Payment Systems in Malaysia: Recent Developments and Issues

Payment systems in Malaysia have been undergoing changes in recent years. Among the notable changes is the emergence of electronic-based payment systems. The central bank has been playing an active role in shaping the development of payment systems, particularly in the gradual introduction of electronic-based payment schemes, in the belief that these have the potential to increase efficiency in the economy as whole. The active introduction of e-payment instruments has increased both the value and volume of transactions per capita use of e-payment instruments in recent years. Checks continue to be the major payment instrument, however. Small- and medium-sized enterprises could benefit tremendously from the use of e-payment schemes through more efficient business operations, cost reductions, enhanced security and wider payment channel choice. Noted improvements have also resulted from the introduction of large-value payment systems, such as the payment versus payment infrastructure for the settlement of Malaysian ringgit (RM)-United States (US) dollar (US$) foreign exchange trades and the delivery versus payment settlement for US dollar securities that are issued, deposited and traded in Malaysia. The development of the domestic payment system is becoming more important in the development of a deep and active domestic financial market that promotes financial market stability and the reinvestment of savings in the country. Closer financial market integration in the region and closer cooperation and policy coordination among the monetary authorities in the region is becoming increasingly important. Eight years after implementation in Malaysia, the e-payment schemes should be studied to assess any economic benefits they may have provided.malaysian payment systems; information and communication technology; asian payment systems study

A Study on Users' Perception Towards Cash Card Usage in UPM

One of the most important significance in the emergence of e-commerce is the development of electronic payment system. This system replaces physical banknote and coins and substitutes them with electronic cash or digital cash. Smart cards used in electronic cash transactions are referred to stored-value cards or electronic purse i.e. the card will be considered as the repository for money. Units of value are stored on the card as the electronic equivalent of cash and later used for purchases. It can also be used to store value as credits for goods and services - for example, ticketing or canteen facilities. The introduction of new electronic payment scheme for substituting cash especially in Malaysia may be considered in its early age. The Malaysian Electronic Payment System (MEPS) has introduced MEPS Cash smart card as a new method of payment in the middle of year 1999. The method is expected to handle the rapid changes of technological advancement in creating the cashless society. However, consumer acceptances towards the new method of payment has not so far being tested. The consumer preference of using cash for personal consumption expenditures is still widening. On the other hand, money suffers from a few drawbacks that make it no longer practical as it took a lot of space, it cannot be transferred by any means of telecommunication network and finally, high transaction cost for handling money. This research was conducted in order to find a business model for a new method of payment i.e. by using smart card and to solve some of the existing problems that arise when using money in conventional way. The second objective of this research was to develop a smart card application prototype for the mentioned business model. This research focused on measuring user acceptance for the developed prototype and user perception towards the smart card as stored value card. The smart card business model, was then translated into a system, which showed the flow of the processes in smart card transaction. The processes clearly showed what happened between the three parties involved in the system: smart card user, merchant and bank. Selected students from the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, UPM then evaluated the system by completing a questionnaire. The questionnaire intended to obtain the general background of the respondents, their attitudes towards smart card usage, acceptance towards cash card illustrated transaction processes. It was also aimed to obtain respondents' opinion if the smart card as stored value card were introduced in the near future. The result showed that the respondents are actually agreed and satisfied with the system in terms of its clarity and user interface. The findings also ascertained that it could increase the respondents' perception regarding reliability and level of convenience towards the usage of smart card. The fact that more than ninety percent of the respondents were willing to use the smart card for shopping indicated that consumer have no problem in accepting such system in the future

The relationship between social characteristics and internal work motivation among academics in Malaysian public universities

This study examined the relationship between social characteristics variables namely social support, interdependence, feedback and interaction outside organization in predicting internal work motivation.The variables selected were based on Expanded Work Design Model by Humphrey, Nahrgang and Morgeson (2007). Employing cluster sampling procedure, 477 participants completed a set of questionnaire. The set of questionnaire consisting of Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ) newly work design developed questionnaire used to measure social characteristic and Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) was used to measure internal work motivation. All the collected data were analyzed using statistical Package for the Social science (SPSS). The result reported positive findings in relation to the direct correlation between social characteristics and internal work motivation among academics in Malaysian Public Universities

KNOWLEDGE-BASED APPROACH FOR THE FORMATION OF RE-CONFIGURABLE ASSEMBLY CELLS-A USE CASE STUDY

The current market turbulence has forced the companies to increase their productivity in order to remain in business, not only to remain competitive. Companies that make high volume products involving labour-intensive assembly operation normally use automated assembly since it may reduce the company cost and increase productivity. Improving productivity is focused in the assembly area since it contributes a bigger portion of manufacturing cos

Implementing total quality management in Unit Trust Operations Department of PNB: a case study of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) / Zatul Akmar Razak

This study is conducted to examine the success of implementing Total Quality Management in Unit Trust Operations Department of PNB. At PNB, total quality management is regarded as a totally integrated effort for gaining competitive advantage through continuous improvement of every aspect of the organizational business process. It is the foundation of this philosophy that has made PNB what it is today. From the passionately believes in putting the needs and requirements of its customers first. By employing a total quality management system that integrates fundamental management techniques, existing improvement efforts and technical tools under a disciplined approach focused on continuous improvement, PNB is confident in delivering customer satisfaction at all levels. TQM encourages participation amongst shop floor workers and managers. Quality is the outcome of all activities that take place within an organization, that all functions and all employees have to participate in the improvement process; that organizations need both quality systems and a quality culture. Product development in a TQM environment is very different to product development in a non-TQM environment. Without a TQM approach, product development is usually carried on in inconsistency environment where each department acts independently. Short-term results drive behavior so scrap, changes, work-arounds, waste, and rework are normal practice. Management focuses on supervising individuals, and fire-fighting is necessary and rewarded. Product development in a TQM environment is customer-driven and focused on quality. Teams are process-oriented, and interact with their internal customers to deliver the required results. Management's focus is on controlling the overall process, and rewarding teamwork

A study of the financially risk associated with cross border trading of equities and its effect to OSK investor / Nor Akmar Abdullah

This research studies on financially risk associated with cross border trading of equities and its effect to OSK investor. Foreign equities also known as foreign share is a cross border trades of securities or stock listing in the market beside home countries’ market. Foreign share offers wider choice of stocks and give greater opportunity to investor since it included ninety percent of the world’s total wealth in stock market. In the literature, there are many empirical studies to disclose the relationship between risk such as liquidity, investment, capital, exchange rate, market, currency, credit etc. and foreign equities. However, the scope of this study focuses on most common type of risk involves and its effect to OSKIB investor who trade beyond Malaysia stock exchange. This study will focus on financial risk that divide into translation and transaction risk. The objective of the study is to determine whether the risk involve in cross border trading of equities affect the investment return. As a result, this study found that financially risk of cross border trade affect return on investment of OSK investor. This outcome may improve the knowledge of financially risk of foreign share for OSKIB investor since this scope of study is new phenomenon in Malaysia

FAILURE PROBABILITY MODELING FOR PIPING SYSTEMS SUBJECT TO CORROSION UNDER INSULATION

Corrosion under insulation (CUI) is found to be a major problem for insulated piping systems in refineries, petrochemical and gas processing plants. Since those pipes carry hydrocarbons or other dangerous process fluids, gradual thinning due to CUI may cause the pipes to leak, leading to a hazardous situation. Due to the nature of CUI which is hidden, the challenge is in the monitoring, detection and, hence, prediction of CUI. Also, due to scarcity of data, the current CUI inspection and maintenance strategy adopts the risk-based inspection (RBI) approach where the assessment of the probability of failure for CUI adopts either the qualitative or semi-quantitative methods. These approaches were highly subjective and to overcome this drawback, the quantitative approach is usually employed where this approach bases the failure probability estimates on historical failure data. This study presents a methodology for quantitatively estimating the probability of failure of piping systems subject to CUI based on the type of data available. In the absence of failure data and wall thickness data, logistic regression model was proposed by considering the inspection data as a binary data. When the wall thickness data is available, the probabilistic models, namely degradation analysis, structural reliability analysis and Markov chain model, were proposed. The study recommended that for the case where wall thickness data is minimal, a good model that can be used for quantitative risk assessment is the structural reliability analysis. If more wall thickness data is available, degradation analysis and Markov chain model are the potential models. This study also demonstrated that the logistic regression model is not applicable for quantitative risk assessment. In summary, the quantitative approach is necessary as a means for quantitatively establishing future reliability for piping systems subject to CUI. Even though applying the quantitative method is optional in the current RBI analysis, quantitative risk assessment is, in fact, now a required element of the maintenance optimization methodology

Top management perception towards green innovation implementation in government-linked companies

The focus of this study is to explore the top management perception towards green innovation implementation in the Government-Linked Companies by understanding: (i) the impact of green concept on innovation implementation in the company and its directives, (ii) how top management value green innovation and their leadership attributes, (iii) innovation that is widely diffused, and (iv) the significance of green innovation to organizational sustainability. The participants involved were top managers from two Government-Linked Investment Companies, 11 Government-Linked Companies and two Multinational Companies. Purposive sampling technique was chosen to select the people to be interviewed, and multiple-case sampling was chosen for organizations because it added certainty to findings. The interviews transcriptions were transferred to the NVivo, a computer assisted qualitative data analysis systems (CAQDAS), to help in data managing and themes generating. Open-coding resulted in 67 unique codes and were reduced to axial coding (major themes) and further collapsed into four group themes of selective coding. Findings of the study indicated that green innovation implementation concept had an impact on image and future projects allocation by the government. The study also revealed that the top management was responsible for green innovation directives due to companies' bottom lines. The finding also showed that data fitted the working model for leadership attributes by combining Situational Leadership and Strategic Leadership into Eco-Situational Strategic Leadership where sustainability was positioned as an opportunity for dominant foundation of competitive advantage and corporate survival especially when technological green innovation was widely diffused in the companies. This study also proposed the Green Pinnacle Model to understand the significance of green innovation to organizational sustainabilit

Amalan Komunikasi dan Status Pengetahuan, Sikap Serta Amalan Kesihatan Ibu-Ibu Semasa Hamil di Kawasan Terpilih di Daerah Kuala Kangsar

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui status pengetahuan, sikap dan amalan (penerimaan guna) kesihatan ibu-ibu semasa hamil menerusi amalan komunikasi dengan pengamal perubatan dan media massa di kawasan terpilih di negeri Perak Darul Ridzuan. Penyebaran maklumat menerusi amalan komunikasi pengamal perubatan dan media massa penting bagi meningkatkan status kesihatan ibu-ibu semasa hamil. Objektif khusus kajian ini ialah untuk mengetahui bagaimana kedua-dua amalan ini mempengaruhi status pengetahuan, sikap dan amalan. Perkaitan antara beberapa angkubah demografi dan faktor amalan komunikasi dengan status pengetahuan, sikap dan amalan turut menjadi objektifkajian ini. Sampel rawak seramai 172 orang ibu-ibu hamil di Daerah Kuala Kangsar telah digunakan. Data telah dikumpul menggunakan borang soal selidik melalui temubual perseorangan. Pada keseluruhannya, hasil kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa wujud perkaitan yang tidak signifikan berhubung dengan status pengetahuan, sikap dan amalan kesihatan ibu-ibu semasa hamil dengan faktor am alan komunikasi. Kajian ini juga telah membuktikan bahawa status pengetahuan, sikap dan amalan responden tidak dipengaruhi oleh faktor demografi seperti umur, taraf pendidikan, jumlah pendapatan dan bilangan anak. Namun begitu, hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa responden memilih aktiviti ceramah dan nasihat perseorangan me1alui amalan komunikasi pengamal perubatan. Maklumat kesihatan yang sering disampaikan adalah tentang persediaan awal kehamilan. Manakala amalan komunikasi menerusi media massa yang dijadikan sumber rujukan utama responden ialah TV, radio dan majalah yang menerbitkan maklumat tentang persediaan awal kehamilan, pemeriksaan kesihatan, kesihatan wanita hamil dan pemakanan ibu hamil. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa status pengetahuan dan amalan responden adalah tinggi tetapi ia bukan dipengaruhi oleh pendedahan kepada pengamal perubatan dan media massa. Namun begitu, status sikap responden terhadap kesihatan adalah signifikan dan ia dipengaruhi oleh perhubungan dengan pengamal perubatan juga turut ditunjukkan dalam temuan kajian ini