Leader power and interpersonal conflict: The mediating effects of management communication style in government link companies, Malaysia / Rozilah Abdul Aziz

In a complex and fast-changing business environment, it is evidenced that managers are faced with multitudes of problems in the organizational setting. One of the never ending problems faced by managers is interpersonal conflict that occurs between individuals or groups in organizations that emphasizes the interaction of human factors in an organization. In order to circumvent conflicts that transpire among the employees, most organizations have emphasized on effective communication that are most likely to improve the employee own chances to survive and prosper in organizations. Review of related international literatures revealed the importance of communication style in decision making, nevertheless, there is lack of empirical evidence to support this in the Malaysian context and this study contributes deeper understanding of some of the critical aspects of management communication style. Using a research framework constructed from adaptation of two key power models: Lusch Model (1976) and Richmond, McCroskey, Davis and Koontz's Theory (1980), this study explores the argument that management communication style (tell, sell, consult and join) interpersonal conflict (task conflict and relationship conflict) are influenced by leader power (referent, coercive, expert, legitimate and referent). In particular, this study seeks to investigate the mediating effects of management communication style on the relationship between leader power an interpersonal conflict. Thus, it presents and discusses empirical findings from data collected from 388 executives working directly under HR Managers in GLCs, Malaysia applying Structural Equation Modeling (AMOS Version 20) and Statistical Package or Social Science (SPSS Version 20)

The inluence of leader power on interpersonal conflict among employees of government linked companies, Malaysia / Rozilah Abdul Aziz … [et al.]

Organizational conflict is partly depended on the magnitude of power exercised by superiors in the workplace. The need to investigate how manager’s power affects subordinates’ interpersonal conflict is crucial so that managers can change or maintain their power to achieve optimum result in organization. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the influence of leader power towards interpersonal conflict at Government Linked Companies (GLCs), Malaysia. A total of 388 questionnaires were distributed to employees of GLCs, Malaysia. A Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis revealed that forty-one percent of the variation in interpersonal conflict can be explained by the power possessed by managers. It also revealed there is a strong positive, linear and significant relationship between leader power and interpersonal conflict. Therefore, management should be concerned with the authority given to managers as power could lead to a devastating interpersonal conflict

A Proposed Model for Assessing Organisational Culture Towards Achieving Business Objectives

Most of the traditional business performances measures are based on productivity and process criteria, which mainly focus on method of investment appraisal such as payback method, return on investment (ROI), cost-benefits analysis (CBA), net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR). However, the measurement scales of business performance are not limited to those measures. One element that has strong correlation to the business performances is ‘organisational culture’. Many studies proved that one of the significant criteria for achieving desired business objectives is the right organisational culture within workplace. Basically, the measurement of organisational culture is reflecting on two distinct elements: organisational culture and business objectives. In broader perspective, an organisation is considered effective if it meets its business objectives. This paper aims to present and discuss the preliminary culture model to indicate the culture performance within organisational. The model has been developed through literature review, expert opinion and experience which is anticipated of being able to potentially measure the culture capability of organisations across industries to “successfully achieve business objectives”. The model is composed of six progressive stages of maturity that an organisation can achieve its culture performance. For each maturity stage, the model describes a set of characteristics that must be in place for the company to achieve each stage. The validity of the proposed model will be tested by a few case studies. The idea is to provide managers with a qualitative measurement tools to enable them to identify where culture improvements are required within their organisations and to indicate their readiness for achieving business objectives

Work-family balance, employee commitment, and number of dependents among staff in a malaysian tv network / Shereen Noranee… [et al.]

Committed employees tend to perform better as they feel having personal connection towards the organization. However, in some cases, dismissal from the organization also indicates poor job performance. Poor job performance resulted in low organizational commitment. The ability of an individual to balance between work and family depends on several factors such as the type of job, the organization that hires them, economy, social and cultural context. The emerging situation had led to overload of responsibility as people had to play the role of employees, spouses, parents, and parent's caregivers. Biased participation in one role, either work of family, will affect the other role. Work-family balance has two types of relationship. The first relationship is when work interferes with family life and the second relationship is when family life interferes with work. The main purpose of this study was to examine the effect of work-family balance towards employee commitment among TVABC (a Malaysian television network) staff, with number of dependents as moderating variable. The responses were gathered from 184 TVABC staff. Convenient sampling technique was used and hierarchical regression analysis was administered. The results indicated that work interference with family dimension did not had any significant relationship with employee commitment. While family interference with work was proven to have a significant relationship with employee commitment among TVABC staff. The number of dependents, as the moderating variable, was found not affecting the relationship between work-family balance and employee commitment as all tests indicated insignificant relationship

The effects of technostress creators and organizational commitment among school teachers / Narehan Hassan … [et al.]

In the fast-paced world, information is retrieved and stored efficiently using IT technologies. Due to the constant change and advancement in technology, technostress has become a critical issue in many organizations especially for those who are IT illiterate. This scenario is especially true for school teachers in Malaysia where students’ information is stored and retrieved using a database system and posted online for quick accessibility of files and student management. However, for those who are not IT-skilled, this type of work demand can influence both the employee’s motivation and work commitment. School teachers in Malaysia are found to be overworked and most had to take home their work, especially in updating students’ information. The changing work demands and the need to perform both teaching and administrative duties have resulted in teachers facing a stressful working environment. This is especially true for senior teachers, whose IT skill is often lagging compared to their younger counterparts; hence the term technostress is coined -- not only to teachers but to those who are lacking in IT-related skills. Teachers’ commitment is of utmost importance to produce better workforce for the future. Hence, this study was conducted to examine both the relationship and the effects of techno-stress creators and organizational commitment among school teachers. This study was carried out at six schools in Selangor involving 173 school teachers. The findings revealed that two dimensions of techno-stress creators which were techno-uncertainty and techno-insecurity had positive and significant influence on organizational commitment while all other three elements of techno-stress creators which were techno-overload, techno invasion and techno complexity did not predict teachers’ organizational commitment. The findings also revealed that certain amount of techno-stress can enhance the level of teachers’ commitment