The relationship amongst role ambiguity, role conflict, work stress and organizational justice on intention to leave in the context of the insurance sector

Organizational achievement and sustainment of competitive advantage depends critically on employee contribution to success. These contributions can only be maximized when employees exhibit positive organizational behavior. This study examines the relationships between five variables which have a great impact on organizational performance: role ambiguity, role conflict, work stress, organizational justice and intention to leave. Based on survey data obtained from the insurance sector employees, it was determined in this study that role ambiguity and role conflict are positively correlated with the work stress experienced by the employees, and that role ambiguity increases employee intention to leave. Similarly, work stress was found to increase the employees' intention to leave. Findings obtained in this study have further shown that work stress has a mediating role in explaining the effects of role ambiguity and role conflict on intention to leave. Although organizational justice and its main forms, namely, distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice are of great importance to organizational effectiveness and efficiency, study findings did not reveal any moderating influence of role ambiguity and role conflict on the intention to leave. The findings of this study suggest that organizations with managerial understanding and policies to ensure the welfare and happiness of their employees will succeed in decreasing employees' intention to leave and subsequent turnover, thereby achieving sustainable competitive advantage.