Monitoring The Provision Of Transnational Higher Education (TNHE) Services: The Potentials For Multi-Sectoral Cooperation.

Transnational higher education (TNHE) is not a new phenomenon, though its nature and the pace of its growth are unprecedented, challenging the national systems of higher education in this region. Whilst it brings about identifiable benefits, it also raises concerns amongst nations, particularly for the importing countries that are less prepared to meet these challenges

Validity of the technology acceptance model (TAM) : A sensemaking perspective

This study investigates whether sensemaking activities influence technology acceptance and if the strength of relationship between TAM’s constructs changes over a period of time. This study was a panel-based longitudinal study, whereby data was collected in three stages within a single semester. The setting of the study was at the School of Management, USM. The major findings of the study showed that sensemaking does influence the TAM if activities are undertaken at high and low levels and also sensemaking influences individual constructs of TAM rather than the whole model. This study failed to prove that there is a significant change in the strength of relationship between TAM constructs over a period of time under sensemaking influence, which is that sensemaking activities were found not to exhibit any moderation effect on the TAM constructs. Sensemaking acts as an external variable which influences TAM rather than moderate the strength of the relationship between TAM constructs. This could be because the technology in question was mandatory to be used by the subjects rather than voluntary. Implications for managers are discussed

The Impact Of Intra And Inter-Firm Sourcing Strategy On Supplies' Quality, Delivery And Cost

In recent years, the business environment has become extremely competitive. Firms, searching for sources of competitive advantage began to look into the potential of sourcing in adding value as purchased inputs account for 60% to 80% of cost of goods sold. Thus, the objective of this paper is to investigate which sourcing strategy, inter-firm or intra-firm, will lead to better supplies' quality, delivery and cost and whether in the process of achieving this outcome, it is moderated by environment-related factors. Intra-firm sourcing takes place when a firm procures materials, parts and components from within its corporate system, either a parent from its subsidiaries, or subsidiaries from their parent or from other related subsidiaries. By contrast, inter-fi rm sourcing occurs when a firm sources from independent, unrelated suppliers. The population for thi s study is the organizations that are involved in the manufacturing of electronics and electrical product located in Penang. The results reveal that in all of the three performance measures: quality, delivery and cost, intra-firm sourcing is seen to outperform inter-firm sourcing. Additionally, assets specificity is not a significant moderating variable on the differences in supplies' quality, delivery and cost of intra-firm and inter-firm sourcing, but bargaining power is. This study provides an avenue for further exploration on the potential of intra-firm sourcing

Change management and implementation of total productive maintenance: an exploratory study of Malaysian manufacturing companies

This study examines the effects of change management towards the implementation of productivity and quality improvement programs through the concept of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), in manufacturing firms in Malaysia. The factors measured are management commitment, training and education, employee empowerment, team culture and company policies and goals for change management. Autonomous maintenance and planned maintenance factors were used to measure TPM. The findings of the study provide empirical evidence that change management factors significantly enhances the extent of TPM implementatio

The franchising relationship quality: Is it important?

The concept of relationship quality (RQ) evolved from relational marketing theory, and it provided the impetus for a paradigm shift from transactional relationships to more cooperative and service-centered relationships in business-to-business (B2B) processes. While RQ is a major trend in business management, considerable confusion and disagreement persist regarding what constitute the dimensions, outcomes and impacts of RQ. This paper looks at RQ from the perspectives of B2B, particularly in franchising. A meta-analysis of the literature on the subject is undertaken to ascertain how RQ has been conceptualized, in terms of its dimensions, and impact on business performance

The relationship quality in franchise networks: Is it important to performance?

The concept of relationship quality evolved from relational marketing theory, and provided the impetus for a paradigm shift from transactional relationships to more cooperative and service-centred relationships in business-to-business processes. In the marketing literature, relationship quality has been considered a key component in relationship marketing and business-to-business relationship exchange such as buyer-seller, exporter-importer and franchisor-franchisee. In franchising, the key to a successful franchise system is dependent on the effectiveness of franchise relationship management where both parties are characterized by mutual interdependence and cooperation. Despite the importance of this topic in franchising, very little is known about how to develop effective franchisor-franchisee RQ and how it impact performance/loyalty. Therefore, this paper investigates relationship quality in franchise networks towards the firms’ performance and loyalty from a franchisee‘s perceptive. It also discusses three elements of the franchisor-franchisee relationship quality namely: trust, commitment and satisfaction. The paper examines the interactions of relationship quality towards a firm’s performance and loyalty in the franchise network

Retrenchment Strategy In Human Resource Management: The Case Of Voluntary Separation Scheme (Vss)

One of the major challenges of business leadership in this millennium is to manage continued improvement in a competitive position. In order to stay competitive, companies are trying to become more "mean and lean". To achieve this, many major corporations have adopted the "downsizing and rightsizing" strategy. Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) has been a global phenomenon since the 1980's and is common particularly in larger companies. In this study, the reaction to the VSS program involving the employees of a government agency embracing privatisation was studied, specifically the influence of the basic needs and referent power on the choice of acceptance and non-acceptance of VSS. The second objective of this study was to evaluate the success or failure of the VSS from the workers perspective in particular, whether their decision met their needs. The results showed that basic needs had an influence on the acceptance and the nonacceptance of VSS, namely health needs, security needs and self-esteem needs. All the referent powers (subjective norms) had an influence, but surprisingly close friends had the strongest influence. Differences were also found between the expectations and the perception of the workers who accepted or rejected the VSS. From the workers' perspective, it appeared that the VSS carried out in this organization was not a success

Country Of Origin Effect On Organizational Innovation In Malaysia: The Mediating Role Of Structure

The two main objectives of this study are: first, to determine whether the level of innovation (technological and process, product and administrative) varies by country of origin, and second, to investigate the influence of country of origin on organizational innovation (technological and process, product and administrative) via the mediating role played by organizational structure (formalization and centralization), among firms operating in Malaysia. Statistical analyses of the 80 multinational corporations and 43 locally-owned firms and joint-ventures using ANOVA revealed that significant differences do exist in terms of their innovation levels. Firms from the West (American multinationals and European multinationals) had higher levels of technological and process innovation compared to firms from the East (Eastern multinationals plus local companies and jointventures). Regarding product innovation, American multinationals were found to be more innovative compared to European multinationals and firms from the East (Eastern multinationals plus local firms and joint-ventures). In terms of administrative innovation, American multinationals were found to be most innovative followed by European multinationals, and lastly, firms from the East (Eastern multinationals plus local companies and joint-ventures). Additionally, country of origin had no indirect effect on the three forms of innovation via structure. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed

Delegation Styles And Leadership Perceptions: A Comparison Of Malaysian And American Managers.

Can managers be perceived as good leaders through a culture of empowerment in multinational settings? This question was answered by employing a 3 (delegation styles:advisory; informational; extreme) x 2 (manager gender: male; female) x 2 (country:Malaysia; USA) factorial design--with the first factor as within-subjects and the last two as between-subjects

Intentions to reciprocate vendor gifts amongst Malaysian purchasing executives

Business gift giving is a universal standard of conduct for most business oorganizations and industries (Beltramini 1992; Brenner and Molander 1977). Organizations use gift as means to show appreciation for past business and to influence the attitudes and behaviours of select, prestigious group of buyers in anticipation of future business (Meredith and Fried, 1977). Vendor gifts may serve as effective means of influencing customers or prospects. This research studied the effect of types of gift (personal or corporate gifts), cost of gift (expensive or inexpensive), and buyer-vendor relationship status (no relationship, moderate or strong) in relation to the buyers' (purchasing executives') feelings of indebtedness, perceived manipulations and intentions to reciprocate vendor's gifts