Organizational Trust in the Indian Knowledge Organizations

Abstract

Purpose: The primary purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence of Trust in the six Knowledge organizations and how the Trust varies across six Knowledge Organizations on sectoral lines and gender of Knowledge workers from a sample of 204 employees. Design/Methodology/Approach: A questionnaire, containing basic demographic variables and Trust items, has been provided to respondents i.e., to workers and managers spread across various functional groups, and managerial levels from six selected Knowledge organizations operating in different sectors of the Indian economy. A total of 204 fully-filled questionnaires have been received both personally and through emails and digital forms. Data, regarding different aspects of Knowledge Worker and their Trust level, were collected using OCTAPACE questionnaire. Data were statistically treated and analyzed using SPSS software package to obtain results for the stated purpose of the study. Instead of ANOVA, multiple regression analysis was used to cover for unequal sample sizes by using dummy variables. Findings: This research study explores the subjective nature of Organizational Trust as perceived by the Knowledge Workers. The Organizational Trust variable is at the middle level and equivalently prevalent in all the selected six Knowledge Organizations. This paper tries to emphasize the prevalence of the middle level of Trust and the requirement to improve it further. There is no sectoral difference in the level of Organizational Trust in the six Knowledge Organizations. It seems that there is a characteristic of the national level of Trust that is engrained in all the organizations in India. Apart from that, there is a gender difference in the perception of the level of Organizational Trust in the Knowledge organizations and female employees perceive more Trust in organizations than their male counterparts. Research Limitations: This research study was conducted in only six Indian Knowledge Organizations with a sample of 204 Knowledge workers. Hence, its generalizability is limited to other similar contexts. The usual limitations of the questionnaires survey method also apply. Practical Implications: This paper points out the prevalence of Organizational Trust is at the middle level in the knowledge organization and discusses the sectoral and gender variations. It recommends that efforts need to be immediately initiated to improve the Trust factor in the organization because of its linkages across the organizational performances as shown in various literature. Originality/Value: There is a dearth of literature and especially empirical research regarding Trust variable in the Indian context in general as well as Trust variable in the Knowledge organizations in particular. This gap is being filled by this empirical study about the Organizational Trust in Knowledge Organizations in India and their variation across gender and different sectors of the economy in India.