Quality management and profitability linkage: Does the length of QM adoption act as the moderating variable?

Manufacturing companies in Malaysia have never had it so tough. They are now confronting increasing prices of oil and raw materials, high advancement in innovation and technology, as well as high customer expectation on the quality of products and services. In addition, managers of these companies are well aware of the increasing competitive pressures in the world market. It is clear today that these pressures are due largely to the increased performance of those firms that have successfully implemented quality improvement.This paper presents the findings from an empirical study examining the relationship between quality management (QM) practices and profitability in the electronics and electrical industry in Malaysia. It is said that QM has the potential to not only enhance production efficiency and effectiveness, but also improves bottom-line results. Much has been written about the relationship between QM and performance. However, the link of QM practices to profitability in the electronics and electrical industry in Malaysia has not been fully addressed in empirical studies. To address this issue, this paper investigates the impact of QM practices on profitability in the Malaysian electronics and electrical industry using correlation, multiple regression,and hierarchical regression analyses. The findings revealed that quality measurement, supplier relations, and benchmarking in particular, appear to be of primary importance and exhibit significant impact on profitability. Findings of the study provided a striking demonstration of the importance of implementing effective QM practices for the electronics and electrical industry in Malaysia in enhancing its profitability. However, the study failed to provide the statistical evidence of the existence of the moderating effect of the length of QM adoption on the QM and profitability linkage

Quality Management and Profitability Linkage: Does the Length of QM Adoption Act as the Moderating Variable?

Manufacturing companies in Malaysia have never had it so tough. They are now confronting increasing prices of oil and raw materials, high advancement in innovation and technology, as well as high customer expectation on the quality of products and services. In addition, managers of these companies are well aware of the increasing competitive pressures in the world market. It is clear today that these pressures are due largely to the increased performance of those firms that have successfully implemented quality improvement. This paper presents the findings from an empirical study examining the relationship between quality management (QM) practices and profitability in the electronics and electrical industry in Malaysia. It is said that QM has the potential to not only enhance production efficiency and effectiveness, but also improves bottom-line results. Much has been written about the relationship between QM and performance. However, the link of QM practices to profitability in the electronics and electrical industry in Malaysia has not been fully addressed in empirical studies. To address this issue, this paper investigates the impact of QM practices on profitability in the Malaysian electronics and electrical industry using correlation, multiple regression, and hierarchical regression analyses. The findings revealed that quality measurement, supplier relations, and benchmarking in particular, appear to be of primary importance and exhibit significant impact on profitability. Findings of the study provided a striking demonstration of the importance of implementing effective QM practices for the electronics and electrical industry in Malaysia in enhancing its profitability. However, the study failed to provide the statistical evidence of the existence of the moderating effect of the length of QM adoption on the QM and profitability linkage.

The significant impact of customer relations practices (CRP), information technology (IT) and information sharing between supply chain partners (IS) on product sales / Arawati Agus, Za’faran Hassan and Sarminah Ahmad

This paper examines the relationship between supply chain management programs and sales in manufacturing companies in Malaysia. The study measures senior quality managers’ or production manager’s perception of SCM practices and sales in the industry. This study investigates relationships between supply chain management programs and sales through statistical methods such as Spearman’s correlations, Friedman’s rank test and multiple regression analysis. The findings suggest that SCM programs and implementations especially ‘customer relations practices’ (CRP), ‘technology & information’ (IT) and ‘information sharing between supply chain partners’ (IS) have significant correlations and associations with sales. The result also indicates that ‘High salesgenerated companies’ emphasized more on SCM programs such as ‘Customer Relations Practices’, ‘Technology and Innovation’ and ‘Strategic Supplier Partnership’

Does quality differentiation strategies enhance competitive advantage and customer satisfaction? a strategic management perspective / Arawati Agus and Za'faran Hassan

This study examines the impact of competitive quality differentiation strategies of Malaysian manufacturing companies and its impact on the enhancement of customer satisfaction. The findings demonstrate that consumer satisfaction can be influenced substantially by the product attribute structure, price and personnel differentiations. It also suggests that richer theories of competitive advantage may be constructed by formally integrating the "behavioral" view of consumer decision-making into concepts of marketing strategy

Accounting education: Filling competencies gap

Globalisation has changed the competitive and technological environments in which businesses operate. This in turn has resulted in new expectations of accounting profession. Accordingly, accounting education must change to meet the needs of the profession. In the USA and UK, there is a widespread belief that the current accounting program is inadequate to meet the present and expected needs of the profession. Accounting educators have always been reproved for creating competencies gap, which means that what is important in the workplace, is not being emphasized in the universities. In the Malaysian context, our accounting degree curriculum has already been integrated by other disciplines in order to fulfill the need of current state in accounting profession, but do the local higher institutions still suffer the similar problems and be blamed on the same ground accordingly? This research aims to identify the competency gap probably created by local universities and it will be a basis for reviewing accounting education. In this study, 1,300 questionnaires were sent to accounting graduates from local public universities such as Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, International Islamic University, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Mara, and Universiti Putra Malaysia who are members of Malaysian Institute of Accountants. There were 243 returned questionnaires. Gap analysis found 2 categories of gaps; 1) large gap and 2) small gap. Large gap suggest that the most important competencies in the workplace but less emphasized at their universities are broad competencies such as communication skills, decision-making skills, leadership etc. The small gap suggest that the competencies which almost fulfill the workplace requirement are core competencies such as skill in financial accounting, management accounting, auditing, accounting system & control and taxation. In restructuring the accounting education, this study suggests that more revision and expansion should be placed on broad competencies such as existing marketing, communication, decision-making and leadership courses in the local universities. Finally, co-operation between universities and practitioners is important in bridging the gap

Pengaruh latihan ke atas pembezaan personel dalam pengurusan rantaian bekalan (SCM): kajian kes syarikat pembuatan di Malaysia

Latihan yang efektif sering dianggap sebagai faktor kritikal dalam mempertingkatkan kemahiran dan pengetahuan bagi pekerja atau kakitangan sesebuah organisasi. Kajian ini menyiasat pengaruh latihan dalam pengurusan rantaian bekalan (SCM) terhadap pembezaan pekerja bagi syarikat-syarikat pembuatan di Malaysia. Data primer telah diperolehi menerusi hasil soalselidik 126 responden-syarikat yang disampel dari Direktori Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers. Hubungan di antara latihan dalam SCM dan pembezaan personel di analisis menerusi kaedah-kaedah statistik seperti Korelasi Pearson dan Regresi Berganda menggunakan data terdiri dari 126 responden. Pembezaan personel di lihat mempunyai korelasi yang tinggi dengan latihan. Penemuan menerusi Regresi Berganda mendapati bahawa dua pembolehubah latihan iaitu ‘Latihan pekerja dalam kemahiran pengeluaran’ dan ‘Latihan pekerja mengenai teknologi rantaian bekalan’ mempamerkan pengaruh yang tinggi terhadap pembezaan personel yang terdiri dari pembezaan pekerja dan pembezaan perkhidmatan. Latihan dalam kemahiran pengeluaran boleh menanam kemahiran dan pengetahuanuntuk melaksanakan tugas yang diperlukan secara efisien dan seterusnya mengurangkan kerja rosak, salahguna mesin dan menurunkan risiko fizikal. Di samping itu, Latihan pekerja mengenai teknologi rantaian bekalan boleh menyediakan pekerja dengan kemahiran untuk menangani kerumitan membentuk pengkongsian pembekal startegik; meningkatkan maklumbalas pelanggan, menyediakan pertukaran maklumat dalam SCM yang lebih betul, tepat masa dan berkualiti

An empirical test of TQM in public service sector and its impact on customer satisfaction

This article is based on the result of a TQM study aimed at investigating the relationship between TQM and customer satisfaction, as well as the strength of their manifest indicators. Several studies have proven that TQM practices have a significant positive impact on organizational performances. However, the impact of TQM on customer satisfaction in the service sector has not been fully addressed in empirical studies in Malaysia. To address this gap, this study seeks to enhance understandings of the relationships between TQM practices and customer satisfaction in a public service sector in Malaysia. Statistical methods used include reliability analysis, correlation analysis, a two-way ANOVA and structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings suggest that employee focus is a very important factor in TQM implementation in the service sector followed by training, customer focus, benchmarking, and top management commitment. The result also highlights the unique contribution of TQM towards customer satisfactio

Modeling premium growth in the Malaysian Motor Insurance Industry

The motor insurance industry came into the limelight since the enforcement of mandatory motor insurance coverage in 1959 This paper uses a modeling technique to ascertain the various components and parameters that affect the change in premiums receIved by the entire industry, or a segment of it. Once these components & parameters are identified, the actual growth of new premiums can be derived by extrapolating the components and parameters in one or more expressions (or commonly referred to as a formula). These expressions could be useful in forecasting the future market dynamics of the motor Insurance Industry