Factors Associated with the Intention-to-Leave Among Fast Food Workers in Three Selected Cities, Malaysia

Fast food workers' competence is important in ensuring fast food efficient services. High employee turnover could inhibit the growth of the fast food industry. It was reported that 'others' sector in the 1999 Malaysian Economic Report, which included restaurants contributed 23.1% of new job vacancies annually. Therefore, it is of vital importance for managers and employers to identify and understand the factors which enhance the intention-to-leave among workers in the fast food sector. The general objective of this study is to identify and analyse factors contributing to the intention-to-leave among Malaysian fast food workers. Specifically, it aims to identify the individual characteristics, the level of job satisfaction, the level of respondents' knowledge about alternative job opportunities and the respondents' levels of intention-to-leave; and to determine the relationships of research variables, namely the individual characteristics, alternative job opportunities, job satisfaction with the intention-to-leave. A survey was conducted in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and Penang by using a validated instrument (questionnaire). The questionnaire comprised of three major parts which consisted of the profile of respondents, job satisfaction and intention-to-leave. A slightly modified version of the 72 items of Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and the 4-questions from Hunt et al. (1981) were used as measurements in the questionnaires. A total of 284 valid responses was obtained. Frequencies, descriptive and regression analysis were used in analysing the data. The findings of this study reveals that the individual characteristics, alternative job opportunities, and job satisfaction were important factors in causing the intention-to-leave to rise among the respondents. The results also indicates that the factors job satisfaction, full-time workers, respondents' salaries, and higher salary offered by other industries were highly significant. Based on the findings, the full-time workers tend to stay longer on their jobs as compared to part-time workers. Therefore, to reduce the rate of turnover, the industry should take in more full-time workers and perhaps provides them better salary and benefits. The industry should also conduct job analysis and employees' appraisals frequently to monitor job satisfaction levels of the workers. So that, appropriate and timely actions can be taken to reduce the turnover rate

Keep up the good work in research universities : an importance-performance analysis

The objective of this study was to measure academics’ perceptions towards three key dimensions of a higher education institution (HEI) – teaching quality, research quality and internationalisation – the latter two of which have received relatively scant attention in the context of service quality. Using five Malaysian universities as its context, and importance–performance analysis (IPA) as its method of analysis, the study found that the five universities performed well in relation to 14 of the 26 attributes. However, for each of the three dimensions there was a common theme in regards to the service attributes that fell short of expectations. In the case of teaching quality, this theme related to learning, for research quality it was research collaboration, and for internationalisation, it was international recognition. This study makes two key contributions to new knowledge. Firstly, it measures academic perceptions towards service quality as it relates to research and internationalisation, and secondly, it measures such perceptions using IPA. One of the key findings of the study is that the attitudes of those responsible for providing service quality (i.e. academics) may well differ from the HEI decision-makers that endeavour to manage it. © 2019 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academ

CHALLENGE-STRESS AND HINDRANCE-STRESS IN THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN HOTEL SECTOR

The hospitality industry is an entity that is continuously determined by varying new demands and the needs of its customers. This ever-changing and complex working environment has caused and become a source of stress for the hospitality industries’ workforce. Workplace stress is increasing from year to year and has become a focus of research interest in recent years.Responding to the demands of management who require a more precise understanding of the issues of workplace stress, researchers have conducted studies on a total of 115 respondents from a 3 star-hotel and a 4 star-hotel. The personnel involved came from the food and beverage departments, room services and the front offices, whose daily routines involved direct face toface serving activities and fulfilling their customers’ demands. Using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 19.0 and AMOS version 18.0, the results of Exploratory Data Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Data Analysis (CFA) have confirmed that there are two stress factors, namely challenge stress and hindrance stress. Both of these stress factors have asignificantly negative relation to one another. Understanding these dimensions in detail can help the hospitality organizations to be well prepared for the task of motivating their employees.Keywords: challenge-stress, hindrance-stress, service, Southeast Asia, hote

Predicting intention to leave among professional workers in Malaysia

Research into employee turnover has been published in previous decades, although more empirical evidence and dissemination of practical information is needed to further illuminate the relationship between work-life balance and intention to leave. There is considerably less research on this topic as it has only been discussed in theoretical terms (i.e. Grzywacz & Carlson, 2007; Morris & Madsen, 2007; Peterson, 2004), particularly in the context of a developing country such as Malaysia. The present study provides empirical evidence and an exploration of these issues within the Malaysian context in order to develop an understanding of work-life balance and flexible working in an Asian country. Although flexible working is not currently prevalent in Asian cultures, concerns about work-life balance have caused major employers, including the Malaysian government and multinational companies (MNCs), to introduce work-family programmes and family-friendly policies in recent times. Initially, this research focuses on two main research issues: (1) comparing demographic characteristics such as public and private sectors, marital status and age in order to understand work-life balance; and (2) determining factors by modelling the influence of work-home interface, flexible working and financial factors in predicting intention to leave. The study combines quantitative and qualitative research methods to increase the understanding of factors, reliability and validity of this research. Firstly, four focus groups were designed to clarify the context of work-life balance in the Malaysian culture. This aims to justify the relevant factors relating to work and life commitment in a different cultural setting as most studies have been conducted in the West (content validity). After an intensive review of the extant literature and qualitative data from focus groups' findings, a comprehensive questionnaire was developed as the main research tool for this study. The second stage of data collection involved an online survey where the questionnaire was distributed to large organisations in Klang Valley, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Factor analysis identified 16 factors, which were employed as variables in further statistical analysis. This is consistent with the research aims to identify important predictors in determining 'intention to leave' and the relevance for the Malaysian context. Based on correlation analysis, 12 variables were found to be either significantly related to intention to leave or consistently significantly related to work-home interface components. Results from the focus groups are congruent with the hierarchical regression analysis: financial factors such as supervisor behaviour, training & development and fairness in respect of rewards and promotion are important in predicting intention to leave. Non-financial factors such as eo-workers' support, flexible working and employee involvement show little impact in the research model. Findings from this research provide insight into the academic discipline of Human Resource Development, specifically in Malaysia where financial factors, work-home interaction and organisational attachment contributed the most to the employee turnover model. This research contributes to our understanding of the importance of strengthening financial factors rather than flexible working policies in the workplace in order to minimise intention to leave in the' Malaysian context. This seems to contradict Western literature which suggests that flexible working contributes substantially to a reduction in intention to leave. But by examining work-home interface with four directions to improve the model, this research revealed that flexible working significantly reduces negative work-home interface and negative home-work interface. Thus, this research also provides insights into understanding work-life balance within more complex relationships between work and home domains in a different culture. The cultural values and context should be considered in work-life balance policy development in practice. This research could be seen as a benchmark for Government policies to improve pay and working conditions as the findings of this research recommend a transparent and fair system towards managing rewards, promotion and performance. The results of this research contribute to the body of knowledge in understanding relationships between work-life balance and intention to leave in different cultures and in a global context.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN SCHOOL CLIMATE DIMENSIONS AND TEACHER WELL-BEING IN MALAYSIAN INDIGENOUS SCHOOLS

Background and Purpose: Teaching at indigenous schools located in rural and outskirt areas is no small feat. Therefore, the teachers at these schools require a consistent and supportive school climate to enhance teacher well-being. As such, this study examines the relationship between the dimensions of school climate and well-being of teachers. It also discusses the application of five dimensions of school climate, namely collaboration, student relations, school resources, decision-making, and instructional innovation.   Methodology: Data for this quantitative study was gathered via a set of questionnaires. A total of 291 teachers from indigenous schools along the east coast states of Peninsular Malaysia, which are Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang participated in this study. A descriptive analysis of the findings was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), while an inferential analysis was conducted using PLS-SEM.   Findings: The empirical results show a significantly positive correlation between the five previously mentioned dimensions of school climate and teacher well-being.   Contributions: The findings of this study affirm the relative importance of school climate and its impact on teacher well-being. This study is significant for the Ministry of Education, indigenous school administrators, teachers, as well as policymakers in developing suitable strategies to improve the school climate and teacher well-being in Malaysian indigenous schools.   Keywords: Teacher well-being, collaboration, student relations, school resources, decision-making, instructional innovation.   Cite as: Kamarudin, N. A., Ahmad, A., Abdul Halim, A. S., Abdullah, R., & Kamalrulzaman, N. I. (2022). The correlation between school climate dimensions and teacher well-being in Malaysian indigenous schools.  Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(1), 292-315. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss1pp292-31