Focus on opportunities as a mediator of the relationships between age, job complexity, and work performance

Focus on opportunities is a cognitive-motivational facet of occupational future time perspective that describes how many new goals, options, and possibilities individuals expect to have in their personal work-related futures. This study examined focus on opportunities as a mediator of the relationships between age and work performance and between job complexity and work performance. In addition, it was expected that job complexity buffers the negative relationship between age and focus on opportunities and weakens the negative indirect effect of age on work performance. Results of mediation, moderation, and moderated mediation analyses with data collected from 168 employees in 41 organizations (mean age = 40.22 years, SD = 10.43, range = 19-64 years) as well as 168 peers providing work performance ratings supported the assumptions. The findings suggest that future studies on the role of age for work design and performance should take employees' focus on opportunities into account.

Quality certification and company performance: The newly developed country experience

This study investigates the impacts of ISO 9001:2008 certification on companies in Malaysia. Data were collected from CEOs and Managers through a questionnaire survey. A multivariate analysis and SPSS macro were used as statistical techniques to assess the effects of ISO 9001 certification. Results of the study indicate that ISO 9001 certified companies were having significantly greater benefits and financial performance compared to non-certified companies. However, no significant direct relationship between ISO 9001 certification and company's financial performance was found. A further investigation revealed that financial performance is actually directly related to quality and local and international business performance, which are significantly influenced by ISO 9001 certification. Therefore quality and business performances are involved in the mediational process between the financial performance of companies and ISO 9001 certification. The novelty of this research lies in the establishment of, for the first time, high level statistical relationship between ISO 9001 certification, its mediating factors and financial performance of companies.