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A Moderated Mediation Analysis of Supportive Work Environment, Motivation to Transfer and Training Transfer in the Small and Medium Retail Firms in Saudi Arabia

Article Details

Pub. Date	: Jun' 2019
Product Name	: The IUP Journal of Business Strategy
Product Type	: Article
Product Code	: IJBS11906
Author Name	: Siddhartha S Brahma and Haimanti Chakraborty
Availability	: YES
Subject/Domain	: Management
Download Format	: PDF Format
No. of Pages	: 21

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Abstract

This study examined how motivation to transfer mediated the relationship between supportive work environment (supervisor support and peer support) and transfer of training. Furthermore, the role of job involvement as a moderator was also explored in the mediated model. Based on a sample of 221 individuals of 30 firms from the retail consumer goods industry of Saudi Arabia, it was found that motivation to transfer fully mediated the relationship between supervisor support and training transfer. But the relationship between peer support and training transfer was partially mediated by motivation to transfer. The moderated mediation analysis showed that motivation to transfer mediated the relationship between supportive work environment (both supervisor and peer support) and training transfer only among individuals with high job involvement. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings were then discussed.

Description

Corporate houses invest in training programs in order to increase the knowledge and skills of their employees. However, questions are raised whether the investment in training improves the performance of the organizations. In this respect, scholars have identified that effectiveness of training ultimately depends on whether the learned outcomes are used in the workplace (Salas and Cannon, 2001). Transfer of training has, therefore, become a major research theme in the training literature. The recent reviews (Burke and Hutchins, 2007; Cheng and Hampson, 2008; Grossman and Salas, 2011; and Tonhäuser and Büker, 2016) provided the evidence of various antecedents of training transfer. The extant review of literature also identified that these factors can be classified under three broad headings of individual characteristics, training designs and work environment. Under the individual characteristics, cognitive ability, self-efficacy, personality traits and trainee’s motivation dominated the research theme. Studies that dealt with work environment tried to link contextual factors with training transfer.