A New World Class Manufacturing Model for Small and Medium Sized Make-to-Order Companies.

There have been many attempts to build comprehensive models for performance improvement, coming under a number of banners including Total Quality Management (TQM), Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) and World Class Manufacturing (WCM). Comprehensive models of this type are important because they bring together many aspects of Operations Management, and in so doing aid companies to not only identify, but also prioritise the improvements needed. However, although the diversity of the manufacturing sector is widely acknowledged, most of these models pay little attention to company type. Instead, generic, universalistic models are built, which are aimed at all manufacturing companies. This has tended to result in models that assume the manufacture of fairly standard products on a repeat basis, as is found in the more common Make-to-stock (MTS) sector of industry. Thus the models suggest that performance improvements will include a simplified shop floor cellular layout; a fairly constant customer base with easily identifiable product or customer families; a JIT style control of inventory; and so on. Where the assumption regarding repeat production does not apply, large parts of the universalistic models can be irrelevant. This is true for the Make-to-order (MTO) sector that makes highly customised products in low volumes on receipt of customer orders. More importantly, the universalistic approach omits issues that are pertinent to MTO companies. These include the flexibility of process that often requires a job shop layout; methods to control workloads/queues in that environment; systems for determining the price and delivery to quote during the competitive bidding process in which most MTO firms are engaged; and effective means of producing designs for new products. This thesis describes a research project which aims to fill this gap in the literature by developing a comprehensive WCM performance improvement model for the MTO SME sector. The new model, which has been named the "SHEN" model, is therefore contingent on company type. This thesis describes the research process followed to develop this model. This included deductive research whereby the initial model was developed using literature evidence and past experience of the authors, followed by inductive research in which case study data was collected from six MTO SMEs in order to develop the model further. The model aims to help companies determine which performance improvements are needed and how to prioritise them in the race to be world class. The case study research was exploratory in nature and aimed to gain further insights into the issues and solutions that are pertinent to MTO SMEs. The results suggested that some of our initial assumptions needed to be modified. For example, it was initially assumed that MTO companies should aim for a high level of worker flexibility, higher even than is achieved in the MTS sector, given the high variety of customised products. However, it was concluded that training is expensive in this highly skilled sector and that it is often only necessary to have a few workers trained for particular processes. Therefore, a training needs matrix should be devised which establishes the number of people that need to be trained in each skill. Any further training is unnecessary and will soon be wasted as, without the experience of using the new skill, it is likely to be quickly forgotten. The case study evidence also suggested that the need for simple, movable equipment is less important because these companies often need specialised machinery and maintain a flexibility of process through a traditional functional layout. As well as being important aspects of the new model, conclusions of this type are important insights into best practice in MTO companies in their own right

Model peramal kepuasan kerja pegawai perkhidmatan pendidikan di komuniti pesisir Terengganu

This research critically analyses the determinants of job satisfaction and their relationship with the organizational behavior factor for teachers in Malaysia.Its purpose is to provide suggestions to the relevant parties in offering the best teachers’ scheme and ultimately, the clients will enjoy the best and quality educational service. The issue of job satisfaction has become extremely crucial because of late there have been numerous complaints from teachers regarding incentives, long working hours, job burden, job stress, job environment as well as relationships with students’ families. This research focuses on three main factors related to job satisfaction namely: the organization factor, the demographic factor and the behavior factor. The organizational factor encompasses variants such as the job itself, salary and incentives, promotion,job condition and environment, colleagues, communication, supervision and job procedure. The demographic factors such as age, gender, work experience, academic qualification and work place are used as moderator variants. The behavior factor comprises job motivation, stress, commitment, involvement,loyalty and job performance. The initial findings show that there is a positive correlation between the above variants and teachers’ satisfaction. There is a significant relationship between job satisfaction and the demographic factors, between job satisfaction and the organizational factors, and between job satisfaction and the behavior factors. The research respondents were teachers of government schools around the coastal areas in Terengganu. Hopefully the research findings can offer an alternative in producing the best educational working team which can fulfill the society’s and the nation’s aspirations as well as becoming a base for negotiations between teachers and the relevant parties regarding service terms to reach a common goal. It is also hoped that the implementation of the research findings can create a win-win situation among the government, teachers, students and the public who are the clients of the educational service. In addition, the research findings can be added to the literature in this field

Model Peramal Kepuasan Kerja Pegawai Perkhidmatan Pendidikan di Komuniti Pesisir Terengganu

Kajian ini menganalisis secara kritikal faktor penentu kepuasan kerja dan hubung kait dengan faktor gelagat organisasi bagi pegawai perkhidmatan pendidikan kerajaan di Malaysia. Ia bertujuan membina satu rumusan yang boleh dijadikan salah satu alternatif penyelesaian kepada pihak yang berkepentingan dalam menyediakan skim perkhidmatan pegawai pendidikan yang terbaik dan akhirnya, pelanggan akan dapat menikmati perkhidmatan pendidikan yang baik dan bermutu. Isu kepuasan kerja ini menjadi sangat penting kerana terdapat banyak rungutan daripada pegawai-pegawai perkhidmatan pendidikan berhubung dengan ganjaran, masa kerja yang panjang, beban kerja, tekanan kerja, persekitaran kerja, di samping hubungan dengan keluarga pelajar. Kajian menumpukan kepada tiga faktor utama berkaitan dengan kepuasan kerja iaitu faktor organisasi, demografi dan gelagat. Faktor organisasi merangkumi pemboleh ubah seperti pekerjaan itu sendiri, upah dan ganjaran, kenaikan pangkat, keadaan dan persekitaran kerja, rakan sejawat, komunikasi, penyeliaan dan prosedur kerja. Faktor demografi pula dijadikan pemboleh ubah moderator seperti umur, jantina, pengalaman kerja, kelayakan akademik dan tempat kerja. Manakala faktor gelagat terdiri daripada motivasi kerja, stress, komitmen, penglibatan, kecintaan kepada organisasi dan prestasi kerja. Kajian awal mendapati terdapat korelasi yang positif di antara pemboleh ubah-pemboleh ubah yang dinyatakan dengan kepuasan pekerja. Ujian hipotesis mendapati terdapatnya hubungan yang signifikan antara kepuasan kerja dengan faktor demografi, faktor organisasi, dan faktor gelagat. Responden kajian terdiri daripada pegawai perkhidmatan pendidikan di sekolah-sekolah kerajaan di kawasan pesisir Terengganu. Dapatan kajian ini diharap dapat mencadangkan alternatif penyelesaian dalam membentuk pasukan kerja pendidikan terbaik dapat memenuhi aspirasi kerajaan dan masyarakat, dan menjadi asas perbincangan di antara pegawai pendidikan dengan pihak yang berwajib mengenai terma-terma perkhidmatan dalam mencapai matlamat bersama, selain dapat memberi manfaat secara langsung kepada orang ramai yang menjadi pelanggan kepada perkhidmatan pendidikan kerajaan. Perlaksanaan kepada dapatan kajian ini diharapkan dapat mewujudkan situasi menang-menang antara kerajaan, warga pendidik, pelajar serta masyarakat yang menjadi pelanggan kepada perkhidmatan pendidikan. Seterusnya dapatan kajian ini akan menambah koleksi sorotan karya dalam bidang ini.

Organisational commitment in Malaysian public sector

This paper describes a research project that aims to determine the level of civil servants’ organisational commitment and the factors associated with it. The instruments used to measure organisational commitment, empowerment, job characteristics, and organisational communication were adapted from Allen and Meyer (1990), Spreitzer (1995), Hackman and Oldham (1975), and Downs and Hazen (1977). The findings demonstrated that civil servants appeared to have a higher level of affective commitment with mean value of 3.88 compared to continuance 3.58 and normative commitment 2.92. The study also found that civil servants were psychologically empowered in the department with mean value of 3.71, had experienced a variable opportunity in job with mean 3.51 and were reported to be satisfied with the existing communication in the department with mean value of 3.68. Research findings also showed that there is a correlation between organisational commitment (affective, continuance, and normative commitment) with empowerment, job characteristics, and organisational communication variables. The stepwise regression exhibited that empowerment variable is the most dominant predictor of civil servants’ organisational commitment. Meanwhile, organisational communication variable appeared to be the most significant factor to influence civil servants’ affective commitment. Civil servants with continuance commitment were found to be best predicted by empowerment variable. Finally, civil servants with normative commitment tend to be mostly influenced by job characteristics variable

An Entrepreneurial Transformation of Malaysian Craftmakers into Craftpreneurs: A Conceptual Study

Abstract: As the Malaysia craft industry grows and becoming more complex in business industry, entrepreneurship draw more attention to the need for emphasizing on craftmakers, especially for those who are involved in small and medium enterprise. Craftmakers should think in a context of entrepreneurship to shift their paradigm on operations management and strategies their business in facing the challenges of competitive market. A good craftpreneurs are not totally depends on the product philosophy and esthetic value of their producing, however, it is emphasizes on how to utilize the minimum resources to fulfill the maximum requirement of consumer towards the product demand in a market. Hence, this conceptual study reveals that the transformation process becomes essential to translate the activity of craftmakers in craft traditions into higher personality in craftpreneursas well as in craft industry. Additionally, this study also attempts to recognize the combination of previous models which are support the transformation process, there are; AIDA concept (attention, interest, desire, action) and ASK model (attitude, skill, knowledge). As a solution, these models were given a clear picture to describe the transformation process of craftmakers into craftpreneurs, in term of independent, motivation, creative, innovative, and business appreciation. Key words: Craftmaker; Craftpreneur; Entrepreneurship; Craft industry; Transformation process; Conceptual stud

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

Organisational Commitment in Malaysian Public Sector

This paper describes a research project that aims to determine the level of civil servants’ organisational commitment and the factors associated with it. The instruments used to measure organisational commitment, empowerment, job characteristics, and organisational communication were adapted from Allen and Meyer (1990), Spreitzer (1995), Hackman and Oldham (1975), and Downs and Hazen (1977). The findings demonstrated that civil servants appeared to have a higher level of affective commitment with mean value of 3.88 compared to continuance 3.58 and normative commitment 2.92. The study also found that civil servants were psychologically empowered in the department with mean value of 3.71, had experienced a variable opportunity in job with mean 3.51 and were reported to be satisfied with the existing communication in the department with mean value of 3.68. Research findings also showed that there is a correlation between organisational commitment (affective, continuance, and normative commitment) with empowerment, job characteristics, and organisational communication variables. The stepwise regression exhibited that empowerment variable is the most dominant predictor of civil servants’ organisational commitment. Meanwhile, organisational communication variable appeared to be the most significant factor to influence civil servants’ affective commitment. Civil servants with continuance commitment were found to be best predicted by empowerment variable. Finally, civil servants with normative commitment tend to be mostly influenced by job characteristics variable.

Evaluation of warehousing productivity performance indicators by the FAHP method

A warehouse is an important component in logistics operation as it is a huge contributor to speed up and cost the supply chain management.To monitor the performance of the warehouse operation, management will analyse the measurement of warehousing productivity. The basis of measuring productivity performance in the warehouse is based on how much it cost to perform an operation by utilising the warehouse resources. The purpose of this paper is to rank the most important warehouse productivity indicator for improving the warehouse operation efficiency. By indicating the main warehouse resources and its sub-criteria, a hierarchy structure of ratio-based warehousing productivity performance indicators is constructed. It presents an empirical methodology of the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) method, an integration between the fuzzy logic method with an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method. The results indicate that Warehouse Management System scores the highest weight value which followed by Storage Space Utilisation and Throughput accordingly. This contributes to grab more attention on the utilization of technologies into the warehouse operation. This article also identifies several additional research opportunities on warehouse performance evaluation assessment

UNIVERSALISTIC APRROACH ON THE JOB SHOP MAKE-TO-ORDER OPERATIONS

ABSTRACT Majority of research into the World Class Manufacturing (WCM) has taken a universalistic approach and has (Todd, 1995)