Soft technology implementation in Malaysian manufacturing companies at electrical and electronic industry.

Purpose – This research aims to report the findings of survey on soft technology implementation in Malaysian manufacturing companies of electrical and electronic industries.The objective of the survey is to identify the type of single soft technologies implemented, identify the level of performance attained by the implementers, and investigate differences in the level of performance attained with the numbers of single soft technologies implemented.Design/methodology/approach – responses from 64 companies are analyzed and presented.Findings – It is observed that most of Malaysian electrical and electronic companies are implementing TQM and MRP while CAPP is the least.Implementation of soft technology has sparked positive changes in all performance variables listed except reduce number of employees.The study also revealed that there was a not significant difference in the number of single soft technologies implemented in attaining the level of performance.Originality/value – This research report is useful to others implementing soft technology

Sustainable Manufacturing Practice And Sustainability Performance Mediated By Innovation Performance

Sustainable manufacturing (SM) strategies have drawn attention derived from increasing global concerns on sustainability issues such as the scarcity of natural resources, rapid environmental destruction and unequal balance of social equities. The concept of sustainability has dramatically extended the goals of businesses, traditionally solely focused on operational efficiency and economic returns, to include environmental and social benefits. Embracing the idea of the triple bottom line approach, firm performance is assessed based on three criteria namely economic, environmental and social sustainability. The importance of environmental management and socially responsible practices for enhancing sustainability performance (SP) at a firm level has been widely acknowledged and extensively reported in the extant literature. While some researchers found a positive and significant impact of sustainable manufacturing practice (SMP) on predicting SP, there were some other researchers who failed to prove the significant relationship between these two variables. The inconsistent result of SMP-SP linkage might be due to the reason that the contextual elements of SMP and SP have not been well established. Insufficient statistical evidence to corroborate the significant impact of SMP on SP demonstrates that there may be a more complex relationship between SMP and SP. Since the significant relationship of innovation performance (IP) with SMP and SP has been found in some previous studies, there is a possibility that IP mediate the SMP-SP linkage. The objectives of this study are to identify the level of SMP, SP and IP among Malaysian manufacturing firms, to analyze the direct and indirect effect of SMP on SP, and eventually to propose a validated framework indicating the interrelationships between SMP, SP and IP. Using the theories of stakeholder and resource-based view (RBV) of a firm, integrating with prior research on sustainability, SM and innovation, a theoretical model depicting the interrelationships between SMP, IP and SP has been developed in this study. A series of hypothesized relationships were tested through PLS-SEM approach by using survey data collected from 150 firms. The results reveal that internal SMP has a positive and significant impact on economic sustainability, and both types of SMP (internal SMP and external SMP) have significant impact on environmental and social sustainability. While both types of SMP have mediated effect on social sustainability through organizational innovation, process innovation is the single significant mediator for internal SMP-economic sustainability linkage and both product and process innovations are the significant mediators for external SMP-economic sustainability linkage. The study indicates that the level of implementation of SMP is moderate to considerable extent, and economic benefits are still the dominant factors on embracing SMP compared to the others. The results also demonstrate that Malaysian manufacturers are able to gain better IP, reflecting that increasing innovation capabilities might be of high importance to the firms. While offering significant theoretical contribution by enhancing the SM, innovation and sustainability body of knowledge, the findings of this study are beneficial for industrial practitioners through better understanding of the contextual elements of SMP, IP and SP which would support their continuous improvement

The impact of sustainable manufacturing practices and innovation performance on economic sustainability

The emergence of the concept of sustainability reflects a decisive change in global thinking, thus forcing firms to reconsider the approach in conducting their business operations.With an aim to boost economic development, firms need to re-establish their corporate strategy by introducing and implementing more integrated sustainable practices.Prior researchers believe that sustainable manufacturing practice (SMP),defined as a firm’s intra- and inter organizational practices that integrate environmental, economic and social aspects into operational and business activities, would lead to better firm performance.The research reported in this paper aims to analyze the effect of SMP on economic sustainability (ES) and the mediated effect of SMP on ES through innovation performance (IP).Using survey data collected from 150 Malaysian manufacturers, this paper empirically examines the relationships that exist among SMP (internal and external SMP), IP (product, process,organizational and marketing), and ES.Adopting PLS-SEM technique, the study found that internal SMP has a positive effect on ES and process innovation partially mediates this internal SMP-ES link.Surprisingly, although the relationship between external SMP and ES is not significant, incorporating product and process innovations into this link have changed the significance of the relationship.In general, the results have empirically proven the role of SMP and IP in influencing the economic performance.Thus, it is suggested that instead of acting on well intentioned impulses or reacting to external pressure, firms should clearly defined and grasp economic opportunities gained from being environmentally friendly and socially responsible

The Addiction of Electronic Sport (E-Sport) among UUM Undergraduate Students

Electronic sport (E-sport) is a competitive playing of computer games and video games in a multi-player mode. This can be found either on the internet or locally during a large organized event that has been giving positive effects recently. However, addiction to E- sport could bring negative effects to study performance and health. This addiction gives a bad result for the students’ life. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of E-sport addiction among undergraduate students at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). By using the qualitative research method, the data were collected from 5 undergraduate students at UUM through face to face interviews. Analyzing the data, the study found the effects of E-sport addiction on study performance and health. This study provides valuable information that can contribute to the body of knowledge related to E-sport and may serve as a reference for future research

Potential utilisation of wood residue in Kedah: A preliminary study

Being an important resource-based industry in Malaysia, the wood industry plays a crucial role in the socioeconomic development of the country. In consequences, wood wastes generated exponentially increase annually.This paper views the current utilisation of wood waste production in the northern wood-based mills in Malaysia.The types of wood residue as well as the users of wood residue are identified.The result shows that 100% of wood residue are being used or sold for this population.However, the wood residue available in Kedah is able to potentially offer 0.005% of electricity generation in Malaysia.As a conclusion, this type of wood residue cannot create the opportunity for it to be used as fuel in electricity generation in the northern region of Malaysia, since the fuel supply is already limited and is being used for other purposes

A case study of sustainable manufacturing practices in a textile company

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the implementation of sustainable manufacturing practices in a textile company in Malaysia. A single case study has been employed to fulfill the objective of the study. Meeting a set of predetermined criteria, a textile company which is located in Penang was chosen as a case to be studied. Face to face interview was conducted to get in-depth information from the respondent. The study found that the company studied implemented sustainable manufacturing practices such as recycle materials, reduces hazardous input materials, employee’s well-being practices, sustainable waste management and consumption of solar energy. The study helps the textile company to evaluate its current practices and eventually to step forward to a better company

Pemindahan teknologi IBS di Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR): Proses dan faktor kejayaan

Sistem Pembinaan Industri (IBS) merupakan sistem pembinaan yang menggunakan bahan binaan yang telah siap dari kilang pembuatan.Berbanding dengan kaedah pembinaan tradisional, sistem ini berupaya menyumbang kepada pengurangan penggunaan tenaga buruh, peningkatan kualiti binaan dan penjimatan masa pembinaan.Menyedari kelebihan ini, kerajaan Malaysia telah menggalakkan penggunaan IBS dan menetapkan agar setiap projek pembinaan kerajaan menggunakan lebih 70% komponen IBS seperti yang terkandung dalam Pekeliling Perbendaharaan Kementerian Kewangan Malaysia. Walau bagaimanapun, beberapa kajian lepas mendapati bahawa masih terdapat banyak syarikat pembinaan yang belum menggunakan sistem ini. Di samping itu, kegagalan mendapatkan manfaat yang dijanjikan walaupun telah menggunakan IBS juga turut dilaporkan dalam penyelidikan yang lepas. Menggunakan pendekatan kajian kes tunggal dengan memfokuskan kepada salah sebuah organisasi kerajaan iaitu Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR), objektif kajian ini ialah untuk menerangkan proses pemindahan teknologi IBS dan faktor-faktor yang menyumbang kepada kejayaan pemindahan teknologi ini.Kaedah temubual dan pemerhatian digunakan untuk mendapatkan data primer dalam kajian ini. Adalah diharapkan hasil kajian ini dapat membantu dalam mempromosikan dan menggalakkan penggunaan IBS terutamanya dalam sektor pembuatan di Malaysia di samping boleh dijadikan sebagai panduan dalam melaksanakan IBS

Learning mechanism used in strengthening local automotive vendor's absorptive capacity

in attaining competitive advantage, inevitably, firms had to innovate. The development of innovation capability was crucial for firms to stay in competition.In developing firm innovation capability, absorptive capacity and learning mechanism were important factors.Absorptive capacity is built through accumulation of prior knowledge base and internalization of the knowledge in an organization. The purpose of the study was to describe learning approch used by firms in strengthening local automotive vendor's absorptive capacity.This paper also explored one component of absorptive capacity named firm's knowledge base,The research design used in this descriptive study was quantitative method with questionnaires mailed to the respondents. The sampling technique for this study was random sampling with a sample size of 113 automotive component manufacturers,who supplied automotive parts to various car assemblers and manufacturers.Out of 113 automotive manufacturers,only 45 respondents responded to the survey sent to them.The results of the study indicated the level of manufacturers' absorptive capacities was high in the project management,product development performance measurement,cost benefit analysis and early production output evaluation areas.In addition,the learning mechanism adopted by most of the manufacturers were interacting among employees in the R&D or engineering department as a means for them of solve problem related to product development design and acquiring knowledge in PDD through documenting explicit knowledge in a manual or product catalogue.The implication of this study was the manufacturer needed to improve their knowledge absorption capacities through proposed learning mechanisms

Life Cycle of Biomass Blending in Electricity Generation: An Environmental and Economic Assessment

Recently, biomass resources have faced issues with the security of resources supply. Biomass blending could provide the solution to overcome this limitation. This study aimed to determine the life cycle assessment of the biomass blending of paddy residue, cash crop, industrial crop, and garden waste in electricity generation. The analysis are related to environmental and cost assessments. The life cycle includes the process of crop production, crop collection, transportation, collection center, and power plant. The results obtained the range for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, varying from 0.02 kg CO2EQ/kWh to 6400.04 kg CO2EQ/kWh, whereas the cost varied from RM0.01/kWh to RM16.10/kWh. The transportation process is the most critical process requiring extra extension, due to the high GHG emissions and consumption cost for that process. The output from this research is hoped to serve as the guideline for biomass utilization development in Malaysia

The Marketing Strategy for Small-Scale Garment Products on Post-Pandemic Era

The small-scale garment industry has gained significant influence in Indonesia. However, with the challenges posed by the pandemic era, the industry must adapt to ensure its long-term sustainability. The objective of this research is to analyze the marketing strategy of small-scale garment products, specifically examining the proportion of online and offline marketing strategies, as the success of these products in the market relies on the effective utilization of both strategies. The urgency of this research stems from the daily market demand for garment products and the crucial role played by dominating small-scale garment companies in contributing to the economy’s development. This research adopts a mixed-method approach, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative approach involves conducting interviews with owners of small-scale garment businesses, commonly known as convection businesses. Meanwhile, the quantitative approach is used to analyze the proportion of online and offline marketing strategies. The qualitative analysis utilizes a Markov approach to provide insights into future marketing strategy proportions and possibilities. The research was conducted at a small-scale garment center located in Kutawaringin Village, West Bandung Regency. The results indicate that during the pandemic era, garment businesses have increasingly embraced online marketing strategies to enhance their marketing performance. Furthermore, businesses that have traditionally relied on offline marketing are also increasing their proportion of online marketing strategy implementation. Keywords: marketing strategy, small-scale garment business, online, offlin