Clearance ........................................................................................... 99 APPENDIX B: Consent Form ............................................................................................... 100 APPENDIX C: QUESTIONNAIRE ...................................................................................... 103 APPENDIX D: CORRELATION OF DEMOGRAPHIC AND MAIN VARIABLES ....... 109 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ix LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Summary of the Demographics Characteristics................................................... 36 Table 4.1: Factor loadings based on a principal component analysis of the twelve items on the OTI ........................................................................................................... 45 Table 4.2 :Factor loadings based on a principal component analysis of the nineteen items on the OES................................................................................................................ 47 Table 4.3 :Factor loadings based on a principal component analysis of the eleven items.... 49 Table 4.4 :Factor loadings based on a principal component analysis of the ten items on the JIS.................................................................................................................. 52 Table 4.5:Summary of the Means, Standard Deviation, Skewness and Kurtosis………… 53 Table 4.6:Summary of Pearson Correlation between the Demographics, Independent, Dependent and Moderating Variables................................................................... 54 Table 4.7:Summary of the Hierarchical Multiple Regression for Job Insecurity on the relationship between Organizational Trust and Employee Job Involvement….. 60 Table 4.8:Summary of the Hierarchical Multiple Regression of Job Insecurity on the relationship between Organizational Empowerment and Employee Job Involvement……………………………………………………………………. 61 Table 4.9:Summary of Standard Multiple Regression for the variance accounted for by the levels of Empowerment (CWD &FIS) on the Employee Job Involvement…………………………………………………………………… 63 Table 4.10:Summary of Standard Multiple Regression for the variance accounted for by Organizational Trust and Organizational Empowerment on Job Involvement.. 64 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Proposed Conceptual Framework.......................................................................... 33 Figure 2: Path diagram of the moderating model (Baron & Kenny, 1986) moderating and dependent variables........................................................................................ 57 Figure 3: A summary of the observed relationships between the independent..................... 67 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS JI Job Involvement JINS Job Insecurity JIQ Job Insecurity Questionnaire JIS Job Involvement Scale OE Organizational Empowerment OES Organizational Empowerment Scale OT Organizational Trust OTI Organizational Trust Inventory University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study During the last six years, competition and uncertainty in the organizational environment has continued to grow intensely in every field of work (Singh & Dixit, 2011). This has been mainly due to the fact that every competent organization on the market has access to sophisticated technology, finance and new methods of working (Singh & Dixit, 2011). The only distinctive trait that distinguishes highly efficient businesses and increases their competitive advantage from the others is their human resource capital (Singh & Dixit, 2011). Such efficient human resource capital is brought about through the creation and maintenance of the human capital‟s job involvement (Rotenberry & Moberg, 2007). Saleh and Hosek (1976) in an attempt to capture the various conceptualizations of job involvement (JI) in management literature, explained employee job involvement as when, work is a central life interest; an employee actively participates in the job; when job performance is central to employee‟s self-esteem; and when performance is perceived as being consistent with ones self-concept. Brown (1996) posits that human work experience within organizations can be made consistently productive and improved upon if organizations learn to effectively glean the full potential of the human capital. He further outlines that; the key to attaining this feat is to attain a deeper understanding of the concept of job involvement, its effect and its antecedents. According to Gan, Hew, Kong and Tam (2012) research on employee job involvement is very sparse. The few researches that have been conducted have mostly focused on the effects job involvement has on employee work outcomes (Desouza, 2012). Some researchers have University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2 therefore advocated for the need for more research targeted at the antecedents of job involvement especially due to the current uncertain nature of the organizational environment (Paoline & Lambert, 2012; Probst, 2000). Furthermore, work characteristics in the organizational climate have been identified to contribute more to the increase of employee job involvement levels (Brown, 1996; Paoline & Lambert, 2012; Parker & Wall, 1998). According to Brown (1996) organizational trust and empowerment are components of the organizational climate that could facilitate the increase of employee job involvement levels. Trust has been defined as an “expectancy held by an individual or group that the work, promise, or written statement of another individual or group can be relied upon” (Rotter, 1971, p. 443). Lau and Tan (2006) maintain that, a trusting work relationship creates a congenial atmosphere among employees and the organization as a whole. As a result, workers in such organizations are likely to experience a decrease in levels of stress, tension, anxiety (Lau & Tan, 2006) and an increase in effective problem solving skills and quality decision-making (Zand, 1997). Korczynski (2000) points out that the rapid advancement of society and the organizational environment makes trust a critical baseline in mobilizing employee job involvement. It therefore becomes very essential to examine, create and maintain trust in organizations. Researchers have posited that, an attempt at giving a single definition to the construct of organizational empowerment could hinder its research, practice and explanatory power (Bartunek, Bradbury & Boreth, 1997). In management literature two different but complementary perspectives of empowerment have developed, however, their effects have usually been examined separately (Tuuli & Rowlinson, 2007). These include the relational and psychological perspectives of empowerment (Tuuli & Rowlinson, 2007). The relational University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3 perspective of empowerment refers to the organizational policies, strategies and the overall organizational composition that provide their employees a higher flexibility to make decisions and exercise greater latitude of control toward their work (Mills & Ungson, 2003). It has been referred to as a top down process; in other words, management provides policies and strategies to employees that empower them. The relational perspective of empowerment has been faulted for failing to include in its analysis, the cognitive mind-sets of employees perception of empowerment (Spreitzer & Doneson, 2005). On the other hand, psychological empowerment refers to how employees are intrinsically task motivated (Spreitzer, 1995). Thus, psychological empowerment occurs when management strategies makes employees perceive that management believes in their capabilities and also makes them believe they have a part to play in ensuring the success of the organization (Spreitzer & Doneson, 2005). Empowerment researchers have alluded that in order for empowerment to take place and be effective, employees must psychologically perceive relational empowerment practices to be deliberately put in place by the organization (Mishra & Spreitzer, 1998; Quinn & Spreitzer, 1997; Wilkinson, 1998). According to Mishra and Spreitzer (1998) the utilization of both perspectives of empowerment creates a sense of positive self-feeling within employees. It is this positive self-feeling that is likely to increase the employees‟ devotion and involvement to activities within the organization (Mishra & Spreitzer, 1998). Hence in the current study, both the psychological and relational perspective of empowerment will be examined under three- sub dimensions. These are dynamic structural framework, control of work place decisions and fluidity in information sharing. Although trust and empowerment in organizational processes have been identified to be likely to increase employee job involvement, job insecurity is expected to potentially affect the strength of this relationship (Mauno & Kinnunen, 2000). van Vuuren, Klandermans University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4 Jacobson, and Hartley (1991, p. 9) defined job insecurity as “a discrepancy between the levels of security people experience and the level they might prefer”. Highly insecure job climates create a stressful work environment, which could have detrimental effects on organizational outcomes (Bliese & Britt, 2001). Hence in such organizations, even if employees perceive trust and empowerment, due to stress and disillusionment suffered as a result of perceived job insecurity, employees may likely exhibit lower levels of job involvement (González-Romá, Peiró & Tordera, 2002). It is therefore crucial to investigate what effect employee job insecurity within conducive work climates, characterized by organizational empowerment and trust which are likely to elicit employee job involvement would have. The purpose of the current research therefore was to analyse the factors (organizational trust and empowerment) that affect the job involvement of employees and to ascertain if employee job insecurity would influence the strength of the relationship between organizational trust and empowerment on employee job involvement. 1.2 Problem statement Gan et al. (2012) have observed that, the job involvement of employees in the organizational environment is consistently decreasing. On the other hand, literature on job involvement and its antecedents is alarmingly limited (Gan et al., 2012; Paoline & Lambert, 2012). Therefore, some researchers have recommended and emphasized the need for further research in this area (Büssing, 2002; Gan et al., 2012; Paoline & Lambert 2012). Again, the definition and measurement of job involvement is vague. According to Morgan and Zeffane (2003) some researchers include influence sharing, participative decision- University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5 making, and the degree of employee involvement, empowerment, participation, consultation and other constructs in defining employee job involvement. However, many of these concepts are often ill defined (Cotton, 1993). Researchers have attempted to equate job involvement with employee engagement (Harter, Schmidt & Hayes, 2002) and job commitment (Cooper- Hakim & Viswesvaran, 2005). Purcell (2010) further buttressed this equation in his claim that the policy and practice implications of employee engagement are often captured in „high involvement work practices‟ arguing that this plethora of terms can sometimes confuse the debate but the fundamentals are the same. Hence it is essential that more research be undertaken under these constructs to help in further drawing a clear distinction to enhance their discussion and also to identify their effects and antecedents. Moreover, according to Aryee, Budhwar and Chen (2002) trust is a concept that is shaped by the social and cultural norms. Hence the nature of trust displayed and its consequences thereafter may differ among people from different cultures (collectivistic and individualistic) (Aryee et al., 2002). Aryee et al. (2002) pointed out that although trust is shaped by culture, most of the studies conducted on it have been undertaken in individualistic cultures. It is due to this assertion that, Aryee et al. (2002) calls for the need for studies on trust to be conducted in collectivist cultures such as Ghana to evaluate the effect of organizational trust on various employee work outcomes so as to be able to generalize the findings across borders. This becomes especially important as no studies evaluating the effects of trust on employee job involvement were found in the Ghanaian context during the course of the current research. Cobussen (2011) noted that, a research setting characterized by low or high unemployment rates might ultimately affect the employee‟s work output in the presence of perceived employee job insecurity. In that, this setting may serve as a confounding variable as University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6 employee organizational behaviours may be altered as a result of the external organizational environment. It therefore becomes essential to test the effects of job insecurity in these different (high and low unemployment) settings so as to be able to eliminate such settings as a confounding variable. Finally, measurement of organizational empowerment in studies usually focuses on the relational perspective of empowerment to the neglect of the psychological perspective (Matthews, Diaz & Cole, 2003). Spreitzer and Doneson (2005) have warned that, this practice usually leads to misleading conclusions or omissions of certain critical variables and hence a more gestalt approach to the measurement of organizational empowerment is recommended. Thus, this when done will ensure that the core effect of empowerment on employee work practices will be effectively captured so as to enhance its understanding and utilization. 1.3 Rationale of the study The current study will seek to add to existing literature to help to further inform management consultants on effective means or strategies to resort to in increasing employee job involvement. This is crucial since Gan et al. (2012) reported employee job involvement levels to be decreasing. Due to the vague definition and measurement of job involvement, a plethora of terms, which sometimes confuse the debate about the fundamentals of job involvement, is created (Purcell, 2010). Hence, in order to enhance and better clarify the discussion of job involvement, in response to the call for further research to be conducted under this construct, the current study will investigate the antecedents (trust and empowerment) of employee job involvement. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7 To prevent misleading conclusions that studying organizational empowerment as purely a management tool distinct of cognitive process can bring about (Eylon & Bamberger, 2000), the current study will measure both the psychological and relational perspectives of organizational empowerment. These components will be measured within three main levels, which would include dynamic structural framework (DSF), fluidity in information sharing (FIS) and the control of work place decisions (CWD). The measuring of organizational empowerment along these lines will not only provide a broader understanding of its effect but will also serve as a diagnostic tool for management by giving them the opportunity to identify at which specific level of empowerment (DSF, FIS and CWD) employees perform best. As a result, management would be better placed to know which levels of organizational empowerment to manipulate so as to increase employee efficiency. Also, a considerable number of research conducted on the relationship between employee trust and employee empowerment (as antecedents) of job involvement have mostly been carried out in western countries with very limited studies done in Africa while no such study has been conducted in Ghana. Meanwhile, there is an evidence of cultural differences in employee perception of trust and empowerment (Robert, Probst, Martocchio, Drasgow & Lawler, 2000). Accordingly, Hofstede (1993) asserts that cultural assumptions, values and beliefs are paramount for successful implementation of empowerment strategies. Based on the recommendation of Aryee et al. (2002) the study of organizational trust and its effect on an organizational outcome such as job involvement will be undertaken in a collectivist culture to aid in the generalization of the concept. This is mainly because concepts such as trust have been argued by some to be sometimes guided by the cultural norms of the society (Aryee et al., 2002). It is therefore vital to conduct such a study in Ghana, which turns out to be a collectivist culture. Again, modern Ghanaian organizations have recognized the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8 inevitability of the need for participatory management and hence it becomes essential to identify the factors that enable such a necessary environment. Finally, the use of Ghana as the research setting which records high unemployment rates will help to eliminate unemployment rates as a confounding variable in future research concerning the degree of intensity job insecurity has on employee behaviour. Also, the testing of the moderation effect of job insecurity on the relationships between trust and empowerment on job involvement will aid in identifying the conditions under which these relationships can be made stronger or weaker. This will further inform management practitioners and advance research. 1.4 Research questions The current study seeks to find answers to the following questions: 1. Does organizational trust promote employee job involvement? 2. Does organizational empowerment contribute to promoting the job involvement of employees? 3. Does job insecurity affect the strength of the relationship between organizational trust and employee job involvement? 4. Does, perceived job insecurity influence the relationship between organizational empowerment and employee job involvement? 1.5 Aim and objectives The general aim of this study was to assess the influence of organizational trust and empowerment on employee job involvement. Also, the moderating role of employee job University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9 insecurity on the relationships between organizational trust and empowerment on employee job involvement was assessed. The specific objectives of the study were as follows: 1. To examine the relationship between organizational trust and employee job involvement. 2. To ascertain if organizational empowerment will influence the job involvement of employees 3. To find out whether employee job insecurity will moderate the relationship between organizational trust and job involvement. Specifically, if the positive effect of organizational trust on employee job involvement will be weaker among employees who perceive high job insecurity. 4. To assess whether the relationship between organizational empowerment and job involvement would be moderated by job insecurity. More specifically, if the positive effect of organizational empowerment on employee job involvement will be weaker among employees with a high sense of job insecurity in their organizations. 1.6 Relevance of the study The study investigated the influence of the antecedents of job involvement, mainly organizational trust and organizational empowerment on employee job involvement and the moderation effect of job insecurity on this relationship. Job involvement of employees in organizations today is constantly decreasing. However, the utmost importance of job involvement in organizations keeps increasing. Therefore, such a research will enhance theoretical, conceptual and practical managerial discussion. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10 Theoretically, the social exchange and psychological contract theories, which serve, as the guiding theoretical framework for the current study will be further enhanced in the current study. This is because it will aid in its further generalization to collectivistic cultures such as Ghana. This is especially important since the current relationships being examined had not been conducted in the Ghanaian context during the course of the research. Conceptually also, the test of moderation was conducted on the relationships between organizational trust and empowerment on employee job involvement to ascertain if the strength or otherwise of this relationship will be influenced by the intended moderator (job insecurity). Hence the study becomes significant by investigating the moderation effect of job insecurity on the relationship between organizational trust and empowerment on employee job involvement. Thus, the analysis helps to determine under which conditions this relationship will be strongest or weakest. Furthermore, organizational empowerment is examined both under the relational and psychological perspective. This helps to avoid drawing sweeping generalisations, which usually come about when only one perspective of empowerment is analysed. Finally, this study has managerial implications. The results of the study will further heighten the need and importance of participatory management through empowerment in creating more involved employees. Also, the need to create an atmosphere of trust and not to infringe on employee vulnerability at any point in time as this might have an effect on employee involvement which in turn reduces organizational efficiency. It will further inform management about the potential effects of perceived job insecurity in the organizational environment. This bares implications for various management practitioners, as they will be informed as to the appropriate cause of action to utilize when seeking to achieve greater efficiency and productivity from their employees. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction The chapter presents the theoretical framework upon which the study was based on. Furthermore, reviews of closely related findings that is in favour or at variance with the focus of the current study was also conducted. 2.1.1 Theoretical framework. Cresswell (2012) noted that, research data even when generated carefully and systematically, could potentially be faulty and misleading if the underlying context of assumptions is wrong. The theoretical framework functions as a road map of why a particular behaviour occurs the way it does and when it is likely to happen (Strauss, 1995). In light of this, Cresswell (2012) concluded that, quantitative studies must be essentially based on a theory to serve as the framework for the study. Hence, the social exchange and psychological contract theories will provide the theoretical foundation for the current study. 2.1.1.1 Social exchange theory. The Social Exchange Theory (SET) is an instrumental theory in research regarding relationships at the workplace (Molm, Peterson, & Takahashi, 1999). The application of the SET to workplace relationships is based on the premise that certain antecedents at the workplace generate social exchange relationships (Cropanzano, Byrne, Bobocel, & Rupp, 2001). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 12 Blau (1964) asserts that SET involves a series of social and economic interactions and exchanges that generate obligations to reciprocate, engendering feelings of personal obligations, gratitude and trust. It is worth noting that social exchange differs from an economic exchange in terms of the exchanged resources, nature and magnitude of obligations and the quality of the mutual reciprocities that are formed over the course of time (Shore, Coyle-Shapiro, Chen & Tetrick, 2009). While economic exchange involves defined provisions of the interactions between parties and predominated by extrinsic rewards particularly material rewards, social exchange is characterized by indeterminate personal obligations and trust as well as both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards (Blau, 1964). It is emphasised that reciprocal exchanges are likely to be established through a series of interactions over a period of time in long-term relationships (Molm et al., 1999). Accordingly, when employees receive benefits from their supervisors and organization, a feeling of obligation is generated requiring employees to respond favourably and repay the organization (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). However, if reciprocity is violated the reciprocal relations is unlikely to be sustained. Rhoades and Eisenberger (2002) pointed out that employees form their ideas and opinion about the concern and care of their organization towards them through the policies, strategies and the guiding principles sanctioned by various agents of the organization. Employee job involvement with their work and organization is one critical work attitude that employee‟s resort to in response to the treatment offered to them by their organizations. In other words, employees will choose to involve themselves in varying degrees in their organization and work in response to the quantum and quality of resources they receive from the organization (Saks, 2006). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 Trust is an important element in the social exchange relationship. This is because the degree of trust in the interaction between the employer (and his or her agents) and the employees influences employee behaviours and work attitudes such as involvement with their work and the organization (Liden, Sparrowe & Wayne, 1997). When organizations provide policies, decisions and interventions that identify the organization or management as reliable, employees will feel a strong urge to reciprocate with a high involvement with their work to achieve organizational goals. In contrast, in an environment where the organization fails to guarantee that employees can trust the organization or management to treat them fairly with a sense of value and dignity, such employees would be less likely to work with passion and feel less connected to their company. Furthermore, when the organization creates an enabling and motivating condition for employees at the workplace, employees in turn will be more likely to be ready to invest appreciable personal resources in their work. Employees may feel a sense of empowerment as a result of individual employee‟s evaluation of the employer‟s empowering practices and strategies. According to the social exchange theory, the empowering strategies of the employer create a social exchange mechanism, which facilitates employees‟ perceptions that the organization values them and cares for them (Blau, 1964). Moreover, empowering employees may lead them to believe that management regards the employees as making significant contributions to the organization and that the management has their interest at heart (Lee & Bruvold, 2003). Empowerment will likely engender a sense of commitment and involvement among employees towards their organization, which enhances their motivation to expense more effort towards their work and the organization to achieve organizational goals. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 In sum, the SET reveals that the attitudes and behaviours of the employee in the employer- employee relationship within the work setting are largely based on the norm of reciprocity. This norm implies that parties in an exchange relationship form expectations of reciprocation for their actions either favourable or unfavourable. Thus, as asserted by Aryee et al. (2002) when employers create a conducive organizational environment with trustworthy management and empowering work conditions, employees will be more likely to reciprocate with increased work effort and favourable work attitudes like job involvement. Critique of the social exchange theory: One major limitation of the social exchange theory is the virtual neglect of the role of culture in the norms and rules that guide social exchanges (Cook & Rice, 2006). Undoubtedly, culture influences a wide variation of behaviours so it is possible that there are cultural differences in reciprocity and individual expectations of rewards in relationships (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). Even though social exchange is differentiated from economic exchange, social exchange explains interpersonal behaviors in terms of the exchange of costs and rewards. This tenet of social exchange portrays people as self-centred and reward seeking people placing value on self-interest (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). Again, the theory presupposes that individuals act reasonably in making decisions relating to social interactions, which might always not be the case. Moreover, the reduction of human interaction to simply a rational process, which is characteristic of economic theory, is a weakness of the theory because it becomes difficult using the theory to explain certain work attitudes like altruism. The theory portrays the individual and for that matter employees as more passive in the exchange process which the theory purport to be driven by the organisation, rather than as a process that is largely under the control of employees. However, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 employees for instance are not just passive receptors of management ideas or corporate mono-cultures (Keenoy, 2009) but are active in controlling their work and organization and for the most part can exercise choices. These critiques not withstanding, the SET has both a high predictive and explanatory power consistent with theoretical propositions. Evidence suggests that individuals who receive favours experience a strong urge to reciprocate those favours than most suppliers of the benefit expect (Flynn, 2003). Furthermore, the theory is very parsimonious and its assumptions are not difficult to understand. This theory is very logical with perceptive reliability and applicable to a wide range of real life issues. It has a systematic approach in organizing existing knowledge. The practicality of the social exchange theory is based on the assumption that individuals engage in certain acts with the awareness that these actions and behaviours will be recognized and reciprocated. This theory undoubtedly enables management and employees understand that each party expects a beneficial return from each other to ensure sustained commitment. 2.1.1.2 Psychological Contract theory. Psychological contract is considered as an extension of the social exchange theory (Turnley & Feldman, 2000). Psychological contract has been referred to as the explicit and implicit commitment that parties in the contract expect from each other (Rousseau & Tijoriwala, 1998). For instance, an organization may be perceived by its employees to have promised its employees trust, empowerment, training and job security in return for more job involvement and loyalty from employees. This type of contract is referred to as psychological because it is based on perceptions of the terms of contract each involving party is to offer. Psychological University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 contracts differ from legal contracts by virtue of the fact that legal contracts are explicit (Conway & Briner, 2009). That is, legal contracts are usually documented and all involving parties are aware of the prerequisites of the contract, whereas the terms of psychological contract are undocumented and usually inferred from behaviours or actions of parties to the contract (Conway & Briner, 2009). For instance an employee in an organization may perceive from the actions and inactions of management that management has promised to provide a trusting environment, empowerment and job security to employees based on what the employee implied from questions asked during the interview or orientation process. Psychological contracts can be perceived as broken by any of the parties involved at any point in time. A broken psychological contract can be perceived as either breached or violated. Where as a breach involves cognitive appraisals of how the organization failed at meeting promises made, violation entails the negative affective and emotional reactions to the breach in contract (Ortony, Clore, & Collins, 1988). Perceived violations elicit negative attitudes from employees (Morrison & Robinson, 1997). For example, an employee in response to their perception that the organization has violated the psychological contract by not providing job security may react by becoming less involved in their jobs. It is however important to note that although violations normally precede perceptions of contract breach, this reaction is not always automatic (Robinson & Rousseau, 1994). That is, not all cases of employee perceived contract breach results in the employees perceiving contract violations (Turnley & Feldman, 1999). Morrison and Robinson (1997) have asserted that a contract breach leads to a violation depending on how the action is cognitively evaluated. Thus, this cognitive evaluation involves the employee analyzing if the organization breached the contract on purpose or not and the relative importance of the breach. Hence, what may be perceived as a breach in one relationship may not necessarily be perceived as a breach in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 another (Clark & Waddell, 1985). For instance, in an organizational environment characterized by the relationship between employee and organization being mutually trusting and empowering, a breach in contract caused by job insecurity involving unpaid employee benefits may be overlooked temporarily. This may be because, employees may explain this breach as not being voluntary but rather involuntary triggered by economic turns in the organizations environment. Therefore, such employees may not feel violated and respond negatively by being less involved in their jobs. In sum, the psychological contract theory reveals that the attitudes exhibited by employee in a contract relationship are mainly guided by the cognitive appraisals of situation. Also, the outcome of these appraisals predetermine the behaviour employees will elicit in response to the situation. Critique of psychological contract theory: The psychological contract has been criticized on the basis that legal contracts often have clearly spelt out rules and terms that guide the contracts for which all parties are aware of (Guest, 1998). However with this type of contract, the terms are not clearly spelt out by the parties involved. On the contrary one party involved in the contract is usually the only one aware of the terms of the contract. The critique that has been made here is that, if the terms are not clearly spelt out, then a mutual agreement cannot be said to exist (Grimmer & Oddy, 2007). Secondly, psychological contracts have been defined to either be based on promises, expectations, perceptions, obligations and beliefs of the parties to the contract. Guest (1998) asserts that this definition could potentially cause problems during the evaluation of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 contracts. This is mainly because a breach of the psychological contract on the basis of a breach in obligation may distinctively differ from failure of a party to meet expectations. Finally, the theory spells out that not all employees have psychological contract, however the theory remains silent on how to identify which employees have a psychological contract or not. Some critics have also argued that the theory is a fantasy of what the contemporary work place is (Cullinane & Dundon 2006). They have posited that employees in the current job setting cannot simply choose to either withdraw their services or display negative work behaviours in response to a violation of their psychological contract (Grimmer & Oddy, 2007). They however contend that such employees are forced to accept the new terms of contract for fear of potentially losing their jobs or other extreme repercussions (Grimmer & Oddy, 2007). Despite the shortcomings of the psychological contract theory, it still maintains a high level of applicability and must be explored more to expand its utility. 2.2 Review of related studies According to Maxwell (2005) a review of prior research contributes to the design of a research. This review provides a basis for the justification of the current study in addressing gaps in previous studies. 2.2.1 Trust and job involvement. Aryee et al. (2002) examined the mediation effect of trust on the influence of organizational justice on work outcomes (job satisfaction, turnover intentions and organizational commitment, task performance), as a test of the social exchange theory. The research was University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 made up of 153 Indian public sector workers. The results showed that employee trust mediated the relationship between organizational justice and work attitudes which included job satisfaction, turn over intentions, commitment and organizational citizenship behaviours. The study‟s sample framework was predominantly males (81.5%) and this could present constrains in an attempt to generalize the research findings to a female population. This is because; research has generally found gender to moderate the relationship between employee reactions of organization processes or procedures and their work outcomes (Aryee et al., 2002). Furthermore, Aryee et al. (2002) called for the evaluation of trust and its outcomes in collectivist cultures to test its generalizability across boarders in future studies since the research in this subject area appear to be predominantly done in individualistic cultures. Hence the current study will be conducted in Ghana and will attempt to amply represent both females and males to aid in the generalizability of the findings. Bussing (2002) conducted a study on how trust relates to organizational commitment and the work and organizational involvement of employees. The sample for the study was 330, which was drawn from four different populations in four different studies. They comprised of IT managers, Office workers, Nurses for the elderly and Health care attendants. Although a significantly positive relationship was found to exist between trust (supervisor and organizational) and job involvement, the results was not consistent for all the sample categories. The exceptions come to play in the case of the IT managers and the office workers. With respect to the IT managers, there was no correlation between trust (organization and supervisor) and involvement. On the other hand, although there was a positive and significant relationship between organizational trust and involvement of the office workers, there was no correlation between that of their trust in supervisors and involvement. This disparity or inconsistencies in reported results for the different samples University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 20 within the population of the research calls for further investigation into this construct. Hence the current study will investigate the influence of trust in management on job involvement while analysing the moderating role of job insecurity in a similarly diverse sample. Morgan and Zeffane (2003) explored the effect of technological, structural and work role changes on employee trust in management and employee involvement. The data were drawn from the most recent Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS95) conducted by the Federal Department of Industrial Relations. This survey involved 2,001 workplaces and over 19,000 employees. The data collection involved administration of questionnaires and interviews. The statistical analysis revealed a significant negative effect of change on trust and a negative relationship between trust in management and union involvement. The findings also showed that where employees felt greater involvement through consultation by supervisors or higher managers - they expressed greater trust in management. However, where consultation was outside the formal hierarchy, or via indirect means, employees' trust in management fell. Since employees perceive a sense of job insecurity during change (Silla, de Cuyper, Gracia, Peiró, & de Witte, 2009), which has a potentially destructive impact on employees as well as on organisations (Greenhalgh & Rosenblatt, 2010). Consequently, it is possible that the negative impact of change on trust and the observed negative relationship between trust in management and union involvement is a function of job insecurity. Therefore the present study will test the moderating role of job insecurity in the relationship between trust in management and employee job involvement. Straiter (2005) researched on how the trust of superiors of their organization and subordinates can affect their levels of commitment and satisfaction in their jobs. The survey questionnaires were administered to approximately 200 managers in a very large pharmaceutical firm based University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 21 in New Jersey. Of the 200 questionnaires administered, 117 district sales managers in the pharmaceutical company returned the questionnaires indicating a (59%) response rate. The results indicated that when supervisors trusted their subordinates their level of job satisfaction was significantly high. Furthermore, trust in organization by the supervisors was found to be significantly higher than that of subordinates trust. This study has limited external validity because all the participants of the study were from the sales division of one pharmaceutical company. Hence, the finding can be a characteristic of the sales division of pharmaceutical company. The current study will therefore involve employees from diverse work roles in different departments of the selected institution. In a related study, Boon, Safa and Arumugam (2006) examined the influence of five total quality management (TQM) practices on employees‟ affective commitment within six major organizations. The regression analysis was utilized in analysing the results. It was found that, the five TQM practices, which included organizational trust significantly, predicted a high affective commitment level of employees to the organizations. Since the concept of job involvement and organizational commitment are concerned with an employees‟ identification and belongingness to their work experience (Chungtai, 2008; Ekmekci, 2011), the current study finds out whether the relationship between trust and affective commitment will translate into job involvement and how this relationship will be affected by a sense of job insecurity. Thomas, Zolin and Hartman (2009) studied the relationship between the quality of information and quantity of information, openness, trust, and employee involvement. Communication audit data were collected from 218 employees in the oil industry to test these relationships. The mediation analysis and structural equation modelling revealed that quality University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 of information predicted positively influenced employee‟s trust of one's co-workers and supervisors while adequacy of information positively influenced employee‟s trust of top management. Moreover, Trust of co-workers, supervisors, and top management influenced perceptions of organizational openness, which in turn influenced employees' ratings of their own level of involvement in the organization's goals. This study tested an indirect relationship between employee trust and their job involvement. Therefore, the present study will test the direct relationship and further test the moderating role of job insecurity in the relationship between employee trust and job involvement. Again, single item questionnaires were used in this research, however according to Cascio (1991) this could increase the likelihood of measurement error and prevent the effective capturing of the domain of the constructs (Thomas, Zolin & Hartman, 2009). The current research will therefore utilize more elaborate and standardized measures to capture the constructs. Sheng, Tian and Chen (2010) probed into how team support and commitment enhances trust within the work team and how this trust can influence group behaviour. Five hundred and forty eight questionnaires were administered to the selected work teams. Results from the study indicated that perceived team support significantly influenced teamwork behaviours, which significantly influenced trust among the members. The results of the structural equation modelling also showed that perceived team support, teamwork behaviours and trust significantly influenced team commitment. Classically, Kanungo (1982) conceptualized job involvement as an individual‟s psychological identification or commitment to his or her job so it is suggestive that trust will consequently have a positive impact on employee job involvement. The current study seeks to investigate this relationship between trust and employee job involvement. Moreover, at variance with this study, which used the team as the unit of analysis, the individual will be the unit of analysis in the current study. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 Lin (2010) investigated the influence of emotional labour, relations between supervisors and employees and organizational culture on employee job involvement. Participants were selected from large firms based in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The results of the study indicated that emotional labour and the level of involvement of employees was positively and significantly correlated while stronger intimacy between employees and their supervisors predicted higher employee involvement levels. Moreover, there was a significant difference in the influence of emotional labour, relations between employees and supervisors and the nature of organizational culture on employee involvement among some Chinese enterprises in Taiwan and Hong Kong. This study suggests cultural differences in the effects employee- supervisor relationship on employee job involvement. Therefore, the current study analyses the influence of trust in management on employee job involvement in Ghana, so as to further add to the literature on cultural differences associated with these work outcomes. White (2011) conducted an online survey, which involved 10,914 individuals representing a cross-section of geographic regions, job functions, roles, and industries. The survey link for this study was emailed to participants through the traditional and social media, professional associations and client organizations. The study revealed that employees who trust their managers are more likely to be engaged in their jobs. However, trust in executives has a stronger correlation with high engagement than trust in immediate managers does. Since the study reports that the potential impact of trust in senior leadership is most pronounced in the more western economies Australia or New Zealand, North America and Europe it is feasible to find out the impact of trust in management on employee involvement in an African economy such as Ghana. Moreover, the current study will seek to find out whether the relationship between trust and job involvement will be affected by job insecurity. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 24 Hassan and Ahmed (2011) examined the extent to which authentic leadership contribute to subordinates‟ trust in leadership and how this trust, in turn, predicts subordinates‟ work engagement. A total of 800 survey questionnaires were distributed to randomly selected employees from seven local banks operating in Malaysia. The results indicated that interpersonal trust positively predicted employees‟ work engagement and as well mediated the relationship between this style of leadership and employees‟ work engagement. The current study extends this study by testing the moderating role of job insecurity in the relationship between trust and job involvement. 2.2.2 Empowerment and job involvement. Bogler and Somech (2004) evaluated the relationship between empowerment, organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and commitment (organizational & professional) among teachers. The setting for the research was Israel and the sample framework for the study was 983 teachers. Data were collected through questionnaire administration. From the analysis, the level of empowerment as perceived by the teachers related significantly to their levels of commitment (professional and organizational) and OCB. The measure of Professional commitment focused on teachers‟ level of involvement to their jobs and how relevant they felt their jobs were in the general sense. Empowerment was also measured psychologically. However, in the present study, organizational empowerment will be conceptualized both psychologically and relationally (dynamic structural frame work, control of work place decisions and fluidity in information sharing) to determine its relationship with employee job involvement and the extent to which job insecurity moderates this relationship. Brockner, Spreitzer, Mishra, Hochwarter, Pepper and Weinberg (2004) conducted a study on perceived control utilizing two field studies made up of 1137 participants. In study one, they University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 analyzed how perceptions of control (organizational impact and self determination) can reverse the negative effects layoffs have on the organizational commitment on layoff survivors. On the other hand in study two, they investigated how perceived control can increase the job performance of layoff survivors. They found that when perceived control is relatively high, the negative influence of layoffs on employees‟ organizational commitment is reduced, indeed virtually eliminated. There however was a methodological challenge in this research, as they only measured perceived control, which is a facet of psychological empowerment. Spreitzer and Doneson (2005) cautioned that, to be able to effectively gauge the effect empowerment of an employee, it should be measured both psychologically and relationally so as not to lead to misleading conclusions or omissions of certain critical variables. However, the cumulative results from the study demonstrates that, when employees perceive high control in their jobs, it acts as an antidote thereby significantly reducing the negative effects layoffs can have on the organizational commitment and performance of layoff survivors. This research aids in the further understanding of job involvement as it helps to bring out some of the necessary conditions in which when employees are giving greater autonomy will bring forth positive employee attitudes and behaviours (Brockner et al., 2004). Furthermore according to Lawler (1992) when employees are granted greater empowerment it elicits higher levels of involvement from them. Hence the current study will investigate how both dimensions influence employee job involvement and if this relationship will be affected by job insecurity. In another study conducted by Karia and Assari (2006) they investigated employee work related attitudes and how total quality management (TQM) practices can influence these attitudes on public and private sector workers. From the regression analysis, organizational empowerment as a TQM practice was reported to have a significantly positive effect on University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 employee job involvement. The findings also reported that organizational empowerment is one of the most significant in positively improving work related attitudes such as involvement. A limitation of this study was in the analysis of empowerment, which looked at only one aspect of the dimensions of empowerment (relational empowerment). The current study will therefore meet this limitation by measuring both dimensions (psychological and relational) to see its effect on employee job involvement. Alfes, Truss, Soane, Rees and Gatenby (2013) explored the processes through which management can either raise or lower employee engagement through the actions taken by managers. The data for this study was collected over a two-year period between 2007 and 2009 from eight organisations through questionnaires, face-to-face interviews and focus groups. The study involved 5,291 questionnaire respondents and around 180 interviews. Across the eight organisations, the participants for the study involved (58%) male and (42%) females. The results from the regression analysis showed that high level of perceived meaningfulness of work is positively associated with high levels of engagement with work. The researchers concluded that meaningfulness is the most important driver of engagement for all employee groups. Even though the researchers conceptualized empowerment as a psychological construct, the study only assessed the influence of meaningfulness of work. The current study will however extend this study by examining the influence of both perspectives of employee empowerment on job involvement. Hamed (2010) examined the relationship between role clarity, organizational trust and employee empowerment and the relationships between employee empowerment and job involvement and job satisfaction. A cross- sectional survey research design was adopted for this study. A random sample of 862 out of 1724 employees of post offices in Riyadh region University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 27 was selected to participate in the study. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect the data for the study. Of a total 862 questionnaire administered, the results showed a statistically significant positive relationship between role clarity, organizational trust and employees‟ empowerment. Also, there was a statistically significant positive relationship between employees‟ empowerment and job involvement. The present study will go further to test the moderating role of job insecurity in the relationships between trust, employees‟ empowerment and job involvement. Humborstad and Perry (2011) conducted a study on the relationship between turnover intentions and empowerment and how the job attitudes of employees will mediate this relationship. Self-administered questionnaire were given out to frontline hotel service workers in China. The structural equation modelling revealed an insignificant correlation between empowerment and service effort. However, job attitudes mediated the relationship between employee turnover intention and empowerment. It is likely that other moderators like job insecurity can influence the relationship between empowerment and service effort such as employee job involvement. Again, since this study was done in China, it will be feasible to test the moderating effect of job insecurity in the relationship between employee empowerment and job involvement in Ghana since both are collectivist societies. Biswas (2012) explored the relationship between psychological climate and affective commitment on sales person‟s level of job involvement and job satisfaction. Data were collected from sales and marketing executives and their supervisor‟s across organizations in India. The results of the structural equation modelling showed that psychological climate and affective commitment have a positive relation with employee job involvement. The measure of psychological climate in this study involved elements of role clarity, contribution, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 recognition, self-expression, and challenge, which are elements that are present in organizational empowerment. Hence, the current study extends this study to test the influence of employee empowerment on job involvement and how job insecurity will impact such a relationship. Gan et al. (2012) investigated the factors (motivation, training, psychological factors and job characteristics) that could potentially affect the job involvement level of employees in fast food industry. Using a sample of 380, their finding was that, when employees perceive that, the work they do in the organization is significant or relevant, the level of job involvement they display enhances significantly. The current study will specifically look at how organizational empowerment that can cause employees to feel their work is significant could enhance employee job involvement. The researchers of this study however failed to give the respondents adequate time to fill the questionnaire, as they demanded them to fill on the spot during work hours. This could cause a potential threat to the accuracy of the responses, as the respondents could have been distracted due to on-going work or may be in a hurry to fill them and get it over with. The present study will give adequate time to respond to questionnaires. Onyishi et al. (2012) also researched on how an employee‟s ability to take charge at work would be influenced by self-efficacy. The researchers used a cross-sectional survey design in this study. A sample of 201 employees in the banking sector in Nsukka, Southeast Nigeria was selected for the study. The results of the study were subjected to a regression statistical analysis. The findings indicated that not only did self efficacy significantly predict an employees ability to take charge at work, but also indicated that taking charge was further significantly predicted by employees perceived organizational support. However, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 generalizing these results to other groups of workers other than the banking sector may not be feasible, as the study surveyed only employees in the banking sector. Moreover, self-efficacy is only a facet of employee psychological empowerment; hence, the current study will look at the contributions of both the psychological and relational empowerment on employee job involvement. 2.2.3 Job insecurity and employee involvement. Dolan, Tzafrir and Baruch (2005) using a sample of 450 participants, they investigated whether procedural justice and trust had a causal relationship to organizational citizenship behaviour. The results indicated that, perceptions of procedural justice by employees have both an indirect and direct effect on employee organizational citizenship behaviour via employee organizational trust. In other words, their findings indicate that, when employees perceive the organizational environment and processes to be fair, consistent, representative and just, their trust in the organization increases thereby leading them to increase their pro- active citizenship behaviours (Dolan et al., 2005). A limitation of the study is that it mostly relied on instruments that had very few items on it. However, according to Cascio (1991) fewer itemed questionnaires have a tendency to not adequately cover the domain of the construct, which have a tendency to cause measurement error. The current study will however utilise questionnaires that effectively cover the expanse of the construct. The present study will also look at how employee perceptions of job insecurity can influence the relationships between organizational trust, empowerment and job involvement. In a study, Buitendach and De Witte (2005) assessed how job insecurity was related to affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction among maintenance workers in Gauteng. The Multiple regression analysis of the data indicated that although the relationship University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 between job satisfaction, job insecurity and commitment was significant, the significance was small. Further, job satisfaction mediated the relationship between organizational commitment and job insecurity. West and Dawson (2012) have noted that, employee work engagement involves a psychological state like involvement, commitment and attachment. And even though engagement shares some aspects of job satisfaction and organisational commitment, the concept of engagement is distinct. Therefore, the current study extends this study by looking at the moderating role of job insecurity in the relationship between employee empowerment, trust and job involvement. Tjeku (2006) explored the relationship between organizational empowerment and job insecurity in an organization that manufactures steel. Using a cross sectional design, the results from the regression analysis indicated that, when leaders are empowering, it reduces the level of job insecurity employees experience and increases the psychological empowerment of the employees. Furthermore it was also found that, the levels of job insecurity experienced by employees tend to decrease their levels of psychological empowerment. This research fails to look at both dimensions of organizational empowerment. The present study will look at both dimensions of empowerment under the facets of (dynamic structural framework, control of work place decisions and fluidity in information sharing). Furthermore, the moderating role of job insecurity to employee trust in management, empowerment and employee involvement will be dully investigated in this research. In a study conducted by Stander and Rothmann (2010) they examined the relation between job insecurity, employee work engagement and psychological engagement. The results of a multivariate analysis of variance showed that psychological empowerment and job insecurity University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 were statistically significant predictors of employee engagement while the affective component of job insecurity acted as a moderator in the relationship between psychological empowerment and employee engagement. In spite of the strength of this study, at least one item of one of the scales of the empowerment questionnaire (i.e. meaning) resulted in an overlap with one item of the UWES. This could have inflated the relationship between meaning and employee job engagement. The current study therefore, will use survey instruments that are distinct in terms of items and subscales to measure the influence of employee empowerment on job involvement and how job insecurity will influence this relationship. Cobussen (2011) undertook a study on how the work performance of employees is affected by job insecurity. Employee work performance was specified in detail to include certain aspects of work such as productivity, quality, absence, counterproductive work behaviour, job satisfaction and Organizational commitment. The results indicated that, a significantly negative relationship existed between job insecurity and employee performance. A test of the moderating effect of organizational justice and transformational leadership was further conducted by, Cobussen (2011) on the relationship between employee job insecurity and performance. They reported that, workers who perceived organizational justice and transformational leadership in their organizations did not experience lower levels of job insecurity and hence their job performance did not improve. The setting of the research (Netherlands) limits the ability to generalize the research. This is because the Netherlands has a low unemployment rate (Cobussen, 2011) therefore; this could have served as a confounding variable in the above research. This could be the case because; if such employees perceive job insecurity the tendency to decrease performance will be higher as it is relatively easier to get a new job. However the unemployment rate in the current research University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 setting, which is Ghana, is very high and hence this confounding variable will be eliminated or reduced in the current study. 2.2.4 Key variables in the study. Independent variable - Organizational trust Independent variable - Organizational empowerment Moderating variable - Job Insecurity Dependent variable - Job Involvement 2.3 Statement of hypotheses Based on the literature reviewed above, the study tested the following hypotheses Hypothesis 1: Organizational Trust will have a significantly positive relationship with employee job involvement (Bussing, 2002). Hypothesis 2: Organizational Empowerment will have a positive and significant relationship with employee job involvement (Hamed, 2010). Hypothesis 3: Job insecurity will moderate the relationship between organizational empowerment and employee job involvement. That is, if the positive effect of organizational trust on employee job involvement will be weaker among employees who perceive high job insecurity (Dolan et al., 2005). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 Hypothesis 4: Job insecurity will moderate the relationship between employee organizational trust and employee job involvement. Specifically, the positive effect of organizational empowerment on employee job involvement will be weaker for employees who perceive high job insecurity than those employees who do perceive low job insecurity (Tjeku, 2006). 2.4 Proposed conceptual framework Conceptual framework is a graphical or narrative explanation of the key concepts and constructs or variables and the presumed relationships between them (Maxwell, 2005). The conceptual framework according to Miles and Huberman (1994) can be “rudimentary or elaborate, theory-driven, descriptive or casual” (p. 18). Thus, the goal of a conceptual framework is to categorize and describe concepts relevant to the study and map relationships among them (Rocco & Plakhotnik, 2009). Figure 1: Proposed Conceptual Framework Job Involvement Organizational Empowerment Dynamic structural framework Control of work place decisions Fluidity in information sharing Job Insecurity Organizational Trust University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 Figure one is a summary of the hypothesized mapped relationships between the independent, moderating and dependent variables. 2.5 Operational definition Within the context of the present study, the following terms have been defined as follows: Organizational Empowerment: organizational policies and structures that grant employees greater latitude in their work as indicated in the organizational empowerment scale (Mattews, Diaz & Cole, 2003). Dynamic structural framework: the provision of modifiable guidelines by the organization to employees to aid them procedurally and baviourally when making decisions concerning their jobs as measured (Mattews et al., 2003). Control of work place decisions: when employees are allowed to make input into in the organization as measured on the on the organizational empowerment scale (Mattews et al., 2003). Fluidity in information sharing: when management makes readily available all information concerning the organization to its employees as measured on the organizational empowerment scale (Mattews et al., 2003). Organizational Trust: employee‟s willingness to be venerable to the organization or management as measured on the organizational trust inventory (Cummings & Bromiley, 1995). Job insecurity: discrepancy between the levels of security employees experience and the levels they might prefer as measured on the job insecurity questionnaire (De Witte et al., 2008). Job involvement: psychological identification of a person with a specific job as measured on the job involvement questionnaire (Kanungo, 1982). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction The chapter describes the research design and methods utilized during the data collection. It also describes the population, sampling framework and procedures for data collection. It also goes on to further describe the measures or instruments that were used in the gathering of the data. 3.2 Population and sample The population for this study was employees working at Nestle Ghana Limited. This is because Nestle Ghana Limited has diverse contract terms with their staff, which aided in effectively capturing the moderating effect of job insecurity. Nestle Ghana Limited‟s branch at Tema was used for the study. This branch was used because of convenience and proximity to the researcher. Out of the population, a total of 300 participants were randomly selected for the study. This sample size was chosen in light of the rule of thumb suggested by Tabachnik and Fidell (2007). Their recommendation was that, N>50+8m, where N = sample size and m = number of independent variables (IV). Since there are 3 IVs, the sample size is estimated to be greater than 74. Therefore the sample size of 300 is justified. Although the researcher sent in 300 questionnaires to the field, a total of 201 of the questionnaires were returned. This represented a response rate of (67%). However, out of the questionnaires returned, 192 were valid for data analysis, as the nine omitted questionnaires were not fully completed. The mean age for the sample is 37.9 years. One hundred and twenty six 126 representing (66%) of the workers were males while 66 representing (34%) were females. Seventy-five (39%) of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 the workers were contract staff, while 117 (61%) were permanent staff. Table 3.1 below illustrates the demographic characteristics of the participants. Table 3.1 Summary of the Demographics Characteristics Variables Frequency Percentage Males Females Total Males Females Total Organizational status Supervisory role 70 40 110 37% 21% 57% Non-supervisory role 56 26 82 29% 14% 43% Educational Level Masters 26 11 37 14% 6% 19% First degree 74 42 116 39% 22% 60% Non- Degree 26 13 39 14% 7% 20% Tenure 1-5 37 23 60 19% 12% 31% 5-10 59 18 77 31% 9% 40% 10-15 14 10 24 7% 5% 13% 15+ 16 15 31 8% 8% 16% Marital Status Single 55 38 93 29% 20% 48% Married 71 28 99 37% 15% 52% 3.3 Sampling techniques The convenience sampling method was used in selecting participants by obtaining data from participants based on convenience and availability. This is because, the questionnaires for the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 study were distributed to respondents who were available and willing to participate in the study. This is due to the fact that this technique is considered to be cheaper and less time consuming. According to Brewerton and Millward (2001) even though this sampling method is not based on probability sampling techniques, it often shows to be extremely effective in predicting outcomes. 3.4 Design The study employed the quantitative multivariate correlational design using the survey methodology. This design was used because, the study focused on analysing the direction, degree, magnitude, and strength of the relationships or associations between the independent variables (trust and empowerment) and the dependent variable (job involvement) and also the moderating effect (job insecurity) on these relationships. With the survey methodology, questionnaires were used to solicit for information from participants, which ensured that a large number of participants would be covered within a short period of time. The focus of this design is not to establish a cause-effect relationship but to examine the relationships between the predictor variables and the criterion variable. Moreover, this design was chosen because it is the most appropriate owing to the fact that the study was concerned with finding out the relative accuracy with which the dependent variable could be predicted using a number of predictor variables (Brewerton & Milward, 2001). 3.5 Measures / instruments The questionnaire was administered to employees to be completed on voluntary basis. It consisted of a demographic section and four standardized measuring instruments to measure job involvement, organizational trust, and organizational empowerment and job insecurity. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 38 3.5.1 Dependent measure/ instrument. Job Involvement: was measured with a10-item scale. The scale was constructed by Kanungo (1982) and includes Items such as, “to me my job is only a small part of who I am, I live eat and breathe my job and usually I feel detached from my job” (Kanungo, 1982, p. 341). The scale is measured on a six-point Likert that ranges between one (strongly agree) to six (strongly disagree). High score represent high employee job involvement. The scale has been reported to have a reliability of 0.87. Brown (1996) and Perrot (2005) assert that, among the commonly used questionnaires, this scale is seen as the most accurate in measuring JI. 3.5.2 Independent measures / instruments. Organizational trust: Bromiley and Cummings (1995) designed the Organizational Trust Inventory (OTI). OTI is a 12 - item scale to measure an employee‟s level of trust in his or her organization. The scale measures trust along the affective and cognitive components of trust. Respondents are required to indicate their responses using a seven-point Likert scale ranging from one (very strongly agree) to seven (very strongly disagree. Some of the items on the scale are reverse scored and higher scores on the scale indicate high levels of organizational trust. Bromiley and Cummings (1995) reported high levels of internal consistency in two different groups (i.e Cronbach alphas of 0.93 and 0.94). Organizational empowerment: was measured using the Organizational Empowerment Scale (OES) (Mattews et al., 2003). This scale draws from both the relational and the psychological perspectives of empowerment. It is a negatively and positively phrased 19-item scale. The OES measures empowerment in an organization within three specific dimensions. These are, Dynamic Structural Framework (DSF) (e.g., employees have a say in changing company policies), Control of Workplace Decisions (CWD) (e.g., employees have a say in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 39 defining their job responsibilities) and Fluidity in Information Sharing (FIS) (e.g., employees are provided with financial records of the company). DSF is defined as when organizations make clear guidelines that can be modified and are aimed at assisting employees execute their duties both behaviourally and procedurally (Quinn & Spreitzer, 1997 p. 39). CWD is defined as “when employees are allowed input into all aspects of their professional career” (Wilkinson, 1998 p. 42). FIS is also defined as “when all information concerning the company is accessible to all individuals in the company” (Siegall & Gardner, 2000 p. 703). The scale is measured on a seven-point Likert scale ranging from; very strongly disagree to very strongly agree. The Cronbach alpha coefficients for the three scale factors have been reported to be 0.91, 0.90, and 0.81 representing DSF, CWD, and FIS respectively (Mattews et al., 2003). 3.5.3 Moderating measure/ instrument. Job Insecurity: was measured with the Job Insecurity Questionnaire (JIQ) (De Witte et al., 2008) was used to measure the levels of perceived job insecurity. The JIQ consists of 11 items, measuring cognitive (e.g. „Chances are I will soon lose my job‟) and affective (e.g. „I fear I will lose my job‟) aspects of insecurity on the job. The items fall within a five- point Likert scale which range from one (strongly agree) to five (strongly disagree). The six items measuring cognitive job insecurity have been reported to display a Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.90 and the subsequent five items for affective job insecurity, a Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.85 (De Witte et al., 2008). A global measure of job insecurity with the JQI reported a Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.92 (De Witte et al., 2008). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40 3.6 Procedure To ascertain the psychometric properties of the scales that make up the questionnaire, the study commenced with a pilot study. The details of the pilot and main study conducted are provided below. 3.6.1 Pilot study. A pilot study was conducted to determine the reliability of the questionnaire of the study. Although the scales that were adapted for the study have established an existing reliability and validity, the current study was conducted in Ghana, which may differ from the settings in which the scales were validated. A pilot study was conducted to identify items that respondents may have difficulty comprehending or maybe interpreted differently than was intended. A total of 30 questionnaires were administered to respondents in the pilot study. Four main measures or instruments were tested. The Cronbach‟s Alpha reliability was calculated for all the scales. The Job Involvement scale yielded a total alpha value of .93 ( =. 93). The Cronbach‟s alpha value of .84 ( = .84) was recorded for the Organizational Trust Inventory. Furthermore, the Organizational Empowerment scale also had an alpha value of .78 ( = .78), with its three subscales having .65 ( = .65) for Dynamic Structural Framework (seven items), .61 ( = .61) for Control of Work Place Decisions (seven items) and .79 ( = .79) for Fluidity in Information Sharing (five items). The Job Insecurity scale had recorded an alpha value of .89 ( = .89) the two subscales of the inventory yielded alpha values of .72 ( = .72) for Cognitive job insecurity (six items) and .86 ( = .86) for Affective job insecurity (five items). What this indicates is that each of the scales employed are reliable. Furthermore, the returned questionnaires and comments made by participants showed that they were clear University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 41 about the content of the questionnaires. Hence no changes were necessary and therefore the scales were adopted for the main study. 3.6.2 Main study. Before commencing the study, ethical clearance was obtained from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (Institutional Review Board, IRB) (see Appendix A). After the ethical approval from the board, a letter of introduction from the Psychology Department, University of Ghana, Legon was taken along with the clearance certificate to the research setting. There after, an appointment date was set for data collection at the organization. The human resource administrator of the selected organization was the point of contact and she made it possible to access the various departmental heads. These departmental heads thereafter made available the workers under their respective units. The participants from the selected organization were conveniently and randomly sampled. This technique involves utilizing participants who are readily available (Leedy & Ormrod, 2005). The participants before given the questionnaires were made to provide their informed consent (See Appendix B) and assured of ethical issues such as anonymity and confidentiality of responses they will provide. Four weeks was scheduled for the entire data collection. The questionnaire was distributed to the participants and left at their disposal to complete within the specified period. However, the researcher made periodic visits to the organization to collect completed questionnaires and also to address any questions or concerns. The research respondents were made to sign an informed consent form and assured of ethical issues such as anonymity and confidentiality of responses provided. Data collection started in the second week of May 2013 and ended in the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 42 first week of June 2013. The returned questionnaires were thereafter coded and subsequently analysed. 3.7 Ethical considerations In accordance with the American Psychological Association (APA) ethical code, guidelines are given to guide psychologist in the conduct of their research. The ultimate goal of this code is to protect the rights and welfare of survey respondents or groups who partake in a study. In the conduct of the present study, the researcher payed particular attention to ensuring the APA guidelines were followed to the latter throughout the conduct of the study. In the selection of research participants for instance, under no circumstance was coercion or inducement utilized. Only participants who volunteered to take part in the study were used. As directed by the APA guidelines, informed consent, right to decline participation at any point of the research was strictly adhered to. This is because; participants were informed of their right to drop out of the study at any point they wished. Confidentiality of the responses of participants was also adhered to at every step of this study. This is because, all participants were assured of their confidentiality of their responses on the consent forms and also total anonymity of their identity was further assured to them as they were told not to provide their names on the questionnaires. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 43 CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS 4.1 Introduction The current study evaluated the influence of organizational trust and organizational empowerment on employee job involvement as well as the moderating role of job insecurity. The study was guided by four main objectives. The first was to determine whether organizational trust would influence employee job involvement. The second was to ascertain if organizational empowerment would influence the job involvement of employees. The third was to find out whether employee job insecurity would moderate the relationship between organizational trust and job involvement. Finally, the fourth objective was to assess whether the relationship between organizational empowerment and job involvement would be moderated by job insecurity. This chapter presents the results generated from the data collection guided by the objectives above. The chapter has been divided into two main sections. The first is the preliminary results and the