Trust in immediate supervisor, trust in top management, organizational trust precursors: Predictors of organizational effectiveness

The quantitative correlational research study addressed the problem of a lack of knowledge on the predictive nature or strength of the independent variables; trust in immediate supervisor, trust in top management, and organizational trust precursors for producing organizational effectiveness (OE) that can also lead to a sustainable competitive advantage. The study was conducted on a research division of a federal government agency via electronic survey format. The study revealed that in addition to significant and positive correlations among the trust and OE variables, the results of a multiple regression analysis for the model as a whole showed an adjusted R2 value of .6630, indicating that 66.3% of the variation in the dependent variable, OE, was explained by the independent variables. An F-value of 134.8, significant at the .05 level (p-value < .0001), indicated that the overall regression model was a good fit. All three levels of trust experienced by subordinate employees were positive and significant predictors of OE. Hierarchical multiple regression also showed that organizational trust precursors (Ba = .379, βb = .573, t-value = 8.310, and p-value < .0001), and not trust in top management (Ba = .096, βb = .128, t-value = 1.970, and p-value = .0508) or trust in immediate supervisor (B a = .120, βb = .245, t-value = 5.370, and p-value < .0001) was a stronger positive predictor of OE. Managers and supervisors will be able to gain practical knowledge that will aid in positive and productive interactions with subordinate employees within organizations