Case Studies in Organizational Behaviour 2023 PDF

CASE STUDIES IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR Chief of Editor Prof Dr Zulkifflee Bin Mohamed...

CASE STUDIES IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR Chief of Editor Prof Dr Zulkifflee Bin Mohamed Co - Editor Asst. Prof Dr Hemaloshinee Vasudevan Authors Andylla Arbi Mohamad Bolhassan; Azrul Anuar Bin Abdullah; Baheeratiy a/p Baskaran; Christina Edward Endot; Hanisah binti Tarsik; Hazlane Joos; Jachinta Rani a/p Subramanian; Jeremiah Anthony; John Stephen Dionysius; Muhamad Firdaus bin Shamsuddin; Sovellyn Majikon @ Manjikon; Manisha Kaur Badesha; Siti Norliza Binti Khalid; Nur Fadhilah Binti Darma Wandi; Nursyhira Azad binti Abul Kalam Azad; Richard A/L Sasunathan; Rozlano bin Muhamad Tobat; Sanisah Ahmad; Syuhaniyurni Binti Zulkefli; Tharvinthran Bathmanazan; Muhamad Zul’izzi Bin Md Yasin; Nur Syaza Aqilah Binti Mohammad Ghazi  PUBLISHED BY: UNIVERSITI TUN ABDUL RAZAK (UNIRAZAK) KUALA LUMPUR 2023 © UNIRAZAK. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, for the purpose other than contract requirement, without prior written permission of UNIRAZAK Editor’s Biography Prof. Dr. Zulkifflee Mohamed has served in the higher education sector for the last 25 years and during this period, he has been actively involved in teaching, research, and administration. He has gathered vast experience from the lowest position in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) as a part time assistant lecturer (tutor) up to the present position as a full Professor at Bank Rakyat School of Business & Entrepreneurship (BRSBE), Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK). Prof. Dr. Zulkifflee primary research areas of interest include corporate governance, auditing, financial accounting and reporting, corporate social responsibility (CSR), accounting information systems (AIS), banking, finance, business, management, entrepreneurship, and education. He actively presents papers and publishes numerous articles in the national, regional, and international journals and conferences. Prof. Dr. Zulkifflee is the author of several books including Internal Audit Practices in Malaysia and Cost Accounting for Services Industries. Together with his BRSBE team, Prof. Dr. Zulkifflee has successfully made UNIRAZAK as the first private university in Malaysia that won the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) National Institutional Award for “Entrepreneurial Private University of the Year 2015”. In addition, Prof. Dr. Zulkifflee is a Fellow and Divisional Council member of CPA Australia as Certified Practicing Accountant, Fellow member of Institute of Public Accountants (FIPA-Australia), Fellow member of Institute Financial Accountant (UK), Member of The Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accounting (UK) as Chartered Public Finance Accountants (CPFA), Special Interests Group member (audit & assurance) of Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ), member of Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) as Chartered Accountant and member of Public Sector Accounting Committee (PSAC), member of The Malaysian Institute of Certificate Public Accountants (MICPA) as Certified Financial Accountant (CFiA) and member of Institute of Internal Auditors Malaysia (IIAM) as Chartered & Professional Internal Auditors. Prof. Dr. Zulkifflee also a panel member for two accreditation bodies known as Finance Accreditation Agency (FAA) Malaysia and Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA). Latest recognition, Prof. Dr. Zulkifflee has been appointed as SMEs Facilitation Panel at Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Berhad (MIDF) and as Academic Advisory Board Member at Putra Business School (PBS), University Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Open University Malaysia (OUM). I Co-Editor’s Biography Dr. Hemaloshinee Vasudevan had received her PhD in Generic and major in Organizational Behaviour from University of Technology Malaysia (UTM). She is currently a faculty member at UNIRAZAK. She had published a various journal in the business and management field. However, she also has experienced in reviewing journal and become an associate editor at international journal more than 5 years. She has published many articles, including research papers, review papers, and narrative case studies on platforms like International, National journals, Scopus, and Web of Science. She is therefore interested in performing research in various areas, as evidenced by her total citations in Google Scholar, Research Gate, and Semantic Scholar. Her areas of interest include marketing, artificial intelligence, training, organizational behaviour, sociology, criminology, and business management. II Prefix This book covers most of the organizational behaviour topics that were guided and written by our students. This book has covered some issues with organizational psychology, leadership, technological. There are a total of 22 case studies in this book and I enjoy reading this book as each case study will only be written an in few pages. One of the good things about this book is it comes together with discussion questions and its solution for discussion questions. The discussion helps me a lot in recalling what I have learned from each case study. I do recommend this book to all graduate students that wish to learn more about case studies. It is a good guidebook to start your case study writing journey. I do hopes that students will develop good writing skills through reading this book. Prof. Dr. Benjamin Chan Yin Fah Dean of Graduate School of Business UNIVERSITI TUN ABDUL RAZAK (UNIRAZAK) III  Contents Pages Author Biography I Prefix III Table of contents IV Synopsis of Case Study VII Case Study 1: Managing Difficult Project Team: How to improve and retain 1 talents in a project Case Study 2: Managing Resistance of Change in Organization 4 Case Study 3: Organization behavior in Manufacturing company: Employee 6 retention and employee commitment towards an organization Case Study 4: Covid-19 Pandemic in Malaysian Private Hospital: The rising 10 cost of patient care Case Study 5: A case study on Older Age Subordinate as a Challenge for 12 Younger Manager in Organization Case Study 6: Diversity in Multinational Corporation (MNC) Organizations: 16 How to deal with stereotyped workers in the workplace? Case Study 7: Stress Has a Cost 18 Case Study 8: Change Management in the post-COVID Working 22 Environment in Malaysia within FMCG Industry Case Study 9: Emotion and Stress Effecting Mental Health Workers In 24 Construction Industry Case Study 10: Influence of Leadership among Problematic Workers in Oil 25 Palm Plantation Sector Case Study 11: Employee Commitment Impacted by Attitude: A Case Study 27 in MJ Companies Case Study 12: Impact of Organizational Effectiveness Among Maybank 29 Employees: Scenario of Maybank's Leadership Approaches. Case Study 13: Managing the workforce in the Construction Industry in 32 Malaysia: Why are communication skills important in the workplace? Case Study 14: Influence of Manager’s Leadership Style on Employees’ 34 Performance Case Study 15: Employee lay off in MNC semiconductor company: How 37 organizational support overcoming employees’ dissatisfaction and assist in increasing worker motivation. IV Case Study 16: The Impact of Job Stress and Job Satisfaction on 40 Organizational Productivity at Unisem Semiconductor in Ipoh. Case Study 17: The Effect of Leadership Behaviour on High Employee 43 Turnover Rate in the Internal Audit Department of a Public Listed Company Case Study 18: Performance of Employees Working from Home During 47 the Covid-19 Lockdown Pandemic Case Study 19: Effect of Autocratic Management Style on Employee Job 50 Performance: A Case Study of AHM Berhad Case Study 20: Toxic Working Culture 53 Case Study 21: Digitalization and its Consequences on Organizational 55 Behavior Case Study 22: Students interns as a permanent staff in a small company 57 Discussion Questions 60 References 64 Appendix: Solution for Discussion Questions 76 V Synopsis of Case Study Case studies force students to make critical judgments based on the data presented and provides them with problems and challenges based on actual life scenarios. They intend to prompt inquiries and information to pique learners' interests and encourage independent review. The case study is to consolidate users' understanding of the guidelines governing image presentation. The case study's goal is to provide users with an opportunity to see how the image guidelines apply in the context of the actual lab and how they intersect with issues of mentoring, authorship, and technical training. The case study enables the exploration of a core issue within a given setting by utilizing various sources. Case studies often involve a specified problem that makes up of actual circumstances and uses correct data as a methodological tool. The reader, academician, and scholar are allowed to highlight the issues that can be resolved by responding to the discussion questions by publishing this book. The case studies from many fields from the human resource management, law, social science and management perspective explore the academics' experience. All academicians would benefit from the release of books since it will help them to instruct students in case study narrative writing. Therefore, everyone will benefit from reading and using this book as a learning experience in the classroom. A good narrative case study and research case study can be published in a particular journal, such as the IIUM International Journal of Case Study in Management. Indian Journal of Case Report, Journal of Case Studies, and International Journal of AYUSH Case Reports. V Case Study 1: Managing Difficult Project Team: How to improve and retain talents in a project Author(s): Andylla Arbi Mohamad Bolhassan INTRODUCTION Managing a team that is initially "unmanageable"—reluctant to adopt new working practices or share information—is one of the biggest challenges a project manager or PMO may encounter. Anarchy will reign in a business where operations are unclear, diverse departmental interpretations are used, and management is not presented. The business won't run if no one is in charge. Poor management causes confusion and disarray, which leads to failure and complete disaster. Controlling everything that happens "below" and conveniently notifying everyone "above" is one of a PMO's duties as a middle manager. This case study attempt to define what makes a PMO "unmanageable." Software developers are in high demand, but Malaysian employers don't offer enough to beat other countries. While close countries may be more attractive in terms of pay, they cannot compete with the talented pool we have right here. It's essential to nurture these skills now to take advantage of the opportunity before it is gone. (Hays Worldwide Recruitment Firm, 2019). Why it is unique to manage software developers individually and collectively, as you consider the characteristics of software engineers, it becomes clear why you can't just pick up any management book and begin managing them (Mantle and Lichty, 2019). First, it is crucial to understand that every software developer is unique and different. So different that managers can’t find a single trait or characteristic or anything else to say about all software developers. Managers can identify specific qualities, but every software developer is a unique blend of various attributes (Linders et al., 2020). Second, software development culture is highly volatile and often shifts quickly between new and old standards of practices for the industry. It follows that it is improbable that a particular software developer would still meet the criterion even if you understood what qualities built them up. Each software developer is unique in their own right. Hence it is impossible to compare them based on a single characteristic (Ghunt, 2015). The most effective way to manage software developers is by giving them what they need and making them feel appreciated. They will be much more motivated to do their job. This complex construct seems to be affected by diverse environmental conditions and can affect multiple dimensions of work effectiveness (work satisfaction, work engagement, and productivity). Software developers can anticipate that there will be an increased demand for them to adopt a variety of work styles and methodologies as educational transitions from the primarily instructive to more of a collaborative pedagogy (Oliver, 2001). It's critical to have a solid grasp of a new manager's personality and expectations for the team (Investopedia, 2022). Group members will find it simpler to change and conform the outcome to their expectations. Managers can begin to develop a relationship with employees and establish expectations for both the managers' and employees' time by learning what they want and need. Managers and consultants are increasingly using organizational behavior as a tool to evaluate workplace challenges. Surveys and interviews are used to discover how employees feel about the daily grind, problems to rectify, etc. It could be that they're due to a lack of any set direction or vision for the company, difficulty getting employees on board with that vision, pacifying workplace conflict or creating a more amenable work environment, issues with training employees, or poor communication. 1 CASE SCENERIO Roy has been with Company XYZ, a renowned Fintech based in Malaysia, for about nine (9) months and has faced challenges related to the project team, especially software developers. Roy is the leader of a new group. To form a bond with the rest of the team, he had to earn their trust and make them feel comfortable around him. It wasn't always easy for Roy at first because members of this team also had an affinity towards their former boss. While he was aware that he was striving to unite the group, the team proved to be challenging to manage. The laid-back working atmosphere is impeding their capacity to perform their duties; it's tough to get them to finish a task, communicate with other team members, or meet deadlines. When he came to the project's monthly review, he was bombarded by stakeholders for being six (6) months behind schedule. The feedback from the project stakeholders also revealed that there are too many unresolved defects and older bugs that haven't been taken care of. He reacted to the meeting feedback with an immediate team meeting and asked if the team could follow his new restructuring plan to catch up. Nobody responded to his worries or straightforwardly accepted his suggestion. Roy felt emotionally exhausted and stressed by the scenario, his disappointment, and his wrath at the team's responses. There was no consensus that the group was falling behind in bug tracking because they were not adhering to his plan. He started to lose motivation and feel powerless, as though his efforts were in vain. Roy launched a new project, which ultimately caused him to start making plans to quit the organization. The Project Director, Roy's employer, became aware of Roy's unhappiness and was forced to feel bad for not backing Roy's strategy for overcoming the project's difficulties. When Roy's employer approached him, Roy accepted his offer of support for his approaches and proposition. They attempted to analyze the project schedule and backlogs, and identify team dynamics (NeuroSYS, 2022). The Project Director then realizes that the team’s (1) lack of communication skills, (2) work in silos, (3) no pro-activeness in asking questions for better understanding, (4) poor time management and laid back (5) skepticism and long-reserved frustration (6) being difficult and throws tantrums (7) toxic environment from other departments (8) burnout from long working hours and no holiday leave in 9 months since the project started; given all of them are highly skilled and intelligent. Upon reflection, the project director brought in a Scrum Master to help Roy resolve his team's problems and to provide long-term improvements for the project (Simplilearn, 2022). Reaching out to the team member, the scrum master begins casual chats, frequently involving Roy. That was awkward at first, but Roy's credibility and trustworthiness grew. The Scrum Master has implemented processes to help the team measure their difficulties, improve their communication, conveying their challenges and solutions to be taken (Grey, 2022). The team will be able to identify and discuss roadblocks that can obstruct their progress at the Daily Standup Meeting. Discussions about private matters, how to resolve disputes, or other topics unrelated to the project are not appropriate topics for this meeting. Stakeholders are aware of the team's opinions during the daily standup meeting. The scrum master will ask the team members about their skills, limitations, and thoughts on how well their teammates are doing. The team uses this information to guide their work and pinpoint areas for growth. The Daily Standup Meeting led by the Scrum Master and includes the entire Development Team. The goal of this meeting is to allow each team member to have a chance to share information regarding impending tasks and potential roadblocks, offer suggestions on how tasks should be prioritized throughout an iteration, and talk about roadblocks the team has already faced. With that implemented, the team has more time and can complete their tasks promptly. The relationship between Roy and the team improved significantly. The group's methods started to become more open and proactive. They increased their output and efficiency dramatically. 2 CONCLUSION The project director agrees that managing software developers can be difficult for project managers because of the problems they confront and the high turnover rate of software engineers. Nonetheless, managers can establish good work ethics and culture in managing team members with unique behavior if the proper strategy has used. Research on organizational behavior can aid an executive, manager, or HR professional in how a company's culture affects productivity and retention. It can use to assess a potential job candidate's cultural fit. While choosing between job candidates, it's essential to understand each one's personality. You can determine if someone will fit well with your company culture using personality testing and interviews. We examine the origins and foundations of leadership in organizational behavior, two strongly debated subjects. There are various ways to make decisions, and a leader may favor one over another. While assembling a team, people, structure, technology, and the surrounding environment are the four fundamental components of human behavior to take into account. Understanding how these elements interact with one another can help this process. 3 Case Study 2: Managing Resistance of Change in Organization Author(s): Azrul Anuar Bin Abdullah INTRODUCTION One of the main issues in the sector is how challenging it is to deploy new systems and cultures. It is difficult to change something that has been ingrained and adapted. So hard as it is to alter societal traditions, beliefs, and weird practices in workplace culture. Changes must make to fulfil global needs, adapt to changing market needs, and ensure organizational sustainability. Continuous involvement and dedication are needed to transition the corporate culture from the previous to the new one and to match the new goals with each layer of employees. Employees' lack of desire and fear of the unknown is to blame for their resistance to change. In some situations, it may make sense and be justified to resist change. Workers oppose the change agent or method of implementation rather than resisting change itself. Passive acceptance, shoddy work, covert sabotage, forceful refusal, violent behaviour, total breakdown of work, and other tactics are examples of resistance. If not handled correctly, it could have a negative long-term impact on the business. CASE SCENERIO URC snack Food (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd is a multinational company and subsidiary of JG Summit Holding, incorporated in Malaysia as Pacific World Sdn Bhd on 10th November 1982 and commenced operation in 1984. On 1st March 2001, Pacific World changed its name to URC Snack Foods (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. Meanwhile, in 1991, Munchy was the Malaysian no one (1) biscuit brand that flourished into a recognized and successful brand across the region acquired by JG Summit Holding. Both companies are not sharing the same value and work culture. The local company structure and URC structure of the working system are clashing. Since a merger involves not only a company's equity, but also a human resource, the leadership style, conventional management, and systematic approach are at odds. Departmental review and departmental closures, relocation of workers, and layoffs are being done, causing fear about employees' job security. Some of them start feeling 1) a Lack of motivation, 2) a Loss of confidence, 3) Stress, 4) Miss understanding, and 5) Negativity. Management acted by implementing a program called Integrated Supply Chain Excellence and overhauling the entire manufacturing system and workplace culture. Overall, the PURPOSE of the ISCE Program is to engage the hearts and minds of all people to eliminate loss and cycle of continuous improvement and transform into High-Performance Organization. These are key to fully realizing the benefits of ISCE implementation and delivering Superior Business Results. Meanwhile management initiative was to start creating a friendly working environment by doing a continuous team-building program at the top management level. ISCE operates at the same time as the program. However, the ISCE initiative failed low employee support and a high turnover rate (due to job uncertainty). It is an outcome of the program's application and improper handling of knowledge information. Due to miscommunication and unfulfilled layoff rumours, key employees, executives, and supervisors depart the organization. The individuals who are being replaced don't live up to expectations for the job and quit after a week. Accordance to the high turnover of newly appointed workers, Human Resources develop criteria and work description requirement for new candidates. At the same time, the selection of candidates internally through attitude and work understanding, leadership capability, and personality. 4 Management has realized negativity towards the merger producing uneasiness of job security, lack of motivation, and frustration in jobs, therefore developing training programs to enhance skill, revise the job description, and team building for overall employees in the subdivision. Adjustments are implemented gradually, given a set schedule, and the efficacy program is reviewed via a feedback survey. It enables management to examine the program itself, as well as the impact—both positive and negative—on the workforce. CONCLUSION Managing resistance to change in an organization is a continuous process. The stage of development needs to implement to avoid resistance. The fears and a lack of knowledge might cause a negative reaction which leads to resistance. Each department must be committed to accepting change. The organizational objective can succeed if the corporate culture is also changed. Managers and leaders should take responsibility for change agents. The importance of a personality fit organization is essential for the new culture. Nevertheless, it is essential to understand the behaviour of employees toward changes and determine whether we can achieve our organizational objective within a specific time frame. Output and results are the key outcomes in today’s world. Achieving organizational objectives need stages of development. 5 Case Study 3: Organization behavior in Manufacturing company: Employee retention and employee commitment towards an organization. Author(s): Baheeratiy a/p Baskaran INTRODUCTION Organizational behavior is an essential component in a business setting that has an impact on how the business operates as a whole, either positively or negatively. The organizational environment is the main viewpoint that has started many initiatives for increased productivity toward the client. Employee retention is an essential aspect of the business proceedings that has made a provision for sustainable business execution potentially. The level of employee devotion to the company has improved, which has made for better business operations. Here a case study analysis has been done on the service provider of the manufacturing company during the current situation. The manufacturing company's efforts and necessary steps have been reflected in the case report. In this case report, the employee retention policy of the manufacturing company has focused on what has helped to handle the crisis in the current scenario. CASE SCENERIO UMS is an MNC company, one of the manufacturing companies in Malaysia. UMS employees feel dissatisfaction with UMS Groups. The employees of the UMS Group do not prefer the job to others because the work culture of the UMS is not so good, and the scope of learning activities is less. In contrast, the UMS group's income is considerably less than its rivals. The management departments of the largest manufacturing corporations, like UMS, are subpar, and this causes the staff to be dissatisfied. The other manufacturing companies of Malaysia, such as Wrigley company employees' are also dissatisfied with the company due to bad material quality. But some manufacturing companies' employees are happy with their work culture, such as Aluminium Company of Malaysia Bhd, due to maintaining work scenarios. But Malaysian manufacturing companies are facing a lack of one million employees because the employees from abroad are not returning them. The manufacturing company has been focused on analysing the employee retention policy towards the employee by progressively conducting motivational activities. There are different types of professionals, and health risk has occurred due to psychological stress for the employees. The government of the country and the manufacturing company administration has taken different types of motivational actions that have disseminated positive vibes toward the employees. Vasudevan et al. (2021) stated that this is the most crucial aspect that potential inspiration from the workplace has motivated the employee to have positive vibration on the work procedure. The administration and management of the company have put a lot of emphasis on the emotional health of the employees, which has been severely impacted by the mental stress of managing the risk and the crisis where the employees' health is not as secure due to the high likelihood of Covid-19 virus contamination. This problem has been categorized into six kinds of aspects which are very important to reduce dissatisfied employees by conveniently implementing the potential strategies. The organization has observed that frequent conflict situation has been aroused among the employees, which have hampered the overall work execution scenario. The authority has taken some necessary actions to solve this problem. Aranibar et al. (2022) stated that they started a fostering system for the employees that have restricted the work pressure. It is one of the alarming perspectives of the organization that it has created a provision for employee feedback by listing all the pros and cons faced by the employees while working in the manufacturing company. According to the mode of grievances, the authority has taken the necessary steps fruitfully. The organization's most successful strategy for effectively resolving the issue is the conflict-affected areas. 6 The organization has developed some effective plans for each conflict. It is the most crucial perspective that has relived the problematic situation progressively. The lack of motivation among the organizational employees has seen that have hampered the work execution procedure in a depriving way O’Donnell et al. (2022) stated that UMS formed a constructive motivation policy that has focused on the agreed priorities, principles, rules, measures, and the objective of the work procedure. It has contributed to rectifying or improving the motivational atmosphere within the company by strengthening the motivation of the individual employees, the group, and the overall organization. It is the most crucial context in that the organization has taken some necessary actions by conducting training and practical workshop programs that have indicated fruitful business proceedings. Employee sickness has been a common occurrence during the epidemic, which has slowed down organizational performance. The profitability rate in the organization has been hampered, which is the most crucial scene in the comparative business proceedings. The organization has constructed some essential policies for the pandemic crisis that still existed in the post-pandemic era. According to Benham et al. (2022), it is crucial that the company put in place some procedures so that the employee can get assistance with medical difficulties. It is the most satisfying aspect for the employees that have satisfactorily increased employee motivation. Figure 1: The employee retention strategies of the business organization (Source: questionpro.com, 2022) The enhancing work pressure in the manufacturing organization has created lots of frustration in the production procedure. Organization's most successful strategy for giving staff wellness advice is a stress-management webinar. It has worked as inspiration to get rid of the frustrating job execution in the business organization. It is the most crucial perspective that has helped to maintain the developmental progress in the business organization. It has held a reputation in the competitive market and availed the competitive opportunities from the market. The employees' frustration can handle by progressively taking some initiation. The amusement activity in the organization during the break time has increased the motivation and inspiration of the employees. Chetty et al. (2022) stated that employee motivation is an essential aspect that has tended the organization to improve employee activity potentially. It has made affluence in the business proceedings through effective business activity in the business organization. The most important priority of the organization is to create a positive environment in the business proceedings that has sustainably enhanced the work proceedings. It has created a comfort zone for the employee to execute all kinds of business programs in a justified way. Sarcasm to an employee for an unnecessary reason has deprived the employee of motivation. It is a very much ill practice that often happening in business proceedings. 7 Norizan et al. (2022) stated that this kind of ill activity demotivated the employee, which has instability in the employee retention policy of the business organization. It is the most crucial component of the organization's operations, so the authority should pay close attention to how the business has to carry out to prevent the hierarchy and other employees from engaging in this sort of wrongdoing. It has created a substantial amount of stability in the developmental activity of the business organization. The negativity in the business execution is the most crucial barrier that has sustainably impacted the productivity proceedings. It is one of the main aspects of the business organization that has a negative impact which has been arrested most of the creative business proceedings in an effective way that has created a suppressive action in the organization's productivity. Workplace negativity is one of the main issues in the business organization that has caused severe financial consequences. Chiedu et al. (2022) stated that employee morale in disruptive way decreased. The employees' energy supply has been depleted by the negativity in the workplace. The organization must deal with demotivated and disgruntled workers that create a chaotic environment for corporate operations as these effects. The stress factors of the employees have very much increased. The effective results of the stratified planning Effective strategies of the business organization have created self-motivation in the employees that have increased productivity in the business organization. It has ensured the employee's attainability in the business organization, which has helped for the sustainable growth in the business proceedings in an effective way. The potential for positive peer learning and peer teaching has increased the employees' collaborative approach. This successful method in business transactions has obtained several opportunities for the diffusion of innovation. The employee commitment towards the business organization has been maintained, which has been beneficial to increase the quantity and the quality of the work proceedings sustainably. It has improved the morale of the employees in a progressive way. Every employee in an organization has expressed an interest in connecting with coworkers to execute a sensible production in the workshop proceedings. Ghani et al. (2022) stated this has seen that experience retention is one of the beneficial aspects of business proceedings. Especially in the production and manufacturing company, employee experience has helped to solve various crises. It has been able to access competitive opportunities in business proceedings. This kind of positivism is the finest solution to reduce the sudden instability in business proceedings. Figure 2: The benefits of employee retention in the business organization (Source: netsuite.com, 2022) 8 Efficiency in hiring and training has been developed over time, which has been crucial for better business operations. The most assertive viewpoint has created numerous opportunities in company activities to gain significant competitive advantages. A better customer experience is the most effective context of the business procedure that has sustainably ensured profitability. Better customer experience is a beneficial aspect that has been progressively implemented in the business organization. Creativity can develop in the business organization that has initiated a high level of productivity in the business proceedings. Hegarty et al. (2022) stated a fruitful organizational culture has developed, which is the most important thing for the business profession. The firm can advance justifiably by maintaining commitment within the corporate organization. Better employee experience is one of the crucial aspects that has made a positive sense in the business proceedings. A confident concept has emerged that has improved the company processes to a significant degree. Peer learning and teaching are crucial expectations that have expanded the possibilities for the diffusion of innovation in manufacturing facilities. The organization's goals and objectives have been successfully upheld progressively. The company organization's personnel have maintained an excellent crisis management strategy through their cooperative ways. Increment of the revenue earning possibilities has been developed, which is the most important aspect for better proceedings. It has progressively evolved employee motivation strategies. Conclusion The manufacturing company management played a significant role in handling the issue as needed, and they deserve a lot of praise. The employees of the manufacturing companies are very much loyal to the service toward effective service towards needy patients during the pandemic. The effective employee retention policy of the manufacturing company is very much justified and effective that has ensured the optimum service quality towards society in the pandemic in the Covid-19 pandemic situation. The most crucial view of the nation is that it has very successful government support toward several decisions it made on how to handle the pandemic issue. The fact that plans have solely concentrated on customer service and not organization revenue is the most emphatic thing. Company employees have received a significant amount of training, which has inspired them to carry out their assigned tasks accordingly. 9 Case Study 4: Covid-19 Pandemic in Malaysian Private Hospital: The rising cost of patient care Author(s): Christina Edward Endot INTRODUCTION For the past two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has spread around the world, including in Malaysia. The 32 million-person nation's economy and healthcare system were harmed by the outbreak. In December 2020, the World Bank reported that Malaysia’s economy is expected to decrease by 5.8% due to a slowdown in economic activity. The daily reported Covid-19 cases skyrocketed from less than 100 cases in September 2020 to more than 5000 cases in January 2021, with a fatality rate of 0.34%. It has caused stress on the public healthcare facilities in Malaysia. Malaysia's healthcare system consists of the public and the private sector. The public healthcare system is the healthcare provider in the country, and the Ministry of Health (MOH) is the national regulatory and policy-maker. While the government supports the public healthcare system, the private healthcare industry is financed by patient pocket money, private and non-profit organizations, and private healthcare insurance funds. On January 12, 2021, the Malaysian government proclaimed a state of emergency. Stricter regulations and practices, such as the Movement Control Order (MCO), were placed to deal with the national catastrophe. Public hospitals were overcrowded due to an unexpected increase in Covid-19 cases and the number of ICU beds in the large hospitals. CASE SCENERIO The public and private sectors had to work together to manage the epidemic due to the significant rise in Covid-19 cases. Through the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988, MOH Malaysia has declared an Emergency Ordinance (EO) to instruct private hospitals to receive Covid-19 patients. To lessen the burden on public institutions, the Malaysian government has allotted USD24.7 million to private hospitals for the treatment of Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients, the EO. At present, there are 210 private hospitals in Malaysia. MOH has identified 130 private hospitals equipped with internal medicine specialties, and 95 hospitals are collaborating with MOH to receive Covid-19 patients. KPJ Healthcare Bhd, one of the largest private hospital groups in Malaysia, immediately got into action and began receiving both Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients from public facilities in January 2021. The cost of Covid-19 treatment is to be borne by the patient. The fees at public hospitals are currently affordable compared to private hospitals, which could cost ten times more. New Sunday Times (NST) reported that most patients had no option but to opt for public hospitals as charges in private facilities were very costly. A hospital in Shah Alam, Selangor, charged a couple who had Category 3 Covid-19 RM8, 000 to RM10, 000 for a week’s stay. The NST also learned that a private hospital in the Klang Valley quoted the family of a severely ill covid-19 patient with kidney trouble RM20, 000 to RM30, 000. The sum included ICU charges. The patient had no choice but to go to a public hospital instead of severely crowded and limited patient care, where he died several days later. One of the issues in the collaboration for the treatment of Covid-19 patients between public and private hospitals is the difference in the treatment fees. Public hospitals have affordable prices since the government heavily subsidizes them, but private hospitals demand high fees, which may be astronomically high. The Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM) has urged insurance companies to revise their insurance policy to extend the coverage of Covid-19 patients at private hospitals. 10 In January 2021, the insurance industry with MOH and Bank Negara Malaysia agreed to amend the policy to ease some of the expenses of patients whose conditions require them to treat in private hospitals. Since then, more insurance companies began incorporating Covid-19 coverage. The government could play a role in further reducing the operational cost of private hospitals by offering aid or rebate on expenses related to the management of Covid-19, such as testing, personal protective equipment, and treatment, which have become the cost of Covid-19 care in private hospitals. The willingness of private medical consultants to assist in managing Covid-19 patients, if the patients are from public hospitals, is another significant challenge in the relationship. As these patients can become terminally ill quickly, the patient care cost will escalate. Medical consultants in private hospitals are not hospital employees but are termed as “private contractors” who provide patient care services. Their willingness to absorb some of the cost is detrimental to the collaboration. Therefore, early engagement with the medical consultants is essential to increase their willingness to participate. Safety measures must be in place for assurance. Equipment and drug supply must be adequate, especially when the number of cases becomes overwhelming. It can be a key assurance for healthcare professionals to work smoothly. CONCLUSION The covid-19 pandemic has revealed the state of the existing and diverse nature and weaknesses of health systems across the world. It is like a wake-up call to all nations. Malaysia, like many other ASEAN countries, needs to take immediate action to strengthen its healthcare system, particularly to mitigate Covid-19 cases or any other potential disaster happening in the country. The public and private sectors find effective ways to collaborate further to combat the pandemic. MOH, private healthcare sectors, and insurance providers have synergistic Covid-19 treatment plans to ensure the public has equal opportunities for Covid-19screening tests, vaccinations, and treatment without causing a financial burden to them. Such plans would ensure smooth and efficient management of patients in both public and private hospitals. More importantly, the country will benefit from the plan as it would be more prepared to face any potential future disaster or pandemic. 11 Case Study 5: A case study on Older Age Subordinate as a Challenge for Younger Manager in Organization Author(s): Hanisah binti Tarsik INTRODUCTION Malaysia is a multiracial, multicultural, and multi-religious people who live together as one nation. This diversity is also a presence in a small community which makes most organizations consist of different races and religions with all levels of ages. It would not be a problem when everyone respects each other’s beliefs and culture. However, age may be an issue in an organization where the leader is younger than the subordinate. These younger leaders typically hold their positions to their best educational backgrounds and credentials. In a pharmacy context, a case study was conducted on the difficulty the younger manager had managing the elder subordinate. From this case study, we would like to find out how the older age of subordinates may affect organizational behavior at the workplace and what managers could do to deal with such followers. CASE SCENERIO Each healthcare facility in Malaysia will usually have a few different departments. Pharmacy is one of the departments present in a healthcare facility. The Pharmaceutical department will divide into smaller sections handling various job scopes in a large healthcare facility. Nonetheless, each pharmacy employee receives training in every subunit throughout their horsemanship or internship, as they are interchangeable between the subunits. The pharmacy department differs from other departments in its management system in that the unit manager will often be a pharmacist with a higher grade. The person holding the role may change because they will rotate throughout the department. Jenah is a pharmacist assistant who has been working as a subordinate of Ms. Dee for eight (8) years in the inpatient unit. Jenah is twenty years older than Ms. Dee and is retiring soon. They develop a good relationship as a colleague. Jenah respects Ms. Dee as her superior, while Ms. Dee respects Mrs. Jenah as her staff and the elder. However, age is significantly causing an issue for Ms. Dee as it is hard to negotiate certain things with Jenah. They argue about various subjects, but Ms. Dee ultimately decides to back down and keep her opinions to herself. Perhaps someone occurred years ago when the senior management requested that they alter how the ward received its medication. As a result, the unit must prepare medication in "unit doses," which necessitates individually repackaging and labelling each pill. Jenah complied with orders, although she constantly criticized the new approach. She always views innovation or new things as unneeded because she is accustomed to the more traditional manner of doing things. The top management recognized that starting and moving forward was necessary for the new method's deployment to succeed, whether it took a day or a month. Ms. Dee must submit a report on the percentage of the ‘Unit Dose System’ implemented in the Pharmacy Department of their facility. Thus, Ms. Dee has no choice but to talk to Jenah to do as required. Following the complaints raised by Jenah, the head of the department has sent an application for part- time staff to do the packing jobs. It was a good thing that happened as they received additional hands, but Jenah addressed her dissatisfaction is like instructing the leaders. 12 The pharmacy department of facility X recently welcomed two new pharmacists, Ms. Amy and Naila, who were transferred from another facility due to the recent rise in patients and workload. The inpatient unit has been assigned to both. The head of the department, Ms. Anne, allocated Ms. Amy an inpatient as the person in charge (PIC) or manager. The former manager, Ms. Dee, is still in the same unit, but Ms. Amy has more experience and higher grades, so she becomes the manager's unit, and Ms. Dee becomes the second person. There is no change in salary of both as their salary is time basis. The difference is that managers will engage more in an office job and less in dealing with patients. Ms. Amy is stricter and more aggressive in implementing and utilizing each system available. She instructed all her subordinates to start using the computer system and increase the usage up to 100%. It is to ensure physical stocks of the medicine always tally with documented quantity. It eases the process of checking, reporting, and auditing. Since every transaction is saved automatically in the system, it will be easier to trace information needed in the future. However, Jenah was not very happy to fully utilize the system as she was already used to the manual for many years. She requested to wait until she retires to use it. She was unable to tolerate the fact that Ms. Amy would constantly call her to repair errors that had happened in the majority system of transactions she had completed. Naila is the youngest staff in the unit, but she is superior to Jenah in terms of position and grade. In the beginning, Naila and Jenah had a good relationship as colleagues. The working environment in the unit was very positive, and all were happy to come to work despite the increasing number of jobs due to more patients admitted into the facility. Sometimes, when Naila did her job, she did help Jenah to do hers. But somehow, Naila feels uncomfortable when Jenah instructs her bossily to do Jenah’s job, likely repacking whenever she finds that Naila did her work. Naila disagreed with Jenah as she didn't want to give the wrong impression. She fears that all of these will lower her spirits at work. Naila sees the opportunity to learn new skills and procedures that not be taught at her former workplace because she is younger and new to show her way to improve her performance. When Ms. Amy and Ms. Dee are not in the office, Ms. Amy will instruct Naila to take over. Thus, while they are away, decision-making will fall on Naila, and Jenah must refer and report to her. One day, Jenah suddenly became silent and refused to speak with Naila. When asked by Ms. Amy, she claimed that Naila scolded her and did not respect her. Naila never raise her voice toward Ms. Jenah and had no idea why Jenah developed such behavioral change. Then, Ms. Dee knew Jenah very well and asked Naila to apologize first to her to solve the issue. Naila did apologize to her and ask about the wrongdoing over WhatsApp, but Jenah responded with sarcasm and never disclosed the issues. According to Kunze and Menges (2016), employees will experience unpleasant feelings more frequently when their bosses are older than them. Hence the significant age gap between them may be the cause of this. Jenah declined to do a task if it required her to speak with Naila personally. It makes certain things delayed. It also affects the job performance in the unit as the work cannot complete if there is no middle person to mediate the communication between them. It is inconvenient for others as they need to leave their work to be Jenah’s mediator. Naila did not keep any revenge on Jenah and her. She already did what she supposedly did by apologizing first. However, Jenah would randomly talk in a sarcastic voice behind Naila but loud enough for her to hear. Naila could not stand it and felt stressed that she requires to meet Jenah's daily work. Thus, she let Jenah keep her distance which was better to have a gap between them, so she would not be distracted at the workplace. 13 However, Jenah’s nature of work needs her to engage a lot with Naila. She needed Naila’s signature and approval on her works or productions. There was a time for Ms.Dee found a batch of ‘unit dose’ was wrongly labelled. She looked at the worksheet and saw Naila’s name as the approver. Naila was surprised because she isn't signed the form. So it discovers that Jenah had copied Naila's signature. She signed herself using Naila's name to avoid Naila, but it was clear that the signature did not belong to Naila. In any facility, the pharmacy should provide medicine to patients with proper labelling because any mistake could endanger the patient's life. Naila was furious because she had been accused of things she had never done. Jenah was out of her hands. Naila was looking forward to her retirement day. Conflicts between Jenah and Naila have been spread throughout the department. They were not surprised. It's because Ms. Sha, the logistics unit's manager, was in a similar situation. Her method to show her dissatisfaction is consistent whenever she conflicts with any staff. She would stop communicating and avoid seeing them. It is difficult for any staff to avoid seeing each other even though they are not in the same unit, even if there is the possibility of working together during the on-call slot (after office hours). Jenah, on the other hand, will do everything she can to avoid working with the people on her banned list. Thus, this childish behavior of her troubles others as she keeps requesting to swap slots or change the name in the schedule. Tired of entertaining her request, the one who makes the on-call schedule identified all the people that Jenah does not work with and no longer put their names together in the same slot. As Ms. Sha and Naila are not the direct supervisors or leaders of Jenah, thus she was freely showing her irrelevant dissatisfaction to them. Older subordinates may be reluctant to receive orders or comments from younger leaders, especially the indirect leader. Jenah, on the other hand, will respond nicely in front of Ms. Amy and Ms. Anne as they provide her appraisal marks, but she will also complain about them whenever she cannot accept any mistakes that point out to her. Jenah became more emotional and was rude to Ms. Dee and Ms. Amy. Jenah is the type of person that reluctant to admit a mistake, and it becomes obvious. Jenah’s behavior has become a question to everyone in the department, and some relate her age to the emotional imbalance and reduction of her ability to receive and process information. Kunze and Menges (2016) suggested that age-related negativity will not spread across the organization if the older subordinates can hinder their negative emotions. Her negative attitude has become more significant since Ms. Amy asks her to use the system for all documentation. Older subordinates may have lots of experience, but the emergence of new technology requires everyone to adapt and forget the old approach, as some of it is inefficient and irrelevant to use today. As a result, dealing with older subordinates presents a challenge for these younger leaders. Although the learning process may be tricky for them, applying the current system will help the organization improve in many ways. So, the least a leader could do is to ensure these older subordinates can control their emotions and act professionally in the working place. Perhaps could be done by sending them to emotions management by objective. According to Perry, Kulik, and Zhou (1999), diversity training may alert subordinates and supervisors to the benefits and drawbacks of age differences. The practices of the new system are the root cause of Jenah's behavioral change in this scenario. Jenah's conflicts with more than one pharmacist were negative emotions she developed as the stress of using the system. Affective factors such as specific emotional demands and display rules make an organization more appealing to younger employees than older employees (Scheibe, Walter, and Zhan, 2021). In this case, the emotional demands seem to be related to the use of the new system, and hence organization may need more youth generation in line with the high technology that emerged. 14 CONCLUSION The decision-making process will be challenging while dealing with senior subordinates in Malaysia because we raise to respect the elderly. Even though using good manners is a great concept, acting professionally at work is necessary. Age is not an excuse for an employee to follow the order given. Jenah has almost reached her retirement age, and providing her training would not be helpful anymore. In the future, if there is any staff behaving like Jenah and using age as the point for a younger leader to listen to her, strict action should be taken, such as a reduction of salary or perhaps termination in the worst case. 15 Case Study 6: Diversity in Multinational Corporation (MNC) Organizations: How to deal with stereotyped workers in the workplace? Author(s): Hazlane Joos INTRODUCTION The concept of stereotype defines as a fixed image or generalization of a person or group of people. It refers to confrontational and inaccurate portrayals of marginalized groups in society. Stereotyping of female managers in the workplace is a common occurrence that leads to discrimination, hinders growth, and can also apply to positive contributions. However, some believe that stereotypes are not a problem when they are based on truth. Others believe stereotypes can help employers choose new employees. Regardless of this belief, stereotypes must be combated; so people to not limit by their gender. One of the issues with stereotypes is how they can lead to discrimination. Many people use stereotypes to justify treating certain groups poorly. It causes people to lose opportunities because of how they are treated based on a false image. For example, the belief that women are less skilled than men causes some businesses to discriminate against hiring female managers. Meanwhile, the participation of women in the world of a career in the industry in Malaysia demonstrates that women's employment in the service sector is likely to meet the country's government, political, economic, and social needs (Nor Aini Haji Idris, 1996). Stereotypes also have the potential to damage growth by limiting people's opportunities. When people see limited roles for women, they may choose not to pursue careers in leadership positions. It also restricts other women from getting opportunities to lead because they won't see themselves represented in those positions. To balance and avoid the notion of stigma related to women in the workplace, Company A is a Company that practices an open system to all employees, regardless of religious and ethnic background. If they are qualified for a specific position, the Human Resources Department does not hesitate to appoint the employee to take the vacant place. In Company A, as many as 36% of Women are on Board, and 31% of Women are in Management. The question is, Company A avoid issues such as stereotypes and Discrimination against Female Managers at work using an open system? It is what the Technical Unit in the RR Region is facing, and it will take a long time to resolve. In this case study, the author shares how the new management overcomes stereotype issues in the workplace based on the author's observation. CASE SCENERIO Company A is a leading broadband service company in Malaysia. Previously it was a government body, but the Company was incorporated and privatized in 1984. Company A is a leading national connectivity and digital infrastructure provider offering telecommunications and internet services in Malaysia. It is an integrated telecommunications company that emphasizes creating value for its stakeholders and providing continuous development in customer service through innovation. Company A strives to provide Digital Malaysia by providing various services and communication solutions, including broadband, telephone, Wi-Fi, cloud, data center, cyber security, IoT, and Smart services. It is motivated by the desire to increase productivity in a competitive environment with providing a better customer experience through continuous improvement in customer service quality. In the RR Region in 2010, the TZ Division accepted a new manager because the previous Management was transferred. Jade is a new manager assigned to a unit that is 95%, male workers. The previous manager, Jack, respected and kind to workers. He is skilled at delegating tasks, and his subordinates follow all of his orders. Jack is a person who enjoys lending a helping hand to any unit that requires assistance from the teams. 16 Workers find it difficult to follow directives with this new management, and misunderstandings are common. They are used to the old, and each has been assigned a task. Workers often make comparisons between previous and current managers. This situation continues, so that performance at work decreases. Several causes make the employee-manager relationship in the situation, not the best. The first is there is no actual delegation of tasks from the old manager to the new manager, indeed from an educational perspective, Jade is a person who can consider worthy because she has a bachelor's degree in engineering, but Jade has no experience in the work environment in the TZ Division. Second, workers struggle to provide adequate cooperation and support because managers are female and non-citizens and constantly compare new and old managers. The third reason is Jade, but he is not open to accepting the views of subordinates, even though they are often voiced in meetings. Jade wants his instructions to follow, but he has not responded to other units when contacted via email. The email was left unanswered for several days. A change had made at the Headquarters level in 2017, and all units rushed to comply. It brought positive changes in the RR Region and TZ Division indirectly. This change requires each unit head (Manager) to collaborate with unit heads throughout the region to form a team known as the Zone Business Centre (ZBC), which has one goal: Customer Satisfaction. Each unit must be more efficient and proactive to meet the objectives. The ZBC Meeting is held to monitor the progress of each action plan that is created. In this case, the continuous involvement of Jade as a team expert is necessary. Gradually, the communication between Jade and her fellow Managers was getting better. In this way, the way of working has changed, and Jade has begun to receive input from subordinate staff. Jade also shows his firmness to members who do not want to cooperate. Jade also shows the initiative to bring up management-employee relations by holding engagements such as a simple birthday party greeting at the office to his subordinates. Jade also promotes a work- life balance where members do not need to take on more hours if the situation is not urgent. For workers who have a history of health, Jade places workers in the office to help those who work in the field/outside the office. The change actions carried out by Jade were finally successful, and the management-employee relationship has improved. The workers are allowed to accept it as they should as Managers. Although in terms of achievement, it is not as excellent as the other units, now their achievements are showing positive and stimulating improvements. CONCLUSION The difference is not a negative thing, but it becomes more meaningful when viewed as uniqueness in diversity. Every difference is accepted as a unique attribute in a people. It is not to be raised or focused on being made fun of. Likewise, if people are allocated to a social group, such as at work, we must respond to everything transparently. Avoid making assumptions, not to mention being prejudiced against someone. Mutual respect should be fostered and practiced regularly because it reflects our true identity and creates a harmonious workplace atmosphere, free from prejudice and discrimination. Cultivating high ethical values should be a principle for everyone. Doing this, to some extent, raises work motivation for employees. When employees are motivated, work performance improves, and productivity increases. Increased productivity can result in increased profits and employee satisfaction at work. 17 Case Study 7: Stress Has a Cost Author (s): Jachinta Rani a/p Subramamiam INTRODUCTION Stress at work is a global problem that affects employees' health, well-being, and organizational productivity. When a person's ability and capability to handle demands of various sorts and combinations exceed those obligations, stress at work results. What one individual might find stressful, another could find challenging. Work-related stress might be experienced or not depending on the job, the individual, and other elements (such as personal life and general health). CASE SCENERIO Jordan Emmanuel enjoyed his time in high school a lot. He put in more effort than most of his friends, was a decent student, especially in math, and somehow managed to start a relationship with Clara, the class valedictorian. He was hired as a summer intern by local surveyor Jerald Williams, and once he graduated, Mr. Jerald extended him an opportunity to work as the third man on one of his survey crews. Although the salary wasn't good, Jordan was already skilled in his career and thought all he needed was stable employment to give him the courage to propose to Clara. As soon as he did, everything moved quickly. He began working in June, Wed Clara in October, recruited her as a secretary at a nearby business form manufacturer, and a year later, the couple welcomed their first child. Jordan was quite taken aback by the newborn. He had grown to appreciate the freedom his weekly income provided. Even though food and rent consumed his income, he continues to enjoy spending Sunday afternoons playing softball and a few nights a week playing hoops with his high school friends. But when the infant arrived, Jordan's brow wrinkled a little. Even at the age of 20, he wasn't earning much money. He requested and received his first increase from Mr.Jerald. Two months later, just as Mr.Jerald's crews were overwhelmed with work, one of the crew chiefs resigned. Mr. Jerald hated to turn away work, so he appointed Jordan Emmanuel as crew leader, provided his team with some outdated tools that weren't up to the task of performing the specific job of the best crews, and gave them the simple title surveys available in the community. Jordan was forced to accept the crew of leader position due to the pay increase. But it frightened him. He had paid little attention to his old crew chief's training because he had never been ambitious or inquisitive Although he was at least somewhat adept at using the instruments, he awoke every morning dreading the duty that would be given to him. In his first few months as a crew chief, Jordan started acting in ways his wife believed were inappropriate for him. He regularly speaks quickly that he would trip over his words, stammer, flush, and have to begin again. He also started smoking, which he hadn't done since they started dating. He explained to his two crewmates that smoking kept his hands from shaking while working on an instrument. They didn't smoke, so when Jordan started smoking in the truck as they waited for the rain to stop, they got angry and complained that he didn't have the right to harm their lungs as well. Being the "boss" was something that Jordan struggled with, especially because one of his crew members was attending night school to earn an engineering degree, and they were both his age. Peter John, the scholar, would quickly succeed him. He was confident. Every time they worked closely together, he started snapping because he felt Peter John was watching him. 18 At home, things were also becoming tense. Because she had to quit her day job to care for the baby, Clara had to start working nights. She seemed to talk only of moving to California or Alaska, where she had heard surveyors paid five times what Jordan did, and they hardly ever saw each other. Jordan was aware that his wife felt her intelligence was being wasted and was unsatisfied with her employment, but he was unsure of what he could do to change it. He was surprised to discover drinking and worrying about the next day's work while spending the evenings at home with the infant had become a habit. Conclusion Jordan should have to cope with the tension in this situation daily as he tries to balance his personal and professional lives. Employees who work primarily to support themselves and their families are already under strain. It is feasible to handle stress before it overwhelms workers and becomes hard for them to manage themselves. The question is whether an employee can rely on programs and qualified counselors to ensure that whatever information they give them about their worries will remain private and secret. Employees who learn to cope with stress cooly will perform better on a personal and professional level and maintain a better work-life balance. Employees who face less workplace stress seem to be good in their physical, mental, and emotional health. 19 Case Study 8: Change Management in the post-COVID Working Environment in Malaysia within FMCG Industry Author(s): Jeremiah Anthony INTRODUCTION COVID-19 has been a time of turbulence and unexpected outcomes, changing the entirety of the landscape of the industry. Amidst the rise of prices of goods, oil, and logistics coupled with the chaotic and unprecedented political environment within the country, many small companies and industries had to shut their doors. FMCG industries find ways to minimize the impact of these changes on their businesses. Such ways include retrenchment, firing due to recession & organizational slimming, funding-the-growth project priorities to cut cost, automation to minimize labor & back to office changes post working from home environment. The case study would delve deeper into the FMCG industry and how company JJ manages these changes in their business. CASE SCENERIO Company JJ is a world-renowned category leader within the FMCG industry, with over 30 production factories worldwide and sales covering up to 150 countries. All employees are encouraged to work in an office when working from home (WFH) was not a norm before COVID. Amidst the pandemic challenges, employees were forced to WFH, political situations in the country became unstable, and petrol prices shot up, indirectly increasing logistics expenditures. In July 2020, just a few months after the COVID-19 outbreak started to get out of hand, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden suggested that the global oil demand may have peaked (Gaffen, 2022). With the rising cost of business, FMCG industries had to take measures to mitigate the high-cost impact. A global structural change was implemented to replace high-wage managers and employees. Secondly, many lost their jobs in the attempts of companies to focus on streamlining organizations due to the recession. The international economy has been harmed by the coronavirus's swift and severe effects and the restrictions to prevent it. According to World Bank predictions, the global economy would shrink by 5.2% this year. 1 That would be the biggest economic downturn since the Second World War (COVID-19 to Plunge Global Economy into Worst Recession since World War II, n.d.). Lastly, organizations have been looking into funding growth projects or cost-cutting measures with top to bottom high-priority urgency. One of the measures also includes automation and how to reduce manual labor. Employees are also being called back to the office during a hybrid work environment, with some offices shifting back to the office post- COVID. As a result of sudden changes in the work environment, group dynamics, and changes in personnel and manager replacements, employees’ dissatisfaction increased in the workplace. In general, the cause of job dissatisfaction is the disconnection between the actions and results desired by the employee and the expected job. This disconnect can drive by external circumstances or internal emotions (Hess, n.d.). It has also brought a negative mood among co-workers post-COVID. As a result, it is expected for an organization to meet resistance to changes among employees. Organizational resistance causes businesses to stiffen and become unable to adapt to external or internal challenges. Resistance is present when there are power struggles inside the company, slow decision-making, and bureaucratic organizational systems, to name a few signs (Resistance to Change: 5 Causes & Best Practices for Your Organization, 2019). 20 Resistance demonstrates passion, which, when channelled properly, can be used more effectively to implement changes. Employees' opposition to new technology development may change if they are informed about the causes and encouraged to learn and master it at work (Ford et al., 2008). Resistance to change demands managers to plan change management, design a strategy to implement it, interact with the staff, and keep their ears to the ground to ease anxieties and provide support. Organizations will incur significant losses as manager’s start making changes without consulting anyone if there is no fear of resistance (Mohamed, 2021). In the case of JJ, a group's manager and lead director are both facing layoffs and being replaced by new managers. As new managers are eager to perform, they bring changes required by top management without understanding the current work culture and historical reasons for processes. One such example is to halt the flexibility of hybrid work and favour office culture in totality. Not only do the employees face the challenges of losing their managers, but they are also stripped from current benefits. Workloads tend to be heavier in the face of limited resources, with shorter deadlines to meet high expectations. Despite all the above, FMCG industries are keen to push their objectives and changes as fast as possible to safeguard the business in the times to come as a precautionary measure. CONCLUSION: Change management post-COVID has impacted not just Malaysia but the entirety of the working world. The lack of proper change management will result in employee dissatisfaction, poor job performance, and high turnover rates. Companies should exercise extreme caution when implementing changes, prioritizing employee well-being over work changes. The changes timeline should be dictated by workforce supportability and resources capacity and not bring changes hastily to meet company objectives under the post-COVID business pressures. 21 Case Study 9: Emotion and Stress Effecting Mental Health Workers in Construction Industry Author(s): John Stephen Dionysius INTRODUCTION The issue in the construction industry is the workers' level of stress and emotion, which affects their mental health. It should be addressed as a priority by employers to address a concern about their workers' welfare. Stressors are risk factors that could endanger employees' psychological or physical health, such as bad organizational management, poor job design, and a lack of social support (Cox and Griffiths, 2005). For a good reason, construction workers are more likely to experience burnout than workers in any other industry. Working irregular hours in dangerous conditions and the additional stress of job instability are the main stressors. Long-term job stress may result in job burnout, which results in accidents that have a detrimental effect on the organization in the form of missed workdays and increased project costs, according to Poon et al. (2013). Workers already feeling the pinch of losing their jobs due to exposure to the virus during the COVID-19 epidemic now face a grim future and a loss of income. The AIA Vitality Malaysia’s Healthiest Workplace survey on 230 organizations and 17,595 employees discovered that employees are overworked and sleep deprived. According to the survey, 51% of respondents have experienced work-related stress. 53% of people reported sleeping for less than seven hours per night. 53% of people reported sleeping for less than seven hours per night. The workers of company ABC never express their feelings or seek help that there experiencing struggling mental health for fear of humiliation, the idea that their employer wouldn't be able to assist, and concern for how it would affect their career. The management anticipated the problem and established a comprehensive plan and strategy for dealing with and addressing the deteriorating mental health due to stress and emotion. If the situation prolongs, that could affect the entire organization. CASE SCENARIO Company ABC is a leading contractor in Sabah, and its primary activity is to install, joint, and test communication cables and associated civil works such as fibre optics. The goal is to provide all clients with high-quality, low-cost expertise and ensure that the client gets the most out of the services offered. It also ensures that the client can rely on the company to deliver all the required expertise to service and execute the project to its ultimate success. The company needs to maintain its status quo as a leading contractor to its competitor. Workers must work longer hours to remain competitive. Long workdays can result in depression, anxiety, stress, and emotion, which puts workers in danger when operating heavy machinery, working with electricity, or working at heights on construction sites. Fatigue and mental absenteeism have increased unavoidable accidents. Accidents occur due to human error, such as worker injuries, and the company was warned by local authorities about safety and health concerns. Over time, the company investigated and realized that the occupational stress faced by the workers became more dreadful and stressful with the urgency to remedy the cause and effect in mitigating the mental health issue in the company. 22 Management discovered that the primary sources of stress are (i) personal characteristics, (ii) relationship-related factors, (iii) work nature and time, (iv) organizational policy and position, and (v) situational or environmental factors, among others. Based on the five company working characteristics observation, the disagreeable and employees' lack of involvement in decision-making decreased their sense of self-worth, and their lack of control over their work caused stress at work that was linked to anxiety, depression, apathy, and exhaustion, which ultimately led to health problems. Furthermore, due to the company's poor interpersonal relationships, workers/employees do not offer support when they are stressed at work. As a result, the stress level among the organization's employees has increased. Management must take action to foster a supportive work environment to reduce the stigma associated with mental health. Management can provide a safe environment for employees by normalizing through dialogue and providing the necessary tools and resources. Role ambiguity among its manager has insufficient information about their role. Sometimes conflicting roles occur in performing their duties. The managers found it difficult to keep up with the demands of their newly altered positions. Due to their perception that they were unable to manage the issue effectively to accommodate the diverse needs of their colleague, they felt worried and frustrated. To avoid potential conflicting roles, management must be explicit about the managers' and employees' tasks and duties. The management realized that some of the recruited workers were dependent on the senior workers on the job. As a result, management decided to send every new employee for training. The manager or supervisor was tasked with a briefing and preparing requirements before they began work on site. Company ABC's management failed to ensure adequate preparation and training in dealing with exceedingly challenging aspects of the job, in addition to a lack of resources, a high employee turnover rate, and a poor working environment. Recognizing these flaws, the company should hire a consultant to develop a training program to ensure that construction workers are well-versed in the "Do and Don'ts" of the job. Besides, uncertainty, stagnation, low pay, and employment position have impacted stress and emotional effects. With the outcome of the investigation, Company ABC decided to increase the motivation level among the workers by holistically understanding and approaching the workers' ordeal through consultation sessions privately. Trust develops between the company's management and employees because management pays attention to their complaints. Company ABC then reviews the medical data demonstrating the connection between the workers' performance and mental health to determine the root cause of poor work quality or low productivity. One way to resolve the current issue faced by the company’s management is by providing the workers with a scheme of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) to address mental health problems via a company’s health insurance broker and emphasizing that all calls and treatment remain confidential. Additionally, the company’s management and the workers will get good advice from the health insurance providers. Often, managers and supervisors are the ones who first notice something unusual among their company employees. Because of this, businesses need to educate employees on how to recognize mental health issues and guide them to the right services. The management could publicize data on the frequency of mental health issues in the company newsletter and during safety meetings. Workers/employees on construction sites can adopt the practice of being mindfully focused on the task at hand rather than other stressors, which can increase worker safety and mental health. Being empathetic is one way to understand the workers' challenges and find the best way to support them. 23 According to DR. Chua Sook Ning, a clinical psychologist and Relate founder, employers should pay attention to the actual costs of leaving mental health conditions untreated (cited by New Straight Times dated Feb 17, 2020). The management implies that with the necessary intervention, the necessity and financial advantages of implementing policies and programs for mental health, by doing so, would change the stigma towards mental health conditions in the workplace and even in society, stressing that mental health conditions were very treatable. The staggering cost of employee mental health issues could reach RM14.46 billion, or more than 1% of Malaysia's total GDP (GDP). Despite the high costs, the national budget only allocates RM344.82 million (less than 1% of total spending) for mental health issues. The WHO estimates that treatment will result in 10% more productive workdays for RM4 per person per year. According to Relate Malaysia, the average annual cost per worker for Malaysian businesses was RM946 (or 31 percent of the monthly salary). CONCLUSION Company ABC management feels that the education program, awareness, and campaign should continue for the workers. The seriousness of the mental health issue caused by stress and emotions should be addressed collaboratively in the challenging work ahead, as work can become dynamic with the country's current global economic downturn expected in 2023. There is a necessity for a new strategy to deal with the situation. The company management has adopted the World Health Organization (WHO) tagline “Mental health care for all: let’s make it a reality.” in supporting the program to take the well-being of the workers. 24 Case Study 10: Influence of Leadership among Problematic Workers in Oil Palm Plantation Sector Author(s): Muhamad Firdaus bin Shamsuddin INTRODUCTION The oil palm plantation sector in Malaysia is considered the world’s second-largest producer after Indonesia. Palm oil trees were first introduced to Malaysia in the early 1870s by the British Government as ornamental plants. Oil palm has a high yield content and the highest oil yield per hectare compared to other vegetable oils. The first commercial cultivation and the growth of the oil palm industry in Malaysia started in Tennamaram Estate in 1917. Oil palm cultivation significantly increased in the 1960s as part of the government's agricultural diversification program to reduce Malaysia's reliance on rubber and tin. According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), Malaysia is one of the largest oil palm exporters, accounting for 25.8% and 34.3% of global palm oil production and exports in 2020, respectively. The oil palm plantation sector is also known as a labour-intensive commodity. The negative perception of the plantation industry was linked to the unpleasant working environment that was described as being dark, dirty, and unsafe, which discouraged local youth from entering this line of employment (Kamarudin et al., 2018). As a result, most of the labor used was migrant labor from Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and possibly Myanmar. With people of different nationalities, castes, ethnicities, languages, educational backgrounds, and so on living under the same roof, it is hard to ensure everyone receives the same information and understanding on the issues. When someone fails to communicate effectively with others, they lose interest in their job and lose trust. Things worsened when a leader who is supposed to guide the organization lacked leadership abilities. It is what happened at Estate XYZ. In this case study, the author describes the root cause behind problematic workers and how the managers' leadership skills can change the situation and improve the performance of executives, staff, and workers. CASE SCENERIO Plantation ABC is a well-known publicly traded company headquartered in Malaysia. Their estates, mills, and refineries can be found all over the world, including in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and China. Estate XYZ, located in Pahang, Malaysia, has one young, dedicated manager who has been transferred to the estate. He was promoted to the position recently because he is young, and most estate managers are in their early forties. Estate XYZ was identified as one of the problematic estates concerning worker attitudes (executives, staff, and workers) and overall estate performance (FFB production and evacuation, estate upkeep, and maintenance). Estate XYZ was named the best estate performer in Plantation ABC in 2021. After one week, he noticed that his local executives and staff were competent but uncommitted to their jobs. He discovered that they are demotivated because of the previous manager's contempt for them and refusal to provide guidance or accept their opinion. As for workers, the manager can detect two groups of problematic workers in terms of their attitudes and behavior. They practice absenteeism or come late to work, refuse to attend morning muster, and influence others to do the same. The workers in question underperformed and were dissatisfied with their monthly payments. The manager visited their pitch and discovered that they were sleeping instead of doing their job, and the situation deteriorated. When the manager questioned them about their negative behavior, they claimed they had long lost trust in the management. 25 They felt cheated because management was not forthcoming with information about their salary calculation. They also informed the manager that they were unaware of the pay structure for each category of work and had never told how to increase their productivity. This type of problem leads to overall poor performance of the Estate XYZ because productivity cannot meet as targeted. Upon reviewing the issues among his executives, staff, and workers, the manager realizes it is time to use leadership skills that he learned from middle management training provided by Plantation ABC. He implements situational leadership for his executives and staff through one-to-one consultation. It is to determine the preferences of individuals, their needs, and each situation they encounter. It is how they agree on how they should act to produce good results for the estate. It will increase job satisfaction, and enhance productivity, improve performance and team cohesion. The manager also implements the power of communication by informing, persuading, and motivating. He provides information to facilitate goal achievement, decision-making, and collaboration among subordinates. He then persuaded them by offering a rationale and perspective that could support an attitude and behavioral change, as well as emotional engagement and commitment. He also provides feedback and reinforcement that support growth in performance and desirable behavior. Instead of giving orders to them, the manager approached using intent and content methods to ensure effective communication. Then only disciplinary execution is applicable to translate organizational goals or strategic initiatives into action. Coaching is a way for the manager to increase his subordinates’ performance. It is undeniable that coaching is an effective way to keep subordinates engaged in the workplace. Skills of an effective coach that the manager implement include asking questions, listening, paraphrasing, giving feedback, and making a suggestion. A weekly meeting of worker representatives and one-on- one consultation with the two groups of problematic workers were held to bridge the gap. Other steps include a monthly briefing to employees on wage calculation and a display of daily productivity to ensure employees can estimate and calculate their monthly salary taken by the manager. The manager sets himself as open to any discussion whenever necessary, including discussion during morning muster on how the workers can increase their productivity and thus increase their monthly salary. The manager manages to improve living conditions such as upgrading their houses, establishing a highly organize complaint system using a QR Code Scanner which will be attended promptly by the management, recognizing talent and providing a token of appreciation for them and involvement in recreational activities with them. The steps taken by the manager eventually improve his subordinate’s satisfaction with their work and rebuild trust. His followers started to show confidence in the capability of the new manager and his leadership towards systematic management from executives to workers level. After six (6) months, he could see a great improvement when his executives and staff started to show their commitment to work and feel motivated to do their job. All problematic workers started in productivity and consistency in the salary they achieve every month due to a better understanding of salary calculation. It eventually leads to significant progress, increased productivity, and improved estate performance. As a result, Estate XYZ, previously ranked lowest in the company, has now risen to a higher rank and has been named "Most Improved Estate in 2022." CONCLUSION Estate XYZ is still striving to improve its overall performance under the leadership of the new manager. It is challenging for a manager to maintain his management style and subordinates' trust in his leadership style. The manager, too, should strive for continuous improvement. 26 Case Study 11: Employee Commitment Impacted by Attitude: A Case Study in MJ Companies Author(s): Sovellyn Majikon @ Manjikon Introduction The government has advocated a performance-oriented work culture based on key performance indicators (KPIs) utilized in services to meet the company's objectives based on the vision, mission, and corporate functions. Each branch of the company should measure the service performance of its subordinates' Respondents to this assessment consist of MJ's company employees from various divisions and customers. The method used is in the form of a quantitative technique. The "Talk to us" questionnaire is given to several respondents directly. On average, the responses received show that employees in the organization practice a good attitude and are committed to each job. In this regard, it turns out that employee commitment helps to improve work performance if the employee has a good and authoritative attitude that contributes to a more effective and productive work result in achieving the company's objectives. Case Scenario MJ is a business company with seven subsidiaries under its auspices. Growing in line with the globalization development at home and abroad and having more than 200 employees in each branch, the focus of employee attitude assessment in this assessment is the retail division which interacts more with more and their commitment to their colleagues and customers. Evaluate and analyse the commitments shown by each employee, and they demonstrate their commitment in each of their jobs to achieve the KPIs and targets set by the company. Usually, people only see or evaluate a sales assistant only selling goods that are under his care to promote to customers. However, sales assistants are also in charge of several tasks that most customers are unaware of. Employees will provide training or explanations to help them better grasp their job description, making it easier for them to carry out their obligations and deliver their dedication. Here are some to-do lists as a sales assistant at MJ's premises.  Serve customers by helping them choose products.  Drive sales through customer engagement and sharing product knowledge.  Welcome and accept customers well.  Answering customer questions.  Instruct customers by taking them to shelves and counters.  Provide better customer service.  Manage financial transactions.  Process payments with the purchase amount.  Assist with inventory, including receiving and storing goods. Today's difficulties necessitate structural reforms and paradigm shifts to ensure that the private sector's existence remains relevant and appreciated. The employee's performance must be competent by doing this. Good work performance can increase the productivity of organizations which directly improves the country's economy. On the other hand, a less motivated employee will cause a weakness in the administrative system of an organization due to a lack of dedication and commitment to perform the assigned tasks, and it will interfere with the performance of the work. 27 To strengthen the administrative system of an organization, MJ companies need to understand the dimensions of this commitment from an employee's point of view and not from a management standpoint. Meanwhile, the responsibility of a manager should be to know the source of his employee's commitment to the organization. For example, if an employer assesses a commitment in terms of the amount of time spent working as a commitment, the global viewpoint includes other assessments such as life balance needs to be improved since it can be a factor in enhancing employee bonding with the organization. Employees with a high attitude of work engagement are often associated with paying serious attention to the type of work they do. When confronted with diverse personnel and uniforms, it is difficult for a manager to keep his staff open and positive because 'attitude' is implied or not openly articulated. It is concealed and, at times, difficult to interpret or explain. It will be the driving force for a reaction or reaction that is considered to have social significance in the society of the individual. Attitude is a thick organization of beliefs around an object or situation. This situation will cause the individual to be vulnerable and act according to his preferences. Individual performance of work leads to behavior congruent with the purpose; it cannot be argued that if the organization does not prioritize employee motivation, it will be detrimental to the organization itself. Because job satisfaction has an impact on an individual's work performance. Individual attitudes must shift to increase work performance. Work performance emphasizes that individuals acting alone cannot develop organizational performance; only teamwork in an organizational environment can. Furthermore, the happiness of the work itself as a result of numerous angles, and the remuneration supplied to employees, all impact work performance. They will endeavour to meet the company's objectives, particularly sales targets that will bring additional returns to personnel. They will modify their attitudes and beliefs, becoming more enthusiastic, motivated, positive-minded, committed to their obligations, and, most importantly, conscientious while working. interpretasi situasi situasi kepuasan komited & pekerjaan pekerjaan / kerja bermotivasi kerja Figure.1: Job satisfaction model Conclusion Managers should play a role in encouraging and acknowledging employees who have a positive attitude at work, are committed to their duties and organization, and employees who achieve high performance. These individuals help the organization achieve its goals, create a positive environment, and impact worker morale. These individuals are not given attention or focus. With a bad attitude or poor performance, it should be given attention by the division head or manager to help raise work morale and be more positive. As a result, each manager should emphasize recognition to strengthen the positive qualities of employees and promote continuous achievement in the form of appropriate