Characteristics of boards of directors and board effectiveness: a study of Malaysian Public listed companies

Boards of directors are integral to modem corporations and, consequently, receive much attention from regulators, researchers and stakeholders. Although this domain is receiving increased scrutiny, most studies have been based on relating various dimensions of board structure and composition to fum financial performance. However, such studies have failed to draw an unambiguous conclusion about the impact of board structure and composition on firm performance. Considering the importance of board dynamics on the effectiveness of the board, this study examines the characteristics of members of boards of directors and determines the contribution that these characteristics make to the effectiveness of boards of directors in Malaysian Public Listed Companies (PLCs). Furthermore, there is limited study in this area from emerging-economy countries with relatively less developed capital markets. The underlying theme throughout this study is that characteristics of members of boards of directors are important components of board effectiveness. Based on extensive literature, this study develops a theoretical framework and six research questions. The characteristics of boards of director members considered in this study include demographic characteristics, personality characteristics and values, and competencies. Concerning the characteristics of effective boards, this study used a range of boards of directors' attributes including board roles, structure, composition, board membership and board dynamics. However, as this study utilised a qualitative approach, board effectiveness was assessed by reference to the pahcipants' points of view of their overall boards. In other words, what is being assessed in this study is not the relationship between board characteristics and fum financial performance but rather the participants perception of their boards. Data inthis study relied on two key sources: in-depth interviews and publicly available data from 2007 annual reports of the top 100 Malaysia PLCs. In-depth interviews were conducted with 33 directors of the top 100 Malaysian PLCs and 8 representatives of Malaysian corporate governance organisations. They were chosen because of their knowledge and experience in Malaysian corporate governance. The results of this study show that board members' demographic characteristics (age, tenure, multiple directorships), their personality characteristics and values (commitment, integrity, open mindedness, relationships with others) and their competencies (experience in corporate management, relevant knowledge and skills and relevant types of educational qualifications), as well as good networking with the government, are integral components of the effectiveness of Malaysian PLC boards. In addition, four components that have been found to be important for the effectiveness of Malayslan PLC boards include competence and diverse backgrounds of board members, a good culture, clear roles and responsibilities, and well-defined board strncturcs. More importantly, the results indicate that board membership is the most important component influencing board effectiveness for Malaysian PLCs. Although the relationship between board characteristics and fm performance has not been addressed directly, this study contributes to the understanding of the important characteristics of board members and board effectiveness. This thesis makes a number of contributions. The results add to the knowledge base for countries with developing economies. Further, it contributes to theory by proposing an integrated model of board effectiveness, which provides a basis for future hypothesis testing and theory building to identify more consistent relationships between the characteristics of boards of director members and fum performance. Testing the framework against f m s ' financial performance provides an avenue for future research that can contribute to closing the gap in the knowledge that exists concerning the relationship between board members' characteristics and firms' financial performance. In conclusion, the results from this thesis may have some implications for Malaysian regulators and others concerned with the establishment of guidelines pertaining to the selection of effective board members and effective boards

Does motivational factor influence organizational commitment and effectiveness? A review of literature

To survive into this Century, Leaders of organizations must offer a greater sense of meaning and purpose for their employees. In today’s highly competitive environment, this paper will help managements to get the best from their employees and will increase more commitment effectiveness and can also reflect their inner values and provide opportunities for development. Empower the employees to bring about a transformational change in their personal and professional lives in the organization. It will enable the Leaders to become Masters of Change and be active role models in organizations. Generally, this would create a competitive advantage for the organization by having a competent workforce and sound workplace. The methodology adopted was the review of literature based on past researches, on the motivational factors, organizational commitment and organizational effectiveness. This study is expected to help organizations and also academics towards having an insight on how to successfully run a business in an organization whether public or private. It’s now known as proven by research that motivated employees are satisfied and will increase their inputs to the highest level, and they will also contribute to the overall success of the organization.Motivation; Organizational commitment; Organizational culture; Organizational effectiveness.

Exploring Motivations, Benefits, and Challenges Adopting Inclusive Business Model: Insights from a Case Study of Palm Oil Industry in Johor

Palm oil is acknowledged as one of the commodities contributing to Malaysia's economic development, specifically as a strategy to eradicate poverty in rural areas. Despite the significant development of the industry, several issues, especially involving palm oil smallholders, require further development. Therefore, this study uses a qualitative research approach to explore adopting a multinational company's inclusive business model (IBM) as a strategy to enhance the industry and the well-being of society specifically palm oil smallholders in Johor. Based on secondary data and interviews, this study discovered that the company is motivated to adopt IBM in the project to ensure the sustainability of raw materials and as one of the company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. The adoption of IBM will also benefit the company, the palm oil smallholders, and the palm oil industry, especially in Johor. Nevertheless, to ensure the sustainability of IBM, a few challenges need to be addressed particularly the complexity of the industry that involves many key players. In conclusion, IBM is able to create value for all stakeholders involve by integrating them in the whole value chain of palm oil industry

WHAT COMPETENCIES SHOULD DIRECTORS POSSESS? MALAYSIA PERSPECTIVE

Directors’ competencies are seeing to be of importance to corporate governance. As this issue has not yet being studied extensively in Malaysia, this study determines the key competencies of Malaysian company’s directors using qualitative approach involving two stages of Delphi Technique. In the first stage all information pertaining to directors’ competences in the literature had been reviewed. In the second stage, the key competencies identified in stage one were the criteria for developing a semi structured questionnaire. Participants were asked to rank the competencies in term of their importance for directors’ performance. Based on personel interviews with 41 participants eight types of competencies were found to be essential for Malaysian companies’ directors. Financial competencies received the highest responses, followed by corporate planning, business forecasting, legal, risk management, marketing, human resource and international business. This paper provides important evidence to support the conclusions drawn from the study about the importance of relevant directors’ competencies for board and corporate effectivenessCompetencies, company directors, board effectiveness, corporate governance

Investigating Mediation Effect of Innovation on the Relationship Between Project Management and Property Organizational Performance

In the context of challenging property organizational performance, innovation plays a crucial role in mediating the relationship between project management and organizational performance. Therefore, this paper presents a study aiming to develop and assess a mediation model where project management acts as the independent variable, innovation as the mediator, and property organizational performance as the dependent variable. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey among employees in real estate companies in the UAE, distributing 390 questionnaires using traditional random sampling techniques. However, the model utilized responses from 375 completed questionnaires. The collected data were employed to develop the model in SmartPLS software, which was then analysed and assessed at both the measurement and structural components. The findings indicate that all direct relationships are statistically significant, except for one: QTY -> INNO. Concerning indirect relationships, two out of the four relationships are not statistically significant: QTY -> INNO -> PFM and SCP -> INNO -> PFM. Additionally, the mediator variable, INNO, induces two instances of partial mediation and two instances without any mediation effect. Moreover, the model’s Goodness-of-Fit value is 0.766, indicating that the model has 76.6% of predictive capability

Managing food security in Malaysia: a resource-based view (RBV) analysis

This study was carried out in a case study approach with intended research focus of examining the impact of the intangible resources and tangible resources on the growth of the seed industry in Malaysia. The strategic management of food security in Malaysia became the main concern in this study. It is clear that food security has become an important focus and widely debated issue built on four dimensions; food availability, food stability, food accessibility and food utilization. In the Resource-Based view (RBV) perspective, the focus has been directed towards business start-up as a resource acquisition process, where the availability of unique resources is presumed to promote industry development.The findings revealed that a focus on both tangible and intangible resource development that includes, funds, land, technology, a skilled workforce, policy and brands reputation is likely to generate the most growth within the seed industry. In addition,firms with valuable resources stand a better chance of growth but due to some limitations, government supports are needed, particularly on intangible resources. The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm suggests that positive competitive outcomes are largely attributable to an organizations’ idiosyncratic resources. Hence, this study will help to link and identify the capabilities of both tangible and intangible resouces to fullfill RBV requirements in order to develop more effective support system for seed industry in Malaysia

The relationship between entrepreneurs’ financial literacy and business performance among entrepreneurs of Bauchi State Nigeria

Financial literacy of entrepreneur has been acknowledged as an important aspect that contribute to the success of any business. Many studies have proven that entrepreneurs who possessed high level of financial literacy contribute to success of their business in term of financial and non-financial success. Despite the important of this aspect there is limited study that explore this issue in Nigeria. Therefore, this study explores the relationship between financial literacy and business performance of entrepreneurs in Bauchi State Nigeria. A survey questionnaire was sent to a random sample 500 entrepreneurs which resulted in 386 useable returned questionnaires. The result revealed a statistically significant relationship between the different dimension of financial literacy and entrepreneurial business performance. Thus, the findings prove that financial literacy plays significant role in improving business performance. Therefore, the entrepreneurs need to improve their financial literacy skill in order to enhance their business performance

The relationship between corporate social responsibility and firm performance: evidence from Malaysia

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been an important topic in accounting research. Despite extensive studies on CSR activities in Malaysia, studies that investigated the nature of CSR activities in relation to firm financial performance still limited. Thus, this research investigates the relationship between CSR activities and firm financial performance of Malaysian public listed companies. This study relied on secondary data obtained through content analysis of published company's annual reports for the year 2009-2013. Based on purposive sampling method, this study covered the assessment of the top one hundred companies in Malaysia whose names and shares were quoted in Malaysia stock exchange (Bursa Malaysia). Based on literature, four independent variables (environment, community, workplace and marketplace) and two dependent variables (Earning Per Share (EPS) and Return on Equity (ROE)) have been chosen in this study. Data were analyzed and interpreted using SPSS specifically Pearson's correlation to analyses the relationship between CSR activities and firm financial performance. This study discovered that most of the relationship between four CSR activities (environmental, community, marketplace and workplace) with financial performance (ROA and ROE) were positive. It can be concluded that Malaysian top 100 companies that actively involved in the four CSR activities are able to enhance their financial performance. It is imply that sound financial management can effectively be achieved through appropriate CSR practice that leads to a considerable economic development. Companies' performance would improve by adopting this appropriate recommendation for enhancing good CSR practice

Supply Chain Management Strategy for an Effective Collaboration: A Case Study in Malaysia

The relationship between the refinery and other oil palm industries represent there is an industry that affects other supply chain actors through power collaboration for influencing the supply chain strategy. The purpose of this study is to analyze supply chain relationships in an oil palm refinery. The study employed case study research which the data collection adopted through semi-structured interviews and observation. Oil palm refinery in Malaysia was selected in the case study and analyzed using supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model. Finding showed that the oil palm refinery adopted push strategy. Then, the refinery and vessels emerged to be dominant actors in this supply chain relationship. The result provided implications for analyzing the supply chain relationships between supply chain actors which can be applied to any industry that decide to establish an effective collaboration

The role of social entrepreneurship in Malaysia: a preliminary analysis

Social entrepreneurship involves the application of traditional entrepreneurial principles into context and focuses on social issues. Despite growing rapidly and attracting increased attentions in many developed countries, social entrepreneurship still can be considered new and in fact the activities are still at ground-level within the Malaysian context. This paper provides a review of social entrepreneurship and preliminary analysis of the current state of social entrepreneurship in Malaysia. Specifically, this paper focuses on reviewing the role of social entrepreneurship in enhancing the socio-economics development of the country. Based on the review, it can be concluded that although social entrepreneurship is rather new in Malaysian various agencies whether government or non-government agency begun to realise the importance of social entrepreneurship activities to the social-economic development of the country. Their involvement in various socio-entrepreneurship activities have indirectly contributed to the socio-economic development of the country. It is hoped that the social entrepreneurship continue to grow blossom for future development of the country