Muhammad Madi Bin Abdullah

The influence of soft factors on quality improvement and performance: Perceptions from managers

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to investigate the influence of soft factors on quality improvement and performance and also to examine the link between quality improvement and organizational performance.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses data from perceptions from managers in 255 electrical and electronics (EE customer focus; employee involvement; training and education; and reward and recognition. Organizational performance was significantly influenced by the following soft factors: management commitment; customer focus; and employee involvement. Finally, this paper empirically shows that firm performance will increase when the organizations implement more quality improvement practices.Practical ...

The influence of soft and hard quality management practices on performance

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the practices of soft quality management and hard quality management, and to investigate the direct and indirect effects of soft and hard quality management on firm performance. The paper proposes several hypotheses relating to the relationship between soft quality management factors, hard quality management and performance. To test these hypotheses, the paper uses a sample of 255 electrical and electronics firms from Malaysia as the data source, and structural equation modeling (SEM) as the statistical tool. The findings show that soft quality management factors have a positive influence on hard quality management; hard quality management has a direct effect on performance and soft quality management factors have direct and indirect effects on performance. Consequently, hard quality management acts as a mediating variable between soft quality management factors and performance.

The importance of soft factors for quality improvement and organisational performance

The aim of this paper is, firstly, to examine the relationships between the soft factors, quality improvement and organisational performance and secondly, advanced the study by examining quality improvement as an organisational development practice in mediating the relationship between soft factors and organisational performance in 255 Malaysias electrical and electronics (E&E) firms. Structural equation modelling statistical technique was used to test the theoretical model. The findings showed that the quality improvement variable did mediate the relationships between all the six soft factors and organisational performance in the sampled E&E firms. Findings also highlight the relationship between soft factors, quality improvement and organisational performance.

Are soft practices important for quality improvement

This study examines the influence of six selected soft practices (management commitment, employee empowerment, training, reward and recognition, customer focus, and supplier management) on quality improvement (QI) within 255 Malaysian electrical and electronics (E&E) firms. It uses regression and correlation analysis to test these relationships. The results reveal that management commitment, employee empowerment, training, reward and recognition, customer focus, and supplier management are significantly and positively associated with QI in the firms studied. Also employee empowerment was perceived as the dominant soft practice for QI. Employee empowerment is associated with significant increases in QI. This study contributes to a better understanding of the influence of soft practices on organisational QI among firms within the context of the Malaysian E&E sector. Suggestions for future research are discussed.

Employee motivational factors: a comparison between Malaysia and Sultanate of Oman

Industrial psychologists have continuously devised theories and executives and managers have tirelessly formulated various programmes related to employee motivation. A set of committed, motivated employees is an asset for any organisation – public or private. A well-known fact is that an organisation can emulate almost anything of another organisation except its human resources. How to motivate employees? Can one particular factor motivate everybody equally? Is there any cultural influence on motivating factors? Extensive investigations have been made to address these fundamental questions in the last few decades. This research, which is a sequel to the previous researches, basically aims at identifying the salient motivating factors for Malaysian as well as Omani employees. A detailed comparison has been made on the findings of the motivating factors with regard to the two countries. Finally, managerial implications are highlighted for both the countries.

Effects of contextual variables on quality and performance

The aim of this paper is to examine the moderating effects of three contextual variables (ISO 9000 registration, company size and scope of operations) on levels of quality management (QM) and on the effects of QM practices on performance. The paper uses data from 255 Malaysian electrical and electronics organisations using t-test, analysis of variance and hierarchical regressions as statistical tools. The results show that ISO-registered firms, larger firms and multinational firms have higher levels of QM. In addition, QM is more strongly and positively related to performance in larger, multinational firms and firms with quality certification.

Diffusion lung capacity changes in Hodgkin lymphoma patients before and after ABVD chemotherapy

BACKGROUND Chemotherapy consisting of Adriamycin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine, and Doxorubicin (ABVD), which is the mainstay of treatment in Hodgkins Lymphoma (HL), is associated with both acute and long-term pulmonary toxicity primarily due to Bleomycin. Bleomycin induced pulmonary toxicity (BPT) is clinically detected using diffusing lung capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO). The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in DLCO in HL patients before and after ABVD chemotherapy. METHODS Medical records of all adult HL patients treated with ABVD chemotherapy at a single centre in Lahore, Pakistan during the entire calendar year 2012 were analysed. Patients with pre-existing pulmonary dysfunction, history of thoracic surgery and smokers were excluded. RESULTS A total of 179 HL patients were identified during the study period who received ABVD chemotherapy. Out of these, 93 (51.95%) patients had undergone both a pre- and post-chemotherapy DLCO measurements. The remaining patients had only one DLCO reading available and were not included in the analysis. The mean percentage difference between pre- and post-chemotherapy values for DLCO (5.49%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.56-9.43%) and for Haemoglobin-adjusted DLCO (8.24%; 95% CI 3.90-12.57%) were statistically significant at p<0.01. Diffusing lung capacity for carbon (DLCO) values declined from pre-treatment to post-treatment by 1-10% in 23 (24.7%) patients, by 10-20% in 19 (20.4%) patients, by 20-30% in 10 (10.8%) patients and >30% in 10 (10.8%) patients. After adjusting for age, a 1mg/m2 increase in dose of Bleomycin was significantly associated with 0.14% (95% CI: 0.03-0.25%) decline in DLCO and 0.13% (95% CI: 0.10-0.26%) decline in haemoglobin-adjusted DLCO from pre-treatment value. CONCLUSIONS Mild to moderate dysfunction in diffusion lung capacity is common after ABVD chemotherapy. DLCO and haemoglobin-adjusted DLCO value decreased with increasing age and increasing dose of Bleomycin.

Organisational characteristics and quality improvement: an exploratory investigation

A number of research studies have found that the extent of implementation of quality improvement practices varies from one firm to another, which produces different levels of quality improvement. Few studies have considered the characteristics of the firm (e.g. size, scope of operations and ISO registration) when examining overall quality improvement levels. The aim of this study is to examine the level of overall quality improvement and the link between the characteristics of firms and overall quality improvement practices. This study will draw data from the 255 Electrical and Electronics (E&E) firms in Malaysia, using a survey research method. The findings show that the Malaysian E&E firms generally adopted only a moderate level of overall quality improvement. In addition, large firms generally showed higher levels of overall quality improvement than smaller firms. Overall quality improvement levels in firms that had ISO certification were significantly higher than in non-ISO firms. Firms with multinational status had a higher level of overall quality improvement than local firms.