Thesis

The role of first-line managers in implementing direct employee voice processes formally and informally in the banking sector of the Sultanate of Oman

Contenu téléchargeable

Télécharger le fichier PDF
Creator
Rights statement
Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2025
Thesis identifier
  • T17385
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 201869969
Qualification Level
Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • This study investigates the role of first-line managers (FLMs) in implementing direct employee voice in the private sector, focusing on how FLMs encourage and manage both formal and informal forms of employee participation. Direct voice is defined as a two-way communication between management and individual employees without the mediation of a third party, such as unions or collective bargaining processes. The study is situated in a private sector organisation, where employee voice is progressively recognised as crucial for improving workplace efficiency, productivity, and general involvement. It examines the interactions between FLMs, human resources (HR) managers, and employees to shed light on how employees are encouraged to express ideas, suggestions, and concerns, and how these contributions affect individual and organisational performance. The study’s key findings reflect a variety of organisational dynamics. While some FLMs successfully implement HR policies regarding employee voice, others struggle due to lacking resources, training, and managerial skills. A noticeable finding is that employee participation and suggestion result in enhanced engagement, satisfaction, and productivity. However, variations in managerial approaches to employee suggestions can have a negative impact on employee attitudes and satisfaction. The study also recognises challenges among FLMs, such as role ambiguity and insufficient people management skills, which impede effective HR implementation. This study improves the understanding of employee voice by applying ability, motivation, and opportunity theory to the roles of FLMs and their employees. It demonstrates that, for FLMs to effectively manage employee voice, they must have the necessary abilities and motivation, and the right opportunities to facilitate it. The findings add to the expanding literature on employee voice by emphasising FLMs’ vital role as key facilitators of employee voice. Furthermore, this study finds that, while FLMs are supported by their managers or department heads, they frequently lack support from HR, highlighting critical areas for improvement in HR practices and training. Additionally, this thesis adopted a qualitative single case study design to investigate how FLMs implement direct employee voice processes. Exploring multiple viewpoints allows the researcher to grasp a greater understanding of the subject, and therefore qualitative data was gathering from all three levels (HR managers, FLMs, and employees) from different occupational groups at one of the leading banks in Oman. In this study, manual thematic analysis is adopted to analyse the responses presented by interviewees. Moreover, a combined discussion of the empirical findings of all parties is utilised to obtain an overview of the emerging themes from the interview questions at the three levels described. Furthermore, the theoretical background associated with qualitative data analyses and the adoption of the manual thematic analysis is explained. Following this, the process of generating the initial themes is detailed. The findings derived from the open-ended questions of the semi-structured interviews are reported. Finally, in the conclusion of this study, the contributions to academic knowledge, suggested actions for organisations to pursue to better facilitate their business model and practice, and ideas for future research are provided.
Advisor / supervisor
  • Cunningham, Ian, 1964-
  • Findlay, Patricia
Resource Type
DOI
Date Created
  • 2024

Relations

Contenu

La vignette Titre Date de téléchargement Visibilité actes
file details PDF of thesis T17385 2025-07-02 Public Télécharger