Evaluating the success factors of Information Systems (IS) -case study of Malaysian public sector

Managing and implementing project well is important issues for IS projects in the public sector as well as other sectors. The government tasks the public sector to use public resources to deliver large and complex projects for the benefit of its citizens. Information and communications technologies (ICTs) are playing an increasingly vital role in the daily lives of people, revolutionizing work and leisure and changing the rules of doing business. However, still there is a gap between reality and achievement the success. This paper aims to evaluating the success factors of information system (IS) projects implementation in Malaysian government sector focusing on the correlated of project success criteria including Processes, People, Project Tools (Hardware and Software) and Project environment. The proposed model of project success criteria will be introduced and discussed

Malaysian SMEs internationalization through networks approach

Abstract. In Malaysia, 98.5 per cent of business incorporation is related to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs had contributed 36.6 per cent of the total gross domestic product in 2016, and it is expected to increase to 41 per cent in 2020. Importantly, Malaysian SMEs create 65 per cent of employment opportunities, and around 20 per cent of the Malaysian SMEs are actively operating their businesses with international partners or clients—internationalization. Although building and managing network relationship has been view as one of the most important ways to ensure the business sustainability in Malaysia, and yet, most of the Malaysian SMEs entrepreneurs are not equipped with a fundamental knowledge of networks in business management. Generally, the Malaysian SMEs entrepreneurs gain networks knowledge through practice, which means that they learn of how to develop, coordinate, and maintain a network relationship via trial and error approach. Undeniably, the trial and error approach is considered a meaningful learning process in business management. Notwithstanding, such a strategy is relatively risky and improper to be applied on internationalization. The reason given is that operating in the international market is more challenging than running a business in the domestic market; the Malaysian SMEs entrepreneurs may face many uncertainties in the global market without proper networks, such as customer needs, distribution channel, legislation, and so on. Thus, the objective of this thesis serves to answer: 1) How do networks affect Malaysian SME entrepreneurs to discover international opportunities and to operate their business in the international markets? 2) During the internationalization, what are the influences of networks on Malaysian SME entrepreneurs’ knowledge, experience, and future business ideas? The current thesis used Gioia methodology, a systematic inductive approach and rigorous qualitative method to develop the empirical model. Five companies from different industry were selected for the interview, including instant beverage, restaurant, bird’s nest supply, design and printing services, and hardware trading. This thesis contributes to the current literature of the Malaysian SMEs by integrating business network internationalization process model (Johanson & Vahlne 2009) and guanxi (i.e., personal relationship). In this regard, the Malaysian SME entrepreneurs are more focusing on the development of guanxi for the sustainability of businesses. In term of managerial implications, entrepreneurs could benefit from knowing how to make a prospect list of global markets and manage international network relationships. The findings of this thesis also important to Malaysian government and institutions; it could be served as a blueprint to plan and design a better training programme for the Malaysian SME entrepreneurs, such as the art of turning a business partnership into a personal relationship

Electronic Government Adoption Model Among Business Organizations in Jordan

E-government adoption involves a significant change in the way government administrative operations with its stakeholders are being conducted. Past studies have tended to view e-government adoption in terms of a dichotomous outcome; either e-government is adopted, or it is not. Such studies give little indication of the diffusion of e-government applications. The aim of this study is to address this gap in existing research by investigating both the level and extent of usage of e-government applications. In so doing, the study draws on research in the area of innovation diffusion theories. The population of this study consisted of firms listed in Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) that have adopted B2G (business-to-government) e-government. The main objective of this study is to characterize B2G e-government adoption among businesses listed in ASE. It also aims to identify factors associated with the adoption of B2G e-government and to determine the impacts of its adoption on these businesses. A total of 113 usable responses were generated for further analysis. Based on two parts, the level of e-government adoption and the extent of usage for each application, two groups of adopters were identified and labeled as basic-adopters and advanced-adopters. Technological, organizational and external factors were found to have influenced e-government adoption among businesses in ASE. It was also found that advanced-adopters had gained more significant benefits from e-government adoption than basic-adopters. In particular, advanced-adopters achieved time saving, lower cost and efficiency as well as gaining strategic benefits such as better work efficiency, lower operational cost, and reduced work-process time

Configuring a blueprint for Malaysian SMEs to survive through the COVID-19 crisis: The reinforcement of Quadruple Helix Innovation Model

When something unpredictable creates turbulence, the result can be disastrous not only for Malaysian SMEs but also for the country’s economic outline as well. So, how can SMEs survive the current crisis period caused by the COVID-19 pandemic? Actually, there are no straight answers. At this point, the study aims to serve a wider understanding of how an adjustable configuration of different strategic initiatives can help Malaysian SMEs endure through the crisis based on the QHIM mechanism. The study has embraced a qualitative approach on the basis of online focus group discussion with the support of an expert facilitator. The data collection process includes 10 participants from various fields, such as academia; banking, NGOs and SMEs. The study also collected secondary information through different newspapers, magazines, websites, E-libraries, documentaries, and related journal sources. Because SMEs are operating in uncertain conditions, the findings from the discussions suggest that an adjustable integration of various ranges of initiatives, such as access and management of financial resources, exploration-exploitation of opportunities, efficient negotiation, digital adoption, and leadership commitment can help SMEs to endure throughout this crisis. The findings also contend the intervention of innovation and calculated risk-taking within the configuration. The proposed conceptual model serves as an important mechanism for policy-makers and owner-manager of SMEs to understand how adjustments in identified initiatives can play a vital role regarding survival in this crisis. It provides recommendations for SMEs and on how to remain competitive through resilience and renewal strategies. The study contributes to the existing literature in crisis management and identifies the survival and resilience strategies of SMEs in developing regions during a long-lasting crisis. It also serves as a unique approach to how the Quadruple Helix perspective can be a vital concept in the survival process. Research paper Keywords: COVID-19; Crisis management; Digitalization; Innovation; SMEs Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Islam, A., Jerin, I., Hafiz, N., Tali Nimfa, D., & Abdul Wahab S. (2021). Configuring a blueprint for Malaysian SMEs to survive through the COVID-19 crisis: The reinforcement of Quadruple Helix Innovation Model. Journal of Entrepreneurship, Business and Economics, 9(1), 32–81.&nbsp

Niche Markets and Their Lessons

Markets are full of nooks and crannies. Out of the glare of the big economies and their public exchanges, markets specializing by financial product, activity, or industry thrive, often attracting little by way of formal regulatory oversight. But there is another kind of specialized market, one which is geographically and politically determined albeit internationally focused. Luxembourg, Ireland, Dubai, Bahrain, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, among others, these are some of the world’s niche markets.It is a hard business being a niche market, operating in a competitive and often unforgiving environment, engaging in constant repositioning and facing inherent limitations on growth. Surprisingly, perhaps, there are lots of niche markets and a very diverse grouping they are, deploying a variety of survival strategies. In all cases, state capitalism, in various guises, supports these markets. In earlier times, reputation, a friendly regulator, and good business practices might have sufficed. Now, there is a new dynamic. This chapter in a new book, International Capital Markets: Law and Institutions (Oxford University Press, 2014), examines the characteristics of niche markets, such as a high tolerance for legal pluralism and the role of state capitalism, the vulnerabilities of niche markets, especially to change, and the secrets of their success

Intelligent cities? Disentangling the symbolic and material effects of technopole planning practices in Cyberjaya, Malaysia.

Cyberjaya was heralded in the mid-1990s as the Multimedia Super Corridor's (MSG) flagship 'intelligent city' and designed to prepare Malaysia and its citizens for a giant leap forward into an imagined new 'information age'. The urban mega-project constituted a state led response to the much hyped 'Siliconisation of Asia' and was planned to fast-track national development through investment in information and communications technologies (ICTs). The thesis seeks to examine how the discursive architectures of the 'information society' were mobilised, by whom, and with what material consequences as technopole planning practices were inscribed on the Malaysian landscape. Ten years on from the excessive high-tech utopianism and urban boosterism that accompanied the city's launch, the thesis promotes qualitative methodologies to examine the critical human geographies of the MSG. Specifically, empirical analysis addresses the uneven socio-spatial consequences and 'splintering urbanisms' manifesting in Malaysia's emerging spaces of neoliberal modernity. Research methodologies included in-depth interviews with political and business elites in Malaysia, participant observation with residents and workers in Cyberjaya, and a critical discourse analysis of the MSG policy and promotional materials. To this end, the thesis seeks to disentangle the symbolic and material effects of technopole planning practices in Cyberjaya

Employee perception of impact of knowledge management processes on public sector performance

Purpose The application of knowledge management (KM) is critical to public sector firm as it is to private sector firm. However, despite its significance, the academic enquiry of KM in public sector is at its nascent stage. This forms the motivation of the present work; this paper aims to analyze and understand the intricate relationship between KM processes and public sector firm performance in terms of operational, quality and innovation performance. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive KM processes–performance framework consisting of seven constructs (four constructs of KM processes and three constructs of KM performance) and their underlying factors was developed through an extensive literature review. The employee perceptions of these seven constructs were captured on a five-point Likert scale using a country-wide survey in the UAE public sector. The 270 valid responses captured were then used to first validate the KM framework and then test the hypothesized relationships between KM processes and KM performance. Findings The findings show that all four KM processes (knowledge creation, knowledge capture and storage, knowledge sharing and knowledge application and use) had a positive and significant impact on operational, quality and innovation performance of public sector in the UAE. Research limitations/implications The findings confirm the validity and reliability of all the seven constructs and their underlying factors and the assessment framework. Overall, this study fills a gap in the literature about applying/implementing a KM framework for the public sector and therefore significantly contributes toward the theoretical advancement of the field. However, the study does acknowledge the use of perceptual measures of individual employees as a limitation instead of more objective measures to capture the impact KM processes on KM performance. Practical implications The strong and significant impact of KM processes on firm performance is expected to provide the impetus for practitioners and policymakers to implement and leverage from KM processes and improve firm performance in the public sector. Originality/value A comprehensive development, validation and assessment of a KM framework for the public sector has not been attempted previously anywhere, let alone UAE, and hence constitutes the novelty of this work

Citizen relationship management implementation in Malaysian local governments

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.From the perspective of a system developer, this study presents an in-depth analysis of the CiRM implementation process in Malaysian local government. The study was motivated by the lack of studies examining the CiRM implementation process initiatives in the local government sector. Furthermore, the performance of the Malaysian Government in this initiative has been subjected to various criticisms, i.e., not properly servicing its public. This raises the question as to what has happened during the period of the CiRM implementation process in Malaysia. As there has been a demand for local governments to invest more in CiRM projects, the need for existing and potential system developers in the Malaysian government to have an implementation framework that could guide their effort in implementing the system has become more vital. This study combines the case study research and grounded theory approaches. Twenty in-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with system developers from ten local governments (i.e., five interviews from four pilot-cases and fifteen interviews from six primary-cases). The analyses of these data were divided in three main phases. The first phase involved a within and cross-case analyses of the pilot cases. The second and third phases involved a within and cross-case of the primary cases. These analyses enabled a set of determinants on CiRM implementation in the Malaysia local governments to be developed. The determinants were established by fitting their characteristics to the lifecycle of the CiRM system implementation process. Some of the determinants were found to be common to the existing literature while others were found to be enhancing the existing knowledge in CiRM implementation process. These determinants were then developed to shape a theoretical framework for the CiRM implementation process in the local Malaysian governments. This framework not only describes the main determinants in the implementation process, but also the forces and activities that lie within it.Doctoral studentship from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia