An examination of the contending factors shaping the role of the state in Malaysian industrial relations

The state has increasingly played a dominant role in the development of Malaysian industrial relations. Earlier researchers have shown that since the beginning of the relationship between employers and employees, economic considerations have been significant, and especially so during the British colonial era. This has therefore been a consistently important factor that has influenced the role of the state. The British policy of bringing in immigrants of the Indian and Chinese origins into Malaya created the plural society that was later further divided according to their economic activities. The Malays, in comparison to the immigrants, partly because of the 'protection' policy of the British, and partly because of their culture, became the least educated and economically unadvanced. This study looks into how the demarcation between ethnic groups has been used as one factor to determine the national development plans in Malaysia, which ultimately affected the development of industrial relations. The Malay-dominated government tried to ensure the Malays had a better place in the economy by introducing the National Economic Planning (1971-1990), originated after the l3th May 1969 race riot, and which legitimised the Malays/Bumiputeras 'special position' in the country. This study suggests that the government has given a high priority on economic growth as an instrument to achieve the status of a developed country, with the ultimate objective being 'national unity'. However, there were other non-economic factors, such as social and political considerations, that influenced the role of the state in the Malaysian economy that later dictated its role in industrial relations. The NEP was an affirmative action taken to correct the economic imbalance between the ethnic groups in Malaysia, especially between Malays and non-Malays, or later termed as Bumiputeras or non-Bumiputeras on the ground that they were the indigenous people, protected under the Malaysian Constitution. Other policies adopted by the government, including that of industrial relations, were developed to ensure that the objectives of NEP were met. Therefore, legislation, administration and other policies regarding the industrial relations were developed along this line. Meanwhile, as an employer to the public sector, the government ensured the sector played its role according to the bigger national agenda, the NEP. This continued during the National Development Planning (1991-2000), when it retained some of the NEP's objectives, but with new strategies that suggested Malaysia was ready to move on into another era that was barely based on ethnicity preference. However, the ethnic issue still persisted, and the social and political systems still influenced Malaysia in its quest to a fully developed and industrialised country by the year 2020 at the latest. This study examined how Malaysia tried to move forward, but at the same time still concerned with issues of the past. As long as this is the case, this study argues that Malaysia will preserve its old industrial relations policies

Personal characteristics, occupational stress and turnover intentions among school teachers in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Stress is considered as a serious problem in the modern workplace. This paper summarizes occupational stress and turnover intentions experienced by secondary school teachers in the state of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The aim of this study is to investigate the differences across different personal characteristics of the teachers and their level of stress and turnover intention. A total of 150 self-administered questionnaires were collected from secondary schools in the state of Negeri Sembilan. The study reveals that there are significant differences between teachers’ personal characteristics with occupational stress and turnover intention. This study also revealed that there is a positive significant relationship between occupational stress and turnover intention experienced by these teachers. Based on the results, some recommendations are provided

The Role of Transformational Leader to Safety Performance in Malaysia's Automotive Industry

Abstract. This paper aims to investigate the role of transformational leadership to safety performance in Malaysia's automotive industry. This study is carried out as a non-experimental type research which employs questionnaire as the method of collecting data. The measurement tool undertaken in the data collection includes Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and Safety Performance Scale. A total of 696 employees from automotive manufacturing and assembly plants are selected as the respondents of this study. The selection of respondents is made using systematic sampling design. Data of the study are then analyzed using canonical correlation analysis. The finding of the study demonstrates that transformational leadership plays a significant influence to an organization's safety performance (canonical correlation coefficient= 0.501, p <0.001)

Kepentingan stesen kerja ergonomik terhadap kesihatan pekerjaan: Kajian ke atas organisasi multinasional di Malaysia

Purpose - the occurrence of work stress is quite rampant in manufacturing organisations which involve-collar workers. The literature revealed that a poor ergonomic workstation environment is among the major contributors to occupational health problems.Thus, this study aimed to examine the relationship between ergonomic workstation factors and occupational health. Design/Methodology/Approach - A sample of 500 manufacturing operators were derived from 11 manufacturing electronics organisations which were registered with Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI) by using proportionate stratified random sampling. Questionnaires were used for the data collections process. Finding - The major finding showed that an ergonomically designed workstation is an important strategy in minimising occupational health problems. These findings were supported by the Pearson correlation analysis which showed that all of these ergonomic workstation factors have high significant correlation with occupational health. Originality/Value - The findings of this research are important to organizations which are in need of healthy and competent human resource in-line with the aspiration of a dynamic human capital development. Paper Type - Research Paper

An Observation of Transferring Management Knowledge for Seaweed Cultivation Community in Semporna, Sabah

Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP) is introduced by the Ministry of Education (MOE) Malaysia to link the collaborations between the Malaysian local universities, industries and communities to continue to flourish. This paper aims to observe the achievement of the seaweed cultivation management system in Semporna, Sabah under KTP project. The project involves the transfer of knowledge related to the management from the university to the staff of industry partners and local seaweed farmers. This project introduces the knowledge in seaweed cultivation in a modern, systematic, and proper manner to the seaweed farming management. The knowledge transfer included farming and office, human capital, and financial management. After two years, the project objectives have been achieved. The seaweed farms have been better managed and organized, production and sales were increased, and staff management skills have been successfully developed

Keganasan antarabangsa : suatu tinjauan awal

Artikel ini cuba menyorot isu keganasan antarabangsa yang semakin meruncing hari ini. Tinjauan awal ini mengupas kedudukan Amerika Syarikat sebagai satu-satunya kuasa dunia yang paling berpengaruh yang bertindak balas secara agresif dan militer terutama selepas peristiwa 11 September. Strategi Amerika Syarikat di seluruh dunia termasuk di Asia Tenggara tidak berjaya memperbaiki suasana tidak tenteram di negara serta rantau terbabit. Ketiadaan kuasa pengimbang, serta kegagalan Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu menunjukkan bahawaisu keganasan antarabangsa mungkin tidakakan berakhi

New economic policy and the birth of Malaysia’s own industrial relations system

This article explores the era of New Economic Policy (1971 - 1990) and its impact on the development of Malaysia industrial relations system. It examines factors that influenced the direction of the system and discusses how the controversial masterplan shaped and later established the present industrial relations syste

Ergonomics design on the work stress outcomes

Theoretical explanation and empirical research on work stress conducted by the scholars in the field shows that it is an unignorable workplace problem. Most of the researchers agree that work stress is caused by the workstation design or workplace environment. An optimal workstation design is where the workplace environment supports the needs of the workers and where a worker operates in a conducive environment to the individual’s abilities. It is important for organization to match the work place environment and the individual who performs the tasks. This is the goal of ergonomics. The discussion of ergonomics workstation design in this paper inclusive of working chairs, work area design, acoustic, lighting, working hours and humidity level. The stress outcomes include somatic complaints, fatigue, job dissatisfaction and intention to quit. This paper presented a study on 35 manufacturing operators in one multinational electronic company. Multiple regression analysis indicated that 62.9% of the variance in stress outcomes is accounted by the independent variables i.e., chair, work area, acoustics, lighting, working hours and humidity. Chair/office seating, working hours and humidity were found to have significant relationship with the outcomes of work stress. Work area design, acoustics and lighting, however were found not significant. This finding supports a better evaluation of policies’ development of workplace ergonomics by management. In the long term such action taken by management authorities to enhance workplace ergonomics would produce benefits for the institution in terms of minimizing the outcomes of work stress

The role of transformational leader to safety performance in Malaysia’s automotive industry

This paper aims to investigate the role of transformational leadership to safety performance in Malaysia’s automotive industry. This study is carried out as a non-experimental type research which employs questionnaire as the method of collecting data. The measurement tool undertaken in the data collection includes Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and Safety Performance Scale. A total of 696 employees from automotive manufacturing and assembly plants are selected as the respondents of this study. The selection of respondents is made using systematic sampling design. Data of the study are then analyzed using canonical correlation analysis. The finding of the study demonstrates that transformational leadership plays a significant influence to an organization’s safety performance (canonical correlation coefficient= 0.501, p <0.001)

Perhubungan antara stesen kerja ergonomik dan stres: kajian terhadap operator pengeluaran di organisasi multinasional di Malaysia

Penyelidikan ini bertujuan mengkaji perhubungan di antara faktor stesen kerja ergonomik dan akibat stres. Sampel seramai lima ratus operator pengeluaran telah dipilih daripada sebelas organisasi perkilangan elektronik yang berdaftar dengan Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI) dengan menggunakan kaedah persampelan rawak berstrata berkadaran. Kaedah soal selidik telah digunakan dalam proses pengumpulan data kajian ini. Penemuan utama menunjukkan reka bentuk stesen kerja ergonomik merupakan strategi penting dalam meminimumkan akibat stres dalam organisasi. Analisis korelasi Pearson mengukuhkan kenyataan ini dengan menunjukkan kesemua faktor stesen kerja ergonomik mempunyai kekuatan hubungan yang signifikan dengan akibat stres. Analisis regresi linear berbilang menunjukkan faktor kesihatan, reka bentuk ruang kerja, kerja syif, sistem pengudaraan dan tempoh masa bekerja mempunyai hubungan signifikan dengan akibat stres. Komponen stesen kerja ergonomik pula membuktikan bahawa faktor manusia dan persekitaran mempunyai hubungan yang signifikan dengan akibat stres