Title: Authentic leadership, trust, and employees' work engagement: a comparative study of Islamic and conventional banks in Malaysia

Authors: Forbis Ahamed; Arif Hassan; Junaidah Hashim

Addresses: International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak, 50728 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak, 50728 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak, 50728 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract: The paper reports the findings of a study conducted in two types of banks in Malaysia, that is, Islamic and conventional and intended to examine differences in employees' perception of the authenticity in managers' leadership style, interpersonal and institutional trust and work engagement. It was expected that the faith based culture of Islamic banks will provide a strong organisational impetus to promote greater authenticity in managerial style, facilitate interpersonal and institutional trust, and together these factors should contribute to employees' work engagement. Sample consisted of 189 employees from Islamic banks and 206 from conventional banks. Results were in the expected direction. Compared to managers of conventional banks managers from Islamic banks were rated as more authentic; hence employees had higher level of interpersonal and institutional trust, and were more engaged in their work. Results are discussed using situational strength construct.

Keywords: Islamic banks; employee involvement; conventional banks; situational strength; authentic leadership; employee perceptions; authenticity; leadership style; interpersonal trust; institutional trust; work engagement; Islamic finance.

DOI: 10.1504/JGBA.2013.053568

Journal for Global Business Advancement, 2013 Vol.6 No.2, pp.152 - 166

Published online: 01 May 2013 *

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