It takes two to tango: how large the effects of job factors on wife’s work-family conflict?

Introduction Married couples often do influence each other’s emotions and behaviors. The effect of this interpersonal marriage relationship on emotional job demands and job performance toward work-family conflict (WFC) is still under research. This article aims to determine the effects of married couple’s job factors (emotional job demands and job performance) on wife’s WFC. Methods A total of 120 dyads in private sectors were recruited via private invitations to social gatherings. Packets of self-administered questionnaires were given included emotional domain of Demand-Induced Strain Compensation, Spielberger Trait Anger Scale, work-family conflict and job performance measures. Dyadic analysis using Actor-Partner Interdependence Model was used. Results The emotional demand of wife significantly contribute higher effect (ES= 0.34 (95%CI: 0.23, 0.45); p<0.001) compared to emotional job demand of husband on wife’s WFC (ES= 0.14 (95%CI: 0.03, 0.25); p=0.011). The job performance of wife significantly contribute higher effect (ES= 0.29 (95%CI: 0.17, 0.40); p<0.001) compared to job performance of husband on the wife’s WFC (ES= 0.17 (95%CI: 0.06, 0.29); p=0.003). Both wife and husband influenced each other pertaining to emotional job demands (r=0.35, 95%CI: 0.22, 0.48) and job performance (r=0.51, 95%CI: 0.38, 0.64) on the wife’s WFC. Overall, the APIM model explains of 22.9% and 25.1% of the total of non-independence of emotional job demands and job performance toward WFC, respectively. Conclusions Wife’s WFC was influenced by both herself and her partner’s emotional job demands and performance. All resources should be channeled to working wives to prevent any health and job outcomes resulted from the work-family conflict

Effect on the physico-chemical properties of liberica green coffee beans under ambient storage

Green coffee beans are stored for a certain period and under certain conditions until they are finally utilized. The storage period may depend on customer demand while the storage conditions depend on where the coffee beans are stored. Thus, this research emphasizes the physico-chemical changes that occur in Liberica coffee beans during storage under the Malaysian climate (average temperature and relative humidity of 29.33ºC and 71.75% respectively). The changes in the physico-chemical (coffee size, mass, densities, colour, proximate analysis, sucrose, chlorogenic acid content) and microbiological (yeast and mould count) properties were evaluated during eight months of storage. After the storage, the physical properties of the coffee changed as the coffee beans expanded in size, reduced in mass and density and became brighter in colour. Changes in the chemical properties were also detected where the moisture decreased and the ash content increased. In addition, the sucrose level was found to decrease with a corresponding increase in chlorogenic acid. During storage, the counts of yeast and mould were reduced. Model equations describing the changes in the properties were developed. The overall conclusion was that the coffee beans reduced in quality during storage

Physical properties of Liberica coffee (Coffea liberica) berries and beans

Liberica coffee is the most important coffee species grown in Malaysia. However, there is little or no research at all conducted on coffee berries and green coffee beans since the plant itself is a low income crop in Malaysia. Therefore, research on Malaysian Liberica coffee can help to increase the knowledge of coffee farmers and coffee manufacturers in the processing and handling of the coffee. Physical properties of Liberica coffee berries and beans were investigated the current study. The properties investigated include the size, mass, density, coefficient of friction, angle of repose, fracture force and colour. In comparison to Arabica and Robusta coffee, Liberica coffee has the biggest size, mass, true density and fracture force values but were lower in bulk density in both berries and beans. The Liberica berries and beans were found to be orange-ish and yellowish colour respectively. Angle of repose was low and approximately similar in berries and beans while jute fibre gave the highest friction to both Liberica berries and beans

Modul Psikospiritual-Mangsa Banjir (MPS-MB) serta-merta dan separuh penggal (MID-TERM) pasca banjir

Penerokaan mengenai aspek psikologi mangsa banjir dan keperluan pembentukan modul psikologi dilihat sebagai keperluan penting selepas berlaku bencana banjir besar. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk membentuk Modul PsikoSpiritual-Mangsa Banjir (MPS-MB) yang bakal digunapakai oleh mangsa banjir di negeri Sabah dan Sarawak serta di Semenanjung Malaysia. Seramai 130 mangsa banjir di Gua Musang dan Manik Urai, Kelantan dan Kuching, Sarawak dijadikan sebagai responden kajian. Pemilihan berdasarkan senarai mangsa banjir yang berdaftar di pusat pemindahan banjir. Kajian ini menggunakan reka bentuk exploratory sequential design iaitu dimulakan dengan Fasa 1: Kajian kualitatif, Fasa Interim: Proses Pembinaan Modul dan Fasa 2: Kajian kuantitatif iaitu menguji kesahan muka dan kesahan kandungan oleh pakar dalam bidang psikologi bencana. Di samping itu, kumpulan pengkaji turut menguji trauma mangsa banjir dengan menggunakan soal selidik Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire (PDEQ) dan Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (PDI). Hasil kajian kualitatif menjadi asas dan panduan kepada pembinaan MPS-MB yang merangkumi lima (5) unit dan 17 aktiviti. Kesahan muka dan kesahan kandungan MPS-MB seterusnya disemak dan dinilai oleh pakar dalam bidang psikologi. Pembentukan MPS-MB mampu menjana ilmu pengetahuan mengenai pengalaman sebenar mangsa banjir berkaitan aspek psikologi dan spiritual. Hasil kajian dan pembentukan modul ini juga membolehkan masyarakat khususnya mangsa banjir mengetahui persediaan masa hadapan agar dapat mengurus dan mengurangkan impak psikologi yang negatif ke atas mangsa bencana banjir

Quantifying suppliers' product quality: an exploratory product audit method

The quality of the raw material and supplied product from suppliers plays a critical role in the quality of the final product. It has become the norm that vehicle manufacturers require their suppliers to measure product quality and service with a product audit method. Measuring quality of product is emphasised by QS9000 VDA6.5 and ISO/TS16949. From a competitive standpoint, and also to see continuous improvement in business, companies need to monitor their suppliers performance. Quality and delivery are two very important indicators of supplier performance. This paper presents a statistical method for measuring the quality of supplied product. This method allocates different weights to variables and attributes characteristics. Moreover, following normal distribution, the tolerance zone is divided to three regions with different scores. Therefore, the quality of suppliers products can be monitored based on the Product Quality Audit Score (PQAS). However, this method may be employed for organisations to monitor their raw material, work-in-process parts, and final product. It can be an indicator to monitor supplier quality behaviour

Interview Protocol Refinement: Fine-Tuning Qualitative Research Interview Questions for Multi-Racial Populations in Malaysia

A reliable interview protocol is the key to obtain good quality interview data. However, developing a valid interview protocol is not a simple task, especially for beginner-level researchers. Extensive understanding of the research topic is no guarantee to quality interview findings because many other factors may affect the interview process. In our study among injured workers in Malaysia, researchers face additional challenge of interviewing multi-ethnic and multi-cultural study population. Most of them are also from lower socioeconomic status and education level. The objective of this study is to refine the pre-constructed interview protocol to address these challenges for valid data collection. The protocol must be easily understood and cover all research objectives to gain insights of the worker’s return to work experience. This article demonstrated the use of the 4-step Interview Protocol Refinement (IPR) Framework on the interview questionnaire. The steps were (1) ensuring alignment between interview questions and research questions, (2) constructing an inquiry-based conversation, (3) receiving feedback on interview protocols and (4) pilot testing of the interview questions. The IPR framework is an effective tool for improving the interview protocol reliability and validity. The refinement processes corrected some shortcoming in the pre-refined questionnaires and the pilot testing ensured that the refined questions were understood by the respondent and able to obtain the intended answers based on the research objectives. Research quality can be further enhanced by applying additional strategies during the stages of research tools validation and data analysis

Exploring the Role of Malaysian Student’s Intrapreneurial Self-Capital in the Relationship between Satisfaction with Life, Academic Performance, and Flourishing

Intrapreneurial self-capital is the construct coined by Di Fabio as a core of individual resources used to cope with career and life construction challenges. In this study, we used the model of Individual Differences in Evaluating Life Satisfaction (IDELS) to examine the mediating role of intrapreneurial self-capital in the relationship between life satisfaction and flourishing among Malaysian undergraduate students. The Intrapreneurial Self-Capital Scale (ISCS), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and Flourishing Scale were administered to 665 undergraduate students from one of the public universities in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. The results reported a significant direct effect of student satisfaction with life to flourishing. A significant path coefficient was also found from satisfaction with life and student academic performance to intrapreneurial self-concept providing the support that student satisfaction with life and academic performance has a positive effect on their intrapreneurial self-concept. The coefficients from intrapreneurial self-concept to flourishing was also significant. This provides initial support that an intrapreneurial self-concept may have a positive mediating effect on the relationship between satisfaction with life, academic performance, and flourishing. We found that the indirect effects of satisfaction with life and academic performance on flourishing through intrapreneurial self-concept were significant. These results provided further support for the mediating effect of intrapreneurial self-concept. The analysis also that revealed satisfaction with life was significantly and positively related to flourishing. However, the finding showed no significant direct effect of student academic performance on flourishing