Salina Daud

Knowledge Sharing in Higher Education Institutions Perspectives from Malaysia

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine the factors and barriers that contribute to successful knowledge sharing among the university teaching staff.Design/methodology/approach – Based on an extensive review of literature, measures of knowledge sharing are identified. These include such factors as nature of knowledge, working culture, staff attitudes, motivation to share and opportunities to share. A model is developed for the study and hypotheses are formulated. Primary data were collected through a survey from a sample of teaching staff from both public and private universities in Malaysia.Findings – Based on empirical research, the study shows some contrasting findings. As for the sample drawn from teaching staff belonging to public universities, there is a significant relationship between knowledge sharing and the independent factors mentioned earlier. Results from the sample from staff teaching in private universities do not show such relationships.Research limitations/implications – The sample size it...

Restructuring a higher education institution: A case study from a developing country

Purpose – The competitive environment facing all organizations has forced many of them to choose strategies that enhance organizational effectiveness and efficiency. Re‐engineering is one of the tools used in administering productivity improvements, cost control and asset management.Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines the re‐engineering process of a higher education institution (HEI) in Malaysia. The impact of cost reduction strategies linked to the overall performance of the organization is discussed in comparison to management system prior to restructuring; vision, mission and strategic direction; core business processes; financial performance analysis; corporate and organizational structure; reorganization of learning centers; courses offered; human resource policies and customers feedback.Findings – The study found that generally the HEI focused on the cost‐cutting strategy especially on cost of sales and operational expenses. Consequently, there were increases in the utilization of the ...

Implementation of MS1500: 2009: A Gap Analysis

A comprehensive halal food guideline known as Malaysia Standard Halal Food Guidelines (MS 1500: 2009) was launched in 2004. This standard is a new concept in marketing as well as a quality benchmark for producers. The objective of the study is to analyse the gap between importance and performance factors in the implementation of MS 1500: 2009 Halal food guidelines in Malaysia. Survey questions were distributed to managers or supervisors of selected Halal companies located at two Halal Hubs in Malaysia. Findings suggest that the companies in the sample should target improvements of the premises’ layout in the implementation of MS 1500: 2009 standard. Besides that, these companies shall also focus on the factor that relates to the processing of Halal food. The results indicate that the use of the importance-performance analysis in evaluating the implementation of MS 1500: 2009 standard can identify how companies implement this standard effectively.

Environmental Concern and Recycling Behaviour

Abstract This study was carried out to determine recycling behaviour among 143 householders in Selangor. Data were analysed using the Structural Equation Modelling technique. Analysis shows that environmental concern is important towards attitude, and attitude helps to enhance the environmental concern to improve recycling behaviour. This study may help the understanding among householders of their attitude towards recycling. The findings will help the authority to address the issue.

Engaging People with Employer Branding

Abstract The preferences among employees are varied due to the changes in the 21st centurys working environment. It is thus important to determine the factors that employees seek in an organization and their intention behavior to quit from their job in order to improve the issues of high attrition that happens in an organization. This research aims to determine the relationship between Employer Branding and Turnover Intention among employees in Malaysias SME-ICT Industry. A cross sectional study and quantitative research methods were used in the study. Questionnaires were administered to employees in the SME-ICT firms in Selangor and 250 respondents cooperated in this study. Practically, this study adopts the concept employer branding and translates it into the SME environment, in an attempt to improve the organizations performance regarding employees management. By using Smart Partial Least Square (PLS), the result translates the significant relationship between the development value in employer branding and turnover intention.

Green Growth and Corporate Sustainability Performance

Abstract Green growth or environmentally sustainable economic growth is imperative in light of the current environmental crises and resource depletion. Malaysia is currently facing a conflict between economic growth and environmental conservation. Greening the economy could integrate the social quality, as a pillar of sustainable development, with economic and environmental priorities. Indeed, it may improve the human well-being while significantly reducing environmental scarcity. The problems of sustainability are becoming a global concern by many manufacturing companies especially in the automotive industry. Thus, this paper attempts to discuss on past literature on how green growth could improve the corporate sustainability performance. A research framework will be proposed to examine the relationship between green growth and corporate sustainability performance in the automotive industry.

Knowledge management processes in SMES and large firms: A comparative evaluation

The competitiveness of a firm depends on the quality of knowledge they apply to their business processes. Knowledge management (KM) processes are part of the firm business processes. These processes require turning personal knowledge into corporate knowledge that can be widely shared throughout a firm and appropriately applied. This study examines how SMEs and large firms apply KM processes in their daily business activities and analyse the influence of KM processes on their financial and non-financial performance. KM processes comprise knowledge acquisition, conversion and application while firm performance is measured from financial and non-financial perspectives that consist of profit, growth, innovativeness, customer satisfaction, quality and flexibility. Survey questionnaires were distributed to managers at SMEs and large firms. Results showed that the effects of KM processes on financial and non-financial performance differ between SMEs and large firms. Findings from the survey could help these firms to enhance their financial and non-financial performance via appropriate KM processes.

Creating Sustainable and Competitive Employees through the Design of Innovative Higher Education Curriculum

The employability of graduates is dependent on their possession of relevant attributes needed in their respective industries. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the gap between the important elements of Higher Education Institutions’ graduates’ attributes and their actual performance when employed by industry. The dimensions of attributes and the performance of these graduates are considered in four broad areas, namely knowledge, skills, abilities and personality. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire distributed to Human Resource Managers or supervisors of the graduates in 1000 top companies in Malaysia. The results show that the graduates’ performance failed to meet managers’ perceptions of the importance attributes that should be possessed by these graduates. Therefore, the Higher Education Institutions should take prompt action to review the current curriculum in order to meet industry demands and market needs. The design of higher education curriculum should be directed towards incorporating attributes that are expected of the graduates and relevant to the specific industry in order to produce employable graduates. This approach will allow for effective corrective actions and the improvement of the perceived problem areas found in all four dimensions.

Human Governance and Level of Corruption Risk

Abstract Corruption is one of the critical problem in the development of a proficient government in light of the fact that it is an indication that “something has happened in the management of the organization.” The best approach to address this issue is through coupling up the effort on controlling corruption with the consideration from great governance viewpoints. This paper proposed to explore the relationship between human governance and level of corruption risk. This research framework is based on the theoretical framework that includes two main elements consisting of human governance (leadership, integrity, religiosity, spirituality, and culture) and the level of corruption risk. The study is expected to contribute to the government to improve the initiatives in battling corruption. Apart from that, this study is also expected to contribute to the reconstruction of the existing guidelines and regulations to govern the individual in achieving the objective to reduce the level of corruption risk in Malaysia. The level of corruption risk is able to indicate red flags of corruption in the organizations. The human governance elements are used as determinants that may contribute to the controlling corruption initiatives.

Expectation–perception gap in Private Higher Education Institutions in Malaysia

The issues of quality in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia are always under public scrutiny, especially for Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs). There is little agreement on how the quality is measured. This study examines students’ view in relation to their expectation and perception of service quality that they are experiencing in their HEIs. Another purpose of this study is to assess the gap in students’ expectations and perceptions towards the quality of service that they had been accorded to from their respective HEIs using the differencing technique. Data was collected using structured questionnaire from 200 students of Business and Management Faculty of the PHEIs. The results showed that PHEIs should improve their ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately so that they can gain customers’ trust.