Al Tijarah: Vol. 8 No. 1, June 2022 (27-40)
p-ISSN: 2460-4089 e-ISSN: 2528-2948
Available at: http://ejournal.unida.gontor.ac.id/index.php/altijarah

Significant Role of Islamic Work Ethic in Islamic
Banking: A Systematic Literature Review and Direction
for Future Research

Abdu Alifah
Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Management, IPB University
JL. Agatis, Dramaga, Bogor, Indonesia
Email: [email protected]

Anggraini Sukmawati
Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Management, IPB University
JL. Agatis, Dramaga, Bogor, Indonesia
Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Islamic Work Ethic (IWE) showed a significant role in various Islamic institutions, including Islamic
banking. Unfortunately, only a few scholars studied the critical role of IWE in Islamic Banking and how
it affected the whole organization. This study attempted to explore the degree of IWE implementation
and its implications in Islamic banking. We investigated in-depth 22 articles related to IWE in Islamic
banking between 2012-2021 through various reputable journal indexing sites. We concluded that the
implication of IWE in Islamic banking associated with work behavi or/attitude, work outcomes, and
organizational outcomes. IWE implications related to work behavior included organizational citizenship
behavior (OCB), employee attitudes towards organizational change, and auditor's opinion and
behavior. IWE implications re lated to work outcomes included employee job performance,
organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intrinsic motivation. IWE implications related to
organizational outcomes included organizational performance, strategic performance measurement
systems (SPMS), organizational culture, and customer satisfaction. Thus, due to the enormous
implication of IWE in Islamic banking, it's supposed to be integrated with the HR management system,
started from HR planning strategy, HR training & development progr am, performance appraisal
system as well as benefit and compensation. Limitations and directions for future research are
discussed further.

Keywords: Islamic banking; Islamic work ethic; organizational outcome; work behavior; work
outcome

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Alifah & Sukmawati
A. INTRODUCTION
Work ethic is one of the issues that emerged in various fields since it has positive and huge
implications despite it perceived differently in different countries, cultures, organizations, and groups.
In the Islamic context, ethics related to the workplace were introduced by scholars as Islamic work
ethics or IWE. IWE played a vital role, especially in organizations or institutions based on Islamic
values, including Islamic banking. The Thompson Reuters report in 2018 highlighted the importance of
IWE as a reference in constructing the Global Ethical Economy Framework due to its ability to improve
the global Islamic economy, considering IWE focused on ethical and social needs. Rafiki (2019)
reviewed 117 articles indexed by Scopus related to IWE published between 2015 -2019, but found only
nine articles related to Islamic banking. It indicated that researchers and academics are less
interested in exploring IWE in Islamic banking.
However, IWE deserved more portion to be explored due to its comprehensive implication
covering work behavior or attitude, work outcome, and organization outcome. We conducted literature
review through various reputable journal indexing sites between 2012-2021 and found that there were
22 articles related to IWE in the context of Islamic banking which were generally associated with the
implementation and effectiveness of IWE (Ibrahim & Kamri 2017; Melati et al. 2018) and its
implications on employee work behavior included employee citizenship behavior or OCB, employee
attitudes towards change as well as auditors' opinions and behavior (Mohammad et al. 2016 ;
Yuliusdharma et al. 2019; Aslam et al. 2019; Dharma & Ikhsan 2018; Andriyanto 2016; Andriyanto &
Haerudin 2018). Furthermore, we also found the implications of IWE on employee work outcome
included job performance, organizational commitment, job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation (Hayati
& Caniago 2012; Sarmad et al. 2018; Yuliusdharma et al. 2019; Ardhiyyan 2017; Aji 2013; Sari 2019;
Dharma & Ikhsan 2018; Nasution & Rafiki 2019; Gheitani et al. 2019; Soleman et al. 2020; Tufail et
al. 2017) as well as the implications of IWE on organizational outcomes included organizational
performance, strategic performance measurement systems (SPMS), organizational culture and
customer satisfaction (Dewi et al. 2021; Yuliusdharma et al. 2019; Ibrahim & Kamri 2017).
Outside the Islamic banking sector, we also conducted the meta-data analysis. We found that
IWE also empirically has a strong relationship with employee adaptation (Javed et al. 2017), individual
behavior in ethics using computers (Mohamed et al. 2014), innovation capabilities (Farrukh et al.
2015; Wuryanti & Sulistyo 2017), helping behavior, and family-work conflicts (de Clercq, Rahman and
Haq 2017), psychological well-being of employees (Raja et al. 2020) and consumer loyalty (Fikriyah,
Ajib Ridlwan and Suryaningsih 2019) . Besides, IWE were also found to moderate the relationship
between spiritual value and helping behavior (Fikriyah et al. 2019; Murtaza et al. 2016), emotional
violence and leadership practices (Shamsudin, Rahman and Romle 2015) , authentic leadership and
knowledge sharing behavior (Javaid et al. 2018), as well as abusive supervision and employee deviant
behavior in the workplace (Javed et al. 2019).
The empirical studies above indicated the vital role of IWE in organizations or institutions
based on Islamic values. Not only as a guide for the employee to behave in the workplace, but IWE
also impacted the whole organizational system. Hence, IWE in Islamic banking must be inte grated
systematically with the organizational strategy in developing human resources, covering recruitment
and selection processes, training and development programs, employee performance appraisal
system, and benefits and compensation. Therefore, this stu dy is essential to provide a holistic
overview and direction for future research related to IWE, specifically in Islamic banking in the future.

B. LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Conceptualization of Islamic Work Ethic
Islamic system consisted of three fundamental teachings: aqidah or belief in Allah, worship or
devotion to Allah, and morals (Beekun 1996). IWE is a part of morals referred to as a set of moral
principles that distinguished what is right and wrong (Beekun 1996), based on the values in the
Qur'an and Sunnah in the workplace (Ali & Al-Kazemi 2007; Ali & Al-Owaihan 2008; Ali 1988; Arslan
2001). In Islamic teaching, ethics is not limited to a specific moral issue but covers all life dimensions

Al Tijarah 8(1)
29

physically, spiritually, morally, emotionally, and socially (Nasution and Rafiki 2019). Ahmad (2011)
affirmed that ethical principles in Islam included psychological, social, and economic dimensions. Rizk
(2008) argued that, basically, in the Qur'an and other sources of sharia, Islam has many authentic
constructs related to work ethics. Essentially, IWE is often associated with Islamic values, beliefs, and
practices at work (Arslan 2001).
IWE considered work as valuable as worship (Dewi et al. 2021). Ahmad (2011) confirmed that
IWE viewed work as part of worship, an obligation for a Muslim. Hence, Ali (1988) and Yousef (2001)
stated that IWE considered dedication to work as a virtue. In particular field works and professions,
Islam recommended Muslims to prioritize their work instead of establishing the sunnah (Ali & Al-
Owaihan 2008). In IWE perspective, hard work and creativity are regarded as elements associated
with personal achievement and happiness. Besides, IWE also encouraged Muslims to continue
developing their abilities and competencies to avoid laziness (Ali 1988). IWE emphasized the intention
to work (lillahitaala) than on the work itself (Yousef 2001).
IWE showed some similarities and differences with other work ethics, such as Protestant work
ethics (PWE). IWE and PWE, for instance, both encouraged the obligation of hard work, commitment
and dedication to work, as well as work creativity. However, IWE emphasized co ntributing to society
and not only for oneself (Kalemci and Tuzun 2019). Yousef (2001) argued that IWE, unlike PWE,
emphasized avoiding an unethical accumulat ion of wealth and promoting fair competition in work.
Referring to Kalemci & Tuzun (2019), IWE emphasized work as part of devotion to Allah, while other
work ethics tended to be more secular and emphasized on results. IWE believes that w ork should
benefit society and not only for one's interests (Ali 1988). In addition, IWE also emphasized justice
and generosity in the workplace and viewed involvement in economic improvement as an obligation
(Yousef 2001).
In an organizational context, IWE encouraged employees to have confidence in the workplace
and strengthen the business as social responsibility (Ali & Al-Owaihan 2008) through hard work,
commitment, dedication, work creativity, and cooperation (Yousef 2001). In general, IWE can be
defined as a set of behaviors, attitudes (Haroon, et al. 2012), and moral principles that help Muslims
in distinguishing between right and wrong related to work (Beekun 1996), which adopted a spirituality
approach (Rizk 2008) to enhance productivity.

2. Development of Islamic Work Ethic Measurement
Based on the literature study conducted by Usman et al. (2015), he recorded the first IWE
measurement was developed by Ali (1988) with a total of 46 items. Ali (1988) conceptualized IWE
based on values in the Qur'an and Sunnah, which included agreements and promises, consideration
for others, consultation, continuous improvement, cooperation, equality and unity, fairness in
dealings, fairness in wages, hard work, helping others, honesty and justice, humble, patience,
righteous/intention, social order and truth (Nasution and Rafiki 2019). The development of Ali's IWE
measurement was conducted in three stages. First, Ali (1988) reviewed in-depth a literature study
related to the concept of working in Islam. Second, several scholars were asked to review the
concepts compiled to develop a conceptu al framework and formulated scales and items. Third, the
first IWE test was conducted by distributing 250 questionnaires to college students in Arab. Ali's IWE
(1988) measurement used a Likert scale from 1 to 5 points. The validity and reliability are tested
through various kinds of statistical analysis. After further examination and analysis, Ali (1992)
formulated a more concise version of IWE scale consisting of 17 items. Ali's IWE (1992) scale is the
most widely used by researchers and academicians to date (Usman, Shahzad and Khan 2015) .
The concept of Ali's IWE (1988) was further developed more systematically by (Khorsid 2016)
using conventional psychometric methods and tested on 643 university lecturers in Iraq. In this
measurement, Khorsid (2016) re-conceptualized Ali's IWE (1988) scale into four dimensions: work
and society, justice, self-motivation, and work principles. Each of the dimensions consisted of 6 items.
This IWE measurement was conducted in the following steps. First, Khorsid (2016) compared Ali's
IWE (1988) scale, which consists of Arabic and English versions, and translated them into Kurdish.

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Alifah & Sukmawati
Second, a pilot study was conducted on 118 respondents. Third, the instrument was modified and re -
translated into English. Finally, the questionnaire was reexamined on 643 lecturers by dividing two
groups—the first wave involving 321 respondents and the second wave involving 322 respondents. To
examine the scale's validity, Khorsid (2016) conducted a correlation test with several constructs such
as organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and OCB.
Ibrahim & Kamri (2013) from Indonesia and Malaysia developed another version of IWE
measurement as an alternative to the IWE conceptualized by Ali (1988) since it indicated Arab cultural
bias. Besides, Ibrahim & Kamri (2013) also attempted to design a novel IWE measurement specifically
that is not affected by the concept of protestant work ethics (PWE). The IWE concept developed
Ibrahim & Kamri (2013) consisted of 8 dimensions: religiousness, effort, competition, work obligation,
quality/improvement, equality, collectivity, and advantage. This measurement w as designed through
several stages. First, Ibrahim & Kamri (2013) investigated various literature concerning IWE and
several other concepts related to work in the Islamic context holistically. Second, several IWE values
that are considered important are concluded and conceptualized into 18 concepts. Third, the concepts
were divided into eight different dimensions and developed into a measurement scale. Fourth, these
formulated items were selected and validated by 11 experts as part of qualitative validation. Finally,
the measuring instrument was tested quantitatively by conducting a pilot study and several statistical
analyzes. The analysis results show that this new IWE measurement is very reliable and significant,
especially in the Islamic banking sector (Ibrahim & Kamri 2013).
Another measurement of IWE was also developed by Chanzanagh & Akbarnejad (2011) in
Iranian culture to counter the dominant influence of PWE. Chanzanagh & Akbarnejad (2011)
formulated the IWE concept, which consists of 6 dimensions: work intentions, trusteeship, work type ,
work results for Islamic ummah, justice and fairness, and cooperation and collaboration. Chanzanagh
& Akbarnejad (2011) considered that formulation of IWE dimensions is crucial since IWE
conceptualized by Ali (1988) only examined the concepts without defining these dimensions
(Chanzanagh and Akbarnejad 201 1). The formulation of these dimensions was conducted through an
in-depth investigation of various books in Islamic literature related to work and then consulted with
several scholars from the Qom Islamic school, one of the most important centers of Islamic teachings
in the world. The early measurement instrument consisted of 21 items. After conducting several
examinations, there were only 16 items that are considered valid and reliable. This study concluded
the high rate of IWE exhibited by Iranian Muslim Workers, especially those who showed low socio -
economic conditions (Chanzanagh and Akbarnejad 2011) .

Table 1 Conceptual Differentiation of IWE Measurement among Scholars
Ali (1988) & Ali (1992) Khorsid (2016) Ibrahim & Kamri
(2013)
Chanzanagh &
Akbarnejad (2011)
Agreements and promises Work and society Truthfulness Work intentions
Consideration for others Justice Honesty Trusteeship
Consultation Self-Motivation Consultation Work Type
Continuous improvement Work principles Keep promise Work results for
Islamic ummah
Cooperation Fairness and justice Justice and fairness
Equality and unity Trustworthiness Cooperation and
collaboration
Fairness in dealings Patience
Fairness in wages Humbleness
Hard work Generosity
Helping others Dignity
Honesty and justice Friendliness
Humble Professionalism
Patience Punctuality

Al Tijarah 8(1)
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Righteous/intention Cooperation and
collaboration

Social order Self-reliance
Truth Transparency

C. RESEARCH METHOD
We explored in-depth 22 articles related to IWE in Islamic banking between 2012-2021
through various reputable journal indexing sites, including Scopus, Science Direct, Proquest, DOAJ,
Google Scholar, and Garuda Portal. We also found several journals directly from reputable journal
publisher sites such as Emerald, Elsevier, SageP ub, Springer, etc. We used the main keywords
"Islamic Work Ethic" or "Islamic Ethic", and combined them with "Islamic Bank" or "Syaria Bank". In
the early stage, we downloaded 138 articles that were considered relevant to this study. We further
conducted the selection process by reviewing meta-data and left 63 articles. To ensure the articles'
quality, we conducted a second selection process rigorously through the journal's reputation
confirmation. Finally, 22 articles are left, consisting of 10 articles indexed by Web of Science and
Scopus, 8 articles indexed by Sinta (grade 2), 3 journals indexed by EBSCO, and 1 journal indexed
ResearchBib. The detail of the articles is below.

Table 2 List of Articles Related to IWE in Islamic Banking
Author Method Variable related to IWE Country
Hayati and Caniago
(2012)
Quantitative Intrinsic Motivation, Organizational
Commitment, Job Satisfaction, Job
Performance
Indonesia
Mohammad et al.
(2016)
Quantitative OCB, Organizational Justice, Distributive
Justice, Procedural Justice
Malaysia
Ibrahim & Kamri (2017) Quantitative IWE Implementation Indonesia
Tufail et al. (2017) Quantitative Job Satisfaction, Job Performance Pakistan
Sarmad et al. (2018) Quantitative Spiritual Workplace, Inner Life,
Meaningful Work, Employees’
Performance
Pakistan
Dewi et al. (2021) Quantitative Firm Performance, Strategic Performance
Measurement System
Malaysia
Ibrahim & Kamri (2017) Quantitative Consumer Satisfaction Indonesia
Andriyanto and
Haerudin (2018)
Quantitative Job Involvement, Attitude Toward
Change
Indonesia
Manan et al. (2013) Quantitative Organizational Commitment Malaysia
Suryanto (2016) Quantitative Auditors’ Opinions, Auditors’
Professionalism, Dysfunctional Behavior
Indonesia
Andriyanto (2016) Quantitative Attitude Toward Change, Organizational
Commitment
Indonesia
Yuliusdharma et al.
(2019)
Quantitative OCB, Organizational Culture, Employee's
Performance
Indonesia
Aslam et al. (2019) Quantitative OCB Pakistan
Aji (2013) Quantitative Professionalism, Job Performance,
Commitment Organization
Indonesia
Sari (2019) Quantitative Auditor’s Performance, Role Stress
Professional Commitment, Independency
Indonesia
Ridwan (2013) Quantitative Locus Of Control, Job Performance Indonesia

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Alifah & Sukmawati
Ardhiyyan (2017) Quantitative Job Performance, Organizational
Commitment, OCB
Indonesia
Gheitani et al. (2019) Quantitative Job Satisfaction, Organizational
Commitment
Iran
Melati et al. (2018) Qualitative Leadership, Code Of Ethics,
Management, Personal Perspectives,
Ethics Training, Climate, Islamic
Programs, Islamic Branding, And
Customers
Malaysia
Soleman et al. (2020) Quantitative Job Satisfaction, Intention To Leave.
Conversely, Organizational Commitment
Indonesia
Nasution and Rafiki
(2019)
Quantitative Organizational Commitment, Job
Satisfaction
Indonesia
Dharma and Ikhsan
(2018)
Quantitative Work Motivation, Employee Performance
OCB
Indonesia

D. DISCUSSION
1. IWE and Work Behavior
a. Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)
Among others, OCB is the most studied work behavior related to IWE. Studies by Mohammad
et al. (2016); Yuliusdharma et al. (2019); Aslam et al. (2019); Ardhiyyan (2017); and Dharma &
Ikhsan (2018) found that IWE affected employees OCB in Islamic banking. In particular, IWE
constructed organizational culture and individual perception that encouraged employees to work hard,
behave wisely and positively, and optimally contribute to the organization (Aslam et al. 2019).
Ardhiyyan (2017) found that OCB mediated the relationship between IWE and employee performance
through helping behavior, sportsmanship, organizational loyalty, organizational compliance, individual
initiative, civic virtue, and self-development. Yuliusdharma et al. (2019) also found that IWE affected
OCB and subsequently affected organizational culture and employee performance. Yuliusdharma et al.
(2019) argued that IWE in Islamic banking (Indonesia) is formed based on the fundamental values
covering Siddiq, Amanah, Tabligh, and Fatanah that exhibited Islamic organizational culture.
Otherwise, the study by Mohammad et al. (2016) showed that IWE did not moderate the relationship
between organizational justice and employees' OCB at Islamic banks in Malaysia, included both
distributing and procedural justice. According to Mohammad et al. (2016), it is natural since Malaysia
is a country with a high power distance culture that made Muslims in Malaysia tended to accept and
tolerate the unfair distribution of power in their organizations or institutions. However, employees at
Islamic banks in Malaysia also expected their organization to be fair regardless of whether they have a
high or low IWE.

b. Attitude toward Change
Apart from OCB, employees' attitudes towards change also showed some concern in the IWE
discourse. Andriyanto (2016) and Andriyanto & Haerudin (2018) interestingly found that IWE did not
directly affect employee attitudes towards change. However, both studies found th at IWE positively
affected employee attitudes towards change through the mediation of job involvement (Andriyanto
2016) and organizational commitment (Andriyanto and Haerudin 2018) among employees in Islamic
banking. IWE encouraged employees to be more involved with work and organizations since Islamic
teachings perceived work as part of worship and life without hard work as meaningless. Hence,
employees with a high level of IWE likely to be more involved in their work and, finally, impacted their
readiness to accept organizational change (Andriyanto 2016). IWE also indicated a positive effect on
employee organizational commitment, especially in enhancing affective and normative commitment.
Furthermore, employees with a high level of organizational commitment showed readiness for
organizational change (Andriyanto and Haerudin 2018).

Al Tijarah 8(1)
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c. Auditor Behavior and Opinion
As we knew, auditors in the banking sector, including Islamic banking, must be professional
and follow the code of ethics in establishing the audit process. Suryanto (2016) interestingly reviewed
the relationship between IWE with auditors' behavior and opinions on Islamic banking in Indonesia.
Suryanto (2016) found that IWE positively increased auditor precision in providing opinions and
understanding Islamic banking norms, making them more professionally committed. Suryanto (2016)
further examined how auditor professionalism and dysfunctional behavior mediated the relationship
between IWE and auditor opinion. A professional audit is one of the determining factors in providing
an audit opinion. Therefore, increasing IWE would lead to a high level of professionalism and
ultimately prevent fraud among Islamic banking auditors. Simultaneously, Dysfunctional behavio r was
also found to mediate the relationship between IWE and auditor opinion negatively (Suryanto 2016).
Dysfunctional behavior that violated ethics and professionalism would increase the audit opinion bias
and fail to provide an actual situation in the organization so that IWE becomes less effective in
enhancing the precision of the auditor's opinion due to dysfunctional behavior.

2. IWE and Work Outcome
a. Employee Performance
Previous studies found that IWE effectively improved employee performance in Islamic
banking, both directly and indirectly (Hayati & Caniago 2012; Sarmad et al. 2018; Yuliusdharma et al.
2019; Ardhiyyan 2017; Aji 2013; Sari 2019; Dharma & Ikhsan 2018) . Indirectly, IWE and employee
performance were positively mediated by intrinsic motivation (Hayati and Caniago 2012) , job
satisfaction (Hayati and Caniago 2012), organizational citizenship behavior (Yuliusdharma, Nuruddin
and Ikhsan 2019; Ardhiyyan 2017), and organizational commitment (Ardhiyyan 2017). Otherwise,
other studies found that IWE also positively mediates the relationship between professional
commitment (Sari 2019; Aji 2013), organizational commitment (Aji 2013), employee independence
(Sari 2019), and employee performance. Contrary, the study conducted by Sari (2019) found that IWE
did not significantly mediate the relationship between role stress and employee performance. Ridwan
(2013) showed an interesting result that IWE negatively moderated the relationship between locus of
control, both internal and external, and employee performance in Islamic banking (Indonesia). In
other words, IWE can weaken individual performance when viewed from the level of employee locus of
control. According to Ridwan (2013), this is occurred due to the lack of organization in providing
training or socialization related to IWE, so that employees' understanding of IWE is relatively low.
Other studies that showed quite interesting were conducted by Sarmad et al. (2018) in
reviewing the moderating effect of IWE on the relationship bet ween workplace spirituality, which
consists of meaningful work, inner life, and a sense of community, with employee performance in
Islamic banking. Sarmad et al. (2018) found that IWE moderated the relationship between meaningful
work and a sense of community with individual performance. Previous studies also viewed that
religious principles influence employees' perceptions, behaviors, and decisions (Sarmad, Iqbal and Ali
2018). In this case, IWE considered organizational goals as moral obligations and responsibilities that
employees must achieve to increase productivity and performance. Besides, IWE also increased
employee satisfaction, making them more committed and dedicated to work and ultimately covering
each other's shortcomings, increasing cooperation, and achieving better performance. However,
Sarmad et al. (2018) found the moderating effect of IWE in the relationship between the inner life and
individual performance. It is natural since this study did not find a significant relationship between the
inner life and individual performance.
An auditor is one of the most important professions in the banking sectors, including Islamic
banking. Therefore, several studies specifically examined the relationship between IWE and auditor
performance (Aji 2013; Sari 2019). Aji (2013) found that professional and organizational commitment
did not directly affect auditor performance, but was mediated by IWE. In the context of Aji's (2013)
study, IWE exhibited as a full mediator. It is indicated that auditor performance cannot be improved

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Alifah & Sukmawati
by professional commitment or organizational commitment without the mediation of IWE. Partially,
IWE also directly affected the performance of auditors in Islamic banking (Aji 2013).

b. Organizational Commitment
The relationship between IWE and organizational commitment also has been widely studied in
the context of Islamic Banking. Some researchers indicate that IWE directly affected organizational
commitment (Nasution & Rafiki 2019; Gheitani et al. 2019; Manan et al. 2013; Hayati & Caniago
2012) as well as through the mediation of intrinsic motivation (Hayati & Caniago 2012; Gheitani et al.
2019), job satisfaction (Hayati and Caniago 2012). However, in several studies, IWE has been viewed
as a mediator between OCB and employee performance (Ardhiyyan 2017), professional and
organizational commitment and auditor performance (Aji 2013), organizational commitment and
employee attitudes toward change (Andriyanto and Haerudin 2018) . Otherwise, IWE positively
moderated the relationship between organizational commitment and intention to leave or turnover
(Soleman et al. 2020). In other words, the high level of IWE would strengthen the negative effect of
organizational commitment on turnover intentions (Soleman et al. 2020).
The study conducted by Manan et al. (2013) specifically investigated how the components in
IWE affect employees' organizational commitment at Islamic banking in Malaysia. As a result, the IWE
component, which consists of employee hard work, cooperation, honesty, and responsibility,
significantly affected organizational commitment. Therefore, Nasution & Rafiki (2019) said due to the
extensive studies that showed a strong relationship between IWE and organizational commitment, as
well as other work outcomes in the context of Islamic banking, it should no longer make Islamic
banking leaders or managers hesitate to maximize IWE implementation. For instance, IWE should also
be integrated with the recruitment and selection process, training and development program, and
employee benefits and compensation (Gheitani et al. 2019). In spite of that, the implementation of
IWE is also supposed to be understood by all stakeholders comprehensively and carefully (Nasution
and Rafiki 2019).

c. Job Satisfaction
Employees' job satisfaction in Islamic banking is one of the expected work outcomes from IWE
implementation. Hayati & Caniago (2012), Tufail et al., (2017), Gheitani et al., (2019), Soleman et al.,
(2020), Nasution & Rafiki (2019) found that IWE significantly increased employees' job satisfaction.
Meanwhile, Gheitani et al., (2019) show that IWE affected job satisfaction through the mediation of
intrinsic motivation. Tufail et al., (2017) also indicated that IWE moderated the relationship between
challenge stressors and job satisfaction but did not moderate the hindrance stressors and job
satisfaction among Islamic banking employees in Pakistan. In other words, employees with a high
level of IWE would feel more satisfied with their work even in the state of high challenge stressors.
But on the other hand, employees with a high level of hindrance stressors would likely show low job
satisfaction regardless of their level of IWE (Tufail et al. 2017). Furthermore, Soleman et al., (2020)
also found that IWE did not moderate the relationship between job satisfaction and the intention to
leave. It is indicated that the high level of job satisfaction would remain reduced the level of turnover
intention regardless of their level of IWE. In general, employees who considered their work as a virtue
(righteousness) would exhibit a higher level of job satisfaction (Tufail et al. 2017).

d. Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is found as moderating variable in its relation to IWE in Islamic banking
(Gheitani et al., 2019; Hayati & Caniago, 2012). Chen et al., (2013) defined intrinsic motivation as an
inherent tendency to seek new challenges, develop potential, and use competencies to learn and
discover new things. Unfortunately, we found only two studies examining the mediating role of
intrinsic motivation. Gheitani et al., (2019) found intrinsic motivation positively moderated the
relationship between IWE, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Meanwhile, Hayati &
Caniago, (2012) found that intrinsic motivation is positively moderated the relationship between IWE,

Al Tijarah 8(1)
35

organizational commitment, and employee performanc e. Research related to intrinsic motivation and
IWE in Islamic banking is very limited, and therefore further studies are needed.

3. IWE and Organizational Outcome
a. Strategic Performance Measurement System & Organizational Performance
The implications of IWE toward organizational performance in the context of Islamic banking
are scarce. The implication of IWE is more often viewed toward individual performance level (Hayati &
Caniago, 2012; Sarmad et al., 2018; Yuliusdharma et al., 2019; Ardhiyyan, 2017; Aji, 2013; R. S.
Dewi, 2018) instead of organizational performance level (Dewi et al., 2021). However, the study
conducted by Dewi et al., (2021) examined the relationship between IWE, strategic performance
measurement system (SPMS), and organizational performance at Islamic banking in Malaysia. Dewi et
al., (2021) found that IWE significantly affected organizational performance, but SPMS did not show
the same result on organizational performance. However, IWE positively moderated the relationship
between SPMS and organizational performance. In this case, it indicated that employees with a high
level of IWE increased the positive effect of SPMS on organizational performance. Due to the lack of
studies related to IWE and organizational performance, further studies are critically needed.

b. Organizational Culture
To the best of the author's effort in literature searching, only Yuliusdharma et al., (2019)
examined the relationship between IWE and organizational culture at Islamic banking in Aceh,
Indonesia. Yuliusdharma et al., (2019) found that organizational culture and IWE simultaneously and
positively affect OCB and employee performance. Based on study by Yuliusdharma et al., (2019),
Islamic banking in Aceh adopted organizational culture based on the values of Islamic teachings,
which originally are the culture of the Acehnese people. Organizational culture in Islamic banking in
Aceh includes three dimensions: integrity, politeness, and sincerity, which are reflected in the practice
or implementation of IWE. Due to the limited studies, the relationship between IWE and organizational
culture (and its diversity) needed to be further investigated to obtain a comprehensive understanding.

c. Consumer Satisfaction
Not only from an internal perspective, but IWE is also viewed from an external perspective. A
fascinating study was conducted by Ibrahim & Kamri (2017) in reviewing IWE from a customer
satisfaction perspective. The results found IWE that employees represented in daily work operations at
Islamic banks in Aceh, Indonesia, effectively enhanced customer satisfaction. Besides , in Islamic
banking in Aceh, employees exhibited a high level of IWE. Ibrahim & Kamri (2017) also conducted a
comparative study related to customer satisfaction in three different models of Islamic banks in Aceh,
consisting of the Islamic Commercial Bank (ICB), Islamic Business Unit (IBU), and Islamic Rural Bank
(IRB). As a result, customer satisfaction at IRB showed th e highest level of customer satisfaction
compared to ICB and IBU. It is indicated by the differentiation of IWE implementation in each bank.

d. Implementation of IWE in Islamic Banking
Ibrahim & Kamri (2017) conducted a study on how IWE was implemented in Islamic banking.
Ibrahim & Kamri (2017) reviewed the extent to which employees' commitment in implementing IWE in
three different models of Islamic banks in Aceh, Indonesia, which included Islamic Commercial Bank
(ICB), Islamic Business Unit (IBU), and Islamic Rural Bank (IRB). Ibrahim & Kamri (2017) measured
employee commitment in implementing IWE using the total mean score (M) and standard deviation
(SD) on each IWE dimension, included religiousness, effort, competition, work obligation, quality,
collectivity, equality, and benefits (Ibrahim & Kamri, 2017). Overall, the results showed that the
employee has a high commitment to IWE. The highest mean score is found in the dimension of
collectivity, which indicated the most implemented dimension of IWE among employees in Islamic
banking. For instance, in Bank Negara Indonesia Syariah (BNIS), collectivity is part of the
organizational culture.

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Alifah & Sukmawati
Furthermore, Ibrahim & Kamri (2017) found several behaviors that indicated employee
religiousness in Islamic banking in Aceh. First, most employees establishing their daily religious
obligation at the workplace. Second, employees considered work as a part of worship. Third, work is
not only about results but also based on intentions. Meanwhile, equality is viewed on how employees
respected customers and treated them fairly regardless of their social background. Their punctuality,
image, and discipline at work showed their work obligation dim ension. In accordance with that,
employees at Islamic banking also showed sincerity at work. They often do their best, which refers to
the high level of effort dimension. They also perceived that possessing a high income can provide
more beneficiaries to society by establishing zakat, infaq, and charity. Finally, the competition
dimension is viewed from their fair competition in organizations (A. Ibrahim and Kamri 2017).
Through a qualitative-phenomenological approach, Melati et al., (2018) explored determinant
factors that influenced IWE implementation at Islamic banking in Malaysia by ca tegorizing into six
themes, i.e., leadership, code of ethics, management, personal perspectives, ethics training, climate,
Islamic programs, Islamic branding, and customers. Theoretically, Melati et al., (2018) provided a new
and better understanding of how these factors could develop the effectiveness of IWE implementation
in Islamic banking since they covered employees, organization, top -level management, and work
environment perspective. In particular, Melati et al., (2018) found that an ethical leader is the most
essential factor in implementing IWE. In this case, the leaders are not only required to have excellent
ability in operating the organization but also must guide, empower, and motivate employees.
Therefore, the leaders are supposed to reflect and demonstrate IWE's behavior and values in the
workplace and daily interactions with their subordinates.
Melati et al., (2018) also found three novel factors that influenced IWE implementation in
Islamic banking consisted of Islamic programs, Islamic branding, and customers. These new findings
emerged due to the unique characteristics of informants in this study that came from Islamic
organizations (Islamic banking), in which Islamic principles and values are the fundamental
foundation. In addition, the findings also showed that work could not be separated from religion,
especially in Islamic-based organizations, so that Islamic programs are critical in improving IWE
implementation in Islamic banking. In other words, the Islamic program could be a strategy to
internalize and cultivate Islamic values among employees (Melati et al. 2018). However, it is essential
to conduct further research to investigate the three factors above to understand IWE better.

e. Limitations and Directions for Future Research
Every research has limitations, including those involved in this literature study. It is critical to
be noticed in conducting future research related to IWE in Islamic banking. First, the limitations found
concerning the methodology. Several studies were indicated only collecting data from a single source,
possibly increasing the potential bias (Sarmad et al., 2018; Tufail et al., 2017). Future research is
expected to collect data from multiple sources, including employees, supervisors, and top
management, to minimize bias. Most studies are also conducted using a cross -sectional design,
making it difficult to conclude the model of causality between the constructs (Gheitani et al., 2019;
Mohammad et al., 2016). The next researcher can conduct research using longitudinal study designs
or experimental research to ensure better validity of the results and structural model of causality.
Besides, considering that the context in this literature study is Islamic banking, further research is
recommended to conduct comparative studies with conventional banking to see the differentiation
between both.
Several studies also suffered in constructing solid arguments to explain the findings (Dewi et
al., 2021; Aji, 2013; Dharma & Ikhsan, 2018), making it hard to understand of how IWE affected or is
affected by a construct. Future research may consider qualitative or mixed methods approaches to
enrich the theoretical basis of how IWE is perceived by employees in Islamic banking and its
implications. Besides, this qualitative approach is necessary, since to the best of our effort in exploring
the literature, only study by Melati et al., (2018) explored IWE through the qualitative approach.
Otherwise, Melati et al., (2018), the only researcher who studies IWE through a qualitative approach,

Al Tijarah 8(1)
37

suggested further researchers use a mixed -method to increase the validity and reliability of the
findings.
The novel findings related to the factors that influenced IWE implementation in Islamic
banking also need to be explored further. Islamic progr ams, Islamic branding and consumer are
essential factors for Islamic banking to internalize IWE values among employees and apply them in
their daily work. Furthermore, future research can conduct a quantitative approach to obtain more
objective and valid results regarding those factors are significantly determined IWE implementation.
Several variables related to IWE in Islamic banking also need to be re-examined in a different cultural
context. For example, research related to intrinsic motivation is only conducted in Pakistan and
Malaysia. Likewise with organizational performance and organizational culture. Also, future research
can review other constructs related to IWE but have never been established in the context of Islamic
banking, such as employee ad aptability (Javed et al. 2017), innovation capability (Farrukh et al.
2015), family-work conflict (de Clercq et al. 2017), psychological well-being (Raja et al. 2020) as well
as authentic leadership and knowledge sharing behavior (Javaid et al. 2018).
Finally, this literature study also has limitations, and the most important one that ought to be
noticed is the quality of articles. Despite we have tried our best to conduct a rigorous selection by
tracking the article through journals' reputation, several issues are indicated in several articles,
included the absence of information related to research limitations, managerial implications, and weak
argumentations in explaining the findings. Several articles are also written in Indonesian, our
(authors) origin language, had to be involved due to the significant contribution of the article and
limited study related to IWE in Islamic banking in international scope. Finally, due to limited time and
resources in extracting literature, we may miss several essential articles that discuss IWE in the
context of Islamic banking.

E. CONCLUSION
Previous studies have empirically proven that IWE played a significant role in various Islamic
institutions, including Islamic banking. Unfortunately, only a few scholars studied the critical role of
IWE in Islamic Banking and how it affected the whole org anization. This literature study found the
implication of IWE in Islamic banking associated with work behaviour/attitude, work outcomes, and
organizational outcomes. IWE implications related to work behaviour included organizational
citizenship behaviour (OCB), employee attitudes towards organizational change, and auditor's opinion
and behaviour. IWE implications related to work outcomes included employee job performance,
organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intrinsic motivation. IWE implication s related to
organizational outcomes included organizational performance, strategic performance measurement
systems (SPMS), organizational culture, and customer satisfaction.
Several studies have found that IWE implementation in Islamic banking is affected by several
factors, including leadership effectiveness, code of ethics, company management, individual
perspectives, training program related to IWE, company climate that supported IWE, Islamic
programs, Islamic branding, as well as customers. The empirical studies above indicated the vital role
of IWE in organizations or institutions based on Islamic values. Not only as a guide for the employee
to behave in the workplace, but IWE also impacted the whole organizational system. Hence, IWE in
Islamic banking must be integrated systematically with the organizational strategy in developing
human resources, covering recruitment and selection processes, training and development programs,
employee performance appraisal system, and benefits and compensation.

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