Survey-based Research Design Research Articles

Teachers’ Knowledge in English for Communication (EFC) Teaching of Elementary Vocational Education (PAV) Program

The purpose of this study was to identify the extent of teachers’ knowledge towards teachers’ efficiency in teaching English for Communication (EFC) subject of Elementary Vocational Education (PAV) program. A random sampling which consisted of 66 EFC teachers from 79 secondary schools offered the PAV program nationwide. The study adopted a survey-based non experimental research design. A set of questionnaire was set up and the items used in this study were developed based on Shulman’s Model of Pedagogical Reasoning and Action (1987). Descriptive analysis was applied to test and the data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 21. The findings of descriptive analysis are to obtain the mean and the respondents’ demography along the data of the extent of teachers’ knowledge in EFC teaching. The research of the extent of teachers’ knowledge has been conducted in a few elements such as comprehension, application, emphasis in EFC teaching, and professional development in EFC teaching of PAV program.

Impact of Gender on the Relationship between Job Satisfaction & Psychological Well-being of Indian Employees

A central point adding to the capacity of organizations to adapt to the turbulent environment is the advancement of job satisfaction and employee well-being. The purpose of this study was to understand the effect of gender on the job satisfaction and psychological well-being of the employees working in Indian private sector. Consequently, the relationship between job satisfaction and well-being was explored. A cross-sectional survey-based research design was adopted using data from 160 employees (equal number of males and females) of private sector organizations in North India. The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) and The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) were administered to gain insight into the levels of job satisfaction and well-being respectively. The results showed that gender did not play a role in determining job satisfaction and psychological well-being in Indian employees. Further, it was seen that job satisfaction and psychological well-being were positively correlated. The study advances the existing work and adds to the limited literature of Indian studies on the relationship between job satisfaction and well-being in the Indian private sector.

Linking the emotional maturity factors and self-disclosure: a study of Indian organizations

PurposeThis paper aims to discuss a survey, carried out by the authors, of 256 employees employed in public and private manufacturing organizations in north India, to determine if emotional maturity factors have positive association with self-disclosure in the Indian context. Specifically, capitalization and social exchange theories support as major theoretical framework to examine the proposed relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe sample data used were collected through a cross-sectional survey-based research design and a convenience sampling method. Totally, 290 questionnaires were distributed during office hours, administered with a paper and pencil survey. However, in the final analysis, only 256 responses were considered for analysis using multiple hierarchical regression analysis.FindingsResults reveal that all dimensions of emotional maturity positively associated with self-disclosure. This study fully supports the applicability of capitalization and social exchange theories while explaining the proposed relationships in Indian context.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study used a cross-sectional survey-based research design; future studies may use longitudinal research design.Practical implicationsThe study shows how to develop collective work culture and supportive work climate through emotional maturity and self-disclosure. Thus, employees become accustomed to multicultural team and cultural diversity issues at the workplace. The study also recommended that the organized employees social gathering will create positive feeling, and that such feelings of belonging to a group among employees will give reasons for self-disclosure and finally, in turn, to employee effectiveness.Originality/valueMore predominantly, the proposed association has not been examined before and the findings serve as a potential policy guideline for the self-disclosure literature through the perspective of capitalization and social exchange theories in understudied non-US cultures such as India.

The Impact of Customer Retention Strategies in the Nepalese GSM Mobile Service Providers: A Case of Pokhara City

<p>The cellular industry of Nepal has grown by many folds with the influx of more mobile network providers in the market creating a hyper competition among themselves. Retaining the existing customers rather than just focusing on the regular market expansion is, therefore, becominginevitable for them to sustain. In this realm, this research carried out with the core objective of identifying and assessing the impact of customer retention strategies adopted by GSM Cellular Network companies, primarily Ncell & Nepal Telecom within the locality of Pokhara, taking a sample of 192 network users as respondents within a survey based research design framework, surfaced some important findings. Five out of the six customer retention strategies so identified: Service quality, customer care services, price, loyalty enhancement programs and communications showed an association with the type of network customer use except for other service facilities which showed no association with the network types. Very few of users from Pokhara were thinking to switch over to other networks. Internet proved to be the most effective marketing strategies than other media. Service Quality and loyalty enhancement programs were found to be the most preferred customer retention strategies by the users of both networks.</p><p> <strong><em>Economic Literature</em></strong><em>, </em>Vol. XIII August 2016, page 1-8</p>

Psychological capital and career commitment: the mediating effect of subjective well-being

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discover the role of psychological capital (PsyCap) as a predictor of subjective well-being (SWB) and career commitment (CC). Further, it aims to analyze the mediating role of SWB in the relationship between PsyCap and CC in the Indian manufacturing sector.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative survey-based research design employing data from 300 employees in the National Capital Region (NCR) of India was used in the present research.FindingsThe results demonstrated that PsyCap acted as a predictor for SWB and CC. Additionally, SWB partially mediated the relationship between PsyCap and CC.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of the present research would have to do with the purposive sample set chosen during the data collection. The sample consisted of middle- and upper-middle-class Indian employees working in the NCR having knowledge of English language and computer skills. Perhaps, future research works should take into account a wider sample in terms of the regions across India and not only the NCR. Although the findings showed that SWB reduced the relationship between PsyCap and CC, still that relationship was significant statistically. Further research studies might also explore various moderators while simultaneously studying SWB. In the research, SWB acted as a significant mediator of the relation between PsyCap and CC, yet at the same time, it may be the scenario that employees who are committed toward their career would be more inclined to espouse a greater sense of SWB (i.e. mediator is caused by the outcome). Hence, the authors duly recognize the need to test this substitute model. Since, SWB places chief emphasis on respondent’s own experiences and perspectives; it does not denote a consummate understanding of their mental health as people may have psychological disorders even if they experience happiness. Hence, the use of other measures in addition to SWB in comprehending a person’s psychological health is desirable (Diener et al., 1997).Practical implicationsThis study suggests that in order for organizations to have a workforce committed to their career and hence, their profession, the supervisors will need to train the employees having a higher incidence of PsyCap to increase their SWB. Consequently, the supervisors will, in turn, need to recruit employees already having the four dimensions of PsyCap, i.e. hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism at the workplace in order for them to have a higher life satisfaction, positive affect, reduced negative affect (three components of SWB) and increased CC.Social implicationsEmployees who develop within themselves a state of being hopeful, efficacious, resilient and optimistic will also be strongly oriented toward having greater life satisfaction, positive affect and lower levels of negative affect. This, in part, would help them achieve the required commitment toward their career and hence, help them in sticking with their jobs.Originality/valueThe present study advances the existing work on positive organizational behavior by exhibiting the noteworthy role of PsyCap in predicting SWB and CC. Further, it helps in demonstrating the inevitable role of SWB in partially mediating the relationship between PsyCap and CC.

The Impact of Leadership Style on Middle Managers’ Motivation: A Study of the Ministry of Civil Aviation in Egypt

This paper examines the relationship between leadership styles, used by top management, to motivate middle management managers, which drives them in accomplishing their organisational goals. Leadership use two techniques to motivate employee that are extrinsic and intrinsic (Self-determination Theory (SDT)) in Civil Aviation Ministry in Egypt. The objective of this study is to search which leadership style is currently used, from the perspective of middle management, as subordinates for top management and which leadership style motivated managers, extrinsically and intrinsically. A survey-based descriptive research design was used. The study was conducted using middle managers working in the Civil Aviation Ministry in Egypt. Of 150 survey questionnaires distributed, only 100 were completed in a useful manner. The questions on the survey instrument were grouped into two sections (part for leadership and the other for motivation). The questions were close-ended and using a Likert-type scale with five degrees (1-5) intensity. The research results of the study leading to the conclusion that the top managers’ leadership style currently used in MOCA is transactional style and that it reacts far the intrinsic more than extrinsic managers’ motivation.

Developing Trainers for a Changing Business Environment: The Role of Informal Learning in Career Development

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship among skill variety, autonomy, and job involvement with the mediating effect of informal learning in the South Korean business context. This study adopts a cross-sectional survey-based research design, drawing on the responses of 226 South Korean trainers to a survey regarding their facilitation experiences. Structural equation modeling is used in order to examine the influential relationship among the research variables. The results suggest that trainers exhibit higher levels of job involvement when they possess significant skill variety and high levels of autonomy and informal learning. Moreover, informal learning is shown to mediate the relationship between the job characteristics and job involvement. Recent changes in the knowledge economy have required professional trainers to expand their capabilities to lead organizations in the execution of business strategies. This study highlights the importance of informal learning to the trainers’ professional and career advancement.

Evaluating the Implementation of ‘Islamic Built Environment’ in the Context of Landscape Components in Public Open Spaces in Malaysia

The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the implementation of ‘Islamic built environment’ (IBE) concept in public open spaces in Malaysia. Granting the development of IBE must be the basis in every concept of national development in Malaysia. Thus, this research believes that the adaptation of true Islamic concept is the very crucial in public open spaces that belong to the Malaysian community and for public use, besides being the focus of attraction and tourism assets. This research was conducted based on literatures on framework of indicators of truly Islamic environment. The evaluation was prepared through observation on ten indicators, namely (1) Tolerance, (2) Natural Environment, (3) Social Need and Human Comfort, (4) Religious Identity, (5) Order, (6) Economic, (7) Intellectual and Knowledge, (8) Hygiene, (9) Jannah, and (10) Safety in the selected open public spaces in Malaysia. This research employed a descriptive and survey-based research design rooted in quantitative and qualitative research paradigms. The procedure of research methodology is a combination of reviewing literature, data collection, and data analysis to determine the research finding. For data gathering, this research carried out a site survey for on-site observation confined to the context of landscape components in public open spaces. The findings of this research can benefit and guide Malaysian administrators and professionals in built environment industries to generate a better and more appropriate process of implementing an IBE in Muslim countries, particularly with regard to public open spaces.

The impact of product complexity and variety on supply chain integration

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents of supply chain integration (SCI) at the product level. More specifically, it aims to show the relationship between product-level characteristics (i.e. product complexity and product variety) and different dimensions of SCI (i.e. internal, supplier and customer integration).Design/methodology/approachA survey-based research design is developed to measure different dimensions of SCI, product complexity and product variety. The authors use structural equation modelling to test the related hypotheses.FindingsThis research shows that internal integration is an enabler to supplier and customer integration. The results also show that under high product complexity, firms tend to implement internal and supplier integration, while product complexity does not have a direct impact on customer integration. Product variety is confirmed to be positively related to all dimensions of SCI.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the SCI literature by first, providing empirical evidence which supports the study of the product design-supply chain interface; and second, exploring the relationships between product complexity, variety and internal, supplier and customer integration based on a governance view.

Understanding Transport Planning Education in an Australian Context

Abstract Transport planning professionals, upon commencing practice, are expected to be well-equipped with the knowledge and skills to address new and emerging urban transport challenges as well as to support the changing mobility and accessibility needs of communities. Because of this, the higher education sector is experiencing stronger pressure from industry, government and the public to demonstrate its ability to educate more work-ready graduates, including planning for transport. This research examines the education of transport planning professionals in the Australian context, examining to what extent students are being prepared to enhance their skills that would make them more competitive in the workplace. This research investigates the theory to practice nexus using a survey-based research design administered to transport planning educators and students. It examines the strategies and approaches employed by educators in higher education institutions to address the needs of industry and elicits perception of students within a single institution to examine what they perceive enhances their engagement and learning in taught transport planning course offerings. Results show that students favor activities that offer experiential education, and subsequently, learning. Moreover, while considered as relatively challenging, group work assessment was considered as an important exercise that simulated the workplace setting, engaged student in participatory transport planning process, and created a platform where students were able to bring in a number of key considerations into planning concerns, and overall, allowed them (students) to bridge the gap between theory and practice. The study significantly contributes in enhancing transportation planning pedagogy and informing overall practice in Australia and beyond.

Bicycle sharing in Asia: a stakeholder perception and possible futures

Abstract Despite public bicycle sharing programs (PBSP) gaining global attention as important climate smart transport strategy to support sustainable, low carbon societies in European and North American cities, its uptake in Asia, except for China, has been unexpectedly limited. Moreover, while existing schemes in other regions could provide a better understanding about bicycle sharing, the need to improve our understanding of PBSP’s role in catering for the local transportation mobility and accessibility needs and requirements as well as identifying strategies to make PBSP better adapted to local Asian condition is in order. To date, there has been limited information and analytics to inform low-carbon local planning especially from the perspective of variious individuals. To address this gap, this paper aims to advance our understanding of bike sharing schemes in Asia by examining motivators, constraints and opportunities, and their contribution towards achieving sustainable urban mobility outcomes. Using a survey-based research design approach, this study examines the perception of various individuals on the perceived benefits, and identify factors which have facilitated or constrained the implementation of PBSP. In essence, results show that technical constraints were perceived to be the most restrictive and dominant barriers while there is general consensus that different types of facilitators support bikeshare implementation; also, environmental benefits top the list of benefits while the lowest scorer is economic benefit, providing vital and important information to inform design, marketing and communication strategies for PBSP implementation within the Asian setting. This paper enhances our understanding of the challenges involved in bikeshare implementation as a first step in planning for a smarter society. It also attempts to build the evidence base to comprehend the localization of bike sharing schemes. Understanding how PBSP can be locally implemented can have long-term positive effects through creating a cycling culture and changing peoples’ travel behaviors.

Exploring personality traits, mindfulness and sense of coherence of women working in higher education

Orientation: Previous research shows that personality traits (PT), mindfulness (MI) and sense of coherence (SOC) are connected to psychological well-being and of importance to Human Resource Management (HRM).Purpose: The purpose of this article was to determine the relationship between PT, MI and SOC of women working in South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).Motivation for study: The study explores the relationships of PT, MI and SOC in women in HEIs to contribute to a deeper understanding of these relationships within the HRM context, particularly with regard to training and development in HEIs.Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional, survey-based research design was used to address the research objective. Both snowball and convenience sampling were utilised to obtain the sample (n = 125). The sample was derived from the Higher Education Resource Services network. The Life Orientation Questionnaire, Freiburger MI Inventory and Big Five PT Questionnaire were utilised and showed acceptable levels of reliability. Exploratory factor analysis with either a direct oblimin or varimax rotation was used to investigate the factor structure of the questionnaires (λ < 1 were used), because one of the questionnaires had not been used in the South African context before. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis, Spearman/ Pearson correlations, canonical correlations and multiple regressions were used to determine the relationship between the variables.Main findings: The results showed a significant relationship between the components PT, MI and SOC. It appears that PT plays a significant role in influencing MI and SOC.Practical/managerial implications: Managers and human resource practitioners need to recognise how PT, MI and SOC interrelate and need to become aware of the impact of these positive psychological constructs on women in HEIs.Contribution: These findings contribute new knowledge that can be used to create healthy HEIs through empirically-based, gender-specific training programmes.

The Impact of Virtual Customer Community Interactivity on Organizational Innovation: An Absorptive Capacity Perspective

Research problem: Organizations are increasingly investing in virtual customer communities that reduce communication barriers between organizations and customers. However, little is known regarding how virtual customer communities might affect a firm's learning and innovation activities. Research question: What effects do virtual customer communities have on the relationship between absorptive capacity and organizational innovation? Literature review: Research has shown that virtual customer communities promote knowledge creation and knowledge sharing by facilitating communication within a virtual customer community. We investigate the extent to which interactivity in virtual customer communities influences the relationship between a firm's absorptive capacity (the ability to identify, assimilate, and apply external knowledge) and the extent to which a firm develops incremental and radical innovations. Methodology: We test this model with a quantitative survey-based research design that involves 102 firm-sponsored virtual customer communities. We use hierarchical regression techniques to test our hypotheses. Results: Absorptive capacity is positively related to incremental innovation and negatively related to radical innovation. Furthermore, virtual customer community interactivity moderates the relationship between absorptive capacity and incremental innovation. Conclusions: Virtual customer communities are transforming communication relationships between organizations and customers in ways that influence a firm's learning and innovation activities. One limitation of our study is the use of a single respondent for our survey. We recommend that future research examine how virtual customer communities affect organization-customer communication channels.

Getting Insight into Management Accounting and Control Systems: A Framework for Survey-based Research Design for Emerging Markets Context

In this paper I discuss the opportunities and weaknesses of survey-based research in management accounting and outline a framework for conducting a survey-based study adapting the current conversations to emerging markets context. Survey research in management accounting has long been considered pre-eminent, but lately has been actively criticized for a number of limitations (Young, 1996). Doing research in emerging markets context is additionally complicated by the lack of transparency and inherent negative attitude to share information (Puffer & McCarthy, 2011). However, if researchers consider the weak points at a design stage, a survey method can be an effective means for initial exploration of the subject allowing to gain pre-understanding especially in the environment, where management accounting is still in a search of its identity, as, for example, is in a case of Russia (Lebedev, 2014). It may help focusing the research question and direct the research into a more interpretative methodology.

The joint effects of personality and supervisory career mentoring in predicting occupational commitment

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the joint effects of personality (agreeableness and conscientiousness) and perceived supervisory career mentoring (SCM) on occupational commitment (OC) in the Indian context. In addition, the role of SCM support as a predictor of OC was also analyzed.Design/methodology/approach– A cross-sectional survey-based research design was adopted using data from 121 employees of public and private sector organizations in North India.Findings– The results showed that the relationship between perceived SCM and OC was stronger for employees reporting high levels of agreeableness in contrast to low agreeableness. Further, perceived SCM support was observed as a significant predictor of OC in the Indian context.Practical implications– This study suggests that for fostering an occupationally committed workforce, it is critical for supervisory mentors to understand how to deal with employees of different personality traits. Further, supervisory mentors need to be trained and empowered to render vocational support to employees at all levels.Originality/value– The work advances the existing work on mentoring and vocational outcomes by demonstrating the crucial role of supervisory career support and personality interactions in predicting OC.

Interpreting in prison settings

This paper presents an overview of the strategies adopted by prison systems around the world to enable communication between foreign language-speaking inmates and corrections staff. Following a survey-based research design, the study targeted prison systems where the incarcerated population is at least 10% foreign-born. Information was gathered about the following issues: the legal framework ensuring communication rights of prisoners, interpretation and translation service provision, and non-mediated initiatives to overcome the language barrier. The findings show that interpreting in prison settings is still an area in the making, in terms of both professional practice and scholarly research. However, despite the paucity of legislative support and the widespread dependence on ad hoc measures and natural interpreters (mainly prisoners, and sometimes staff), a slow shift towards professionalization can be observed in some countries. These modest advances in prison interpreting seem to be taking place in countries which also pioneered — or are pioneering — the professionalization of community interpreting as a whole. This trend seems to bear very little relation to the degree of development of national prison systems, or to the proportion of foreign-born inmates in the overall prison population.

Workplace mentoring and career resilience: An empirical test.

The present study sought to investigate the role of mentoring relationships in predicting career resilience. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey based research design using a sample of 205 managers from public and private sector organizations in North India. Mentoring relationships were measured under the 2 broad categories of career mentoring and psychosocial mentoring in alignment with previous studies. The findings showed that psychosocial mentoring acts as a significant predictor of career resilience; however, career mentoring was not found to have any significant influence on career resilience. Given research thus reiterated the significant contribution of mentoring in influencing career outcomes such as career resilience. Theoretical and future implications of research were also discussed.

Developing a Competitive Skills Immigration Policy for South Africa

Since skills shortages is a global phenomenon, there is fierce competition amongst countries to attract skilled labour so as to improve their competitive footing in the global economy. One major way that these countries strive to achieve their goal, is through promoting targeted skills immigration programmes to attract skilled workers. South Africa takes lessons from these countries in its attempt to alleviate its skills shortages and be part of this global economy. A literature review of South Africa's immigration policy was undertaken with a view to evaluate its approach for skills immigration.. A survey-based research design was adopted using a closed questionnaire to determine the respondents view on enlisting skilled labour for the purpose of reducing skills shortages in the country. The sample consisted of 800 organisations/businesses that seek to employ skilled foreign labour in South Africa. The outcome of this paper pointed to a general consensus that South Africa's policy on skills immigration is in need of radical review. It is highly restrictive, bureaucratic, user-unfriendly and costly to administer. Moreover, it serves as an impediment for business and industry to recruit skilled foreign labour into the country as a result of excessive, and often, unnecessary regulations and procedures.

Job Attitudes as a Mediator of the Relationship between Organizational Cynicism and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: An Applied Study on Teaching Hospital in Egypt

Study Objectives: The purpose of this investigation is to determine the mediating significant role of job attitudes (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) in the relationship between organizational cynicism and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). Research Design/Methodology: A survey-based descriptive research design is used. The study was carried on at Teaching Hospitals in Egypt. About 357 survey questionnaires were distributed by employing diverse modes of communication such as in person and post. Multiple follow-ups yielded 315 statistically usable questionnaires. Stepwise regression analysis was used to confirm the research hypotheses.Results: The findings of the study indicated that there is a significant negative correlation between organizational cynicism, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and OCB. In addition to that, job satisfaction and organizational commitment have the advantage of increasing OCB. Research limitations/implications: The main subject of the study were all categories of employees at Teaching Hospitals in Egypt. Self-reported measures were used to measure organizational cynicism, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and OCB. Practical implications: Considering the importance of employees’ organizational commitment and their effects on effectiveness of Teaching Hospitals, and policy makers should take necessary measures for the optimal provision of intrinsic and extrinsic job rewards to make their core workforce highly satisfied and committed.Originality/value: The relevant literature shows that organizational cynicism, job attitudes, and OCB are under-researched in the public sector in Egypt. So, the current investigation has contributed to improve the understanding of this significant issue. Besides, the study findings are discussed in perspective of practical implications in public sector hospitals in Egypt.

An Empirical Study on Comparing the Organizational Commitment of Employees across Four Sector Organizations in China

Aims: Organizational commitment (OC) is one of employees’ attitudes toward their organizations. The study aims at comparing the organizational commitment level of employees across four sector organizations to explore whether OC is influenced by organizational characteristics (type) or not. Study Design: A questionnaire survey-based ANOVA research design was used. Place and Duration of Study: Four sector organizations in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, China, between August, 2012 to September, 2013. Methodology: In this research, we have used a three-dimensional scale of OC .Taking governmental institutions, public service agencies, state-owned enterprises and private enterprises in Kunming as the sample, data was collected from 453 employees distributed in 16 organizations across four different sectors. SPSS will be used to compare the means on organizational commitment across four sectors Results: F values of AC, CC, NC, OC, are larger than F 0.01 (3,449)=4.61. And all the corresponding probability values are 0.000 less than 0.01.Therefore, the hypothesis H 0: the mean of each OC variable from four different sector organizations has no significant difference, has been rejected while the hypothesis H 1: the mean of AC,CC,NC,OC in the four sector organizations has a significant difference, has been accepted. Conclusion: There is a significant difference on OC level or three dimensions (AC, NC or CC) level across four sector organizations. And they vary with organizational