Employee empowerment and job satisfaction in urban Malaysia

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 697-711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aida Idris ◽  
Denise See ◽  
Paul Coughlan

Purpose The topic of employee empowerment and job satisfaction, and its implications for organizational change management, is underexplored in developing countries. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the two variables in the context of urban Malaysia as an emerging market. Differences in empowerment and job satisfaction in relation to organizational and socio-cultural environments were also assessed. The findings are then discussed in terms of their implications for organizational change management in Malaysia and other emerging countries. Design/methodology/approach Using survey data gathered from 125 local employees working in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, the effect of empowerment on job satisfaction was tested using correlation and regression analyses. ANOVA tests were used to determine differences in empowerment and satisfaction among sub-groups divided according to four factors in the organizational and socio-cultural environments, namely, form of ownership, job sector, type of industry and organizational hierarchy. Findings The results demonstrate that employee empowerment has a strong positive effect on job satisfaction. However, significant differences in employee empowerment and job satisfaction between higher and lower levels of the organizational hierarchy raise concerns about organizational change diffusion and the sustainability of strategic changes. Research limitations/implications Empirical evidences are provided for the generalizability of the theoretical link between employee empowerment and job satisfaction in the urban Malaysian context. Nevertheless, the findings have highlighted the need to further examine specific issues faced by employees in lower levels of the organizational hierarchy which affect their rates of empowerment and satisfaction in a rapidly changing environment. Practical implications Implications on power relations between managers and their subordinates are discussed, as well as on succession and goal-sharing during periods of intense organizational change. Originality/value By demonstrating the influence of organizational hierarchy on employee empowerment and job satisfaction in a non-western setting, this study has contributed new insights on the role of socio-culture and power relations in organizational change management.

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Abd Latiff Sukri Bin Shamsuri ◽  
Ponmalar N. Alagappar ◽  
Dileep Kumar

Subject area Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management, Organizational Change Management. Study level/applicability Postgraduate and undergraduate students. Case overview Restoran Minang Plus is a self-styled family-owned and managed restaurant featuring a gamut of Malaysian Negeri Sembilan and Indonesian Padang dishes. The eatery establishment has sailed the food industry waters successfully since 2004 and currently has five branches. However, there are certain imperatives they have to institute to integrate their entrepreneurial challenges with organizational change management. The nature of the forces in the competitive restaurant landscape requires a continuous rethinking of current strategic actions, organizational change, communication systems, motivation, asset deployment and strategic flexibility to respond quickly to changing conditions and thereby develop and maintain a competitive advantage. The question is how do they integrate this organizational change management to their entrepreneurial challenges with a view to achieve and maintain competitive advantage? Expected learning outcomes The expected learning outcomes are as follows: understanding managing diversity by looking at the different categories of diversity, that is, generic characteristics and learned characteristics that influence work attitudes; explaining how fostering learning and reinforcement can help in increasing job satisfaction; describing the basic motivational needs of the employees and how it can help in increasing job performance; understanding how an entrepreneurial firm can maximize its firm performance through effective change management; and understanding the importance of strategic management in an entrepreneurial firm. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 1471-1483
Author(s):  
Rosemary Vito ◽  
Bharati Sethi

PurposeThe lived paid work experiences of two women (a European Canadian-born and a South Asian immigrant) demonstrate how low-quality leader–member exchanges and poor diversity management negatively influence employees' health, job satisfaction and retention during a period of major organizational change.Design/methodology/approachThis paper combined a narrative case study with auto ethnography to examine the lived paid work experiences of the two female authors and identify common patterns of meaning within the data.FindingsThe analysis of personalized accounts demonstrate the damaging results of a failed change management initiative when leaders did not follow an organizational change model and used an authoritarian leadership style. Further, the low-quality leader–member exchanges and poor diversity management reduced authors' feelings of inclusion and negatively impacted their emotional and physical health, job satisfaction, and retention.Research limitations/implicationsNew knowledge gained about leader–member exchange and diversity management has implications not only for leaders, but also human service managers. The data represents the authors' two perspectives, constraining generalizability. Larger samples of employees' narratives from diverse cultural/work backgrounds would be valuable to inform organizational change.Practical implicationsThe paper provides practical reasons for leadership training and skill development in change management models.Social implicationsGiven global demographic diversity, the findings are relevant to organizations, highlighting the importance of creating a climate of inclusion for workers' job satisfaction and retention and organizational success.Originality/valueWhile the sample size (n = 2) is very small, using a combination of personal experience methods offered insights into the complexity of leader–member exchange and diversity management from workers' perspectives, and went beyond successful cases, adding value to organizational change research.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gao Shang ◽  
Low Sui Pheng ◽  
Ong Le Tian Gina

PurposeConstruction productivity issues have constantly surfaced in Singapore's construction industry. To push for productivity, the Government has implemented various initiatives to encourage industry players, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and to adopt more productive construction technologies. One of these technologies is prefabrication prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC), a concept of the design for manufacturing and assembly (DfMA) approach. This exploratory study sheds lights on PPVC adoption and its issues in Singapore in the context of the launch of the Construction Industry Transformation Map (ITM).Design/methodology/approachThe methodology used here is mainly a quantitative approach in the form of a survey. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to a pool of about 100 contractors, randomly chosen as part of a stratified sample. The questionnaire survey helps gain further insights into the industry's perceptions of PPVC and its adoption.FindingsThe study succeeded in identifying and analysing a list of drivers of and barriers to the adoption of PPVC. The top three most important potential drivers were “increase efficiency,” “technological change” and “changing nature of composition of workforce”. The three most important barriers were “ineffective on-site storage,” “high up-front payment” and “transportation issues”.Originality/valueThis study also looked into the organizational change management theory. Various theories were considered to help understand and implement change. It is understood that it is not only important for an organization to focus on the steps of these frameworks and models when the change is initiated but also for the organization to acknowledge and be mindful of the emotions of employees and take measures to overcome their emotions as part of organizational change management.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-152
Author(s):  
Usman Talat ◽  
Kirk Chang

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine employee imagination and implications for entrepreneurs of China. In 2015, the European Group of Organization Studies released a call for papers highlighting poor knowledge of employee imagination in organizations. To address this need, the current study hypothesizes employee imagination consisting of seven conditions common to the organizational experience of Chinese Entrepreneurs. Design/methodology/approach The current paper reviews the Chinese enterprising context. Cases from China are used to illustrate the effects of proposed conditions and their value for entrepreneurs and innovators in businesses undergoing change. Findings Employee imagination underpins and conditions how Chinese employees make sense of their organizations and better understand the process of organizational change. From the viewpoint of human resource management, emphasis on coaching and developing imagination enables businesses to stay competitive and adapt to environmental demands such as lack of information, too much information or the need for new information. Research limitations/implications The proposed conditions apply to the Chinese context; however, their application to wider contexts is suggested and requires attention. Practical implications Employee imagination was found to be a powerful tool, which facilitates the process of organizational change management. Originality/value Theoretically, the research adds new insights to knowledge of a poorly understood organizational behavior topic – employee imagination. Practically, the research findings provide mangers with knowledge of conditions, which could be adopted as powerful tools in facilitating organizational change management.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Tiron-Tudor ◽  
Delia Deliu ◽  
Nicoleta Farcane ◽  
Adelina Dontu

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to facilitate blockchain innovation immersion in accountancy organizations by providing tools that allow organizations to manage the change. The paper approaches blockchain technology (BT) through the lens of organizational change management, with a specific focus at the organization level.Design/methodology/approachA hybrid systematic literature review of relevant literature is presented based on recent research papers published in highly ranked scientific journals that capture how accounting organizations might manage the changes induced by BT.FindingsThe findings of the review indicate that implementing BT requires some new modus operandi. From individual behavior to organizational structure, the advantages of blockchain must be emphasized in all accounting and auditing organizations. Managers should forge a plan that takes advantage of employees' skills, competencies and talent, implementing forward-looking company procedures and actively deciding how to navigate workplace dynamics, personalities and responsibilities.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitations of the study refer to the infancy of the BT and require the development of knowledge through future studies to allow a more accurate outline of the overall picture and a detailed one of the BT phenomena with applicability to accounting and auditing. At this stage, it is not yet possible to fully envision the implications of BT on professional accounting and auditing organizations. However, there will be clients who adopt BTs, so firms should work with them to understand BT-based accounting and auditing applications. That is, accounting and auditing organizations should expand their skills and knowledge to anticipate and meet clients' needs.Practical implicationsIn a constantly digitalizing world, the traditional accounting and educational environment is changing but not quickly enough to meet the requirements of a blockchain accounting system yet. For this reason, practical implications on the daily activities of the organizations and the restructuration of their internal architecture have been revealed in this paper.Originality/valueThe paper approaches blockchain using the lens of organizational change management with a specific focus on the accounting and audit organizations, and it proposes solutions to cope with the arising technological challenges. A challenge itself is the implementation of blockchain, especially when an entity is not ready for the process. Therefore, the SWOT analysis elaborated in this paper and focused on the accounting and auditing firms is an element of novelty and at the same time, a helpful tool highlighting the main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of this technology, supporting organizations in assessing how ready they are for its adoption. The research on blockchain in accountancy organizations is still necessary for at least seven key areas which have been proposed and detailed at the end of the paper, bringing in this way clarity in regards to the most endorsed avenues for future research directions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (88) ◽  
pp. 249
Author(s):  
حمزة محمد الجبوري

     The organizational change management, follows the approach to the transfer or transmission of the individual, or team, or the organization of the current case to the case of a future planned. It is an organizational process aimed at helping stakeholders to accept and then the changes in their business environment. And job satisfaction can be defined as the individual's sense of happiness and satisfaction during the performance of his work and achieved compatibility between what the individual expects from his work and how much it actually gets in this work, and job satisfaction is to pay the individual components of the work and production. Through the concepts above chose researcher on the title search goal of: "The impact organizational change management in job satisfaction among employees in orginization", in order to stand at the level of the relationship and the type of influence and power between the two variables mentioned, through test hypotheses two main which were submitted in the research methodology. Were distributed to identify search sample consisted of thirty (30) members of the individuals working in the Baghdad plant (tents)/ Baghdad- Waziriyah, in order to obtain the necessary data that was used later in the process of statistical analysis, where the research found the most important conclusion represented by the presence of a high level of correlation between the organizational change management and variables on the one hand, and job satisfaction among employees and variables on the other hand, as well as check the level of impact is acceptable between the organizational change management and variables of party, in job satisfaction among employees and variables at the opposite end, and this is what indicated by the results of the statistical analysis as for the most important research came out of recommendations represent intensify and encourage "interest organizational change management mechanisms followed in Baghdad plant (tents)/ Baghdad- Waziriyah, because of its positive effects on job satisfaction among employees".


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Boje ◽  
David Perez

Purpose – Professor Slawomir Magala is a full professor of Cross-Management at the Department of Organization and Personnel Management in Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus University (RSM, 2015). His education stems from Poland, Germany and the USA, and has taught and conducted research in China, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Croatia, Estonia, the United Kingdom and Namibia. He is a former Chair for Cross-Cultural Management at RSM and has achieved many things, from being editor-in-chief of the Journal of Organizational Change Management (JOCM), to receiving the Erasmus Research Institute in Management (ERIM) Book Award (2010), for The Management of Meaning in Organizations (Routledge, 2009). It has received honors for being the best book in one of the domains of management research. It was selected by an academic committee, consisting of the Scientific Directors of CentER (Tilburg University), METEOR (University of Maastricht) and SOM (University of Groningen). All these research schools are accredited by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach – This is a review of Professor Slawomir Magala’s contributions as editor of Journal of Organizational Change Management. Findings – Slawomir (Slawek) Magala will be known for many contributions to social, organizational, managerial research, and it will be remembered that he has created a great legacy in the field of cross-cultural competence and communication on processes of sense making in professional bureaucracies. He has authored and co-authored many publications including articles, books, professional publications, book contributions and other outputs, and is an established professor of cross-cultural management at the Department of Organization and Personnel Management in RSM, Erasmus University. He will be known for his work as editor of Qualitative Sociology Review, and one of the founding members of the Association for Cross-Cultural Competence in Management, not to mention the Journal of Organizational Change Management. Many of his articles have appeared regularly in leading refereed journals, such as the European Journal of International Management, Public Policy, Critical Perspectives on International Business and Human Resources Development International. His greatest legacy is in the field of cross-cultural management, but branches out to many other management studies. Research limitations/implications – The research is limited to his work in capacity of editor of Journal of Organizational Change Management. Practical implications – This review provides a guide for positive role model of an excellent editorship of a journal. Social implications – Magala’s legacy acknowledges this research and its power to create numerous papers and attract a lot of attention (Flory and Magala, 2014). Because of these conferences, these empirical findings have led to disseminating the conference findings with JOCM (Flory and Magala, 2014). According to them, narrative research has become a respectable research method, but they also feel that it is still burdened with a lot of controversies on with difficulties linked to applying it across different disciplines (Flory and Magala, 2014). Originality/value – The review covers the creative accomplishment of Professor Magala as editor.


2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (8) ◽  
pp. 2069-2091 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditi Mitra ◽  
Sanjaya Singh Gaur ◽  
Elisa Giacosa

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a practicable data-driven theory for the implementation and management of organizational change by combining the organization ambidexterity research and the organization change management research. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on the qualitative approach and uses a single case (in-depth investigation approach) study to come up with a data-driven theory, which is usable in the context of organizational change management and organizational ambidexterity (OA). Besides, in-depth interviews of change management practitioners, this study uses various sources of secondary information. Findings The study finds that owing to the reactive, ad hoc, and discontinuous nature of change often triggered by external factors or internal crisis within the organization, an organization need to continually engage with the existing data. The outcome must be driven toward preparing for the change through data engagement, implementation and reinforcement. The authors found that in order to be successful it is essential to have a strategy, set-up the right operating model, be clear on the scope of the change management work-stream and continuously monitor the progress through defined milestones and acceptance criteria. For companies targeting to achieve competitive differentiation through ambidexterity, a well-grounded change management program is the key for the success. Originality/value The study suggests that there is little work combining organizational change management and OA from a practitioner’s point of view. Accordingly, the authors propose a new data-driven organizational change management theory, which the authors term as the tripod theory for organizational change management. A practitioner’s perspective on the topic using a case study of an insurance company’s data transformation and a framework for structuring the change management program makes a meaningful contribution to the existing literature.


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