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For work organizations and their members, establishing and maintaining mutually satisfying employment relationships is a fundamental concern. The importance that scholars attach to employment relationships is reflected in research streams that explore the optimal design of strategic human resource management systems, the nature of psychological contract fulfillment and violation, and the factors associated with achieving person-environment fit, among others. Generally missing from theory and research pertaining to employment relationships is the perspective of individuals who reside at the employee-employer interface – managerial leaders. We argue that, for managerial leaders, a pervasive concern involves the tangible and intangible resource requirements of specific employees. We then provide the groundwork for study of the leader’s perspective on employment relationships by proposing a model that identifies how employees come to be perceived as low versus high maintenance and how these perceptions, in turn, influence leader cognition, affect, and behavior.

Competencies are significant predictors of employee outcome. Nowadays, new technologies are changing maintenance processes and workflow. The role of employees and their competencies will therefore undergo decisive changes in the future. Therefore, a well-designed competency model for maintenance departments is important. The purpose of this paper is to develop a maintenance 4.0 competency model applicable to all industrial sectors by adapting it to the specificities of each sector.

The research methods consist of a comprehensive literature review on the main characteristics of the competency model and the individual competencies needed for the maintenance 4.0 employees. Interviews were conducted in order to validate and prioritize the required competencies for maintenance 4.0 employees identified in the literature.

The maintenance 4.0 competency model combines the required competencies in maintenance 4.0 and crosses the three hierarchical levels: managers, engineers and technicians. These competencies are organized in terms of four categories: technical, personal, social and methodological. In addition, a degree of importance for each competency is assigned as very important, moderately important and slightly important. As a result, this study identified the essential competencies for maintenance 4.0 stakeholders, where 12 competencies are considered very important for maintenance 4.0 technicians, 19 for engineers and 18 for managers.

This work has some limitations. First, although the articles related to competencies and their classification were selected very carefully, it is difficult to eliminate the probability of overlooking publications. Second, the limitation of the study is based on the difficulty of implementing the model in a case study, given that a minority of industrial companies have implemented maintenance 4.0 technologies in Morocco.

This work has practical implications for both individuals and institutions (companies and academies) to cope with new competency requirements in maintenance 4.0. Organizations can use the model in the recruitment process and for the identification of training needs. The results of the research will also contribute to identifying the scope of competencies of the maintenance 4.0 actors (engineer, manager and technician), which, in practice, contributes to the creation of requirements for the candidates applying for a job in the maintenance department. Additionally, educational institutions should make the necessary changes to their curricula to suitably prepare students for the required maintenance 4.0 competencies.

The social implications of the article result from the contribution to the development of maintenance competencies. Individuals can use this model for their own personal development. Furthermore, companies can use this model to define job profiles for vacancies in M4.0. Therefore, using the model for training program implementation has a positive effect on employee job satisfaction and employees ’morale.

This research develops a novel maintenance 4.0 competency model by categorizing the maintenance workforce into three hierarchical levels: managers, engineers and technicians. In addition, the competency requirement is prioritized to three degrees: very important, moderately important and slightly important. According to the previous studies conducted on maintenance 4.0 and employees' competencies, this study revealed that no research has developed a competency model for maintenance 4.0. Hence, this model is unique, generic and integrative since it presents the most relevant competencies for the three hierarchical levels. Moreover, this work combines the results of the literature review and the experts' returns. This model can be useful in the recruitment of new maintenance employees, the evaluation of their performance and the identification of training needs to cope with new changes in maintenance competencies.

This study emphasises the importance of employee participation in total productive maintenance and identifies the key factors influencing employee participation. The Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) framework is adopted to identify and categorise key factors.

An embedded case study with a power plant service provider in England was conducted with a variety of research methods, for example interviews and questionnaire surveys, to gain a wide range of data.

Following the MOA framework, this study shows various key aspects of employees' motivation, opportunity and ability when participating in total productive maintenance. It also compares first-line machine operators and maintenance specialists in terms of the drivers and barriers to total productive maintenance for them, and reveals that they need different mechanical skills in order to participate in total productive maintenance.

The study extends the applications of the MOA framework to total productive maintenance initiatives and provides managers with guidance on how to correctly consider and prioritise employee participation in their implementation. Moreover, this is the first study to identify differences between first-line machine operators and maintenance specialists, in terms of their willingness to participate in total productive maintenance.

Total productive maintenance, or TPM, represents a major shift in the way an organization approaches the maintenance function and implementation typically requires a significant change in organizational culture. Most references on TPM suggest a variety of ways to promote this cultural change, including top management support, training and changes in reward systems. Despite these efforts, many organizations still find it difficult to create the necessary change in culture. This paper proposes an additional means to help bring about the cultural change necessary to make TPM work: mathematical modeling. Using examples of four mathematical models in the maintenance field, the paper describes how such models might be used to promote this cultural change by making the potential benefits of TPM more tangible and objective to employees and by improving employees’ understanding of how their involvement in TPM can affect the organization and its customers.

This paper aims to prioritize the factors for the successful implementation of total productive maintenance (TPM).

The technique used for prioritization is the analytical hierarchy process (AHP).

The commitment and involvement of the top management, i.e. the leadership team, is the most critical success factor in the successful implementation of TPM. Employee training is another vital factor. Top management should also encourage a culture favorable for information flow, equipment ownership, the involvement of people and quality management throughout the organization.

Manufacturing organizations interested in improving productivity through the implementation of TPM should first involve the leadership team and seek their full support and train all the employees in this philosophy. However, the findings cannot be generalized for global application due to the inputs taken from experts in AHP from limited geography.

Reducing production costs is a universal expectation of business leaders. TPM can be used as a long-term strategy to improve productivity by the organization.

All employees have to be trained in this philosophy, and as part of the training and the implementation of TPM, they feel empowered and committed to the organization.

This study has illustrated the use of AHP for the prioritization of success factors. Prioritization of success factors will help in strategy formulation by management for effective maintenance. It will help in improving the productivity and performance of the organization.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the facilities maintenance employees’ priority on safety management practices and relationship to safety performance. The study aims to increase the safety performance among the facilities maintenance contractor by implementing safety management practices.

The data were collected by distributing questionnaire forms to the employees of selected facilities maintenance contractors representing general workers, technicians and executive- and the management-level employees. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation and multiple regressions.

The descriptive results revealed that the employee priority on safety management practices is fairly “low”. The correlation and regression analyses tested and satisfied that management commitment, workers involvement in safety, safety training, safety communication and feedback, safety rules and procedures, and safety promotion policies significantly and strongly correlate with the degree and level of satisfaction to the safety performance.

This research focuses only on facilities maintenance contractors working in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. It is possible that respondents from other areas or states may allow comparisons across different locations.

There are many factors affecting safety performance. By implementing safety management practices, high safety performance can be achieved in the facilities maintenance organisations in Malaysia.

This paper presents empirical findings on the relationship between employee priority on safety management practices elements and safety performance.

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain how total productive maintenance (TPM) has been implemented in large and medium size UK manufacturing companies, focusing on why such a programme was introduced, the activities involved, and the effectiveness and difficulties encountered during the process.

The aspects listed were based on a review of the literature. A case study approach was favoured to collect the necessary data. Companies were contacted, four of which responded favourably, and a protocol was developed to enable interviews to be carried out at each.

“Culture” was highlighted as the main obstacle to successfully implementing TPM; others were lack of awareness about the advantages of the programme, low employee skills and high cost. Two benefits gained by the four companies were a significant improvement in the availability and performance of the equipment within the plant and improved communication between employees. Additional benefits were financial improvement, reduced energy cost and increased employee morale and job satisfaction.

The number of companies that were willing to take part in the study was poor, thereby making it difficult to generalise the conclusions.

The results should help large and medium size organisations to better understand the TPM discipline, to facilitate its adoption and prioritise its practice. They also highlight the effectiveness and obstacles that can be encountered during the process.

The paper highlights the strong potential of TPM implementation programmes in affecting organisational performance improvements. The study also offers a beneficial source of information to organisations, which are still lagging far behind when it comes to TPM practices.

Total quality management (TQM) as an emergent management technique from dissatisfaction with other existing techniques, is implemented in Nigeria, with some difficulties. Leadership styles and reward are therefore considered as psychological variables that could enhance TQM practice. A survey research was consequently conducted, using the ex‐post facto design, to examine the claim. A total of 418 employees were randomly drawn from TQM and non‐TQM courier organizations and administered standardized scales measuring the variables of interest. A 2 x 2 x 2 analysis of variance carried out showed that employees who perceived their leaders as exhibiting low performance leadership style were significantly higher in the practice of TQM than those who perceived high performance leadership. High reward and low maintenance leadership style, high maintenance and low performance leadership styles were the best combinations for TQM practice. It was suggested for implementers of TQM to consider these in to getting employees to practice TQM.

Enterprise social media (ESM) are frequently used in enterprises for daily operation. Although many researchers have attempted to understand the antecedents and consequences of ESM use, the integrated model, boundary conditions and mechanism of the impact of ESM use on performance are still unclear. This study fill this research gap by adopting a grounded theory approach to study how ESM use affects employee performance.

Choosing representative cases, the authors collected interview data and analyzed the data using open coding, axial coding and selective coding.

The results showed four main categories including ESM use, work efficiency, emotional maintenance and work performance, as well as 14 sub-categories. This paper also constructs a model of the impact of ESM use on work performance. In addition, results showed that ESM use affects employees' work performance through work efficiency and emotional maintenance, and frequency of use and individual characteristics may moderate this process.

This study’s results contribute to the existing ESM literature by finding the integrated model, boundary conditions and mechanism of the impact of ESM use on performance. The authors also contributed to the social media literature by finding 14 sub-categories and four main categories including ESM use, work efficiency, emotional maintenance and work performance. The conclusion of this paper provides guidance and reference for the use and management of internal social media in enterprises.

Precise and logical plant maintenance evaluation, which enables enterprise to distinguish its most suitable maintenance pattern for application, is the base of improvement in plant maintenance. In this paper a new method based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) is proposed to evaluate the relative efficiency of plant maintenance. In this method, a systematic functional model is built to analyze the input/output of plant maintenance, which is processed as a service system, and DEA is applied as a calculate model for plant maintenance evaluation. Practical implications. The aim of this work is to provide management with a method to evaluate and quantify the relative efficiency of plant maintenance among a group of units. The maintenance pattern, scheme and experience of the relatively effective unit are guidance to others in improving themselves in plant maintenance and the quantified evaluation result points out the detailed maintenance limitation of relatively less efficient units so that the management can make corresponding improvement scheme.