The roles of work motivation and job involvement on the relationship between contextual factors and creative behavior

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that influence creative behavior among Malaysian researchers. Specifically, it investigated the mediating effect of work motivation on the relationships between the contextual factors, namely stressors, autonomy, culture, reward and supervisory style on creative behavior; the effect of work motivation on creative behavior; and the moderating effect of job involvement on the relationships between stressors, autonomy, culture, reward and supervisory style, and work motivation. Creativity is considered as the seed of innovation, where innovativeness has been considered as one of the fundamentals for organizational competitiveness. Acknowledging the importance of creative behavior on innovation, this study was carried out to investigate its predictors, and to include work motivation as the mediating factor and job involvement as the moderating variable between the contextual factors and work motivation. Accordingly, this study was based on the self-determination theory (SDT) and the organizational support theory (OST) to position the possible relationships between the variables in the research framework. A total of 201 researchers, representing a response rate of 40.8%, participated in this study. Data were collected via questionnaires. PLS-SEM was used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. This study found that the level of creative behavior among the researchers was high. Statistical results showed that the relationship between stressors, work motivation, creative behavior as well as the relationship between autonomy, work motivation and creative behavior were supported. Work motivation was also found to be positively related to creative behavior. Empirical support was also found for the moderating effect of job involvement on the relationships between stressors and supervisory styles and work motivation. The theoretical and practical implications alongside recommendations for future research are discussed

Creativity: The self-determination perspective

Creativity is considered as the seed of innovation whereby, innovativeness has been considered as one of the fundamentals for organizational competitiveness.Acknowledging the importance of creative behavior on innovation, this paper aimed to discuss creativity from the self-determination perspective.Self determination theory (SDT) is a meta-theory introduced to offer an explanation on creativity.From a self determined perspective, creative related behavior is considered autonomous in nature and is the result of energy and direction that is linked to human motivation.The discussion on the needs fulfillment, that is the main psychological process described by SDT is also included in this paper.Finally, the discussion on the strength and limitation of the theory in explaining creativity is also presented in this paper

Mobility of IT professionals in Malaysia

This paper is based on a research study with the aim to investigate the mobility of IT professionals in Malaysia and come up with suggestions to improve recruitment and retention policies for the IT profession.A questionnaire,namely the IT Professional Turnover/Mobility Survey for the Management of IS/IT Department was constructed and administered to 415 respondents IT employees listed in the Malaysian National Computer Confederation (MNCC) registration list with a 25% response rate.Data gathered were statistically analysed descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages,cross-tabulation,and correlation analysis.A research model was constructed based on review of related articles to determine factors that contribute tomobility of IT professionals.Among the major findings were a large majority of respondents would never or seldom moved and likely to stay for more than five years.Majority of respondents also indicated that they would remain as IT professionals with no plans to change their career.The findings also suggest that the three most attractive factors for moving among IT professionals are better salary,better working condition and better environment.The most common reasons for leaving was not happy with working conditions and no opportunity for self development.Good pay/renumeration was considered the best factor for staying in current organization,location (nearer to home) and career advancement opportunities were the two most popular factors chosen.On mobility factor,the variables found to be significantly related to mobility of IT professionals are: Age, Marital Status and Experience (Demographic Information);Tryout and Travel (Personality factor);Quitting Job and Satisfaction (Job Satisfaction);Salary (Career Advancement); and Work Condition and Flexi Time (Organizational Factor).On the employer's perspektive,the three most critical problems faced by employers when their IT personnel leave were disruption to scheduler,retraining, and difficulty to get replacement.In summary, the findings presented in this study suggest that IT professionals are likely to stay in their professions,felt that they have made the right choice in their career with the intention of staying with their current job,whilst charting their career goals within the IT profession, but less ambitious in taking up a more senior position within or outside the organization

Construct validation of the job characteristics scale in the Malaysian public service setting

A re-conceptualization of job characteristics is crucial due to the inconsistencies in the measures of this construct. Although many studies have conceptualized job characteristics as multidimensional construct, researchers have thus far provide inconclusive agreement on what factors should be included in measuring job characteristics. This study attempts to examine the psychometric properties of the job characteristics constructs by integrating the five subscales- skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback. A priori proposition was made that the job characteristics measurement could be explained by five factors. SPSS version 12 and AMOS 4 were used to analyze the data. Findings supported the hypothesis that job characteristics can be measured by the aforementioned five factors. Findings also showed acceptable internal consistency reliability for the overall and the five specific subscales of the job characteristics factor

The dimensions of job charateristics: A validation study in a Malaysian context

Ths study attempts to examine the psychometric properties of the job characteristics constmct which integrates 5 subscales-skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback using a Malay language version of the Job Diagnostic Survey (IDS). A priori proposition was made that job characteristics could be explained by the 5 aforementioned factors. SPSS version 14 and AMOS 16 were used to analyze the data.The results supported the hypothesis of the study that job characteristics can be measured by the 5 theorized factors. The findngs also showed acceptable internal consistency reliability for the overall and the 5 specific subscales of job characteristics factor.Based on the results, it can be concluded that the Malay translated version of JDS can be a useful instnunent in assessing the job characteristics comtruct