Leadership and Ethnicity in Public Companies in Malaysia

Abstract

Corporate Governance gained prominence in Malaysia during the Asian financial crisis of 1997, which operated as a wake up call that the existing corporate governance structures in public listed companies were insufficient. In response, Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange issued the Listing Requirements on 22 January 2001 to regain investors’ confidence and attract foreign direct investments. The Listing Requirements included a Code of Best Practices in Corporate Governance that favours the leadership structure of separate Chairman/Chief Executive Officer posts. Malaysia is a multi-racial country comprising predominantly of the indigenous Malays, the Chinese and the Indians. The Chinese in Malaysia continue to play a significant role in the economy. These Chinese practise a distinctive Chinese business culture in the running of their businesses. The literature reveals that the adoption of the prescribed leadership structure of separating the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer positions is not likely to improve the financial performance of Chinese controlled companies. An empirical research is conducted, using 218 Chinese controlled public listed companies in Malaysia. The data covered three years from 2001 to 2003. Financial performances of the companies were measured using return on equity, earnings per share, dividend per share, liquid asset per share and gross margin. t-test and Mann Whitney test were used. The results show that there has been widespread adoption of the leadership structure recommended under the Code by the sample companies. The results also show that adoption of the prescribed leadership structure under the Code has no significant impact on the financial performance of the sample companies.