Luận văn thạc sĩ UEH effect of quality of work life on job performance among power plant operators

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

International School of Business

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HA TUAN ANH

EFFECT OF QUALITY OF WORK

LIFE ON JOB PERFORMANCE

AMONG POWER PLANT OPERATORS

MASTER OF BUSINESS

Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2018

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UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

International School of Business

------------------------------

HA TUAN ANH

EFFECT OF QUALITY OF WORK

LIFE ON JOB PERFORMANCE

AMONG POWER PLANT OPERATORS

MASTER OF BUSINESS

SUPERVISOR: PHAM NGOC THUY

Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2018

LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add [email protected]

3

Introduction

Human resources are key firm resources (Tho, Phong, & Quan, 2014). Regarding people

at the workplace, quality of work life and the relationship between work and life have

received much attention in comparison with the other areas by researchers in the last few

years (Nguyen & Nguyen, 2012). This can be explained that “Quality of work life (QWL)

has attracted academics as well as practitioners because it affects job performance and

many other job factors (Lee et al., 2007; Sirgy et al. 2001; Wright 2010), and ultimately

the quality of life of employees (Nguyen and Nguyen 2012)” (as cited in Tho, 2018, p.

461).

Walton (1973) argues that QWL is a term that represents environmental and

human principles, but these are suspended because of the technological evolution and

economic development. And the most recent statistics indicate that the majority of the

working population is engaged in irregular or non-standard working hours, including shift

and night work, weekend work, split shifts (Costa, 2010). Costa (2010) explains that this

issue is related to the development of new technologies and the extension of basic

services to general populations, requiring continuous human assistance and control over

the work processes during the 24 hour day. And this issue is also associated with the

increasing economic competition among companies and countries, due to the progressive

globalization of the labor market and productive strategies, which entail an increasingly

intensive and extensive exploitation of productive systems.

Peters, Engels, de Rijk, and Nijhuis, (2015, p. 882) argue that “irregular work

schedules and working hours warrant specific attention, because both are linked to a wide

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range of negative consequences, e.g. self-rated health, fatigue, work–home interference,

job satisfaction, decline in performance, and sick leave”. Hence, “improving adaptability

necessarily implies a focus on the human operator, the center of the manufacturing

processes” and “human quality of work intersection with production system performance

parameters, should be evaluated and optimized” (Layer, Karwowski, & Furr, 2009, p.

414).

The operators of the electrical power plants are among these population, who have

irregular working schedules and perform the activities which are characterized by

significant mental and psychosocial demands, such as the time pressure, responsibility,

amount of work, problem solving, decision-making, the high level of concentration

required and adjustment to new technologies and have to carry it out by mobilizing

knowledge and reasoning to which they have adequate training under the terms of the

existing rules (Silva, Marqueze, Rotenberg, Fischer, & Moreno, 2012).

The activities performed and services provided by the electric sector are essential

to the whole population, which is an important ingredient to the development of a

country, the electrical systems can be categorized as critical systems where failure can

result in significant financial loss, injury or threats to human life. For those power plant in

which the operators who have capability of making decisions quickly and effectively can

help the company to avoid fines and penalties by National Load Dispatch Center. Hence,

in order to survive and to create sustainable growth and development, the power plants

are required to have a new approach to management of the operators. Thus, understanding

factors that impact on operator performance and how these factors can influence operator

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