IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijfss/v10y2022i3p61-d871942.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Quality of Work Life (QWL) and Its Impact on the Performance of the Banking Industry in Saudi Arabia

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammad Ishfaq

    (College of Business, Finance Department, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 344, Rabigh 21911, Saudi Arabia)

  • Heitham Al-Hajieh

    (College of Business, Finance Department, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 344, Rabigh 21911, Saudi Arabia)

  • Majed Alharthi

    (College of Business, Finance Department, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 344, Rabigh 21911, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

The quality of work life (QWL), job satisfaction, and individual work performance are the lynchpins of organizational performance and sustained business growth (SBG). Numerous researchers have recognized an association between QWL and SBG. Positive QWL dimensions ensure a workforce’s commitment to SBG. Like SERVQUAL, the QWL has several dimensions, and the most common are: (1) job satisfaction, (2) autonomy, (3) physical working environment, (4) remuneration, (5) career growth, (6) collegial relationships, and (7) relationship with management. A career in the banking industry has always been considered a symbol of prestige, prosperity, job security, and job satisfaction. To understand this, we present the WRKLFQUAL model to measure QWL and its impact on job security and satisfaction (JSS) and individual work performance (IWP). The dimensions and subdimensions of WRKLFQUAL are different from the dimensions and subdimensions of SERVQUAL; however, mechanisms measuring service quality and QWL have similar approaches. Accordingly, this study applied gap analysis to find what workforces expected from their work environments, as well as what they have actually experienced. Many researchers have argued that gaps in service quality significantly influence business performance. In this regard, our research found that almost all dimensions of WRKLFQUAL have negative gaps, meaning poor QWL causes job dissatisfaction and hampers IWP. Regression analysis also shows that average gaps have a significant relationship with job satisfaction. Finally, research proves that job security and satisfaction plays a mediating role in average gap scores and individual work performance. This study was carried out with reference to the banking sector’s performance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as follows. Cronbach’s α score suggests that 95% of the sample is free of error. To apply WRKLFQUAL on the same lines those of SERVQUAL, we developed seven dimensions and 28 subdimensions. Based on these dimensions, seven factors were extracted, all with factor loading between 0.745 and 0.835, confirming that all components had quite a high level of common variance. Accordingly, gaps in QWL, ranging from −0.997 to −1.149, also show that almost all the dimensions and subdimensions need improvements. Carrying this analysis further, we also compared QWL between Saudi and non-Saudi multinational banks and found that the QWL of the Saudi banking system has a slight edge over non-Saudi multinational banks. A correlation among seven predictors, ranging from 0.625 to 0.812, suggests that all seven predictors are highly correlated. Similarly, regression analysis with R 2 0.704 shows that we have a good-fitting model. Hence, we argue that JSS depends on QWL and conclude that negative QWL causes job dissatisfaction and insecurity. We also examined the mediating impact of JSS on QWL and IWP and conclude that the Sobel test, in most cases, provided results higher than 1.98, which is the minimum criterion of having Sobel be significant and effective. Hence, we prove that JSS has a mediating role in QWL and IWP. Finally, we conclude that poor QWL causes job dissatisfaction and eventually reduces organizational efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Ishfaq & Heitham Al-Hajieh & Majed Alharthi, 2022. "Quality of Work Life (QWL) and Its Impact on the Performance of the Banking Industry in Saudi Arabia," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-20, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijfss:v:10:y:2022:i:3:p:61-:d:871942
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/10/3/61/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/10/3/61/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mohammad Ishfaq & Heitham Al Hajieh & Majed Alharthi, 2020. "Quality Determination of the Saudi Retail Banking System and the Challenges of Vision 2030," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Siddique, Md. Nur-E-Alam & Akhter, Mst. Momena & Masum, Abdullah Al, 2013. "Service Quality of Five Star Hotels in Bangladesh: An Empirical Assessment," Asian Business Review, Asian Business Consortium, vol. 2(2), pages 125-130.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mohammad Ishfaq & Heitham Al Hajieh & Majed Alharthi, 2020. "Quality Determination of the Saudi Retail Banking System and the Challenges of Vision 2030," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-19, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijfss:v:10:y:2022:i:3:p:61-:d:871942. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.