Expressive suppression is the process of decreasing, increasing, or maintaining emotional intensity over a period of time. It is employed as an immediate response to emotional stimuli and can result in negative psychological outcomes. This emotional regulation process can be harmful in the workplace, especially when one considers time pressures and the standard corporate hierarchical structure in modern America, which potentially also introduces stress into situations due to the “superior/subordinate” relationship. This study analyzed the correlation between self-reported high usage of expressive suppression and perceived stress and found that a correlation does exist between the emotion regulation technique and perceived stress. The study also reviewed other workplace situations and found that being in the presence of a superior also plays a role in this dynamic. The study highlights the stress impact of employing expressive suppression and the need for further research into factors within the workplace that impact an individual’s emotional regulation and impact overall stress.

Public sector development projects are found to have poor repute in terms of completion within assigned cost and time. Almost every 2nd project is impacted by financial burdens and time delays. The aim of this literature review is to highlight the potential factors that impact the completion time and estimated cost with respect to public sector infrastructure development projects in Pakistan. 39 sub-factors have been identified from 32 existing research which are then classified into 8 main factors. The main factors include administrative issues, improper financial plans, market risks, input cost estimates, poor corporate governance, legal issues, technical matters errors, and environmental issues. The results of this systematic literature review will provide policymakers with oversight on how to formulate effective strategies regarding cost cutting and timely execution of the infrastructure development projects in Pakistan.

The purpose ofthis paper is to perform structural analysis of facilitators of modular architecturein healthcare services by applying interpretive structural modeling (ISM).Inputs were taken from healthcare industry experts and academicians inidentifying and understanding interdependencies among facilitators of modulararchitecture in healthcare services. Further these interdependencies arestructured into a hierarchy in order to derive structural models to deliveruseful insights for theory and practice. Using the ISM approach the facilitatorsof modularity in healthcare services were clustered according to their drivingpower and dependence power. Patient centricity is at the bottom level of thehierarchy implying highest driving power and requires higher attention todeliver quality care outcomes. Facilitators like value dense environment, knowledgeand competence, goal alignment and le-agile strategies have medium driverand dependence powers. The study added insights to the theory of modularsystems. Theauthors recognize that modularity helps in enhancing the patientcentric orientation. The findings provide potentially important information tohealth service managers and providers, enabling them to understand therequisites of modular architecture. This is the first study exploring therelationships between facilitators of modularity in healthcare services. Thestudy complements literature on service modularity with reference to specializedcare unit of maternity services.

Garment sector is one of the industrial sectors in Ethiopia. In this sector the final products are always with defect(s) which reduces attraction from customers and economic benefit from the business. With this intention, quality enhancement of shirt products through defect(s) rejection reduction using SQC tools was a vital task of this research. The study applied Pareto Analysis and Cause-and-effect diagrams for detailed examination of top defects. From the Pareto-analysis six top defect types; cuff assembly seam slip out, sleeve hemming, button slip out, side seam puckering, button missed, and placket seam out have been identified. These defects contributed 81.68% of all defects happening in the case company. Then root-cause analyses for these top defect types have been done and solutions have been suggested to overcome causes to reduce rejected shirts. Finally, the suggested solutions have been practically implemented through the organized implementation team from different departments of the case company including the researcher. This has given remarkable results of almost 67.3%, 2222 shirts, of export rejected shirts have been saved. These saved shirts have been exported additionally to the international market in line with the defect free products of that month and increased the income of the case company by 444,400 ETB to 555,500 ETB per month.

The importance of quality and innovation in today’ 21 st century cannot be over emphasised, therefore organisations require leadership styles that can embrace both innovation and quality in order to confront today’s dynamic competitive fierce environment. Sometimes organisations fail to attain or maintain their competitiveness because of limited understanding regarding these strategic variables. There is little research that has attempted to analyse the direct and indirect-relationships among these strategic variables. Therefore this study attempted to bridge the gap in literature by analysing how important-innovations and quality-results as TQM practices influence the association between transformational leadership-style and competitive advantage using sample data collected from TAZARA employees in management using Jamovi. The study shows that transformational leadership style, quality-results and important innovations have significant positive effects on competitive advantage. The results also show that important-innovations and quality-results both individually and collectively partially mediate the relationship between transformational-leadership and competitive- advantage. Managers and advocates of transformational leadership style are emphasised to be aware and cautious of quality results and important innovations at all-time especially in today’s dynamic environment.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in the Indian economy. To remain competitive in the global market, application of Lean Manufacturing Techniques (LMT) helps SMEs to improve their processes in alignment with customer needs. The purpose of this study is to reduce overall lead time by identification and eliminating non-value added activities (NVA) from the manufacturing system. In this paper, the current manufacturing processes have been thoroughly studied using the principle of work study. Several lean approaches such as- TAKT time computation, Value stream Mapping (VSM), layout optimization, Kanban, Andon etc. have been used to make improvement in line efficiency and hence productivity. The study shows that use of line balancing technique, matches the cycle time with calculated TAKT time. And the efficiency of the line has increased approx 10% and hence balance delay got reduced. Again VSM helps to reduce the lead time of foundry shops by 51 minutes. It is one of the few studies that deal with productivity improvement in Indian SME.

This paper seeks to examine the relationship between determinants of blood transfusion sustainability (BTS) that is master production scheduling (MPS) and total quality management (TQM) of Uganda. The study was founded on four objectives. The study looked at the direct relationship between MPS and the BTS, direct relationship between MPS and TQM, direct relationship between TQM and BTS. It also assessed how TQM mediated the direct relationship between MPS and BTS. The study used a quantitative method. A survey questionnaire was administered to collect data from 367 staff of regional blood banks and government university teaching hospital blood banks; and 213 were found to be usable. The main analysis was done using structural equation modeling. The study found that MPS had a positive and significant relationship with the BTS. The study found that the relationship between MPS and TQM was positive and significant. The study also found that the relationship between TQM and BTS was positive and significant. The study concluded that the effect of MPS on BTS was not mediated by TQM. It was recommended that blood banks seeking to achieve transfusion sustainability must invest in understanding the sector in which they operate. This includes understanding the blood demand requirement, customer focus, people involvement and timely delivery. The various stakeholders in the blood supply chain i.e. blood banks, hospital blood banks, funding agents, ministry of health, must also integrate to enhance the transfusion sustainability. Blood banks performance measures essentially timely delivery was very critical for saving lives of patients in need of blood. The study has provided a new conceptual framework that investigates the TQM mediating effect on the relationship of MPS and BTS, and thus can serve as an incentive for more research to be conducted in this regard in blood banks of different developing countries. The authors also proposed identifying the effect of other TQM factors such as process management, system management, supplier relationship and top management on BTS.