Aizzat Mohd. Nasurdin

Social support and work engagement: a study of Malaysian nurses

othman n. & MOHD nasurdin a. (2012) Journal of Nursing Management Social support and work engagement: a study of Malaysian nurses Aim  This study addressed the question of whether social support (supervisor support and co-worker support) could contribute to the variance in work engagement. Background  Nurses, as customer-contact employees, play an important role in representing the organization’s competence. Their attitudes and behaviour toward patients has a significant influence on patients’ satisfaction and perception of quality of service. Methods  The sample comprised 402 staff nurses working in three general hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia. Variables included demographic information, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and Social Support Scale. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, correlations and regression analysis. Results  Findings indicated that supervisor support was positively related to work engagement. Co-worker support was found to have no effect on work engagement. Conclusions  Supervisory support is an important predictor of work engagement for nurses. Implications for nursing management  Nursing management should provide more training to nurse supervisors and develop nurse mentoring programmes to encourage more support to nurses.

Organizational structure and organizational climate as potential predictors of job stress: Evidence from Malaysia

The aim of this study is to determine the effects of organizational structure (formalization and centralization) and organizational climate on job stress in a non‐Western context. Data were collected from a sample of 151 salespersons working in the stock broking industry of Malaysia. Regression results demonstrated that both structural variables (formalization and centralization) have a positive influence on job stress. Organizational climate dimension, however, has no effect on stress. Implications for managerial practice and future research are provided.

Organizational justice, age, and performance connection in Malaysia

Purpose – The paper aims to examine the links between organizational justice (distributive justice and procedural justice) and job performance (task performance and contextual performance). The moderating role of age in the above‐mentioned relationship was also investigated.Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered using self‐administered questionnaires from a sample of 136 customer‐contact employees within the telecommunications industry of Malaysia.Findings – The results demonstrated that distributive justice had a significant and positive relationship with task performance. In a similar vein, procedural justice was found to be significantly and positively related to contextual performance. Age, however, did not moderate the justice‐performance relationships.Research limitations/implications – The participants in this study were customer‐contact workers employed by one established telecommunication company in Malaysia. Thus, generalization of the results may be limited. Besides, other variables r...

Designing Innovative Organizations in Malaysia: Do Structure and Culture Matter?:

The purpose of this article is to determine the influence of organizational structure (formalization and centralization and culture (participative decision-making, support and collaboration, learning and development) on innovation (technological and process, administrative, product and overall) among firms operating in Malaysia. Regression analyses of 123 responses revealed that only cultural variables have positive effects on two forms of innovation (technological and process, and administrative). Specifically, both participation in decision-making, and support and collaboration had significant positive effects on technological and process innovation. On the other hand, both support and collaboration, and learning and development were found to have significant positive effects on administrative innovation. Structural variables (both formalization and centralization) had no effect on all forms of innovation investigated. Implications for managerial practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Nurturing Intrapreneurship to Enhance Job Performance: The Role of Pro-Intrapreneurship Organizational Architecture

Following the needs to ingrain intrapreneurial spirit among Malaysian workforce, as highlighted in the National Economic Advisory 2010, the aim of this study is to identify the organizational architecture that can be designed to foster such behaviour which could subsequently lead to better job performance. Specifically, this study examines the effects of five dimensions of pro-intrapreneurship organizational architecture; namely, “management support”, “work discretion”, “reward and reinforcement”, “organizational boundaries” and “time availability” on intrapreneurial behaviour which was then regressed to the job performance. A sample of 263 employees consisting of engineers and managers working in multinational companies participated in this study. The findings were tested using structural equation modeling procedure. In general, the results indicate that except for “organizational boundaries”, other organizational architecture namely “management support”, “work discretion”, “reward and reinforcement” and “time availability” were found to have positive significant effects on intrapreneurship. In addition, intrapreneurial behaviour is found to be positively related to job performance. In short, it can be surmised forming an internal ecosystem that is conducive for the workforce to behave intrapreneurially is a wise step to foster innovativeness culture that could subsequently be translated into a long term growth and sustainability of the organization.

An empirical investigation into the influence of human resource management practices on work engagement: the case of customer-contact employees in Malaysia

Purpose – This study aims to examine the impact of specific human resource management practices on employees’ work engagement. Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered using surveys from a sample of 438 customer-contact employees attached to 34 upscale hotels throughout Malaysia and analyzed using partial least squares technique. Findings – The findings showed that service training and performance appraisal have a positive and significant influence on work engagement. The proposed model was able to explain 16.2 per cent of the variance in work engagement. Research limitations/implications – The findings indicate that hotel authorities can enhance work engagement of their customer-contact employees by improving service training and refining performance appraisal practices. Originality/value – This study is one of the few studies that focus on the specific effect of individual human resource management practices on work engagement, especially within the context of a developing country (i.e. Malaysia...

Supervisor support and work engagement of hotel employees in Malaysia

Purpose – This study aims to examine the impact of supervisor support and to assess the moderating role of gender on employee work engagement in the context of the Malaysian hospitality industry. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from a sample of 438 customer-contact employees in Malaysian upscale hotels and tested using the partial least squares technique. Findings – The findings indicated that supervisor support positively influences work engagement and that this positive relationship was stronger for male employees than female employees. Research limitations/implications – The results highlight that supervisor support plays a critical role in fostering greater employee work engagement. In addition, different approaches need to be utilized by supervisors in supporting their male and female subordinates. Originality/value – This study extends the existing literature by examining the role of gender in moderating the relationship between supervisor support and work engagement, especially wi...

Organisational innovation: does structure, culture, and country of origin matter?

This study examines the influence of organisational structure (formalisation and centralisation) and culture (participative decision making, support and collaboration, and learning and development) on innovation (technological and process, administrative, and product) among firms operating in Malaysia. In addition, the differences in the levels of innovation (technological and process, administrative, and product) according to a firms country of origin were investigated. Regression analyses of 123 responses (80 multinational corporations and 43 locally owned firms and joint ventures) revealed that only cultural variables (learning and development, and support and collaboration) had positive effects on two forms of innovation (technological and process, and administrative). Structural variables, on the other hand, had no influence on the three forms of innovation investigated. Statistical analyses using ANOVA revealed that significant differences in innovation levels do exist by country of origin. Implications for managerial practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Team Context and Team Performance: An Integrated Review

High-quality teamwork has been recognized as central for organizational success. As such, researchers and practitioners have attempted to uncover how best to ensure high team performance. A review of the literature on teams suggested that team performance is a function of a variety of factors. While research shows that team context is important, investigations on this subject are still inadequate particularly for manufacturing teams within the context of a developing country like Malaysia. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to review the extant literature on team performance and subsequently propose a model linking team context (team leaders’ transformational leadership style and perceived team support) with team performance in the Malaysian manufacturing industry with a focus on the electrical and electronic sector. In addition, trust is explored as a mediator in the above-mentioned relationship.

The impact of task characteristics on the performance of nursing teams

Purpose This study sought to examine the relationship between team task features and team task performance. Team task performance revolved around the teams technical knowledge and the technical core activities of the organization. On the other hand, team task characteristics include task identity, task significance, and task interdependence. Methods This study involved a total of 300 nursing teams (1436 individual nurses) from seven state hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia. Data were collected using two sets of questionnaires which were initially distributed to 320 teams. One set was given to the team members and another set was given to the team leaders. Of the 320 sets sent out, 300 sets were returned. Responses were then combined and aggregated to the team level to get the teams final score. Analyses of the hypotheses were done using Partial Least Squares (PLS) through assessment of the measurement and structural model. Results Results from the path analysis revealed that of the three dimensions of team task attributes, only task significance was positively and significantly related to team task performance (β = 0.076, P > 0.05), while task identity (β = 0.076, P > 0.05) and task interdependence (β = −0.037, P > 0.05) were found unrelated to team task performance. Conclusions This study demonstrated that task significance is important to predict team task performance. Task significance reflects meaningfulness and nobility of tasks, thus elevate the desire to perform better in each assigned task.