Malaysian Service Sector Research Articles

Continued professional development practices in Malaysian service-based industry

The concept of Continued Professional Development (CPD) through continuous learning calls upon organisations to encourage, support, and provide favourable environment for employees to engage in continuous learning. This will help to avoid ‘professional obsolete syndrome’; a syndrome faced by a majority if not all employees. This study intends to investigate the current practices of CPD in the Malaysian service-based industry. This article presents the results of an analysis of CPD practices using a qualitative approach based on several interviews with subjectmatter- experts from various sectors in the Malaysian service-based industry. Fifteen HR Directors and HR Managers were interviewed in order to gauge their perspectives on the current practices of CPD as this will depict the actual scenario on how they see; interpret; regulate; implement; and enforce CPD for staffs’ development. The data which was collected via interviews was transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed different approaches or practices of CPD among several service sectors in Malaysia.

Service and Construction Sector of Malaysia: Causality Link (1991-2013)

The number of research studies has been conducted over the importance of service and construction sector in an economy and confirmed that these two sectors are always being closely associated to the aggregate economy and play crucial role in the socio economic development of a country. The objective of this study is to examine the link between the construction and service sector of Malaysia during the last two decades by using time series econometric analysis. The Granger causality approach is used to obtain the objective of the study. The results of the study suggest that there is a uni-directional (one way) association between the service and construction sector in Malaysia i.e. construction sector to service sector. The construction sector plays a significant role to motivate the economic activities of the service sector in Malaysia and the service sector take 6 months (two quarters) to absorb the impact of a shock coming from the construction sector. The results of the study are important and useful for developing future policies for the construction and services sectors of Malaysia. The results are also important and informative for interested parties of the sectors.

Prediction of Financial Distress Companies in the Trading and Services Sector in Malaysia Using Macroeconomic Variables

This study attempts to predict financial distress companies in the trading and services sector in Malaysia using financial distress companies as the dependent variable and macroeconomic variables and financial ratios as the independent variables. Logit Analysis was used as the analysis procedure because financial ratios do not have to be normal if it is used. It is also suitable when the dependent variable is binary in nature. Furthermore, it can also provide the probability of a company being financially distress. In addition, it can also provide us with the sign of the independent variable(s). This study found that the independent variables that can be used to predict financial distress companies in the trading and services sector in Malaysia were debt ratio, total assets turnover ratio, working capital ratio, net income to total assets ratio and base lending rate.

The Influence of Intrinsic Brand Cues in Intangible Service Industries: An Application to Life Insurance Services

This paper primarily examines the influence of intrinsic brand cues in service industries particularly in the life insurance services. This is due to the growing importance of life insurance in the service sector in Malaysia. A self-structured questionnaire survey was conducted and distributed to respondents in the townships of Dungun and Kemaman. Early results show that company reputation was the most powerful cue that can influence life insurance decision.

Relationship between Organizational Characteristics and Information Security Knowledge Management Implementation

The main objective of this paper is to empirically examine the effects of organizational characteristics and its dimensions, culture, top management support, reward and incentive, and organization structure as knowledge management success factor on information security knowledge management implementation. Using the quantitative analytical approach, the theoretical model and hypotheses in this study were fully tested based on the empirical data collected from 182 services sector in Malaysia and most importantly, those companies are registered with the Registrar Companies of Malaysia (ROC). Data gathered from the survey questionnaires were then analyzed using the correlation coefficients and multiple linear regression analyses. The results showed that organizational characteristics made significant positive effects. The results were in-line and consistent with previous studies on knowledge management development. The study has connected the literature gaps by providing empirical evidence on the effects of knowledge management success factors on information security knowledge management implementation.

Total factor productivity and output growth of the services sector in Malaysia

Total factor productivity and output growth of the services sector in Malaysia

The Determinants of Innovative Work Behavior in the Knowledge Intensive Business Services Sector in Malaysia

Innovative work behavior plays a central role in the long-term survival of knowledge-intensive business services in Malaysia. Even though innovation and creativity and their influences on the Malaysian economy and its future growth are important, research on this area is still inadequate. Underpinned by the Social Exchange Theory, this empirical study attempts to determine the relationship that may exist between pro-innovation climate, leader-member exchange (LMX), and social capital with the innovative work behavior (IWB) among the knowledge workers in the KIBS sector in Malaysia. A quantitative method was utilized and a total of 1520 questionnaires was distributed and resulted in 20.6% response rate. The results revealed that there were significant relationship between pro-innovation climate, social capital and leader-member exchange with the innovative work behavior of knowledge workers. In addition, among the three independent variables, pro-innovation climate had been found to be the most significant predictor of innovative work behavior.

Validating dimensions of operations flexibility in Malaysian service firms: a confirmatory factor analytics approach

The main objective of this study was to examine the dimensions of operations flexibility in Malaysian service sectors by adopting the confirmatory factor analytics approach. Through this approach, a model comprising two dimensions of operations flexibility: external flexibility and internal robustness was constructed and an instrument to measure operations flexibility elements in service sectors was developed. To validate the instrument, a survey which involved operations managers from various service sectors in Malaysia was carried out. The convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs were estimated through average variance extraction (AVE) and shared variance (SV). Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to test the goodness of fit of the model. Drawing on a sample of 254 respondents, the survey findings confirm the proposed model. Practically, this research contributes to enhancing the understanding of operations flexibility in the service sector.

Leadership styles and financial services performance

This paper seeks to explore the relationship between leadership practices and organisational performance of financial leaders in Malaysia. It aims to investigate the existence of contemporary leadership styles such as transformational, transactional and leader–member exchange (LMX) in enhancing organisational performance particularly in financial services sector. Data was collected from financial services companies, comprising commercial banks, investment banks, unit trust management companies and insurance companies. SmartPLS 2.0 (M3) was applied to test the hypotheses that comprised both transformational and transactional leadership styles and also LMX on organisational performance and subsequently bootstrapping was conducted to investigate the standard error of the estimate and t–values. This research highlights the importance of leadership awareness as well as recognition of LMX as a valuable approach in achieving a better organisational performance. This study attempts to blend various leadership styles and organisational performance of financial services sector in Malaysia.

Competitive priorities in Malaysian service industry

PurposeThis study attempts to explain the components of competitive priorities of Malaysian service firms and to find out the competitive priorities of different service industries in Malaysia, and how these competitive priorities change across “low performance” and “high performance” service industries.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study of 254 firms from nine different service industries is conducted to answer the objectives of this study.FindingsFour competitive priorities are identified: cost, quality, delivery and flexibility. Six service industries namely fast food, hospital, retail store, bank, private college and accountant industries are found to be focused on quality while three industries namely hotel, auto‐repair and architect prioritized delivery. For both high performance and low performance firms, quality remained the top competitive priority followed by delivery, flexibility and cost.Originality/valueThis is the first study that identifies competitive priorities in the Malaysian service sector

Analyzing the Issue of Respect and Trust: Determining the Mediating Role of Religion

One way of developing competitive advantage among customers is to establish trust in their everyday dealings. Extant of literature has discussed various factors affecting trust but none has touched on the dimensions and effect of respect towards customers’ trust. In order to improve the service operationalization, this paper is committed to provide theoretical and empirical support that calculative ways of respecting customers should be included as way to develop trust among customers. Apart from that, this study also includes the issue of religion to further determine customer preferences towards the service provider, if they believe in different religion. The survey of this study is conducted on 459 customers in service sectors in Malaysia. The obtained data from the questionnaires are analyzed through the SPSS statistical packaged software. Analyses of results revealed that all dimensions of respect (attention to particularity, understanding, responsible and authority) significantly correlated to trust and to a certain extent religion mediates the whole relationship.

Sun Tzu Art of War strategies and supply chain management as a strategic change agent: a proposed model for Malaysian service sector

Presented in a systematic approach, this conceptual paper propose to seek the senior managers’ views and perception of Sun Tzu Art of War strategies (STAW) and Effective Supply Chain Management (ESCM) processes as a strategic change management agent in achieving Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA) in the service sector in Malaysia. First, the proposed model would consist of four dimensions of STAW strategies, two dimensions of ESCM and three dimensions of SCA. Secondly, we hypothesise that the STAW strategies has a positive relationship with SCA and that the ESCM is a mediator in a relationship between STAW strategies and SCA. The findings would reveal if STAW strategies and ESCM processes and its implementations will play a significant role in attaining a sustaining competitive advantage in Malaysian service organisations.

Management skills and entrepreneurial success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the services sector

This study attempts to analyze the contribution of entrepreneurs in terms of their management skills towards the success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the services sector in Malaysia. The methods used are descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation, stepwise regression procedures and t-test. The data for the study were collected through mail questionnaires sent out to selected entrepreneurs of SMEs. Of the total number 500 questionnaires mailed, 186 entrepreneurs responded and completed the questionnaires. The empirical information resulted from analyzing the data obtained from the 186 entrepreneurs suggests the findings that high entrepreneurial success was associated with high business operating skills, skills to obtain market share that suits their size and capability and skills to offer more special services; with bumiputera and non-bumiputera being indifferent in their perception towards management skills that affected their success.

Social learning in managing disasters in Malaysia

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to argue that there is still much scope for improvement in planning and training, for both actors and disaster victims, in the front line of disaster management in Malaysia. Although the established ethos of Malaysia's public service sector has tended to be one of control from above, there is promise and virtue in seeking to promote a professional culture. Ideas and recommendations in finding new solutions to old problems can move upwards as well as downwards due to the technical design in rules and regulations which is now to be accompanied by organisational design.Design/methodology/approachResearch was undertaken to determine attitudes of actors in disaster management mechanism in Malaysia.FindingsThe actors in public service sectors in Malaysia had a negative attitude towards disaster planning implementation because they are usually not familiar with the Standard Operational Procedure in handling land disaster management in Malaysia called the MNSC Directive 20. Social learning is about initiative of organisations and policy makers in learning through actor's interactions with others and through the knowledge and expertise of others.Originality/valueThe paper shows that the MNSC Directive 20 document is not available for public scrutiny and restricted for reasons of national security, which limits the policy's effectiveness. Even then, documents were circulated for office use only. Learning from status of current policy implementation and suggestion will promote awareness raising and capacity building from the inside of organisations.

The impact of TQM practices on learning organisation and customer orientation: a survey of small service organisations in Malaysia

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of Total Quality Management (TQM) practices on customer orientation and learning organisation in Malaysian service sector. This study was based on empirical data collected from a survey of 122 managers of Malaysian service firms. Correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were used to examine the proposed model. The results found that process management was perceived as a dominant TQM practice in improving firms' learning organisation and customer orientation. The results of this paper can be used by top management to prioritise the implementation of TQM practices. For instance, those dimensions that are found to have positive influence on customer orientation and learning organisation can be recommended to top management so that they can allocate resources to improve these practices to achieve higher customer orientation and learning organisation within the service firms in Malaysia.

EMPOWERMENT PRACTICES AND PERFORMANCE IN MALAYSIA – AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

This study was conducted to come across the factors affecting the empowerment practices in education, information technology and telecommunication service sectors in Malaysia. A total of 305 employees were interviewed using a convenience sampling method and a set of well-structured questionnaire. Logistic Regression Models (LRMs) in four sets of variables and paired-sample t-test in one set of variables (orientation) was employed to test the data and analyze empowerment and related performance. The results sound as inspiring on certain factors which eventually propelled empowerment as a means of organizational performance. Based on statistical results, this study concludes that the higher education, information technology, and telecommunication service sectors in Malaysia used empowerment as a strategy to accelerate organizational performance. This advancement is in line with Malaysia’s national vision of 2020.

TQM and customer satisfaction in Malaysia's service sector

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between total quality management (TQM) practices and customer satisfaction (CS) as perceived by managers' perspectives in Malaysia's service sector.Design/methodology/approachThe data are collected from 140 managers of Malaysia's service firms. The structural analysis is conducted to test the hypotheses in this paper.FindingsResults reveal that leadership, customer focus, information and analysis, and human resource focus are found to have significant and positive association with CS as perceived by Malaysian service sector's managers.Research limitations/implicationsThere are a few limitations for this paper. First, the time sequence of the relationships between the variables could not be determined since cross‐sectional data are used. Second, this paper is confined only to service industry. Lastly, the paper is only focused on managers instead of study employees at different hierarchical levels.Practical implicationsThis paper serves as a valuable guideline for top management to review their TQM programs and conduct assessments on a regular basis in order to facilitate CS within their organizations.Originality/valueThis paper shows the importance of TQM in contributing to CS within the service context which is not studied in many past researches. This paper only looks at TQM practices from the Malaysian service industries. As Malaysia is a developing country which is moving towards the service sector, this paper will help many organizations that are in other fast growing developing nations which are moving towards the service industry.

ICT Adoption in Small and Medium Enterprises: an Empirical Evidence of Service Sectors in Malaysia

The purpose of this study is to gain a deep understanding of the factors which influence the adoption and usage of ICT by SMEs in Malaysia. This study examines the relationship between ICT adoption and its five factors which are perceived benefits, perceived cost, ICT knowledge, external pressure and government support. The results of this study show that three factors examined are significantly important to the adoption of ICT where as perceived cost and external pressure are found to be insignificant in determining its adoption. This study provides a greater understanding of SME’s perception about ICT adoption in their service business. Those SMEs who are interested in promoting their business on online may find these results helpful in guiding their efforts.

TQM as a Focus for Improving Overall Service Performance and Customer Satisfaction: an Empirical Study on a Public Service Sector in Malaysia

This paper is based on the result of a TQM study aimed at identifying the relationship between TQM and overall performance as well as the strength of their manifest indicators. Several studies have proven that TQM practices have a significantly positive impact on organizational performances. This study sought to enhance the understandings of relationships between TQM practices and the overall performance of a public service sector in Malaysia. Statistical methods include reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and a structural equation modelling. The results of this study highlight strong and positive association between TQM, overall service performance and customer satisfaction and suggest that an emphasis on quality would result in organizational gains. The findings suggest that employee focus is a very important factor in TQM implementations followed by training, customer focus, benchmarking and top management commitment. The results also exhibit the unique contribution of TQM towards service performance and customer satisfaction.

On service improvement capacity index: A case study of the public service sector in Malaysia

On service improvement capacity index: A case study of the public service sector in Malaysia