Exploring leadership in self-managed project teams in Malaysia

This paper focuses on a longitudinal approach in exploring leadership in Self-Managed Project Teams (SMPT). SMPT has been known to contribute to organizations by improving productivity and increasing organizational performance. Therefore, understanding the dynamics of leadership in this type of team can be seen as one of the important factors to ensure the success of organizations. Leading a team which manages itself is a challenge as increased autonomy and control is given to the team which eliminates the existence of a leader. It is important to understand the extent of how the external leader is involved within SMPT and whether the external leader approaches highlighted in the literature are applicable in such a situation and how these approaches change during work processes. This study comprises of evidence collected through semi-structured interviews in two small and medium sized organizations in Malaysia. Weekly telephone interviews as well as face-to-face interviews were conducted which provides contextual data for the research. In this research, the evidence suggested that SMPT transform from self-managed toward leader-managed resulting from several factors, such as conflict handling strategies. Specifically, it was found that avoiding conflicts, rather than confronting, transform the team into being leader dependent

Exploring Conflict Management Using Qualitative Approach

This paper focuses on qualitative methods in researching the area of conflict management, specifically in Self-Managed Project Team (SMPT). The research aims to explore the evolvement of conflict management strategies in SMPT as this type of team is given the responsibility to solve problems and make decision by themselves. The inductive approach will overcome the limitation of quantitative method in management research as one of its objectives is to explain the different elements of the explored social system and their interconnection. Hence, it aims at the contextual understanding of social behavior rather than extensive measurement. This paper also includes the research activities in details such as the data collection methods which involved semi-structured interviews and weekly telephone interviews. The findings of the research proposed that conflict management strategies in SMPT changes over time from confrontation and cooperative style towards avoidance due to the issues of reputation and the deadline

Konflik dalam proses penilaian prestasi dalam organisasi

Kajian ini dijalankan untuk mengenal pasti kewujudan konflik dalam proses penilaian prestasi dan kesannya terhadap prestasi pekerja dalam organisasi. Penilaian prestasi merupakan satu mekanisme penting yang membolehkan organisasi menilai keberkesanan dan sumbangan pekerja terhadap organisasi. Namun dalam menguruskan penilaian prestasi, konflik tidak dapat dielakkan bilamana pihak pengurusan perlu memberi penilaian terhadap pencapaian para pekerja. Kajian berkaitan penilaian prestasi masih kurang mendapat perhatian dalam kalangan pengkaji, khususnya dalam konteks organisasi di Malaysia. Maka, kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti kewujudan konflik dalam organisasi yang dikaji dan seterusnya meneliti kesannya terhadap prestasi pekerja. Kajian ini telah dijalankan terhadap dua buah organisasi di Malaysia menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif. Kaedah temu bual bersemuka telah dijalankan terhadap 15 orang peserta yang terdiri daripada pengurus sebagai penilai dalam penilaian prestasi serta para pekerja atau eksekutif yang dinilai. Hasil kajian ini mendapati kewujudan konflik dalam proses penilaian prestasi yang memberi kesan terhadap motivasi dan emosi pekerja dan penilai

Meneroka dinamik perhubungan dalam kumpulan projek

Kajian ini dijalankan untuk meneroka tentang perhubungan antara ahli dalam kumpulan projek di dalam organisasi. Kumpulan projek diwujudkan dengan mengumpulkan pakar dalam pelbagai bidang bagi menyempurnakan sesuatu tugasan. Ini membantu meningkatkan produktiviti dengan cara memanfaatkan perkongsian maklumat dan pengetahuan oleh para pakar berkenaan dalam melaksanakan tugasan. Namun perkara penting dalam pengoperasian kumpulan projek ialah perhubungan yang baik di antara ahli kumpulan. Perhubungan merupakan satu jaringan sosial yang terbina di antara individu yang melibatkan perasaan, kerjasama dan kebergantungan antara satu sama lain. Apabila bekerja dalam satu kumpulan, perhubungan perlu dititikberatkan untuk memastikan ahli dapat bekerjasama dengan baik. Ini akan mendorong ke arah kumpulan projek yang efektif. Namun kajian berkaitan dengan dinamik perhubungan masih kurang mendapat perhatian daripada pengkaji, khususnya dalam konteks kumpulan projek. Maka kajian ini dijalankan bagi mengenal pasti faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi perhubungan ahli dalam kumpulan projek. Kaedah kualitatif telah digunakan yang mana temu duga separa berstruktur dijalankan dengan melibatkan 15 orang peserta kajian dari dua organisasi di Malaysia. Dapatan kajian telah mengenal pasti tiga faktor yang saling mempengaruhi perhubungan dalam kumpulan projek iaitu: usia, komunikasi dan komitmen

What drives students’ intention to take marketing majoring? An empirical investigation of the critical factors

The objective of the research is to examine the relationship among intrinsic motivation, variety of career, introductory unit of marketing course and intention to adopt marketing majoring among first-year undergraduate business students in Malaysia. A total 184 questionnaires were collected via convenience sampling from undergraduate students from public and private universities located in Klang valley and Selangor in Malaysia. Regression analysis was applied to access the relationship between the proposed variables. The findings revealed that all three factors namely, intrinsic motivation, variety of career and introductory unit of marketing course were found to have a statistically significant influence on intention to adopt marketing majoring

Faced With Obstacles and Uncertainty: a Thematic Review of Middle Managers in Higher Education

Purpose: This study aims to identify the most prevalent issues, challenges, and uncertainty raised by middle managers and universities in published works from 2012 to 2021. Despite its popularity, there is no review article discussing the issues and difficulties faced by middle managers in higher education.   Theoretical Framework: This research draws on two theories, the managerial work theory, which focuses on daily managerial activities and the space, organisation, and management theory, which seeks to understand the space in which middle managers execute their activities and the effects of space on the management team and the organisation.   Design/Methodology/Approach: The Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases were used to identify English-language articles. Using ATLAS.ti 22, this thematic review will synthesise literature regarding middle managers and universities.   Finding: This review identified 36 articles containing 19 codes that characterise the approaching issues, problems, and challenges faced by university middle managers, grouped into 4 themes including leadership, financial, resource, and operational challenges.   Research Practical/ Social Implications: The middle managers in higher education institutions are given a boost from this study, which recommends ways in which they might improve their competencies and therefore further the institution's sustainability.   Originality/Value: This research makes novel contribution to the incipient literature by providing the patterns and trends that could affect how university middle managers work in the future and what their roles will be

Persepsi mahasiswa terhadap urusan pembelian atas talian

Pembelian atas talian semakin mendapat tempat di hati masyarakat di Malaysia khususnya mahasiswa. Berbanding pembelian secara konvensional yang memerlukan seseorang individu untuk hadir ke kedai bagi mendapatkan barangan, pembelian secara atas talian adalah lebih mudah dan menjimatkan masa kerana segala transaksi dilakukan secara maya. Kemudahan ini amat sesuai bagi golongan mahasiswa yang mempunyai kekangan masa untuk keluar membeli-belah selain sifat semulajadi mereka yang inginkan sesuatu yang cepat dan senang. Namun begitu terdapat juga risiko yang perlu diambilkira seperti barang yang diterima berbeza (saiz, warna dan kualiti) daripada yang diiklankan, barangan tidak sampai setelah pembayaran dibuat, barangan yang sampai telah rosak dan sebagainya. Oleh itu, kajian ini dijalankan bagi mengenalpasti faktor yang mempengaruhi aktiviti pembelian secara atas talian khususnya dikalangan mahasiswa. Kajian kualitatif menggunakan temubual separa berstruktur telah dijalankan terhadap 30 orang responden yang terdiri daripada pelajar prasiswazah di Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa faktor kepercayaan dan risiko telah dikenalpasti sebagai faktor utama dalam pembuatan keputusan golongan mahasiswa untuk melakukan pembelian secara atas talian

Relocating home activities: spatial experiments in Malaysian apartment houses to accommodate the vernacular lifestyle

To cope with the fast urbanisation and population growth, the public and private sector housing developments in Kuala Lumpur have prioritised the high-rise apartment building. After decades’ massive development, this housing type became the most dominant dwelling form in the city. For centuries, the traditional Malay house has evolved to suit to the vernacular lifestyle, but now the urban life mandates that people adapt themselves to this alien concrete house. This paper investigated the hidden cultural link between these two seemingly different house forms. Using graph-theoretic methods, we traced how old domestic activities were transferred to the modern housing and revealed how the old spatial order of front/back and high/low distinctions could be re-configured inside the high-rise apartment housing in a creative way by Malaysian architects. There have been frictions and compromises between the past and present, but the outcomes of this research clearly indicate that there exists a cultural DNA of Malay housing that guides the whole process of housing evolution

A Comparative Review of the Statutory Periodic Building Inspection Implementation in the Klang Valley Region, Malaysia and Hong Kong, China

Government response to building calamities using certain approaches depends on the types of building failures. Such approaches are the Periodic Building Inspection (PBI) in Malaysia and the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (MBIS) in Hong Kong. Both statutory requirements are meant to maintain the safety and structural integrity of buildings, and MBIS is selected for comparison with PBI because of the many parallelisms between the applications of both laws. Since it was made a statutory requirement in 1994, studies have found that PBI implementation by various local authorities in the Klang Valley region, Malaysia was insufficient. Comparing both statutory requirements offer insight and understanding into the compliance issues and solutions, therefore, benefiting the PBI from the proposed improvements. To achieve the aforementioned goal, the following objectives are proposed: a) To compare both statutory periodic building inspections; b) To identify gaps and best practices in both statutory periodic building inspections; and c) To propose improvements for PBI implementation. This research involves data gathering and comparative reviews of prior studies on PBI and MBIS. The study's outcomes suggest significant similarities in the challenges faced during the implementation of both statutory periodic inspections. These challenges encompass unclear legal procedures, insufficient government participation, and weak enforcement. Building owners in both localities also encounter hurdles related to financial limitations, gaining consensus from residents, and selecting suitable engineers. Hong Kong's targeted inspection using a risk-based approach priority can be emulated by local authorities in Malaysia. Hong Kong's approach of allowing other qualified professionals like registered architects and building surveyors to perform initial visual inspections could also be applied in Malaysia. KPKT should consider providing financial support to low cost building owners, similar to the initiatives of the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) and Urban Renewal Authority (URA). Local authorities and KPKT need to refine their service delivery through improved inter-departmental collaboration and heightened engagement with building owners. Revisions to Act 133, mirroring enforcement methods in Hong Kong, would be beneficial. Additionally, efforts should be made to raise public awareness about the significance of conducting PBI

Hubungan antara beban kerja, faktor peribadi, dan pembelajaran-E terhadap tahap tekanan di kalangan Gen-Y

Stres atau tekanan merupakan tindak balas mental, fizikal dan emosi seseorang individu apabila menghadapi sesuatu situasi. Stres juga merupakan penyebab kepada penyakit mental. Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia menjangkakan pada tahun 2020 penyakit mental adalah penyakit kedua tertinggi di dunia. Oleh itu, kajian ini dijalankan untuk mengenal pasti faktor-faktor dan tahap tekanan dalam kalangan mahasiswa Gen-Y di Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi. Faktor tekanan yang dikaji adalah beban kerja, faktor peribadi (hubungan interpersonal) dan pembelajaran-e. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah kuantitatif dalam menentukan perhubungan semua pemboleh ubah tidak bersandar (beban kerja, hubungan interpersonal, dan pembelajaran-e) dan pemboleh ubah bersandar (tahap tekanan). Seramai 150 orang mahasiswa telah dipilih secara rawak sebagai responden kajian ini. Setiap hipotesis telah diuji menggunakan perisian Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa beban kerja dan faktor peribadi (hubungan interpersonal) mempengaruhi tekanan, namun berbeza dengan pembelajaran-e yang tidak mempengaruhi tekanan dalam kalangan mahasiswa. Dapatan kajian juga menunjukkan tiada perbezaan tahap tekanan dalam kalangan mahasiswa mengikut bangsa, fakulti dan jantina kecuali tahun pengajian. Hasil kajian ini dapat memberikan maklumat penting kepada pihak pengurusan sebagai panduan untuk memupuk sifat positif dan dinamik dalam kalangan mahasiswa