Displaying publications 21 - 40 of 88 in total

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  1. Mak, Joon-Wah
    MyJurnal
    The research mentorship programme is unique in that it is a planned journey undertaken by the mentor and mentee, preferably with well-defined milestones along the journey. During the journey, familiar landmarks will be pointed out by the mentor. In path-finding situations the experience and wisdom of the mentor and the critical appraisal of both mentor and mentee will contribute to learning from the encounter. In most mentor-mentee partnerships, a formal acceptance to the relationship, well-defined landmarks measuring progress in the journey, regular appraisal of the skills developed and acquired, and phased, judicious modification in the individual roles of that relationship will be required. Although there is no consensus on the elements of mentorship, there are some strategies which can contribute to the success of the relationship. Critical success factors include convergence of the research area within the broad expertise of the research mentor. The research mentor should have a proven research track record and is committed to serve in that official capacity. The research mentoring process is dynamic and characteristics of both mentor and mentee contribute to the robustness of that relationship. The mentee would have identified some attributes of the mentor that are desirable and is willing to work hard to achieve, build on, and improve upon. In the research setting endpoint measurements of success will be based on recognition of the research standing of the mentee, measurable outcomes such as number of papers in top tier journals, citation indices, etc. consultancies attracted as well as invitations to deliver plenaries in scientific conferences, patents filed and research findings translated and applied, and other measures of research productivity. In the pursuit of research excellence the mentee would have imbibed values of professionalism and ethics in research and would have constantly kept in mind that to be successful, the mentee would be able to excel beyond his mentor and that the next generation of researchers will seek mentorship from him.
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency
  2. Ahmad Rasdan Ismail, Baba Md Deros, Mohd Yusri Mohd Yusof, Mohd Hanifiah Mohd Haniff, Isa Halim
    MyJurnal
    Environmental factors such as temperature, lighting and noise have very significant impact to workers’ health, safety, comfort, performance and productivity. In an ergonomically design industrial work environment, these factors need to be control at their optimum levels. The main objective of this study is to find the effect of temperature, illuminance and sound pressure level on workers’ productivity in automotive industry. To perform this study a workstation in an automotive component manufacturing was selected as the location of the study. Results of data analysis showed there were relationships between temperature, illuminance and noise on workers’ productivity. Later, the authors’ developed multiple linear equation models to represent the relationships between temperature, illuminance and noise on the workers’ productivity. These multiple linear equation models could be used to predict the production rate for the workstation by referring to the value of temperature, illuminance and noise level.
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency
  3. Yodfiatfinda, Mad Nasir, S., Zainalabidin, M., Md Ariff, H., Zulkornain, Y., Alias, R.
    MyJurnal
    This study investigates productivity growth and efficiency of Large Scale Enterprises (LSEs) in the
    Malaysian food processing industry. Malmquist productivity index of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was employed to five-digit panel data for the period of 2000-2006. The findings suggest that average Technical Efficiency (TE) of the LSEs was 0.683 during the period of observation, which indicates that the industries are able to expand their output as much as 31.7 percent by using the same level of inputs. Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth was positive at 7.3 percent, which is contributed by a Technical Efficiency Change (EFCH) of 4.3 percent and Technological Change (TECH) of 3.0 percent. Sub industries of manufacturing alcohol and wine as well as the processing and preserving of meat and meat products shows the highest productivity growth at 84.8 percent and 47.5 percent respectively. On the other hand, the sub industries of processing and preserving poultry and poultry products together with the manufacturing of chocolate are those which have the lowest TFP growth at -30.5percent and -14.8 percent respectively. The significant determinants of the productivity growth, with a positive relationship are public infrastructure, IT expenditure and foreign ownership, while energy price is the determinant with a negative relationship. The main contributor to the TFP growth of the LSEs in the Malaysian food processing industry is EFCH, however, the LSEs can also improve the TFP growth by moving forward the production frontier as well.
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency
  4. Nasarudin NM, Mohd Saiboon I, Ismail AK
    Eur J Emerg Med, 2013 Oct;20(5):335-8.
    PMID: 22976462 DOI: 10.1097/MEJ.0b013e328358fa40
    Dengue fever is endemic in Malaysia and poses a significant problem to the national health system. Because of its nonspecific clinical features, it creates clinical and administrative uncertainties. We evaluated the role of an emergency department short-stay ward (EDSSW) in the management of dengue fever in the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC).
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency, Organizational*
  5. Al-Shdaifat EA, Manaf MR
    Indian J Med Sci, 2013 12 12;67(5-6):103-16.
    PMID: 24326762
    BACKGROUND: Hemodialysis treatment is a costly procedure that requires specific resources. It has a considerable burden on patients, caregivers, and healthcare system. The aim of this study was to estimate the economic burden borne by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Jordan, with a focus on direct medical, direct non-medical, and indirect cost.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted at MOH hospitals in Jordan, from August to November 2010. A total of 138 patients and 49 caregivers were involved in the study. An economic evaluation study was used to analyze the burden of hemodialysis treatment at MOH, Jordan. Direct medical costs were estimated through micro and macro costing from the provider's perspective. Patients' and caregivers' costs were included to calculate direct non-medical costs. Human capital approach was employed to evaluate the productivity loss for indirect cost and premature death and potential year life loss was used to estimate the premature death cost.

    RESULTS: The total burden of hemodialysis at MOH, Jordan was USD17.70 million per year. Cost per session was $72 and the annual cost per patient was $9976. Direct medical cost was $7.20 million (41%) and direct non-medical cost was $2.02 million (11%). On the other hand, indirect cost (productivity loss) was $8.48 million (48%). All 722 patients on hemodialysis at MOH hospitals consumed 2.7% of MOH budget.

    CONCLUSIONS: Costs of treating and managing patients on hemodialysis at MOH hospitals in Jordan are substantial. Therefore, efforts should be taken to slow down the progress of renal failure to save resources and a comparative study with other modalities, such as continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and kidney transplantation, should be considered.

    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency
  6. Khalid R, Nawawi MK, Kawsar LA, Ghani NA, Kamil AA, Mustafa A
    PLoS One, 2013;8(4):e58402.
    PMID: 23560037 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058402
    M/G/C/C state dependent queuing networks consider service rates as a function of the number of residing entities (e.g., pedestrians, vehicles, and products). However, modeling such dynamic rates is not supported in modern Discrete Simulation System (DES) software. We designed an approach to cater this limitation and used it to construct the M/G/C/C state-dependent queuing model in Arena software. Using the model, we have evaluated and analyzed the impacts of various arrival rates to the throughput, the blocking probability, the expected service time and the expected number of entities in a complex network topology. Results indicated that there is a range of arrival rates for each network where the simulation results fluctuate drastically across replications and this causes the simulation results and analytical results exhibit discrepancies. Detail results that show how tally the simulation results and the analytical results in both abstract and graphical forms and some scientific justifications for these have been documented and discussed.
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency, Organizational/statistics & numerical data*
  7. Ratnam KA, Dominic PD, Ramayah T
    J Med Syst, 2014 Aug;38(8):82.
    PMID: 24957398 DOI: 10.1007/s10916-014-0082-5
    The investments and costs of infrastructure, communication, medical-related equipments, and software within the global healthcare ecosystem portray a rather significant increase. The emergence of this proliferation is then expected to grow. As a result, information and cross-system communication became challenging due to the detached independent systems and subsystems which are not connected. The overall model fit expending over a sample size of 320 were tested with structural equation modelling (SEM) using AMOS 20.0 as the modelling tool. SPSS 20.0 is used to analyse the descriptive statistics and dimension reliability. Results of the study show that system utilisation and system impact dimension influences the overall level of services of the healthcare providers. In addition to that, the findings also suggest that systems integration and security plays a pivotal role for IT resources in healthcare organisations. Through this study, a basis for investigation on the need to improvise the Malaysian healthcare ecosystem and the introduction of a cloud computing platform to host the national healthcare information exchange has been successfully established.
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency, Organizational
  8. Jawahar N, Ponnambalam SG, Sivakumar K, Thangadurai V
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:458959.
    PMID: 24790568 DOI: 10.1155/2014/458959
    Products such as cars, trucks, and heavy machinery are assembled by two-sided assembly line. Assembly line balancing has significant impacts on the performance and productivity of flow line manufacturing systems and is an active research area for several decades. This paper addresses the line balancing problem of a two-sided assembly line in which the tasks are to be assigned at L side or R side or any one side (addressed as E). Two objectives, minimum number of workstations and minimum unbalance time among workstations, have been considered for balancing the assembly line. There are two approaches to solve multiobjective optimization problem: first approach combines all the objectives into a single composite function or moves all but one objective to the constraint set; second approach determines the Pareto optimal solution set. This paper proposes two heuristics to evolve optimal Pareto front for the TALBP under consideration: Enumerative Heuristic Algorithm (EHA) to handle problems of small and medium size and Simulated Annealing Algorithm (SAA) for large-sized problems. The proposed approaches are illustrated with example problems and their performances are compared with a set of test problems.
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency*
  9. Ng YG, Tamrin SB, Yik WM, Yusoff IS, Mori I
    Ind Health, 2014;52(1):78-85.
    PMID: 24292878
    Production agriculture such as harvesting in oil palm plantation has been frequently associated with MSD and significant loss of productivities. This study tends to evaluate from the viewpoint of health, the association between self-reported prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and productivities; the impact of musculoskeletal disorders on productivity. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 143 harvesters in oil palm plantation. A general questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic background data while Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire was used to determine the prevalence of MSD. Expressed in 4 different indicators; daily harvesting quantity, efficiency score, sick leave and presenteeism, the productivity data were analysed for association. There is significant association between reported acute prevalence of MSD (within 7 d) and productivity loss in terms of presenteeism (χ(2)=5.088; p<0.05) as well as quantity of daily harvest (χ(2)=7.406; p<0.01). Logistic regression adjusted for age, BMI and smoking indicate that harvesters with MSD (past seven days) were more likely to be engaged in presenteeism (OR=2.87 95% CI=1.34, 6.14) and had lower daily productivity (OR=2.09 95% CI=1.02, 4.29) compared to harvesters without MSD (past 7 d). This study reveals that oil palm harvesters suffering acute MSD (for the past week) were likely to be still present to work and produce half lesser than their healthy counterparts. Thus, further study with comprehensive surveillance strategy is essential in order to determine the urgency or need of appropriate intervention.
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency*
  10. Fazeli, A., Bakhtvar, F., Jahanshaloo, L., Nor Azwadi, C. S.
    MyJurnal
    Evidence on rising global temperature, melting of ice caps, and withdrawal of glaciers
    brings attentions to the enhancement of energy efficiency in energy intensive industries. Having a
    realistic comparison between one plant and the best practice technology (BPT) in operation in the field
    helps significantly to distinguish and diagnose the potentials where measures towards energy efficiency
    improvement would be applicable. In this regard, for manufacturing industries, one of the most widely
    used energy benchmarking tools is the Energy Benchmark Curve. An energy benchmark curve plots the
    efficiency of plants as a function of the total production volume from all similar plants or as a function
    of the total number of plants that operate at that level of efficiency or worse. This paper reviews the
    methodology through which the benchmark curve is obtained for a specific industry followed by a
    comparison of energy intensity for the iron and steel industry among China and the US. According to
    the international energy benchmark curve for the iron and steel industry, the savings potentials per ton
    of crude steel for the US. and China have been respectively 4.1 and 7.1 gigajoule comparing with the
    BPT in the field. Finally, an overview over certain measures to enhance efficiency of such plants is
    presented.
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency
  11. Rubayah Yakob, Zulkornain Yusop, Alias Radam, Noriszura Ismail
    Sains Malaysiana, 2014;43:1439-1450.
    The objective of this study was to identify the exogenous variables of risk and investment management efficiency by using a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) method. The first stage involves obtaining the efficiency scores of risk and investment management via DEA that requires only the traditional inputs and outputs. In the second stage, the Tobit regression analysis is conducted in which the efficiency score obtained from the first stage is treated as a dependent variable, while the exogenous factors are considered to be independent variables. The exogenous factors consist of operating systems, organizational form, consumer preference and size. The results showed that the mutual company as well as the takaful system demonstrate better risk management performance than their stock and conventional system counterparts. In addition, size is also a significant indicator for risk management efficiency in which the larger insurer/takaful operator exhibits better risk management performance than the smaller one. However, consumer preference is found to be insignificantly correlated with the efficiency of risk management. In contrast, with risk management, organizational form, operating system and size are not indicators of the investment management efficiency, but consumer preference is significantly and positively associated with investment management efficiency.
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency
  12. Kamaruzzaman SN, Egbu CO, Zawawi EM, Karim SB, Woon CJ
    Environ Monit Assess, 2015 May;187(5):242.
    PMID: 25864077 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-015-4447-0
    It is accepted that occupants who are more satisfied with their workplace's building internal environment are more productive. The main objective of the study was to measure the occupants' level of satisfaction and the perceived importance of the design or refurbishment on office conditions. The study also attempted to determine the factors affecting the occupants' satisfaction with their building or office conditions. Post-occupancy evaluations were conducted using a structured questionnaire developed by the Built Environment Research Group at the University of Manchester, UK. Our questionnaires incorporate 22 factors relating to the internal environment and rate these in terms of "user satisfaction" and "degree of importance." The questions were modified to reflect the specific setting of the study and take into consideration the local conditions and climate in Malaysia. The overall mean satisfaction of the occupants toward their office environment was 5.35. The results were measured by a single item of overall liking of office conditions in general. Occupants were more satisfied with their state of health in the workplace, but they were extremely dissatisfied with the distance away from a window. The factor analysis divided the variables into three groups, namely intrusion, air quality, and office appearance. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was then used to determine which factor had the most significant influence on occupants' satisfaction: appearance. The findings from the study suggest that continuous improvement in aspects of the building's appearance needs to be supported with effective and comprehensive maintenance to sustain the occupants' satisfaction.
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency
  13. Vogel K, Karltun J, Yeow PH, Eklund J
    Meat Sci, 2015 Jul;105:81-8.
    PMID: 25828161 DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2015.03.009
    The beef industry worldwide is showing a trend towards increased cutting pace aimed at higher profits. However, prior research in the duck meat industry suggested that a higher cutting pace reduced quality and yield, leading to losses. This study aimed to test this hypothesis by investigating the effects of varying beef-cutting paces on yield, quality and economy. A field experiment was conducted on six workers cutting beef fillet, sirloin and entrecôte. Three types of paces were sequentially tested: Baseline (i.e., status quo), 'Quantity focus' (i.e., pace required to maximise quantity) and 'Quality focus' (i.e., pace required to minimise errors). The results showed a significant drop in yield, increased rate of quality deficiency and economic losses with the change to 'Quantity focus' (from Baseline and 'Quality focus') for all meat types. Workers supported these results and also added health problems to the list. The results confirmed that an increased cutting pace is unprofitable.
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency, Organizational/economics
  14. Loo HS, Yeow PH
    Appl Ergon, 2015 Nov;51:383-91.
    PMID: 26154237 DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2015.06.007
    The research aims to address the physically loading task and quality and productivity problems in the brazing of coils of air-handler units. Eight operators participated in two intervention studies conducted in a factory in Malaysia to compare the status quo brazing with (1) the use of a new twin-brazing torch that replaced the single-brazing gun and (2) brazing in a sitting position. The outcome measures are related to quality, productivity, monetary costs, body postures and symptoms. After baseline, Interventions I and II were applied for 3 months respectively. The results show a 58.9% quality improvement, 140% productivity increase and 113 times ROI. There was also a reduction in poor work postures e.g. in the raising of the arms and shoulders; bending, twisting and extending of the neck; and bending of left and right wrists, and the back. This research can be replicated in other factories that share similar processes.
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency
  15. Wang Y, Ghoshal AG, Bin Abdul Muttalif AR, Lin HC, Thanaviratananich S, Bagga S, et al.
    Value Health Reg Issues, 2016 May;9:72-77.
    PMID: 27881264 DOI: 10.1016/j.vhri.2015.11.004
    OBJECTIVES: Asia-Pacific Burden of Respiratory Diseases is a cross-sectional, observational study examining the burden of disease in adults with respiratory diseases across six countries. The aim of this study was to describe health care resource use (HCRU), work impairment, cost burden, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) associated with respiratory disease in the Asia-Pacific.

    METHODS: Consecutive participants aged 18 years or older with a primary diagnosis of asthma, allergic rhinitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or rhinosinusitis were enrolled. Participants completed a survey detailing respiratory symptoms, HCRU, work productivity and activity impairment, and HRQOL. Locally sourced unit costs for each country were used in the calculation of total costs.

    RESULTS: The study enrolled 5250 patients. Overall, the mean annual cost for patients with a respiratory disease was US $4191 (SGD 8489) per patient. For patients who reported impairment at work, the mean annual cost was US $7315 (SGD 10,244), with productivity loss being the highest cost component for all four diseases (US $6310 [SGD 9100]). On average, patients were impaired for one-third of their time at work and 5% of their work time missed because of respiratory disease, which resulted in a 36% reduction in productivity. Patients with a primary diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had the greatest impact on HRQOL.

    CONCLUSIONS: In the Asia-Pacific, respiratory diseases have a significant impact on HCRU and associated costs, along with work productivity. Timely and effective management of these diseases has the potential to reduce disease burden and health care costs and improve work productivity and HRQOL.

    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency
  16. Nurul Hudani Md N, Ma'rof R, Noor Hisham Md N
    Jurnal Psikologi Malaysia, 2016;30:102-112.
    This study aims to identify the relationship between personality traits and job performance among educator leaders in High Performance Schools (HPS). Two sets of questionnaires were used in this study, namely questionnaire Five-Factor Model of Personality (NEO PI-R) for measuring personality and instrument of job performance for measuring the performance of individual work. These questionnaires were distributed to 306 head teachers (89%) in 15 HPS in Malaysia. Pearson correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation between personality traits such as Conscientiousness (r = .740, p
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency
  17. Crawford B, Hashim SS, Prepageran N, See GB, Meier G, Wada K, et al.
    Drugs Real World Outcomes, 2017 Mar;4(1):21-31.
    PMID: 27888477 DOI: 10.1007/s40801-016-0099-9
    BACKGROUND: Acute otitis media (AOM) affects both child and parental quality of life (QoL). Data on QoL associated with AOM in Malaysia is sparse, and the burden of indirect costs have not been previously reported.

    OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of pediatric AOM on child and parental QoL in Malaysia and its economic impact (indirect costs).

    METHODS: We utilized a set of QoL questionnaires (PAR-AOM-QOL, OM-6, and EQ-5D) combined with questions addressing work/productivity loss and financial costs associated with caring for a child during his or her illness in an observational, multicenter, prospective study.

    RESULTS: One hundred and ten AOM patients aged ≤5 years were included in the analysis. The majority of respondents were the patient's mother. Parental QoL was negatively affected for both emotional and daily disturbance scales, but the level of disturbance was low. Using OM-6, the greatest negative impact was on the child's QoL, followed by caregiver concerns, physical suffering, and emotional distress. Using EQ-5D, a moderately positive relationship between parents' emotional disturbance and daily disturbance, and a weak, negative correlation between parental emotional disturbance and parental health status was found. Parents with paid employment took an average of 21 h from work to care for their child, at an average cost of 321.8 Malaysian ringgit (US$97) in addition to their contribution to direct medical costs. Productivity losses whilst at work, uncompensated wage losses, and leisure time losses are also reported.

    CONCLUSIONS: This study found that AOM is associated with some negative impact on parental QoL and significant economic impact at both patient and societal levels. The findings provide useful data on healthcare resource utilization and disease burden of AOM in Malaysia.

    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency
  18. Awang Kalong N, Yusof M
    Int J Health Care Qual Assur, 2017 May 08;30(4):341-357.
    PMID: 28470137 DOI: 10.1108/IJHCQA-06-2016-0082
    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss a systematic review on waste identification related to health information systems (HIS) in Lean transformation. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review was conducted on 19 studies to evaluate Lean transformation and tools used to remove waste related to HIS in clinical settings. Findings Ten waste categories were identified, along with their relationships and applications of Lean tool types related to HIS. Different Lean tools were used at the early and final stages of Lean transformation; the tool selection depended on the waste characteristic. Nine studies reported a positive impact from Lean transformation in improving daily work processes. The selection of Lean tools should be made based on the timing, purpose and characteristics of waste to be removed. Research limitations/implications Overview of waste and its category within HIS and its analysis from socio-technical perspectives enabled the identification of its root cause in a holistic and rigorous manner. Practical implications Understanding waste types, their root cause and review of Lean tools could subsequently lead to the identification of mitigation approach to prevent future error occurrence. Originality/value Specific waste models for HIS settings are yet to be developed. Hence, the identification of the waste categories could guide future implementation of Lean transformations in HIS settings.
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency, Organizational*
  19. Kieny MP, Bekedam H, Dovlo D, Fitzgerald J, Habicht J, Harrison G, et al.
    Bull World Health Organ, 2017 07 01;95(7):537-539.
    PMID: 28670019 DOI: 10.2471/BLT.16.187476
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency, Organizational
  20. Law SH, Moradbeigi M
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2017 Oct;24(28):22458-22475.
    PMID: 28803332 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-017-9871-y
    This study investigates whether financial development dampens the negative impact of oil resource abundance on economic growth. Because of substantial cross-sectional dependence in our data, which contain a core sample of 63 oil-producing countries from 1980 through 2010, we use the common correlated effect mean group (CCEMG) estimator to account for the high degree of heterogeneity and drop the outlier countries. The empirical results reveal that oil resource abundance affects the growth rate in output contingent on the degree of development in financial markets. More developed financial markets can channel the revenues from oil into more productive activities and thus offset the negative effects of oil resource abundance on economic growth. Thus, better financial development can reverse resource curse or enhance resource blessing in oil-rich economies.
    Matched MeSH terms: Efficiency
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