The Effect Of Team Properties On Team’s Performance As Perceived By Team Members Of Multinational Manufacturing Companies In Penang

Teams have become increasingly popular in firms of all sizes and industries. Managers believe that teams often provide better outcomes than individual, but high performance teams are rarity due to failure of organization in identifying the critical criteria that influence performance of a team

Entrepreneurship in rural Malaysia: an investigation of handicraft producers in Sabah Region

This research investigates the commercialisation processes of handicraft producers in Sabah, Malaysia, and the factors influencing their development and performance. The Malaysian government encourages handicraft production as a full-time activity in dedicated workshops, but the vast majority of producers stay part-time and home-based. The aim of this research is to understand why so few producers switch to a greater level of commercialisation, despite government support. From the literature review, it is found that a combination of person-related and contextual factors influences small enterprise development and performance, but handicraft producers in a developing country context have different characteristics to the firms usually studied in entrepreneurship, so they may follow different development paths. Therefore, qualitative research was carried out (in-depth interviews with 16 handicraft producers), which aimed to understand deeply from the producers’ point of view how they made choices about their enterprises, and the factors that encouraged or inhibited their move to full-time status or workshop premises. It was found that interviewees perceived part-time domestic production to be convenient and flexible, and workshop production to be a big commitment, although factors such as level of perseverance and social networking were influential to these. In the interviews, a complicated relationship between status, premises and enterprise performance was also found. A face-to-face survey was then conducted of 210 handicraft producers in Sabah region, which aimed to test quantitatively the factors that influence producers’ status, premises and performance, and the relationships between them. Through cluster analysis, three groups of producers were identified: (i) ‘high performance full-timers’, (ii)‘part-time professionals’ and (iii) ‘part-time home workers’. The first group contained both domestic and workshop-based producers, all full-time status, and showed highest levels of sales and profits. It was interesting to find that part-time professionals had lower profit levels than part-time home workers, even though almost all part-time professionals produced in workshops, half of them in government assisted workshops. One way ANOVA tests found significant differences between the clusters on thirteen person-related and contextual factors, including producers’ (i)education level, attendance in craft incubator, previous income activity, (ii)self-confidence, perseverance, (iii)skills relating to production, organising and networking, (iv)income maximisation motivation and (v)access to government supports, financial resources and reliable workers. The evidence from the research shows that handicraft producers in Sabah region see many advantages in domestic production, and profit levels can be higher than in workshops. By identifying the different profiles of handicraft producers in Sabah, and the person-related and contextual factors that influence them, this research may help the Malaysian government to develop effective support policies for different types of handicraft producer, including how to encourage more individuals to become ‘high performing full-timers’

Evaluating the business model innovation of small snack food production enterprises in China based on the varim model

This paper examines the business model innovation situation, evaluation, and key factors of small snack food production enterprises in China and provides suggestions for enterprises. A questionnaire designed using the VARIM model evaluates business model innovation based on five aspects, combined with the influential role of relational resources, digital technology, and long tail theory. It is hypothesized that relational resources, digital technology, and long tail theory have a positive impact on business model innovation, and that the VARIM model assesses profitability potential. It is hypothesized that firms should utilize these factors for business model innovation to improve competitiveness and sustainability. The findings and conclusions of this paper are based on assumptions and speculations, which need to be verified and corrected by subsequent practical investigations

Visitor motivation, expectation and satisfaction of local cultural event in Sabah

Local cultural events have been one of the most important components of tourism nowadays. This event seen as an instrument for tourism development and can be part of tourism destination marketing. The result of having the events can be seen from economic, sociocultural, local businesses and political dimensions. The effectiveness of organising such event can be evaluated from the perspective of the visitor and tourist. The purpose of this study is to investigate various expectations and satisfactory of visitor of cultural events and activities organised. Moreover, this study also evaluate the visitors " satisfactory towards the facilities that was provided during the event as well as the activities organised. The analysis utilised a sample collected during Tamu Besar Kota Belud, Sabah involving 141 respondents with self-administered survey. The result of the study reveals that the main motivation of the visitor to participate is to experience the cultural event. In general, the event has met the visitor expectation and they are satisfied of the facilities and activities provided during the event. The findings of this study will be used to assist the cultural event organiser to enhance the visitor " s experiences towards staging the cultural event

Dedicated vs modest commercialization of small-scale handicraft production in Sabah

It is surprisingly that despite the government supports and initiatives to encourage formal or dedicated commercialization (full-time workshop-based production), vast majority of handicraft producers in Kota Belud, Sabah still produce their handicrafts in a modest way – from home, in fact, half proportion of these home-based producers are part-timers. This paper offers valuable insight for future research, specifically on factors for commercialization process and performance among handicraft producers in rural Sabah, in spite of their “advantaged” or “disadvantaged” production status. This paper outlines the several issues related to producers’ decisions to go (or not) in workshop-based production and main challenges to produce handicraft in a formal commercialized manner. This paper presents the emergent issues arising from a preliminary fieldwork (local desk research and key informant interviews) on the nature of handicraft production in rural Sabah. This finding has provided some valuable insight to question “why home-based production is so favored among handicraft producers in rural Sabah” and recognized the important of handicraft production in a modest way in Sabah

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis on Micro-Enterprises: Entrepreneurs’ Perspective on Business Continuity and Recovery Strategy

Covid-19 pandemic outbreaks have led many countries to impose travel restrictions and movement controls. In Malaysia, the small business sector is one of the most directly affected by the movement's control order. In fact, the impact is more significant among micro-enterprises than its larger counterparts. Entrepreneurs experience business cancellation or closure and reduced income due to the closure of several supporting sectors such as retails and transportation. There is still a lack of study on the impact of a pandemic outbreak on microenterprises in developing countries, especially in relating to business continuity and recovery strategy. It is crucial to explore how micro-entrepreneurs experience crisis and what decision they make for business survival. This study represents the perspectives of two micro-entrepreneurs in the rural area of Sabah, about their business continuity strategy during movement control order. The results of unstructured phone interviews provide insights on business survival approach and recovery plan of micro-enterprises during and after a crisis. This study will hopefully contribute towards the creation of effective support mechanisms through associated entrepreneurial development organizations for micro - entrepreneurs to thrive during and after a crisis

Kekuatan dan cabaran serta amalan pengurusan perniagaan di kalangan usahawan mikro

Sektor perusahaan kecil dan sederhana (PKS) memainkan peranan penting di dalam memperkuat ekonomi serta membentuk negara ke arah negara maju menjelang 2020. Selama beberapa dekad, PKS telah menyumbang sejumlah besar peratusan di dalam Keluaran Dalam Negara Kasar (KDNK). Antara tahun 2005-2014, sektor ini telah berkembang pada kadar tahunan 7.1% berbanding 4.9% daripada KDNK yang disokong oleh pertumbuhan di semua sektor ekonomi (SME Corp, 2015). Namun begitu, isu serta permasalahan seperti migrasi buruh, jurang penyertaan berdasarkan etnik dan jantina, prestasi perniagaan dan pengurusan kewangan, berpotensi menjadi penghalang buat sektor ini untuk maju dan bertahan dalam jangka masa panjang. Sehubungan itu, kajian ini akan meneroka serta menilai amalan pengurusan perniagaan yang sedang dipraktikkan di kalangan pengusaha mikro yang menetap di Teluk Mengkabong, Tuaran, Sabah. Kajian ini tidak hanya akan memberikan pandangan yang lebih baik mengenai amalan pengurusan perniagaan semasa oleh penduduk kampung, tetapi juga membantu mengenal pasti segmen populasi tertentu yang memerlukan latihan dan sokongan untuk perniagaan mereka

Impak Krisis Covid-19 Terhadap Sektor Pertanian: Strategi Saluran Pengagihan bagi Kesinambungan Perniagaan

Krisis wabak Covid-19 mengakibatkan banyak negara melaksanakan sekatan perjalanan dan kawalan pergerakan. Di Malaysia, sektor pertanian adalah antara sektor yang terkesan secara langsung akibat perintah kawalan pergerakan. Usahawan tani menghadapi masalah lambakan hasil pertanian akibat penutupan beberapa sektor sokongan seperti peruncitan dan pengangkutan. Kekurangan rizab tunai memburukkan lagi masalah memandangkan pendapatan mereka bergantung kepada jualan harian. Pakej rangsangan ekonomi oleh kerajaan kepada perniagaan kecil adalah suatu penyelesaian jangka pendek. Oleh itu, strategi mengurus krisis adalah perlu untuk kelangsungan pendapatan. Kajian kualitatif melalui temuramah tidak berstruktur ini dijalankan untuk mengkaji kaedah saluran pengagihan yang digunapakai oleh usahawan tani di Kundasang, Sabah semasa tempoh pelaksanaan perintah kawalan pergerakan. Dapatan kajian mencadangkan kaedah pengagihan ‘hub’ mampu meneruskan kesinambungan perniagaan kecil berasaskan pertanian di Sabah semasa krisis

Cross-border entrepreneurship: a preliminary study on informal entrepreneurs in Sebatik Island

Cross-border entrepreneurship contributes a positive spill-over effect to socio-economic growth in border regions through employment opportunities, wealth creation, better infrastructure, thus improving the standard of living in the border communities. Nevertheless, economic activities in a small border rural area tends to be less formal, which have been contended by many researchers due to several diplomatic issues, such as unclear demarcation of international borders and unequal pace of democratic development between neighbouring countries. Therefore, the study aims to explore the entrepreneurial activities in Sebatik Island, through preliminary site visits and informal conversations with local communities in two of the island’s borderline villages, i.e. Kampung Sungai Melayu and Kampung Aji Kuning by employing Rapid Ethnographic (RE) approach. The site visits provide interesting remarks about the prospects for crossborder entrepreneurship on the island. The study presents the current state of entrepreneurial activities in Sebatik Island and several emerging issues in relation to economic potential, such as the rise of informal business activities, business infrastructure, and government initiatives to support cross-border entrepreneurship on the island. This study provides valuable insights to relevant agencies responsible for rural entrepreneurial development, thus suitable measures or programs can be implemented in promoting formal cross-border entrepreneurship on the island