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Knowledge Worker Trust Within Organisations KNOWLEDGE WORKER TRUST WITHIN ORGANISATIONS DOMINIC MCLOUGHLIN BCom, MBus A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Management, Australian School of Business, University of New South Wales March 2014 PLEASE TYPE THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname or Family name: MCLOUGHLIN First name: DOMINIC Other name/s: JAMES Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: PhD School: Australian School Of Business Faculty: School Of Management Title: Knowledge Worker Trust Within Organisations Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE) Observers of structural changes in developed economies have generated widely accepted claims about the move to a society based on ‘knowledge’, ‘knowledge work’ and ‘knowledge workers’. These claims imply a need for more detailed research on the contexts, antecedents, and consequences of ‘trust’ in knowledge-based workplaces. That research is largely missing from the debates. This thesis assesses the claims regarding the knowledge worker relationship with management, which assumes high levels of trust, while more critical scholars challenge this assumption. One means of connecting the disparate theory and empirical research is used in this thesis, a thorough examination of workplace relationships. There are three main aims for this research. The first is the development of a theoretical model that translates the claims regarding knowledge work into the expected circumstances for the relationships between workers and managers in knowledge-based workplaces. This thesis argues that the circumstances can notionally be separated into ‘Trust’, ‘Change’, ‘Management’ and ‘Organisational Outcomes’. Secondly, a new means of identifying knowledge workers is presented. Finally, the theoretical model is tested empirically. Phase one consisted of developing and selecting items which were capable of capturing the various circumstances, including different levels of trust within an organisation (immediate manager, business unit and organisation). Focus groups within one Australian business unit of multinational information technology (IT) organisation provided feedback on the content and useability of the survey (n=23). Phase two included a redesigned survey, including items intended to identify knowledge workers, which was tested with a broader Australian IT population (n=96). Phase three of the research was the main study where the final form of the survey was then used (n=255). Quantitative analyses were undertaken for the immediate work area, the organisation and a combined model, all using Partial Least Squares (PLS). Demographic variables (age, gender and supervisor/non-supervisor) had a negligible impact. A maximised model is described for each analysis and the possible implications for the theoretical model and knowledge- based workplaces are discussed. Finally the theoretical contributions and practical implications of this research are discussed. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstracts International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). ……………………………………………… …………………………………..……………… 15 October 2014 Signature Witness Date The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumstances requiring restrictions on copying or conditions on use. Requests for restriction for a period of up to 2 years must be made in writing. Requests for a longer period of restriction may be considered in exceptional circumstances and require the approval of the Dean of Graduate Research. FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date of completion of requirements for Award: THIS SHEET IS TO BE GLUED TO THE INSIDE FRONT COVER OF THE THESIS ORIGINALITY STATEMENT I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged. Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date 15 October 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I express my appreciation to the many people who have made the presentation of this thesis possible. First amongst these are the various managers who made the surveys possible. Alex, Damian, Peter, John, Rob and Jacquie. Their active cooperation, genuine interest and openness to critique of their performance as managers, made the research possible. Likewise, many thanks to those who took the time to complete the surveys. Thank you to Dr Rachid Zeffane who initiated my interest in trust and supervised me until circumstances made this no longer possible. Thank you to my supervisors, Dr David Morgan and Dr Ian Hampson. David, thank you for trusting enough to take over supervision and then to spend a long time challenging me to overcome obstacles, particularly the fine tuning for the final ‘half-marathon’. Ian, thanks for your advice and your incredible efforts concluding the first ‘half-marathon’. Thank you to Dr Nicole Gillespie and Dr Natalie Ferres who kindly allowed me to use, and publish the instruments they developed. Thank you to all those at UNSW who provided assistance and advice. I also owe a debt of gratitude to my family. Firstly to my parents and grandparents, who instilled in all of their children a love of education, and struggled to ensure we had access to it. Secondly, to Leonie, whose child minding and statistics advice were very much appreciated. I also thank my children Nick, Nat and Pip who have endured the ups and downs of this project with tolerance, wisdom, humour and determination. Finally, to my wife Sam, without whom I could not have reached the summit of Mt Doom, and who helped cast the burden from me. ABSTRACT __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Observers of structural changes in developed economies have generated widely accepted claims about the move to a society based on ‘knowledge’, ‘knowledge work’ and ‘knowledge workers’. These claims imply a need for more detailed research on the contexts, antecedents, and consequences of ‘trust’ in knowledge work. That research is largely missing from the debates. This thesis assesses the claims regarding the knowledge worker relationship with management, which assumes high levels of trust, while more critical scholars challenge this assumption. One means of connecting the disparate theory and empirical research is used in this thesis, a thorough examination of workplace relationships. There are three main aims for this research. The first is the development of a theoretical model that translates the claims regarding knowledge work into the expected circumstances for the relationships between workers and managers in knowledge-based workplaces. This thesis argues that the circumstances can notionally be separated into ‘Trust’, ‘Change’, ‘Management’ and ‘Organisational Outcomes’. Secondly, a new means of identifying knowledge workers is presented. Finally, the theoretical model is tested empirically. Phase one consisted of developing and selecting items which were capable of capturing the various circumstances, including different levels of trust within an organisation (immediate manager, business unit and organisation). Focus groups within one Australian business unit of multinational information technology (IT) organisation provided feedback on the content and useability of the survey (n=23). Phase two included a redesigned survey, including items intended to identify knowledge workers, which was tested with a broader Australian IT population (n=96). Phase three of the research was the main study where the final form of the survey was then used (n=255). Quantitative analyses were undertaken for the immediate work area, the organisation and a combined model, all using Partial Least Squares (PLS). Demographic variables (age, gender and supervisor/non-supervisor) had a negligible impact. A maximised model is described for each analysis and the possible implications for the theoretical model and knowledge-based workplaces are discussed. Finally the theoretical contributions and practical implications of this research are discussed. _____________________________________________________ Page| i TABLE OF CONTENTS __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract .........................................................................................................................
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