Behavioural Impacts of Workers on Performance: The Case of Malaysian Oil Palm Plantation

Abstract

Malaysia is the second world’s largest oil palm producer after Indonesia, accounting for about 30% of the total producers. The palm oil industry also contributed significantly to the Malaysian economy as the highest contributor to the national gross domestic product (GDP) for the agriculture sector. As a huge industry in Malaysia, the palm oil industry relies heavily on workers because of the manual activities that require them to execute, like harvesting and collecting fresh fruit bunches (FFB). At the plantation level, dealing with a group of workers can be challenging owing to various issues related to workers’ behaviour such as workers’ efficacy, initiative, motivation, dependability, and cooperativeness. Recognising workers’ behaviour is vital because it will impact how well the plantation performs. Thus, this study aimed to examine the impacts of workers’ behaviour on Malaysian oil palm plantation performance. A structured questionnaire was used during in-depth interviews with 83 Malaysian oil palm plantation executive staff using simple random sampling method. The data were analysed using descriptive analysis, mean ranking analysis, and multiple regression analysis. The results revealed that workers’ efficacy, initiative, motivation, dependability, and cooperativeness significantly impact the performance of Malaysian oil palm plantations. From all five variables, motivation was the most significant predictor identified as the highest contributing factor that impacted the Malaysian oil palm plantation’s performance. The findings showed an important indication that the plantations need to acknowledge and handle their workers’ behaviour to achieve greater performance. The framework of this research can be extended to the oil palm smallholders to capture the overall scenario of the palm oil industry players and their contribution to the Malaysian economy.