32 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMPOWERMENT AND JOB PERFORMANCE AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION ON INDUSTRIAL SECTOR IN JORDAN Yaser Mansour Almansour, Amman College Al Balqa Applied University, Amman Jordan. ABSTRACT This goal of this study is to explore the relationship between empowerment components and job performance in industrial companies in Amman Jordan. Job performance is defined as the staff achieving the results, goals or standards as per the expectations set by the organization. The data was gathered from 138 users in industrial companies in Amman via questionnaire. Based on correlation analysis, the relationship between empowerment components and job performance is positively significant. In further analysis, it is found that all empowerment components used in this study except competence play a significant role in influencing job performance in industrial companies in Amman - Jordan. Keywords: Meaning, Competence, Self- Determination, Impact, Job Performance.
33 Introduction: To date, there has been an explosion in establishing pertaining to empowerment and job performance. The definition of empowerment has different features from researcher to another. The word empowerment is defined according to Vogt and Murrel (1990) as the period of improving the ability of decision making by the employees through cooperation, sharing, training, education and team work. Klagge (1998). Moreover defined the empowerment as the activity of transmission suitable responsibility to employees and making these employees gain abilities. Furthermore, to empower means to give power to. In a legal common sense, power is a way to the authority, so that empowerment can be defined as the authorization (Kenneth & Thomas 1990). According to empowerment theory, empowerment motivates individuals to be engaged in the task and achieve good performance. Hence, the empowerment passes on to high level of sentiment feelings that an individual perhaps obtain directly from task assessments and refer to the task itself. So far, growing body of studies on empowerment has been conceptualized and theoretically as well as empirically studied principally at the individual level of analysis, and also supports the positive effects of empowerment for collocated work teams (Conger & Kanungo, 1988; Thomas & Velthouse, 1990; Ford & Fottler, 1995; Liden, Spreitzer, 2000; Spreitzer, Kizilos, & Nason, 1997; Koberg, Boss, Senjem, & Goodman, 1999; and Wayne, & Sparrowe, 2000). According to Akal (1992), and Almansour (2012), the performance is defined as the level of how the activities serve as well as provide the purpose. In other words, performance can be defined the rate of understanding as well as the realization of the purpose. This level shows how much the purpose or the objective is achieved (Schermerhorn et al., 1996). The growing body of studies tested the link between empowerment and other factors. It has been theoretically and empirically stated that the most related results of employee empowerment are job performance. Empowerment was expected to have both direct and indirect effects on job performance. Evidence regarding to the effect of empowerment on job satisfaction is based on an open range of indicators that differ crosswise studies and are in some cases are contradictory. There are many studies have investigated the link between empowerment and job satisfaction, however, that studies have concentrated on large organizations, telecommunication sector, and service sector. This could give a light on recognizing that the impact of empowerment on job satisfaction in industrial sector is limited. Therefore, this study aims to determine the relationship between meaning and job performance in industrial companies in Amman - Jordan. Moreover, this study seeks to investigate the influence of empowerment on job performance in the industrial companies in Amman Jordan. More specifically, this study is to test the applicability of Spreitzer s findings that the four dimensions of psychological empowerment (meaning, self-determination, competence and impact) have a correlation to job performance in the industrial companies in Amman Jordan. Literature Review: Empowerment: Basically, empowerment is on the subject of enhancement as well as developing employees autonomy in their occupation and an increased involvement and affect in decision making. According to Spreitzer (1995), there are four proportions of empowerment that have been used the most in recent studies. These dimensions are defined as follows; Meaning: According to Buckle (2003), meaning is used to covers the worth of a work goal which evaluated in relation to an individual s own standards. Hartmann (2003) adds that in order for employees to feel empowered they need to have a vivid picture and understand clearly where the organization is going for them to establish a sense of meaning. The meaning maintenance model has been recognized by Heine, Proulx and Vohs (2006); this model is basically lying on the principle that a vital human condition is a never ending pursuit of meaning. In addition, Heine et al. (2006) documented that when the sense of a person of meaning is endangered, the person will discover such different techniques of regaining meaning, for instant doing voluntary work. Competence: Competence is defined as the skill or ability of the human being used in order to achieve the tasks or responsibilities assigned. According to Gist (1987), who defined competence as the belief of individuals in their
35 3% of the variance in performance, the self-determination and meaning dimensions did not significantly explain any variance in performance. Tuuliand and Rowlinson (2009), who performed an analysis on the connection between psychological empowerment and job performance. They found empowerment has a significant impact on job performance. Moreover, they found empowerment is significantly and positively related to job performance. The study demonstrated that empowered employees exhibited positive performance behaviors, and hence psychological empowerment is a valuable source for organizations to pursue their desired results. Research Objectives: This study concentrates on exploring the association between empowerment and job performance in the industrial companies in Amman Jordan. This laid to the following research objectives: To illustrate the demographic characters of the participants such as, gender, experience, age and marital status. To explore the relationship between empowerment components and job performance in the industrial companies in Amman Jordan. To investigate the effect of empowerment components on job performance in the industrial companies in Amman Jordan. Research Method: The methodology section describes the design of the study, the setting where it took place, the sampling design, the instruments involved in data collection, and also the procedures for data collection. The statistics used for data analysis and the description of the way in which data is analyzed are also discussed. A Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 16.0 was employed in the analysis in order to examine as well as analyze the data. Firstly, factor analysis was employed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the measures scales used in the study (Hair et al, 1998). Secondly, Pearson correlation analysis and regression analysis were conducted to determine the relationship between the variables. Thirdly, Anova analysis is conducted to investigate the impact of demographic variables (age, sex, personal income level, and education level) on the job performance. Framework: There are four independent variables of empowerment (Spreitzer s, 1995 framework of empowerment) were identified to be investigated in relationship to the dependent variable which is the job performance in the industrial companies in Amman Jordan. Meaning Empowerment Competence Self-determination Job performance Measurement of the Variables: Impact Age Gender Experience Marital Status The measuring empowerment questionnaire (12 items) developed by Spreitzer (1995) was used to measure the psychological empowerment of the respondents. The Measuring Empowerment Questionnaire is a theory based measure of empowerment which consists of four related dimensions namely, meaning, competence, selfdetermination and impact (Thomas &Velthouse, 1990). In order to develop the instrument, the four dimensions had to be adapted to some extent. Spreitzer (1995) reported that the meaning items were taken directly from Tymon's (1988) meaningfulness scale. The competence items were adapted from Jones' (1986) self-efficacy scale, while self-determination items were adapted from Hackman and
36 Oldham's (1985) autonomy scale. The impact items were adapted from Ashforth's (1989) helplessness scale. Each of the four subscales comprises of 12 items. Respondents indicated the extent to which they agree with each statement. The response scale was a five point Likert scales ranging from 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree. The 12 items are as follow Meaning The work I do is very important to me. My job activities are personally meaningful to me. The work I do is meaningful to me. Competence I am confident about my ability to do my job. I am self-assured about my capabilities to perform my work activities. I have mastered the skills necessary for my job. Self-Determination I have significant autonomy in determining how I do my job. I can decide on my own how to go about doing my work. I have considerable opportunity for independence and freedom Impact My impact on what happens in my department is large. I have a great deal of control over what happens in my department. I have significant influence over what happens in my department. Job performance is the direct and indirect contribution of an individual towards the organizational goals and objectives. (Borman, & Motowidlo 1993; Campbell, 1990).The measuring employees performance questionnaire (8 items) developed by Jex (2002) was used to measure the performance of the respondents. The 8 items are as follow Job Performance : Job-specific task proficiency: behaviour related to core tasks of the job Non-job-specific task proficiency: general work behaviour Written and oral communication task proficiency Demonstrating effort: level of commitment to core tasks Maintaining personal discipline Facilitating peer and team performance Supervision/Leadership Management/Administration Research Hypotheses: This study has investigated the following hypotheses: H0: There is no significant relationship between empowerment components and job performance in the industrial companies in Amman Jordan. H1:There is a significant relationship between empowerment components and job performance in the industrial companies in Amman Jordan. H0: There is no effect of empowerment components on job performance in the industrial companies in Amman Jordan. H1: There is an effect of empowerment components on job performance in the industrial companies in Amman Jordan. Data Collection Procedure: For the purpose of the study a quantitative approach was adopted questionnaire were used to gather the data. The population targeted for this study included all permanent employees in industrial companies in Amman- Jordan. However, all permanent employees were encouraged to participate in the study. 150 questionnaires were sent to the employees in all industrial companies in Amman- Jordan, only 138 questionnaires were returned and useful to be
37 analyzed. Table 1 illustrates the scale reliability for the variables. Table 1.1: The Scale Reliability for the Factors No. Factor N of Items Cronbach Alpha 1 Meaning 3.760 2 Competence 3.871 3 Self Determination 3.747 4 Impact 3.751 5 Job Performance 8.715 6 All Items 20.875 The questionnaires used in this study had 20 items, which are divided into two variables, empowerment which had 12 items and performance which had 8 items. It can be seen in the table above that all research variables has go over the acceptable standard of the reliability test of 0.60 (Nunally & Bernstein, 1994). Data Analysis: Descriptive Statistics: The sample used in this study is the in the industrial companies in Amman Jordan. The demographic variables like age, sex, marital status and experience of the respondents were included for data collection. Table 2 illustrates the frequency of the respondents for all demographic variables. Table 1.2: The Frequency of Respondents for All Demographic Variables Demographic Variables Frequency Percent Gender Male 100 72.5 Female 38 27.5 Age Experience Status 21-25 29 21.0 26-30 40 29.0 31-35 22 15.9 36-40 22 15.9 >40 25 18.1 1-3 years 40 29.0 4-6 years 36 26.1 7-10 years 16 11.6 11-13 years 35 25.4 More than 13 years 11 8.0 Single 48 34.8 Married 90 65.2 It can be seen in the table above that there are 100 (72.5%) are male and 38 (27.5%) are female respondents from 138 respondents. The results show also that the majority of the sample is ranged between the ages of 26 30 years which represents 29%. It can be observed from the table above that most of the respondents almost have a good working experience, 40 (29%) ranked between 1-3 years, 36 (26.1%) ranked between 4 6 years, following by 35 respondents which represents (25.4%) ranked between 11 13 years experience. When status of the respondents is considered it is understood from the table above that out of study participants 90 (65.2%) are married and 48 (34.8%) are unmarried. Correlation Analysis: In order to investigate the relationship between empowerment components and performance, Pearson correlation
38 analysis is conducted. Table 1.3 illustrates the results of Pearson correlation analysis for the variables used in the study. Table 1.3: Correlation analysis between the variables Meaning Competence Self Impact Pearson Correlation 1 Meaning Sig. (2-tailed) N 138 Pearson Correlation.914 ** 1 Competence Sig. (2-tailed).000 N 138 138 Pearson Correlation.231 **.307 ** 1 Self Sig. (2-tailed).006.000 N 138 138 138 Pearson Correlation.877 **.896 **.223 ** 1 Impact Sig. (2-tailed).000.000.009 N 138 138 138 138 Pearson Correlation.840**.800**.334**.836** Performance Sig. (2-tailed).000.000.000.000 N 138 138 138 138 It can be seen in the table above that there is a significant and positive relationship between meaning and performance, which records a significant value of 0.840. The results show also that the association between competence and performance is positive and significant which has a value of 0.80. In addition to, the finding shows that there is a positive and significant linkage between self determination and performance, which records a value of 0.334. Finally, the results show that there is a significant and positive relationship between impact and performance. Overall results, it is concluded that there is a significant relationship between all empowerment components and job performance. Therefore, the hypotheses mentioned there is a significant relationship between empowerment components (meaning, competence, self determination and impact) and job performance is accepted. Regression Analysis: In order to investigate the effect of empowerment components on job performance, regression analysis is conducted. Hence the following regression model is proposed. ϒᵢ = β 0 + β 1 X 1 + β 2 X 2 + β 3 X 3 + β 4 X 4 + ε it Where ϒᵢ Job Performance β 0 Regression Constant X 1 Meaning X 2 Competence X 3 Self Determination Impact X 4 β 1-4 Regression Coefficients Table 1.4 shows the results of regression analysis for the variables used in the study. Table 1.4: The Effect of Empowerment Components on Job performance Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients Collinearity Statistics t Sig. B Std. Error Beta Tolerance VIF (Constant).506.135 3.750.000 Meaning.363.074.532 4.898.000.147 6.821 Competence -.107.076 -.170-1.41.161.119 8.424 Self.134.039.154 3.487.001.885 1.130 Impact.394.080.488 4.911.000.175 5.705
39 Table 1.4 illustrates the effect of empowerment components on job performance. The table shows that the tolerance values of all variables ranged between 0.119 and 0.885, while the values of VIF for all the variables ranged between 1.130 and 8.424. These results indicate that the tolerance values of all the variables of this study are greater than 0.1 and consequently the VIF is below the threshold value of 10 suggested by Hairet al. (1995). In other words, the tolerance and VIF values of the variables included in this study are within the recommended threshold values, so it can be concluded that the problem of multicollinearity is not present in this study. However, this study has the acceptable assumption to conduct the multiple linear regression analysis for examining the influence of empowerment components on job performance. As results, the meaning has a significant positive coefficient of 0.363 with a probability value of 0.000. But, the competence has an insignificant negative coefficient of - 0.107 with a probability value of 0.119. Furthermore, the results show that the self determination has a significant positive coefficient of 0.134 with a probability value of 0.001. Lastly, the impact has a significant positive coefficient of 0.394 with a probability value of 0.000. In conclusion, the results indicate that all empowerment components except competence play a significant role in influencing job performance. However, the competence does not affect job performance significantly. Therefore, the hypotheses mentioned there is a significant effect of meaning, self determination and impact is accepted. However, the hypothesis that there is an effect of competence on job performance is rejected. Therefore, the regression equation is as follow Job performance = 0.506+ 0.363 (Meaning) + 0.134 (Self Determination) + 0.394 (Impact) However, the following figure illustrates the conceptual framework after removing the competence from the model. Meaning 0.363 Empowerment Self-determination 0.134 Job performance Impact 0.394 Discussion and Conclusion: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between empowerment components and job performance in industrial companies in Jordan. Based on the correlation analysis, it is found that there is a positive and significant relationship between empowerment components and job performance. These results are in line with the previous studies that conducted other researchers (Kirkman et al., 2004; Seibert et al., 2004; Pilar, Angel Martinez & Mauela, 2005; Melhem, 2006; Tuuli & Rowlinson, 2009). However, the regression analysis showed that all empowerment components except competence play a significant role in influencing job performance. Based on the results, in general, it found that there is a significant relationship between empowerment components and job performance in industrial companies in Jordan. Therefore, the hypotheses mentioned previously that there is a significant relationship between empowerment components (meaning, competence, self-determination and impact) and job performance is accepted. Moreover, the hypotheses mentioned also previously that there is a significant effect of meaning, self-determination and impact on job performance is accepted. However, the hypothesis that there is an effect of competence on job performance is rejected. It can be concluded that Job performance is predicted by empowerment components. Further studies should consider other empowerment components in order to develop such a significant model to explain job performance. Moreover, job satisfaction plays an important role to mediate the effect of empowerment components on job performance. References : [1] Akal, Z. (1992). Performance measurement and control in business: versatile performance indicators. Ankara, MPM Publications, 473.
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