Workers' participation in safety and health at work

This paper focuses on the importance of getting workers involved in safety and health issues at work. Since modernisation and industrialisation have led to human loss and tragedy all around the world due to industrial accidents, safety practitioners and observers have widely agreed that the traditional belief that employers are solely responsible for the workers’ safety at work should have a new paradigm. To create a safe working condition, workers should be allowed to participate actively in safety and health matters and cooperate with the employers. Since they are closer to their work, it is felt that the workers themselves are the most qualified to make decisions about safety and job improvements. Evidence showed that various benefits could be yielded if workers work together with employers including the reduction of death and injury rates at work. However, to make workers’ participation in this field effective, several criteria are crucial. They are the legal support, management support, trade union support, training and the positive quality of the workers involved

The role of patron dining experience and emotions on relationship quality in chain restaurant industry

P u r p o s e: This paper investigates the role of patron dining experience (PDE) and emotions on relationship quality in the chain restaurant industry. Design/methodology: Stratified random sampling method was used where questionnaires were distributed to the respondents in 16 selected ‘Kopitiam’ outlets throughout Malaysia. The empirical findings from 316 customers of those outlets were examined using Partial Least Squares (PLS). Findings: The findings provide strong evidence of the relationships between PDE and emotions with relationship quality, where relationship quality in turn is an essential determinant of customer loyalty. Research limitations/implications: The sample of this study was obtained from a single local chain restaurant in Malaysia. Practical implications: The findings of this study highlighted the importance for service firms, generally those in the restaurant industry to strengthen the relationship with their customers in pursuit of better competitive advantage and long-term profit. Originality/value: This study contributes to theoretical knowledge by providing an empirical study on the effect of emotions construct towards the formation of relationship quality within the hospitality industry context.Peer Reviewe

The impact of corporate social responsibility on financial performance: Evidence from Insurance firms

The field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been growing very exponentially over the past decade. There are continuous opposing views of the role of the firms in society and disagree-ments as to whether wealth maximization should be the sole goal of any corporations out there. With Insurance companies facing and fulfilling in the intense demand of diverse stakeholders, this study explores the impact of CSR disclosures on Financial Performance among the listed domestic-owned companies in Malaysian insurance sector. Although CSR is a hot topic in Malaysia and throughout various industries, no detailed study has been conducted to ascertain whether Malaysian insurance companies derive any benefits therefrom. The study examines the impact of CSR on financial performance using an extensive content analysis method on annual reports from 13 domestic-owned Malaysian insurance companies over the past 9 years (2008-2017). The content analysis data is further transformed into GRI CSR Disclosure Index table before matching the findings against the Financial Performance indicators (return on assets (ROA), return on equities (ROE) and earnings per share (EPS)). The relationship between CSR and ROA, ROE and EPS is tested using correlation analysis. The results indicate significant relationship between CSR disclosure and Financial Performance; designates CSR has significant impact on ROA; whereas relationship between CSR and ROE & EPS is found to be insignificant. The study suggests and indicates that insurance companies in Malaysia ought to carry out efforts continually in a bigger scale so that their CSR activities are more aligned with the reporting regulatory standards as well as to bring a positive impact in the current prospect. In addition, the remedial action proposed by Bursa Malaysia from year 2016 is expected to improve the findings of this study and bring a tremendous improvement to the exiting regulatory guidelines

Genetically modified food and consumer purchase intentions: a study in Johor Bahru

The technological thrust is driving change in the course of action of the policy makers, industry, market and the consumers all at the same time. Bio-technological advancements are playing key role in the uplift of many developed economies of the world. It has helped coping with the dilemmas of divergence between availability and consumption of resources. This descriptive study is an effort to see the effect of these advancements in terms of introduction of Genetically Modified Food (GMF) and the related consumers’ purchase intentions in Johor Bahru. The effect of perceived quality, perceived risks and social norms was analyzed to assess consumers’ purchase intentions for GMF. The sample of 392 respondents was collected from two renowned departmental stores in Johor Bahru. Simple random sampling technique had been used for data collection. Findings revealed that the consumers consider perceived quality as the most important factor in determining their purchase intentions towards GMF. Limitations and implications for future research are also discussed

Law on safety and health in Malaysia

In today world, rapid economic development has not only led to significant improvements in incomes and the quality of life, but also resulted in great increases in the number of people killed and injured at work. For decades, industries have embraced many systems to minimise workplace accidents and incidents, yet despite the best intention, there has been little reduction in the rate at which people are killed or injured at work. Similar scenario prevails in Malaysia, when statistics from the Social Security Organisation reports indicated that although the number of occupational accidents has reduced gradually, workers especially those in the manufacturing sector still suffer a high level of occupational accidents almost every year. To overcome this problem, the government has come out with a legislative framework to deal with this situation. This study therefore has the purpose of examining safety related matters at work, strictly from the legal point of view. Its objectives are to review the historical background of the implementation of the laws related to safety and health at work; to identify the relevant legislations; and to analyse the extent of the employers’ duties and liabilities related to safety at work under the common law. Qualitative method prone to the legal style of doing research was employed to achieve all the objectives. Hence the data referred in this study consist of all secondary data found in the legislations, legal journals, thesis and law publications. It was found in this study that as a result of several weaknesses in the previous legislations namely the Machinery Ordinance 1953 and Factories and Machineries Act 1967, Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) was enforced in 1994. It provides general guidelines on how to create a safe environment at work. Subsequently many regulations, guidelines and codes of practice which provided more detailed provisions were introduced under OSHA 1994. The results also showed that besides the statutory obligations, employers also have a duty, under the common law, to provide a safe system of work to their workers, failing which an action of negligence could be taken against them in court

SMES's knowledge of legislated employment rights: Malaysian perspective

This study seeks to investigate small and medium-sized enterprise Human Resource (HR) practitioners’ knowledge pertaining to legislated employment rights at the workplace as laid down by the Employment Act (EA) 1955. The EA provides a variety of individual employment rights covering protections of wages, statutory right to the general standard of working time, statutory right to rest day, public holidays, annual leave and sick leave, statutory right to employment security as well as female employee’s statutory right to paid maternity leave. The study also aims to determine whether HR practitioners’ level of knowledge concerning legislated employment rights differed significantly between age groups, years of experience, level of education and size of company. It also examined the nature of the relationship between the HR practitioners’ level of basic knowledge concerning legislated employment rights and their level of concern in making legally sound decisions in their administrative practice. In addition, it identified whether the HR practitioners’ level of basic knowledge pertaining to legislated employment rights correlate significantly with the size of the company where they are employed

Commercialization and its discontents : companies perspectives

Since the late 1990s the government of Malaysia has increased emphasis on its Intensification of Research in Priority Areas (IRPA) program, focusing sc ientific research in universities and government research institutes (GRIs) on activities most likely to enhance national economic performance. The IRPA’s main purpose is to fund commercially viable research for the benefit of business. However, its 2001 mid-term review showed its rates and volumes of commercialization and technology transfer (CTT) to be inadequate. This study aimed to explain the perceived low rate of adoption and commercialization of scientific knowledge in manufacturing in Mala ysia by exploring the actions of companies, universities and GRIs. Two main mo dels of technical change, the Technik and the STH ones, were used. Fieldwork was carried out in Malaysia. Purposive sampli ng led to selection of 60 interviewees: 23 managers and professionals from companies, 17 scientists, eight Technology Transfer Office offi cers, six senior research ad ministrators, three venture capitalists, two journalists and a politic ian. The interviews were open-ended. It was seen that research fi ndings were not always relevant to company interests, and companies often preferred thei r own or adopted, sometimes re verse-engineered, technology. Government CTT funds did not help much in with design, prototypes and pilot plants. Inadequate communication and lack of trust influenced the low uptake of research findings. The commercial relevance of much scientific research was questioned. More government support for company risk-taking appeared to be needed. Differences in attitude and poor understanding of policies and principles tend ed to contribute to low uptake. Managers, professional, scientists, Technol ogy Transfer Officers, senior re search administrators, venture capitalists needed more flexib ility, knowledge and sk ills to respond to profit-driven research findings. A specifically Malaysian approach to CTT was advocated

The effects of servant leadership on employee’s job withdrawal intention

This study employed survey research to investigate the effects of servant leadership on employee job withdrawal intention. Employees are valuable assets to organization. Leaders are important to decrease employee’s job withdrawal intention. Servant leadership style is important to build a good relationship with their employees. Respondents consist of employees that work at small medium enterprises in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Using questionnaires to collect data and AMOS to analyze data. The results reveal a negative relationship between servant leadership and employee’s job withdrawal intention. Thus, it provides evidence that servant leadership is able to reduce employee’s job withdrawal intention. This study provides some ideas for leader on how to retain quality workers

Managing hours of work and rest breaks: a Malaysian perspective

This paper critically analyses the provisions of the law regulating hours of work and rest breaks in Malaysia. It explores and examines crucial legal issues on the subject and analyse judicial judgements on related disputed matters. The key statutory provision that prescribes the law is governed by section 60A of the Malaysian Employment Act 1955. The principal focus of this paper is on the legal rights and protection that the law provides pertaining to working time limits and rest breaks. The legal analysis includes the topic on the daily working time limit, weekly working time limit, daily work spread over a period of ten hours and the right to in-work rest breaks. In addition, the analysis will look into the statutory exemptions to the working time limit and also explain the legal definitions of hours of work and normal hours of work. Keywords: Hours of Work, Rest Breaks, Working Hours, Working Time, Employment Law

An assessment of positive organizational behavior in service sector of Pakistan: role of organization based self-esteem and global self-esteem

This study is an attempt to investigate prevalence of positive organizational behavior in the organizations in the service sector of Pakistan. We tested effects of organization based self-esteem, role stressors (role conflict, role overload and role ambiguity), leader-member exchange and perceived organizational support on positive organizational behavior as well as mediation of organization-based-self-esteem in this regard. Moreover, moderation of global self-esteem was also estimated in relationship between organization based self-esteem and positive organizational behavior. Data from 250 respondents from three service sectors of Pakistan (bank, hotel and education) was collected through mail survey and using stratified random sampling technique. Data analysis on the usable 215 questionnaires was made by using hierarchical multiple regression. Significant direct and indirect results through mediation of organization based self-esteem were found only for leader-member exchange, perceived organizational support and role ambiguity. Nevertheless, global self-esteem was not found to moderate the relationship of organization base self-esteem and positive organizational behavior. Implications and future research recommendations are also given