The impact of leadership on employees’ trust and organizational performance with reference to the UAE

• Published in: International Journal of Innovation and Knowledge Management in the Middle East and North Africa Vol. 6; no. 2; pp. 65 - 76
• Main Authors: Alrawi, Khalid, Alrawi, Waleed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brighton World Association for Sustainable Development 15.06.2017
• Subjects: Employees; Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates
• ISSN: 2045-5410; 2045-5429
• DOI: 10.47556/J.IJIKMMENA.6.2.2017.1

Purpose: For businesses, trust is a fundamental component in ensuring competitiveness. The purpose of this exploratory research is to help the business community build trust with its various employees in the industrial sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methodology: Questionnaires were sent to the managers of 121 companies in three sectors of the economy (namely manufacturing, services, and agricultural sectors), representing 52% of the industrial firms in Abu Dhabi Emirate (according to the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce, 2016 Annual Report). Only 109 firms returned their forms, representing a 90% response rate that was acceptable statistically. These forms were used in the data analysis. The aim of this exploratory research was to demonstrate why companies should invest in trust-building, and to explore how trust issues manifest across industries. It also aimed to establish a link between the employee trust and firm performance and to outline possible mechanisms through which the relationship may operate.Findings: Findings revealed that understanding trust and management perceptions based on managers’ individual perception and managerial style, have a negative relationship with the perceived benefits of these creativity negligence factors. Only five motivators out of nine were found significant for motivating trust between the three clusters in the economic sectors in the sample. The analysis shows that management initiatives highlight the fact that not all of them are necessarily successful.