Malaysian Public Service Research Articles

Towards Malaysia MADANI: Do Leadership Styles Influence Innovative Work Behavior? A Conceptual Framework for the Malaysian Public Sector

Transformational leadership, known for inspiring and motivating employees, has been positively linked to creativity and innovation, while ambidextrous leadership, which balances exploration and exploitation behaviors and supports both idea generation and implementation. This article provides a conceptual framework for the influence of transformational and ambidextrous leadership on innovative work behavior (IWB) among PTD officers as middle managers in Malaysian public service. The first proposition is transformational leadership positively influences innovative work behavior. The second proposition is ambidextrous leadership positively influences innovative work behavior. This model will be further tested using a quantitative research method, survey questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS and PLS-SEM. Accordingly, understanding of IWB in public sector settings is enhanced. The findings demonstrate the application of Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and thus offer new theoretical insights and practical suggestions. Thus, this study highlights the importance of work behavior that drives innovation and positive values among employees in determining productivity and efficiency in the public sector, offering valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners.

Mediating Effects in The Structural Equation Model of Malaysian Public Service Competitiveness

These days, public service performance is determined by competitiveness. Due to a prolonged period of stagnation, Malaysia's competitive performance is at a critical level. The public service is therefore under pressure to demonstrate that all policies and programs are highly valued. This study aims to determine the primary variables influencing the ability of Malaysia's public services to compete. Data were acquired through surveys completed by 373 respondents from 26 ministries. The relationships between talent management, human capital, and competitiveness were analysed using structural equation modelling. The results indicate a significant and positive relationship between talent management and competitiveness, with human capital serving as a significant partial mediator. This study highlights the direct importance of talent management for public services competitiveness and its indirect impact through human capital. These insights can assist policymakers in developing a strategic framework to keep the Malaysian public service competitive.

Evaluation for Promotion System in Government Sector

One of the most important activities in Human Resource Management is the Promotion System (PS) (HRM). This study aims to identify government promotion in the government sector with an emphasis on ethics and cultural perspectives, as well as a key indicator in understanding issues and challenges in Malaysia's public sector promotion system and ways to improve the system, which are organisational culture, ethics, and bureaucracy. Organizational culture is defined as a shared perception shared by organisational members. There are differences in the rules and policies governing tenure and seniority in Malaysia's public service. In government and agencies, a civil servant is designated before the promotion board considers the grant of promotion. This implementation is good among Malaysian civil servants and should be maintained as a criterion for promotion in the Malaysian public service. As a result, monitoring and evaluation can be carried out, typically at the end of each year, using the KPI monitoring system. The grades are being used to determine whether the individuals should be promoted or face disciplinary action. Most disciplinary actions will be warnings or notices before more serious actions such as termination are taken. The current system of civil service is insufficient and can be improved with the suggestions in this paper. A thorough examination is required to comprehend the breadth of issues that have arisen in recent years.

Islamic Innovation in Malaysian Public Service

Presently, there are few articles that discuss on Islamic innovation. Henceforth, this article will try to elaborate on this matter about the concepts, principles, purpose, factors of innovation in Islam, famous Islamic scholars for innovation and modern Muslim innovators. In addition, this article will also elaborate the concepts of Islamic innovation which are tajdid, islah and ijtihad in Malaysian public service context by using library research method i.e., through examining online reports, document review from previous research, and Quran and Hadith verses. This understanding is pertinent as Malaysia is an Islamic country whereby Islam is the official religion. The public sector should be spearheading innovation in the country to elevate the country to greater heights.

Islamic Human Resource Management Practices and Innovation in Malaysian Public Service

The contribution of Islamic human resource management practices (IHRM) on enhancing innovation has not been researched yet in Malaysian public service. Moreover, one of IHRM practices which is Islamic promotion practice has not been studied in previous researches. Thus, this is the impetus of this study. As many previous studies have engaged quantitative method in attaining their research objectives, this study tries to contribute to the body of knowledge by engaging qualitative method whereby semi-structured interviews are conducted with the top management and exec-utives of ten public agencies. Five interviews are allocated to each awarded and non-awarded public organizations. The purpose is to examine the similarities and differ-ences of these public agencies and between different types of informant. The results found similarities and differences among the awarded and non-awarded public agen-cies. The result shows that majority of the awarded public organizations agreed that the implementation of IHRM practices in the organizations has enhanced innovation. The findings of this study indicate that IHRM practices should continue to be imple-mented in Malaysian public service as it contributes to increasing innovation at the workplace.

A CONCEPTUAL PAPER ON THE INFLUENCE OF MUTUAL RESPECT ON LEADER-SUBORDINATE RELATIONSHIP IN THE MALAYSIAN PUBLIC SERVICES

Respect has a crucial role in a dyadic relationship, especially between leader and subordinate, because of the reciprocal costs in the relationship when respect is gained or earned. Leaders can be respected because of their position or fair treatment given to their subordinates. Respect has been featured in the leadership literature; however, few touches on the perspective of mutuality in respect, especially in a dyadic leader-subordinate relationship. The impact of the leader-subordinate relationship is significant in the Malaysian public services, as the scheme of grades determines the employees’ hierarchy. The Malaysian public services organizations' issues often arise from employees’ behavior and working relationships that affect their delivery. A high exchange of the dyadic leader and subordinate relationship correlated with desirable outcomes such as positive performance and attitudinal outcomes. One of the significant elements of the subordinates’ response is the attitude of respect towards the leader. Hence, this paper aimed to investigate the influence of mutual respect on the leader-subordinate working relationship in the public services that has implications for performance and service delivery.

Mekanisme Kawalan Kesejahteraan Psikologi Berasaskan Metode al-Tafakkur Dalam Al-Quran

The issue of the psychological well-being of society is a discourse that is increasingly given universal attention in the aftermath of the covid-19 pandemic. In the fourth quarter of 2020, a study by the Malaysian Public Service Department reported that the interpretation of the Malaysian psychological well-being index was at a moderate level with an overall score of 7.2. Among the key elements that are a measure of psychological well-being are emotional quality, self-actualization, life satisfaction, psychological functionality and the ability to interact with the environment. In this regard, initiatives to control the sustainability of psychological well-being are being actively pursued by various parties. Thus, the purpose of this study is to present a proposal for the control of psychological well-being control based on the method of al-tafakkur in the Quran. The study in the form of theory application is worked on the basis of qualitative methods through content analysis approach. The results of the study found that the discourse of the method of al-tafakkur in the Qur'an is holistic. The combination of the understanding is able to control and stabilize the mind or emotions. In conclusion, the Quran-based method of al-tafakkur should be dignified as part of the complementary mechanism of psychological well-being control.

Nurturing Organizational Characteristics to Maximize Training Impact on Teamwork Effectiveness: The Malaysian Sample

Employee training is an important program of human resource development to maintain and maximize organizational effectiveness. Since employees are working under specific unit/department, training should improve the department’s effectiveness or teamwork effectiveness because it contributes to the organizational effectiveness; this needs mutual support from the whole organization. Ironically, previous researches have only focusing on organizational characteristics affecting individual training transfer among employees; in which, little is known about organizational characteristics that can nurture teamwork effectiveness when employees have transferred their learned skills and knowledge from training. In fact, previous researchers have highlighted the importance of training motivation affecting training effectiveness; however, it is still a vague whether training motivation is also beneficial to improve the teamwork effectiveness. Therefore, the objective of this article is to determine organizational characteristics nurturing teamwork effectiveness, the effect of training motivation on teamwork effectiveness, and mediation effect of training motivation. Using a longitudinal research, a survey was done among 203 Malaysian Public Service Officers attended seven training programs organized by The Malaysian National Institute of Public Administration; data were analyzed using SEM-AMOS. Results indicated that job support followed by cultural support, management support, and social support were important characteristics of organization to nurture teamwork effectiveness in supporting training effectiveness. Additionally, employees’ training motivation significantly affect teamwork effectiveness and played role as a mediator with partial mediation effect. Research implications are further discussed.

Psychometric Properties of the Public Service Motivation Scale among Malaysian Public Service Officials

Employees in the public sector should have a high motivation in delivering the best service that can influence the development of a country. However, studies on the measurement of public service motivation are still few in Malaysia. Therefore, the objective of this study was to test the psychometric qualities of the Public Service Motivation Scale through content validity, construct validity and internal consistency analyses. This study employed a survey design by administering a questionnaire consisting demographic information and the Public Service Motivation Scale to 200 respondents. Results showed that the scale has good content and construct validity with three factors extracted having good eigen values and percentage of variance explained (PVE) with PVE total of 72.49%. The factors were labelled as compassion, self-sacrifice and commitment to public interest. Research findings give implication on the suitability of the Public Service Motivation Scale to be used in measurement in the Malaysian context.

To be or not to be: paradoxes and dilemmas faced by middle managers in Malaysian public service during organizational change

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the antecedents of acceptance of change on Administrative Diplomatic Officers (ADO) from the Management and Professional Group in the Malaysian public service organizations.Design/methodology/approachA total of 400 respondents were selected from 6904 ADO who served in Malaysian public service organizations. Data for this study were collected using self-administered questionnaires to study the direct relationship of individual and environmental factors toward acceptance of change; and the impact of organizational support as mediator on the relationship of environmental factors on professionals' acceptance behavior on organizational change. The paper uses quantitative research design, and the hypotheses formulated for this study were tested using SEM AMOS.FindingsThe study revealed that organizational support, attitude toward change, subjective norms and social influences all have significantly direct effect on acceptance to change. In contrast, results showed that locus of control has no direct influence on dependent variable. The results of mediation model analysis suggested that organizational support partially mediates the relationship of subjective norms on acceptance of change.Research limitations/implicationsThe population of this study was only involved ADO as middle managers in Malaysia public service organizations. The author's choice of sample limits the generalizability of the results. However, the choice made was instrumental, convinced in reaching a good and rich set of data. It is thus enabled to obtain an ample understanding of the dynamics in the case.Practical implicationsPerceived organizational support should be crucial element taken by human resource development practitioners in Malaysian public service in ensuring that Management and Professional Groups smoothly adapted to organizational changes through subjective norms and social influence.Social implicationsPresent study is essential to provide empirical mapping of a hitherto unexplored acceptance of change within the predictor variables examined in this research. By providing a better understanding of public servants' acceptance of change through research variables, this may then improve their service to deliver government work plans and achieving goals.Originality/valueThe findings of this study extend the knowledge of acceptance of change behavior in the context of Management and Professional Group in Malaysia public service. The integration between selected individual and environmental variables toward acceptance of change behavior with mediating variable of perceived organizational support adds values to the body of knowledge toward understanding the process of acceptance of change behavior. The scientific contribution of this paper created an empirical evidence of unexplored area of acceptance of organizational change within the Management and Professional Group, highlighting that the middle managers in public sector organizations veritably believe they are responsible for their own success.

Workplace incivility: the impact on the Malaysian public service department

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the implication of workplace incivility among employees in the public service department in Putrajaya involving job satisfaction, work stress, psychological contract, knowledge sharing and work engagement.Design/methodology/approachThis cross-sectional study examines the implication of workplace incivility among 180 employees in the Malaysian public service organization. Purposive sampling was used in this study. Partial least square was used to examine the measurement and the structural model of this study.FindingsThe result demonstrated that workplace incivility was associated with the psychological contract, job satisfaction, work stress and work engagement. The study also found that workplace incivility does not impact knowledge sharing in the public service organization department.Practical implicationsFuture research could provide a more broadened scope to ensure the generalization of the results for the overall public service in Malaysia. Human resource development researchers could look into experimental studies to raise the awareness of workplace incivility that may lead to the decline of workplace incivility.Originality/valueThe research could trigger more empirical research toward understanding the phenomenon and implication of workplace incivility in the perspective of Malaysian public service organizations specifically in Asian countries, which are currently limited.

The Determinants of Public Sector Innovation in Malaysia: A Proposed Framework

At present, Malaysian government are buffeted by strategic challenges including debt, deficit pressures, technology, innovation and globalization. Hence, Malaysian public service agencies recognize that they need to be resilient. In other words, they need to respond to people demand (adaptation), provide efficient and effective services (competitiveness) and make themselves reputable (value). This paper therefore aims to evaluate and suggest a conceptual model of innovative work behaviour, innovation climate, participative leadership and wider public sector condition on innovation (IVs) and innovation performance. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) was proposed. A structural relationship model was suggested. Research theories are being formulated based on the proposed conceptual model and checked. The paper ends with planned theoretical work for the future.

Developing and evaluating the effectiveness of mobile phone-based career intervention for career competencies of Malaysian public managers: Protocol for a mixed method study

BackgroundThis study presents a protocol for a mixed method study on the development and evaluation of the effectiveness of mobile phone-based intervention for enhancing career competencies of managers in the Malaysian public service. Career competencies, being central to the self-management and development of one's career, are necessary for proactive management of careers; they help to guide the individuals towards subjective career success which subsequently leads to organization success. However, there is a lack of career competencies intervention practices in the Malaysian public service. Therefore, this study aims to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a user and expert centric mobile phone-based career intervention program of career competencies among Malaysian public managers. In this study, the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) is adopted as the framework to develop mobile phone-based intervention for career competencies. MethodThis is a sequential exploratory mixed method study which involves, in Phase 1, a qualitative approach: reviewing of literature and interviewing experts and public servants who are users of mobile phones so as to obtain their perspectives regarding the components in the career intervention module and mobile phone application features. A quantitative approach is implemented in Phase 2 that evaluates the mobile phone-based career intervention program. Validation will be conducted to meet the objectives of (i) the usability of the mobile communication career intervention application (survey), and (ii) evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention program for career competencies delivered through mobile phone application (randomized controlled trial). The career intervention program consists of five modules through which development is based on reflective, communicative and behavioral dimensions. OutcomeThe primary outcome of this study is career competencies. The career competencies score will be compared between participants in the intervention and control group at the baseline, and follow-ups at week four and week 12 respectively, using mixed design ANOVA. DiscussionThe results from this study will indicate the effectiveness of the career intervention program for career competencies in the reformation of public services management. The intervention can serve as a new modality to enhance career competencies among public managers in Malaysia if its effectiveness is proven.

Knowledge-sharing behaviour in public service organisations: determinants and the roles of affective commitment and normative commitment

PurposeCompared with the extensive research on knowledge management in the Western context, relatively little research has emerged in Asia. This study aims to report an investigation of the predictors of knowledge-sharing behaviour (KSB) of Malaysian public service administrators.Design/methodology/approachSurveys were designed based on established instruments and yielded 231 responses from administrators of various managerial grades.FindingsThe findings indicated that KSB was predicted by intrinsic motivational factors, time availability and organisational socialisation. Further, the findings showed that affective commitment towards the organisations is the key intermediate factor to enable intrinsically motivated administrators to engage in KSB.Research limitations/implicationsThis study examined motivational factors among the public sector administrators only. Thus, it limits the findings generalisation to other groups of employees such as from the private sector and non-governmental organisations.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study shall enlighten organisations particularly the public sector organisations, in strategies and plan of action towards enhancing and advancing knowledge management practice among employees.Originality/valueThis paper offers new insight into the significance of intrinsic motivational factors which enhanced with employees’ commitment to fostering KSB in organisations.

DEVEOPING AN IDEAL LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION MODEL FOR THE MALAYSIAN PUBLIC SERVICE

Leadership succession in the Malaysian Public Service’s higher management has been seen as one of the most important task for Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA). This department acts as the centralized administrator for human resources for the whole of the Malaysian Public Service – excluding the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) – and determines the career path for all schemes under their purview, which includes officials of the Perkhidmatan Tadbir dan Diplomatik (PTD), the Pegawai Perkhidmatan Latihan dan Vokasional (PPLV) and the Pegawai Perkhidmatan Psikologi (PPPsi). This paper will review the hypothetical leadership succession strategies and any developed models in the Malaysian public sector, through various available literatures, guidelines and processes.

Case Study in a Malaysian Public Agency on an Asset Management-Moving Towards the Accrual Basis of Accounting

As part of the strategic reform of Malaysian public services under the Government Transformation Program (GTP), accrual accounting is expected to be fully adopted in public sector financial reporting commencing on 1 January 2015, in order to ensure alignment with the global accounting standards. Consequently, in order to access the government effectiveness of moving towards the accrual basis of accounting, this study is to examine the asset management system in a Malaysian public agency; to evaluate the extent of compliance with MPSAS 17, Property, Plant and Equipment (PPE), IPSAS 26, Impairment of Cash-Generating Assets and IPSAS 21, Impairment of Non-Cash Generating Assets. Using qualitative approach, a preliminary study was conducted via interviews and through obtaining documents. The findings include the following: MPSAS17 has not been strictly adhered to and software is used to monitor the assets; however, the disposal of assets is a manual process and is not automated. The study also discussed any weaknesses pertaining to the said asset accounting system, and suggested recommendations for improvement thereon.

Perceived motivators, training supports and challenges to career advancement among pharmacists in the Malaysian public healthcare system.

To explore the perceived motivators, training supports and challenges to career advancement among fully and provisionally registered pharmacists (FRPs and PRPs) in the Malaysian public service. Nine hundred and fifty-three pharmacists in the public service of Perak State, Malaysia, were invited for participation in an online survey that was conducted in October 2018. Based on a 5-point Likert scale, they were required to respond to 56 items, ranging from the perceived availability and importance of both motivators and training supports, the challenges to career advancement, to the awareness of the need for career planning. Their responses were subsequently dichotomized into 'agree'/'important' and 'disagree'/'not important'. Four hundred and eighty pharmacists participated in the survey, yielding a response rate of 51.2%. More than half of them agreed with the inflexibility of working time and the absence of a performance-based salary and promotion scheme. More than 80% of them also highly valued the training in both pharmacy-related areas and management. Apart from inadequate training, no specialization in pharmacy as a profession and the absence of a performance-based promotion scheme were identified as the major challenges to their career advancement. As compared with the PRPs, the FRPs had greater concern over the absence of a performance-based salary and promotion scheme, flexible working time and periodic feedback for their work performance. The findings indicate the inadequacy of the current system in providing recognition, training, feedback for work performance and a clear career pathway to pharmacists in the Malaysian public service, which warrants a change.

THE EFFECTS OF CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE ON TASK PERFORMANCE AND CONTEXTUAL PERFORMANCE: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYEES IN MALAYSIA

Purpose of the Study: This paper investigates high performers as those who are highly competent and possess the necessary skills for a job. In conducting businesses globally, public employees are also exposed to diverse cultural situations. Due to cultural challenges and complexities, public sector employees in Malaysia need to embrace the right capabilities to deal effectively with global customers. One of the key managerial competencies needed for dealing effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds is cultural intelligence or cultural quotient (CQ). The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between CQ, task performance, and contextual performance in a cross-cultural context. Methodology: The data used for this study is derived from the questionnaire survey distributed among Malaysian public service employees in two selected government agencies. A total number of 174 valid responses were successfully obtained. Data were analyzed using Partial Lease Square (PLS) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results: The results showed that knowledge CQ and drive CQ have positive influence on employees’ task performance and contextual performance. The findings of this study have important implications for organizations. Our study provides empirical evidence that CQ can serve as a predictor for employee’s work performance in a cross-cultural situation. Implications: This study implements a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge in the fields of human resource management and cross-cultural management studies in Malaysia. It also augments the growing corpus of literature related to the concept of CQ and individual work performance. Human resource management (HRM) should focus on developing employee’s CQ so that they are able to connect and adapt in any global business environment. CQ can be enhanced through proper guidance, training, and development programs.

Recognizing Acceptance of Change and Organizational Support in Public Service Organizations: Engaging Middle Managers in Organizational Change

Despite the number of transformation plans were implemented by public service organizations, there is still lack of studies concerns on the employees’ acceptance of change in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to explore the direct influence of perceived organizational support and employee’s acceptance of change by middle managers in Malaysian Public Service organizations. A total of 400 Administrative and Diplomatic Officers (ADO) were selected by using random sampling method and data for this study were collected using self-administered questionnaires. This study employed descriptive and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation to answer research objectives. The findings discovered that acceptance of change and organizational support is significantly positive correlated. Though this investigation may add knowledge to the body of literature on acceptance of change behavior and perceived organizational support, future researchers are encourage to explore the variables on different level of officers in public service organizations as well as to conduct differential study comprise of both public and private organizations.

Acceptance of Change Behaviour among Middle Managers: The Importance of Subjective Norms and Social Influence as Environmental Predictors

The study seeks to examine the influence of environmental-related factors among middle managers in Malaysian government organization. Specifically, this study seeks to determine the influence of subjective norms and social influence in public organizations on acceptance of change. Present study employed cross-sectional survey involving a sample of 400 Administrative and Diplomatic Officers (ADO) in Malaysian Public Service organizations. The findings highlighted that middle managers’ subjective norms in this study were significant in influencing acceptance of change but are not affected by their social pressure when changes are implemented. Practically, this investigation proffers essential effort in understanding the acceptance of change of middle managers in public service organizations. This study suggests ADO as change agents should be well informed and consulted to create social pressure among them to act in supportive ways of implementing planned change Theoretically, the results of this study append to the literature and to a certain extent provide better explanation of Theory of Reasoned Action and Social Cognitive Theory in the context of acceptance of change. The population of this study involved ADO as middle managers in Malaysian Public Service organizations thus the results cannot be generalized to other level of employees in public sector as well as private service organizations. A comparative study involving both public and private service organizations would be worth studying in future.