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The importance of organizational climates in enhancing employees’ job performance is well studied in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and team climate on job performance, particularly through job engagement, by using a multilevel survey. The study also predicted that only PSC (and not team climate) predicted job resources (i.e. role clarity and performance feedback).

A total of 412 employees from 44 teams (72.6 per cent response rate) in Malaysian private organizations participated in the current study.

Research findings revealed that performance feedback and role clarity mediate the relationship between PSC and job engagement, and that there is no direct effect between the variables, team climate, and job resources. As expected, the study also discovered that job engagement mediates the relationship between PSC and team climate related to job performance.

This paper suggests the importance of PSC as the precursor to better working conditions (i.e. job resources) and to indirectly boosting employees’ engagement and job performance.

The study compared two distinctive organizational climate constructs that affect the different types of job resources using multilevel approach within the Asian context.

Hundreds of thousands of deaths each year in the world are caused by breast cancer (BC). An early-stage diagnosis of this disease can positively reduce the morbidity and mortality rate by helping to select the most appropriate treatment options, especially by using histological BC images for the diagnosis.

The present study proposes and evaluates a novel approach which consists of 24 deep hybrid heterogenous ensembles that combine the strength of seven deep learning techniques (DenseNet 201, Inception V3, VGG16, VGG19, Inception-ResNet-V3, MobileNet V2 and ResNet 50) for feature extraction and four well-known classifiers (multi-layer perceptron, support vector machines, K-nearest neighbors and decision tree) by means of hard and weighted voting combination methods for histological classification of BC medical image. Furthermore, the best deep hybrid heterogenous ensembles were compared to the deep stacked ensembles to determine the best strategy to design the deep ensemble methods. The empirical evaluations used four classification performance criteria (accuracy, sensitivity, precision and F1-score), fivefold cross-validation, Scott–Knott (SK) statistical test and Borda count voting method. All empirical evaluations were assessed using four performance measures, including accuracy, precision, recall and F1-score, and were over the histological BreakHis public dataset with four magnification factors (40×, 100×, 200× and 400×). SK statistical test and Borda count were also used to cluster the designed techniques and rank the techniques belonging to the best SK cluster, respectively.

Results showed that the deep hybrid heterogenous ensembles outperformed both their singles and the deep stacked ensembles and reached the accuracy values of 96.3, 95.6, 96.3 and 94 per cent across the four magnification factors 40×, 100×, 200× and 400×, respectively.

The proposed deep hybrid heterogenous ensembles can be applied for the BC diagnosis to assist pathologists in reducing the missed diagnoses and proposing adequate treatments for the patients.

Conducted with a staff of 562 persons working in the health sector in Quebec, mainly nurses, the purpose of this paper is to test the indirect effects of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) on workarounds through physical fatigue, cognitive weariness and emotional exhaustion as mediators.

The structural equation method, namely CFA, was used to test the structure of constructs, the reliability and validity of the measurement scales as well as model fit. To test the mediation effects, Hayes’s PROCESS (2013) macro and 95 percent confidence intervals were used and 5,000 bootstrapping re-samples were run. The statistical treatments were carried out with the AMOS software V.24 and SPSS v.22.

The results based on bootstrap analysis and Sobel’s test demonstrate that physical fatigue, cognitive weariness and emotional exhaustion mediate the relationship between PSC and safety workarounds.

The study has important practical implications in detecting blocks and obstacles in the work processes and decreasing the use of workaround behaviors, or in converting their negative consequences into positive contributions.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship between PSC, burnout and workaround behaviors. These results could contribute to a better understanding of this construct of workarounds and how to deal with it. Moreover, the test of the concepts of PSC in this study provides support for the theory of “conservation of resources” by proposing an extension of this theory.

The purpose of this study is to explain the components of competitive priorities of Indian service firms, to find out the competitive priorities of different service industries in India and to find out how these competitive priorities change across low- and high-performing service firms.

An empirical study of 166 firms from five different service industries is undertaken in New Delhi and its surroundings.

The results reveal the presence of three competitive priorities in the services sector in India: cost, flexibility and quality/delivery, with quality/delivery being the most distinctive competitive priority. Hotel and auto-repair industries are found to be focused on controlling costs, while hospitals, banks and private colleges prioritized quality/delivery. For high-performing firms, cost is the top most competitive priority, followed by quality/delivery and flexibility, while for low-performing firms, quality/delivery remains the top most competitive priority, followed by flexibility and cost.

The paper enhances the understanding of competitive priorities in the Indian services sector. The identification of competitive priorities of different service industries in India and their dynamics across different industries add value to the current literature and fill an important research gap. Additionally, surveying diverse industries in this paper reveals a holistic picture of the Indian service industry and helps achieve some degree of cross-industry perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to examine a multidimensional mediating model of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and work-family interference. More precisely, it tests the direct and indirect effects of PSC on work-family conflict (WFC)/family-work conflict (FWC)-time and WFC/FWC-strain via family-supportive supervisor behavior (FSSB).

The structural equation method was used to test the direct effect of PSC on WFC/FWC time and strain. As for the mediation effects, they were tested by the method of indirect effects based on a bootstrap analysis (Preacher and Hayes, 2004) based on 3,000 replications with a 95% confidence interval. The statistical treatments were carried out with the AMOS software V.22.

The results show that PSC is negatively and directly related to WFC-time, FWC-time, WFC-strain and FWC-strain. In addition, the bootstrap analyses indicate that PSC is related indirectly to WFC-time, FWC-time, WFC-strain and FWC-strain via FSSB.

WFC is a workplace issue that warrants intervention in order to reduce organizational costs and increase worker well-being and PSC should be considered as an appropriate target for intervention (Dollard et al., 2012). However, although this management tool can be useful to reduce FWC, it is more appropriate to decrease WFC. Employers and HR managers not only should understand from the findings the importance of PSC, but also that all employees do not have the same problems, depending on the level of responsibilities at home, for example. Hence, they should offer the appropriate resources according to the need of workers. Indeed, the implementation of a unique work-family measure may not be appropriate for all workers, and it is important that employers and HR managers understand the details of WFC and FWC, as well as the possible effects of a series of different variables, in order to design the best work-family programs.

This research examined the effects of two new and specific resources at work, which are PSC and FSSB on WFC and FWC (time and strain), as recommended by Kossek et al. (2011). In addition, this study tested a new multidimensional mediating model which examined the mediation role of FSSB between PSC and time- and strain-based WFC and FWC. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine these relations. Moreover, the test of the concepts of PSC in this study provides a support for the theory of conservation of resources and proposes an extension of this theory.

Although many adherents openly praise the importance of quality management practices (QMP) in organisations, others have identified significant costs and implementation obstacles. Some recent studies showed that QMP have failed due to the ignorance of quality cultures. How to improve the success rate of QMP in organisations has become a critical issue both in the academy and in practice. This paper discusses the common enablers of and cultural impacts on QMP. It explores the dimensions of national versus organisational culture, and identifies the main features of four quality culture models as advocated in the literature in relation to facilitating QMP in organisations. It was found that flat structures, decentralised functions, empowerment, flexibility, innovation, limited rules and regulations and teamwork favor the QMP implementation. For facilitating culture changes for QMP, values associated with low power distance, low uncertainty avoidance and collectivism would have to be nurtured. Further research is needed to incorporate the findings and develop a practical quality culture approach for real applications in industry.

Soft total quality management (TQM) aspects are the facets of TQM that mainly concern with the management of human resource in a way to achieve the results of employees' job satisfaction. Based on this approach, the objective of this research is to examine the relationship between the most popular five soft TQM aspects and employees' job satisfaction in “ISO 9001” certified Sudanese oil companies.

Data were collected through questionnaires from employees across a total of five Sudanese oil companies owned by the government, and adopting an ISO-9001 quality program. The total population of the study consists of 1,505 permanent employees, while the sample size was 253 employees, determined by adopting a stratified random sampling technique. The multiple regression model was adopted for data analysis.

The results showed that the construct of soft TQM aspects including “top management commitment”, “employee empowerment”, “teamwork”, “training and education” and “employee involvement” explain 74% in the variance of employees' job satisfaction. Results showed positive association between soft TQM aspects and employees' job satisfaction at the 5% significance level. It was also found that each individual variable of the five soft TQM aspects has a significant positive association with employees' job satisfaction. Meanwhile, the results indicated that the most important soft TQM aspect in explaining the variability of employees' job satisfaction was the “employee empowerment” with the highest correlation coefficient (β) of (0.189).

The study recommends that in order to achieve their primary goal of employees' satisfaction, HR practitioners within organizations adopting total quality programs should align their practice in such a way to enhance soft aspects of TQM. Policy makers and top management in order to gain long-term infrastructural benefits obtained from employees' job satisfaction should show a visible support to TQM programs and allocate necessary resources to train their staff in the quality management system that enhance their empowerment and involvement. The study also recommends that since soft aspects of TQM raise their job satisfaction, employees should support and conform to quality management systems within their organizations.

The paper focuses on soft TQM aspects’ practical implementation. The findings make a significant contribution by using ISO-certified governmental Sudanese oil companies and tested the hypothesized model entails the impact of soft TQM implementation and employees' job satisfaction.

The literature review concludes that TQM is a proven systematic approach to the improvements of the organisation’s overall business process, including quality of products and services. Organisational lack of information and data on the critical success factors are an obstacle in implementing TQM effectively and successfully. This study has developed a TQM soft model which is fit for application. It has considered the needs and limitation of Malaysian industries and facilitates TQM activities. The study has examined the relationship between the soft elements of critical success factors on TQM tangible effects, influences by soft elements activities such as culture, trust, teamwork, employment continuity, education and training, top management leadership for quality and continuous improvement, employee involvement and customer satisfaction/ involvement. Three main research methods were adopted in developing the TQM soft model: a postal questionnaire survey, a structured interview and the practical implementation of the model at a manufacturing company. Multiple regression analysis and binomial testing are used to analyse the data.

Pb-free solders have been developed to replace the standard Sn–Pb eutectic solder since the prohibition on Pb used in solders. The Sn–Ag–Cu series of lead-free solders is the most extensively used in the electronics industry. The Ag₃Sn, which forms during isothermal ageing, can significantly degrade solder joint reliability. Sn–Ag–Cu solder’s high price further hindered its use in the electronics industry. This paper aims to investigate different copper percentages into Sn–xCu solder alloy to improve its microstructure and strength performance.

The solder alloys used in this work were Sn–xCu, where x = 0.0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0 Wt.%, which was soldered onto electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) substrate using carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas laser. Then these samples were subjected to isothermal aging for 0, 200, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 h. The Sn–xCu solder alloy was fabricated through a powder metallurgy process.

Microstructure characterization showed that Cu addition resulted in fine and rounded shape of Cu–Sn–Ni particles. Shear strength of Sn–xCu solder joints was increased with increasing Cu content, but at aging duration of 1,000 h, it dropped slightly. It is believed that the strength improved due to the increment of diffusion rate during isothermal aging.

In a Cu–Sn solder, the recommended amount is 1.0 Wt.% of Cu. In extensive aging procedures, it was discovered that Sn1.0Cu solder improved the reliability of solder joints. The findings indicated that the innovative solder alloys might satisfy the needs of high-reliability applications.

The study shows that the right amount of Cu enhances the solidification of Sn–Cu solder, increasing the shear force of the Cu–Sn solder joint. The Sn1.0Cu exhibits a ductile fracture on the top microstructure, improving the joint’s average shear strength.

This study attempts to explain the components of competitive priorities of Malaysian service firms and to find out the competitive priorities of different service industries in Malaysia, and how these competitive priorities change across “low performance” and “high performance” service industries.

An empirical study of 254 firms from nine different service industries is conducted to answer the objectives of this study.

Four competitive priorities are identified: cost, quality, delivery and flexibility. Six service industries namely fast food, hospital, retail store, bank, private college and accountant industries are found to be focused on quality while three industries namely hotel, auto‐repair and architect prioritized delivery. For both high performance and low performance firms, quality remained the top competitive priority followed by delivery, flexibility and cost.

This is the first study that identifies competitive priorities in the Malaysian service sector