The effect of transpormational leadership factors on organizational commitment, job satisfaction and trust in vietnamese state owned organizations

Table 4.2 Reliability test result Table 4.3 KMO and Bartlett's Test Table 4.4 Rotated Component Matrix Table 4.5 Total Variance Explained Table 4.6 Correlations matrix of Job Satisfactio

International School of Business

-

Pham Trong Kha

THE EFFECT OF TRANSFORMATIONAL

LEADERSHIP FACTORS ON ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, JOB SATISFACTION AND TRUST IN VIETNAMESE

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

International School of Business

-

Pham Trong Kha

THE EFFECT OF TRANSFORMATIONAL

LEADERSHIP FACTORS ON ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, JOB SATISFACTION AND TRUST IN VIETNAMESE

STATE-OWNED ORGANIZATIONS

ID: 22120051

MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours)

SUPERVISOR: Dr Pham Quoc Hung

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Research background 1

1.2 Research objectives 3

1.3 Significance of research 3

1.4 Research methodology and research scope 4

1.5 Research structure 5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Transformational leadership 6

2.2 Relationship between transformational leadership factors and job satisfaction …8 2.3 Relationship between transformational leadership factors and trust 11

2.4 Relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment………12

2.5 Relationship between idealized influence, empowerment and organizational Commitment 14

2.6 The conceptual model and hypotheses of the research 17

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19

3.1 Sample 20

3.2 Data collection and procedure 21

3.3 Questionnaire design 22

3.4 Data analysis method 25

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS 27

4.1 Respondents’ demographics 27

4.3 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) 30

4.4 Regression Analysis 34

4.4.1 Multiple Regression Analysis to define the effect of idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration on job satisfaction .………34

4.4.2 Multiple Regression Analysis to define the effect of inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration on Trust 40

4.4.3 Multiple Regression Analysis to define the effect of inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration on Commitment………… 43

4.4.4 Simple Regression Analysis to define the effect of idealized influence on empowerment ………… 46

4.4.5 Simple Regression Analysis to define the effect of empowerment on commitment……… 47

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND LIMITATIONS 51

5.1 Conclusion and discussion 51

5.2 Implications 52

5.3 Limitations and future research direction 53

REFERENCES 55

APPENDICES 65 Appendix A: Guidelines for In-depth Interview

Appendix B: Questionnaire (English Version)

Appendix C: Questionnaire (Vietnamese Version)

Appendix D: Histogram, Normal Regression & Scatter plot of Dependent

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: A theoretical model

Figure 3.1: Research Process

Figure D-JS1: Histogram of Job Satisfaction

Figure D-JS2: Normal Plot of Job Satisfaction

Figure D-JS3: Scatter Plot of Job Satisfaction

Figure D-TR1: Histogram of Trust

Figure D-TR2: Normal Plot of Trust

Figure D-TR3: Scatter Plot of Trust

Figure D-CO1: Histogram of Organizational Commitment Figure D-CO2: Normal Plot of Organizational Commitment Figure D-CO3: Scatter Plot of Organizational Commitment Figure D-EM1: Histogram of Empowerment

Figure D-EM2: Normal Plot of Empowerment

Figure D-EM2: Scatter Plot of Empowerment

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Source of measurement scale

Table 4.1: Sample Demographics

Table 4.2 Reliability test result

Table 4.3 KMO and Bartlett's Test

Table 4.4 Rotated Component Matrix

Table 4.5 Total Variance Explained

Table 4.6 Correlations matrix of Job Satisfaction, Idealized influence, Inspirational motivation, Intellectual stimulation and Individual consideration

Table 4.7 Model Summary of multiple regression analysis

Table 4.8 ANOVA of multiple regression analysis

Table 4.9 Coefficients of multiple regression analysis

Table 4.10 Correlations matrix of Trust, Inspirational motivation, Intellectual stimulation and Individual consideration

Table 4.11 Model Summary of multiple regression analysis

Table 4.12 ANOVA of multiple regression analysis

Table 4.13 Coefficients of multiple regression analysis

Table 4.14 Correlations matrix of Commitment, Inspirational motivation, Intellectual

stimulation and Individual consideration

Table 4.15 Model Summary of multiple regression analysis

Table 4.17 Coefficients of multiple regression analysis Table 4.18 Model Summary of simple regression analysis Table 4.19 ANOVA of simple regression analysis

Table 4.20 Coefficients of simple regression analysis Table 4.21 Model Summary of simple regression analysis Table 4.22 ANOVA of simple regression analysis

Table 4.23 Coefficients of simple regression analysis Table 4.24 Summary of hypotheses testing result

ABSTRACT

According to many previous studies, the effective leaders are one of the most important factors creating influences on the performance in the Vietnamese state-owned organizations; The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between transformational leadership factors and job satsifactions, trust and organizational commitment in Vietnamese state-owned organizations There are 208 qualified respondents including 123 men (occupied 59 percent) and 85 women (occupied 41 percent), aged from 22 to over 40 years old All of respondents have over 2-year working experiences and there are about 23% of respondents who are keeping at least Deputy Manager positions

The findings of the study indicated that transformational leadership factors including indealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration have significant and positive correlations with job satisfaction, trust and organizational commitment

The research results have contributed to the literature and provided more evidences for the managers in their decisions of their workforce However, the sample for the research is still limited due to the application of convenient sampling method and surveyed only in Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau city

Keywords: transformational leadership, indealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and Individualized consideration, job satisfaction, trust and organizational commitment

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Research background

The effective leadership is considered one of the most concerning challenges

in the organizations and becomes a common topic for many discussions in recent years Effective leaders could be understood as the ones who have the ability to create influence and know how to involve others, enabling them to act within the correct vision, mission and goals so that the organization heads in the right direction and uses the correct methods to get there (Einstein & Humphreys, 2001)

In the private sector, the leadership style has been changed and updated to be more effective in operations but the Vietnamese state-owned organizations are still led in the old leadership style, which could be a big concern for Vietnam’s development in the future According to Gates (2000), in the Vietnamese state-owned organizations, the environment is evaluated to be lacked most of the elements essential to a market-oriented economy In general, it’s evaluated as an environment still lacks of the activeness and changes to improve the organization performance in the fast development of the Vietnam market during two recent decades

The full range of leadership theory developed by Avolio and Bass (1994) forms a continuum, which describes the laissez-faire style of leadership at one end, then toward the middle of the continuum appears the transactional style of leadership, and finally moving to the opposite side of the continuum, the transformational style of leadership resides The laissez-fare style of leadership

describes a hands-off approach to leadership Transactional leadership deals with an exchange or transaction between the leader and follower, usually the leader outlines responsibilities and attaches rewards to the follower's compliance and fulfillment of obligations In the meantime, the transformational style is different from transactional style because the leader engages the follower by looking for creative solutions to problems and treats each follower as an individual who deserves mentoring and coaching (Bass, 1997)

In respect of considering which style is best suited to motivate followers to achieve a higher level of performance, increase their job satisfaction and increase their commitment to the organization? Homrig (2002) stated that transformational model of leadership is best suited for today's and tomorrow's strategic environment" Waldman et al (1990) stated that when a transformational leader finds him or herself in a non win-win situation, he or she will try to convert this situation to a win-win problem-solving situation Thus, transformational leadership

is one of critical solutions for the effective organizations

There are many previous researches which have studied the positive relationship between transformational leadership behaviors and job satisfaction, trust and organizational commitment in the workplace However, the number of studies conducted in Vietnam and specifically in Vietnamese state-owned organizations about this topic is very limited Therefore, this research will focus on investigating the link between transformational leadership factors and some workplace determinants including job satisfaction, trust and organizational commitment in the Vietnamese state-owned organizations

In summary, the final goal of this research is to examine the relationships among transformational leadership, organizational commitment, job satisfaction and trust, which could eventually help managers, leaders and workers in the Vietnamese state-owned organizations understand this relationship and convert this into higher performance for the organization

1.2 Research objectives

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between transformational leadership factors, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and trust in the Vietnamese state-owned organizations Particularly, the research will investigate:

- The relationship between factors of transformational leadership on job satisfaction

- The relationship between factors of transformational leadership on trust

- The relationship between factors of transformational leadership on organizational commitment

- The mediating role of the empowerment to the relationship between the idealized influence and the organizational commitment

1.3 Significance of the research

This study contributes to leadership theory and practice in its examination of influences of transformational leadership factors on the employee’s attitudes job satisfaction, organizational commitment and the trust in the Vietnamese state-owned

organizations The research also enhances the amount of information available to leaders and allows leaders to respond to their followers' needs

1.4 Research methodology and research scope:

This study uses questionnaire to collect data The survey questionnaire is originally developed in English and then translated into Vietnamese In-depth interviews are then conducted with 10 people in order to modify the Vietnamese version of the questionnaire before the survey is implemented in mass The next step

is analyzing the collected data The data of this research is processed using SPSS software with three main stages First, Cronbach’s Alpha is used to test the reliability

of the measurement scale Then, the validity of the measurement scale will be checked

by Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) Finally, simple regression and multiple regression are employed as the main method for investigating the relationships among factors in the research model

Respondents, who have been chosen to conduct the survey for this study, are working for the state-owned organizations in Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau City

1.5 Research structure

This study is organized into five chapters It starts with the introduction chapter which presents an outline of this research This chapter includes background of the research, motivation for doing research, and research objectives Besides, this chapter also has a brief definition of key terms as well as scope of the research and methodology of data analysis is also mentioned Chapter two reviews and synthesizes

the theories in the literature of 8 concepts, including 4 factors of transformational leadership (idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation), empowerment, commitment, trust and job satisfaction This chapter also describes research model and proposed hypotheses Chapter three introduces research methodology used to empirically test the research model Chapter four presents the results of data analysis The final chapter discusses summarily the study’s core findings, suggests some recommendations for business strategy of international luxury companies based on findings and finally points out some limitations of the research

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter mainly introduces the theories, which are proposed by many scholars in academic field, relate to each of factors in the model, research model of the study, and propose the hypotheses for the research

2.1 Transformational Leadership

The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) developed by Avolio and Bass (1995) provides an instrument to measure degrees of the existence oflaissez-faire, transactional and transformational styles of leadership as perceived by followers Transformational leadership has four important features: Idealized influence, Inspirational Motivation, individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation (Avolio et al., 1999; Bass & Avolio, 1993, 1994; Ismail et al., 2010; Pillai

Transformational leadership is the ability to influence and motivate others so that followers want to achieve organizational success Transformational leaders

express a general interest in their followers and there is a mutual trust between the leader and followers Since the inception of the theoretical constructs that comprise transformational leadership, research has demonstrated the relationship

of transformational leadership to job satisfaction, effectiveness and organizational commitment (Bass, 2000)

Idealized influence

Charisma or idealized influence describes leaders who act as strong models for followers, and whom followers seek to emulate These leaders have very high standards of conduct, moral principles and ethical values (Aronson, 2001) They also provide their followers with a clear vision and a mission for their organizations and, in turn, earn a high degree of respect and trust by their followers (Bass & Avolio, 1994; Bass, 1999; Bass & Steidlmeier, 1999; Nahavandi, 2006)

role-Inspirational Motivation

For the purpose of this study, inspirational motivation refers to the leader's ability to motivate and inspire followers by supplying and offering challenges and meaningful work The leader creates an atmosphere of team cohesiveness and models a sense of optimism Bass and Avolio (1994) observed that transformational leaders inspire followers by clearly communicating expectations, motivating followers to want to meet these expectations, and by demonstrating commitment to the organizational goals and sharing a clear vision of the organization's future potential

Individualized Consideration

For the purpose of this study, individualized consideration refers to the leader's ability to act as a mentor to organizational members by paying attention to each individual's needs, achievement, motivations and growth Such leaders enable their followers to develop their potential to higher levels than the followers anticipated by delegating tasks, monitoring progress, checking to see if additional support is needed and listening effectively Bass and Avolio (1994) stated that a two-way exchange in communication is encouraged and management by walking around work spaces is practiced

Intellectual Stimulation

For the purpose of this study, intellectual stimulation refers to the leader's ability to motivate and stimulate followers to be creative and innovative, and to constantly challenge the current state of the organization Transformational leaders

do not publicly criticize their followers and encourage them to have a different view from the leader Bass & Avolio (1994) stated that new ideas and creative problem solutions are solicited from followers, who are included in the process of addressing problems and finding solutions Followers are encouraged to contribute to solving problems, not creating problems

2.2 Relationship between transformational leadership factors and job satisfaction

For the purpose of this study, job satisfaction is the attitude that individuals have about their job within their work environment The attitude is based on the perceptions of their surrounding work environment, which includes the leadership,

opportunities for growth, policies and procedures, working conditions, co-worker and supervisor relationships and fringe benefits (Gibson et aI., 2003)

Job satisfaction as defined by Herzberg'S two-factor theory (1966) states that there are content (internal) and context (external) factors that measure an employee's degree of job satisfaction The content factors include the intrinsic feelings of accomplishment and achievement, meaningful work, recognition and increased responsibility The absence of these factors may not prove to be dissatisfying, but the presence of them may build strong levels of motivation and job performance The context factors include those factors such as pay, status, fringe benefits, policies, procedures and interpersonal relations The presence of these factors may not necessarily motivate the individual, but the absence of them will result in dissatisfaction (Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly, & Konopaske, 2003)

Chen (2005) describes job satisfaction as an emotional state resulting from the evaluation of one's job that can be negative, neutral or positive Roznowski and Hulin (1993) suggests that an employee who maintains a negative or low level of job satisfaction engages in four types of behavior The employee may choose to use work time to pursue personal tasks or steal The employee may exhibit behaviors that show a withdrawal from the job psychologically such as disengaging or not attending functions or meetings The employee may choose to be absent frequently, leave the job or opt for early retirement Finally, the fourth suggested behavior associated with a negative level of job satisfaction deals with the employee making attempts to change the current situation, look for a different type of job, or accept a

demotion or transfer All of these behaviors translate into higher costs for the organization and lower productivity by the unsatisfied member

Another study conducted by Chen (2005) examined the relationship between transformational leadership, transactional leadership, organizational commitment and job satisfaction The study's participants were selected from the IT department

of the Department of Research and Development from an Industrial Park in Shanghai, China The sample consisted of 150 full-time employees The results of the study revealed that a positive relationship between factors of transformational leadership and job satisfaction This study suggests that the factors of transformational leadership creates an environment that increases job satisfaction within the organization

Furthermore, in a study of 687 participants selected from 21 secondary schools from Taiwan, Lee (2005) studied the relationship among the teacher's perceptions regarding their principal's degree of transformational leadership, their organizational commitment and their job satisfaction The study revealed that there was a positive relationship between job satisfaction and all factors of transformational leadership The strongest correlations with job satisfaction were teachers who perceived their principals possessing the transformational leadership qualities of fostering the acceptance of group goals, providing individualized support and articulating a vision Thus, the researcher would like to propose a hypothesis below:

H1 “There is a positive relationship between four factors of transformational leadership (idealized Influence, inspirational motivation,

intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration) and job satisfaction in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H1-a “There is a positive relationship between idealized influence and job satisfaction in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H1-b “There is a positive relationship between inspirational motivation and job satisfaction in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H1-c “There is a positive relationship between intellectual stimulation and job satisfaction in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H1-d “There is a positive relationship between individualized consideration and job satisfaction in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

2.3 Relationship between transformational leadership factors and Trust

Recent researchers defined trust as “the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party” (Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman, 1945, p 712)

There are three types of trust - personality-based trust, institutional-based trust, and cognitive trust (Powell, et al., 2004) Cognitive trust can be divided into three categories to process and develop the trusting beliefs - unit grouping, reputation categorization, and stereotyping (McKnight, Cummings, & Chervany, 1998)

Transformational leadership is positively associated with trust and job satisfaction (Podsakoff, Mackenzie, Moorman, & Fetter, 1990) In addition to Podsakoff, et al.’s work (1990), Jung and Sosik (2002) conducted a field study of

47 groups from four Korean corporations in order to exam the relationship between transformational leadership, empowerment, group cohesiveness, collective-efficiency, and perceived group effectiveness

Another study from a quasi-experimented study of 35 post-graduate students found leadership, trust, and level of media richness were positively related to team performance and team satisfaction (Cogbum, Zhang, & Khothule, 2002)

Thus, the researcher would like to propose a hypothesis below:

H2 “There is a positive relationship between three factors of transformational leadership (Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation, Individualized Consideration) and trust in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H2-a “There is a positive relationship between inspirational motivation and trust in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H2-b “There is a positive relationship between intellectual stimulation and trust in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H2-c “There is a positive relationship between individualized consideration and trust in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

2.4 Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Organizational Commitment

For the purpose of this study, organizational commitment refers to a belief

in and acceptance of the goals and values of the employing organization, and a willingness to exert effort on behalf of the organization and to maintain organizational membership (Mowday, et al., 1982) It refers to congruence between

the goals of the individual and the organization whereby the individual identifies with and extends effort on behalf of the general goals of the organization (Camp, 1994)

Organizational commitment is characterized by a strong belief in and acceptance of the organization's goals and values, a strong desire to maintain membership in the organization and a willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization (Mowday, Porter & Steers, 1982)

Gentry (2005) conducted a quantitative study at a government agency with

208 participants He examined the relationship among the transformational leadership behaviors and organizational commitment during a time of downsizing

at the agency The study revealed a positive relationship between the transformational leader behaviors and organizational commitment

A quantitative study conducted by Yung Yu Lee (2005) examined transformational leadership behaviors and their relationship to organizational commitment and job satisfaction among employees in 16 public high schools and five private high schools in Taiwan The study revealed a positive relationship between transformational leadership style and organizational commitment The strongest relationship among the transformational leader behavior and organizational commitment was associated with the leader behavior of fostering the acceptance of group goals

Several previous studies applying a direct effect approach to examine the effect of transformational leadership on organizational commitment used different samples, such as 228 employees in three different US organizations (Simon, 1994),

and 1,376 nurses in some US health organizations (Bycio et al., 1995), sales people group in certain US organizations (Dubinsky et al., 1995) These studies found that the ability of leaders to properly use transformational behaviors had been a major determinant of organizational commitment Thus, we can hypothesize that:

H3 “There is a positive relationship between three factors of transformational leadership (Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation, Individualized Consideration) and job satisfaction in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H3-a There is a positive relationship between Inspirational Motivation and Organizational Commitment in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H3-b There is a positive relationship between Intellectual Stimulation and Organizational Commitment in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H3-c There is a positive relationship between Individualized Consideration Organizational Commitment in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

2.5 Empowerment plays a mediating role in the relationship between idealized

influence and organizational Commitment

In a transformational leadership model, empowerment is viewed as a proactive and strategic management practice that exists in an organization that promotes high commitment HR practices (Menon, 2001; Spreitzer, 1995) For example, the ability of leaders to delegate the power and responsibility of controlling, making and sharing decisions to their followers will encourage them using their intellectuals and fullest potentials to overcome job obstacles,

understanding the targeted goals and supporting the organizational interests As a result, it may lead to achieved organizational strategy and goals (Honold, 1997; Howell & Hall-Merenda, 1999; Lashley, 1999; Lee & Koh, 2001)

Empowerment has four dimensions: choice, meaningfulness, competence, and process (Kirkman & Rosen, 1997) Also, Gom and Kanungo (1980) revealed that the more meaningful an employee's job was, the more satisfied the employee was with his or her job Naturally, employees will find more meaning in their jobs when the scope of their activities is large (Griffin, 1991), which is often the case with empowered work teams (Wellins et al., 1991)

Jung and Sosik (2002) conducted a field study of 47 groups from four Korean corporations in order to exam the relationship between transformational leadership, empowerment, group cohesiveness, collective-efficiency, and perceived group effectiveness The result of PLS analysis indicated a positive moderately strong relationship between transformational leadership, empowerment, group cohesiveness, collective-efficiency, and perceived group effectiveness

Several recent studies using an indirect effect approach have revealed the mediating role of empowerment in organizational leadership literature For example, studies about transformational leadership practices that were conducted based on different samples and contexts, such as 520 staff nurses in a large public hospital in Singapore (Avolio et al., 2004), and bank employees in several US banking organizations (Kark et al., 2003) showed that the ability of leaders to properly practice transformational styles had increased their followers’

empowerment to efficiently and effectively manage job functions As a result, it could lead to higher organizational commitment in the organizations

Many previous studies applying a direct effect approach to investigate the effect of transformational leadership on empowerment used different samples, such

as 152 employees from various industries in Turkey (Ozaralli, 2002), and 197 undergraduate university students in Canada (Meyerson & Kline, 2008) These studies reported that the ability of leaders to properly implement transformational style (i.e., intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, individualized influenced attributed, and individualized influence behavior) had increased followers’ empowerments in performing organizational functions

Walton (1985) found that commitment in software professionals could lead

to empowering them with appropriate responsibilities and authority in order to enhance the quality of software products Empowerment also has a negative impact when the member’s goals and organizational goals are not aligned (Bass, 1998) As

a consequence a team member could have the opportunity to disrupt the whole organization However, the purpose of empowerment is to “increase productivity and efficiency, overcome resistances to change, and increase the sense of ownership and responsibility” (Bass, 1998, p 142)

Thus, it can be hypothesized that:

H4 Empowerment mediates the effect of idealized influence on organizational commitment in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H4-a There is a positive relationship between idealized influence and Empowerment in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H4-b There is a positive relationship between empowerment and organizational commitment in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

2.6 The conceptual model and hypotheses of the research

The conceptual framework is presented in Figure 2.1 and consisting of four hypotheses as below

Figure 2.1: A theoretical model

There are total 4 main hypotheses with developed for this research as below: H1 “There is a positive relationship between four factors of transformational leadership (idealized Influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration) and job satisfaction in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H2 “There is a positive relationship between three factors of transformational leadership (Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation, Individualized Consideration) and trust in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H3 “There is a positive relationship between three factors of transformational leadership (Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation, Individualized Consideration) and job satisfaction in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

H4 Empowerment mediates the effect of idealized influence on organizational commitment in Vietnamese state-owned organizations

Summary

This chapter presents theoretical background of each concept in the model Based on discussion of literature review, transformational leadership includes four factors which are idealized Influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, and the influence of these factors on job satisfaction, organizational commitment and trust are considered Such factors are selected to build the model because their relationship has already tested by many previous scholars through their studies Hence, there are four hypotheses proposed for this research The next chapter will discuss about methodology that used to analyze the data and test hypotheses of the research model

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents research methodology of this study It starts with the description about sampling and explains the method of data collection and research After that, we go through the measurement scales and how to develop questionnaire In-depth interview is done to revise the difficult terms in Vietnamese and related measurement scales Finally, this chapter explains the data analysis method for the study

Figure 3.1: Research Process

3.1 Sample

The survey was conducted in Ho Chi Minh city and Vung Tau city The sample was selected using a nonprobability sampling technique – convenience sample Target respondents of this survey were people who work in the Vietnamese state-owned organizations, especially people who have over the 2-year experiences

The size of the sample was big enough to ensure statistical significance Hair et

al (2009) stated that the minimum sample used for statistical analysis should be equal

to or greater than five times of number of variables, but not less than 100

n >= 100 and n >= 5k ( k: number of variables)

The model in this study consisted thirty – six variables so that the necessary sample size should be: 36*5=180 observations

For Exploratory Factor Analysis, a general rule for the minimum sample size is

to have at least five times as many observations as the number of variables to be analyzed and larger than 100 (Hair et al., 2009) Thus, the minimum sample size required by EFA in this research is: n=5*36= 180 observations

For standard multiple regression analysis, Nunnally & Burnstein (as cited in Nguyen, 2011) emphasized that the sample size must satisfy:

n > 50 + 8m ( m: number of independent variables)

There were four independent variables in this research Therefore, the minimum sample required to run multiple regression in this study should be: n > 50 + 8*4= 82 observations

In summary, with 36 variables and 4 independent variables, this research needed 180 observations at least for running EFA and regression

3.2 Data collection and procedure

Collecting data process of this study was conducted in Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau City The current study consisted mainly of two stages including qualitative and quantitative:

 Qualitative research

The survey questionnaire was originally designed in English and then translated into Vietnamese by the researcher with the support of some English experts In the qualitative phase, the Vietnamese version of the survey questionnaire was tested by in-depth interview method in two weeks with ten people who were colleagues of the researcher to ensure if they understood the questions and revised Vietnamese terms which were unclear during due to translation Based on the comments of respondents, the survey questionnaire was modified properly (see Appendix A)

 Quantitative research

After the modifications for the questionnaire, the survey was issued to all respondents who works in the Vietnamese state-owned organizations in Hochiminh city and Vung Tau city at the time the research was deployed by delivering mainly via the internet by Google docs By this way, the author sent directly the survey link to respondents’ email The respondents could answer the survey by clicking on the link and keying their answer and submitting the link to the researcher In total, the author collected 246 answers

The minimum sample size needed for data analysis was 180 for the survey After the data collection, total 246 responses were collected, but there only 208 responses were qualified for data analysis process 38 responses were deleted with 27 questionnaires were removed because respondents indicated that the respondents are from private sectors and the rest (11 questionnaires) was eliminated because they were invalid (respondents just chose one option for all questions or their answers were implausible) Finally, 208 questionnaires were used as valid data for this research In comparison with minimum sample size, this value was satisfactory

3.3 Questionnaire design

The questionnaire was divided into two sections The first section explored the the respondents’ opinion about thirty-six items to be surveyed All the variables in the model were measured with multiple items, which were developed by other researchers, to adequately capture the domain of the constructs Specifically, transformational factors (idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration) measured by twenty items of Bermard

M Bass amd Bruce J Avolio (1995); Empowerment was measured by four items of Thomas and Tymon (1993, 1994); four items that developed by Weiss et al., (1967) were used to measure the organizational commitment; the trust was measured by four items of Jarvenpaa et al., (2000); and finally job satisfaction was measured by four items of Meyer & Allen’s (1993)

All of the measurement scales used five-point Likert scale including “strongly disagree” ( = 1), “disagree” ( = 2), “neutral” ( = 3), “agree” ( = 4), and “strongly agree” ( =5) to explore the opinion of the respondents

The second section included demographics information such as gender, age, job position, working experiences of respondents Such information was used to classify and compare groups of respondents The questionnaires will be translated into Vietnamese language After that the researcher will send the translated version to 10 people for in-depth interview and collect the objective feedback and input After all, questionnaires will be revised and supplimented based on the collected inputs Table 3.1 summarized the reference sources of measurement scale used for all items:

Table 3.1 Source of measurement scale

1 Idealized Influence

Instills pride in me for being associated with him/her

Goes beyond self-interest for the good of the group

Behaves in ways that builds my respect

Display confidence in each other

Talks about their most important values and beliefs

Considers the moral and ethical consequences of decisions

Emphasizes the importance of having a collective sense of mission

Clarify the central purpose underlying our actions

MLQ (Bernard

M Bass and Bruce J Avolio,

1995)

2 Inspirational Motivation

Sets high standards

Talks optimistically about the future

Talks enthusiastically about what need to be accomplished

Expresses confidence that goals will be achieved

3 Intellectual Stimulation

Re-examines critical assumption to question whether they are

appropriate

Seeks differing perspectives when solving problems

Suggests new ways of looking at how to complete assignments

Encourage each other to rethink ideas which had never been

questioned before

4 Individualized Consideration

Spend time teaching and coaching

Treats me as an individual rather than just as a member of a group

Helps me to develop my strengths

Provide useful advice for each other’s development

5 Empowerment

The work I am doing is important

Thomas and

I feel I have a lot of latitude in what I am doing

I have a sense of freedom in what I am doing

I am determining what I do on my job

Tymon (1993, 1994)

I do not feel any obligation to remain with my current employers

I really feel as if this organization's problems are my own

MSQ (Weiss et al., 1967)

7 Trust

I feel quite confident that my leader will always try to treat me fairly

I feel a strong loyalty to my leader

I would support my leader in almost any emergency

I have a strong sense o f loyalty toward my leader

Jarvenpaa

et al (2000)

8 Job Satisfaction

The way my job provides for steady employment

The way my co-workers get along with each other

The working conditions

The chances for advancement on this job

OCQ (Meyer & Allen's, 1993)

Finally, the completed questionnaire in English version and Vietnamese version were presented in Appendices B and C

3.4 Data analysis method

After the data was collected, the statistical techniques were employed to analyze the information as the quantitative research So, the survey data was processed

by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS); the relevant data was coded and then transferred to SPSS for analysis

Firstly, the validity and reliability of the scale instrument were checked in the current study using Cronbach’s Alpha analysis and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) The items which were not satisfied the conditions of reliability and validity would be deleted before running regression

Then multiple regression analysis was also conducted to examine the correlation and measure the impact level of each independent variables to dependent variables In this part, the correlation coefficient R will indicate the strength of relationship between the variables and also provide how much of the variance in the dependent variables explain R Square is also provided to show the amount of variance in explaining the dependent variables, F statistic and the significance level help interpret the results

Summary

This chapter described the choice of sample size, measurement scale, and research method conducted to process the collected data The online questionnaire was developed for data collection; it was distributed directly and email to respondents This study was designed into two phases: the first was qualitative phase (in-depth interview), the second was quantitative phase The in-depth interview was conducted

to modify the measurement scale After the qualitative phase, the questionnaire was adjusted slightly before the official survey Main survey had sample size which included total 208 valid questionnaires that were used for data analysis with regression method The next chapter will present data analysis results

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

In chapter 4, results of study would be analyzed with sample n=208 by 2 steps

In the first step, the study used Cronbach’s Alpha and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to examine reliability and validity of the scale measurement Next step, the researcher went through Multiple regression and linear regression to test all hypotheses Finally, results of hypotheses testing discussed below

4.1 Respondents’ demographics

208 respondents collected by using online survey successfully include

123 men (accounted for 59 percent) and 85 women (occupied 41 percent), aged from 22 to over 40 years old with the majority from 26 to 30 years old (122 respondents with 59 percent) and followed by group of 30-40 years old (49 respondents, equal to 24%) In terms of positions, 77% of respondents are staffs, 13% is Deputy Manager and the rest (10%) is Manager and Director

Table 4.1: Sample Demographics

to re-consider the item in terms of wording problems and conceptual appropriateness (Leech et al., 2005) A modification or deletion for such items in this case was essential

The results of reliability test for each construct in the model were summarized

in the table below (Table 4.2)

Table 4.2 Reliability test result

Observed

Variable

Scale Mean if Item Deleted

Scale Variance if Item Deleted

Corrected Item- Total Correlation

Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted

Idealized Influence (II): Alpha = 0.921

of measurement scales

4.3 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was done to confirm the construct validity The main purpose of EFA was to investigate a large number of relationships among interval variables (Leech et al., 2005) Through EFA, the researcher could see how a large set of items group together under a cluster (Leech et al., 2005) EFA would be