Analyzing the Effect of the Senior Management ’ s Support on the Relationship between Factors Affecting and Employees ’ Performance in the Al-Zawiya University of Libya

This study aims to test the influence of the senior management’s support as a moderating variable on the relationship between the independent factors (Training, Empowerment, Motivation and Communication) and the dependent variable (Performance of Employees). (SEM-AMOS) is used to test the impact of the moderating variable. Where it is depended on the method of sampling or analysis of what is known as multiple-groups analysis. The paragraphs of the senior management’s support variable are collected and divided into two groups according to the mean of the total paragraphs. In addition, according to the relative weights given to the paragraphs of the questionnaire, using a fivepoint’s Likert scale: 1= strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. The first group consisted of the grades less than the mean and it is considered as the group which is non-supporters of the existence of support. While the second group consisted of the grades higher than the mean and considered as the group which is a supporter of the existence of support. The study found that the model of study in the presence of the support of the senior management’s is appropriate for the second group and inappropriate in light of the lack of support by the senior management’s support for the first group.


Introduction
pointed out that every organization seeks success especially due to today's competitive environment.Regardless of their size and market, organizations strive to maintain the best employees and acknowledge their important role and influence on the efficiency of such organizations.However, it is important for organizations to establish a strong and positive relationship with the employees and guide then in fulfilling their work tasks and achieving job satisfaction (Fisher, 2012).In achieving such goals and objectives, organizations employ various strategies for competing in highly competitive markets and increasing their performance.Nevertheless, only a few organizations take into consideration human capital as the main asset that can either achieve or fail to achieve such desired success of originations.If not managed properly, humans can cause failure of the organization and high staff turnover (Fisher, 2012).As emphasized by Ran (2009), it is necessary for employers to motivate and enable their employees to achieve a high level of job satisfaction.Yet, development of such job satisfaction and motivation-oriented programs and policies is a time and money-consuming task.It is easy to justify policies related to employees as long as there is understanding of the value of work-related motivation among employers.However, organizations may not be able to achieve their goals and the desired success if there is a lack of job satisfaction and motivation among employees.
There are diverse needs for people which are constantly competing with each other.Such needs are also variable with an individual.Each individual has a different mixture and strength of needs, and while some people may strive for achievement, others may focus on security.It is argued that managers'/ supervisors' understanding, prediction, and control of employees' behavior will enable them to have better knowledge of what their employees want from their jobs.Therefore, managers'/ supervisors' understanding of what and how to motivate their employees rather than assuming this becomes a matter of importance (Gurland & Lam, 2008).It is also indicated that top management plays an important role in fulfilling synergy between the activities and operations of the organization.This is because of the importance of top management as a source for achieving organizational goals.It is also responsible for the understanding of the organizational principles and values of its employees.It generates synergy and compatibility between them (Manna, 2012;Turban, 2010, p. 236).With the speedy technological advances and information technology today, the structure of organizations appears to have a crucial role in the success of the various organizations (Chen, 2007).However, this demands to develop and establishing an effective organizational structure which is capable of providing the necessary conditions for achieving the organizational goals and success, satisfying employees' needs, empowering them or making them autonomous and motivating them to be initiative and creative (Ifinedo, 2007).Such empowerment of employees is expected to make them active participants and contributors to the goals and success of organizations since it coordinates and integrates employees at the individual and group levels.It also assists in achieving synergy and consistency and creates the conditions that are necessary for active participation self-fulfillment and accomplishment.This also enables employees to feel a strong sense of belonging to and feel committed to their organizations (Wiengarten et al., 2013).The support of top management to employees is regarded as an important and critical issue to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage.The role of top management is constantly recognized in identification and exploitation of opportunities and in the process of making decisions that affect innovation, thus adding value to the businesses (Elenkov et al., 2005;Ireland & Hitt, 1999;Finkelstein & Hambrick, 1996).Previous researchers have paid considerable attention to the top management-innovation interaction (West et al., 2003;Kim et al., 2012;Sharma & Rai, 2003).Results of many previous related studies are indicative of the positive impact of top management on innovation.Moreover, such studies reported that innovation is positively related or correlated with organizational performance (Bowen & Steel 2010;Ryan & Tipu, 2013).Yet, in the context of developing countries, top management is still challenged by the dynamics of working conditions, and innovation is still needed as a means that can contribute to achieving a sustainable competitive advantage for survival in the market (Perry-Smith, 2006;Puranam et al., 2006).Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the role of the support of Senior Management in reinforcing the relationship among these variables: Training, Empowerment, Motivation, Communication, and Performance of Employees.

Issue
Although Top management plays an important role in enhancing the performance of employees, and making decisions that enhance the creation and execution of knowledge successfully (Van de Ven, 1993;Storey, 2000;Aragón-Correa et al., 2007) and organizations, many organizations in developing countries such as Libya do not pay much attention to human resource management in order to ensure such effective performance of their employees.There is little-related research on human resource management in Arab countries in general and Libya particular in comparison to the wide number of researches in Europe, America, and different parts of Asian continents (Esmael, 2016).Moreover, these few studies in the Libyan context focused their investigation on factors affecting the Employees' Performance at work place such as Training, Empowerment, Motivation, communication while ignoring the importance of as far as the authors of this study are aware, there are no empirical studies examining the Libya investigating the moderating effect of senior management, which is the subject of this study.In order to bridge the above-mentioned gap in previous research.

The Objective of the Study
There are two purposes of this research.First, is aim to provide a better understanding of the factors that will affect the employee performance in the Al-Zawiya University of Libya.Secondly is to investigate the moderating effect of the senior management between Training, Empowerment, Motivation, communication and employees' performance.

Significance of the Study
The purpose of this study is to investigate on factors that affecting employee performance in the Al-Zawiya University of Libya and especially in the presence of support from senior management.in These days, University administration should concern about the factors that affecting employee performance due to it will affect the entire organization as well, a successful organization is regarding on how an employee perform their job, and what factor will affect an employee performance in the organization.

Employees' Performance
As defined by Brown (2008), performance refers to how a given individual performs certain tasks and how he/she views such task completion.In addition, Hersen (2004) defined it from a different perspective that takes into account quantifying employee's work-related output or outcomes, including a number of sales, numbers sold as well his/her behavioral dimension, such as work-oriented communication, making decisions and skills for solving problems.According to Baldwin (2008), job performance is defined as a process of making actions in an efficient and effective manner in order to achieve the goals of the job.This means that employees, in performing their work, employ their abilities, skills, capabilities, previous experience and knowledge to carry out the task demanded or requested by their subordinate in effectively and efficiently (Kirkpatrick, 2006).

Training and Development
In the field of human resource management, training is recognized as an important domain that focuses on how to foster the organizational activity through empowering employees at the individual and group levels in a given organization to achieve better performance.Previous research highlighted several labels used for training, including employee development, human resource development, and learning and development (Harrison, 2005).In terms of defining it, training is a process that aims at changing individuals' knowledge, skills, attitudes, and/or behavior (De Cenzo & Robbins, 1998).This definition underlies the role of training in designing and supporting learning activities which lead to achieving the desired level of performance.On the other hand, development is a concept which typically portrays the growth at the long run, constant learning and directing attention more on the potential needs of individuals in the future.Thus, whereas the focus of training is the duties or responsibilities of a given job, the focus of development is on the future job responsibilities.Although the two concepts are distinguished from each other, sometimes they are used interchangeably, and even they are given one label as performance consulting that places an emphasis on either the outcome of training and development or on the way humans perform a given task as a result of their learning (Robinson, 1995).In brief, training can be defined as an educational process that aims at empowering humans with new information, enabling them to re-learn and reinforce existing knowledge and skills, and most importantly, making them able to think of new ideas and alternatives as to enhance their work performance.Efficient training provides employees with current, related and valuable information that assists them on what and how to develop their skills and behaviors which, in turns, will benefit their workplace (Montana & Charnov, 2000).
Creating a positive long-term impact on employees is the main aim of training.In other words, training aims to create certain actions and promote trainees' sense of commitment through the integration of what they have learnt in the training into their work.Thus, training can be provided for the purpose of developing skills of individuals and groups.Generally, the process of training encompasses what and how to present and learn, especially content as a way to enable trainees to enhance their skills and behaviors pertinent to their work (Karlan & Valdivia, 2011).It reflects what informal efforts constantly made by organizations to enhance employees' performance and self-fulfillment using various educational methods and programmes.In the modern workplace, such training is introduced in the form of many practical applications that vary from instruction in highly specific job skills to long-term professional development.Recently, training and development have emerged as a function of formal business, an integral element of strategy, and a recognized profession that is framed or grounded on distinct theories and methodologies

Empowerment
Originally, the term of empowerment means authorizing or giving (Tulloch, 1993).In discussing its meaning, Wallach & Mueller, (2006) concluded that empowerment means enabling employees or providing them with the power to take decisions and rendering them responsible for the results.In addition, Besides, Boehm, A., & Staples (2002) claimed that, with proper training, power makes transformation of control and conversion of the entire organization or firm into a model for empowerment model.Through empowerment, entrusted employees can access a certain degree of authority and become able to take decisions in accomplishing their work tasks.In other words, such employees become somehow free to employ any methods or ideas that they see efficient in completing tasks.Many previous related studies concluded that as a well-known managerial concept, empowerment of employees plays a potential role in providing several benefits, including promoting their organizational performance, strengthening their task commitment, creating among them higher levels of initiative in taking roles and responsibilities, providing them with opportunities for more innovation and learning, enabling them to be highly satisfied with their work and fostering the organization culture (Michal, 2011).

Motivation
In defining motivation, DeCenzo and Robbins (1996) stated that it is the individual's desire or willingness to perform a given task and the ability to meet some needs under certain conditions.Regardless of the size, today, many organizations or enterprises in different sectors are widely engaged in practicing employees' motivation.This indicates that such enterprises are highly aware of the role of motivating their employees in achieving the desired organizational goals.Thus, those motivated employees who are self-satisfied, self-fulfilled and  , 2009;Chahine & Goergen, 2013;Agbim et al., 2013).According to other researchers, the support of top management support is a key element in affecting adoption of innovative activities in organizations (Elenkov et al., 2005;Makri & Scandura, 2010;Denti, 2012;Kim et al., 2012;Hoang et al., 2009;Al-Refaie et al., 2011).In this study, the following research hypotheses are relevant to senior management's support variable as displayed in Figure 1.

Hypotheses
6.1 Supportive Senior Management reinforces the relationship between Training and Employees' Performance in the Al-Zawiya University of Libya.

Supportive Senior Management reinforces the relationship between Empowerment and Employees'
Performance in the Al-Zawiya University of Libya.

Supportive Senior Management reinforces the relationship between Motivation and Employees' Performance
in the Al-Zawiya University of Libya.

Supportive Senior Management reinforces the relationship between Communication and Employees'
Performance in the Al-Zawiya University of Libya.

Data Collection and Sampling Design
A questionnaire was used to acquire empirical data related to each of the study variables.The questionnaire was distributed to Employees in the Al-Zawiya University of Libya.Total of (500) questionnaires were distributed.
(407) questionnaires were returned, of which (361) were valid, which represents 72.2% response rate.The data was collected over a period of time from (January to April 2016).

Research Design
The present study used a quantitative research design, specifically the descriptive survey design.This is because such design accurately and objectively describes the characteristics of a situation or phenomenon being investigated in a given study.It provides a description of the variables in a particular situation and, sometimes, the relationship among these variables rather than focusing on the cause-and-effect relationships (Johnson & Christensen, 2012:366).Thus, this study used a questionnaire which was developed from previous research in order to measure the relationships among the investigated variables.As an approach to the easy collection of data, the survey used in this study encompasses six main Variables: Training, Empowerment, Motivation, Communication, Performance of Employees, and Senior Management's Support.These Variables were adopted from the literature review of previous related research from these studies (Tavitiyaman, 1996;Ronah, 2015;Chng et al., 2014;Njambi, 2014;Yasir, 2011;Neelam et al., 2014).Thus, the entire survey used in this study comprises 24 items which had to be responded to by the respondents using a five-point's Likert scale: 1= strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree.Before distributing the survey to the participants, it was translated into Arabic because the participants cannot read in English.

Model Fit
The fit of the measurement model was assessed using the following statistics and indices: Chi-square (2), the ratio of the Chi-square to the degrees of freedom (DF), Goodness-of-fit index (CFI), Root-mean-square residual and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSEA).Chi-square/df values less than or equals 3 indicates a good model fit, and between 2.0 and 5.0 is acceptable level (Hair et al., 2010;Schumacker and Lomax, 2004).CFI values should be greater than 0.9 (Wang & Wang, 2012;Hair et al., 2010).RMSEA values less than 0.10 indicate good fit (Devaraj et al., 2002).The goodness of fit indices of the measurement model is presented in (table 3); according to these results we can infer that the measurement model was reasonably fitted to the data set.

Reliability and Construct Validity
According to Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson (2010) the employment of factor loading composite reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE) to determine the convergent validity if it equals to or greater than 0.5 (≥0.5) and the composite reliability equals to or greater than 0.6 (≥0.6) if were recommended by Sekaran and Bougie, (2010).Also, (AVE) reading values should be greater than 0.5 (≥0.5) (Fornel & Larker, 1981).

Analyzing the Impact of the Senior Management's Support
In this study the hypotheses moderating variable (Senior Management's support) by using (Multiple-Groups analysis by Amos) method and through structural equation modeling.Where the respondents' answers will be divided into two groups (the first group is not a supporter of the support, the second group is a supporter of the support) depending on the mean of the total paragraphs and according to the weights given to the paragraphs of the questionnaire.The comparison between the indicators of the Conceptual model it by using the group which is not supporter of the Senior Management's support (first group) and the indicators of the Conceptual model it by using the group which is supporter of the Senior Management's support (second group).If there are differences in the values of these indicators between the two groups, it indicates the presence of the influence of the variable of the Senior Management's support on the tracks, and relationships between factors affecting and performance of employees.

Descriptive Statistics for the Senior Management's Support as Moderating Variable
The mean of the Senior Management's support variable was (60.2770) with a standard deviation of (12.756), and the minimum was ( 26) and the top end (78).Depending on the mean as a key factor and taking into consideration the distribution of the sample, the sample is divided into two groups.The first group is not supporter of the senior management's support which is from ( 26) to ( 61) and numbered 130 and by (36%), while the second group is supporter of the senior management's support which is from ( 62) to ( 78) and numbered 231 and by (64%), as shown in table (1).We conclude that there is a rapprochement between the two groups.The first group (low-group) consisted of the grades less than the mean and it is considered as the group which is not a supporter of the existence of support.While the second group (high-group) consisted of the grades higher than the mean and considered as the group which is a supporter of the existence of support.It is happened according to the weights given for the paragraphs of the questionnaire strongly agree (5), agree (4), neutral (3), disagree (2), Strongly Disagree (1).

Construct Validity and Reliability of the Senior Management's Support
The results of the goodness-of-fit of the final revised of the senior management's support model showed that normed chi-square (CMIN/DF) was (3.311) the CFI was (0.975) and RMSEA was (0.080).In addition to the lodging for the parameters factor ranged from 0.61 to 0.91, with all parameters were above 0.5 (≥0.5).The reliability was greater than 0.7 (≥0.7), it ranged from 0. 943 to 0. 953, the (AVE) reading was 0.62 where the value was greater than 0.5 (≥0.5).Consequently, all results fulfilled the (AVE), and the reliability discriminant validity of the model.In general, the measurement model of the senior management's support model was fit and fulfilled the construct as depicted in Table (2).Figure (2) shows the adequacy of the final revised of the senior management's support.ty was greater 0.67 where th discriminant v ng variable wa ity and Reliabi Relia 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 ent 0.9 ent 0.9   4) reveals that the indicators of the Conceptual model for the first group which is the not supporter of the senior management's support and it did not correspond the specified criteria.And the value of the (CFI) was (0. 892) which was less than the value of the test (0.90) and this assures that the group which does not support the senior management's support did not correspond with the model.And the value of (RMSEA) was (0. 892) and big than the standard test (0.080).In the same table, it is clear that the indicators of the Conceptual model for the second group which supports the senior management's support and it correspond the specified criteria.And the value of (CFI) was (0.927) which was higher than the value of the test (0.90).The value of the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) was (0.0730) and less than the standard test (0.080).Based on the data in Table ( 4), there are differences between the two models in the (CFI) which was (0.035) and it was larger of the specified standard (0.01).As well as the differences between the two models in (RMSEA) index was (0.016) which exceeded the benchmark (0.015) (Barbara, 2010).This confirms the existence of differences in the model of the Conceptual model between the first and second group.Also, this indicates that the model of the Conceptual model was very appropriate for the second group (the supporter of the senior management's support).But the result of the first group (not a supporter of the senior management's support) was inappropriate for the model.This assures that the relationship between the independent factors model (Training, Empowerment, Motivation and Communication) and the dependent factor (Performance of Employees) are better in the supporter group than the non-supporter group, and we can test the hypotheses of the study. ass.ccsenet.

(H3) Performan
Results ar employees -0.6251) a better in th indicative manageme

(H4): Performan
The Fourt relationshi other word values of t   al., 2009).Hence, the availability of support of top management enables organizations to adapt to environmental factors, constraints, and take an advantage of the available opportunities.As an important key element for the long-term existence of organizations, innovation requires careful selection of directors who have characteristics of good leadership.Moreover, managers should be well trained on what and how to how to adopt effective methods of management and leadership while taking into account managers' salaries.This is because as highlighted in previous research, rewarding top management is important in fostering innovation and supporting such innovational efforts in managing their companies (Makri et al., 2006;Makri, and Scandura, 2010).Based on the results of the study, top management is an important key in innovation generation or creation since it offers an appropriate environment and facilitates accurate decisions that enhance the generation and application of knowledge.The needs for innovation assist individuals in the organization to make efforts in better learning of new knowledge through continuous engagement in teamwork.The present study provided evidence of the important role of the synergy between top management and employees in making the organization more adaptable.Senior management's support has a significant role in easing the processes of communication and coordination processes between different functions in organizations, thus achieving the benefits at the organizational and individual levels.It also results in changing individuals' (administrators and employees) lives for better.However, training employees for the purpose of improving their knowledge, skills, and experience becomes necessary.In addition, top management should support productivity by providing a new working environment and encouraging work atmosphere for employees.Organizational structures which are less formal and less cartelized provide employees with the opportunity to be innovative and creative in their work (Chen, 2007).Senior Management's Support also assists both organizations and individuals to pursue their survival and be updated with the latest knowledge and development around them.The study contributes to earlier research through the tool for measuring the impact of top management support through the relationship between senior management and employees on innovation in developing countries.This will hopefully be valuable for future research in this research area.Another contribution of the present study is the evidence that supports the role of the supportive senior management in reinforcing the relationship among these factors: training, empowerment, motivation, and communication and performance of employees.These results can be also useful and significant for managers of the Libyan organizations.For instance, this study is expected to make organizations abler to offer the public innovative products or services, or enhances employees' performance, thus promoting their innovative thinking and creating a learning base for innovative ideas.However, the limitation of the current study is the study sample since it was carried out only in one university in a Libyan city.

Figure
Figure 2. C and Reliability hat the correlat rrelation betwe least (0.50).I tor loadings or rlying factors loadings or p cation) and its del.Moreover, her than (1.964 r than (1.964), ns or relations b Figure 3. (Stru than 0.7 (≥0.7 he value was g validity of the m as fit and fulfil ility of the Con

Table 1 .
Descriptive statistics for the moderating variable (the senior management's support)

Table 2 .
Construct Validity and Reliability of the senior management's support model S.E.Standard Error, C.R.: Critical Ratio, P: Probability, SMC: Squared Multiple Correlations.AVE: Average Variance Extracted ass.ccsenet.

Table 4 .
The Values of the Indicators of the Correspondence the Conceptual model between the two Groups (supporter of the senior management's support, not supporter of the senior management's support)