Antecedents Of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour

The purpose of this study was to explore organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) practices among nurses in health care institution, and to determine the relationship between demographic factors and ethical climate to OCB. Moreover, this study also tried to determine whether job satisfaction and organizational commitment moderate the relationship between ethical climate and OCB. Data were collected from 255 nurses by using stratified random sampling to ensure that every department was represented in this study. A questionnaire consisting of five measures was administered to the respondents. Two OCB instruments were used in this study to differentiate the results from using the western instrument, an instrument developed based on the context of our society. The study showed that nurses do display OCB, with high conscientiousness and sportsmanship behaviours but low helping behaviour. Demographic factors were not found to be related to OCB. The findings also revealed that job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and ethical climate were correlated to OCB. Job satisfaction and organizational commitment were shown to moderate the relationship between ethical climate and OCB

Downscaling of 0.35 J.lm to 0.25 J.lm CMOS Transistor by Simulation

Silicon (Si) based integrated circuit (IC) has become the backbone of today's semiconductor world with MOS transistors as its fundamental building blocks. The integrated circuit complexity has moved from the early small-scale integration (SSI) to ultra-large-scale integration (ULSI) that can accommodate millions of transistors on a single chip. This evolution is primarily attributed to the concept of device miniaturization. The resulting scaledown devices do not only improve the packing density but also exhibit enhanced performance in terms of faster switching speed and lower power dissipation. The objective of this work is to perform downscaling of 0.35 Jll11 to 0.25 Jll11 CMOS transistor using Silvaco 2-D ATHENA and ATLAS simulation tool. A "two-step design" approach is proposed in this work to study the feasibility of miniaturization process by scaling method. A scaling factor, K of 1.4 (derived from direct division of 0.35 with 0.25) is adopted for selected parameters. The first design step involves a conversion of the physical data of 0.35 Jll11 CMOS technology to the simulated environment, where process recipe acquired from UC Berkeley Microfabrication Lab serves as the design basis. The electrical data for the simulated structure of 0.35 11m CMOS was extracted with the use of the device simulator. Using the simulated, optimized 0.35 Jll11 structure, downscaling to a smaller geometry of 0.25 Jll11 CMOS transistor was carried out and subsequent electrical characterization was performed in order to evaluate its performance. Parameters that are monitored to evaluate the performance of the designed 0.25 Jll11 CMOS transistor include threshold voltage (VtJJ, saturation current (ldsaJ, off-state leakage current (Ion) and subthreshold swing (SJ. From the simulation, the V1h obtained is of 0.51 V and -0.4 V for NMOS and PMOS respectively, with a difference of 15%-33% as compared to other reported work. However, for results of Idsat. the values obtained which is of 296 ~-tAIJll11 for NMOS and 181 J.lA/Jll11 for PMOS is much lower than other reported work by 28%-50%. This is believed to be due to direct scaling of 0.25 Jll11 transistor from the 0.35 11m geometry without alterations on the existing structure. For Ioffand St. both results show a much better value as compared to other work. I off obtained which is of <1 0 pA/J.lm is about 80%-96% lower than the maximum allowable specification. As for S1, the values obtained which is <90 mY/dec is only within 5% differences as compared to specification. In overall, these results (except for Idsat) accepted values for the particular 0.25 J..Lm technology. From this work, the capability to perform device miniaturization from 0.35 J..Lffi to 0.25 J..Lffi has been developed. This is achieved by acquiring the technical know-how on the important aspects of simulation required for successful simulation of 0.35 J..Lffi technology. Ultimately, the outcome of this work which is a simulated 0.25 J..Lm CMOS transistor can be used as a basis for scaling down to a much smaller device, namely towards 90-nrn geometry

Technology implementation barriers in the Malaysian herbal industry: A case study

Technology is an essential component in all types of organisations and most organisations have reasons to implement new technology. The most fundamental justification for new technology implementation is that the technology must be able to contribute to strong competitive advantages and also increase or create long-term profit. In most small and medium enterprises (SMEs), there are barriers or obstacles in implementing these technologies. This article report a study aimed in investigating barriers faced by the Malaysian herbal industry in implementing technologies in their factory. Most of the local herbal manufacturing firms are categorised as SMEs which are usually considered to be lagged behind larger companies in technology usage. As this was an exploratory research, a case study method was used as it gave in-depth explanation of the main barriers of technology implementation. The results suggested that the main constraint in implementing technologies are lack of technical specialists and financial, aid commitment from top management, low wage rate, and future demand uncertainties

Promoting Behavioral Support for Change: A Conservation of Resources Theory Perspective

Purpose- Individuals' support for change is a critical success factor to implement change effectively. Therefore, identifying the possible antecedent and mechanism, leading to behavioral support towards change, is necessary. The study aims to unfold this avenue of research empirically by examining the role of both person and context factors in promoting behavioral support for change. Design/Methodology- Data was collected from 292 academic staff of six public sector universities located in Pakistan via cross-sectional mean. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect responses from the desired population. Findings- Results revealed a positive impact of perceived management support on academic staff’s behavioral support for change. Moreover, change-efficacy also provides a statistically significant intervening mechanism to translate the effect of perceived management support on both dimensions of behavioral support to change such as compliance and championing behavior Practical Implications- The research offers useful insights for top university officials to build support for change by providing needed support and resources; make academic staff capable of executing the change-related tasks into viable actions meritoriously

Half- and quarter-sweeps implementation of Finite-Difference Time-Domain method

The propagation, diffraction, scattering, penetration and interaction phenomena of electromagnetic waves are governed by the well known Maxwell's equations. The applications of Maxwell's equations can be found in many disciplines in science and engineering particularly in antenna design and analysis. Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) is a popular numerical simulation technique for solving problems related to Maxwell’s equations. Recently, there is other formulation that can potentially be used to solve Maxwell’s equations in source free region. The new formulation, namely the scalar Wave-Equation Finite-Difference Time-Domain (WEFDTD), is numerically and mathematically equivalent to the conventional FDTD. Unlike the conventional FDTD, the scalar WE-FDTD allows computing any single field component without the necessity of computing other field components. Therefore, significant savings in the computational time and memory storage can be achieved. In this paper, we presented the explicit formulation of the scalar WE-FDTD for free space wave propagation on one dimensional model problem using full-sweep, half-sweep and quarter-sweep approaches which successfully implemented for solving elliptic problems. We analyzed and compared the performance of the scalar WE-FDTD with all approaches to the conventional FDTD method in terms of the computational accuracy and simulation time. The results found that the proposed formulation significantly reduced the computational time of the method but posed less accuracy as compared to the conventional FDTD method

Downscaling of 0.35 J.lm to 0.25 J.lm CMOS Transistor by Simulation

Silicon (Si) based integrated circuit (IC) has become the backbone of today's semiconductor world with MOS transistors as its fundamental building blocks. The integrated circuit complexity has moved from the early small-scale integration (SSI) to ultra-large-scale integration (ULSI) that can accommodate millions of transistors on a single chip. This evolution is primarily attributed to the concept of device miniaturization. The resulting scaledown devices do not only improve the packing density but also exhibit enhanced performance in terms of faster switching speed and lower power dissipation. The objective of this work is to perform downscaling of 0.35 Jll11 to 0.25 Jll11 CMOS transistor using Silvaco 2-D ATHENA and ATLAS simulation tool. A "two-step design" approach is proposed in this work to study the feasibility of miniaturization process by scaling method. A scaling factor, K of 1.4 (derived from direct division of 0.35 with 0.25) is adopted for selected parameters. The first design step involves a conversion of the physical data of 0.35 Jll11 CMOS technology to the simulated environment, where process recipe acquired from UC Berkeley Microfabrication Lab serves as the design basis. The electrical data for the simulated structure of 0.35 11m CMOS was extracted with the use of the device simulator. Using the simulated, optimized 0.35 Jll11 structure, downscaling to a smaller geometry of 0.25 Jll11 CMOS transistor was carried out and subsequent electrical characterization was performed in order to evaluate its performance. Parameters that are monitored to evaluate the performance of the designed 0.25 Jll11 CMOS transistor include threshold voltage (VtJJ, saturation current (ldsaJ, off-state leakage current (Ion) and subthreshold swing (SJ. From the simulation, the V1h obtained is of 0.51 V and -0.4 V for NMOS and PMOS respectively, with a difference of 15%-33% as compared to other reported work. However, for results of Idsat. the values obtained which is of 296 ~-tAIJll11 for NMOS and 181 J.lA/Jll11 for PMOS is much lower than other reported work by 28%-50%. This is believed to be due to direct scaling of 0.25 Jll11 transistor from the 0.35 11m geometry without alterations on the existing structure. For Ioffand St. both results show a much better value as compared to other work. I off obtained which is of <1 0 pA/J.lm is about 80%-96% lower than the maximum allowable specification. As for S1, the values obtained which is <90 mY/dec is only within 5% differences as compared to specification. In overall, these results (except for Idsat) accepted values for the particular 0.25 J..Lm technology. From this work, the capability to perform device miniaturization from 0.35 J..Lffi to 0.25 J..Lffi has been developed. This is achieved by acquiring the technical know-how on the important aspects of simulation required for successful simulation of 0.35 J..Lffi technology. Ultimately, the outcome of this work which is a simulated 0.25 J..Lm CMOS transistor can be used as a basis for scaling down to a much smaller device, namely towards 90-nrn geometry

Do healthcare personnel promote organisational citizenship behaviours?

Healthcare services in Malaysia have evolved over the past century to becomen among the best in the world, although with strenuous working conditions to the heathcare personnel.This situation, however, provides an interesting avenue to understand whether nurses in the public sector exhibit organisational citizenship behaviours (OCB) amid the working environment that hampers such behaviours.This study explores the OCB practices amongst public heathcare nurses in Malaysia. In general, this study has found that nurses do display OCB in their daily work practices.Results from the 727 respondents indicated that there were no significant relationships between demographic variables and OCB,consistent with earlier studies in this field.The study also found that there were significant relationships between job satisfaction and OCB, and between organisational commitment and OCB.These results indicated that job satisfaction and organisational commitment contributed significantly to the prediction of OCB.Further investigation into each dimension of OCB has found that altruism or helping behaviour had the lowest score and this suggested a contradictory description of job and gender

Job Performance Of Public Hospital Nurses: The Role Of Personal Resources, Job Resources And Work Engagement

The aims of this study were to (a) examine the relationships between personal resources (psychological capital), job resources (social support, job characteristics), and job performance; and (b) investigate the effectiveness of work engagement as a mediator in the above relationships. Conservation of resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 1989) and Blau’s (1964) social exchange theory (SET) were utilized in developing the research framework. Job performance was operationalized as comprising of two broad dimensions: task performance and contextual performance. Particularly, task performance consists of four dimensions: informational supportive behaviour, coordination of care behaviour, interpersonal supportive behaviour, and technical care behaviour. Meanwhile, contextual performance was considered in two dimensions, which are volunteerism behaviour and task supportive behaviour

The innovation of cotton fiber from recycled cloth as coloring agent for polypropylene via injection moulding

Plastics can be coloured in many different ways. In the present application, the colouring agent that is used in the plastic industries are the dyes and pigments. Both methods are sustantially different and produce specific results. Dyes are defined as colourants that are (completely) soluble in a polymer at the processing temperature. Pigments are organic or inorganic solid particles that are insoluble in polymers..

Theory and empirical evidence of the gender wage gap

Women participation in the labor force has steadily increased over the last several decades, Despite this, women still remain in lower status, less interesting and less well paid jobs. Differences in family and economic roles between men and women have resulted in wage discrimination between men and women. Attempts to explain the gender wage differential generally rely on human capital and labor market segmentation theories. The human capital theory attributes wage differentials to differences in education, training and work experience. Labor market segmentation theory on the other hand attribute wage differentials to the segmentation of the labor market into primary and secondary sectors. The human capital theory remains the dominant theory explaining wage differentials between male and females. Research evidence does suggest that differences in the level of education and experience between male and female influence wages