The study aims to investigate the influence of the supervisory styles on supervision outcome among undergraduate counsellor trainees. Empirical gap and methodological gap are delivered through this study by considering Malaysian context as the background of the study and taking undergraduate population with heterogeneous sample involved. System Approach to Supervision (SAS) Model serves as the basis to carry out the study. This study is quantitative in nature with correlational research design to study both the influence and relationship between supervisory styles and supervision outcome (counsellor trainees’ satisfaction). The pilot study involved 30 students from the Bachelor of Counselling (Honors) program at UNIMAS who are undergoing their practicum training. Stratified random sampling technique is utilized to select the respondents. The Supervisory Style Inventory (SSI) instrument measures three subscales (attractive, interpersonally-sensitive and task-oriented style). The three subscales have reported high reliability analysis. The result showed that SSI has a high reliability analysis ranging from α = 0.868 to α = 0.924. The reliability values of the three subscales are reported respectively as follows: (i)attractive at α = 0.92; (ii) interpersonally-sensitive α = 0.87; and (iii) task-oriented α = 0.92. The SSI instrument is reliable for measuring the supervisory styles of supervisors towards supervisees. Implications of the findings for counsellors, supervisors, trainee counsellors and area for future research are discussed with regard to attractive, interpersonally-sensitive and task-oriented.
Feelings of stress are a part of university students’ life. Stress is simply the body's response to changes that create taxing demands. There is a difference between eustress, which is a term for positive stress, and distress, which refers to negative stress. Coping mechanism plays a significant part to overcome or reduce the stress experienced by individuals. People use different types of coping strategies to overcome their stress. The purpose of the study was to study the relationship between stress and coping strategies among university students. Eighty- six university students participated in the study. A quantitative study utilizing a cross sectional non-probability sampling research design was used to gather data. The data was collected using a questionnaire with the addition of Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS) were administered. The result of this study indicated that majority of the university students have moderate level of stress. There was a significant inverse relationship between stress level and coping strategies among undergraduates. In conclusion, some levels of stress can be good, as the right kind of stress encourages them towards change and growth. However, when students are unable to cope with stress, they can become a burden. It is recommended that students should be
encouraged to take part in extra-curricular activities such as sports to reduce stress.
Small accommodation providers are challenged to grow their business due to their limited resources. Although social networking is suggested to assist organization growth, few studies have focused on how owner-managers in the Malaysian hospi-tality industry network and the value they attach to it. This paper presents findings of 10 in-depth interviews of social networking motivation and barrier of owner-managers of small accommodation in Kuching, Malaysia. The findings show that the owner-managers were motivated by the perceived organizational and personal bene-fits of networking with others. However, issues such as social competence and busi-ness concerns were identified as barriers that may limit their participation in network-ing. To overcome these issues, it is suggested that educators, policymakers, and trade associations work together with the owner-managers to address their specific devel-opment and resource needs.
The purpose of this study is to explore the possible influence of women’s entrepreneurial orientations (EO) on their decision to opt out from organizational careers to self-employment. It examines how women account for these transitions, reasons for opting for self-employment and experiences of self-employment. This research employs the qualitative methodology using semi-structured interviews as the main data collection tool. The study revealed that the entrepreneurial orientations of the women under study are commonly associated with the generally successful entrepreneurial behaviour of risk-taking, creative, proactive, competitive, aggressive and confidence. This suggests that enterprises and their women owners may benefit from efforts to
increase their levels of entrepreneurial orientation in order to survive the dynamic, fast-paced and complex business environment characterized by shorter life cycles, globalization, and continuous improvements in technology. Hence for the women under study with higher entrepreneurial orientation levels, their transitions from their organizational career to self-employment or small business ownership are seen as attractive career moves.
Students’ unwillingness in communicating (WTC) English has many factors especially in second language acquisition. This study investigates the willingness to communicate (WTC) in English among ESL undergraduates in Malaysia. A hypothesised model that integrates WTC in English, motivation, self-efficacy, mindset, and performance was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results show that the personality of learners are directly affecting motivation and WTC in English. Further, the results also demonstrate that both motivation and academic achievement influences WTC in English indirectly through self-efficacy. The final model correlates well with the data, thereby indicating the potential of academic achievement can contribute to ESL communication.
This study explores the use of Adolescent Problems and Risk Behaviours Inventory (IPERI) to predict the relationship of personal problems on risky behaviour among adolescence aged 14 to 17. The objective of this research is to analyse the influence of personal problems such as study problems, family support, financial problems, career indecision, peer influence, spiritual management and health condition on the development of risky behaviours among adolescents. The risky behaviours comprise of eight (8) behaviours which include discipline problems, physical bulling, suicidal thoughts, free sex, tobacco consumption, alcohol abuse, drug abuse and media influence. A survey using Adolescent Problems and Risk Behaviours Inventory (IPERI) is administered to three hundred and seventy-nine (379) respondents, age between 14 to 17. The analysis of Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Standard Multiple Regression showed the existence of significance between all the problem variables, study problems (r = .316), family support (r = .256), financial problems (r = .240), health condition (r = .134), peer influence (r = .189), career indecision (r = .185) and spiritual management (r = .242), with the risky behaviour variables. This research contributes to the profiling of adolescents’ risky behaviours which can guide the development of interventions in tackling adolescent’s risky behaviours.
The objective of this study is to identify the relationship between employee attitude towards training (accessibility of training, social support for training and benefits of training) and employee retention in the telecommunication industry in Kuching. Eighty employees responded to the self-administered questionnaire. Simple random sampling was used to carry out the study. Data was analysed using Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Multiple Regression. Only social support for training had a significant and positive relationship to retention. Thus, it is recommended that managers and supervisors support employees in attending training as well as provide opportunities for employees to apply what they had learned in training as it will influence retention in the organization.
Work-related accidents is a controversial topic in Malaysia as evidenced by the increased number of occupational accidents throughout the years. The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between management practices and safety performance in an or-ganization. The four management practices investigated are (a) training, (b) management commitment, (c) communication and feedback, and (d) employee involvement. The most effective safety practice is also identified. The data was collected at a manufacturing com-pany located in Shah Alam, Malaysia using closed-ended questionnaire. 95 respondents from the production line were involved in this study. The result found that training had a very weak relationship to the safety performance while the management commitment, as well as the communication and feedback, revealed to have a weak impact on safety perfor-mance. On the other hand, the analysis showed that employee involvement is the most ef-fective safety practice to the safety performance, as it had a moderate impact on safety per-formance.
A positive working environment is vital in ensuring employee productivity to avoid
unnecessary stress to the employees thus affecting their work performances. There are
several working environment factors that contributed towards job satisfaction. Hence, this
study aimed to investigate the relationship between the working environment and employee
performance based on five dimensions of the working environment. The quantitative survey
design was utilized in this study and data were collected by using questionnaires. The
respondents of this study were administrators from different departments in a local
municipality located in Kuching. The data were analysed by using Pearson’s Correlation
Analysis to measure the relationship between the variables. The finding shows there is a
significant relationship between the working environment and employee performance.
Support from supervisor was found to be the dominant variables in ensuring a positive
working environment.
This study was conducted to explore the manager’s perception towards Generation Y
employees particularly in the IT industry in Selangor. A case study approach was adopted in
which data was obtained through semi-structured interviews. Purposive sampling technique
was used and a total of eight (8) informants participated and interviewed. The data obtained
from the interview were qualitatively analyzed. Data analysis was conducted by adopting a
content analysis framework in which obtained data were divided into four (4) phases
including condensation, code, category and inference and summarize. The findings showed
majority of the managers perceived that openness to experience, conscientious and
extraversion’ are the most common personalities among Generation Y employees. Besides
that, the findings also revealed that in terms of work ethics, Generation Y employees are
perceived as accountable of own’s actions, respect authority, transparency and loyal. The
result of this study implicates the organization in terms of attrition and turnover rate among
Generation Y employees and organizational branding. The result of this study provided
some recommendations to HR practitioners and organizations in managing and handling at
the workplace.
This daily diary study investigates the effects of daily smartphone use for work during off-work hours on work-life conflict. Drawing on role theory which supports the notion that segmentation is a boundary management strategy, the moderating effect of individual’s segmentation preference is proposed. Results of multilevel regression analyses showed that smartphone use for work was positively related to work-life conflict. The result also shows that the preference to integrate work and personal life rather than separate these domains strengthened the relation between smartphone use for work and work-life conflict. The results of this study may help human resource practitioners to better understand the impact of staying connected to work during off-work hours.
Self-directed learning (SDL) is becoming a prominent issue discussed in the workplace
learning topic. Each of the employees needs to be aware that organizations need people who
do not only believe the importance of learning but they must have initiative and capability
to learn effectively. This study aims to examine the antecedent factor of the emergence of
SDL in the workplace. This study using qualitative research design, particularly case study
approach conducted in a prominent motorcycle-manufacturing company in Indonesia that
intentionally set the organizational direction toward a learning organization. A total of thirty
staff and managers were purposively selected and interviewed using a semi-structured
approach. The Data gathered were analyzed using the content analysis technique. Findings
indicate three factors as the antecedent to the emergence of SDL in the workplace, namely:
personal factors, organizational factors, and family support. Discussion and
recommendations based on research findings will be explained later.
Leaders affect employees’ performance in the organization by their leadership style, which
is dependent to the degree of favor by their followers. It is vital for the organization to
identify the most effective leadership styles which will boost performance in the
organization. This research studied the type of leadership trait most preferred in the
telecommunication sector. This qualitative study used the Full Range Leadership Model to
identify and suggest the preferred traits of a leader. The sampling method used was
purposive. Interview guides were used as the research tool. A total of six (6) informants
were interviewed. The results showed transformational leadership style is the most preferred
by all the informants as the employees found that the traits of the transformational leader
bring more positive impacts on their work performance.
This study aims to explore the first rater officers’ perspectives on the application of
performance appraisal attributes in performance appraisal system in a higher education
institution in Sarawak. Six attributes were focused on the study namely clarification of the
system, justification of the system, control criteria, employee participation, system
management, and credibility of the assessor. The study uses a qualitative methodology using
semi-structured interview techniques and data analysis in thematic approach. Three
common issues are the limitation of the system’s availability, insufficient scoring
distribution towards lecturers who are involved in administrative work and limited
capability of the server. Along with that, two critical issues are the subjective judgment of
personality traits and limited utilization of the system. The implication raised based on the
issues is work processes are interrupted, employee dissatisfaction and organizational image
are affected. In conclusion, the issues within the performance appraisal system need to be
taken seriously to avoid conflicts.
This study sought to develop and validate an instrument measuring cyberbullying among
Malaysian youths. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was employed to determine the best
sub-factors and items for the instrument, while confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was
performed to test and validate the measurement model. Results from EFA on 38 items
showed that the items were pooled into four sub-factors. Meanwhile, results from CFA
indicated that eight items had to be discarded in order to confirm that the model was fit.
Overall, the final version of the instrument consisted of four cyberbullying sub-factors,
namely, impersonation (13 items), cyberstalking and harassment (nine items), flaming (four
items), and elimination (four items).
This article discussed the findings of previous studies on emotional intelligence in Royal
Malaysia Police. Based on the review, emotional intelligence related to job stress, job
satisfaction, job commitment, work-life balance, and psychological well-being of police
officers. Review concludes that no significant differences in emotional intelligence by
demographic factors like salary, working department, age, marital status, length of service,
and job position. Police department has to organise training and seminars to enhance the
emotional intelligence level of police officers. More studies have to be done on emotional
intelligence in the police department, thus the findings will be helpful for the organisation’s
development.
This study examined the relationship between career motivation and job satisfaction among
hospitality employees of one hotel in Sri Aman, Sarawak. A cross-sectional survey design
was employed to conduct the study. The data of study was collected using self-administered
survey questionnaires among 80 employees that were chosen using simple random sampling.
Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Specifically, the Pearson’s
product-moment correlation was used to test the research hypotheses. Results indicated
that the sub-components of career motivation; career resilience, career insight and career
identity were significantly and positively correlated with employees’ job satisfaction.
The present study was aimed to examine the relationship between job stress and job satisfaction
among employees in one local authority’s organization at Kota Samarahan, Sarawak.
A cross-sectional survey research was employed to conduct the study and the data for
the study was collected using a self-administered survey questionnaire from a total of 61
employees. The data of the study was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics,
and a correlational analysis was used to test the research hypotheses. The results of the
study indicated that the sub-components of the job stress that consist of role conflict and
physical environment had significant relationships with job satisfaction. In overall, the findings
of the study assist to provide a better understanding on specific job stress’s factors that
affects employee’s job satisfaction particularly for the organizations under the local government
or local authority in Malaysia.
Work-Life balance (WLB) studies have investigated heavily on family domain even though
there are sub domains in life. Thus, this study will contribute to the literature by examining
study domain (lifelong learning and organizational learning) and its influence on familywork
enrichment (FWE) among teachers who are currently continuing their education in
Lundu district. A total of 117 teachers responded to the self-administered questionnaire. The
finding revealed that both organizational learning and lifelong learning have a positive significant
relationship with family work enrichment. Therefore, school management should
encourage the culture of lifelong learning and at the same time provide facilities and atmosphere
to support the culture will ensure family-work enrichment among teachers who are
continuing their study.
The present study examined the effects of gender and different types of reading mediums on reading comprehension among students. Forty undergraduates were asked to read four psychopathology texts (two digital texts and two print texts). Results showed that there was no significant difference in reading comprehension between gender. However, the mean scores obtained by females were slightly higher than males. Results also showed that reading comprehension between the two groups (print versus digital) was not significantly different. Nevertheless, the mean scores revealed that participants’ performance in print reading was slightly better than digital reading, suggesting that participants may have benefited a bit more from print reading. The present findings shed further light on the effects of digital reading and print reading on reading comprehension.