Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence
BY
NININAHAZWE OSCAR
007-032
UNIVERSITY
MAY, 2018
Contents
INTRODUCTION
1.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter introduces our four variables. Between Variables, we have Independent variables
such as, Emotional Intelligence, Reward System and Employee Commitment and Dependent
Variable which is Organizational Performance. Our very first variable is Emotional Intelligence
to reward employees within organization in order to make them more committed. This chapter
frames the study as The Influence of Emotional intelligence, Reward System and Employee
A key function of Emotional Intelligence (EI) is to facilitate collective understanding and build
positive human relations in organizations, by equipping managers with the requisite skill set to
enhance staff performance and commitment (Jewell, 2007). EI is increasingly being used by
researchers and organizations to assess people behavior, attitudes, interpersonal skills and to
gauge the organizational commitment of managers and lower line staff. As an indicator, data on
Emotional Intelligence is now being employed manpower planning, job profiling as well as
irrespective of its successes and failures (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Often times this is gauged
through behaviors such as regular attendance at work - putting in a full day or long hours;
protecting company assets, voluntarily taking on new roles outside of one’s job description and
organization (Long & Perumal, 2014). Organizations generally view having committed
employees as an advantage. Law et al (2004) declared that leaders with higher EI typically
Rayton (2006) suggested that there is a strong possibility that another variable influenced job
satisfaction and organization commitment. It is posited in current research that the missing
variable is EI. Thus this research will contribute to this body of knowledge if a relationship does
Today organizations are in a constant need to improve and startle their job performance with the
only end to achieve high market competition. The rapid developments and changes that occur in
society caused by the development of technology and methods of teaching and learning, result in
innovation in the workplace toward emotional structures generated from the people in the
companies or organizations with the sole aim to achieve an increase in productivity of workers,
as mentioned Danvila and Sastre (2010). Emotions of workers can influence the performance of
their work. From this perspective, there is an interest in developing the skills, qualities, skills,
attitudes, etc., of each of the members of the company taken into consideration aspects such as
creativity, logic, flexibility, understanding, and others where the importance of emotional
intelligence is recognized. The effect of emotional intelligence is not limited to the higher yield
obtained, but apparently perceived that its influence extends to the satisfaction of the people in
their work, and extensively, to a better orientation to change and strengthening commitment with
Organizations in developing their practice try to meet the objectives set and the performance of
their human capital, not to respond to business skills. Goleman (1999) states that more and more
companies for who to encourage these skills is vital to the management philosophy, currently
compete not only with products, but with the efficient management of human capital component.
All organizations regardless of the business in which they operate are immersed in the progress
and changes that occur today. Taking these considerations, the present study aims to determine
the relationship between emotional intelligence, reward system, employee commitment and
The study of feelings and emotions using the model of emotional intelligence has taken
importance in the organizational area. Initially, it considered the existence of some individuals
with a superior coefficient of intelligence than others, but because of new concepts on this theory
provides answers to this and it is considered that emotional intelligence is a skill which can
understand and manage one's own feelings, interpret and address the feelings of others, to feel
satisfaction and to be effective in each of the activities that develop while creating unfavorable
own productivity and job performance mental habits (Araujo and Leal, 2007). This study aims to
analyze the influence of emotional intelligence in human resources within the organization,
starting from the assumption that the development of emotional intelligence is a key factor in
improving the relationships of people in the organizations, and thus, it manifests an increase in
The research will focus on one company – NBS TV - a Ugandan Communication company,
specializing in broadcasting live news. The research will focus on employees and the
management section of the company, across different departments and geographic locations and
with different cultural backgrounds. This research proposal takes a qualitative approach to
analyzing collected primary data and also extensively uses published literature concerning the
role of reward systems in performance management and their effect on employee performance.
Employee retention relates directly to how we reward them. Replacing employees in a company
can be an arduous and expensive exercise. Even in more secure industries such as the public
sector, performance needs to be managed and staff motivated as in the private sector. Retention
of experienced staff in both these industries is important to create competitive advantage and
organizational success. This study will also look at the importance of rewarding experienced and
high performing staff. So in a time when the amount of financial rewards is restricted by the
economic climate, retaining high performers with rewards has to be achieved while making all
staff feel valued. I will investigate if these values, along with a total reward approach to how we
organizations cross international boundaries to conduct business, rewards that are relevant in one
country may not be as important in another. I aim to establish if a structured reward system, and
the specific type of rewards applicable to this organization, is imperative for increasing employee
performance or if it has any effect at all. This is all in the context of an ever changing society,
where most workers aspire to be wealthy in a way that previous generation did not. These
aspirations from an increasing educated and mobile workforce put even more emphasis on an
organizations reward systems and structures, and highlight the importance of rewards in the
context of achieving job satisfaction among employee’s and using this as a competitive weapon
Emotional Intelligence
From the papers presented by Gardner in 2003, the concept of emotional intelligence began to be
seminal work on the theory of multiple intelligences. Specifically, according to this author,
personal intelligence was composed of intrapersonal intelligence, based on the knowledge of the
internal aspects of a person, and by interpersonal intelligence, based on the core capacity to
notice distinctions among others, in particular contrasting moods, temperaments, motivations and
intentions (Gardner, Feeldman and Krechevsky, 2001). Gardner (2009), along with other
behavioral scholars conducted extensive research using a variety of sources, through which they
made a great contribution to education. Since he is taking the cognitive science, the study of the
mind, and neuroscience, the study of the brain, its pluralistic view of mind is considering that
most people possesses a great spectrum of intelligences and that each one reveals different ways
of knowing. These intelligences were determined from the study of a variety of cognitive
brain injuries, developmental and cultural observations. For the observed skills received the
epithet of intelligences should meet the above criteria. In 1983, Gardner proposed ten
1. Linguistic intelligence: Used in reading books, writing texts, understanding of words and the
use of everyday language. This intelligence is seen in the poets and writers, but also speakers and
a balance or bank account and a multitude of tasks that requires the use of inferential or
a map, orient, imagine a furniture arrangement in a given space or in predicting the trajectory of
activities where the body control is essential for good performance. Own by dancers, gymnasts
or pampering.
6. Interpersonal Intelligence: The ability to understand and comprehend the moods of others,
7. Intrapersonal Intelligence: The ability to access one's feelings, emotions of oneself and use
them to guide the behavior and conduct of the same subject. It refers to a cognitive ability to
understand the moods of self. It is seed to understand ourselves, our desires, motives and
emotions.
species or groups of objects and people, and to recognize and establish whether there are
distinctions and similarities between them. Recently, Garder (2003) added 2 new types of
arguing the importance of the human being has the need for a feasibility model itself for proper
decision making, the ability to find meaning and direction of our actions. Religious belief is only
love, death and the human condition. It is the ability to position itself with respect to the cosmos
and for the existential features of the human condition. It is very important to consider the
this is considered as the basis for the development and implementation of an efficient behavior,
which applied to companies, will positively influence on the results of the organization. . This
study tries to investigate the effect of emotional intelligence on leadership behavior, to find out
how leadership behavior influences employees and give them motivation to perform better
within organization.
Reward System
Nelson and Peter (2005) stated “You get what you reward”. According to them, a reward system
is the world’s greatest management principal. If the organization rewards a certain kind of
employee behavior good or bad, that is what the company will get more of (Svensson, 2001).
Every existing company has some form of reward system, whether it is outspoken or not, it exists
(Jaghult, 2005). People correspond positively to praise, and praise in the right moment creates
loyalty and affinity (Bernstein, 1998). Rewards come in two different types. It can either be in a
form of incentive motivation or personal growth motivation. The former is the kind that comes
from within the individual, a feeling, being proud over something, feeling content and happy by
something that you have done. The latter is the type that is brought to you by another person or
an organization (Kaplan and Atkinson, 1998), and is the one that will hold our focus through this
study. Furthermore, extrinsic rewards can be monetary or non-monetary. The monetary is usually
needs to be measurable (Jaghult, 2005). There exists a variety of purpose of a reward system; one
very common is to motivate employees to perform better, but also for keeping the employees
(Ax, Christer and Kullven, 2005). For a reward system to be ideally motivational, the reward
should satisfy a number of criteria; have value, be large enough to have impact, be
understandable, be timely, the effect should be durable and finally the rewards should be cost
Employee Commitment
Employee commitment has been defined as, “The strength of an individual’s identification and
involvement in a particular organization.” The authors who provide this definition developed a
● Staff motivation or willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization they
work for;
This definition and measurement has been used as the basis for a wealth of research since the late
1970s. These have demonstrated that employee commitment is strongly related to a whole raft of
At an individual level, those who are more committed to the organization also experience more
job satisfaction, higher levels of motivation and lower stress levels. They also tend to perform
turnover, absenteeism and tardiness. There’s also significantly higher customer satisfaction and
profitability.
Further meta-analysis has replicated these findings, based on a sizable sample size of 50,000.
Yet, they argued that there’s a further two types of employee commitments that need to be
considered.
This type of employee commitment is the closest to what one might intuitively consider
commitment to be. It encapsulates the idea of an emotional identification with the organization.
This leads to an increased desire to contribute and perform, as well as maintain citizenship of the
affective staff commitment, both to the organization and the individual. It is for this reason that
we concentrate on this type when considering what gives rise to employee commitment.
This refers to a perceived obligation to remain with the organization. An employee can
experience an obligation to perform work activities in the absence of a personal desire to do so.
This type of employee commitment typically has weaker positive relationships with staff
motivation, job satisfaction etc. Though, cultural variation plays a part in the strength of the
relationships between normative commitment and work behaviors. Norms and social obligations
exert more power over actual behavior in more collectivist cultures (e.g. Turkey). This is
compared to relatively individualistic contexts (e.g. the USA) where incidentally, the majority of
3. Continuance Commitment
This is bound up in a very idiocentric and calculative decision-making process. Essentially, this
involves the individual considering what they stand to lose should they leave an organization.
Unsurprisingly, this type of employee commitment has less positive outcomes and is in fact
related to higher stress. There may be increased work-family conflict and poorer performance.
Combating staff turnover with salary raises and other incentives may increase affective employee
commitment through perceptions of personal competence. Yet, it could also in some instances
accentuate what employees stand to lose, adding to a feeling of being ‘trapped’ (high
In summary, organizational commitment is now regarded as a key part of investigating the health
Moreover, affective employee commitment (identification and emotional involvement with the
organization) is known to have the most positive effect on work-related behavior and staff
turnover intentions. Monitoring this variable can give early warnings of imminent employee
turnover problems. It also provides an excellent benchmark for evaluating interventions aimed at
reducing staff retention difficulties (e.g. job redesign, induction and socialization processes).
Mowday, R.T., Steers, R.M., & Porter, L.W. (1979). The measurement of organizational
Organizational Performance
vital sign of the organization, showing how well activities within a process or the outputs
which resources are transformed into goods and services, the quality of these outputs and
Organization’s performance is made visible through the activities it conducts to achieve; its
mission. Outputs and their effects are the most observable aspects of an organization’s
performance (Anderson and Carden, 1999). Anderson and Carden (1999) in their book
entitled “Enhancing organizational performance” state that ideas about the concept of
performance vary considerably. Each interest group or stakeholder may have an entirely
different idea of what counts. For instance, administrators might define organization's
performance in terms of the amount of money brought into the organization through
impact on a target group. Beck (2003), gives an example; a company wants to improve their
image as a service oriented company with knowledgeable workers. All the call-center agents are
trained to perform according to the expected image in the four fields of Competence
Management. First, they need knowledge about the company’s knowledge. Second, they need
the skill to use the databases at their workplace. Third, they must be motivated to serve
their customers according to the plan and fourth, be permitted to provide the information
needed. Otherwise, the performance will not be satisfactory. Nancy and Mine (2004), on
assessing organizational performance stated that most organizations view their performance
for example, would tend to link the larger notion of organizational performance to the
results of their particular programs to improve the lives of a target group). At the same
time, a majority of organizations also see their performance in terms of their "efficiency" in
deploying resources. This relates to the optimal use of resources to obtain the results
desired. Finally, in order for an organization to remain viable over time, it must be both
“financially viable” and "relevant" to its stakeholders and their changing needs. In this study we
will examine the factors that can lead to high level of productivity in organization.
In the age of information and highly specialized work teams, many organizations are ignoring
becoming a vital skill as people must accomplish their work by collaborating with each other,
and their ability to communicate effectively becomes a critical, if not more critical, as technical
skills and capabilities. Researchers have globally shown that Emotional Intelligence is not given
that contribute to EI such as, Personal Skills to known one’s own feeling and Social Skills to
know other’s feelings are not being used by leaders in decision-making to motivate employees
and make them perform better than before. Within academic environment, several studies have
been performed to predict school grades and intellectual problem solving from EI. Within
leadership and organizational behavior, findings suggest that those lower in an organization
appreciate EI in their supervisors; a positive relationship has been also found between
subordinates’ commitment to their organization and their supervisors’ EI. Some organizations
over the years see employees as additional cost as well as liability to their operations, hence do
not remunerate them appropriately, and where it is more appropriate, the compensation is not
commensurate with the efforts and skills that workers put into the organization’s activities,
organizations concentrate more on other resource such as, materials, machines and money. The
effort is more on how to improve the production process with little or no consideration for
human resource efforts. The researcher therefore found it necessary to investigate and assess how
NBS TV managers perceive employee commitment using their emotional intelligence and
reward system and the extent to which they have been able to face organizational performance
challenges.
The major objective of this study is to examine and assess the Influence of Emotional
performance.
Organizational Performance.
ii. What is the relationship between Emotional Intelligence, Employee Commitment and
Employees’ Performance?
iii. What is the relationship between Reward System, employee commitment and Organizational
Performance?
1.5 Hypothesis
H0. There is no significant influence of emotional intelligence, reward system, and employee
H1. There is a significant influence of emotional intelligence, reward system, and employee
The interest of this study cannot be overemphasized due to the fact that, it holds a lot benefit to
ensure continuous existence and survival of organizations, the study will be great benefit to
Leadership and its emotional intelligence to make workers much more committed.
This study will provide an insight into the meaning of Emotional Intelligence as it pertains to
organizations and as it is required to be. Emotionally intelligent leaders greatly have a bearing on
the output of employees and therefore impact on the performance of the organization as a whole.
hip Self –
ent Social
managem
Relations
awareness
Emotional Intelligence
Self – awareness
Self – management
Social awareness
Employee Organizational
Relationship management Commitment Performance
-Compensation
-Individual-based reward
-Group-based Reward
1.8 Scope of the Study
The study will focus on NBS TV located in Kampala. It will be predicted on the assumption that
emotionally intelligent leaders have bearings on corporate performance. It will assess the level of
which employees at NBS TV are rewarded and engaged to achieve organizational goals. The
study will be limited to only one TV Station cited above. The choice of limiting the study to only
one TV station is for several reasons but, the main reason is to ensure that an in-depth and
critical study will be done, such that the results will provide useful information on the
Reward System are one of the various tools to be used to ensure effective human resource
management, but the study strictly concerns itself with Emotional Intelligence, its system and its
impact in employee commitment and in enhancing organizational productivity and profit ability.
CHAPTER TWO:
LITTERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
Saunders et al. (2009, p.98) state that “a critical review of literature is necessary to help you to
develop a thorough understanding of, and insight into, previous research that relates to your
research question(s) and objectives”. This literature review on reward systems encompasses the
areas of performance related pay, total reward systems and team rewards. It will reveal the many
different types of incentives available to modern day employees as well as the most favorable
way to apply those incentives to get the best performance form your staff. Reviewing the current
published literature in this field will allow the researcher establish a base, to which further
research can be added. This dissertation explores three of the main theories and practices of
rewards in the workplace and how they affect performance, as well as specific cases within
organizations explored in the critical review of already published literature. The theory on
reward systems and their effects on performance cannot be evaluated without looking at how
work motivation is also affected by these rewards and how that motivation is directly linked to
performance. Kanfer et al. (2012) describe motivation in the work sense as a set of processes
which are ultimately used to determine a person’s actions, and which actions they will use to
achieve a desired outcome. This psychological procedure determines how personal effort is used
in the ‘direction, intensity and persistence’ of these actions in relation to your work. How you are
rewarded for this work will have a great effect on this direction, intensity and persistence.
Ensuring you have the right reward strategy and structure in place in your organisation is vital
for the positive performance and motivation of your staff and these rewards systems should be
based on what is needed to achieve the desired level of performance and motivation. Adams
(1965) describes equity theory as the perception of how you are treated compared to others and
in essence that you will be more satisfied and motivated if you think you are been fairly treated.
This procedural justice element to how rewards are interpreted runs deep in terms of this
performance and motivation. Armstrong (2010, 10 p.41) states that “in general, use an evidence-
based approach, which essentially means managing reward systems on the basis of evidence
commitment to gather the necessary facts to make more intelligent and informed decisions”.
There exist numerous theories on Emotional Intelligence, but for the most part utilized in
research are the theories of Baron, Goleman, and Salovey and Mayer (Engstrom, 2005).
Emotional Intelligence models by and large encompass 2 categories, namely ability-based and
mixed models. The ability based model describes Emotional Intelligence as a complete form of
mental ability or pure intelligence. On the contrary, the mixed models describe Emotional
Intelligence as a combination of mental ability having elements of personality traits, skills and
motivation. Both Goleman (1995) and Baron’s (1997) research generated the mixed models of
Emotional Intelligence.
Goleman (2001) defined EI as the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others,
for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships.
He also introduced the 4 concept model in this book. The model is: Self- awareness, Self-
competency to study one’s emotions and identify its impact while using instinct to guide their
decisions. Self-management is the controlling of one’s emotions, urges, and adjusting to
and respond to the emotions of others while understanding the concept of interaction of people.
Lastly, relationship management, which is the competency to motivate, develop and influence
In the recent years, Organizational Commitment has been an area of interest among researchers
be-cause of its relationship with EI and the principle that it ultimately boil down to
organizational success and efficiency (Meyer and Allen, 1997). There are a variety of definitions
on Organizational Commitment that can be found in literature. Porter et al., (1974) described
belief in and acceptance of the organization’s goals, a willingness to exert considerable effort on
Buchanan (1974) defined commitment as being a bond between an individual and the
organization, through his own definition of commitment. In 1997, Meyer and Allen defined OC
to include that of a committed employee is the one who stays with the organization through thick
and thin, attends work regularly, puts in a full day (and maybe more), protects company assets,
shares company goals and so on. Meyer and Allen (1991) had defined OC to comprise of 3 types
of commitment;
its organization and its goals (Meyer & Allen, 1993; Mowday et al., 1998). Meyer and Allen
(1997) expanded on this definition to say that employees maintained association with the
organization on their own accord and that was their way of portraying loyalty to the organization.
Is when an employee remains in an organization as they feel that they need to, usually due to
financial reasons, and they associate leaving with a loss that is associated with cost. Meyer and
Allen (1997) extended on this to say that employees who share such a commitment with their
Is when an employee feels for some reason an obligation to stay with the organization. Meyer
and Allen (1991), defined it as a feeling of obligation, where else Weiner (1982), defines it as a
Interest in Emotional Intelligence has increased greatly over the last decade.
Recently, increasing number of scholars has argued that Emotional Intelligence is a core variable
that affects the performance of employees. Recent findings suggest that EI persons are better
performers than their counterparts (Law, Song & Wong, 2004). To maintain a productive culture
in the current business climate, the organization has to concentrate emotional intelligence of
employees. In this study we attempt to identify the influence of EI on job performance. The
present study is based on Goleman (1995) theory of EI, viewed as a set of four intellectual
abilities involved in the processing of emotional information. The ability to manage emotions
entails regulating emotional experience in self and in interpersonal situations to attain personal
goals and outcomes. EI contributes to work performance by enabling people to regulate their
emotions.
Organizational Performance.
One of the earliest works done on this subject matter was by Abraham (1999) stressed that
Emotional Intelligence prevents the individual from holding the organizational responsible for
every frustration and conflict on the job and, thus, prevents the erosion of commitment that
results from indiscriminate fault finding. In this study he found that 15% of the differences in OC
were explained exclusively by EI. Momeni (2008) in her study of Public Personnel in Iran
showed that Manager’s Emotional Intelligence has a positive association with their subordinates
OC. The results of the analysis of the relationship between the dimensions of EI and OC showed
a positive correlation between the dimensions of both principles. The regression analysis that
was conducted by Momeni indicated that 55% of the OC of employees is caused by the EI of
Managers. Nikolaou and Tsaousis (2002), in their studies found a positive correlation between 4
dimension of EI and employee OC. Namely, Perception and Appraisal (0.81), Control of
emotions (0.94), Use of emotions (0.95) and Understanding and reasoning (0.90), these results
Carmelli (2003), studied the relationship between EI and some OC factors such as behavior,
performance and work attitudes, the results of this studyshowed a substantially positive
relationship between EI and AC (.24) and (.32) for the relationship between EI and performance.
The underlying results were that the various constructs of OC associated differently to factors
such as job performance and work behavior. Humphreys et al., (2005), found correlation
between EI and AC, a construct of OC. Adeyemo (2007), Nigeria, also discovered a positive
correlation via hierarchical regression analysis between OC and EI. Ultimately confirming that
EI has a major influence on the constructs of OC. The research done by Abraham (1999) and
Wong and Law (2002) which confirmed the positive relationship between EI and OC was
supported by Perez et al (2005) in their study involving 167 adult professionals. Prati (2004), not
only proved a positive relationship existed between EI and OC but also added emotional
all the positive correlations between EI and OC, there were some studies that cast a shadow of
doubt between the relationships. Stewart (2008) in his study in the food industry stresses that
there is no relationship between the total EI scores and OC for managers. However, he did
mention that there was a possibility that because the relationship between customers and
employees were brief therefore, the need for EI skills were minimum. Another point that was
made in the defense of his study was that most of the managers in his study did not see a career
path in their current job. Humphreys et al (2003) concluded in his studies that, follower EI was
positively correlated to OC, thus his deduction of the relationship was that subordinate EI played
performance context
In the modern business environment, team performance is becoming more and more critical to
organizational success. One of the first questions asked at most interviews today is ‘can you
work as part of a team?’ Ensuring employees work both productively and collaboratively as part
of a team can be difficult and according to Torrington et al. (2011) if the performance
management activity is not defined correctly, employees individual goals may damage the
team’s performance and vice versa. Group based awards appear to be logical compliments of
performance measurement that focuses on teams and the quality/quantity of work they produce
and (Dematteo et al., 1998, p. 144) found that applying rewards to teams as a whole is based on
the assumption that team rewards will do something qualitatively different than individual
rewards. Also from a performance evaluation point of view, it may be easier and less complex
could be argued that managing performance and rewards available for achieving the level of
performance desired can be complimentary and less time consuming from a monitoring and
measuring point of view in a team based structure. However, according to (Armstrong, 2012, p.
294) it can take time for a team member to adjust to part of their remuneration been determined
by the group effort and how long that takes will be determined by the maturity of the team
members and how used they are to working together. Although the idea of having a high
performing team working closely and collaboratively together is appealing, the danger is forcing
people into a new remuneration arrangement who may already be just getting used to a new way
of working. In recent years, many organizations have moved towards rewarding employees for
performance as a means to achieve organizational goals (Mullins, 2005). Essentially they have
tied compensation to performance. The debate on the effectiveness of financial remuneration on
performance goes on as researchers try to establish the organizational and cultural fit for such a
practice. Rayner and Adam-Smith (2005, p. 101) state “as both performance and motivation are
affected by many factors, performance related pay (PRP) (or any other intervention) cannot be
linked in a casual manner”. They argue that although it may be relatively easy to provide
answers to individual aspects of the effectiveness of PRP, when all variables related to this
concept as it is applied are taken into consideration, connecting PRP to performance levels
becomes more difficult. Performance appraisals are a key aspect of managing any pay for
performance model. Smith and William (2003) in their research paper exploring the link among
performance rating pay and motivational influences looked at the dangers of receiving the
incorrect merit increase where performance related pay models are applied and the effects this
administrative support to supervisors and managers, they found that 58% of those surveyed
received a merit increase that did not correspond to their actual performance rating. It found that
the “de-coupling” concept between performance rating and the reward was a common practice
among companies surveyed. This highlights the importance for any merit based pay model to be
fair and transparent in order for it to be successful in the long term in increasing motivation and
performance. The majority of respondents did not feel their increased reward was based on their
performance but rather influenced by organizational budget constraints. Similarly, St-Onge et al.
(2009), highlight the prevalence of performance appraisal distortion and its effects on
managers should also look at reviewing the appraisals and how we communicate the success or
failure as well the reward attached. Armstrong (2009, p. 254) claims it is better to separate
performance management and pay, “decoupling” both, so as to make a distinction between
developmental potential and the impact of your performance on incremental pay rises. He
describes the difficulty in paying for performance where it needs to be measurable on different
levels, thus evidence based and this evidence needs to be seen to be fair and transparent and not
This concept, although broad in its application, is defined by Taylor (2011, p. 140) as “total
reward involves designing a rich mix of complimentary initiatives which aim to maximize the
chances that employees will find their work to be ‘rewarding’ in the widest sense of the word”.
Aligning this reward system design with the overall strategy of the organization so as it’s not
(2000) in his case study on aligning rewards to organizational goals within a multinational
pharmaceutical company. It found that through “broad-banding” or the allocation of roles into
different grades with different rewards, it motivated employees to perform better in order to
attain progression in the their careers, but these rewards needed to be varied and flexible and not
just pay related. Also it highlights the need for HR practitioners to understand the business needs
of the 23 organization and to design reward strategies that change employee behaviors that will
in turn lead to increased performance. Finding the right blend of tangible and intangible rewards
to adequately motivate and retain your employees is a difficult task. The total reward approach is
therefore very broad and can never constitute a one size fits all solution to rewarding employees
in the workplace. One important question posed by (De Mattio et al., 1998, p. 174) is how a
combination of reward practices can be used to reinforce and encourage high levels of individual
performance and, at the same time, foster team work among individuals. Some researchers
suggest that rather than choosing individual or group based incentives on their own, a
combination of the two incentive strategies may be more effective in motivating performance at
the individual level and cooperation at the team level (Heneman and von Hippel, 1995). In their
research on how reward strategy effects performance in the Malaysian insurance industry, (Tze
San et al., 2012) found that although financial and objective measures are central in designing
reward systems, when they incorporated non -financial rewards into the reward system, they seen
an increase in both financial and non-financial aspects of performance. They believed this lead to
an increase in the organizations reputation, more energy and team spirit in the workplace and
made the organization more attractive to potential new recruits. They also concluded that
although similar reward systems exist across organizations in this industry, the development of
the reward system will depend on the size of the organization. As you can see below in Figure 1,
the world at work total rewards model on strategies to attract, motivate and retain employees
illustrates how a total rewards package, incorporated into the organizations design, is supposed
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This chapter aims at identifying the method and tools that will be employed to represent data for
analyzing to get proper and maximum information related to the subject under study.
The consideration of the research philosophy is an important part of the research process and
relates to developing knowledge and understanding the type of knowledge in question (Saunders
et al., 2009, p. 107). As this research is based around human behavior in terms of work
performance and how this is affected depending on the perceived merits connected to that
Bryman and Bell (2007, p. 18) state “what makes critical realism critical is that the identification
of generative mechanisms offers the prospect of introducing changes that can transform the
status quo”. As the researcher collects and analyses data from a personal experience perspective
of that data, and as the research topic is a fluid aspect or measurement, the researcher is adapting
an epistemology realism philosophy. Moreover the primary research will be collected through
semi-structured interviews in NBS TV. This will be on a small sample and in relation to
interpretivism philosophy, the data collection characteristics are for qualitative techniques with
small samples. Thus, this researcher for the purpose of this research should be considered a
‘feelings’ researcher who has extensive knowledge in the industry the research is based upon and
uses that knowledge to collect and interpret that data in a ‘resourced’ manner. So it lends to the
argument that data collected by the ‘resources’ researcher is any more convincing than that
Saunders et al. (2009) claim there are two approaches to research which can be described as
inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning. Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005, p. 16) state deductive
reasoning is “the logical process of deriving a conclusion from a known premise or something
known as true, inductive reasoning is the systematic process of establishing a general proposition
on the basis of observation or particular facts”. These two approaches are commonly used in
business and management research, particularly in terms of the cause-effect relationship. The
qualitative approach to this research aims to give the researcher a better feel for what is the
perceived opinion, both positive and negative, of the reward systems structure and what impact
that has on the topic in question. As the aim of this research is to interpret people’s behavior, a
quantitative approach could also be taken because the outcome is concerned about what people
actually do and what they think. However, qualitative researchers often want to look at standard
behavior and the culture of the organization in question as opposed to looking solely at the
meanings, through questionnaires or surveys. Therefore, the overlap of behaviors and meanings
contrast very much with quantitative and qualitative research (Bryman and Bell, 2007, p. 425).
So although both of these approaches can be used in terms of collecting research data from
several different sources, the researcher has decided to adapt an inductive approach. According
to Eriksson and Kovlainen (2008, p. 22), when you take an inductive approach in terms of the
relationship between the theory and observed research, you then follow the rationale of
number of ways, depending on topic chosen for research, Saunders et al. (2009). Although an
inductive approach is followed through patterns that emerge in the interviews, comparing this
with the recent published literature can be considered complimentary to a deductive research
approach. The type of the research topic under investigation will determine the choice of
research design approach you take. In this case, there is ample published literature available to
support this research topic. From here the research design can begin and research questions
developed. According to Thietart et al. (2001, p. 118), it is advised to establish a clear and
transparent research design before you move to your data collection stage as to collect data
before you know how you will analyze this data may make much of the data not applicable. This
is very important as the data collection method in this research is semi-structured interviews and
the researcher did not want to lose any opportunity for collecting the most relevant data.
Although this research will take mostly an inductive approach in the qualitative data analysis, I
would hope that this data would conflict or contradict some of the established theory.
The research project will collect primary data and refer to the secondary data as outlined in the
literature review. Saunders et al. (2009, p. 138) defines the so-called research process “onion”,
3).Research Strategies (Experiment, survey, case study, grounded theory, ethnography, action
research).
4).Time Horizons (Cross sectional, longitudinal)
The research questions for this proposal are quite specific; therefore I believe in-depth interviews
would encourage the best response from employees. Protecting the anonymity of the respondents
According to Saunders et al. (2009, p. 141) the main research strategies are “experiment, survey,
case study, action research, grounded theory, ethnography and archival research”, and the
method chosen will be the one most applicable to your actual research question(s), and labels
should not be attached to the different type of strategies. The strategy to be used in this research
is a case study, based on one organization, and centered on four in-depth semi-structured
interviews using a qualitative approach. This will be the primary research strategy and the
These questions will be developed from the secondary research carried out in the form of a
review of the current literature on the topic of rewards systems. Maylor and Blackmon (2005)
urge caution in relation to the reliability of secondary research as you are further away from the
topic than primary research. However, the closer you are to the research, the more caution you
should display concerning potential bias of the researcher and the researched. According to
Saunders et al. (2009, p.141) “your choice of strategy will be guided by your research questions
and objectives, the extent of existing knowledge, the amount of time and other resources you
have available, as well as your own philosophical underpinnings”. In order to gain more general
information about the topic in question, semi-structured interviewing will be chosen to gain the
maximum amount of feedback and in line with the inductive approach. This will allow the
researcher more flexibility. It is important that the interviewer frames the questions in the correct
context and understands the issues in question, thus the interviewee must be able to explain and
understand events, patterns and forms of behavior (Bryman and Bell, 2007, p. 475). 3.5 Data
Collection Data collection, both primary and secondary, is an important part of the research
process. Having identified your sources of data, Hart (2005, p. 356) advises systematically
collecting the data in sufficient quality and quantity in order to conduct your data analysis. So if
the researcher does not collect and gather the appropriate data, they will not meet their research
aims and objectives sufficiently enough to produce credible and thorough findings. As already
mentioned, in collecting primary research for this study, the researcher will use semi-structured
Thietart et al. (2001, p. 73) consider primary research to yield greater truth-value as they argue
the researcher has observed the phenomena with their own eyes. It is generally considered to be a
superior form of data collection as the researcher will have formed a system of data collection
very specific to the research been undertaken. In this sense, primary research does have
Greater control
Proprietary information i.e. you do not have to share it with others.
Time consuming
Can be expensive
Within the primary data collection, I intend conducting 4 interviews with senior managers within
the HR department in NBS TV and the nature of those interviews will be consistent with the
selected research questions. Time constraints did not allow for more interviews to be conducted.
This research aims to establish how effective certain reward systems are on employee
performance. There are 16 proposed questions, which center around 6 topics consistent with the
topics and information to be gathered from the critical review of current literature. I aim to
establish factors which can influence the satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction of employees in the
workplace in relation to my research statement. The main proposed research questions or themes
Do reward systems have an effect on employee performance? The purpose of this question is
to establish in general if reward systems are effective or not in employee performance and/or
employee motivation.
Is their level of performance determined solely on how they are rewarded or are there
question aims to determine in a more specific way a certain and controversial aspect of reward
systems, PRP, and how effective it is relating to the sample and company in question (It is
widely available within the chosen company). Also does it only affect performance and not
motivation?
These questions are intended to establish which types of rewards (from the total rewards
Are team based rewards more effective in achieving a better overall performance for your
department? With this question I hope to establish if there is a correlation between rewarding
collectively or individually, in terms of the performance output of the team. Also, can better team
Do you think the reward structure in NBS TV is currently sufficient to meet the needs of
managers and their teams? This question aims to be very specific to the organization in
question and I aim to get a feel for how the respondents view the current state of the companies
For the purpose of this research, the secondary data research consisted of a critical review of
current published literature, in order to give a better understanding of the topic in question.
Although secondary data can be a useful source of information to help you formulate and answer
your research questions, it also should be met with some caution, just as primary research.
According to Sanders et al. (2009) secondary sources of information can first seem to be relevant
but upon closer scrutiny are not appropriate to your research objectives and in light of this you
must be careful when selecting your secondary data sources and their validity.
Ease of access
Not timely or in date relevant to your research For the purpose of this research, the secondary
data consisted of online data resources, published journals from the college library data base and
published books relevant to research statement. Although there was ample secondary theory
available to the researcher relating to the topic in question, according to Cameron and Price
(2009) most people avoid doing research based on secondary data only as they can be more
intellectual exercises rather than providing real practical proposals. However, this does not
necessarily mean that secondary data based research projects do not have real practical
implications In mixing the data collection methods between primary and secondary data
collection, I hope the research is not overly theoretical and that the primary research provides
some balance in terms of what is practical to the organization in terms of the topic in question
averaging around 40 minutes in length. The interviews will be carried out across the HR
department and encompass a mix of genders over different generations and cultures, and with
varying lengths of service with the company. The group in question is between supervisory and
middle management levels. Saunders et al. (2009), explain the nature of interviews should be in
line with your research objectives, questions, and strategy. Interviews can be:
Structured interviews
Semi-structured interviews
As mentioned earlier in the primary data section, the semi-structured interviews focus around a
and the data will be recorded by audio recording and trans-scripted into text form. Thietart et al
(2009, p. 180) state that “in qualitative research, the interview involves questioning the subject
while maintaining an empathetic demeanor: that is, accepting the subject’s frame of reference,
Data Quality issues also need to be carefully considered in terms of validity, bias and reliability.
The data should provide firm support for the conclusions drawn from the research. Cameron and
Price (2009) consider the importance of telling good data from bad and that as you will be
careful of how much trust you put on secondary data in order to draw conclusions from it, you
too need to be cautious and critical with your own primary research. The semi-structured nature
of the interview questions will allow for a high level of validity and relevance as I will have to
use questions from a variety of perspectives in relation to the topic in question. I will also be
aware of the bias and unreliability of potential data due to the researchers own employment
position within the company which forms this basis for this research. Bryman (2001) considers
When constructing your research method, you need to think about the reliability of the data you
produce and the checks you will incorporate to maximize that reliability.
3.6.2 Preparing the interviews
Planning in advance of the interviews is vital to a successful outcome in terms of valid and
reliable information. As well as the interview questions, all interviewees will be provided with a
‘request to gain access’ form, confidentiality agreement and consent form prior to the interview
to ensure reliability of the research and to ensure all participants will be fully aware of the nature
of the research prior to the interview. Contextual notes from the interviews can be found in the
Appendix. Saunders et al. (2009) describes the most important preparatory elements for
Level of knowledge
Approach to questioning
The researcher in this case reviewed the current literature on the research questions in detail prior
to the interview and this enabled them to increase their credibility with the interviewee. The
researcher will focus on six different themes relating to the research question, and then will ask a
number of questions under each theme to allow the interview more scope to deviate between
questions, and provide more detailed responses as a whole. Demonstrating listing skills and
allowing the interview flexibility in how they answered each question will also be the approach
Hart (2005, p. 307) states that “ethics in research, as in everyday life, are a combination of
socialization, instinct, discretion and been able to put yourself in the position of others to reflect
on and see our actions as others may do”. Although I did not encounter any ethical issues relating
to the interview questions, the questions are not designed to go into very great personal detail or
probe the respondent for more revealing information. The very nature of this research study
could be considered controversial for most people in the workplace who are subject to varying
degrees of rewards and how those rewards affect them both personally and professionally. I
intend to disclose in full the reasons for the study, the procedure in analyzing the results of the
interview questions and to obtain their consent for using the findings as part of this study and to
clarify that all individual feedback would be kept confidential. This will be detailed in the email
accompanying the request for the interview. A confidentiality agreement will also be presented
and signed prior to each interview conducted. The researcher will also maintain honesty,
integrity, and objectivity throughout the process of this research study. The researcher will
acknowledge all previous works that will be include in this research study.
3.8 Research Limitations
Although the research been undertaken aims to achieve results of the upmost validity and
reliability, it is acknowledged that the research methods to be used may have some limitations.
Such limitations may be a result of the small sample size to be used in the collection of primary
data. This research will rely on interviews with managers across the organization and they may
offer a biased or limited perspective of how the practices of reward structures, especially the
non-financial ones, are perceived by all employees in the organization, at all levels. I note that
my research will focus on only one organization, so my results may not be pertinent to other
companies or businesses. It will be difficult to get more managers involved in the research due to
the nature of their roles within the company. The research analysis and findings should be
measured in terms of these limitations and other potential limitations that may arise.
The main tool of data collection for this study will be the questionnaire. The questionnaire will
be used for data collection because; it offers considerable advantages in the administration. It
will present an even stimulus potential to large numbers of people simultaneously and provide
the investigation with an easy accumulation of data (Kiass and Bio 1985) observes. Further
(Gay; 1992) points out that questionnaires give respondents freedom to express their views or
opinion and also to make suggestions.
It is also anonymous; anonymity helps to reduce more candid answer than is possible in an
interview. The questionnaires will be used on respondents who are willing to participate in the
study. It will have the benefit of being simple to code and analyze the data. The structure
questionnaire will be given to respondent by the researcher personally and then the respondent is
to complete by filling the questions basically its safe administered whenever it is possible,
however since it is expected that the level of literacy is low that of the member to face assistance
will be given when needed. This way the rate of response is expected to be high.
REFERENCES
Management Practice. 4 th edn. London: Kogan Page. Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S. (2014)
Armstrong’s Handbook Of Human Resource Management Practice. 13th edn. London: Kogan
edn. London: Kogan Page. Bratton, J. and Gold, J. (2012) Human Resource Management:
Theory and Practice. 5 th edn. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Bryman, A. Bell, E. (2007)
business research methods. 2 nd edn. New York: Oxford University Press. Cameron, S. Price, D.
Personnel Development. Creswell, J.W. (2003) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and
Mixed Methods Approaches. 2 nd edn. California: Sage. Eriksson, P. and Kovalainen, A. (2008)
Qualitative methods in business research. London: Sage Fisher, C. (2004) Researching and
Methods in Business Studies. 3rd edn. Edinburgh: Pearson. Hart, C. (2005) Doing Your Masters
Dissertation. 1 st edn. London: Sage. Hume, D. (1995) Reward Management: employee reward,
motivation and pay. 1st edn. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Honey, P. and Mumford, A. (2000)
The learning Styles Helper’s Guide. Maidenhead UK: Peter Honey Honey, P. (20006) The
learning Styles Questionnaire. Maidenhead UK: Peter Honey Kanfer, R., Chen, G. and Pritchard,
R. (2012) Work Motivation: Past, Present and Future. New York: Routledge.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1
This questionnaire is designed to help gain a clear understanding of the impact of Reward and
the resourceful persons and as such you are kindly requested to spare sometime and respond to
the questions/statements frankly and honestly. Your response will be considered with utmost
confidentiality and as such, you do not have to write your name on the questionnaire nor should
you disclose your answers to other respondents. This research is intended for academic purposes
only.
1. Sex
Male
Female
2. Age
18 – 25
26 – 35
36 – 45
46+
3. How long have you worked in this organization?
Below 2 years
1 – 5 years
5 – 10 years
4. How highly do you place rewards as a basis to giving off your best?
Very high
High
Average
Low
Very low
5. What other rewards would you have apart from your salary? Please list
6. Upon what basis (if you know of any) is your reward increased/reviewed?
Performance Appraisal
Attendance
Company Profit
Yearly
Yes
No
Not Really
How?
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
8. In your view, is the reward package for the different levels fair?
Yes
No
…………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………..
Very Satisfied
Satisfied
Average
Unsatisfied
Very Unsatisfied
10. Would you do better if you were paid more (or given more incentives)?
Yes
No
Not Sure
12. Do you have any say in what comprise your reward package?
Yes
No
…………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
13. What kind of reward are you currently enjoying apart from your basic pay?
(Please list)
……………………………………. …………………………………………
……………………………………. …………………………………………
…………………………………… …………………………………………
14. What would you rather wish you had as part of your total reward package or in
This questionnaire is designed to help gain a clear understanding of the impact of Reward and
the resourceful persons and as such you are kindly requested to spare sometime and respond to
the questions/statements frankly and honestly. Your response will be considered with utmost
confidentiality and as such, you do not have to write your name on the questionnaire nor should
you disclose your answers to other respondents. This research is intended for academic purposes
only.
Top Management
Middle Management
Supervisory
Other
0 – 2years
2– 5years
6 – 10yrs
11 – 15yrs
Above 15yrs
3. What are the components of your reward package that you know of? (Please list)
4. Which of the factors above do you think influences personal and organizational
4b. Why?
……………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………
5. What are some of the weaknesses you recognize with this reward system?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………..…………………………………………………………
Once a year
Twice a year
Once a while
Hardly
7. Are rewards reviewed periodically by management or at the request of the union?
……………………………………………………………………………………
Yes
No
……………………………………………………………………………………..
Yes
No
…………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………….
Yes
No
12. What would you rather wish you have as part of your total reward package or in
…………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………..
Impact of Reward Systems on Organizational Program
Please respond to each of the items in this section by ticking the column that clearly
Performance
organizational profits
turnover
growth