2. Literature Review 2.1 Introduction to the Chapter The set of protocols that have been designed to appreciate the particular performance and achievements of the employees are being addressed as a reward system (Armstrong, 2002). Employees do have different expectations on the regards system in an organization. It is because the rewards have a huge scope and different categories where different employees wich to receive (Pratheepkanth D. , 2021) . The improved quality, as well as the reduction in costs, are the main concerns of any business today. In return for contributing such concerns, employees expecting different rewards from the company (Virginia M, 1995). The collective actions which have been implemented to attract, motivate or retain employees also can be introduced as a reward system (Martono, Khoiruddin, & Wulansari, 2018). Benefits can be divided into two categories in a rewards system. They are through the perspectives of the employee and the employer (Kluvers & Tippet, 2009). On the employee's hand, they will receive the feeling of being connected with the organization and feel valued and respected by the organization. Ironically, these positive thoughts will force the productivity of the employees into higher percentages (Ledford Jr, 2014). Different authors are paying attention to different usages of the rewards system. Teamwork and collaboration were other concerns among them. Through a reward system, it is more convenient to combine individual targets with company goals through teamwork and collaboration. Both individuals and the company are capable of gaining benefits through that ( F, M, & R. B, 2002). The existing employees are capable of communicating the nature as well as the rewards the company is being offered. For future candidates, this feedback is crucial concerning start working on the particular organization (Kowalewski & Phillips, 2013). Employers are also capable of receiving benefits through a rewards system as per the past scholar views on the subject. The employer will be able to attract top and new talents from outside to the company (Caza, McCarter, & Northcraft, 2015). The existence of a good reward system will be communicated throughout the society and this will act as offline promotion for the company (Naresh C., 1998). The impact on the performance management system also has been addressed by past scholars. The rewards system is a different dimension of performance management inside an organization. The rewards further motivate employees to perform better which in the end resulted in a higher output of the organization (Heneman, Fisher, & Dixon, 2001). 2.4 Types of a Reward System The main two categories under the reward system can be introduced as monetary and non-monetary rewards. The first approach will be focused on the monetary rewards. The basic purpose of giving away the monetary rewards to the employee is to get out the excellent job performance from the employees (Aguinis, Joo, & Gottfredson, 2013). The monetary rewards consist of sharing company profit portions, bonuses based on projects, paid vaccinations, commissions, stock buying options, etc. the monetary not just concerned under advantages. It carrying specif disadvantages as well. Most importantly, the employee may not be too concerned about money and related benefits since his expected reward is something else ( SMITH & WALKER, 1993). The next category is non-monetary rewards. This approach is covering a mass scope rather than monetary rewards. The existing non-monetary rewards in the current organizations are workplace flexibility, proper recognition among the employees, extra day off offers, volunteer work opportunities, necessary training opportunities, experimentation opportunities, etc. (Sonawane, 2008). Several benefits attaching to non-monetary rewards. The discussion or idea sharing is more comfortable regarding non-monetary rewards rather than monetary rewards. Apart from that those types of rewards do have an emotional and memorable attachment which the employee may impact in a different way which positively contributed to the organization (Timothy, 2018). 2.5.1 Importance of Employee Motivation Employee motivation is acting a major role in the path to success in the organization. Because motivation is one of the factors that control/ handle the level of commitment of the employee towards the organization. (Minette & Rynes, 2004). Without proper motivation, the company may lose productivity, profitability as well as goal achievement. The focus of the employees should be always on performing the job tasks. However, without any motivation factors, the concentration neither focus of employees will be on the job role (Ghosh & M., 2015). Most importantly, a sufficient motivation process reduces the absence of employees which impacts directly on the company productivity (Sandhya & Kumar, 2011). Based on the developed conceptual framework as explained in figure 2.3, two main independent variables have been identified in alignment to one dependent variable which is employee motivation. Two independent variables are monetary and non-monitory rewards. At the end of the research study, it is expected to identify whether there are significant relationships that exist between those two variables categories. To make the process more objective and clear, four hypothesis statements have been defined in this step of the research study. H1° - There is no relationship between monetary rewards and motivation H1 - There is a relationship between monetary rewards and motivation H2 ° - There is no relationship between non-monetary rewards and motivation H2 - There is a relationship between non-monetary rewards and motivation
Chapter Summary In the chapter of the literature review, an in-detail critical investigation has been conducted through the past scholar view, article contribution towards the scope of the research study. At the beginning of the chapter, different author perspectives have been explained according to the employee rewards systems in the organizations, their implications as well as the categories of the rewards. Importance of having a reward system inside an organization as well the benefits have been addressed under the viewpoints of different authors. The concept of motivation, as well as its importance towards the organization as well as employee and the connection of the motivation and the rewards system, also have been critically evaluated through the usage of different scholarly views. Based on the theoretical explanations, the conceptual framework has been developed which included two independent variables and one dependent variable. By describing the hypothesis statements throughout the conceptual framework, it is expected to indent the relationship among independe3nt and dependent variables. 3. METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction to the Chapter Within the third chapter of Methodology is focusing on explaining and describe the different methods that have been used in the different levels of the process analysis. The purpose of this research is to identify the impact of reward systems on employee motivation in the insurance industry. Therefore, to make the effort a success, different approaches had to follow in the terms of fulfilling the relevant requirements. The whole chapter is being designed based on the concept of Research onion. It is expected to carry on the investigation from the outside to the core of the research onion while providing the important information that relevant to this research study. in more simple terms, the type of research, methods of collecting data, methods of analyzing data, used different materials, and the rationales through the process are being thoroughly investigated and explained. 3.2 Operationalization
Variable
type Variable Theoretical definition Empirical studies
Independent Monetary rewards Monetary rewards are financial rewards given to employees to achieve their goals. (Aguinis, Joo, & Gottfredson, 2013) Non-monetary rewards Non-monetary rewards come as opportunities or tangible gifts. (Sonawane, 2008) Dependent Employee motivation Employee motivation is described as an employee's attitude toward their job. (Mitchell, 1982)
3.3 Philosophy The first layer of the research onion is Philosophy. The definition for this layer can be taken down as the principles that concerned the view of the world through the viewpoint of the research Pranas (Žukauskas, Jolita Vveinhardt, & Andriukaitienė, 2018). Positivism, Realism, Interpretivism, and Pragmatism are the most popular philosophies that are being identified in the terms of research. For this research study, the Philosophy of Positivism is connected because of the participation of the scientific analyses and statistics in the research process (Stokes, 2011). Through the designed questionnaire it is expected to gather the relevant information and further analysis through analytical software. Therefore, the relevant Philosophy for this research study can be identified as Positivism. 3.4 Approaches As explained in figure 1, two approaches are being identified in the second layer. Which are inductive and deductive approaches. In the inductive approach, the observations of the researcher will be prioritized and try to come up with his theories (Roig Vila, 2012). The deductive approach is connected with hypothesis building and testing the statements. In this approach, the researcher will be developing hypothesis statements based on the designed literature review which has been thoroughly studied through the past scholar views, and later on, try to test the hypothesis statements in the defined context (Onwuegbuzie, Frels, Leech, & Collins, 2011). Therefore, this research study is following the deductive approach concerning hypothesis development since the conceptual framework and the association between the variable will be tested through developed hypothesis statements. 3.5 Strategies The selection of the strategies should be based on the selected philosophy, approach as well as the nature of requiring data for the research analysis. According to the research onion, experiments, surveys, case studies, action research, grounded theory, ethnography, and archival research are some of the strategies to follow. Not all the above-mentioned strategies are relevant to deductive (“Social science research: A handbook for students,” 1978). There are strategies of the inductive approach as well. It is necessary to select the most appropriate method based on the information requirements. Therefore, after concerning the nature of this research study, the survey strategy will be selected due to the required data should be gathered from a sample to proceed further. 3.6 Choices Three choices are being available to research the choices. Those three choices are the mono method, mixed-method, and multi-method. The mono method will be only using one method to conduct the research study while the mixed method is using two or more methods to complete the research. the final choice of multi-method will be using different types of methods to conduct more advanced and wider research studies (Hellström, 2011). This layer has an overall impact on the prior explained layers and those above selections are affecting deciding a choice. Therefore, the mono method will be used to conduct the research which is the quantitative method. 3.6.1 Quantitative and Qualitative Data Two types of data are being used in the current research studies and as explained earlier, this research study will be using the quantitative data which has been collected through the distributed questionnaire among the selected sample which will be explained in the next title. Quantitative data can be defined as the value of data in the form of counts or numbers where each data set has a unique numerical value associated with it (McCurdy & Ross, 2018). Different advantages are being attached to the quantitative data. Investigating in-depth analyses, the higher level of accuracy and the less bias level are some of the benefits. Different methods of collecting quantitative data are being identified in the current practical context. Surveys and interviews are the most popular methods, and the surveys are being selected as the method of data collection in this research study. A questionnaire has been developed in advance which has fulfilled all data requirements based on the research questions and objectives. Wide coverage, lower level of cost, fast responses, less pressure on respondents are some of the benefits of this method (Du, Liu, Shen, Zhu, & Xing, 2012). Due to the pandemic situation in Sri Lanka, the questionnaire is being distributed through e emails. 3.7 Time Horizons The time horizon concerns the time frame of the research. how long will it take to complete the research study? based on the answer to these given questions, two-time horizons can be identified in the processes of research studies (Yan & Lin, 2020). They are cross-sectional and longitudinal. If the observations of the data gathering procedure are limited to a single point the relevant time frame would be cross-sectional. Instead, if the data collection process is being expanded over several years or quarters, the relevant time horizon would be longitudinal (Ryan & D’Angelo, 2018). Based on the nature of the process in data collection of this research study, the cross-sectional time horizon is being considered. 3.8 Techniques and Procedures This is the last layer of the research onion and all procedures and the techniques that are supposed to use during the research study development should be decided on this level. First of all the nature of the research study should be decided among the primary and secondary research types. Interviews, questionnaires, reporting, secondary data sources, observations, focus groups, combination research are some of the data collection tools and techniques are in the practice (Bjärkefur, de Andrade, & Daniels, 2020). As explained earlier, the questionnaire has been selected as the data collection tool for this research study. 3.8.1 Primary Data Primary research will directly gather the relevant data from the primary sources and do not using secondary data sources to continue the process. The best advantages of using the primary data for a research study are the validity and the reliability will be at a higher level, the data are being updated and the researcher is capable of using the data the way it is useful (Taber et al., 2020). However, it should mention that the cost of gathering primary data is being higher than using secondary data. The second type of research is secondary research which using data from the sources that are being already collected. Either from annual reports, journal articles, previous research, etc (Canaway et al., 2019). The cost of collecting secondary data is lesser than primary data and more convenient. even though this method is chapters, several drawbacks are being attached such as the low level of update data, incapability of gathering the exact data, which is needed, and the permission and authority issues. However, for this research study, the primary data will be used and the research will be conducted as primary research. 3.9 Research Development It is very important that the identification the population and the sample for the research site. Sri Lankan Insurance Corporation has been identified as the research site for conducting this research study. inside the organizational structure, 462 executive-level employees have been identified as the research population. To find the impact of a reward system on employee motivation in the insurance industry, 50 Executive level employees are selected from different departments randomly as in a representation for the defined population. A simple random sampling method has been using to identify the sample which providing an equal opportunity for every person in the population to get into the sample (Pal, Singh & Solanki, 2019). 3.10 Data Analysis After collecting the data from the sample, the collected data is expected to analyze through the SPSS Analytical Software. Different statistic measures to be taken out from the analyzing process and chapter four will be explained in detail the specific findings that have been appearing during the analyzing procedure. Usage of SPSS analytical software in the research process will derive several benefits. They are the capability of using a small sample and get satisfying results, the forecasting ability of the analytics, etc. It is expected to run the descriptive statistics to identify the maximum, minimum, mean, standard deviation, etc. to have a basic understanding of the nature of collected data (Castleberry & Nolen, 2018). After that, the demographic statistics will be presented. The reliability, validity, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and hypothesis testing also to be done in the analysis part. In the end, it is expected to find the most accurate answer for the research objective while answering the research question that has been developed in advance. 3.11 Reliability and validity Reliability is the degree to which the measure of a construct is consistent or dependable. In other words, if we use this scale to measure the same construct multiple times, do we get pretty much the same result every time, assuming the underlying phenomenon is not changing? An example of an unreliable measurement is people guessing your weight (Cypress, 2017). Quite likely, people will guess differently, the different measures will be inconsistent, and therefore, the “guessing” technique of measurement is unreliable. A more reliable measurement may be to use a weight scale, where you are likely to get the same value every time you step on the scale unless your weight has changed between measurements (Rose & Johnson, 2020). The validity, often called construct validity, refers to the extent to which a measure adequately represents the underlying construct that it is supposed to measure. For instance, is a measure of compassion measuring compassion, and not measuring a different construct such as empathy? Validity can be assessed using theoretical or empirical approaches and should ideally be measured using both approaches (Andrade, 2018). Theoretical assessment of validity focuses on how well the idea of a theoretical construct is translated into or represented in an operational measure. This type of validity is called translational validity (or representational validity) and consists of two subtypes: face and content validity. Translational validity is typically assessed using a panel of expert judges, who rate each item (indicator) on how well they fit the conceptual definition of that construct, and a qualitative technique called Q-sort (Chan & Idris, 2017). An empirical assessment of validity examines how well a given measure relates to one or more external criteria, based on empirical observations. 3.12 Summary The third chapter of methodology is discussing all the techniques, methods are being used during the research process to reach the research objective. According to the research onion, the applications for this research have been explained under each layer. Starting with the philosophy of Positivism, the deductive approach has been mentioned as the relevant approach. Using the survey method, the mono method is being followed through the usage of quantitative data in the collection process. This is cross-sectional research and the data collected from the questionnaire will be analyzed with SPSS analytical software.