The contribution of preoccupation with failure to TQM, crisis management and HR aiming to overcome crises

COVID-19 Pandemic and Teachers' Classroom Safety Perception, Anxiety and Coping Strategies during Instructional Delivery

Several professionals, including teachers, have been engrossed in fear of the worst happening due to COVID-19 and the rapidly evolving nature of the virus affecting the perception of safety in any working environment. This study examined teachers' perception of classroom safety, anxiety, and coping strategies during instructional delivery in senior high schools in Ghana. Adopting the cross-sectional survey design with a quantitative approach, a convenient sample of 174 senior high school teachers in the Cape Coast Metropolis completed a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression. The findings showed that teachers perceived their classroom environment as unsafe during instructional delivery amidst COVID-19 and reported modest to extreme levels of anxiety. Further, teachers with a high level of COVID-19 anxiety were found to utilize active coping strategies to manage stressful situations. The reported unsafe working environment in schools during pandemic times highlights the critical role of supportive working environments for teachers' mental and psychological wellness. School counseling psychologists, school welfare officers, and school health coordinators should collaborate to implement interventions (e.g., social emotional learning; resilience strategies) that promote the wellbeing of teachers and a safe working environment.

Does people-related total quality management “work” for people? An empirical study of the Sri Lankan apparel industry

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between people-related total quality management (PTQM) practices and employee work attitudes, as well as the impact of the specific PTQM practices on work attitudes in the context of the Sri Lankan apparel industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The five PTQM practices included top management commitment, employee empowerment, training, employee involvement and teamwork. Employee work attitudes comprised of job satisfaction, affective commitment, job involvement and turnover intention. Data collected from the machine operator-level employees in the top 100 apparel exporters in Sri Lanka were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM).

Findings

The findings suggest that the PTQM practices were significant drivers of job involvement but not of job satisfaction, affective commitment and turnover intentions. It was also found that teamwork, training and employee involvement were the most important PTQM practices towards employee work attitudes. Top management commitment drove affective commitment and job involvement, while employee empowerment was important only for job involvement.

Research limitations/implications

The research only considered the top 100 export- apparel manufacturers in Sri Lanka; hence, care has to be taken for the findings to represent the entire manufacturing industry in Sri Lanka.

Originality/value

Based on the perceptions of floor level employees, which is scarcely investigated in the PTQM domain, the paper presents an interesting and unique perspective on the relationship between the PTQM practices and employee work attitudes, challenging majority of previous research findings. Besides making theoretical contributions, the findings offer valuable insights into the management of Sri Lankan apparel companies by highlighting the PTQM practices, which need to be strengthened.