THE ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF SOCIAL WORKER WITHIN CRISIS MANAGEMENT OF THE PANDEMIC COVID-19 IN LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES OF MACAU: A CASE STUDY

ABSTRACT

THE CURRENT STUDY EXAMINED RESPONSES FROM 342 FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME EMPLOYEES IN MACAU’S GAMING AND PUBLIC SECTOR. THE INTENTION WAS TO EXAMINE THE RELATIONSHIP AND EXPLORE THE EFFECT OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE (INNOVATIVE, SUPPORTIVE, AND BUREAUCRATIC) AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP (TRANSFORMATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL) ON EMPLOYEE WORK ENGAGEMENT (COGNITIVE, EMOTIONAL, AND PHYSICAL) WITH THE MODERATING ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT (AFFECTIVE AND CONTINUANCE). THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY ARE MAINLY: 1) TO EXPLORE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP WITH EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT RESPECTIVELY; 2) TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE GAMING SECTOR AND THE PUBLIC SECTOR, AND 3) TO EXPLORE THE MODERATING ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT BETWEEN THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP TO EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT RESPECTIVELY. UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THESE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS IS CRUCIAL FOR THE INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATION WHICH ULTIMATELY LEADS TO A SUSTAINABLE AND UTMOST PERFORMANCE FOR THE BENEFIT OF MACAU'S CONSTANT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. WHILE REGRESSION ANALYSIS REPRESENTED TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP AS THE POWERFUL PREDICTOR OF THE THREE FACETS OF WORK ENGAGEMENT TO EMPLOYEES IN BOTH SECTORS. THOUGH THERE WAS NO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE VARIABLES AND THE MODERATORS, THERE WAS A POSITIVE INTERACTION BETWEEN TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP, AFFECTIVE COMMITMENT (TFL X AC), AND EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL WORK ENGAGEMENT OF THE EMPLOYEES FROM THE GAMING SECTOR, THERE WAS A POSITIVE INTERACTION BETWEEN INNOVATIVE CULTURE, AFFECTIVE COMMITMENT (IC X AC) AND COGNITIVE WORK ENGAGEMENT AND A NEGATIVE INTERACTION BETWEEN TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP, CONTINUANCE COMMITMENT (TL X CC) AND EMOTIONAL WORK ENGAGEMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR SUBGROUP. RESULTS WERE INTERPRETED CONCERNING THE ORGANIZATIONS, LEADERS, AND EMPLOYEES IN BOTH SECTORS IN MACAU, FOLLOWED BY A DISCUSSION ON THE IMPLICATIONS OF ENHANCING WORK ENGAGEMENT