An Assessment Of Work Engagement

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements

for the award of Bachelor of Science of Loughborough University

by © Helen Wright (May 2013)

School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

Loughborough University

The views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

Contents

Abstract 4

Acknowledgements 6

1. Literature Review 7

1.1 Introduction 7

1.2 Transformational Leadership 8

1.3 Cultural intelligence 9

1.4 Organisational Commitment 10

1.5 Work engagement 11

1.6 Rationale 12

1.7 Hypotheses 13

2. Method 14

2.1 Design 14

2.2 Participants 14

2.3 Measures 14

2.3.1 Transformational Leadership 14

2.3.2 Cultural intelligence 15

2.3.3 Organisational commitment 15

2.3.4 Work engagement 15

2.4 Procedure 16

2.5 Ethical considerations 16

2.6 Data analyses 16

3. Results 18

3.1 ANCOVA 19

3.1.1 Corporate volunteering and transformational leadership 19

3.1.2 Corporate volunteering and cultural intelligence 19

3.1.3 Corporate volunteering and organisational commitment 19

3.1.4 Corporate volunteering and work engagement 20

3.2 Mediation 20

4. Discussion 24

4.1 Limitations 25

4.2 Implications and future research 26

4.3 Conclusion 26

References 28

Appendix 1:

Appendix 1.1 Questionnaire Pack 41

Appendix 1.2 Informed consent sheet 47

Appendix 1.3 Ethical approval email 48

Appendix 1.4 Effect size 49

Appendix 1.5 Cronbach’s alpha 49

Appendix 2:

Appendix 2.1 Normality 50

Appendix 3- 7 SPSS model summaries and tables - ANCOVA 52

Appendix 8-12 SPSS model summaries and tables - Mediation 58

Abstract

Aim

This study aimed to research the relationship between participation in GlaxoSmithKline’s corporate volunteer programme and transformational leadership, cultural intelligence, organisational commitment and work engagement.

Background

Research has demonstrated that corporate volunteering is linked to development of employee skills and attitudes in particular; transformational leadership, cultural intelligence, organisational commitment and work engagement. Although all constructs have been investigated separately in relation to corporate volunteering, to the researcher’s knowledge they have not been investigated together. Therefore these concepts will be investigated within GlaxoSmithKline’s corporate volunteering scheme (PULSE), an established corporate volunteering scheme.

Method

A link to an online questionnaire was emailed to potential participants, with participants completing a self-report questionnaire measuring leadership, cultural intelligence, organisational commitment, work engagement and demographic questions. Data was analysed using a regression mediation and ANCOVA.

Results

ANCOVA analysis showed that corporate volunteering had a significantly positive effect on cultural intelligence, with a significant negative effect on transformational leadership. Corporate volunteering was found to have no significant effect on organisational commitment and work engagement. Regression analysis showed that cultural intelligence mediated the relationship between corporate volunteering and transformational leadership, however work engagement did not mediate the relationship between corporate volunteering and organisational commitment.

Conclusion

These findings have added to the corporate volunteering literature partial supporting corporate volunteering for development of certain skills when compared with other employees. Further studies are needed to examine the relationships which challenged previous literature.

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Dr Fehmidah Munir, my dissertation supervisor, for her continued support and advise aiding the completion of this research project.

I also would like to thank GlaxoSmithKline and the Corporate Volunteer Team, in particular Susan Gammons (PULSE Operations Manager) as without their inspiration, endorsement and support the research would not have been possible. In turn I would like to thank the participants (GlaxoSmithKline employees) for taking the time to complete the questionnaire, as their input allowed the research to be completed.

Finally, I would like to extend my thanks to family and friends as their continued support and encouragement aided the accomplishment of this research project.

1. Literature Review

1.1 Introduction

Corporate volunteering is a rapidly increasing phenomenon, with over 90% of Fortune 500 companies conducting corporate volunteer programmes (Boccalandro, 2009 as cited in Konrath, 2012). "Corporate volunteering describes giving one's time, knowledge, or skills as part of a community service, outreach, or social responsibility activity on company time, without additional compensation" (Grant, 2012, pg 593), such corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes can provide many business benefits. These include; increased employer attractiveness (Peterson, 2004), improved innovation (Hull & Rothenberg, 2008), enhanced business reputation (Schwaiger, 2004), which in turn increases company competitiveness (Gray & Balmer, 1998). Corporate culture can be positively impacted (Brown & Ashcraft, 2005); moreover Margolis and Walsh (2003) suggested a positive relationship existed between CSR and financial performance.

Currently around 90% of CSR research, only reviews the organisational benefits of volunteer programmes (Aguinis & Glavas, 2012). However, the benefits for volunteers have been explored further within the academic volunteer literature. Volunteering has been shown to allow people to achieve a renewed sense of contribution to society (Kemp, 2002), as well as development of life skills such as increased self-esteem (Crook, Weir, Wilms & Egdorf, 2006) and strengthened communication skills (Thomas, 2001). Moreover, job specific skill development occurs; improving organisational and managerial skills (Statistic Canada, 2001), job related technical skills (Crook et al, 2006) and an ability to work with a diverse group of people (Kemp, 2002). Development of such skills have also been shown to increase volunteers job opportunities (Hall, Mckechnie & Davidman, 2001; Husbands, McKechnie & Leslie, 2001).

When reviewing CSR literature regarding volunteer benefits of corporate volunteering, further skills development has been cited, these include; adaptability (Hudson & Inkson, 2006; Thomas, 2001), teamwork (Caudron, 1994; Wild, 1993), leadership skills (Peterson, 2004) and cultural intelligence (Marquis & Kanter, 2010). Employees who participate in volunteer programmes agree the skills developed are transferable and useful within their work environment (Geroy, Wright & Jacoby, 2000), which has led some to suggest CSR participation to be an effective way of developing job related skills (Laabs, 1993). Attitudes can also be increased through corporate volunteering with participation being linked to greater employee retention and job satisfaction (Boccalandro, 2009 as cited in Veleva, Parker, Lee & Pinney, 2012), as well as increasing employee engagement, improving employee attitudes and behaviour towards the firm (de Gilder, Schuyt & Breedijk, 2005). Research has highlighted that skills and attitudes can be developed through corporate volunteering, and corporate volunteering can have a positive effect on business performance. Therefore it has been suggested that companies encourage employees to take part in corporate volunteering to develop skills and attitudes, instead of attending and relying on training courses (Caudron, 1994). This could be a positive move for businesses, as not only does the return on investment for corporate volunteering overcome the cost, but research has identified that 70 percent of successful employees’ development has taken place within their role, including challenging projects (Velsor, McCauley, Ruderman, 2010).

1.2 Transformational Leadership

Bass (1985) identified transformational leadership as encouraging employees to accomplish goals beyond expectations, through transforming attitudes, beliefs and values rather than conforming to the leaders’ ideals. This is achieved through "identification with the leader, joining in a shared vision of the future, or going beyond the self-interest exchange of rewards for compliance" (Hater & Bass, 1988, p. 695). Through creation of innovative ideas, promotion of commitment and encouragement of change, such leaders can bring about organisational transformation (Tichy & Devanna, 1990). The workforce is also affected by such leadership, as all employees are able and encouraged to take on a leadership role (Bass & Avolio, 1993). Transformational leaders bring about change through development of a connection between themselves and employees, which accounts for the exaggerated group performance which can be observed (Bass, 1989). Transformational leadership has been shown to have a positive effect on employee performance (Trottier, Van Wart & Wang, 2008), through increased commitment and strengthening of employee’s skills (Bass, 1999). These findings have been replicated in field (Dvir, Eden, Avolio & Shamir, 2002) and experimental studies (Jung & Avolio, 2000) adding weight to the suggestion that transformational leadership affects organisational performance. Transformational leadership can be seen to have an effect on the whole organisation, as leadership style is easily transferred to employees (Kelloway & Barling, 2000). It has been found that leadership can be developed through corporate volunteering programmes (Post, Frederick, Lawrence & Weber, 1996; Wild, 1993) with both Barclays Bank and Pfizer reporting an increase in leadership following employee involvement in corporate volunteering (Institute for Volunteering Research, 2004; Vian, Feeley, MacLeod, Richards & McCoy, 2007). As a result it has been suggested that corporate volunteering could be used as a method of leadership development (Hansen, 2008).

1.3 Cultural intelligence

The ability to suspend judgement regarding a situation, until enough information has been obtained to make an unbiased judgement has been coined cultural intelligence (Triandis, 2006). Useful in culturally diverse situations, where taking into account more information than your own cultural background, assists the conclusion of an unbiased opinion of a situation or person (Earley & Mosakowski, 2004). Cultural intelligence can be broken down into four aspects; the cognitive aspect, which refers to facets people comprehend about a new culture based on present cues (Earley & Ang, 2003), the meta-cognitive aspect, which describes the ability to understand your own interpretation and perception of a culture (Ang et al, 2007). The motivational aspect, which refers to the enthusiasm someone has to learn about a new culture, and finally the behavioural aspect, which refers to the ability to be sensitive to new cultures and adapt your behaviour accordingly (Elenkov & McMahan, 2005). It has been observed that cultural intelligence is a critical component of business intelligence (Zakak & Douvas, 1999), especially if employees are working for multi-national companies, working across many different markets and therefore cultures. Cultural intelligence has also been identified as a critical component of leadership (Alon & Higgins, 2005; Rockstuhl, Seiler, Ang, Van Dyne & Annen, 2011), particularly in multicultural contexts (Elenkov & McMahan, 2005). Low cultural intelligence increases the likelihood of leaders producing stereotypes, which may lead to unnecessary conflict and delays in transactions (Alon & Higgins, 2005). Cultural intelligence has been thought to aid leadership, as it allows leaders to avoid bias and adapt their leadership style to the demands of the situation (Avolio, Walumbwa & Weber, 2009). It has been considered as such an important aspect of leadership that Alon and Higgins (2005) suggest its inclusion into leadership development programs to be essential. Perhaps this is due to the increased likelihood of businesses working over multiple markets due to globalisation. The observed relationship implies that cultural intelligence may play a mediating role with transformational leadership. A study by Veleva, et al (2012) found that following completion of corporate volunteering, cultural intelligence had increased. With corporate volunteering being seen to increase cultural intelligence using both quantitative and qualitative methods (Fee & Gray, 2011; Hudson & Inkson, 2006; Marquis & Kanter, 2010). It has been suggested that as volunteers experience cultural immersion during corporate volunteering, often living within the host community (Australian Volunteers International, 2007) this may prompt a reassessment of cultural situations. In turn this allows volunteers to become aware of cognitive schemas that may once have caused misinterpretation (Osland & Bird, 2000), helping to increase cultural intelligence.

1.4 Organisational Commitment

Organisational commitment is a psychological construct that encompasses the connection between the employee and organisation (Rashid, Sambasivan & Johari, 2003), with more committed employees aligning themselves to the organisation no matter what the circumstances (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Organisations are beginning to experience the value of organisational commitment, as it can bring many direct business benefits. Organisational commitment leads to improved customer service, which in turn increases customer satisfaction (Malhotra & Mukherjee, 2004), assisting organisations in maintaining and increasing their customer base, as well as increasing creativeness and innovation (Katz & Kahn, 1978). This process allows organisations to therefore stay ahead of competitors. Employees with high organisational commitment are seen to be more committed, demonstrating higher job satisfaction (Benkhoff, 1997), decreased absenteeism (Angle & Perry, 1981), and lower staff turnover (Gregson, 1992). Moreover, organisational commitment can increase employee effectiveness (Laschinger, 2001) which could explain why organisations that score higher on organisational commitment perform better (Riketta, 2002). It has been found that 58% of UK employees consider CSR within the organisation they work for, as important (Dawkins, 2004), particularly within the recruitment of graduates (Scott, 2004 as cited in Brammer, Millington & Rayton, 2007). Employees perception of their organisations’ CSR activities has an impact on organisational commitment (Brammer et al, 2007), with employees who have participated in corporate volunteering programmes having higher organisational commitment (De Gilder et al, 2005). It has therefore been suggested that corporate volunteering could help to improve organisational commitment, which may have been reduced due to other work factors such as; lower pensions & lack of lifelong job (Tuffrey, 2002 as cited in Morgan & Burchell, 2010).

1.5 Work Engagement

"A positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication and absorption" (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004, p. 295) has been defined as work engagement. This state-like characteristic (Tims, Bakker & Xanthopoulou, 2011) is often described as the opposite of burnout (Bosman, Rothmann & Buitendach, 2005). An engaged workforce has higher employee retention (Harter, Schmidt, & Hayes, 2002), increased levels of enthusiasm and energy regarding their work (May, Harter & Gilson, 2004), perhaps explaining why engaged workforces have higher productivity (Harter et al, 2002). Moreover work engagement increases performance (Christian, Garza, & Slaughter, 2011) and proactive behaviour (Sonnentag, 2003). Businesses are beginning to recognise these advantages, identifying that their main competitive advantage is their employees’ talent (Koyuncu, Burke & Fiksenbaum, 2006) rather than technological advances. Therefore an increasing number of businesses are now developing their employee assets, by trying to understand psychological constructs such as engagement (Koyuncu et al, 2006). Through this understanding of work engagement, leaders are able to retain talent whilst ensuring their employees are reaching their potential. Work engagement has been found to positively correlate with organisational commitment (Chalofsky & Krishna, 2009; Demerouti, Bakker, De Jonge, Janssen & Schaufeli, 2001), with it being suggested that work engagement precedes organisational commitment (Jackson, Rothmann & Van de Vijver, 2006); perhaps suggesting that work engagement may play a mediating role. Employees have been found to have higher work engagement when they have taken part in corporate volunteering compared with colleagues who have not participated (de Gilder et al, 2005), with engagement being seen to be sustainable on return to work under certain circumstances (Caligiuri, Mencin & Jiang, 2013). This relationship may be due to former volunteers viewing their employer in a more positive light since engaging in CSR activies (Pajo & Lee, 2011).

1.6 Rationale

Greater empirical evidence is needed to review the outcomes of corporate volunteering (McWilliams & Sigel, 2011) with the majority of the research being conducted at organisational level (Aguinis & Glavas, 2012). Much of the research conducted has been qualitative (Geroy et al, 2000); resulting in a research need for quantitative research on employee outcomes of corporate volunteer programmes. This study will therefore aim to quantitatively investigate corporate volunteering programmes at a volunteer level, reviewing the effect of corporate volunteering on transformational leadership, cultural intelligence, organisational commitment and work engagement. It will also investigate the mediating role of cultural intelligence within the relationship of corporate volunteering and transformational leadership, and the mediating role of work engagement within the relationship of corporate volunteering and organisational commitment. Although all variables have been studied in relation to corporate volunteering the mediating relationships have not been reviewed within this context.

1.7 Hypothesises

H1 – Those who have taken part in corporate volunteering will report higher transformational leadership, cultural intelligence, organisational commitment and work engagement than those who have not taken part.

H2 – Cultural intelligence will mediate the relationship between corporate volunteering and transformational leadership.

H3 – Work engagement will mediate the relationship between corporate volunteering and organisational commitment.

2. Method

2.1 Design

This cross-sectional study was completed using data from a self-report questionnaire survey. Potential participants were contacted via email inquiring whether they would like to complete an online survey.

2.2 Participants

Participants were sourced from GlaxoSmithKline; with around 400 employees who were potential participants receiving an email. A power calculation was completed, 50+8k (Green, 1991) where k is number of predictors, to identify that the study required 114 participants (k = 8 predictors: three covariates (gender, tenure, age), corporate volunteering, transformational leadership, cultural intelligence, organisational commitment, work engagement). The study included 136 participants all of whom were GlaxoSmithKline employees, ages ranged from 20-60 (mean = 39), with no incentive offered. Participants completed the questionnaire within a 7 week period, with 64 participants forming the experimental group identified as GlaxoSmithKline employees who have taken part in a corporate volunteering scheme (PULSE), and 72 participants forming the control group identified as GlaxoSmithKline employees who have not taken part in a corporate volunteering scheme (PULSE).

2.3 Measures

Participants were asked to complete an online questionnaire regarding information on transformational leadership, cultural intelligence, organisational commitment, work engagement and demographic information.

2.3.1 Transformational leadership

An assessment of transformational leadership was calculated using Global Transformational Leadership (GTL) developed by Carless, Wearing and Mann (2000). Responses are scored using a five-point likert scale with the questionnaire containing seven items. A total score was calculated by adding all scores and dividing the total by the number of items within the questionnaire (Carless et al, 2000). The GTL has high reliability and convergent validity with high scores suggesting participants frequently use transformational leadership (Carless et al, 2000). The Cronbach’s α for the present study was 0.87 falling above the cut off 0.7 (Kline, 1999) and therefore the scale was considered to be internally reliable.

2.3.2 Cultural intelligence

An assessment of cultural intelligence was calculated using Cultural Quotient Scale (CQS) (Ang et al, 2007). Responses were scored using a seven-point likert scale with the scale containing 19 items. There are four subscales; metacognitive, cognitive, motivational and behavioural, however an overall score was taken and divided by the total number of items within the questionnaire to get an overall score for cultural intelligence. The scale has been found to have high internal consistency (Ang et al, 2007). The Cronbach’s α for the present study was 0.89 and therefore the scale is considered to be internally reliable.

2.3.3 Organisational commitment

An assessment of organisational commitment was calculated using the British Organizational Commitment Scale (BOCS) (Cook & Wall 1980). Responses were scored using a seven-point likert scale with the questionnaire containing 9 items. A total score was calculated by adding all scores and dividing the total by the number of items within the questionnaire, with three questions being reverse scored (Cook & Wall,1980). The scale has been found to have high reliability (Meyer, Allen & Smith, 1993). The Cronbach’s α for the present study was 0.74 and therefore the scale is considered to be internally reliable.

2.3.4 Work Engagement

An assessment of work engagement was calculated using Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), the short version containing nine items (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2003). Responses were scored using a seven-point likert scale with the questionnaire containing three subscales, dedication, vigour and absorption. A total score was calculated by adding all scores and dividing the total by the number of items within the questionnaire (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2003). The scale has been found to have high internal consistency within the sub-scales, validity and stability (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2003). The Cronbach’s α for the present study was 0.9 therefore the scale is considered to be internally reliable.

2.4 Procedure

GlaxoSmithKline employees who had taken part in the corporate volunteering scheme (PULSE) were contacted via email in order to ask whether they were interested in taking part and in turn provided with the link to the online survey. Employees where then asked to forward the email to 3-4 colleagues in order to collate a control group. Due to a low response from control participants, another email was circulated to employees who had not taken part in PULSE in order to increase the control group. The researcher also visited a GlaxoSmithKline office in London to circulate 50 surveys all with consent forms attached, in total 28 were returned. The data was stored online and was retrieved by the researcher whilst the paper questionnaires were stored in line with ethical procedure. Data collection lasted 7 weeks.

2.5 Ethical considerations

Loughborough University Ethical Committee granted full ethical approval for the current research. Via the initial email, within the online survey and within the paper questionnaires, participants were informed that their participation was voluntary, that they were able to withdraw at anytime and any data collated would be anonymous. No incentives were offered to encourage participation. The study adhered to the Data Protection Act (1998) in line with confidentiality and storage of data.

2.6 Data analysis

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used to analyse the data. Regression assumptions were analysed to assess data suitability for the test. Normal distribution was assessed using histograms and Q-Q plots, with GTL scale being transformed using log square transformation. Outliers were checked using box plots and were replaced with the mean. Tolerance and variance inflation factor (VIF) were applied to check multicolinearity. Homoscedasticity was checked however because of the categorical IV the assumption was violated. Independent errors were checked using Durbin-Watson test. Cook’s distance and Leverage were checked on each regression and all data confirmed with the assumption. An alpha level of 0.05 was adopted in order to reduce the effect of type one errors. Assumptions are shown in appendices 8-12.

Mediation was carried out following the Baron and Kenny (1986) procedure. To identify whether cultural intelligence mediated the relationship between corporate volunteering and leadership development, the following procedure was followed; a) transformational leadership was regressed onto corporate volunteering (appendix 8), b) cultural intelligence was regressed onto corporate volunteering (appendix 9), c) transformational leadership was regressed onto cultural intelligence (appendix 10), and d) leadership development was regressed onto cultural intelligence and corporate volunteering (appendix 11). If mediation occurs steps a – c must be significant and at step d the relationship between corporate volunteering and transformational leadership (when controlling for cultural intelligence) will not be significant. Mediation will be repeated with organisational commitment as the dependant variable and work engagement as the mediator.

ANCOVA assumptions were analysed with normal distribution being assessed using histograms, and outliers assessed using box plots. Homogeneity of regression slopes were assessed using a customised model. However homogeneity of variance and homogeneity of covariance were both violated. As the nonparametric version of ANCOVA is not available, an ANCOVA has been completed but results should be interpreted with caution. Assumptions shown in appendices 3 -7

Four ANCOVAs were used to assess whether corporate volunteering affected transformational leadership, cultural intelligence, organisational commitment and work engagement compared with those that have not taken part.

3. Results

More partipants had not taken part in corporate volunteering (52.9%) compared with those who had (47.1%). The majority of respondents were female (69.1%), male (30.9%) with the majority of the respondents hailing from Europe (69.1%).

Table 1: Participants Demographic Details

N

%

Corporate Volunteering particpation

Yes

64

47.1

No

72

52.9

Gender

Female

94

69.1

Male

42

30.9

Tenure

1 – 5 years

45

33

6 – 10 years

35

25.7

11 – 15 years

22

16.2

16 – 20 years

16

11.8

21 – 25 years

12

8.8

26+ years

6

4.4

Age

20 – 30 years

32

23.5

31 – 40 years

46

33.8

41 – 50 years

32

23.5

51 – 60 years

25

18.4

61 – 65 years

1

0.7

Continent

Europe

94

69.1

North America

26

19.1

South America

3

2.2

Asia

11

8.1

Africa

2

1.5

3.1 ANCOVA

Four ANCOVA’s were run to explore hypothesis 1.

3.1.1 Corporate volunteering and transformational leadership

The main effect of participating in corporate volunteering was significant when controlling for gender (F (1,133) = 17.52, p < .01, w2 = .69) indicating participating in corporate volunteering had an effect on transformational leadership (M = 3.58, SE = .25) after participating in corporate volunteering, compared to not participating in corporate volunteering (M = 5.00, SE = .23). However beta highlights that the relationship between corporate volunteering and transformational leadership was negative (ß = -1.42). The covariant of gender was not significant (F (1,133) = 3.29, p = .07, w2 = .01) indicating gender had no effect on transformational leadership.

3.1.2 Corporate volunteering and cultural intelligence

The main effect of participating in corporate volunteering was significant when controlling for gender (F(1,133) = 27.02, p < .01, w2 = .38) indicating there was an effect of corporate volunteering on cultural intelligence (M = 77.29, SE = 1.36) after participating in corporate volunteering, compared to not participating in corporate volunteering, (M = 67.55, SE = 1.28). With beta highlighting the relationship between corporate volunteering and cultural intelligence was positive (ß = 9.74). The covariate of gender was significant (F (1,133) = 6.15, p < .05, w2 = .03) indicating cultural intelligence differs between males and females.

3.1.3 Corporate volunteering and organisational commitment

The main effect of participating in corporate volunteering was not significant when controlling for gender (F (1,133) = .05, p = .82, w2 = 7.06) indicating that there was no effect of corporate volunteering on organisational commitment (M = 77.60, SE = 1.48) after participating in corporate volunteering, compared to not participating in corporate volunteering (M = 78.07, SE = 1.36). The covariant of gender was not significant (F (1,133) = .00, p = 1.00, w2 = -7.46) indicating gender had no effect on organisational commitment.

3.1.4. Corporate volunteering and work engagement

The main effect of participating in corporate volunteering was not significant when controlling for gender (F (1,133) = .16, p = .70, w2 = -6.19) indicating no effect of corporate volunteering on levels of work engagement (M = 78.55, SE = 1.44) after participating in corporate volunteering, compared to not participating in corporate volunteering (M =79.33, SE = 1.56). The covariate of gender was not significant (F(1,133) = 2.35, p = .128, w2 = 9.87) indicating no difference on work engagement between males and females.

3.2 Mediation

Mediation was performed via regression testing, with three regression equations being completed. Firstly transformational leadership was regressed onto corporate volunteering (table 2) controlling for age, gender and tenure. Corporate volunteering accounts for 16% of the variance in transformational leadership with the relationship being significant (F (4,135) =6.26, p < .01, R2 = .16, ∆R2 = .14). Beta shows the relationship between corporate volunteering and transformational leadership was negative (ß = - .28), highlighting that if participants have taken part in corporate volunteering they will have lower transformational leadership scores. Transformational leadership = 1.17 X Corporate volunteering – 4.50.

Table 2: Result of Transformational Leadership Regressed onto Corporate Volunteering

Corporate Volunteering

Mediator

ß

R2

F

d.f.

Transformational Leadership

-.28*

.16

6.26*

4

Age, gender and tenure were controlled for in all analyses.

* P < 0.01

In the second analysis cultural intelligence was regressed onto corporate volunteering (table 3) controlling for age, gender and tenure. Corporate volunteering accounts for 23.8% of the variance in cultural intelligence, with the relationship being seen to be significant (F (4,135) = 10.22, p < .01, R2= .08, ∆R2 = .22). Beta shows the relationship between corporate volunteering and cultural intelligence was positive (ß = .43), highlighting that if partipants have taken part in corporate volunteering they will have higher cultural intelligence. Cultural intelligence = corporate volunteering – 74.83 – 10.36.

Table 3: Result of Cultural Intelligence Regressed onto Corporate Volunteering

Corporate Volunteering

Mediator

ß

R2

F

d.f.

Cultural Intelligence

.43*

.24

10.22*

4

Age, gender and tenure were controlled for in all analyses.

* P < 0.01

In the third analysis transformational leadership was regressed onto cultural intelligence (table 4) controlling for age, gender and tenure. Cultural intelligence accounts for 19.7% of the variance in transformational leadership, with the relationship being seen as significant (F (4, 135) = 8.01, p< .01). Transformational leadership = cultural intelligence – 9.98 - .056

Table 4: Result of Transformational Leadership Regressed onto Cultural Intelligence

Cultural intelligence

Mediator

ß

R2

F

d.f.

Transformational Leadership

-.32*

.20

8.01*

4

Age, gender and tenure were controlled for in all analyses.

* P < 0.01

As all the relationships investigated were significant, a regression which included the IV, corporate volunteering, the DV, transformational leadership and the mediator, cultural intelligence was run. Mediation has occurred as beta for corporate volunteering was no longer be significant (ß = -.12, p = .09). Transformational leadership = .70 x corporate volunteering - .05 x cultural intelligence – 7.94

Table 5: Result of Transformational Leadership Regressed onto Cultural Intelligence (step one), Result of Transformational Leadership Regressed onto Corporate Volunteering and Cultural Intelligence

Corporate Volunteering

Mediator

ß

R2

R2 change

F

d.f.

Step 1: Leadership development on cultural intelligence

-.32*

.20

8.01*

4

Step 2: Leadership Development on Corporate Volunteering

-.17

.21

.17

7.08*

5

Age, gender and tenure were controlled for in all analyses

* P < 0.01

This procedure was repeated with organisational commitment as the DV and work engagement as the mediator. Organisational commitment was regressed onto corporate volunteering (table 6) with age, gender and tenure controlled for. Corporate volunteering accounted for 2.8% of the variance in organisational commitment with the relationship being non significant (F (4,135) = .94, p = .44). Organisational commitment = 2.43 x corporate volunteering – 73.50.

Table 6: Result of Organisational Commitment Regressed onto Corporate Volunteering

Corporate Volunteering

Mediator

ß

R2

F

d.f.

Organisational Commitment

-2.43

.03

.94

4

Age and tenure were controlled for in all analyses.

Therefore a mediation could not be completed as the assumption that the relationship between the IV, corporate volunteering and DV, organisational commitment is significant, ws violated.

As some of the results were significant a retrospective power analysis was not necessary.

4.Discussion

The present research aims were threefold. Primarily, the aim was to research the relationship between participation in GlaxoSmithKline’s corporate volunteer programme and cultural intelligence, transformational leadership, organisational commitment and work engagement. Secondly, the research aimed to investigate whether cultural intelligence mediated the relationship between corporate volunteering and transformational leadership. Finally, the research aimed to assess whether work engagement mediated the relationship between corporate volunteering and organisational commitment.

Results showed that employees who had taken part in corporate volunteering had significantly higher cultural intelligence compared with employees who had not participated, providing partial support for hypothesis one. This finding contributes to previous literature which suggests corporate volunteering increases cultural intelligence (Marquis & Kanter, 2009; Veleva et al, 2012), advocating corporate volunteering as an effective way to increase cultural intelligence. However as the assumptions for ANCOVA were violated, these finding can only be applied to the current population. Corporate volunteering was found to have no significant effect on organisational commitment, with both volunteers and non-volunteers having high organisational commitment. Although this finding contradicts initial research, which suggests corporate volunteers have higher organisational commitment compared with their counterparts (De Gilder et al, 2005), Turker (2009) found CSR to be positively associated with commitment without consideration of employee participation. Rego et al (2010) suggested employees attribute higher worth to an organisation if it appears to care about the community, ie supporting a corporate volunteer programme, which in turn facilitates higher organsational commitment. Therefore observation of a corporate volunteer programme may be enough to facilitate higher organisational commitment without personal participation. Similarly, participating in corporate volunteering had no significant effect on work engagement, challenging previous literature (de Gilder et al, 2005). However, it has been found that elevated work engagement was only sustainable under certain circumstances, "i.e. when the volunteer felt social support" (Caligiuri, et al, 2013, pg 23). Such circumstances may not have been met during the volunteers’ assignment, resulting in a lack of sustained elevation in work engagement. Moreover on returning to work, previous volunteers may become psychologically detached from work (Lorenz, Gentile & Wehner, 2011) due to preoccupation with previous volunteer work, leading to a reduction in work engagement. Unexpectedly, there was a significant negative relationship between corporate volunteering and transformational leadership, which contradicts much of the initial research suggesting corporate volunteering increases leadership (Vian et al, 2007). Motivation to volunteer has been found to be higher if employees want to improve their leadership skills (Peloza & Hassay, 2006), suggesting that volunteers are less likely to have leadership experience comparable with non-volunteers. This is supported by the observation that corporate volunteering involves withdrawing from occupational responsibilities for a substantial amount of time, something indispensable leaders are often unable to do. Therefore although leadership may increase from base level after volunteering it may not be as high as comparable employees.

Cultural intelligence was found to mediate the relationship between corporate volunteering and transformational leadership, supporting previous research that found cultural intelligence to be an essential part of transformational leadership (Alon & Higgins, 2005; Rockstuhl, Seiler, Ang, Van Dyne & Annen, 2011), although no previous research had reviewed the mediation effect within corporate volunteering. Therefore hypothesis 2 was accepted, contributing to the corporate volunteering research. Work engagement was not found to mediate the relationship, as corporate volunteering did not significantly predict organisational commitment as discussed previously; therefore hypothesis 3 was rejected.

Limitations

Questionnaires were distributed within an organisational setting and involved participant’s attitudes toward the organisation, therefore participants may not have felt able to answer truthfully through fear that management may see the data, even though it was stated as confidential. Moreover the self-report nature of the study may have produced more socially desirable answers than objective data, however all questionnaires had high validity suggesting suitable for use in this manner. Unfortunately within this research, grade could not be controlled for as there was no universal grading system within the organisation. The skills reviewed, transformational leadership and cultural intelligence, would be expected to positively correlate with grade and therefore may have been an important variable within the analysis. It is recommended that this is reviewed in future research. This research only reviewed corporate volunteering within the pharmaceutical industry which has been identified as having an increased link to underserved populations, this may affect the corporate volunteer outcomes observed (Caligiuri, 2013; Wang & Qian, 2011). Therefore further industries should be studied in order to increase the generalisability of results.

Implications and future research

The findings of this research have practical implications suggesting that corporate volunteering is a suitable way of increasing cultural intelligence. With further support for cultural intelligence as a mediator between the relationship of corporate volunteering and transformational leadership, cultural intelligence can be seen as an extremely important variable contributing to successful employees. Therefore organisations should encourage cultural intelligence development in order to build an effective workforce that is able to work in multinational settings. However from this research it is seen that corporate volunteering may not be the most effective way of solely developing transformational leadership.

Future research should continue to review these constructs to establish further support for the relationships, as many findings challenging the original literature. Repeated measure design and longitudinal studies should be implemented to establish cause and effect, with variables not considered in this study, such as grade, being included.

Conclusion

Although this research did not find corporate volunteering to have a significant effect on work engagement and organisational commitment, significant associations were found between corporate volunteering and cultural intelligence, supporting previous research. However, significant results found between corporate volunteering and transformational leadership challenged previous research, due to the direction of the relationship. Significant findings add to the literature and support corporate volunteering, although when compared with other employees it suggests it may not be suitable for increasing all skills. Future research should continue to review these variables in relation to corporate volunteering in further populations, to add support to these findings.

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