Akmal Aini Othman

Transfer of training: does it truly happen?: An examination of support, instrumentality, retention and learner readiness on the transfer motivation and transfer of training

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to highlight the importance of selected environmental, situational and individual factors in the training transfer process. Design/methodology/approach – This study proposes and tests a framework via structural equation modelling by including supervisor and peer support, instrumentality and learner readiness on 503 Malaysian bank employees. It proposes a modified and improved scale for learner readiness previously developed by Holton et al.. Findings – As hypothesized, supervisor and peer support increase the motivation level of the trainee to transfer the learned skills. The findings of this study will help researchers to resolve the conflict among past researchers about the role of peer and supervisor support in training transfer process. In addition, an improved scale of learner readiness is used and the result indicates a significant relationship between learner readiness and transfer motivation. Furthermore, this study explains the importance of intrinsic reward...

Modelling marketing resources, procurement process coordination and firm performance in the Malaysian building construction industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish a link between marketing resources, procurement process coordination (PPC) and firm performance. To allow for greater understanding in the field of supply chain management, the present study looked into the coordination between the construction firms and their main building materials suppliers. Design/methodology/approach – This study employed the quantitative method where stratified random sampling and self-administrated questionnaires were sent to respondents in the construction industry. The research framework was tested using structural equation modelling technique. Findings – The empirical result revealed that marketing resources have positive and significant effects on PPC dimensions. It was also found that PPC (mainly joint operation planning and supplier relationship development dimensions) has significant positive relationship towards firm performance. Research limitations/implications – This study focused solely on the firms in the construction...

Practices of Internal Marketing in Small and Medium Industry

This study is conducted in order to examine the adoption of internal marketing activities in small and medium enterprises in Malaysia. On top of that, this particular study is designed in order to investigate the conception of internal marketing by business managers task adding to the limited empirical evidence regarding internal marketing especially in a developing country like Malaysia. Base on previous literature and few in depth interviews with the SMEs managers, a set of questionnaires related to internal marketing practices in SMEs Industry has been designed. Few dimensions have been used in this study such as group interaction, wage flexibility, collegial interaction, job flexibility, external environment and formal interaction. Basically the result of the study will give some input to those governmental agencies such as MECD to understand the level of adoption of internal marketing activities among the SMEs in Malaysia particularly. With this, it will provide some direction to the agencies in designing and developing appropriate training related to managerial approach especially in term of the soft part of human resource practices that would lead to competitive advantage to the organization.

Acceptance of BR1M: Is it a sincere act or political motive?

This study is to examine the socio-economic background and consumption pattern of rural and urban recipients of 1Malaysia Peoples’ Aid (BRIM) and behavioural response towards acceptances and perception towards government sincere act and political motives. A survey was conducted in Klang Valley and Kedah, where 250 respondents were interviewed via structured questionnaires and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Finding revealed that the main consumption of both rural and urban was necessity goods and indicated a positive significant relationship between acceptances and government sincere act, and otherwise for political motives. The study concludes that people accept BRIM as a sincere government act rather than a political agenda.

Upgrading in Global Value Chain of Malaysian Aviation Industry

Abstract This paper reviewed the concept of value chain upgrading of emerging companies in the global value chain. Moving up the value chain or upgrading is the way forward for manufacturers in the future. By manufacturing higher value added products or more significant components, firms will position themselves at a higher tier position within the global value chains. The chosen industry for the study is the Malaysian aerospace industry. The National Aerospace Blueprint launched in 1997, targets at making Malaysia a major aerospace player in the global scene by 2015. The blueprint identifies four focus areas mainly: (1) aircraft parts and components manufacturing, (2) maintenance, repair and overhaul, (3) avionics and systems integrations and (4) aerospace training. The study will adopt an explanatory case method ( Yin, 2009 ). This allows an in-depth understanding of the global value chain in the Malaysian aerospace industry. Initial findings from the preliminary interviews have found that the industry has achieved commendable success as a first-tier manufacturer of specialized components and equipments for BOEING Inc.

The Relationships of Human Success Factor, Information Technology, and Procurement Process Coordination on Operational Performance in Building Construction Industry – A Proposed Conceptual Framework☆

Abstract Malaysian construction industry is one of the key economic sectors that has a significant contribution on national economic development with a steady contribution around 3-5% towards Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the past 20 years. However, despite its growth and contribution to the GDP, this fragmented sector has a poor coordination among its project participants, leading to horrific material control with time and cost overrun. As such, there is a need to investigate the coordination aspect of the business conduct among project participants, particularly the procurement process that is considered as the initiator of construction project. At the same time, the firms’ internal resources such as human success factor (HSF) and information technology (IT) play a significant part in determining the operational performance of construction project. Thus, the main objective of this study is to propose a conceptual framework on the relationships of internal resources (HSF and IT) and performance, mediated by procurement process coordination (PPC). The framework is using resource-based view as the underpinning theory to explain the relationships of the variables used. The scope of study is on one of the key business processes in supply chain management (SCM) and concentrating on one of the groups (G7) in the population. Future empirical research is expected to be carried out in effort to test this proposed conceptual framework.