FACTORS AFFECTING JOB PERFORMANCE AN INVESTIGATION OF EMPLOYEES IN THE VIETNAMESE BANKING INDUSTRY

In Viet Nam, there were many studies related to job satisfaction or job performance but most of these studies pay much attention to the working environment, leadership styles, organizati

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 RESEARCH BACKGROUND

The recently financial crisis is one of the most pressing challenges facing countries and businesses in today's global business environment It is required most countries in the world to make suitable changes to improve and overcome this

difficult period

Vietnam is in the case of developing country, globalization poses distinct challenges to governments, the private sector and organized labor These challenges, which must be addressed through a strategic approach to human resource management, include (1) Partnership in economic recovery especially in Vietnam (2) Dealing with the large foreign companies (3) Concerns over possibility

of fraud in E-commerce (such as issues of confidence and trust) and (4) Implementing prescriptions for recovery and growth taking in to consideration the development agenda and unique circumstances of individual area

At present, senior executives in Vietnamese companies have become more strategic in their thinking about the human capital Human capital is becoming a main power for the success of any organizations Unfortunately, the competiveness and the quality of the human resources of Vietnamese companies are in low position

in comparing with other countries The report of Labor and Social trends in Viet Nam stated that:

Despite some advantages, the labor force of Viet Nam remains mostly unskilled as nearly two-third did not have any technical education The country’s productivity of Viet Nam remains low in absolute terms and was equal to only 61.4% of the average of Asia countries Viet Nam has to increase the labor productivity and enhance competitiveness of labor force

if the country desires to move up in regional and global production networks In order to reach the goal of the economic growth as well as the higher quality of labor force, Viet Nam must address many issues, especially in human resources (International Labor Organization Report, 2010)

1.2 RESEARCH PROBLEMS

Banking industry is the heart of any economies Firstly, banks act as delegated monitors and ensure that firms use the resources allocated to them effectively Secondly, banks also play an important role as tool for executing macro – economic policies Go along with the quickly changes in business environment, the banking industry has renewed itself to catch up with the requirements of bank’s users Almost banks are offering many kinds of valuable services for customers besides its traditional services in order to upgrade the satisfaction of the bank’s customers Consequently, beyond the normal expectation of providing excellent customer service, the bank’s employees are also required to sell various added value services

The quality of banking services has been moved on strongly improvement over the last few years, it is still in its infancy The old banking systems and the old habit of local Vietnamese resident were two major obstacles to access to finance for Vietnam’s large population of bankable but under-banked households and enterprises In the future, the Vietnamese banks have to do their businesses in competitive environment not only with local banks but also with a lot of foreign –owned banks The banks need employees with high knowledge to advise more suitable services for their customers and attract more customers to use more services of banks (See more information about Vietnamese Banking Industry in Appendix A)

Among many industries, banking industry is one of the most industry has the fastest growth in the human resources in both quantity and quality Banking industry has the highest attraction with job- seekers during the last ten years The average growth in human resources of banking industry during the period 2000-

2010 was about 10% each year (Nguyen, 2012) Unfortunately, the demand of banking employees is forecasted to be in the down –trend in the next few years According to the point of view of specialists in banking industry, many banks will cut off the employees in the next time (at the-end of 2012 and next year 2013) because of the difficulties of macroeconomic as well as the decrease in the profit of almost banks However, the banks will take much caution to increase the quality of labor force for banking industry There will be some adjustments in the human resources policies, especially in training and recruiting human resources It means that there will be a called for qualified employees who can help to enhance the performance of banking industry

The employee takes a key factor to the bank’s performancce In order to enhance the productivity and profitability of the bank, the performance of employee should be strongly considered It is important for bank’s managers to understand and to investigate whether their employees are satisfied with their job or not Only if they are satisfied, they will work with strong commitment, with high effort and perform their best By this way, employees will project a positive image of the organization as well as improve their performance and the bank’s performance

As forementionded reasons, it is necessary for bank’s managers to investigate which factors affect the job performance of their employees in Vietnamese banking industry

Many studies have proved that sustainable competitive advantages can best

be accomplished through context- specific, cumulative, renewable, and thus hard to imitate factors (Susan., Luthans., Kyle., Sandra., & Richard., 2007) The comprehensive study (Luthans et al.,2007) have noted that “integrating human,

social, and now psychological capital can have great impact on job performance than any of the previously listed resources in separately”

Even there were many studies concerning about positive organization behaviors and its relationship with job performance as well as the relationship between the working environment and job performance, most of these studies focused on the West, Mid West and the United States In Asian region, most studies concentrated on developed Asian countries (Singapore, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, etc) than developing countries like Vietnam, Lao, Cambodia In Viet Nam, there were many studies related to job satisfaction or job performance but most of these studies pay much attention to the working environment, leadership styles, organization commitment than to the Psychological Capital of the employees The newest researh related to Psychological Capital, Quality of Working Life, Quality of Life (Nguyen and Nguyen, 2012) However, the objective of the research is the marketer in Vietnamese Market Researching in the field of Psychological Capital

as well as the Quality of Working life in the different industries is in shortage status Therefore, the problem to be accessed in this study is to exam the factors that impact job performance of employees in Vietnamese banking industry, especially concerning to the Psychological Capital and Quality of Working Life

1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

According to Zikmund (1997, p.89), a research objective is the researcher’s version of a business problem Objectives explain the purpose of the research in measurable terms and define standards of what the research should accomplish In solving the research problem mentioned previously, this study has the following objectives:

• Identify factors that affect job performance of employees in the Vietnamese banking industry, specify to factors that belong to psychological capital and quality

of working life

• Determine the degree of the impact of each factor to job performance of employees in the Vietnamese banking industry

Research Questions

Research questions involve the research translation of “problem” into the need for inquiry The research problems defined above leads to the following research questions:

• What are factors that impact on job performance of the employees in the Vietnamese banking industry?

• What are the effects of self – efficacy, hope, optimism, resiliency, survival needs, belonging needs and knowledge needs on the job performance of employees

in the Vietnamese banking industry?

1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND SCOPES

The object of this study is the employee of banks in Ho Chi Minh City The research is conducted in Ho Chi Minh City, one of the biggest economic centers of Viet Nam The result of the research in this city, in some level can represent for Viet Nam in general and be used as reference for further purposes

The author uses data analyse tool (Microsoft Excel, SPSS) to handle the data and to implement the study such as: Descriptive Statistics, Graphs After that, using the tool to test the scale reliability (Cronbach’s Anpha), Factor Analysis, using Linear Regression to test the relationship between independents variables and dependent variable

The research only approaches into factors concerning in Psychological Capital, quality of working life with the job performance The other factors such as: Personality traits or traits – like characteristics such as found in the Big Five

dimensions, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Organizational Commitment…

will be out of the topic of this research

1.5 STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH

The structure of the study consists five chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter presents research background of the study, as well as, research problems, research objectives, research methodology and scopes

Chapter 2: Literature Review and Hypotheses

In this chapter, the author provides the literature review and presents the fundamental ideas on two main constructs: psychological capital and quality of working life Besides, the definition and the literature review of the following constructs also provided: self- efficacy, hope, optimism, resiliency, survival needs, belonging needs, knowledge needs In this chapter, the conceptual model of the study and the hypotheses of the study are also presented

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

Based on the research objectives and scopes, research methodology concerning in chapter 1, and literature review and empirical model presented in chapter 2, this chapter particularly presents the research design, research methodology and reports the processes of doing the research

Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Data Results

Chapter 4 presents the characteristics of research samples and presents the result of the research after analyzing data Based on the results, the author will make deep analysis about each factor that impact on job performance

Chapter 5: Conclusions, Implications and Limitations

Chapter 5 presents main conclusions and implications based on the results of the previous chapters, as well as the limitations of this study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES

In this chapter, the author provides the literature review and presents the conceptual model and hypotheses of the research

2.1 POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL

Following the resource – based theory of the firm, organizations can develop sustained competitive advantage only by developing value creating resources and capabilities which are rare and difficult for competitors to imitate (Barney, 1995) Consistent with the resource – based view of the firm, the effective development and integration of positive psychological capital with other assets can provide an organization with intangible resource that is valuable, rare and difficult to imitate and therefore a source of competitive advantage (Jensen, Luthans, Lebsack & Lebsack, 2007) Luthans (2004) and colleagues have provided some important constructs in this fields such as: economic capital (“What you have”), human capital (“What you know”), and social capital (“Who you know”) in order to create value and maintain their success over time

Nowadays, most managers would agree that positive psychology is something they value in employees so that the author investigated literature review about positive psychology as well as positive organization behavior in this study Moreover, the author put more effort to explore the literature to four specific factors: self – efficacy, optimism, hope, resilience

“Positive psychology” revisits the ‘average person’ with an interest in finding out what works, what is right, and what is improving (Sheldon & King,

2001, p.216) Following the lead of positive psychology, positive organizational behavior has recently been strongly considered Positive organizational behavior has been defined as “the study and application of positively oriented human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, developed,

and effectively managed for performance improvement” (Luthans, 2002b, p 59; also see Nelson & Cooper, 2007; Turner, Barling, & Zaharatos, 2002; Wright, 2003)

Drawing from positive psychology and positive organizational behavior and

in particular the notion of psychological capital, Luthans (2004) and collogues suggest that “identifying and developing the positive psychological capacities of individuals may lead to desirable performance outcomes” We have a strong believe that the positive psychological strengths might be especially relevant for organizations competing in the dynamic and increasingly competitive banking industry

To date, the psychological capacities associated with positive organizational behavior include hope, resilience, optimism, and self-efficacy, and when combined

together, represent for the higher order core factor for “Psychological Capital”

(Luthans & Youssef, 2004; Luthans et al 2007)

PysCap as a State-like Construct:

It is important to pay attention that PsyCap and its constructs as found in the positive psychological literature rather than just a fixed trait Athough positive trait and states do share some common correlates and related outcomes), recent theory – building and empirical research also support their distinctiveness and discriminatnt validity (Avey et al.,2008)

In most studies, the authors pay attention to the PsyCap as state-like and base

on the positive psychological literature which relevant to positive organizational behavior

PsyCap’s foundation also drawn from social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1997), which establishes reciprocal interactions9 between person, the environment, and past behavior However, in the recently theory, the PsyCap can be defined as:

An individual’s positive pyschological state of development that is characterized by: (1) having confidence (self-efficacy) to take on and put in the necessary effort to succed at challenging tasks; (2) making a positive attribution (optimism) about succeeding now and in the future; (3) perserving towards goals and, when necessary, redirecting paths to goals (hope) in order to succeed; and (4) when beset by problems and adversity, sustaining and bouncing back and even beyond (resiliency) to attain success (Luthans, Youssef, and Avolio 2007,3)

As mentioned above, the integration of hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism represents the core construct of Psychological Capital or PsyCap In previous studies, Pyscap has a relatively stronger relationship to their performance than each of individual facets of hope, resilience, optimism, and self – efficacy However, the purpose of this study is to analyze how hope, resilience, optimism, and efficacy individually impact on the job performance Hence, the literature review of each facet should be deeply investigated

Most previous studies on hope, resilience, optimism, and efficacy have supported that they are in high considerable Bandura (1997) has demonstrated strategies to increase self-efficacy (also see Bandura, 2000), Snyder (2000) provides evidence that hope is developable and published the state–hope scale (Snyder et al., 1996) Carver and Scheier (2005) more recently discuss strategies to develop optimism, and Shifren and Hooker (1995) have demonstrated its situational measurement Seligman (1998) features “learned optimism” in his widely recognized book by this title and offers evidence to support its development Masten and Reed (2002) likewise discuss successful strategies for resilience-based developmental interventions, and Wagnild and Young (1993) have developed a

state-like measure of it Each of these contributions in the positive psychology literature have supported that these four constructs can be developed

2.1.1 Self-efficacy

There are several definitions about the term “Self–efficacy”: Self-efficacy has been argued to best meet the inclusion criteria for PsyCap (Luthans, Youssef, & Avolio, 2007) Self-efficacy represents a positive belief (not ability per se nor outcome expectancy) and is defined for the workplace as:

The employee’s conviction or confidence about his or her abilities to mobilize the motivation, cognitive resources or courses of action needed to successfully execute a specific task within a given context.” In results from

a comprehensive meta-analysis, self- efficacy was found to have a strong positive relationship with work-related performance (Stajkovic & Luthans, 1998a; also see Bandura, 2000; Bandura & Locke, 2003)

Parker (1998): Self –efficacy refers to “people judgments about their capacity to perform particular tasks”

Self – efficacy is more domain – specific and can be developed for a specific set of tasks (job) through mastery experiences, modeling, social pesuation, and physiological and psychological arousal (Bandura, 1997) In other study, Bandura (1998, p.53) has concluded: “Comparative studies show that domain linked measures of perceived efficacy are good predictors of motivation and action.”

Based on studies of Stajkovic and Luthans 1998, Legal and Meyer 2009, these studies show that self-efficacy has a positive impact on performance The author raises the first hypothesis:

H1: Self- efficacy is positively related to job performance

2.1.2 Optimism

In early study, Tiger (1979) has offered the following widely recognized definition of optimism: “a mood and attitude associated with an expectation about social or material future, one which the evaluator regards as socially desirable, to his or her advantage, or his or her pleasure” After that time, there also exits many definitions about optimism

Scheirer and Carver (1985) defined optimism as “a positive future expectancy” They have described optimism as a concept that linked to the human performance processes of goal attainment and self-regulation Specifically, optimists plan ahead for handling obstacles that might prevent them to archive their goals They also express the confidence to overcome difficult obstacles to persist with their goals

Seligman (1998) based on the difference between the optimists and pessimists to make the definition for optimism through optimists:

Optimists viewed bad events as external (not their fault), unstable (temporary setback), and specific (a problem only in context) attributions

In opposite side, pessimists access bad events in point of view of internal (their own fault), stable (will last for a long time), and global (will undermine everything they do) Optimists tend to remain positive about future events while the pessimists tend to internalize the negative aspects of their lives (Seligman, 1998)

There also exits the definition of optimism as “the tendency to maintain a positive outlook (Schneider 2001, 253)

In the aspect of positive organization behavior, it is important to make the attention to “realistic optimism”, which does not take an extreme in internalizing good events and externalizing negative ones (Seligman, 1998; Schneider, 2001)

Peterson (2006) has recently summarized that optimism has been linked to

“positive mood and good morale; to perseverance and effective problem solving; to acedemic, atheletic, military, occupational, and political success; to popularity; to good health; and even to long life and freedom from trauma.”

Both Seligman (1998) and Peterson (2006) have also emphasized that optimism can be develop and have documented the positive impact it can have in a variety of life domains Besides, optimism also related to many desirable outcomes

Many studies have proved that there is a strong linkage between optimism and workplace performance Schulman (1999) investigated the relationship between optimism and sales personnel and their performance The level of optimism of Chinese factory workers and their rated performance and merit salary increase (Luthan et al, 2005) was the continual evidence for demonstrating the relationship between optimism and job performance in a variety of workplace settings

Although previous studies have tested the linkage between the employee’s optimism levels and positive workplace outcomes, the author supposed that more research in diverse industries Banking industry is a good industry for making the investigation about this relationship As we well known, at present, the banking industry has a quick and strong competition than ever before As a result, banks are

in the high demand to make the differences with other competitors by bank’s human resources The exploration of the level of optimism of banking employees with their performance may help identify and enhance the new source of competitive advantage for the banks Therefore, the following hypothesis is investigated:

H2: Optimism is positively related to job performance

2.1.3 Hope

There were many authors who anchored the first definition on the perception

of hope The perception that one’s goals can be attained was a common thread in the scholarly work that defined hope in the 1950s through 1960s (Can-tril, 1964; Farber, 1968; Frank, 1975; Frankl, 1992; Melges & Bowlby, 1969; Menninger, 1959; Schachtel, 1959)

After that time, more studies were introduced by developing new view of hope Hope is defined as “a positive motivational state that is based on an interactively derived sense of successful (1) agency (goal – directed energy) and (2) pathways (planning to meet goals)” (Snyder, Irving, and Anderson, 1991, p.287)

To clarify the definition given in this definition, we go to the specify definition of goals, agency thinking and pathways thinking

Goals

Goals are the targets of mental action sequences, and they provide the cognitive component that anchors hope theory (Snyder, 1994a, 1994c, 1998b; Snyder, Cheavens & Sympson, 1997; Snyder, Sympson, Michael & Cheavens, 2000; Stotland, 1969) Goals are required to be sufficient value to occupy conscious thought However, goals can be in the point of view of short or long-term Moreover, goals must be attainable, but they also typically contain some degree of uncertainty

Pathways thinking

People must view themselves as being capable of generating workable routes

to reach their goals This can be defined as “pathways thinking”, one’s perceived capabilities at generating workable routes to desired goals It means that in any situation, pathways thinking involves thoughts of being able to generate at least one, and often more, usable route to a desired goal In addition, high –hope people

actually are very effective at producing alternative routes (Irving, Snyder & Crowson, 1998; Snyder, Harris, et al., 1991) A hopeful individual’s propensity to develop alternative, contingency, or back-up plans to accomplishing the same goal constitutes what Snyder (1994, p.247) refer to as “fallibility insurance” where people will remain hopefull in goal accomplishment as there will always be an alternative route to pursue (Avey et al.,2008)

Agency Thinking

The motivational component in hope theory is agency – the perceived capacity to use one’s pathways so as to reach desired goals Agency thinking reflects the self-referential thoughts about both starting to move along a pathway and continuing to progress along that pathway Agency helps the person to apply the requisite motivation to the best alternate pathway (Snyder, 1994c)

Following this based- definition, there also different ways to approach the clearly definition of hope Hope reflects “the believe that one can find pathways to desired goals and become motivated to use those pathways” (Snyder, Rand, and Sigmon 2002, 257)

At the present, the competition in banking industry is very high, so that, the employee may need to have high level of hope to reach their goals Even, there was some previous research stated that hope is related to employee’s performance, satisfaction and happiness (Youssef and Luthans 2007), there still a shortage research about hope in banking industry, especial in Viet Nam Based on the previous literature review, the author desires to make the investigate by the given hypothesis:

H3: Hope is positively related to job performance

The persons who are high level of resilience will express their abilities to equilibrate and equilibrate in response to their challenges or their threats

It is meaningful to the banks if their employees are resilient employees It means that they can get over their problems quickly and contribute more to the performance of the banks in any situations The next hypothesis is proposed:

H4: Resilience is positively related to job performance

2.2 QUALITY OF WORKING LIFE

Today, the quality of working life is important for banks because it relates to employee performance productivity Many studies have indicated that the work conditions of any organizations are required to meet the needs of employees In case the employees are supported, employees will add more attributions in improving their job performance In order to enhance the job performance, it is necessary to investigate about what are factors of the quality of working life that have the impact

on job performance

Up to date, there are different definitions about the concept “Quality of working life”

(Hackman & Oldhams, 1980) highlight the constructs of Quality of working light in the relationship between work environment and personal needs They argue that the personal needs are satisfied when rewards from the organization such as: compensation, promotion, recognition and development meet their expectations, which lead to an excellent quality of life

In different explanation, Davis (1993) has a general definition for Quality of working life as “the quality of relationship between the need of employees and the total working environment, with human dimensions considerations”

According to Sirgy, M Joseph; Efraty, David; Siegel, Phillip; Dong-Jin, Lee (2001), the concept of quality of life in this research was developed by the need theories of Abraham Maslow (1954) as well as the spillover theories Four need categories, including seven needs based on Maslow’s hierarchy were covered by Porter’s Need Satisfaction Questionnaire by Porter (1961) These are: survival needs, social needs, ego needs and self- actualization needs

While spillover theory believed that: Satisfaction of life may influence in another such as satisfaction with one’s job may influence satisfaction in other life domains: family, social, health, finance…

Not only based on the present theory, the authors in this study has adjusted and identified the seven major needs as well as created a new measure for quality of working life The concept of quality of working life includes the seven major needs: Satisfaction of health and safety needs, satisfaction of economic and family needs, satisfaction of social needs, satisfaction of esteem needs, satisfaction of actualization needs, satisfaction of knowledge needs, satisfaction of aesthetics needs To more understanding about seven major needs, the definition of each kind

of need is presented below:

• Satisfaction of health and safety needs: The employees perceived that they are protected from ill healthy and injury at work as well as

outside of work In the other words, they need the safety at work and the job-related health benefits In addition, they also need to have the enhancement of good health for example the encouragement at work

of preventative measures of health care

• Satisfaction of economic and family needs which involves there need dimensions: pay; job security (feeling secure when knowing that one

is not likely to get laid off); other family needs – which means that the employees also have enough time from work to attend to family needs)

• Satisfaction of social needs which content two main dimensions: The employees have positive social interaction at work (Collegiality at work) Second, the employees also have enough time from work to relax and experience leisure

• Satisfaction of esteem needs which involves the recognition and appreciation of one’s work within the organization as well as the outside of the organization such as the employees receive the recognition an awards for doing a good job at work or the employees receive the recognition an awards by local community/ professional associations for well done in the organization or on behalf of their organization

• Satisfaction of actualization needs is the realization of one’s potential within the organization as well as the realization of one’s potential as a professional

• Satisfaction of knowledge needs which involves the two dimensions: The motivation for learning to enhance job skills and enhance professional skills

• Satisfaction of aesthetics needs which involves two dimensions: The creativity at work and the personal creativity and general aesthetics Nguyen and Nguyen (2010) used the concept “Survival needs” to present both the satisfaction of health and safety needs as well as satisfaction of economic

and family needs The satisfaction of social needs and satisfaction of esteem are presented by the concept “Belonging needs” The satisfaction of actualization needs, satisfaction of knowledge needs and satisfaction of aesthetics needs are presented by the concept “Knowledge needs”

The quality of working life (the satisfaction of the employees) has implied to have the positive impact on the job performance However, the satisfaction of the employee depends on the level of job that supports to their human needs Therefore, the next 3 hypotheses are presents to explore level of impact of the quality of working life to job performance

H5: Survival needs is positively related to job performance

H6: Belonging needs is positively related to job performance

H7: Knowledge needs is positively related to job performance

2.3 JOB PERFORMANCE

Job performance is a key factor lead to the performance of any organizations including banks Employee performance is according to their level of motivation, which stimulates them to come to work regularly, work diligently, flexibly Besides, the level of motivation also helps employees be willing to carry out the necessary tasks When the employees are not satisfied with their jobs, they will perform at their low contributions So, it is required to increase the job performance of human resources in the banking industry As a result, it is necessary to investigate factors that impact on job performance

Job performance is the construct that occurs widely in many studies related

to work relationship, human resources: Katz &Kahn(1978); Borman and Motowidlo (1993; Motowidlo, Borman, and Schmit (1997); Newman, Kinney, & Farr (2004); Viswesvaran, Schmidt, and Ones (2005).Campbell, McCloy, Oppler, and Sager

(1993) explain that performance is not the consequence of behaviors, but rather the behaviors themselves In other words, performance consists of the behaviors that employees actually engage in which can be observed So that, one further element

of performance is that the behaviors must be relevant to the goals of the organization (Campbell et al., 1993)

Job performance refers to activities that are related to the employee’s formal role requirement, that lead to the effort on performance to finish their job In many studies, the job performance includes two dimensions: Firstly, it is the effort made

by the employee within the organization in order to achieve a particular goal Secondly, the actual results that organization desire to obtain

2.4 THE CONCEPTUAL MODEL AND HYPOTHESES OF THE RESEARCH

As previously mentioned above, the author summarized the conceptual model and the hypotheses for this research

Figure 2.1 Conceptual Model

There are seven hypotheses of this research:

H1: Self- efficacy is positively related to job performance

H2: Optimism is positively related to job performance

H3: Hope is positively related to job performance

H4: Resilience is positively related to job performance

H5: Survival needs is positively related to job performance

H6: Belonging needs is positively related to job performance

H7: Knowledge needs is positively related to job performance

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the author reported the methodology that the author used to

do the research

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

The unit of observation

The objective of the study is to investigate factors that impact on the job performance in Vietnamese Banking Industry so that the bank’s employee is the unit of observation The employee may work at different departments for different kinds of banks in Ho Chi Minh City such as: state – owned bank, joint Stock Commercial Bank, joint – venture bank, wholly foreign –owned bank, foreign bank’s branch

Measures of the constructs

The scale of the study was established based on the theory and was used the scale that many researchers have used before in their studies Mostly of the scale was borrowed from the scale of Nguyen & Nguyen (2012) These two authors have modified the scale which borrowed from other author to use for their research

• Self- efficacy was measured by 4 items borrowed from scale of Parker (1998):

I feel confident of analyzing a long-term problem to find a solution

I feel confident of presenting my work area in meetings with senior management

I feel confident of contacting people outside the company

I feel confident of presenting information to a group of colleagues

• Hope was measured by 3 items borrowed from Snyder, Rand, and Sigmon (2002)

At the present time, I am energetically pursuing my goals There are a lot of ways around any problem that I am facing

I can think many ways to reach my current goals

• Optimism was measured by 3 items borrowed from Carver and Scheier (2002):

In uncertain times, I usually expect the best

I always expect things go to my way Overall, I expect more good things to happen to me than bad

• Resiliency was measured by 3 items borrowed from Block and Kremen (1996):

I quickly get over and recover from being startled

I am generous with my colleagues

I get over my anger at someone reasonable quickly

• Scale of Survival needs, belonging needs and knowledge need was measured by 9 items borrow from Sirgy et al 2001

Survival needs

My job provides good health benefits

I am satisfied with what I’m getting paid for my work

My job does well for my family

Belonging needs

I have good friends at work

I have enough time away from work to enjoy other things in life

I feel appreciated at work

Knowledge needs

I feel that my job allows me to realize my full potential

My job allows me to sharpen my professional skills

My job helps me develop my creativity

• Job performance base on self – evaluation of the employees uses 4 scales borrowed from Rego and Cunhan 2008

I believe I am an effective employee

I am happy with the quality of my work output

My manager believes I am an efficient worker

My colleagues believe I am a very productive employee The author used Likert scale: from (1) strongly disagree to (7) strongly agree

to explore the opinion of the respondents Below, the author provided the processes were done to make the research

Figure 3.1 Research processes

Finally, the qualitative research gave the meaningful result that all scales were clearly understood by the respondents The respondents agreed that seven factors in the research concerning with their job performance in banking career

3.1.2 Quantitative research

Based on the preliminary research, the author adjusted the questionnaire again to help the respondents understand questions easily When the author believed that the questionnaire was designed perfectly, the official research was conducted in widely aspects.The processes of the quantitative research were taken as following:

- Step 1: The author established the questionnaire for the research: Questionnaire was designed in English, after that the authortranslated it into Vietnamese for researching purposes After that, the result was translated back to English (See Appendix C & D)

- Step 2: The author identifed the sample size of the research:

• Sample size: According to many researchers, the size of the sample depends

on the method of estimate the sample However, most of researchers agree

that reasonable size of sample is five samples for each scale: “The size of

sample is at least five samples for each scale” (Bollen 1989)

The model in this study consist seven factors with twenty – six scales so that the necessary sample size should be: 26*5=130 observations

For exploratory Factor Analysis, it is suitable when its sample size is larger than 100 and the sample is at least five times for each scale (Hair, et, 2006) Thus, the minimum sample size required by EFA in this research is: n=5*26= 130 observations

For standard multiple regression analysis, the required sample is recommended by Tabachnick and Fidell (1991) should be: n > 50 + 8m (where m= number of number of independent variables)

There are 7 independent variables in this research Hence the minimum sample required to run multiple regression in this study is: n > 50 + 8 * 7= 106 observations

The author used the sample size at 300 observation was appropriate for EFA and multiple regression analysis

Collecting sample methodology: The author chose the convenient sampling for this study

- Step 3: The author issued the questionnaire to the interviewees

The author issued 300 questionnaires to the employees who were working for different banks in Ho Chi Minh City at the time the research was conducted The process of conduct data was supported by the human resources departments of the banks

Table 3.1 The result of delivery questionnaires

Number

of issuing

Number of collecting

Percent (%)

State - owned Bank

JSC Bank for Investment &

Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank 40 39 98%

Viet Nam Export - Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank 40 39 98%

Techcom Bank 40 39 98%

Joint - Venture Banks Vina Siam Bank 30 24 80%

Wholly Foreign – owned

- Step 4: The author received the answered questionnaire from the interviewee

The author received back 276 questionnaires with the percentages of

response were 92% (276/300) After checking, there were 76 questionnaires having

the errors and were removed from the list of response As a result, the data of the

study was a sample with 209 observations It is suitable with the minimum sample

size: 130 observations

-Step 5: Data analyzing (Given specific processes in Data Analysis Method)

Data code: Data was conducted and analyzed by the SPSS with the scale as given

below:

 Self-efficacy

R1 I feel confident of analyzing a long-term problem to find a solution

R2 I feel confident of presenting my work area in meetings with senior management

R3 I feel confident of contacting people outside the company

R4 I feel confident of presenting information to a group of colleagues

 Optimism

R5 In uncertain times, I usually expect the best

R6 I always expect things go to my way

R7 Overall, I expect more good things to happen to me than bad

 Hope

R8 At the present time, I am energetically pursuing my goals

R9 There are a lot of ways around any problem that I am facing

R10 I can think many ways to reach my current goals

 Resilience

R11 I quickly get over and recover from being startled

R12 I am generous with my colleagues

R13 I get over my anger at someone reasonable quickly

 Survival needs

R14 My job provides good health benefits

R15 I am satisfied with what I’m getting paid for my work

R16 My job does well for my family

 Belonging needs

R17 I have good friends at work

R18 I have enough time away from work to enjoy other things in life

R19 I feel appreciated at work

 Knowledge needs

R20 I feel that my job allows me to realize my full potential

R21 My job allows me to sharpen my professional skills

R22 My job helps me develop my creativity

 Job performance

R23 I believe I am an effective employee

R24 I am happy with the quality of my work output

R25 My manager believes I am an efficient worker

R26 My colleagues believe I am a very productive employee

3.2 DATA ANALYSIS METHOD

Data was analyzed by the SPSS 11.5 as well as by Microsoft Excel Some main tools of SPSS 11.5 and Microsoft Excel such as: Discriptive Statistics, Graphs were used for sample description After that, using the tool to test the scale reliability (Cronbach’s Anpha), Factor Analysis, using Linear Regression to test the relationship between independents variables and dependent variable Descriptive

analysis: In order to identify the characteristic of the sample of the study

• Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to identify factors that affect to the job

performance of employees in banking industry

• Multiple regression was used to identify the degree of the impact of each

factor to the job performance

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DATA RESULTS

In this chapter, the result of the study was reported Firstly, the author summarizes the descriptive of the sample of study For the next step, the reliability and the validity of the scales were accessed by Cronbach’s alpha reliability and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) After validating the measures, the model was test

by the multiple regression analysis

4.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH SAMPLE

The sample included 209 respondents in with 110 male (52,63%) and 99 female (47,37%) There were employees working in different position at banks, given detail the characteristic of the sample as following Most respondents were credit officers which account for 54,5 % of the total The second kind of respondents were tellers with approximately about 22,5% The rest are back officer and others.More than a half of the employees who took part in this study are in young sector The employees who are under 25 years old account for 15,8 % of the total sample The most of respondents are in the range from 25 to 30 years old, account for the highest percentage, 52,5% in comparing with the total sample

This study gives an interesting result about the number of years of the respondents With the number of years at the bank in the range from 2 to 10 years Most of respondents have experiences about banking industry Consequently, we can believe on their answers and their expression about their job, their level of factors affect to their job

Net income can be definded in this study like this: Net income is the actual amount of money that the employees received each month in average.As discussed previously, banking industry has the fast growth during the last ten years At important period, the bank attracted lots of employees The average net income of employees in banking industry is higher than many other industry, only after some

specific industry such as: Industry that concerns to oil, gas of petro viet nam Based

on the collected data, the net income in the range of 6 to 20 millions VND accounted for 66,1% of the sample The higher net income respondents (>20 millions VND) included 20,6% of the total The last portion with the lowest percentages was the respondents with the net income under 6 millions VND

Table 4.1 Sample Characteristics

Description

Frequency Percent (%)

Valid Percent (%)

Cumulative Percent (%)

4.2 THE RELIABILITY TEST: THE CRONBACH’S ALPHA TEST

The study used and applied the scales of the research “ Psychological Capital, Quality of Working Life and Quality of Life of Marketers: Evidence from Viet Nam” (Nguyen and Nguyen, 2010) However, the author adjusted the scales to make them suitable with the banking industry

It is required to test the Cronbach’s Alpha of scales for each construct The Cronbach Alpha helps remove unstandarded scale or unsuitable scales Normally, if the correlation of each specific item with total of the other items in the scale (Corrected Item-Total Correlation) is moderately high or higher above 0.3 ( Burnstein & Nunnally, 1994), the item is probably at least moderately correlated with most of the other item and will make a good component of this summated rating rate Conversely, if the item –total correlation is negative or too low (less than 0.3), it is required to examine the item for wording problems and conceptual fit

The result of Cronbach ‘s Alpha test for each construct were summarized in tables below

• Self -efficacy:

The self – efficacy is composed of four items that were rated on 7 Likert scale, from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7) We tested whether these items go together (interrelate) well enough to add them for the use as a composite labeled “Self –efficacy”

The Alpha for four items was 0.86, which indicates that the items form a scale that has high and reasonable internal consistency reliability The corrected item- otal correlation of each item is above 0.3, which are suitable for make a scale

of self –efficacy Even the item R4 “I feel confident of presenting information to a group of colleagues” has the corrected item-total correlation lower than other item (only 0.58) but it is still fit the requirement

• Optimism

The optimism is composed of only three items We tested whether these items go together (interrelate) well enough to add them for the use as a composite labeled “Optimism”.The Alpha for three items was 0.75 This number indicates that three items are it good and acceptable to make a composite of “Optimism” However, this number is lower than the Alpha of self –efficacy The corrected item – Total correlation of three items were higher than 0.3, but the item R5 “In uncertain times, I usually expect the best” only 0.46 It is acceptable, but in comparing with other items is quite low When deleting this item, the Cronbach's Alpha increased from 0.76 to 0.80 However, after considering the total Alpha of the scale was reasonable, the author kept this item for measuring “Optimism”

• Hope

The hope is composed of only three items It was tested whether these items

go together (interrelate) well enough to add them for the use as a composite labeled

“Hope” Fortunately, the hope scale remained with high Alpha It means that three items can be used to measure for construct “Hope”.The total Alpha was 0.78, and all the items had the corrected item- total correlation above 0.3 It is acceptable

• Resilience

The same to hope scale, resilience is composed of three items It was tested whether these items go together (interrelate) well enough to add them for the use as

a composite labeled “Resilience” Resilience scale remained with high Alpha It means that three items can be used to measure for construct “Resilience” The Alpha was 0.72 It means that the scale for this construct is acceptable

• Survival needs

Survival needs is the construct that use three items to express its meaning It was tested whether these items go together (interrelate) well enough to add them for the use as a composite labeled “Survival needs” The score of Alpha of this factor was very high Alpha was: 0.81, so it is totally acceptable

• Belonging needs

Belonging needs is also composed of three items The same with the survival needs, the score of alpha of this factor is high Alpha was: 0.85 The reliability of the scale for this factor is very reliable

• Knowledge needs

Knowledge needs is also composed of three items The same with the survival needs scale, the score of alpha of this factor is high Alpha was: 0.84 It is totally acceptable for using the scale for this factor

• Job performance

Job performance consisted four items The Alpha of scale of job performance was: 0.7788 Hence, we can rely on the result of job performance when using these scales for measuring the job performance

Table 4.2 Reliability Test Results

Description

Scale Mean

if Item Deleted

Scale Variance

if Item Deleted

Corrected Total Correlation