Theoretical implications

The first main contribution of this study is the development of an improved IWE scale. To the best of my knowledge this study is the first to develop the IWE using a systematic way based on Hinkin’s (1995) approach. Four dimensions were generated namely Work and Society, Justice, Self-Motivation and Work Principles. The new IWE scale consists of 24 items and each dimension contains six items. These four dimensions are consistent with literature of IWE and its two main resources (Quran and teachings of the Prophet (PBUH)). The original scale of IWE was developed by Ali (1988) who surveyed around 250 Arab students at five major universities in the USA. However, instead of surveying only the Arab students, other non- Arab Muslim students should have been surveyed as Arabs are around 300 Million out of 1,500 million of all Muslims and account only for 15 per cent of Muslims who are mainly dwelling in the Middle East and it is important to differentiate between Islamic codes and Arab culture (Beekun & Badawi, 2005). The original scale (Ali, 1988) has two versions, the long one with 46 items and the short version with 17 items. Long scales are problematic which may lead to

respondent fatigue and biases and decreased response rates, and they also influence content and construct validity (Converse & Presser, 1986; Cronbach & Meehl, 1955; Roznowski, 1989; Wimmer & Dominick, 2006). Ali’s (1988) scale is supposedly unidimensional which is inconsistent with the literature and nature of the IWE as a multidimensional construct. The majority of previous studies have used the short version (17 items) which may not represent all aspects of the scale. Accordingly, development of the new IWE scale was one of the main aims of this study and the scale can be differentiated from the original (Ali, 1988) as being a modern, shorter, multidimensional and balanced scale. The stages of item generation involved the comparison of the English and Arabic versions of the original scale and then translated to the Kurdish in which some items did not make sense and were not consistent when compared to the Arabic and the original English versions.

Researchers can use this scale in further studies on IWE in different contexts. This study is one of few empirical studies to examine the empirical implications of IWE on attitudes and behaviour in the Kurdish-Islamic workplace setting. This study is also the first to link principles of IWE to social exchange theory in the Kurdistan context. Accordingly, employee perceptions of fairness and adopting a participative management approaches by letting subordinates speak out are consistent with what is emphasised by IWE.

The second main contribution of this study is testing the new IWE scale in an Islamic context in relation to the influence of religiosity at work and the findings indicate that in an Islamic context, IWE is a more powerful predictor of OCB than affective commitment and job satisfaction. Islamic work ethic appears to moderate the relationship between continuance commitment with job satisfaction and citizenship behaviour. This further confirms that religion (Islam) has a considerable impact on all aspects of Muslim life (Askari & Taghavi, 2005; Esposito, 2005; Parboteeah et al., 2009).

The findings differ from those commonly found in America and European contexts and this can be attributed to the presence of Islam. For instance, traditionally, the association between continuance commitment with job satisfaction and citizenship behaviour is negative. However, with the presence of IWE, it exerts an influence on these associations and turn it to positive and there was no relationship with job satisfaction which is unusual. The findings indicate the positive influence of IWE on attitudes and behaviour of employees. Likewise, the positive association between CC and IWE is another unusual finding and can be explained by the contextual consideration of employees’ perceptions or understanding of continuance

commitment is different from their peers in non-Muslim contexts. Accordingly, continuance commitment is not necessarily considered as a negative form of commitment in an Islamic- Kurdish workplace nor is it particularly problematic in the presence of IWE. This may indicate the possibility of melting the influence of CC and part of NC into AC which was the strongest component of commitment or simply that CC is of no importance and its influence is minimised in the presence of IWE.

This study contributes to theoretical aspects of social exchange theory in which exchanges in religious contexts are accompanied by high levels of risk and uncertainties whereas, within Islamic contexts social exchange relationships occur with high levels of certainty and trust because believing in the oneness of God is the core of Islamic faith which all Muslims believe in. Accordingly, when a recipient of exchanges is fully confident and trust is established, exchanges with God will occur and increase due to the belief that individuals will receive what they deserve in return for their exchanges with God (Allah). This study contributes and enriches our insight into the literature of IWE particularly the empirical literature since studies on work ethics are conducted in Western and American contexts and the majority of work on IWE is theoretical rather than empirical. Findings also revealed that IWE was positively related to AC and job satisfaction and it was the strongest predictor of citizenship behaviour compared to job satisfaction and affective commitment.

Most organisational behaviour research ignores individual religious beliefs and influences. In other words, the impact of religiosity and spirituality on individual attitudes and behaviour in the workplace is completely overlooked (Ali et al., 1995; Borstorff & Arlington, 2011; Syed & Metcalfe, 2014, 2015). This study further confirms the importance and influence of religion on attitudes and behaviour of people particularly in the workplace and where such an important factor is ignored (Spilka et al., 2003; Weaver & Agle, 2002). This study contributes by raising the issue of not considering the role and importance of religiosity and spirituality components in the workplace and not considering the material factors that can influence or motive people. Indeed some people are motivated by religiosity and spirituality rather than the material aspects. This study does not assess individual levels of religiosity but does evaluate the extent to which they are affected by religion (Islam).