Malaysian Manufacturing Industry Research Articles

Renewable energy supply chain in Malaysia: Fostering energy management practices and ecological performance

The trade-off between environmental issues and economic outcomes has challenged manufacturing firms to manage the renewable energy supply chain (RESC). The Malaysian manufacturing industry has been challenged for its capacity to contribute to renewable energy development and reliance on imported components. The renewable energy supply chain has risks for uncertainty, higher costs, longer lead times, and disruption. Prior studies uncover the impact of fostering energy management practices (EMPs) and ecological performance (EC) in the renewable energy supply chain under a natural resource-based view (RBV). The government has provided the incentive to drive the successful implementation of energy management to obtain clean energy and business sustainability. This study contributes to developing a theoretical model that examines the intervening effect of the RESC on EMPs and EC. This study analysed the responses of 129 manufacturing firms to understand energy management practices. The findings show that energy auditing positively relates to RESC and that government incentives have impacted energy management practices. Management commitment and energy knowledge directly affected manufacturing firms’ ecological performance. The results show that manufacturing firms can best design energy management, green strategy, and competitiveness for business sustainability. Theoretical, policy and managerial implications are discussed.

Modification of the Revised National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Lifting Equation to Determine the Individual Manual Lifting Risk in Malaysia's Manufacturing Industry.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) established the Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation (RNLE) for manual lifting risk assessment. The objectives of this study were to determine the characteristics of physical factors using the RNLE and to explore additional factors to RNLE by modifying it to an Individual Lifting Equation (ILE). This cross-sectional study was conducted in the manufacturing industry of three states in Malaysia among manual lifting workers. A questionnaire was administered, which comprised the sociodemographic characteristics and Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) assessing low back pain (LBP). The RNLE dataset includes a load constant and six manual lifting variables collected from observational ergonomic risk assessment. The RNLE was modified to ILE by incorporating age, gender, and BMI. The equations' Lifting Index (LI) computed provides an overall manual lifting risk estimate. There were 165 participants, with a mean age of 28 years, and 108 (65.5%) were male. Most participants had a BMI within the normal range (60 (36.4%)) or were classified as overweight (54 (32.7%)). The lifting horizontal location showed the highest risk estimates, with the lowest meanmultiplier value of 0.55. In contrast, age and BMI had the lowest risk estimates, with mean multiplier values of 0.99 and 0.98, respectively. Among the participants, LI values of one or less, indicating very low risk, were observed in 58 (35.1%) for RNLE and 39 (23.6%) for ILE. Additionally, RNLE and ILE showed figures of 11 (6.7%) and 20 (12.1%), respectively, signifying a very high risk of LI exceeding three. Studying the lifting factors and equation multipliers from RNLE is critical for evaluating the risk estimates of manual lifting. Exploring the ILE based on individual characteristics is appropriate to support the ergonomic program. Further study is needed to validate the ILE as an accurate screening tool for determining LBP risk estimates.

Sustenance Strategies for Lean Manufacturing Implementation in Malaysian Manufacturing Industries

This study aims to investigate the relationship between sustaining factors and lean manufacturing implementation. This survey-based study was a cross-sectional study and the samples were drawn by using cluster sampling procedure from medium and large manufacturing companies based on the Federation of Manufacturers Malaysia (FMM) with the final number of 151 respondents. In total, four hypotheses were developed and tested statically using PLS-SEM through SmartPLS software. The result provided evidence that lean culture, lean leadership, and lean knowledge management have a positive relationship on lean manufacturing implementation. However, lean supplier management does not have a positive relationship on lean manufacturing implementation. The survey was responded by middle and top-level management from the discrete manufacturing industries. Although there is growing interest in empirical shreds of evidence in favor of sustaining lean, this study provides a comprehensive view of sustaining factors for lean manufacturing implementation. Hence, this study contributes to expanding the boundary of the existing literature and contributes to the body of knowledge while providing insights to practitioners in tailoring strategies to sustain lean manufacturing implementation and leverage their performance.

Assessing The General Sentiment of Malaysian Manufacturers in Adopting Blockchain Technology to Improve Supply Chain Processes

The popularity of blockchain technology has seen a dramatic increase throughout the year of 2021 and 2022, with numerous use cases in various global industries. This includes the use of cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens, decentralized autonomous organizations, and others. In Malaysia, there is also an apparent increase in general awareness towards the technology, with Bank Negara Malaysia and Securities Commission actively participating in the Committee for Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology. This study specifically examined at the Malaysian manufacturing industry, attempting to assess their general sentiments towards blockchain technology and how it could help to improve various supply chain processes. The quantitative study received 114 valid responses from management level employees with Malaysian manufacturers, enabling the researchers to assess the task technology fit, perceived ease of use (PEOU), perceived usefulness (PUSE), and technology readiness index (TRI). The analysis indicated that there is indeed a high task technology fit in the Malaysian manufacturing sector. In addition, this industry showed a positive sentiment towards blockchain technology, with high scores in PEOU, PUSE, and TRI. The high TRI numbers also had a positive significant relationship on the decision to adopt this technology within the manufacturing companies to improve various supply chain processes.

The Impact of Audit Firm Size, Auditor Independence and Financial Expertise on Earning Quality: Mediating Role of Audit Quality

Earning quality of organization depends upon the audit quality and could be achieved using auditors’ expertise and firm size and this aspect demands the emphasis of new researchers. Hence, the current article investigates the effects of auditors’ independence, audit firm size and auditors’ financial expertise on earning quality of the manufacturing industry in Malaysia. The article also explores the mediating role of audit quality among auditors’ independence, audit firm size, auditors’ financial expertise and earning quality of the manufacturing industry in Malaysia. The study gets the data from the audit department of Malaysian manufacturing companies. The article checks the nexus among variables using smart-PLS. The outcomes revealed that the auditors’ independence, audit firm size and auditors’ financial expertise have a positive association with earning quality. The outcomes also exposed that audit quality significantly mediates among auditors’ independence, audit firm size, auditors’ financial expertise and earning quality of the manufacturing industry in Malaysia. The regulators could get the guidelines to achieve high quality earnings and audits using auditors’ independence and financial expertise.

The analysis of lean and agile supply chain strategy on environmental performance with mediating of supply chain responsiveness: Evidence from manufacturing industries in Malaysia

<p class="Abstract">Environmental concerns have garnered increasing global attention, prompting discussions on how to integrate these issues into business operations and strategies. While lean supply chain strategy (LSC) and agile supply chain strategy (ASC) are recognized for their environmental benefits to organizations, the impact of LSC and ASC on the environmental performance of firms remains relatively unexplored. This study aims to analyze the influence of LSC and ASC within various functional areas of manufacturing firms on their environmental performance. To gather data, a quantitative survey methodology was employed, involving 299 manufacturing firms in Malaysia. Out of the collected responses, 231 were deemed usable for analysis. The survey results reveal that lean supply chain strategy and agile supply chain strategy positively affect environmental performance. Moreover, supply chain responsiveness (SCR) partially mediates the relationship between LSC and ASC on environmental performance. This study contributes to the existing literature and practices in supply chain management strategy and sustainable performance in manufacturing industries.</p>

Enhancing Employee Performance of Malaysian Manufacturing Industries: Organizational Citizenship Behaviour and Innovative Work Behaviour as Mediator

Enhancing Employee Performance of Malaysian Manufacturing Industries: Organizational Citizenship Behaviour and Innovative Work Behaviour as Mediator

Drivers of Employee Job Satisfaction During Pandemic in Manufacturing Industries

Purpose: The study focuses on employee job satisfaction and its implications in Malaysia's manufacturing sector. It highlights the significance of job satisfaction for organizational success, especially in challenging economic conditions. Theoretical reference: Social Exchange Theory (SET) is employed for the study, emphasizing that employees reciprocate positive organizational behaviors with loyalty and commitment. SET underscores the importance of trust-based relationships and psychological commitment to the job. Method: The study explores three key factors—compensation and rewards, training, and work-life balance—in relation to employee job satisfaction. It employs hypotheses to test the relationships between these factors and job satisfaction. Quantitative and cross-sectional approach have been implemented whereby the research tools were derived from numerous previous studies. Questionnaires were distributed online conveniently to enable the respondent to provide their feedback anytime, anywhere. It was a non-probability sampling where questionnaires were distributed to respondents in the Manufacturing Industry. Results and Conclusion: The study anticipates that compensation and reward, training, and work-life balance are significantly related to employee job satisfaction in Malaysia's manufacturing sector. These factors impact employee performance, productivity, and retention. The investigation of this study discovered that the three hypotheses offered have a significant relationship with employee job satisfaction in Malaysia's manufacturing industry. ). The results show that compensation and reward (β = 0.680, t = 15.2212, p < 0.001), training (β = 0.114, t = 2.502, p =0.013), and work-life balance (β = 0.158, t = 4.106, p < 0.001) have significant positive relationship with employee job satisfaction in the manufacturing industry of Malaysia. Therefore, H1, H2 and H3 are all accepted.The current study has supported prior studies and explained the roles played by compensation and reward, training and work-life balance in employee job satisfaction in the manufacturing industry of Malaysia with the Social Exchange Theory. Implications of research: The findings contribute to academia by addressing a literature gap regarding job satisfaction and its influencing components. It offers insights for organizations in the manufacturing industry to enhance employee job satisfaction, leading to improved performance and profitability. Originality/Value: While many studies focus on job satisfaction, this research uniquely explores its facets within Malaysia's manufacturing sector. It examines the influence of compensation, training, and work-life balance, addressing a research gap in this context. The study offers valuable insights for management in understanding employee expectations and fostering a more satisfied and committed workforce.

The moderation role of Industry 4.0 towards business performance in manufacturing firms in Malaysia

This paper studies the pilot test process on a proposed new model of research and sustainable manufacturing practices for business performance, which is moderated by Industry 4.0. The aim of this pilot study is to assess the usability and reliability of the survey questionnaire. An online survey method was used to collect 116 data from manufacturers in Malaysia. The integration between NRBV and RBV theory is used will provide a more comprehensive model to evaluate manufacturing industries' competitiveness. The results agreed that all the constructs in the proposed model have Cronbach alpha ranges from 0.662 to 0.901, which is evidence of constructs having good reliability and can be used for future research with higher intensity. The result provides useful information for sustainable manufacturing practices which is adopted by manufacturing industries that could affect their usage and further improvement for their business performance during industry 4.0. This study focused on the sustainability in manufacturing practices with Industry 4.0 as a moderator in the Malaysian manufacturing industries. This pilot study is beneficial for the researchers focusing on Industry 4.0 in manufacturing practices.

The Study on the Factors Affecting Employees' Quitting Intention in Malaysian Manufacturing Sector

To understand how ethical leadership, emotional leadership, and transformational leadership impact employees' intention to quit in the Malaysian manufacturing industry, a study was undertaken. In this study, a quantitative technique was utilized to gather data from a sample of 175 employees selected from industrial enterprises in the Klang Valley, Malaysia by the use of an online questionnaire. As a means of gathering data, a verified questionnaire with pertinent questions for the study was used. The research findings indicated that there were negative relationships between ethical leadership, transformational leadership and emotional leadership with quitting intention. This showed that employees will have less intention to quit with the increase in ethical leadership, emotional leadership as well and transformational leadership. It also led to further understanding that transformational leadership and emotional leadership had significant effects on employees’ intention to quit respectively. These findings were hoped to help organization leaders keep their employees motivated and satisfied with their jobs to make them loyal customers to the company. This study was carried out with employees as the respondents and was set to be in the manufacturing sector in Klang Valley, Malaysia which included all of Selangor's major districts. This was done by choosing samples from different districts that were actively engaged in the manufacturing sector.

The effectiveness of behavior‐based safety observation program (BSOP) in the chemical manufacturing industry

AbstractIn 2022, there were 4514 reported cases of occupational accidents in Malaysian manufacturing industry, which is the highest among the sectors. Although governmental regulations mandate the use of personal protective equipment and safe working procedures, workers still take risks while completing their job. Behavioral‐based safety (BBS) approach has become a reliable way for correcting workers' behavior and improving their safety performance. This article presents findings from the BBS safety intervention program and reports its effectiveness in increasing the number of workers performing safe acts. The developed program, namely BSOP (behavior‐based safety observation program), use four basic principles: (i) goal‐setting, (ii) behavioral observation, (iii) constructive feedback, and (iv) reward and celebration. During execution, behavioral observation was conducted daily by appointed observers for 4 months. Results showed that the program reduced at‐risk behavior (measured by the percent increase of safe acts) from 61% during baseline to 73% and 82% during the first and second behavioral observation cycles toward 14 identified targeted behavior. This study presents a comprehensive and structured process of developing safety interventions. It contributes to our understanding of the significant effects of changes in targeted behavior due to the success of the safety intervention program.

IoT Implementation Framework to Support Industry 4.0 in the Malaysian Manufacturing Industries: A Systematic Review

IoT Implementation Framework to Support Industry 4.0 in the Malaysian Manufacturing Industries: A Systematic Review

A REVIEW OF MANAGING CARBON EMISSIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Carbon emissions were one of the most critical contributors to climate change, and the recent climate agreement had agreed for all participating countries to reduce their emissions. Malaysia has pledged to reduce 45 per cent of its carbon emissions by 2025. However, reducing carbon emissions from the industry was still limited due to voluntary reporting, particularly among manufacturers. Thus, it is ambitious for the Malaysian government to achieve its target by 2025. A complete review is performed to go through the literature and determine the review's research path. This review aims to investigate the low carbon performance based on the manufacturing industry's low carbon supply chain practices. The findings show that low carbon production was insignificant in reducing overall carbon emissions. In contrast, the rest of the low carbon supply chain practices were by the Natural Resource-Based-View (NRBV) theory. It helps to identify companies' low carbon supply chain practices to reduce carbon emissions and meet environmental regulations. Additionally, the review also provided new insight into mediating effect that contributes to the organizational theory of NRBV. The theoretical hypotheses were tested with bias-corrected and accelerated (BCA) bootstrap confidence intervals. The instrument used in this review is a questionnaire, and the questionnaire consists of five (5) scales which tapped on (LCSCM), energy management, and low carbon performance. Responses from the respondent were collected via an online survey between Malaysian manufacturing industries. SmartPLS was used to perform the model and structural analyses. The result shows that LCSCM influence carbon performance directly and indirectly, so the hypotheses are supported. This review is one of the earliest attempts to record empirical evidence regarding companies’ low carbon supply chain practices and performance. Thus, the review shows results can be used and extended to develop low-carbon supply chain frameworks.

The Effects of Health, Labor and Capital towards Labor Productivity in Manufacturing Industries

The manufacturing industry is the focus of this study, in which the proportion of its contribution to economic growth is experiencing a decreasing trend recently. Does it involve factors such as the input of capital, health, or workers that give significant impacts on labor productivity in the Malaysian manufacturing industry? This paper discovered the relationship between capital, health, and workers that consist of foreign and local labor with the labor productivity in the Malaysian manufacturing industry from 1986 to 2020. The Cobb-Douglas production function was used to derive the model specification in this study. The results showed that all variables are significant, in which capital and health have a positive relationship, whilst the factor of labor including local and foreign labor has a negative relationship with labor productivity. These findings may provide some insights into the improvement of manufacturing industries’ performance in Malaysia. It would be useful in determining which input factors significantly affected the productivity of manufacturing labor.

Measuring Organisational Effectiveness through Employee Involvement in Malaysian Manufacturing Industry

Business organisations need to operate effectively in ensuring the company’s overall success. Besides, employee involvement is one of the important issues that should be focused by organisations nowadays in ensuring organisation effectiveness in strengthening the company performance. In light of this, the current study looked into employee involvement and how it affects the organisational effectiveness in the manufacturing industry in Selangor. It was conducted to analyse which elements of employee involvement that have the most impact on organisational effectiveness. Three dimensions of employee involvement were tested against organisational effectiveness in this cross-sectional study, namely employee empowerment, team orientation and capability development. The primary data were collected from a group of 206 employees in Selangor through a self-administered questionnaire survey. Analysis of descriptive, correlation and multiple regression were carried out to test the variables of employee involvement for the predictions on organisational effectiveness. The results of the study revealed that all three independent variables which are employee empowerment, team orientation and capability development has significant influence towards organisational effectiveness. In view of this, it is highly recommended that all business organisations should encourage employee involvement and start building a long-term positive relationship with its employees All these will ensure that business organisations are managed effectively and corporate goals and objectives are successfully being achieved.

FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY: A STUDY ON MALAYSIAN SMES

The Malaysian economy has grown tremendously from 2016 to 2021, with SMEs accounting to more that 97.4% of overall establishments in Malaysia. The manufacturing sector in Malaysia, which accounts to 5.8% of SMEs, faced with immense pressure to compete and grow their businesses as they overcome the huddles of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employee performance became an important driver for the overall performance of SMEs. As such, based on the literature review, this study aimed primarily to investigate the relationships that may exist between variables such as compensation, work-life balance, job satisfaction, and work discipline on employee performance of SMEs in the manufacturing industry in Malaysia. Another goal of this study was to discuss the implications of the research findings that will benefit policy makers. Data were collected using online questionnaires from 200 respondents ranging from lower-level management to higher-level management in the manufacturing industry. The results of this study found that work-life-balance and work discipline had significant positive relationships with employee performance in the Malaysian SMEs in the manufacturing industry. The scientific novelty of this research is that both compensation and job satisfaction are insignificant. Keywords: Employee Performance, Compensation, Work-Life Balance, Job Satisfaction, Work Discipline DOI： https://doi.org/10.35741/issn.0258-2724.58.1.62

Factors Affecting Social Sustainability Performance amongst Malaysian Manufacturing Companies

Malaysia is among 192 countries that adopted the 2030 agenda for sustainable development to move towards more sustainable, resilient and inclusive growth through strengthening the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainable development. However, among the three pillars, social sustainability is often disregarded than economic and environmental. Social sustainability is an aspect of sustainability or sustainable development that encompasses human rights, labour rights, and corporate governance. It brings a better environmental and positive influence on the employees working in the industry. This study aims to investigate the relationship between diversity practices, environmental practices, product responsibility and, safety and health practices on social sustainability performance in the manufacturing industry in Malaysia. A total of 384 questionnaires were distributed amongst manufacturers with multinational corporation status based on the purposive sampling method. Eighty-two usable questionnaires had been received and analysed. The findings of this study revealed that only diversity practices and safety and health practices significantly influenced the social sustainability performance. Future research is suggested to verify the significance of these factors as well as other potential factors in different industries for better understanding and knowledge of the social sustainability issues in Malaysia.

A Study on the Trade Effects of China's Direct Investment in Malaysia

Malaysia is geographically located in the center of Southeast Asia, holding the Malacca Strait, an important international waterway, and is an important node in the construction of the "Belt and Road". China and Malaysia have long maintained good economic and trade cooperation. Investment and trade are important ways of economic exchanges between the two countries. Malaysia has a favorable investment environment, and China has become the largest investor in Malaysia's manufacturing industry for six consecutive years. In terms of trade, China has become the largest trading partner of Malaysia for 14 consecutive years, the largest source of imports and the second largest export market of Malaysia. As an important investor and trade partner of China, Malaysia's research on the trade effects of direct investment in Malaysia can further promote bilateral economic cooperation and provide reference for China's investment in other countries along the "Belt and Road". Firstly, the paper defines the main concepts involved, and combs the relevant theories of trade effects of direct investment, which lays a theoretical foundation for the following research. Then, the paper analyzes the development of China's direct investment and trade in Malaysia, introduces the general situation of China's direct investment and trade in Malaysia, and preliminarily judges that China's direct investment and trade in Malaysia are promoting relations. Finally, the paper combines the status quo analysis and empirical conclusions, and puts forward relevant policy recommendations.

Application of fuzzy AHP for supplier development prioritization

Supplier development (SD) has been identified as a critical strategy for manufacturing firms in managing and improving the capabilities of suppliers. However, implementing this program necessitates an investment of time, commitment, and finances. The selection of the most beneficial practices to be implemented in order for this program to succeed can ensure a better program output. Therefore, it is crucial for the manufacturing firm to identify which practices should be prioritized and implemented for their SD program. Although SD has been widely researched, the method to evaluate SD practices, particularly in the Malaysian manufacturing industry is virtually non-existent. This paper aims to fill the gap by proposing a method to evaluate the SD practices using the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (Fuzzy AHP). Fuzzy AHP is used to rank the practices involved in the program by capturing the evaluation from experts with strong industrial backgrounds in Malaysian Industry. There are five criteria for SD practices: supplier certification (SC), green capability (GC), investment and resource transfer (IRT), feedback and evaluation (FE), and knowledge transfer (KT), with 30 alternatives identified. The findings of the Fuzzy AHP method, suggest that KT is given the most weight. Thus, the alternatives associated with KT must be prioritized to achieve the objectives of the SD program. The results obtained can be referred to by manufacturing practitioners as guidelines for seeking the opportunity to implement an SD program in enhancing the capabilities of suppliers.

Sustainability Management Accounting and Organizational Performance: The Mediating Role of Environmental Management System

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between sustainability management accounting, environmental management system, and organizational performance for the Malaysian manufacturing industry. The data were collected from 350 manufacturing companies in Malaysia using online questionnaires. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the relationship between sustainability management accounting, environmental management system, and organizational performance. The findings showed that there was a significant positive relationship between sustainability management accounting and organizational performance (β = 0.530, p < 0.001), sustainability management accounting and environmental management system (β = 0.583, p < 0.001), and environmental management system and organizational performance (β = 0.168, p < 0.05). The findings also found an indirect effect of sustainability management accounting on organizational performance (β = 0.271, p < 0.05) through environmental management system implementation. Results show that environmental management systems can be considered as partial mediators. The environmental management system as a mediator for the Malaysian manufacturing industry increased the impact of sustainability management accounting on organizational performance. This study provides a fundamental approach for practitioners and manufacturing researchers to improve organizational performance through the implementation of sustainability management accounting and environmental management systems.