The influence of HRM system strength on employee affective commitment and OCB: the role of HR climate, organisational justice, and trust

Traditional HRM studies have primarily focused on HR content, HR practices, or bundles of HR practices to elucidate the black box in HRM and outcome debate. This research extends existing knowledge by shifting the focus to the HR process or the strength of the HRM system, rather than HR content alone. The strength of the HRM system, encompassing its distinctiveness, consistency, and consensus, sends signals to employees to interpret the purposes of HR content shared among them, thereby leading to the intended employee outcomes. The objective of this research is twofold. Firstly, it aims to examine the relationship between the strength of the HRM system and employee outcomes, including affective commitment and Organisational Citizenship Behaviours (OCB). Secondly, the research posits that the relationship between the strength of the HRM system and employee reactions is mediated by HR climate, organisational justice, and organisational trust, in sequence. This study investigates the interplay between the strength of the HRM system and employee behaviours in Pakistani organisational settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research framework is developed on the assumption that the existence of a strong HRM system, characterized by distinctiveness, consistency, and consensus regarding HR content, will foster a clearer understanding of the purposes behind HR content implementation in an organisation (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004). This shared understanding, termed as HR Climate, further influences perceptions of justice in the organisation, thereby fostering emotional bonds and trust in the employer, subsequently affecting employee affective commitment and OCB. To address the research objectives, the study adopts a postpositivist epistemology and quantitative methodology through survey instruments. Data were collected from a sample of 311 employees across various departments in the main operational site of a large manufacturing organisation in Pakistan, including senior managers, line managers, and non-managerial employees. The data were analysed using regression analysis and the Hayes PROCESS tool in SPSS. The findings of the study support the assumptions made. The study reveals that the strength of the HRM system has direct and combined predictive value on both employee outcomes (affective commitment and OCB). However, consensus does not influence affective commitment, while consistency and consensus both fail to encourage OCB among employees. Moreover, the research finds that HR climate, organisational justice, and organisational trust, in sequence, partially mediate the relationship between the strength of the HRM system and affective commitment, while fully mediating the relationship with OCB. Additionally, the findings suggest that trust is the most significant construct in this sequential mediation relationship, influencing and encouraging affective commitment and OCB among employees. The research contributes to the existing HRM literature by shedding light on the mysterious link in the black box phenomena. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, this study is the first to explore the serial mediation of HR climate, justice, and trust between HRM system strength and employee relations in the Pakistani context during COVID-19. Furthermore, the study provides valuable insights into the social-exchange norms associated with the relationship of justice-trust-employee behaviour that emerged in the research findings

The design of a cosmic-ray detector as a wireless distributed system

Steen, M.R. van [Promotor]Bakhshi, R. [Copromotor

Management and Complications of Arnold Chiari Hydrocephalus at Tertiary Health Care Center

Objective: to investigate the role of CT and MRI in diagnosis of Arnold chiari malformation of hydrocephalus and its treatment with VP shunt along with complications. Study Design: Prospective study Place and duration: Department of Neurosurgery, DG Khan Medical College from May 4, 2018 to May 4, 2019. Methodology: Fifty patients of congenital hydrocephalus who were not treated previously were selected. Detailed history about disease and clinical examination of patients was performed. Follow ups were done at neurosurgery OPD. SPSS software for data analysis was used and mean ± SD, frequency and percentages were calculated for variables. P value ≤0.05 was considered as significant. Results: Treatment in case of congenital hydrocephalus as VP shunt, intra-aneurysmal coiling, excision of meningomyelocele with VP shunt and suboccipital craniectomy + upper cervical laminectomy (scucl) were observed as 10%, 6%, 8% and 8% respectively.  Twelve percent of patients were not treated. Conclusion: CT and MRI are the main diagnostic tools for diagnosis of Arnold chiari malformation and VP shunt is the treatment of choice. Among complications of VP shunt infection of shunt and shunt block are the main complications

Waterlogging and salinity management in the Sindh Province. Volume 1 - The irrigated landscape: resource availability across the hydrological divides

Irrigation management / River basins / Irrigated farming / Climate / Irrigation systems / Irrigation canals / Discharges / Water balance / Waterlogging / Salinity / Groundwater development / Tube wells / Water table / Drainage / Public sector / Land reclamation / Pakistan / Sindh Province / Indus Basin / Rohri / Larkana / Shikarpur / Hairdin / North Dadu / Ghotki / East Khairpur / Sukkur Barrage

Dynamics of self-gravitating systems in non-linearly magnetized chameleonic Brans-Dicke gravity

We study the effects of magnetic fields of non-linear electrodynamics in chameleonic Brans-Dicke theory under the existence of anisotropic spherical fluid. In particular, we explore dissipative and non-dissipative self-gravitating systems in the quasi-homologous regime with the minimal complexity constraint. As a result, under the aforementioned circumstances, several analytic solutions are found. Furthermore, by analyzing the dynamics of a dissipative fluid, it is demonstrated that a void covering the center can satisfy the Darmois criteria. The temperature of the self gravitating systems is also investigated.Comment: 26 pages, version accepted for publication in General Relativity and Gravitatio

The dark side of phubbing in the workplace: Investigating the role of intrinsic motivation and the use of enterprise social media (ESM) in a cross-cultural setting

Despite the increasing phenomena of supervisor phubbing (a counterproductive workplace behaviour of managers), very few studies have explored its outcomes in organisations. This study aims to bridge this gap by investigating the relationships between supervisor phubbing and key employee outcomes. We conducted two studies in cross-cultural settings. In Study 1, which was conducted in Pakistan (a collectivistic culture), we collected 370 useable responses through an online survey from the employees working in the service sector organisations. Study 2, which was conducted in the United States of America (an individualistic culture), utilised the Prolific data collection service to gather 352 responses. Our results from both studies reveal that supervisor phubbing is negatively related to employee job performance and work engagement via intrinsic motivation. Further, enterprise social media (ESM) usage in organisations moderates the relationships between supervisor phubbing and its outcomes such that these relationships are weaker for employees whose ESM usage is higher. Our work offers significant contributions to the literature on technology use at workplace as it discusses a counterproductive workplace behaviour of managers (phubbing) and that behaviour’s association with key employee outcomes in organisations while also considering the moderating role of ESM usage in organisations

Isoflavones-Based Liposome Formulations as Anti-Aging for Skincare

Isoflavones commonly found in plants such as soya and red clover express many health benefits including skin healing and anti-aging properties. The capacity to counteract aging is due to isoflavones being both anti-oxidants as well as phytoestrogens, hence preventing both extrinsic as well as intrinsic aging processes. In skincare formulations their effects could be enhanced with the aid of advanced delivery systems. Isoflavones from soya bean source has successfully been incorporated into liposomes and further used in commercially available anti-aging creams. However different plants vary in isoflavone composition. Red clover isoflavones express less affinity for the estrogen receptor whilst simultaneously containing isoflavone structures that should be easier to encapsulate in liposome vehicles compared to soya bean derived isoflavones. If liposome entrapped isoflavones could successfully be obtained, the novel liposome could have a visible effect on the skin and reduce the visible adverse outcomes of aging and moreover be advantageous in terms of endocrinological safety and/or have a higher efficiency of delivering active when compared to the currently available products on the market

Mandated Leave Policies in the Context of Student Mental Health Challenges at Canadian Universities: A Framework Analysis

Although there is increased attention to the mental health needs of university students, far less attention has been given to mental health-related university policies. Many Canadian public universities have mandated leave policies that specify the conditions under which a student may be required to take a leave of absence from university. The purpose of the current study was to conduct an in-depth analysis of current mandated leave policies in public Canadian English-speaking universities. Applied framework analysis methodology was used to examine the approaches to balancing the needs of students experiencing mental health challenges and providing a safe environment on campus. Three primary themes regarding mandated leave policies were identified, including (a) approaches for addressing mental health concerns, (b) balancing the needs of the student with the needs of the institution, and (c) guidelines, standards, and quality assurance. Implications for mandated leave policies and approaches to students experiencing mental health challenges are discussed.Bien que l’on s’intéresse de plus en plus aux besoins des étudiants universitaires en matière de santé mentale, on a accordé moins d’attention aux politiques universitaires relatives à la santé mentale. De nombreuses universités publiques canadiennes ont des politiques de congé obligatoire qui précisent les conditions dans lesquelles un étudiant doit prendre un congé de l’université. L’ob-jectif de la présente étude est d’analyser les politiques actuelles de congé obligatoire dans les universités publiques canadiennes anglophones. Une méthodologie d’analyse de cadre appliquée a été utilisée pour examiner les approches visant à trouver un équilibre entre les besoins des étudiants ayant des problèmes de santé mentale et la nécessité de fournir un environnement sûr sur le campus. Trois thèmes principaux ressortent concernant les politiques en matière de congés obligatoires, soit (a) les approches pour répondre aux problèmes de santé mentale, (b) l’équilibre entre les besoins de l’étudiant et les besoins de l’université, et (c) les lignes directrices, les normes et l’assurance de la qualité. Les implications pour les politiques de congé obligatoire et les approches auprès des étudiants ayant des problèmes de santé mentale sont discutées

Kinematics-Based Sensor Fault Detection for Autonomous Vehicles Using Real-Time Numerical Differentiation

Sensor fault detection is of extreme importance for ensuring the safe operation of vehicles. This paper introduces a novel approach to detecting and identifying faulty sensors. For ground vehicles confined to the horizontal plane, this technique is based on six kinematics-based error metrics that are computed in real time by using onboard sensor data encompassing compass, radar, rate gyro, and accelerometer measurements as well as their derivatives. Real-time numerical differentiation is performed by applying the adaptive input and state estimation (AIE/ASE) algorithm. Numerical examples are provided to assess the efficacy of the proposed methodology