A Qualitative Approach towards the Understanding of Managerial Employees in Islamic Organizations

The critique on the failure of Islamic organizations to represent the Islamic nature has been pointed towards employees’ competency in understanding the Islamic concept. Hence, this study seeks to delve into the understanding of the employee in Islamic organizations regarding the concept, implementation and challenges in such organizations by employing the qualitative method. The study involves three Islamic organizations namely Islamic Banking, Takaful and Islamic Property Management Company located in three states of the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia i.e. Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang. Managerial employees from the three organizations were interviewed and the outcomes were triangulated with the experts. The findings show understanding among managerial employees in Islamic organizations is appropriate but there are still more that need to be improved.


A. Introduction
An Islamic organization differs in many aspects compares to its conventional counterpart. Although the philosophy of both management systems seems similar, the practical point of view and its implementations' different (Mansor F, and Tengku Kasim T S A., 2008), have observed the distinguishing features between Islamic and conventional organization (Norkefli J, Mokhtar A I, Aini Z., 2015). The most essential feature is in terms of the basis of the management in the organization. While conventional management system does not take into account the element of faith, the basis of Islamic management system is in the principles of faith. By referring to Al-Qur'an and Sunnah as their foundation of faith, the aims of an Islamic organization are not solely for worldly benefit but also in the Hereafter. According to these concepts make Islamic management systems more comprehensive than other management systems. Islamic management practices can lead organization towards worldly satisfaction and pleasure of Allah (Ab Mumin A G, Basir S A, Mohamed H A., 2012).
The contradiction in organizational objectives makes the conventional management practices are less appropriate to be implemented in an Islamic organization. According to an Islamic organization should practice management based on Islamic values that reflect the organization itself (Tengku Kasim T S, Mansor F., 2007)  worker, in addition to the organizational structure of the organization. In order for organizational objectives to be achieved, it is important for organizational management to align all these factors together (Ismail S., 2009). In regards to this, human capital developments coupled with quality work management are also the major determinant factors for the material and eternal success of Islamic organizations. As good employees know about organizational goals and strive to achieve those goals which eventually bring to organizational success (Mansor F, and Tengku Kasim T S A., 2008).
Adding to the point on employee as the success factor for organizations especially the Islamic organizations (Ghozali M, Kamri N A., 2015), has demonstrated some implications of Islamic personality and professionalism. Apparently, employees who believe in Almighty  action taken by a leader either good or bad will always be an example to his subordinates (Ismail S., 2009). In agreement Tengku Kasim T S, Mansor F (2007), stressed that excellent work culture should be applied to employees at all level in an organization. In the end, the interaction between leader, employee and well-defined systems point toward the culture of excellence in an organization.
Various initiatives have been taken by organizations to promote understanding of Islamic organizational management among employees.
In Islamic organization such as Tabung  introduction, implementation, assessment, preservation and monitoring, as well as continuous improvement. Employees will first be introduced to Islamic work ethics through trainings and courses. Then their compliance to the work ethics will be evaluated and monitored so that continuous improvement can be made to ensure accomplishment of desired outcomes.

C. Method
The study employed qualitative methodology to identify employees' understanding towards the management in Islamic organizations. In-depth study on the perspectives of employees on the concept, implementation and challenges in Islamic organizations was done through qualitative method. Three Islamic organizations from three Managerial employees from the three organizations were interviewed by semi-structured face-to-face technique for one hour in average at their organizations. The data from the interviews were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. The data were also validated through triangulation with expert interview.

Concept
Based on the interview question to identify respondent's perspective of Islamic organizational management, the data collected from the respondents can be classified into several themes as in

Implementation
Respondents were also asked about their perspectives regarding implementation of Islamic management in their organizations. The themes that can be concluded from respondents' feedback are related to application of Islamic values in many aspects of organizational activities as in Table 2. Among the responses, attire is the most frequent aspect   Employee's attire should be decent and cover the aurah as prescribed in Islam.
 Courses and training to provide employees with sufficient awareness and appreciation of Islamic management concept  Ensure no involvement in the element of riba and the like in its entire operation

Challenges
Finally, the feedbacks regarding the challenges in the implementation of Islamic management concept in Islamic organizations are tabulated in Table 3. Table 3.

Summary of themes on challenges in Islamic management concept implementation
Respondents' perspective on the challenges in the implementation of Islamic management concept in Islamic organizations.
 Not much problem to give orders to follow the implementation  But not in terms of consistency and full compliance to the implementation. Some people still lacking in some aspects of the implementation  The importance of having a diplomatic leader and cooperation of the employee Almost all respondents are in agreement that they do not face too much problem. Nevertheless, they do not deny the challenge in ensuring the consistency and full compliance to the Islamic management concept.
The possible reason for that to happen as according to one respondent is due to educational background factor. Some people might not come from  (Ismail S., 2009), such as to provide the suitable environment as well as courses and training (Ghozali M, Kamri N A., 2015;Mansor N, Luqman A., 2012).

D. Conclusion
Due to criticism that has been observed towards the management of Islamic organizations, this study looked in-depth into the understanding of managerial employees in Islamic organizations particularly regarding the concept, implementation and challenge of Islamic management. In conclusion, managerial employees in Islamic organizations seem to have appropriate understanding regarding the management of Islamic organizations. However, improvements are still needed to ensure consistency and utmost compliance of Islamic concept among the employees. Notably, the findings suggested that the empowerment of knowledge among managerial employees need to be more comprehensive. Only through this way all negative perception towards Islamic organizations from the public can be rebutted.

Bibliography
Ab Mumin A G, Basir S A, Mohamed H A. (2012)