Hishamuddin Ismail

Factors affecting e‐commerce adoption in the electronic manufacturing companies in Malaysia

Purpose – This paper sets out to examine the factors influencing internet‐based e‐commerce in the electronic manufacturing companies in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approach – The sample data are derived from a questionnaire survey of 194 companies selected from the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturer lists to investigate the study hypotheses. Rogers five innovation diffusion characteristics were considered as factors that affect EC adoption and security/confidentiality was taken as an additional factor for this study.Findings – The multiple regression analysis results indicate that relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, observability and security appear significant. Relative advantage and compatibility have positive and significant influence on EC adoption whereas complexity and security have negative effects. This study also revealed a non‐significant relationship between trialability and e‐commerce adoption.Research limitations/implications – The results are limited within the sample of electr...

E-Commerce: A Study on Online Shopping in Malaysia

Abstract Despite the high potential of online shopping in Malaysia, there is still a lack of understanding concerning the subject matter and its potential impact on consumer marketing. This study aims to establish a preliminary assessment, evaluation and understanding of the characteristics of online shopping in Malaysia. The Chisquire test was used to determine the relationship between current online shoppers and demographic variables. Samples t-test was then used to compare the mean differences between current online shoppers and non-online shoppers. Then, correlation coefficient matrix was employed to determine the degree of correlation between future online shopping and issues concerning online shopping. The study revealed that online shopping in Malaysia is significantly associated with the Chinese ethnic group, university degree holders and credit cards or chequebooks owners. The results also indicated a significant mean difference between online shoppers and non-online shoppers in gathering product information and comparing price of goods and services before a purchase decision. Results also indicate that this group of non-online shoppers constitutes more than 60% of the total number of online consumers in Malaysia, implying a huge potential of online shopping to online retailers. In conclusion, online consumers in Malaysia still lack confidence and trust in utilizing the Internet as a shopping channel. They are mainly concerned about issues related to privacy and trust when dealing with online retailers. These issues, if left unchecked, will have a detrimental effect on the future growth of online shopping in Malaysia.

The practice of knowledge management processes: A comparative study of public and private higher education institutions in Malaysia

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to investigate and compare the practices of knowledge management (KM) processes, which have been grounded in the KM literature, between public and private higher education institutions (HEIs).Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 594 academics from three public and three private HEIs in Malaysia.Findings – The analyses suggest that all the six KM processes (knowledge creation, capture, organisation, storage, dissemination, and application) are moderately practiced by the institutions surveyed and that there are significant differences in the overall practices of KM processes between the public and private HEIs.Practical implications – This paper raises awareness and provides initial guidelines to the HEIs as knowledge‐intensive organisations in formulating strategies on how to properly implement and manage their KM processes.Originality/value – This study has extended knowledge in KM for it is probably the first to provide a comparative analysis be...

Organisational culture: An exploratory study comparing faculties' perspectives within public and private universities in Malaysia

Purpose – The main objective of this paper to study the organisational culture (OC) in private and public higher education institutions (HEIs) from the perspective of faculty members in order to provide empirical insights on the differences and consequently pave an avenue for cross‐learning. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 594 faculty members (33.9 per cent from public HEIs and 52.8 per cent from private HEIs) using the competing values framework (CVF). Findings – The factor analysis results reveal an important confirmation of the theoretical findings in the literature with respect to the four OC types (i.e. clan, adhocracy, hierarchical, and market) that were originally developed for use in the corporate sector. The independent sample t‐test results suggest that the faculty members perceive all the four OC types as being significantly different between public and private HEIs. Practical implications – This paper raises awareness and provides initial guidelines to both public and private HEIs in formulating strategies on how to deal properly with their OC from the perspective of their faculty members for the attainment of organisational goals and vision. Originality/value – This article extends knowledge on OC differences between the public and private higher education – an enabler for change management of sorts. Being among the first of its kind, it further opens up new lines of future research possibilities.

Technology dimension of CRM: the orientation level and its impact on the business performance of SMEs in Malaysia

CRM is the most popular issue in todays business world. In spite of its tremendous importance very few literatures attempt to investigate the relationship between CRM and business performance. In order to fill this gap this paper attempts to empirically investigate the orientation level of CRM in terms of technology dimension and its impact on business performance. Moreover, due to their growing importance, the SMEs will be considered as the focus of the study. The findings revealed that the CRM technology dimension was found to have a significant influence on the business performance of the SMEs in Malaysia.

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.

An explorative study of shopper-based salient e-servicescape attributes: A Means-End Chain approach

This study aims to address the gaps inherent in existing studies by exploring the salient e-servicescape attributes. Employing the Means-End Chain (MEC) approach, empirical evidence was obtained through in-depth interviews with online shoppers using laddering technique to determine the most frequently mentioned attributes from four servicescape dimensions: (1) ambient; (2) design; (3) signs, symbols and artifacts; and (4) interaction. Accordingly, we laddered three levels of online shoppers’ responses from concrete to less concrete abstractions, i.e. attributes, benefits, and end-desirable beliefs. As a result, seven salient e-servicescape attributes were identified. Each of the four dimensions suggests the attributes’ linkage to benefits and end-desirable beliefs. Specifically, the study finds quality photograph, as the salient attribute of the ambient dimension, may set the point of initial attraction and move shoppers from understanding the product to linking the web site contents. In the design dimension, navigation bar, categorization, and simple arrangement are the salient attributes. Company logo represents the most salient attribute under the signs, symbols and artifacts dimension because it not only facilitates recognition and recall of prominent web sites, it also acts as the determinant of perceived risks. In the interaction dimension, although pricing information is the salient attribute that evokes happiness and confidence among online shoppers, it may dilute their perception on web sites success. Instead, confirmation mail can possibly act as a determinant to web sites success. By offering a finer granularity of information, our findings provide insights to online sellers on the salient attributes to consider in order to effectively promote their shopping web sites to create positive emotional response and buying behavior among the online shoppers.

Factors Affecting Customer Retention Toward Internet Banking in Malaysia

Information and communication technology (ICT) is not a strange medium anymore in business operation nowadays. Most businesses regardless of their industries try to equip themselves with the development of ICT. Polatoglu and Ekin (2001) viewed Internet banking as very attractive to banks and to consumers who have higher acceptance of new technology. The purpose of the study is to find out the extent of the effect of the customer demographics on the online customer retention of the internet banking services; the extent of the influence of the characteristics of innovation on customer retention of internet banking services. The study revealed that the demographic variables do not have any significant impact on the customer retention of the internet banking services. However, the study found that all the innovative characteristics like relative advantages, compatibility, trialability, observability and complexity are found to have significant association with the customer retention of internet banking services.

To be or not to be: an investigation of accounting students’ career intentions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study accounting students’ intentions to pursue their careers as accountants and modelling this within the context of Malaysian accounting education. Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered via a questionnaire survey involving undergraduate accounting students. Factor analysis, independent sample t-tests, and multiple regressions were employed. Findings – In total, four findings were derived from this study. First, within the undergraduate accounting programmes, non-commitment towards the accounting profession can still exist. Second, intrinsic interest is a significant predictor of career intentions. Third, the influence of anticipated conflict provides a new finding in relation to accounting students’ career intentions. The last finding is concerned with the influence of internship experience on students’ career intentions. Research limitations/implications – It was assumed that differences detected between the accounting student cohorts reflect changes...

Firm size and risk taking in Malaysia's insurance industry

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide insights on how a firms size is related to risk taking of Malaysias insurance companies, from 2000-2010. Design/methodology/approach - The sample used for empirical testing in this study comprised direct insurance firms licensed under Malaysias Insurance Act 1996, for the time frame between 2000 and 2010. Pearsons correlation, fixed and random effects models, and the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) method were used in this study. Findings - Both the fixed effects and the system GMM panel data regression models suggested a positive link between the insurance firm size and underwriting risk. For the robustness test, the results of the analysis using changes in data broadly resemble the outputs of the levels estimation. Research limitations/implications - The sample of this study is limited to Malaysias insurance sector only. Originality/value - Advocates of the too-big-to-fail (TBTF) theory believe that government support and the guarantee of a financial bailout are warranted for large financial institutions facing crises, for the main purpose of avoiding disruptions within a countrys economy. The drawback, however, may be that the TBTF doctrine is the culprit behind excessive risk taking by insurance firms of large proportions. A number of regulatory concerns have been raised and addressed from this study.