Factors relating to innovation management and compliance for women workers in the clothing industry

Nuha Alhazmi

Research output: ThesisDoctoral Thesis

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Abstract

There is a shortage of female workers performing innovative work in the clothing industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This causes non-compliance of workers with any orders relating to innovation management. Evidence indicates that female workers are compliant with management instructions for routine work. However, in relation to innovation, there is still some non-compliance. This consequence has forced clothing organisations to worry about leaving the market quickly especially in the context of economic reforms in the Kingdom. The theory of reasoned action (TRA) is a model of behaviour adopted to investigate behavioural performance in order to understand workers’ behavioural compliance. However, the TRA has not been used before to attempt to determine factors in female workers’ non-compliance related to innovation management guidelines. The aims of this study were to identify internal (behavioural) and external factors (issued from organisations) that influence female workers’ compliance with innovation guidelines. This study involved a self-administered questionnaire using variables raised in the TRA and in the literature review.

This study was conducted using convenience sampling to identify the compliance factors for female workers within five clothing factories in Jeddah and Makkah in the KSA. The study also used all social media and email. The questionnaire was designed to assess measures of compliance for female workers with innovation management, habits, intentions, attitudes and beliefs as TRA variables, while the organisational components assessed were awareness and knowledge, organisational culture, supervisory encouragement, communication, rewards and punishment, sufficient resources and periodic training. The sample was made up of 229 women, and was tested first by implementing logistic regression analysis to identify the relationships between compliance of female workers with innovation management instructions and variables of both TRA and organisational factors. The logistic results revealed that intention and belief from the TRA model were reasonably significant predictors for compliance, while habit was negatively significant at level 0.05. For organisational factors, sufficient resources is highly significant, followed by periodic training, moderately significant, and rewards and punishments, recorded as a less predicative factor significant to compliance. A set of factors – awareness and knowledge, communication, supervisory encouragement and understanding of organisations is not significant to compliance. In conclusion, these findings support the usefulness of the TRA model and identify the most effective organisational factors in predicting compliance of female workers with management orders relating to innovative practices. These results can be used to improve effective organisation strategies. Innovation processes thus continue in organisations. However, future studies could confirm the results of this study and expand on contextual variables.
Original languageEnglish
QualificationPh.D.
Awarding Institution
  • Royal Holloway, University of London
  • School of Business and Management
Supervisors/Advisors
  • Robson, Paul, Supervisor
  • Kromidha, Endrit, Advisor
Thesis sponsors
Award date1 Aug 2019
Publication statusUnpublished - 1 Jul 2019

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