Manufacturing Firms In Malaysia Research Articles

The Impact of Working Capital Management on Firm Performance across Bumiputera and Non Bumiputera Manufacturing Firms in Malaysia

Working Capital Management (WCM) plays a vital role in companies’ both operational and financial decisions. WCM refers to all strategies adopted by the company to manage its short-term assets and short- term liabilities with the objective to ensure that it continues with its operations and meet its debt obligations when they fall due. There is lack of study being conducted on the effect of WCM on the profitability of firms in Malaysia, especially in manufacturing sector. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relationship and the impact of WCM on firm performance across Bumiputera and Non-Bumiputera manufacturing firms in Malaysia. The analysis of panel data is conducted on sample size of 40 listed manufacturing firms from 2009 until 2018. This study employed descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) to test the effect of inventory days, account receivable days, and account payable days (independent variable) on firm performance measured by return on assets (ROA). The findings show that there is significant negative relationship between inventory days and account receivable days on firm performance. While, account payable days shows an insignificant impact for both manufacturing firms and negative relationship on bumiputera firm performance and positive relationship on non-bumiputera firm performance. For future research, it is suggested that new the impact of WCM on firm performance in other sector in Malaysia can be measured.

A proposed adoption model for green IT in manufacturing industries

Green information technology (IT) adoption has helped enhance the overall organization’s environmental sustainability. Developing the strategies for effective adoption of Green IT is one of the essential goals of decision-makers. This study purposes to investigate the factors that influence decision-makers’ intention to use Green IT and the proposed green IT adoption model in Malaysian manufacturing firms. The 183 valid data were obtained using survey questionnaires from Malaysia’s manufacturing industries’ industrial managers and examine collect data through two analytical techniques. Two-staged structural equation modeling and artificial neural network applied for hypotheses evaluation and finding the significance level of every factor in the model. The outcomes of hypotheses evaluation through structural equation modeling revealed that managerial interpretation and ascription of responsibility have a significant role in predicting the adoption of green information technology in manufacturing companies. Besides, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) results showed that the managerial interpretation and ascription of responsibility are considered as the most significant factors of green information technology adoption. This study will help the decision-makers and policymakers develop policies and programs for the effective employment of green information technology in manufacturing industries.

Enhancing Green Product Competitiveness through Proactive Capabilities of Manufacturing Firms

The development of innovative green products that can compete in unpredictable markets is a challenge for manufacturing firms. Hence, firms need to reconfigure their strategies by considering and strengthening the appropriate set of internal capabilities to achieve effective green product development. Therefore the initiatives implemented by firms in relation to their green practices and green innovation are attracting increasing scholarly attention. However, thus far only a few studies have explicitly explored the relationship between the proactive capabilities of manufacturing firms in the context of green product innovation. Thus, this study investigates the environmental proactivity (EP) and strategic flexibility (SF) of firms, and how these proactive capabilities affect green product innovation (GPI). In addition, it explores the role of GPI in enhancing product competitive advantage (PCA). The data for this study was obtained from 157 respondents representing manufacturing firms in Malaysia. Structural equation modelling was used for the statistical analysis. The results showed that SF partially mediates the relationship between EP and GPI, which indicates that SF facilitates GPI implementation. The results also revealed that GPI acts as a full mediator between SF and PCA, proving that GPI is the crucial factor that can translate SF into competitive advantage. Thus, based on the dynamic capabilities perspective, this study offers insights into the importance of flexibility and innovation in the context of green manufacturing as a means to enhance green product features and remain competitive in the market.

Antecedents of Sustainable Performance in Manufacturing Organizations: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Sustainability is integral for organizations to manage environmental issues. Environmental awareness among stakeholders builds pressure on manufacturers to adopt green human resource management practices (GHRMPs), environmental management system (EMS), and foster organizational citizenship behavior for the environment (OCBE) to improve sustainable performance (SP). This study investigates the mediating effects of OCBE and EMS on the relationship between GHRMP and SP among ISO14001-certified manufacturing firms and SP. The quantitative design employed, and data of 227 respondents were analyzed via the SEM technique using AMOS 24™. Thus, findings revealed that GHRMP is positively related to SP, while OCBE and EMS partially mediated the relationship between GHRMP and SP among ISO14001-certified Malaysian manufacturing firms. This study makes novel academic and practical contributions to green HRM, organizational behavior, and sustainable performance. However, this study also has some limitations.

The Effect of Toolkits Usage on Firms’ Co-Creation and Innovation: An Empirical Study on Malaysian Manufacturing Firms

Organizations aim to create products that accomplish customer needs. Fulfilling customer needs through customer involvement in the product innovation process via toolkits usage has seen favorable outcomes for firms. Consequently, the intention of this study is to analyze the impact of toolkits usage on co-creation and innovation, respectively. To achieve the research objectives, we propose a model that develops based on literature to examine the relationship among toolkits usage and co-creation, as well as innovation. The model was examined utilizing survey data from the manufacturing organizations. This study includes a survey of 393 manufacturing firms in Malaysia. The survey questionnaire was distributed personally and online (google link), respectively. Results confirm the effective use of toolkits on co-creation and innovation hence reinforcing the importance of openness in co-creation and innovation theory. The results assert important implications for practitioners wanting to reap benefits from individualized products through toolkits usage. In sum, manufacturers can gamer value from toolkits usage within the context of an emerging economy, like Malaysia.

Impact of Organisational Capabilities on R&D Project Innovation Performance of E&E Manufacturing Firms in Malaysia

Impact of Organisational Capabilities on R&D Project Innovation Performance of E&E Manufacturing Firms in Malaysia

Drivers of export competitiveness: new evidences from the manufacturing industry in Malaysia

With cognizance to firms’ heterogeneity in an industry, this paper employs the most recent, unpublished and large-scale firm-level data of 14,687 manufacturing firms in Malaysia in 2015 to revisit the drivers of manufacturing exports. Applying the OLS and logistic regressions, we observed a strong positive relationship between a firm’s labor productivity and export intensity. Firms’ foreign ownership, size and age are positively connected to their export competitiveness. The incorporation of location variables into the regression reveals that firms in the Southern peninsula of Malaysia (e.g., Johor) have a positive effect and demonstrate the highest probability to engage in export activities. Our study is informative to trade policymakers on the key drivers of manufacturing exports, providing references to not only Malaysia, but other economies in Eastern Asia and developing nations.

The nexus of information sharing, technology capability and inventory efficiency

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effect of inventory information sharing on inventory efficiency and its intervening effect of information technology (IT) capability in manufacturing firms. Design/methodology/approach Stratified random sampling and filter questions selected targeted respondents, and an online survey collected 124 completed questionnaires from Malaysian manufacturing firms. partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) examined the structural model and hypothesis statement. An analysis of importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) test identified the relative importance drivers of inventory efficiency. Findings The findings showed that enhanced IT capabilities in manufacturing firms mediate a positive relationship between inventory sharing and inventory efficiency. Research limitations/implications This study portrays the relationship between inventory level, demand and information sharing. The research was carried out only within Malaysian manufacturing firms. Practical implications These findings will enable the management of manufacturing firms to design and visualise their inventory levels and share best practices across supply chain networks to achieve effective and optimised inventory planning. Social implications This study illustrates an intervention model that offers a direct and indirect impact of IT capabilities that allow scholars to close inventories productivity gaps in research. Originality/value This paper extends the limited literature on the sharing of inventory information and inventory productivity, notably from a strategic management perspective. The findings help scholars clearly understand the information systems capability and its mediating impact on information sharing and inventory efficiency’s relationship in the manufacturing sector. Moreover, demand information sharing affected the dynamic supply chain.

DRIVING LABOR PRODUCTIVITY: THE ROLE OF CAPABILITY AND HUMAN CAPITAL IN MALAYSIA’S FOOD MANUFACTURING FIRMS

Productivity gains are not only important for competitiveness but also for other welfare gains. And, importantly, industry structure matters in driving the productive gains. This study examines the labor productivity of food manufacturing firms in Malaysia and the effect of capability and human capital on productivity. The findings show productivity heterogeneity among firms, and as capabilities and human capital grow, productivity gains become much higher. Importantly, it shows that bundles of capability, namely, innovation, information and communication technology (ICT) and marketing as well as human capital become more relevant as firms move to the higher end of the productivity distribution. The findings are robust to different measures of human capital and capabilities. Examining the effects separately indicates that innovation matters the most in driving labor productivity. The coefficient of ICT declines as firms move up the conditional productivity distribution. Likewise, market creating capability of the firms enhances productivity, but the coefficient does not vary across the lower and upper productivity quantiles. The study concludes the implications for persistent labor productivity differences across capabilities and human capital by drawing policy implications.

Managerial Ambidexterity and Firm Performance

Ambidexterity or the ability by individuals or firms to simultaneously and synergistically pursue both exploitation and exploration activities has been found to have positive effects on firm performance. However, the ambidexterity literature has been predominated by the studies at the organizational level, and little is known about the antecedents and consequences of ambidexterity at the individual level. This study examines environmental dynamism and social network as the antecedents of managerial ambidexterity, and knowledge brokerage and firm performance as the consequences. This study tests the mediating role of knowledge brokerage on the relationship between managerial ambidexterity and firm performance. Data are collected from 308 senior executives working in technology manufacturing firms in Malaysia using a questionnaire survey. The findings reveal that environmental dynamism and social networks are significantly and positively related to managerial ambidexterity, and knowledge brokerage mediates the relationship between managerial ambidexterity and firm performance.

Environmental Capabilities and Environmental Innovations of Manufacturing Firms in Malaysia

The popularity of achieving environmental sustainability among businesses is not exceptional in the green business literature. However, despite its popularity, businesses are still practically clueless about its benefits. This study employs the dynamic capabilities theory to investigate the relationship between environmental capabilities (i.e., environmental strategic focus, shared vision, management support, collaboration, and technological capabilities) and environmental innovation. To test the hypotheses, data from a sample of 124 firms were collected from managers of environmental management system 14001-certified Malaysian manufacturing firms. The collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with partial least squares version 3.0. The results indicated that environmental technological capabilities and environmental collaboration both have a positive impact in directly enhancing the firms’ environmental innovations. The findings of this study indicate the possibility that manufacturers can remain competitive by integrating environmental considerations at the strategic level; collaborating with suppliers, customers, and the local community for environmental solutions; and investing in environmental technological capabilities.

THE EFFECT OF BROADCAST SEARCH AND IDEATION COMMUNITY CONTEST ON FIRMS’ INNOVATION: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF RELATIONSHIP QUALITY

In the modern business world, firms gain enormous success in innovation by using social media. This approach ostensibly reduces firms’ cost by decreasing reliance on internal research and development. Organizations often use knowledge from other organizations and customers by using social media for innovation. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to explore the impacts of broadcast search and ideation community contest on innovation. Additionally, this study aims to narrow the gap by investigating the mediating role of relationship quality between the two dimensions of social media activities and innovation, respectively. Employing a sample of 393 manufacturing firms in Malaysia, our results confirm that the broadcast search and ideation community contest dimensions of social media activities are positively associated with relationship quality, but ideation community contest also impacts on innovation. Further, the results provide evidence that relationship quality plays a mediating role between ideation community contest and innovation. The central arguments regarding social media activities and their relationship to innovation transcend national boundaries, and many of the policy recommendations are important for Malaysian manufacturing firms.

Still a family firm after knowledge transformation? Generational change and enterprise development of plastic manufacturing firms in Malaysia

This article focuses the changes in the family firms following the development of knowledge transformation with innovation across generational changes, with specific attention given top plastic manufacturing. The case study method is used to examine the impact of generational tracing by tracing the changes in objective, 3Ms and innovation when the new generation attempts to transform the tacit knowledge of the founder by developing the quality products. The results provide an insight into key changes of 3Ms, concept developed by Alfred Chandler, which refers to a firm’s capacity to develop its manufacturing, management and marketing by codifying tacit knowledge and adopting professional management. The changes in the knowledge transformation indicate the cooperative ties with government and MNCs could serve to facilitate enterprise development of plastic manufacturing in Malaysia.

Challenges of 3D printing technology for manufacturing biomedical products: A case study of Malaysian manufacturing firms

Additive manufacturing has attracted increasing attention worldwide, especially in the healthcare, biomedical, aerospace, and construction industries. In Malaysia, insufficient acceptance of this technology by local industries has resulted in a call for government and local practitioners to promulgate the development of this technology for various industries, particularly for biomedical products. The current study intends to frame the challenges endured by biomedical industries who use 3D printing technology for their manufacturing processes. Qualitative methods, particularly in-depth interviews, were used to identify the challenges faced by manufacturing firms when producing 3D printed biomedical products. This work was able to identify twelve key challenges when deploying additive manufacturing in biomedical products and these include issues related to binder selection, poor mechanical properties, low-dimensional accuracy, high levels of powder agglomeration, nozzle size, distribution size, limited choice of materials, texture and colour, lifespan of materials, customization of fit and design, layer height, and, lastly, build-failure. Furthermore, there also are six challenges in the management of manufacturing biomedical products using 3D printing technology, and these include staff re-education, product pricing, limited guidelines, cyber-security issues, marketing, and patents and copyright. This study discusses the reality faced by 3D printing players when producing biomedical products in Malaysia, and presents a primary reference for practitioners in other developing countries.

Enhancing Sustainable Performance through Green Supply Chain Management Practices: A Study of Malaysian Manufacturing Firms

This paper investigates the effects of green supply chain management practices on sustainable performance. This study sent a survey to 616 Malaysian ISO 14001 certified manufacturing companies. With a total of 152 usable questionnaires, the response rate was 24.68%. The findings showed that green purchasing and eco-design were found to improve all the components of sustainable performance. While reverse logistics was found to have a positive impact on social performance only. These relationships indicate that Green Supply Chain Management Practices can be of value to organizations specifically, as well to the external environment at large.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGIES, ENTREPRENEURIAL INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION IN ENHANCING FIRM ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY

The objective of the current study is to empirically investigate the link between entrepreneurial attributes, strategic capabilities, and environmental nexus in Malaysian manufacturing firms. In doing so, the present study is motivated to recognize the role of entrepreneurial innovation, entrepreneurial orientation and environmental strategies in influencing firm’s energy efficiency potential and environmental performance. To the best of our knowledge, the current study is first of its kind in investigating the effect of the considered explanatory variables on energy efficiency. Moreover, in line with the rising emphasis on environmental impact of firms, the current study is novel for identifying the relationship of firm’s internal expertise and capabilities in leading environmental performance. The data is collected from different multinational firms in Malaysia. We applied PLS-SEM on the 300 samples which suggested that environmental strategy, entrepreneurial innovation, and entrepreneurial orientation have a positive and significantly influenced environmental performance and energy efficiency. Technical speaking, the results confirm that the environmental strategy, entrepreneurial innovation, and entrepreneurial orientation are the key contributors to enhance the energy efficiency and environmental performance of multinational firms in Malaysia.

Portfolio of IT investment and organisational performance. Moderating role of decentralised decision making

This research was carried out mainly to find out the results on the relationship between transactional, strategic and informational IT investments with the multidimensional performance measurement in the electrical and electronic manufacturing setting in Malaysia. The second research objective was to study the moderating effects of decentralised decision making on the relationship between transactional, strategic and informational IT investment with firm performance. The data were collected from 74 electrical and electronic manufacturing firms in Malaysia. The results suggest that transactional IT investment has a positive and significant relationship with financial performance, but not with customer performance. The strategic IT investment has no significant relationship with any of the perspectives. Informational IT has a significant relationship with the internal business process perspective only. Although decentralised decision making was theoretically explained as a moderator, statistical interaction effects suggested otherwise.

Portfolio of IT Investment and Organisational Performance. Moderating role of Decentralised Decision Making

This research was carried out mainly to find out the results on the relationship between transactional, strategic and informational IT investments with the multidimensional performance measurement in the electrical and electronic manufacturing setting in Malaysia. The second research objective was to study the moderating effects of decentralised decision making on the relationship between transactional, strategic and informational IT investment with firm performance. The data were collected from 74 electrical and electronic manufacturing firms in Malaysia. The results suggest that transactional IT investment has a positive and significant relationship with financial performance, but not with customer performance. The strategic IT investment has no significant relationship with any of the perspectives. Informational IT has a significant relationship with the internal business process perspective only. Although decentralised decision making was theoretically explained as a moderator, statistical interaction effects suggested otherwise.

Do green human resource management practices contribute to sustainable performance in manufacturing industry

Sustainable performance is a key area of concern for Malaysian manufacturing firms in addressing environmental issues. The goal of this study is to examine the direct relationship between green human resource practices such as green selection and recruitment, green training and development, green assessment and sustainable performance. A quantitative research design is employed using survey primary data. Primary data collected from 248 ISO-14001 certified Malaysian manufacturing firms and analysed by SEM technique using statistical tools. Research findings confirmed a significant direct positive relationship between green human resource practices and sustainable performance within the selected firms. This study adhered recommendations and directions for future research with inherent limitations. The findings from this study will be useful for Malaysian ISO-14001 certified firms and elsewhere with a similar economy.

The effect of product complexity and communication quality on IOCM and OBA in buyer– supplier relationships

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effect of product complexity and communication quality on inter-organizational cost management (IOCM) and open book accounting (OBA) practices in buyer–supplier relationships in Malaysian manufacturing firms. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was administrated to CFOs or accounting managers of Malaysian suppliers. Exploratory factor analysis and Structural Equation Modeling procedures were applied to test convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement model and examine the relationships among the latent constructs in the structural model. Findings The results suggest that IOCM and OBA scales show acceptable reliability and validity. The findings also report that both product complexity and communication quality have a positive effect on IOCM and OBA in buyer–supplier relationships. However, the results suggest that IOCM does not influence OBA practice. Research limitations/implications Although IOCM and OBA constructs exhibited satisfactory reliability and validity, future research is required to refine and further validate these constructs. The data were only collected from the supplier’s perspective. Thus, future research is invited to benefit from matched data from both suppliers and buyers to generate additional insights on IOCM and OBA. Practical implications This study may assist suppliers and buyers in relationships by suggesting that complex products require the adoption of IOCM and OBA practices to reduce information asymmetries and manage costs. Furthermore, emphasizing quality of communication may enhance the implementation of these practices. Originality/value Theoretically, this study contributes to the academic stream of management accounting and cost management as it enhances an understanding of contributions introduced in prior literature on IOCM and OBA. It uses a complementary approach of transaction cost theory (TCT) and social exchange theory (SET) to explain the research model. Methodologically, the study validated scales for measuring IOCM and OBA in a new environment.