Perceived Leadership Styles and Commitment to Service Quality Among Academic Staff: The Mediating Influence of Job Satisfaction

Past researches have suggested that some universities in Malaysia were losing student because their standard of service quality was not up to the expectation. This gives emphasis that there is some concern in the way the students' were being treated or handled. With the global and national competition, growth of public and private universities there is a need for academic leaders to not only transform the national academic outlook from the national perspective but also to motivate the academic staffs' commitment towards service quality excellence. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to explore the relationships of perceived leadership styles and commitment to service quality, mediated by job satisfaction among the academic staff in selected Malaysian Universities. Specifically the objectives were : 1) to determine the status of commitment to service quality among the academic staff in selected Malaysian Universities; 2) to determine the status of job satisfaction among the academic staff in selected Malaysian Universities; 3) to determine the relationships of perceived leadership styles on the commitment of the academic staff towards service quality in selected Malaysian Universities; and 4) to determine the mediating effects of job satisfaction on the relationships of perceived leadership styles and the commitment of academic staff to service quality in selected Malaysian Universities. Based on the objectives and research questions, four (4) hypothesis were proposed to determine the relationship between perceived leadership styles and commitment to service quality and the mediating effects of job satisfaction on the relationship between perceived leadership styles and commitment to service quality of the academic staff. The sample for this study consisted of academic staff from six universities in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. Majority of the respondents were from the business faculty, between the ages of 30 and less than 40 years old, with masters and other qualifications and with between 1 and less than 5 years of teaching experience. The total useable questionnaires were 387 with a response rate of 36 percent from both private and public universities. This study reveals that perceived leadership styles have a significant positive relationships on the academic staffs commitment to service quality. Job satisfaction was found to have only a partial mediating effect on transformational and transactional leadership styles and commitment to service quality. There were also significant differences in academic staff commitment to service quality and job satisfaction among the public and private universities in Malaysia. The findings of this study contribute in the specific area of literature, theory and also in research design. Among the recommendations made to the policy makers and academic leaders at the universities were in enhancing the commitment of the academic staff to service quality by achieving job satisfaction, ranking service quality as the number one priority and opening avenues for collaboration with the government in training of academicians in leadership. Several suggestions were also made for future studies such as the inclusion of new variables, dyadic methods of sampling, longitudinal methods of data collection and the adaption of measurements to suit the local culture

High dependency of underprivileged Muslim on Zakat assistance in the state of Selangor

This paper aims to explore the high dependency of underprivileged Muslims on zakat assistance in the state of Selangor. By the end of the year 2019, Selangor is one of the most prosperous states in Malaysia, distribution of zakat assistance is expected to reach to more than 50,000 families in the category of poor and needy 'asnaf fakir and miskin'. Over one billion Ringgit Malaysia is being allocated by the state zakat corporation. However, over the years the trend of number recipients of zakat is ever increasing. This paper also looks into issues related to the management of collection and distribution of zakat and also the reasons behind the increasing trend. Knowledge of underprivileged Muslim is of concern especially on the ability to raise themselves above poverty and not continuously seeking alms from zakat. Their religious belief takes an unprecedented stand that their dependence as their birth right as Muslim. On top of these issues, a situational factor which is deemed important is also being investigated. Twenty-five (25) respondents were interviewed among the 'asnaf fakir and miskin'. The finding indicated that the most important reason for the increasing number of underprivileged Muslim in Selangor is due to the situational factor. The increase in the cost of living standard is also the reason for the increase of alms seekers from zakat. From this study, it was found the Lembaga Zakat Selangor as the sole body in managing zakat collection and distribution have carried out their duty in a responsible manner but can further elevate their management effectiveness to a more highly systematic manner to be one of the best zakat managing body in the world. (Abstract by authors

Motivation of Postgraduate Learners in Pursuing Their Doctoral Degree Through Collaborative Learning

This paper explored the idea of what motivates part time postgraduate learners to stay engaged in a collective e-learning environment of a private university in Malaysia. Findings indicate that the respondents felt that collaborative learning could cultivate motivation among peers

Relationship Between Leadership Styles and Affective Commitment among employees in National Anti-Drugs Agency (NADA)

The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between different leadership styles, specifically Islamic, authentic and transformational leadership and affective commitment in National Anti-Drugs Agency (NADA). [ABSTRACT BY AUTHORS

Employer’s Branding and Employee Engagement of Furniture Retailer in Klang Valley

1. To find out the relationship between employer branding and employee engagement in furniture retailing company 2. The state of employees’ engagement 3. The gender differences in their engagement towards their organisatio

Factors affecting the behavioral intention to park legally among urban Malaysian in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

One of the main issues that created traffic congestion is the illegal parking activities leading to traffic violation and dissatisfaction on how local authorities are managing the on-street parking in Kuala Lumpur. Current study focused on the relationship between motorist behaviour, safety and security, parking place and facilities, parking fee and intention to park legally. This study also examines the effect of enforcement factors being the mediator for motorist behaviour, safety and security and the intention to park legally. The results of the study were derived from 419 licensed motorists through convenience sampling and the response was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and the Smart Partial Least Square software. This study found that there is a significant relationship between motorist behaviour and intention to park legally. In addition, enforcement factors that mediated between motorist behaviour, safety and security and the intention to park legally were also found to be significant. However, other predictors such as safety and security, parking place and parking fee had shown that there is no direct relationship with the intention to park legally. Future study should consider conducting the study on a larger scale at national level

Generation Y employees in the banking sector in Malaysia: social needs, intention to stay and perceived organizational support

By year 2025, 75% of the workforce will be Gen Y employees. This study examined the influence of social needs on the intention to stay by Gen Y employees in the banking sector in Malaysia. The mediation role of perceived organizational support between the two constructs was examined. In this quantitative study, primary data was collected from a sample of 470 respondents. The examination concluded that higher level of social needs had a positive and significant influence on intention to stay. This study further revealed that perceived organizational support partially mediated the relationship between social needs and intention to stay. Due to the expected rise of the Gen Y workforce in future, this study will give organizations a better understanding and knowledge of Gen Y social needs and provide them the right tools to collaborate and find the right solutions. (Abstract by authors

Transformational leadership style and academic staffs’ commitment to service quality at Malaysian universities

This paper discussed the relationship between leadership style of transformational and the state of commitment to service quality among academic staffs in selected six public and private Malaysian Universities. It has been argued that excellent service quality performance is one of the key factors in building niche and having competitive edge that separates one from its competitors nationally and globally. Total useable questionnaires were 387 with a response rate of 36 percent from both private and public universities. The result revealed that there is a significant relationship between transformational leadership style and commitment to service quality among academic staff at the Malaysian universities. This study implies to the policy makers and academic leaders at the universities that they can focus in developing their academic staff, by tapping their potentials, inspiring them, promoting collaboration, motivating and reinforcing positive attitudes towards commitment to service quality. Future study should consider alternative modes of enquires such as employing the longitudinal method of data collection design and a nationwide survey covering samples from the whole population of the higher institutions of learning in Malaysia that would be more significant in making generalizations

High dependency of underprivileged Muslim on Zakat assistance in the state of Selangor

This paper aims to explore the high dependency of underprivileged Muslims on zakat assistance in the state of Selangor. By the end of the year 2019, Selangor is one of the most prosperous states in Malaysia, distribution of zakat assistance is expected to reach to more than 50,000 families in the category of poor and needy 'asnaf fakir and miskin'. Over one billion Ringgit Malaysia is being allocated by the state zakat corporation. However, over the years the trend of number recipients of zakat is ever increasing. This paper also looks into issues related to the management of collection and distribution of zakat and also the reasons behind the increasing trend. Knowledge of underprivileged Muslim is of concern especially on the ability to raise themselves above poverty and not continuously seeking alms from zakat. Their religious belief takes an unprecedented stand that their dependence as their birth right as Muslim. On top of these issues, a situational factor which is deemed important is also being investigated. Twenty-five (25) respondents were interviewed among the 'asnaf fakir and miskin'. The finding indicated that the most important reason for the increasing number of underprivileged Muslim in Selangor is due to the situational factor. The increase in the cost of living standard is also the reason for the increase of alms seekers from zakat. From this study, it was found the Lembaga Zakat Selangor as the sole body in managing zakat collection and distribution have carried out their duty in a responsible manner but can further elevate their management effectiveness to a more highly systematic manner to be one of the best zakat managing body in the world

Motivation of postgraduate learners in pursuing their doctoral degree through collaborative learning

Huge investments in both the public and private universities are made mainly to attract learners, yet how do we keep them engaged and retained them. On the other hand, how do these universities motivate their part time postgraduate learners to further continue their education? The implication of these learners’ withdrawals will be costly to the learners’ potential success in their career. It will also have repercussion on the universities’ reputation, operational and manpower costs and the upmost loss of all will be in terms of potential knowledgeable workers to the nation. Therefore, it will be imperative that owners and stakeholders of these universities find ways on how to retain its learners. This study thus, focuses on collaborative learning among part time postgraduate learners who are pursuing their doctoral degree at a private open university in Malaysia. A semi-structured face-to-face interview was used to gain more insight on their experience that have an impact on their motivation to continuously work towards achieving their ambition. The finding indicated that through collaborative learning, it had lead to high level of engagement and motivation among learners. Future study should consider alternative modes of enquires such as employing a cross sectional research design and a nationwide survey covering samples from the whole population of the higher institutions of learning in Malaysia that would be more significant in making generalisation