The impact of taqwa on workplace deviance

Abstract

Deviant workplace behavior of employees is a common problem faced by today’s business organizations. Despite the enduring inquest and increasing interest, research on workplace deviance has somewhat overlooked the element of spirituality especially from the perspective of Islam. The main objective of this empirical study was to establish the need for Taqwa (Islamic Piety) to overcome the problem of workplace deviance. In brief, this study endeavored to provide more meaningful solution to the challenges of workplace deviance and fill the gaps in the present knowledge from an Islamic management perspective. The survey data used for this empirical research was drawn from 400 Muslim employees working in seventeen major business groups of Pakistan. Established scales to measure Islamic spirituality (IS), Islamic social responsibility (ISR) (i.e. dimensions of Taqwa) and Workplace deviance were used. Results from principle component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis affirmed that in business organizational context, Islamic spirituality is explained by two components, namely Belief (Iman) and Rituals. Similarly, Islamic social responsibility is explained by Integrity and Emotional control. Lastly, workplace deviance is explained by interpersonal deviance and organizational deviance. Results of structural equation modeling analysis revealed that Islamic Spirituality (IS) negatively influences interpersonal deviance. In addition, the results also affirmed that Islamic Spirituality (IS) negatively influences organizational deviance. Analyzing further, the findings substantiated that Islamic Social responsibility negatively influences interpersonal deviance. Similarly, the results also revealed that Islamic Social responsibility negatively influences organizational deviance. Most importantly, Taqwa negatively influences Workplace deviance. The moderating effects of demographics were not covered in the objectives or in the theoretical background of the study, however, it was considered essential to examine whether the hypothesized relationships of the structural model would vary depending on the moderator. The results revealed that industry, employee position, education level and years of experience moderate the relationship between Taqwa and workplace deviance. The findings of this study provided valuable significance to theory and practice. The theoretical contribution of this study is that it extended the resource based theory from the Islamic perspective, and filled the literature gap on workplace deviance and Taqwa (Islamic piety). The results affirmed that Taqwa makes Muslim employees follow the right path refraining them from deviant behavior. The present study is a cross-sectional study as data was collected and analyzed once at a specific period of time. Therefore, longitudinal study may avow different results. In addition, the measurement for Taqwa needs further investigation to improve generalizability of results if used in different Geographic’s. It is suggested that future research may consider inclusion of moderating variables to further explore the relationship between Taqwa and workplace deviance.?