The Importance of 'Risk Radar' in Software Risk Management: A Case of a Malaysian Company

‘Risk radar’ is applied to a company in Malaysia, a discussion on the implementation, implications and recommendation highlighted in this paper. The scope of this study has been an analysis of risk management and risk exposure of software projects practices in the company. This study also provided the evident that the successes of the several software that goes into the Malaysian market, depending on how risk management and its plan in software development as in the case of the selected company. It also exposed on how significant is the risk management contributing to cost effective and growth. Findings also included using 80/20 rules or Pareto Principle, 80% of the risks item listed by Boehm in Ten (10) Top Risks are due to 20% of sources (i.e. soft risks). Empirical studies have shown that 80% of the software rework comes from 20% of the problems, and that many of these critical problems involve neglect of off nominal requirements and all these negligence are caused by human (soft risk) (Boehm, 1989; Boehm-Basili, 2001; Standish Group Chaos Study Report (STANDISH), 1995).The company must implement the propose system to ensure that good practice and successful implementation of software risk management is the key factor to successful creation of software that are marketable and high quality benchmarking of plant industrial solutions. It could contribute to gain competitive advantage by at least 50% of project cost due to risks such as rework, budget overruns cost overrun, content deficiencies and etc.; ability to sustain due to minimum impact by software risks; and ability to own the technology rather than uses the technology with reasonable cost in development and always meet or exceed customer requirements

A review on ecotourism practices in other countries and Malaysia (Borneo)

Ecotourism is an industry that is gaining popularity in 1990s, and until now to find the best model that is suitable for this industry and business sustainability is yet to be determined. Like it or not, it is rather difficult to sustain the environment, flora and fauna, and cultures, while trying to promote ecotourism. As such, this paper discusses ecotourism practices by a few countries and its implication towards social, economic and environmental sustainability. Recommendations are forwarded to suggest some ways business sustainability, in relation to ecotourism, could be fostered via preservation of cultures, environments, and economic activities of the natives that are affected by ecotourism industry whether it is in Malaysia, Brunei and other countries

Cost Benefit Analysis of Procurement Systems and the Performance of Construction Projects in East Malaysia

This research investigated the impacts of procurement systems on the performance of construction projects in East Malaysia. Construction project outcome may be measured in terms of time, cost and quality achieved. Project clients demand and want best value for their money and they want their projects to be completed on time, within budgeted cost and at appropriate quality or specification. The sample in this research consists of 58 participants that work in a construction companies/industry. 90 questionnaires were distributed, 69 were successfully returned and 58 were fully completed. The sample comprises project clients/owners, project managers, consultants and construction workers. However, due to the fact that the time allocated for this research is limited and it is of qualitative in nature for which the sample size is less important (Kumar, 2005). The aim of using project clients, project managers, consultants and construction workers from different companies is because they work under different circumstances, which will ensure all questions are answered from different perspective. Therefore, the researcher distributed questionnaires randomly among the participants in different construction companies. This also minimises any bias towards any particular company. The key findings and conclusions from literature review and the analysis of results of questionnaires issued to project clients, projects managers, consultants and construction workers showed that traditional procurement system benefits cost and quality but at the expense of time. In other words, traditional procurement system has positive impacts on project objectives of cost and quality and negative impact on project time. Design and build procurement system benefits cost and time but at the expense of quality and this implies that the impacts of design and build procurement system on project objectives of cost and time are positive with negative impact on project quality

Identification of critical components of resilience during and after economic crises: The case of women food operators in Kuala Lumpur

In the past, there has been a preponderance of studies on entrepreneurs or small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia; however, very few studies concentrated on women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs are known to be persistent and resilient in running their business. However, it may be interesting to focus on factors or components that contribute towards their resiliency. Hence, this study explores the critical components of entrepreneurial resiliency which play a significant role in the business survival of women entrepreneurs during and after undergoing economic crises. The term resilience comprises three components, namely hardiness, resourcefulness, and optimism. Hardiness refers to adaptive capacity, and not easily discouraged by failures. Resourcefulness, on the other hand, relates to cash flow, investment, relational networks, material assets, and the ability to adapt to changes, while optimism means the preparedness to make decisions, take action, and the ability to see the humorous side of things. The sample of the study consisted of 100 women entrepreneurs, mainly food operators in Klang Valley who were selected randomly. Most of the women entrepreneurs were aged above 30 years, and more than half have more than 10 years’ experience in running their business. A set of questionnaire with items on entrepreneurial resilience and its components-hardiness, resourcefulness, and optimism-was used to gain information among women entrepreneurs. The findings show that the most critical components for resilience during crises was resourcefulness, while optimism emerged as the most important component after undergoing crises. © Asian Academy of Management and Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2019

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION AND ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION OF UNIVERSITI KUALA LUMPUR – TEKNOPUTRA ALUMNI

Purpose: The unemployment rate among graduates is considered high in Malaysia despite concerted efforts taken by the Malaysian government in resolving the issue.  If this issue is not tackled immediately by the government, the unemployment rate may soar and hence lead to social problems in the country. The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention of Universiti Kuala Lumpur TEKNOPUTRA Alumni. Methodology: An online survey was conducted to explore if there is a relationship between entrepreneurship education the graduates had received at the university and their entrepreneurial intention to become entrepreneurs. About 50 graduates responded to the survey and they consisted of male and female graduates most of who were aged between 20 and 25 with less than 2 years of working experience. The sample had ventured into service types of business while others were sole proprietors, and most of them have been involved in their business for less than 5 years. Results: Cronbach Alpha values for the reliability analysis of items for entrepreneurship education (α=0.953) and entrepreneurial intention (α=0.893) show that the items are reliable. Inferential statistics, that is Pearson r correlation was run to determine the relationship between the independent variable, entrepreneurship education and the dependent variable entrepreneurship intention. Implications:  Pearson Correlation analysis shows that there is a positive and significant relationship between entrepreneurship educations with entrepreneurial intention among TEKNOPUTRA Alumni. In short, this implies that most of the TEKNOPUTRA Alumni agreed that entrepreneurship education they had received at the university has influenced their entrepreneurial intention to become entrepreneurs

Critical Dimensions of EQ among Malay Women Entrepreneur in Malaysia

This paper highlights the dimensions of emotional quotients (EQ) of Malay women entrepreneurs who own either micro enterprises or small and medium size enterprises in Klang Valley, Malaysia. EQ comprise of five dimensions which are social skills, self-awareness, self-regulation, self-motivation, and empathy. About 1000 questionnaires were distributed around Klang Valley, Malaysia, with a 20% response rate. Out of 200, only 169 questionnaires were able to be used for the analysis of this study. The findings show that the most important dimension of EQ during economic crisis was self-regulation followed by self-motivation, empathy, social skills, and self-awareness. After the economic crisis, the most important dimension was self-awareness followed by social skills, self-motivation, self-regulation, and empathy. Hence, emotional quotients are important for Malay women entrepreneurs during the economic crisis to remain positive and endure business challenges in managing their business operations for business sustainability. The findings also highlighted that after the economic crisis, the focus was more towards facing business challenges from employees, customers, and other stakeholders due to increasing demand in products/services and business activities. To conclude, all the elements of each dimension were considered important for Malay women entrepreneurs during and after the economic crisis

Rapid growth and osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells isolated from human bone marrow

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are involved in bone formation in the embryo, bone repair and remodeling. The differentiation of these cells is a complex multistep pathway that involves discrete cellular transitions and is similar to that which occurs during hematopoiesis. MSCs have self-renewal capacity without differentiation in long-term culture. In the present study, MSCs were isolated from human bone marrow and characterized by the presence of cluster of differentiation 105 marker using the labeled streptavidin biotin method. The MSCs were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with fetal bovine serum, ascorbic acid, β-glycerol phosphate and dexamethasone to differentiate into osteoblasts. Biological in vitro analysis showed the rapid proliferation of the MSCs. Further evaluation of specific osteogenic markers using von Kossa staining and the alkaline phosphate assay demonstrated that the MSCs were stimulated to differentiate into osteoblast-lineage cells. This mesengenic potential indicated that the bone marrow-derived cells were multipotent MSCs. The findings of this study show that bone marrow can be a legitimate source of MSCs for the production of osteoblasts for utilization in bone replacement therapy

Where do SMEs stand in Environmental Sustainability? An overview of past studies

This paper analyses the impact of business activities on the environment and the urge of sustaining the Natural Capital. Though there is a trend of growing numbers of corporations emphasizing on Environmental Sustainability as one of the dimensions of the corporate sustainability, the truth is that SMEs are far behind in this race. So the question arising here is “What are the problems that force SMEs not to take steps towards greening themselves”. In this paper, we tried to accommodate the environmental performance of SMEs from Europe and Asia. We have also analysed the literature to put forth some of the strong reasons for resistance towards Environment Sustainability by most of the SMEs, and a few solutions to overcome these issues or problems. This paper will also be used as a framework to work further on studying SME’s in Malaysia and their contribution towards environmental sustainability

Theoretical Framework: Factors for Project Success in Oil & Gas Companies & Contractors in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia

The Oil and Gas Industry is a multimillion- dollar industry. The companies which are involved in the Oil and Gas industry are well aware of the cost factor which plays a very critical part in every industry. The aim of the research is to critically identify and evaluate the depth of the Project Management Triangle concept applied in the execution of projects tendered by the Oil and Gas Companies to relevant contractors. A theoretical framework is proposed for the purpose of this research

Technology and Innovation of SMEs in Malaysia

In this study, technology management in the areas of competency, adoption, acceptance and innovation are studied in relation to the perspectives from Malaysian SMEs. From the responses received and after analysing the data, it is shown that for technology management, the most important factor, by sequence, would be technology adoption, innovation, technology acceptance and technology competency. As such, in order for SMEs to be able to manage technology, they should focus on technology adoption, whether the technology is able to make the business competitive, increase efficiency, fit the business purpose, fulfil business needs, increase profits, and whether the technology is important for the business. Other than that, should the adopted technology fit the innovation model of the business venture, be accepted by the whole system in the business venture, and is competent enough for the business venture’s need, is considered in order for technology management to be successful for SMEs in Malaysia. As such, this study indirectly produces a process for successful technology management amongst SMEs in Malaysia