Samuel Jebaraj Benjamin

Scrap loss reduction using the 5‐whys analysis

Purpose – This paper seeks to document an approach to reduce scrap losses using the root cause analysis technique in a lean manufacturing environment.Design/methodology/approach – The study uses lean manufacturing root cause problem solving (RCPS) technique. The study starts with the collection phase, followed by the analysis phase and ends with the solution phase. Supporting data are presented using a Pareto chart to prioritise wastage in order to be more focused for improvement. The Toyota Production Systems 5‐whys analysis is performed to analyse the cause of wastages, to formulate and implement corrective actions.Findings – The application of the 5‐whys analysis in a manufacturing industry (XYZ Corporation) provides a fact‐based and structured approach to problem identification and correction that not only reduces, but also totally eliminates defects. Corrective action has permanently eliminated the top defect, which is the “last piece material scratch” and this results in zero scrap thereafter. In t...

Affordability of private tertiary education: a Malaysian study

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the affordability of private tertiary education for households in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach - The relevant literature is reviewed to provide an overview of the affordability of private tertiary education. Data are obtained randomly from a private university in Malaysia and the results are analyzed using the one-sample Findings - The proxy of affordability, which is the average household income, reveals the per capita average is more than three times the national average, which points out the non-affordability of students from low and average earning households to afford private tertiary education in Malaysia. Financial assistance of students at the tertiary level is insufficient and may warrant further policy and administrative improvements to reach deserving students. There is also difference in income and hence affordability between urban-rural households, a perspective that demands changes in the current income distribution policies. In order to address the issues highlighted in this study, salient suggestions have been proposed. Originality/value - This paper reinforces the need to address the issue of affordability of tertiary education and its significant importance, especially to developing countries.

The use of SMED to eliminate small stops in a manufacturing firm

Purpose – The paper seeks to reduce or eliminate the small stop time loss using SMED in a lean manufacturing environment.Design/methodology/approach – The study uses the lean manufacturing single minute exchange of dies (SMED) technique to reduce or eliminate the small stop time loss. The overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is measured before and after the improvements are implemented.Findings – The application of the single minute exchange of dies (SMED) technique in a manufacturing industry (XYZ Corporation) completely eliminated the small stop time loss. The SMED technique which has been only widely used to improve the changeover loss has been proven to be an effective approach to also tackle the small stop, a loss which has been regarded as one of the most difficult losses to be reduced among all the six big OEE losses. The elimination of the small stop has resulted in a valuable 2.08 percent improvement of XYZs OEE.Practical implications – The finding from this study is expected to benefit lean or...

The use of 5-WHYs technique to eliminate OEE’s speed loss in a manufacturing firm

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reduce or eliminate the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE’s) speed loss in a lean manufacturing environment. Design/methodology/approach – This action research study uses the lean manufacturing 5-whys analysis technique to reduce or eliminate the speed loss. Findings – The application of the 5-whys analysis technique in a manufacturing industry (XYZ Corporation) completely eliminated its top speed loss and resulted in a valuable savings of USD 32,811.5 per annum. Practical implications – The 5-whys analysis technique which has been primarily known to improve the OEE’s quality loss and changeover loss has been proven to be an effective approach to also tackle speed loss; a loss which has been regarded as the most dominating loss among all the types of OEE’s losses and a difficult one to eliminate. Originality/value – Little or no attempt has been made to date to expand the use of the 5-whys analysis technique beyond its originally intended purpose. The lessons l...

Political connections, institutional investors and dividend payouts in Malaysia

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the agency problem of expropriation using dividends in politically connected firms and the relevance of institutional investors in limiting this problem. The growing presence of this group of shareholders offers a unique opportunity to test their importance in the context of dividends payments and expropriation. Design/methodology/approach This study uses the Tobit regression to test the association between political connection, institutional investors and dividend payouts. The results are also robust to the three-stage-least squares regressions method. Findings The study is based on a random sample of 2,458 Malaysian firms-year observations for the period of 2004-2009. The results reveal that politically connected firms have an inclination to pay lower dividends, while institutional ownership is associated with higher dividend payouts. Furthermore, the findings reveal that higher levels of institutional ownership moderates the negative relationship between politically connected firms and dividends. Research implications The findings have an important implication to regulators as it suggests that the institutional investors can influence the dividend payouts in politically connected firms through active monitoring, thus alleviating agency problems. This also provides a positive feedback on the regulators’ governance initiatives that quest to strengthen the roles of institutional investors. Originality/value This study is the first to examine the effectiveness of the monitoring role of institutional investors in the context of expropriation by politically connected firms from the perspective of dividend payouts.

Family ownership and dividend payout in Malaysia

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of family ownership on dividend payout from the perspective of agency costs in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach - – Annual financial, board and family ownership data of 160 firms listed on the Bursa Malaysia are collected for the period 2005-2010. Analyses are carried out using descriptive statistics, Findings - – The empirical results suggest that family share ownership at the dispersed level from between 0 to 5 percent is negatively associated with dividend payout and positively associated from the 5 to 33 percent level with dividend payout. Consistent with the extant literature, the observed relationship between family share ownership and dividend payout is stronger in firms with smaller total assets (size), low debt and low-growth opportunities. Further examination of investment decisions lends support to arguments which attribute higher agency costs as a result of family ownerships. Research limitations/implications - – The observed results at the different family ownership levels are attributed to the possible expropriation in family-owned firms and accordingly, to the proportional pressure by minority and other shareholders for dividend payout. Practical implications - – For policy makers, findings from this study could serve to justify initiatives to further strengthen the institutional and regulatory architectures that would enhance the power of minority and other shareholders of public listed firms in Malaysia. Originality/value - – This study contributes to the growing literature on dividend policy and family firms. Particularly, it provides further understanding of the effect of family ownership on dividend policy.

Corporate governance and dividends payout: are they substitutes or complementary?

Purpose – This paper aims to furnish incremental insights on dividends and corporate governance (CG) by addressing the relationship between board meeting frequency and board independence with dividend payout. In particular, this study aims to investigate whether CG attributes are substitutes to control agency problem within the Malaysian context. Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines panel data on a sample of 114 Malaysian firms (798 observations) for seven years from 2002 to 2008. Findings – Based on 798 firm-year observations for the period from 2002 to 2008, the results show significant negative relationship between CG (board independence, board meeting frequency) and dividend payout. This suggests that CG and dividend payout are substitutes in reducing agency costs. Our study provides empirical evidence consistent with the “substitution argument”, indicating that firms with weak CG need to establish reputation by paying more dividends. Specifically, the findings indicate that firms with a ...

DuPont analysis and dividend policy: empirical evidence from Malaysia

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the informativeness of asset turnover (ATO) and profit margin (PM) of the DuPont analysis in explaining dividend policy. Design/methodology/approach Annual financial data from Compustat for the period 2004-2009 were used to analyze a sample of Malaysian firms. Findings This study finds both PM and ATO to strongly explain contemporaneous dividends. The decomposition of return on net operating assets (RNOA) into PM and ATO also improves the explanatory power of dividends. The results of the predictive model show that PM and ATO are useful in predicting the propensity of firms to pay dividends. The results of the change dividend model, however, do not provide any significant results for PM and ATO. Practical implications Understanding the influence of ATO and PM on dividends could enable managers to realize the importance of these factors when making dividend policy decisions. Other market participants, such as financial analysts and lenders, could also recognize the empirical specifics related to decomposing the profitability measure into its two components, one measuring the asset efficiency and the other measuring the profitability per unit of product, in the context of dividend policy. Originality/value This study extends the empirical specifics of prior dividend policy studies by decomposing the popular profitability measure of return on assets into its two components of PM and ATO.

Board Gender Composition, Dividend Policy and Cost of Debt: The Implications of CEO Duality

This study examines whether CEO duality affects the association between board gender composition, dividend policy and cost of debt among S&P 500 firms. Our results show that board gender composition positively impacts both a firm’s propensity to pay dividends and the level of payouts. However, this positive association is only present in firms without CEO duality. We find no significant association between board gender composition and cost of debt, but when we split the sample into firms with and without CEO duality, we find a positive association for the former and a negative association for the latter. Overall, these results suggest that CEO duality could undermine the role of board gender composition in influencing dividend policy and cost of debt.

Risk Assessment Framework for Improved Internal Control

This paper proposes a new method of assessments within the integrated framework of risk analysis and information security domain. Although there are a number of standard-based methods developed in relation to specific security objectives, structures and level of applications of information security, most does not comprehensively covers all pertinent security requirements. The loss of security requirements or objectives is likely to have different levels of effects on organizations or individuals associated with the organization. The aim of the paper is also to present a new integrated risk assessment framework that would outline practical guidelines to understand, assess and manage internal controls in order to comprehensively tackle information security breaches in organization. The proposed method would highlight and evaluate expected risk scores and steer organizations towards identifying the most suitable mitigation plan to reduce or minimize the information security risk to an acceptable level.