The linkage between individual interpersonal relationship and work performance in the South African retail sector.
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Date
2015
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Abstract
A partial or non-recognition of the effect of interpersonal relationships may hinder the success
of retail business diffusion and growth, especially among the South African retailers taking
advantage of the retail revolution in Africa. Interpersonal relationships in the workplace
between supervisors and subordinates could be considered an imperative factor that may affect
organisational wellbeing, psychological working conditions, individual differences and culture
of both the individual and the entire organisation. Interpersonal relationships are perceived as
behavioural traits that employees demonstrate at work in the process of interaction. In day-today
business life, almost all activities occur in the settings of relationships which are the centre
of organisations. Scholars rightly observe that the attention of researchers should not be
focused only on tasks, functions or hierarchies, but also on how workplaces organise their
relationships.
This thesis examines the influence of negative and positive individual interpersonal
relationships using interpersonal conflicts and social support as predictors of employee basic
performance at work. A mixed method approach was adopted and questionnaire was
administered to supervisors and subordinates of selected retail companies that participated in
the study. Quantitative data was collected as follows: The Interpersonal Conflict at Work Scale
(ICAWS) designed by Frone (2000) was used to measure interpersonal conflict; while the Social
Support Scale (SSS) designed by Sarason, Basham, Levine and Sarason, (1983) was used to
measure social support. The Employee Basic Work Performance Scale (EBWPS) designed by
Uhl-Bien and Graen (1995) was used to measure employee work performance, while the
Leader-member Exchange Scale (LMX) designed by Tsui, Pearce Porter and Tripoli (1997)
was used to measure the interpersonal relationship between supervisors and subordinates. Four
open-ended questions were designed to elicit qualitative data.
From the four retail companies in South Africa, a total sample of 400 employees was selected
but 310 (inclusive of 163 supervisors and 147 subordinates) responded to the survey.
Quantitative data was analysed by the use of SPSS (version 22) to test for bivariate connections
among the variables as well as the validity and reliability of the measurements. Content analysis
was adopted in analysing collected qualitative data.
No significant connection between social support and employee performance was observed
from the result of the quantitative data for subordinates. Similarly, the interpersonal conflict
and interpersonal relationships showed no significant connection among the data from subordinates. Moreover, the outcome of the quantitative data collected from the supervisors
revealed that there was no significant relationship between social support, interpersonal
conflict and employee performance in the South African retail sector. On the other hand, the
result of the analysis of interpersonal relationships and employee performance showed a
positive connection to the retail sector in South Africa. The qualitative data explained the
reasons behind the non-significance among the various variables. Alternate explanations for
these results are considered in the study. The study recommended that Human Resource units
should equip employees with communication, listening, sharing of information skills through
constant on the job training. It is suggested that employees be taught the mechanisms of
handling relationships at work. These measures are necessary in order to improve on the present
level of employee relationships in the South African retail sector.
Description
Doctor of Philosophy in Management. University of KwaZulu-Natal. Durban, 2015.