The structural relationships of work engagement with its antecedents and consequences in the Korean business organization context

Open Access
- Author:
- Kim, Hong Min
- Graduate Program:
- Workforce Education and Development
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- April 26, 2012
- Committee Members:
- William J Rothwell, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
William J Rothwell, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
David Lynn Passmore, Committee Member
Judith Ann Kolb, Committee Member
Edgar Paul Yoder, Committee Member - Keywords:
- work engagement
organization development - Abstract:
- The primary purpose of this research was to reveal the relationships of work engagement with its proposed antecedent and consequent variables in the context of Korean business organizations. In the research framework, work engagement was specified as a main variable. Six variables in three categories were proposed as antecedent variables of work engagement: job-related variables (job characteristics and task interdependence), psychological condition variables (self-efficacy and trust), and environmental variables (perceived organizational support and group cohesion). The proposed consequent variables of work engagement were cooperation intention, organizational commitment, proactive behavior, and turnover intention. A web-based survey questionnaire with adopted measures for the research variables systematically translated into Korean was developed and used in collecting data from seven Korean for-profit business organizations. A total of 612 valid responses were identified as the final set of data. The collected data were analyzed with two statistical programs (SPSS and LISREL) and several analytical methods such as basic descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, Cronbach alpha coefficient test, inter-item correlation test, multiple regression analysis, measurement model analysis, and structural mediation model analysis. The data analyses yielded the following results: (a) the adopted measures for work engagement (UWES-17) has acceptable reliability and construct validity in the Korean business organization context; (b) work engagement is influenced by the levels of the proposed antecedent variables; (c) work engagement influences all the proposed consequent variables; and (d) the casual relationships between the antecedent and consequent variables are significant through the mediating role of work engagement.