Technology implementation barriers in the Malaysian herbal industry: A case study

Technology is an essential component in all types of organisations and most organisations have reasons to implement new technology. The most fundamental justification for new technology implementation is that the technology must be able to contribute to strong competitive advantages and also increase or create long-term profit. In most small and medium enterprises (SMEs), there are barriers or obstacles in implementing these technologies. This article report a study aimed in investigating barriers faced by the Malaysian herbal industry in implementing technologies in their factory. Most of the local herbal manufacturing firms are categorised as SMEs which are usually considered to be lagged behind larger companies in technology usage. As this was an exploratory research, a case study method was used as it gave in-depth explanation of the main barriers of technology implementation. The results suggested that the main constraint in implementing technologies are lack of technical specialists and financial, aid commitment from top management, low wage rate, and future demand uncertainties

Managing technology and change in new product development (NPD): A dynamic capability perspective

This paper derives from the perspective of dynamic capability (DC) that foresees sustainable competitive advantage can be achieved through firm’s ability to continuously create alignment between new product development (NPD) and market need.By highlighting the inter-related issues, and with thorough critical review on the relevant literature, this paper proposes a conceptual framework for easy explanation of the concept. As a result, this paper contributes to better understanding of DC concept for managing technology and change in NPD.The potential areas for future studies are highlighted at the end of discussion

Corporate marketing referents to green consumer intention: An educated young Malaysian perspective

This study investigates marketing strategy affecting sustainable food consumption among the young educated population of a selected group at an excellent institute of training and information expertise in Malaysia.The investigation was based on pro environmental concerns/health consciousness, cost, convenience (availability) and communication (product info/labeling), as marketing references influence green consumption. Based on the planned behavior theory, these factors are considered as behavioral control elements to move towards a green attitude.A total of 174 participants from the academic members of University Utara Malaysia participated in this empirical research and findings of the study proved that consumers’ needs, cost, convenience and communication are influencing people’s intention to move towards green consumption

Managing change on lean implementation in service sector

Government agencies adopt lean management to improve efficiencies and deliver quality services to their customers.However, many public service organizations were unable to fully implement and sustain lean. Resistance to change is one of the challenges during lean implementation in service.Thus, change management is needed by addressing the resistance, provide support, and develop the required knowledge to implement change.This paper reviews lean implementation in public service and the importance of change management in transition to lean. Hopefully, this study could provide a better understanding on lean service and guidance on applying the change management in lean transition

The concept of dynamic capability for managing technology and change

There are numerous conceptual and empirical studies on the topic of dynamic capability where most of them were demonstrated to address the innovation and technological-related issues. However, there are still many issues surrounding the concept that need further clarification. To explicitly understand how dynamic capability can benefit technology management, this paper reviews the fundamental of dynamic capability concept, the issues surrounding the topics under discussion, and its relevance for managing technology and change. By doing so, the link between dynamic capability and technology management can be clarified. This review paper should benefit both the academicians and students who interested in management of technology and change with the concept of dynamic capability

Sustaining value creation with complementary technologies alignment

Firm creates value within its value chain (VC) and value systems (VS).As technologies exist in the firm’s VC and VS, they have becoming more complementary than replacing each other. Technological change that affects the activities in the firm’s VC and/or VS iscausing misalignment to the firm’s existing complementary technologies, which will affect not just the firm’s value creation activities but also the value creation of the members in the systems.It is argued value creation can be sustained if the firm is able to continuously create alignment among the complementary technologies in its VC and/or with the other members’ VCs.Guided with the concept of complementary assets alignment from dynamic capability (DC) perspective, the objective of this conceptual paper is to highlight a conceptual framework for sustaining value creation by creating alignment among the complementary technologies within the firm’s VC and VS in response of technological change

Validation of lean manufacturing measurement instrument

This study is intended to provide a valid and reliable measurement instrument for lean manufacturing practices.It is important as lack of consensus regarding the valid and comprehensive measure of lean manufacturing implementation was observed in lean manufacturing literature. 182 large and discrete process manufacturers in Indonesia were involved in this study.A structural equation modeling approach was applied to validate the instrument.The study led to the conclusion that the measurement instrument is valid and reliable.In addition, the study suggested that lean manufacturing practices should be implemented holistically and simultaneously because they are interdependent

Structural ambidexterity vs. contextual ambidexterity: Preliminary evidence from Malaysia

Structural ambidexterity and contextual ambidexterity have dominated the discussion on organisational ambidexterity, where the similarities and differences between them are being emphasised.One of the critical views is that although both of them are essential, the impacts on performance may be dissimilar. Since there are fewer empirical studies been done to demonstrate this view, this study aims to compare and contrast the effects of structural ambidexterity and contextual ambidexterity on the firms‟ performance of new product development (NPD).This study is examined in the case of manufacturing sector in Malaysia. The data was collected via a questionnaire survey targeting product/production managers, and processed with SPSS v.19 statistical technique.The results of correlation and linear regression analyses have shown that structural ambidexterity and contextual ambidexterity are indeed dissimilar in their effects on NPD performance, but at the same time are complementing each other.It is concluded that both of them are important, but must be applied according to the right contexts. Since this is a preliminary study, more empirical works need to be done to generalise the findings

Organisational capabilities, environmental turbulence, and NPD performance: A study on Malaysian manufacturing firms

Although current NPD study is focusing on various organisational capabilities, the amount of studies that have looked at the relationships between them and NPD performance under turbulence environments remains relatively low in the context of the Malaysian manufacturing sector.The results have revealed that different organisational capabilities have different effects on different NPD performances under various environmental turbulences. From DCs point of view, this study has proven that, unless firms are capable of deploying the correct types of organisational capabilities, simply possessing them is insufficient to achieve better NPD performance under a turbulence environment

Understanding the concept of dynamic capabilities by dismantling Teece, Pisano, and Shuen (1997)’s definition

The concept of dynamic capabilities (DCs) is gaining popularity in management field particularly in strategic management. The concept that is still new and contemporary has attracted many arguments that may lead to confusion. To understand the basic concept of DCs, looking back to the definition in Teece, Pisano and Shuen 1997’s working paper will be crucial not just because the authors are among the first to seriously promote DCs but also among the most referred article in the management field of 1990s and even still today. Hence, the objective of this review paper is to understand the basic concept of DCs by scrutinizing the definition in Teece, Pisano and Shuen (1997) that will give benefit to those who are new to the concept and wanting a quick insight on it.The definition is dismantled into six questions where the contested arguments (when applicable) relating to each of the questions are drawn from mainly various DCs literature that is not means to be conclusive and exhaustive