Psychological empowerment, work stress and organizational commitment among academic staff in Malaysian public universities

The purpose of this study is to investigate the significant impact on the relationship between psychological empowerment, work stress and organizational commitment among academic staff in public universities. A total number of 297 academic staff in northern region public universities in Malaysia was responded to this study. Data was analyzed using SPSS 21 to test the hypotheses of the study.The results indicated that psychological empowerment and work stress have significant impact on organizational commitment. Future research can be done by identifying other factors such as work-life balance, job overload, job security, pay and benefits, communication and work conflict that effect employee’s commitment towards organization. It is also recommended that this study could be further extended to compare between public and private universities as well

Board attributes and performance of government-linked companies (GLCs): evidence from an emerging economy

Government linked companies (GLCs) play a unique role in the Malaysian public sector and are perceived to be the key drivers of the economy wielding influence in the financial market. This study investigates the impact of an important governance mechanism, i.e. the board of directors on performance of 32 Malaysian listed GLCs for the period 2008 to 2013. The board attributes examined include board size, board structure, board independence, board competence, board meetings and directors’ equity ownership. The three proxies of financial performance employed are return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and earnings per share (EPS) with firm size and leverage being used as control variables. We find board size to have a positive but insignificant relationship with ROA whilst board structure, board independence and board competence indicate a positive relationship with ROE. Board competence also shows a positive relationship with EPS. However, board independence and directors equity ownership report a significant inverse relationship with ROA. A possible explanation is that independence and controlling stake of the board could not influence board strategy formulation and business decisions as government maintains full authority and final say on matters. Overall, the study contributes to the growing body of literature especially relating to Government linked companies

Effect of RTV coating on the electrical performance of porcelain insulator string under dry condition

Pollution flashover is one of the primary reasons cause to power system failure in Malaysia. The presence of accumulation on the porcelain insulator surface reduces the electrical performance and also causes the failure of insulation in transmission and distribution lines. This research presents a study on the effect of Room Temperature Vulcanize (RTV) coating on the performances of a string porcelain insulator and their impact on environmental contamination. An attempt has been made to simulate the electric field distribution of 33 kV insulators using the finite element method (FEM). From the simulation results, the maximum electric field distribution is obtained at the pin insulator of a clean insulator, while the cap insulator indicated the minimum electric field. With the existence of the contamination layer, the electric field distribution of the porcelain surface results in a reduction trend

Low-carbon tourism approach as an alternative form for tourism development: a review for model development

The tourism industry is a major contributor to the gross domestic product of several countries, including Malaysia. However, recent tourism growth has led to increase the industry’s carbon dioxide (CO2). Low-carbon tourism, therefore, needs to be introduced to the sector to help curb global climate change. A comprehensive understanding of low-carbon tourism needs to be developed to achieve this goal. This article looks at the relevant studies in the literature using content analysis. By adopting a qualitative methodology, the article collected and assessed measurements of tourism’s carbon emissions and examined the effects of implementing a low-carbon tourism programme. Some of the low-carbon strategies were listed by going through the entire implementation process of low-carbon tourism as an alternative form of tourism development. The discussion also focuses on how Covid-19 can influence low-carbon tourism development. A blueprint for a low-carbon recovery proposed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is also presented at the end of the paper. The results of this study can be used as a basis for policy development and further research on low-carbon tourism in industry sub-sectors worldwide

A 10-week pedometer-based walking program induced weight loss and improved metabolic health in community-dwelling adults

Walking 10,000 steps daily is associated with beneficial health outcomes. Recent systematic reviews have suggested that pedometers may be an effective motivational tool to promote walking. The aim of this study was to study the effectiveness of a 10-week, pedometer-based walking intervention to improve physical activity, body composition and metabolic health indices in a sample of suburban community-dwelling adults not meeting current physical activity recommendations. After screening, 34 overweight/obese individuals (mean age: 46 ± 8 years, mean BMI: 28.3 ± 4.2 kg/m2) were accepted into the walking program conducted by the Health Promotion Community Centre, Bangi. Subjects were instructed to increase their steps by 3000 steps daily above their baseline values for 10 weeks. Daily step count, body weight, BMI, waist circumference, as well as blood pressure, fasting glucose and lipids were evaluated at baseline and following the 10-week intervention. Thirty-one participants completed the program with 100% adherence. The average daily steps recorded during the 10-week intervention was 9693 ± 2196 steps per day. Mean daily steps increased from 8679 ± 2567 steps in Week 1 to 10,766 ± 3200 steps in Week 10 (p = 0.040). Overall, there were reductions in body weight (-1.13%, p = 0.010), waist circumference (-3.5%, p = 0.001) and BMI (-1.41%, p = 0.008) as well as fasting blood glucose (-8.5%, p = 0.003) and systolic blood pressure (-4.8%, p = 0.007) following the intervention. The findings of this study demonstrated that a goal-driven, pedometer-based walking intervention for 10 weeks resulted in a modest reduction in body weight and improved metabolic health outcomes in overweight/obese, community-dwelling adults