Gerald Guan Gan Goh

Key determinants of knowledge sharing in an electronics manufacturing firm in Malaysia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that affect knowledge‐sharing attitudes in Malaysia, with emphasis on a manufacturing firm and how this attitude influences their intention to share knowledge.Design/methodology/approach – This is a survey research conducted within a manufacturing firm. The questionnaire was developed by adapting items and concepts from prior works, and by developing a new variable, kiasuism. A census sampling method was used to select participants for this research. The data derive from a case analysis in a manufacturing company in Malaysia. The analysis was based on 141 valid responses.Findings – The findings indicate that collectivism, social network, social trust, shared goal, incentive systems, kiasuism and self‐efficacy emerged significant except for individualism. A unique finding is that kiasuism emerged as proposed, which suggest that future works could focus more on this variable to highlight its impact in a firms ability to share knowledge. Overall,...

Perspectives of SMEs on knowledge sharing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors (trust, formalization, knowledge technology, empowering leadership, effective reward systems and motivation) that influence knowledge sharing among the small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia, in order to meet the challenges of todays dynamic business environment.Design/methodology/approach – Systematic sampling was used to select 680 manufacturing sector participants from the SME Corporation Malaysia business directory to participate in the survey, out of which 250 valid responses were returned, yielding a response rate of 36.75 percent. Factor analysis and reliability analysis were conducted before testing the seven hypotheses formulated for this study using regression analysis.Findings – The results indicate that knowledge technology, motivation, effective reward systems, trust and empowering leadership explain up to 60.2 percent of the variance observed in attitude towards knowledge sharing. It was also found that attitude ...

The Competitive Advantage of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): The Role of Entrepreneurship and Luck

Abstract Jay Barneys article in 1986 has provided two very important indicators for the long-term success of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are entrepreneurship and luck. In SMEs where resources and capabilities are scarce, entrepreneurs need to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring the survival and success of their firms. In addition to that, flexibility in operations and adaptability to changes afford SMEs with a greater possibility to gain from unexpected changes and accidental discoveries. To examine the impact of entrepreneurship and luck on the competitive advantage of SMEs, 356 usable survey responses collected from Malaysian SMEs were analysed. The data were analysed using multiple regression analysis with the results suggesting that both entrepreneurship and luck do play a significant role in influencing the competitive advantage of SMEs. The findings provide an important contribution in the fonnulation of a model of competitive advantage among SMEs. From the findings of this study, policy makers are advised to consider incorporating entrepreneurial traits development in the education curriculum to inculcate these characteristics among our future business leaders. Apart from that, SMEs are encouraged to cultivate a flexible and adaptive organisational structure in order for it to benefit from both endogenous and exogenous luck.

Improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) through the six sigma methodology in a semiconductor firm: A case study

In todays turbulent and competitive business environment, many organizations are forced to implement various productivity improvement programs in order to continue to survive. One of the many approaches to improve production performance is to develop and implement total productive maintenance. Total productive maintenance (TPM) is a world-class manufacturing strategy which leading manufacturing near to ideal condition with zero down time, zero defect, lean production, just-in-time production (JIT) and competitive cost leader in order to gain competitive advantage. The most common metric utilized by management to gauge the effectiveness and successful implementation of TPM is Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). OEE is a powerful key performance indicator focusing on equipment availability, performance efficiency and quality rate. This paper discussed on the use of the DMAIC approach to systematically Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control the equipment performance. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and highlight the adoption of the six-sigma methodology to mitigate the bottleneck process which focuses mainly on the current OEE performance.

Revitalisation of the Old Township of Ipoh, Malaysia

Purpose – This paper aims to propose a direction for rejuvenating the declining Ipoh Old Town through a conservation-based approach. Design/methodology/approach – Recommendations for revitalisation are based on comparison between the local governments development proposals and historical study of revitalisation initiatives undertaken in neighbouring countries. Findings – The review has found that the revitalisation of Ipoh should be more towards servicing the needs of its residents than to gain from tourism development. Practical implications – Findings of the review have blurred the distinction between purist and ameliorist stances of conservation and suggest that the policy development should be a partnership of all stakeholders, vested with powers to implement. Originality/value – This paper provides an insight into urban regeneration for smaller, more local-dependent historic towns.

Improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) through integration of Maintenance Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (maintenance-FMEA) in a semiconductor manufacturer: A case study

In order to continue survive in todays competitive business environment, the key to success for many manufacturing companies is productivity. In response to the external pressure of global competition, many firms were compelled to implement and focus on productivity improvement. Numerous quality management approaches and tools such as Toyota Production System (TPS), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) and Lean Manufacturing had been developed in order to achieve operational excellent. TPM is a world-class manufacturing strategy which helps manufacturers to reduce production waste. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) provides a quantitative metric to measure effectiveness of TPM implementation. This paper presents the implementation of maintenance-FMEA to improve OEE in a semiconductor manufacturing firm. The FMEA was conducted by using five steps approach on a bottleneck process. Results from the FMEA provide a list of prioritized corrective actions which the plant manager can implement to improve equipment OEE.

Total productive maintenance strategy in a semiconductor manufacturer: A case study

The role of maintenance in manufacturing has become more crucial and important in todays competitive environment. It is estimated that maintenance cost contributed approximately 10-30 percent of total operation cost. In order to stay competitive, manufacturing companies are forced to introduce production improvement programs to increase both quality and productivity. Total productive maintenance (TPM) is a well-known and very useful methodology which allows manufacturing firms to attain near ideal conditions with zero downtime, zero defects and zero accident. The objective of this paper is to study the effectiveness of TPM implementation in a multinational semiconductor manufacturer. In this study a bottleneck process from the production line was chosen and continuous improvements were implemented to improve equipment effectiveness. The results achieved are very encouraging in the reduction of equipment downtime, improvement in overall equipment effectiveness, employee motivation and reduction in number of accidence rate at the shop-floor.

Critical success factors of total productive maintenance implementation: A review

The maintenance function has gone through many changes over the past few decades. The very traditional perception of maintenances role is to get into action whenever a breakdown occurs. Total productive maintenance therefore shifts the paradigm of companys traditional maintenance system from being reactive to being more proactive by maintaining the equipment in optimum condition at all times. The main findings of this research are that the critical success of TPM implementation such as commitment from top management, cultural change, education and training, clear vision and mission, effective communication, language problems and measurable definition for TPM were identified.

The Importance of CAD and Knowledge Management in Concurrent Engineering Project Performance

As a complex method for manufacturing and development, concurrent engineering has been studied and implemented extensively in the manufacturing industry to speed up production schedules and to reduce costs. One of the tools used in concurrent engineering is computer-aided design or CAD in short. CAD applications in multifunctional knowledge distribution refer to the use of CAD to provide information to different groups of employees in their organisation to sustain new product development activities. Similarly, the move towards knowledge-based competition amplifies the importance of bridging actions in addition to tactical coalitions where key role of institutional knowledge, system improvement and knowledge sharing are focussed on. However, very few studies have been conducted on the use of CAD and knowledge management in influencing concurrent engineering project performance in Malaysian manufacturing firms. Hence, this study focusses on determining the nature of the relationship between CAD use and knowledge management with concurrent engineering project performance in a Malaysian manufacturing firm. A survey was conducted within the firm, yielding a total of 226 usable responses that were then analysed using SPSS. The findings indicate that there is a significant positive relationship between CAD use and knowledge management and concurrent engineering project performance. In addition, CAD use for cross-functional information sharing together with the three knowledge management processes — internalisation, combination and externalisation can explain 55.3% of the variance in concurrent engineering project performance. An interesting finding of this study based on the multiple regression analysis conducted is that the use of CAD for engineering design and socialisation are not significant in influencing concurrent engineering project performance. In practice, this finding is relevant because when coupled with CAD use, knowledge management approaches that are more externalisation, combination and internalisation-orientated are often practiced if compared to socialisation-orientated activities.

The influence of total quality management, concurrent engineering and knowledge management in a semiconductor manufacturing firm

For many years, total quality management, concurrent engineering and knowledge management have won considerable attention from industrial practitioners and academia. However, few studies have been conducted on the influence of these three practices among Malaysian manufacturing firms. Hence, the objective of this study is to analyse the influence of TQM, CE and KM on engineering performance in a Malaysian semiconductor manufacturing firm. For this study, surveys were used to obtain empirical data on these three practices. The data was analysed using multiple linear regression analysis. The findings indicated that TQM, CE and KM significantly influences the firms engineering performance with the three predictors explaining up to 53.9% of the variance in engineering performance. The findings of this study are useful to managers, engineers and researchers as it provides insights on specific areas that require adequate attention to ensure effective engineering performance.