Psychosocial safety climate versus team climate: The distinctiveness between the two organizational climate constructs

The importance of organizational climates in enhancing employee job performance is well studied in the literature. In this study, by using a multilevel survey, the study investigated the effect of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and team climate on job performance, particularly through job engagement. The study also predicted that only PSC (and not team climate) predicted job resources (i.e. role clarity and performance feedback). A total of 412 employees from 44 teams (72.6% response rate) in Malaysian private organizations participated in the current study. Research findings revealed that performance feedback and role clarity mediate the relationship between PSC and job engagement, and that there is no direct effect between the variables, team climate and job resources. As expected, the study also discovered that job engagement mediates the relationship between PSC and team climate on job performance. This suggests the importance of PSC as the precursor to better working conditions (i.e. job resources) and to indirectly boosting employees’ engagement and job performance. This paper compared two distinctive organizational climate constructs in affecting the different types of job resources through multilevel approach within the Asian context

Keberkesanan kursus bahasa Arab peringkat diploma dalam proses pembelajaran dari segi pertuturan: kajian kes di UiTM Zon Utara (Kampus Sungai Petani dan Kampus Arau) / Abdul Basir Awang @ Mohd Ramli dan Idris Mansor

Kajian keberkesanan kursus bahasa Arab dari segi pertuturan ini amat penting memandangkan aspek pertuturan adalah asas utama sesuatu bahasa. Selain itu, ia juga bertujuan untuk melihat faktor pemilihan bahasa ini sebagai bahasa ketiga dan pengaruhnya terhadap pertuturan. Seterusnya mengkaji tahap kebolehan bertutur pelajar selepas mengikuti kursus ini selama dua semester dan mencari kaedah pembplajaran yang terbaik untuk pertuturan. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah soal selidik dan temubual. Seramai 150 orang responden dari UiTM Kedah dan Perlis dipilih untuk soal selidik dan 46 orang untuk temubual . Kaedah pemilihan yang digunakan ialah kaedah persempelan rawak berstrata. Sebahagian data telah dianalisis dengan menggunakan Statistikal Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) versi 10.0. Manakala sebahagian lagi dianalisis dengan menggunakan kaedah peratusan. Hasil kajian menunjukkan responden dapat bertutur bahasa Arab dengan baik berdasarkan objektif kursus BAB 101 dan BAB 151. Antara faktor utama keberkesanan ini ialah minat dan kefahaman pelajar yang jelas terhadap kepentingan Bahasa Arab. Selain itu teknik yang sesuai digunakan untuk pertuturan ialah teknik pengulangan bacaan dan kepelbagaian aktiviti. Faktor kekurangan perbendaharaan dan ketiadaan situasi yang menggunakan Bahasa Arab dikenalpasti sebagai faktor penghalang komunikasi. Untuk memperbanyakkan perbendaharaan kata para pelajar perlu diperluaskan skop perbincangan, bukan sekadar yang terdapat dalam buku teks atau latihan sahaja. Mereka juga perlu didedahkan dengan buku-buku bacaan sampingan yang mudah. Para pelajar juga perlu diberi kefahaman tentang bahasa ini agar tidak timbul soal negatif seperti bahasa yang susah dan sebagainya. Kajian yang seterusnya perlu dilakukan untuk mengenalpasti sejauhmana kepentingan bahasa Arab ini dalam kehidupan khususnya di alam pekerjaan

Prevalence, sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of G6PD deficient blood donors in Terengganu and the effects of storage on their donated blood

Introduction: Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency causes red blood cell destruction due to oxidative stress. G6PD is essential for NADPH conversion; which is critical for glutathione reductase to prevent damage to cellular structures. In Malaysia, blood donors are not routinely screened for G6PD deficiency. We hypothesise that G6PD-deficient red blood cells are more likely to haemolyse during storage due to increased oxidative molecules. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of G6PD deficiency among blood donors, describe their characteristics and to evaluate the effects of storage on G6PD-deficient donated blood. Methods: This study was conducted at selected mobile donation centres in Terengganu. Consented blood donors were screened for G6PD status using fluorescent spot tests (FST). G6PD enzyme activities were measured for donors who were G6PD deficient. Effects of storage on haemolysis from G6PD-deficient donors were compared with non G6PD-deficient group. Sixty ml of blood was collected from blood unit to transfer pouch for estimation of haemoglobin (Hb), plasma Hb, percentage of haemolysis and plasma potassium. Serial sampling with a 7-day interval was done from Day 1 to Day 35. Statistical analysis was considered significant if p ≤0.05. Results: A total of 440 blood donors were screened and 12 male donors were found to be G6PD deficient by FST. Enzymatic activities were measured in 11 donors as one donor sample failed to be sent to the centre due to logistic problem. Their enzymatic activities ranged from 1.66-2.93 U/g Hb whereby 6 have severe deficiency and the other 5 were categorised as partial deficiency. Donors were asymptomatic for haemolytic episode. Serial sampling showed there was no significant difference of haemolytic parameters in blood units of G6PD-deficient donors as compared to control (p>0.05). Conclusion: Prevalence of G6PD blood donors in Terengganu mobile centres was 2.7%. G6PD enzyme activities did not correlate with clinical symptoms. Haemolytic parameters were not affected in blood units which were G6PD-deficient

Effect of nano black rice husk ash on the chemical and physical properties of porous concrete pavement

Black rice husk is a waste from this agriculture industry. It has been found that majority inorganic element in rice husk is silica. In this study, the effect of Nano from black rice husk ash (BRHA) on the chemical and physical properties of concrete pavement was investigated. The BRHA produced from uncontrolled burning at rice factory was taken. It was then been ground using laboratory mill with steel balls and steel rods. Four different grinding grades of BRHA were examined. A rice husk ash dosage of 10% by weight of binder was used throughout the experiments. The chemical and physical properties of the Nano BRHA mixtures were evaluated using fineness test, X-ray Fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In addition, the compressive strength test was used to evaluate the performance of porous concrete pavement. Generally, the results show that the optimum grinding time was 63 hours. The result also indicated that the use of Nano black rice husk ash ground for 63hours produced concrete with good strengt

THE EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE DETERMINANTS OF MOSLEM CONSUMERS TO PURCHASE HALAL PRODUCTS

Nowadays, the issue of Halal has been debated and argued by so many parties and Moslem consumers in Malaysia have to select acceptable food products which contain many ingredients in varying quantities, including trace amounts of haram or questionable ingredients. Halal starts from the very beginning of food preparation process until the product reaches the consumer. Thus, it must be prepared, processed, manufactured and storage using equipment untainted by anything unclean (S. Shafie and O. Mohamad, 2002). The primary objective of this study is to identify the determinants of Halal perceived by the Moslem consumer in Malaysia and measuring the consumer perception on the Malaysia Halal certification. This study presents primary data collected by self-administered statements involving 385 responses from the Moslem respondents within concentration in Klang Valley and East Coast region of Malaysia. The factors are analyzed using factor analysis with varimax rotation, to cluster the criteria into several variables to determine the dimensions of Moslem consumers’ perception towards Halal food produce. The result shows that religiosity commitment is a significant determinant for Moslem consumer to purchase Halal products in Malaysia. We also found encouraging result that shopping orientation is among important factor by Muslim consumers in their buying behavior towards Halal products

Kajian Longitudinal

Kajian longitudinal merupakan kajian yang melibatkan pengukuran berulang daripada kumpulan individu yang sama dalam jangka waktu tertentu. Tiada jumlah masa mutlak yang ditetapkan untuk kajian longitudinal kerana ia bergantung kepada matlamat kajian dan kesesuaian fenomena yang ingin diukur

Job Characteristics: What Can We Learn From the East?

Since being introduced in 2000, the Job Demands and Resources (JD-R) model (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner & Schaufeli, 2000) has been studied extensively in various Western countries. Although the JD-R proposition is not proscriptive about specific demands and resource variables, scholars have used common variables as demands (e.g. workloads, deadlines), and as resources (e.g. support). The question is whether the common variables in the JD-R model that had their origins in Western formulations are applicable in developing countries. In this paper, based on grounded theory, we conducted focus group interviews to investigate specific variables that may apply in Malaysian workplaces. Two focus group interviews (N=13) were conducted with two groups of respondents (managers and non-managers) who worked for private and public sector organizations. Data were analysed using a thematic content analysis strategy. The study found that new variables (e.g. organizational politics, bureaucratic factors) emerged as new demands not generally explored in JD-R research, whereas similar demands were identified at a job-task level (e.g. deadlines). Regarding resources these were mainly identified as in other Western research (e.g. support). Job challenge and exploring new things were identified as pleasurable aspects of work. This finding suggests that using qualitative methods is crucial to exploring the psychosocial concept of stress at work to uncover cultural differences that are apparent between Malaysian and Western employees . Keywords: Job demands, job resources, qualitative studies, job stress, JD-R

MEDIATION EFFECT OF KNOWLEDGE SHARING: A CASE STUDY OF MALAYSIAN NGO CULTURE AND EFFECTIVENESS

Referring to the resource-based view (RBV), this study aims to examine the mediating effect of knowledge sharing (KS) towards the relationship between organizational culture (OC) and NGO effectiveness (EE). In this study, a total of 190 participants from 19 NGOs in Klang Valley area, Malaysia, were approached with a questionnaire survey. This study only niches its focus on registered welfare and employment NGOs. A total of 144 valid responses were received (75.8 percent of response rate). Regression analysis was used to test the proposed model. The results revealed that KS serves as a partial mediator between OC and EE. The study makes methodological contribution by showing the effect of OC on EE and the role of KS as mediator from the context of Malaysian voluntary sector. Keywords: organizational culture, knowledge sharing, NGO, effectiveness, mediating effec

The outcome of the seminal fluid parameter collected via coitus interruptus versus mastubation

A one year study was carried out to determine the outcome of the seminal fluid parameters collected via masturbation and coitus interruptus in 151 patients who were undergoing intrauterine insermination (IUI) and patients who came for seminal analysis. There were no statistically significant difference in terms of volume, concentration, progressive motility and normal morphology from specimens collected via coitus interruptus compared to specimens collected via masturbation. Pregnancy outcomes were also comparable