Malaysia: Collection of Essays

This book is about a collection of scholarly research done over the years while working and lecturing at UTM in Malaysia. My a􏰁ection with Malaysia started while I was working on my post-graduate studies, specializing in Asia-Paci􏰀c region. Back then, Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad was the 􏰀ery prime minister, that put Malaysia on the map, attempting to bring Asian together, and advising the West in the United Nations assembly that democracy should be the rule amongst all members of the UN. Impressed with the economic performance of Malaysia, triggered an interest in examining how Malaysia (under PM Maha- thir) managed to pull out of the 􏰀nancial crisis of 1997, that gripped much of South East Asia. Years later, Malaysia managed to pull itself out of the 􏰀nan- cial crisis, and to be a rising Asian tiger. While consulting in South East Asia, I managed to work eventually and teach at number of universities in Malaysia. The advantage of working for the top 􏰀ve global con- sulting 􏰀rms, is the abundance of raw data, reports, studies and information available at my disposal. Such information, combined with scholarly aca- demic drive to conduct research (on Malaysia) al- lowed for in-depth insight into the various inner workings of Malaysian industries. A separate book was published with numerous business cases in 2017 covering di􏰁erent Malaysian industries. This early interest has turned into love and a􏰁ection to a coun- try with unique history, resources, and marvelous people. The deeper my research of Malaysia, the more my frustration grew with the lack of ability of a na- tion to move into a unique socio-economic position. That is, to equalize with Singapore, or compete at the global level with Korea. I chose 2020 to publish this body of work, because I was waiting to con􏰀rm my hypothesis that Malaysia will not manage to achieve Wawasan 2020 (vision 2020), which is to be amongst 1st world nations. Failing to achieve vision 2020 is no coincidence. Malaysia is stuck in the middle between cheap production countries such as Vietnam and Korea, and services-based economies such as Singapore. The first essay that follows the introduction is called The Phenomenon of Economic Inertia. The prem- ise for this research paper is that Malaysia is su􏰁ering from a phenomenon of inertia, economically how- ever, that it is incapable of pulling it self out of it cur- rent position (like many developing nations) for number of reasons. Primarily, it is a people issue. With corruption being deeply rooted in the varying layers of society, and a leadership that failed to con- trol corruption (as in the case of Singapore) and move the country into globally competitive position. This is what is meant by a “Phenomenon of Inertia” that is a conscious self-in􏰃icted condition. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that all prim 

ministers that lead Malaysia at the end of Dr. Mahathir’s frst rule in 2003 were former cabinet ministers. All of which, fell to change Malaysian global position, or Malaysia’s position in Asia. With 1Malaysia Development Ber- had scandal (1MDB), which led to the return of Dr. Mahathir to power and failing again to e􏰁ectively rule or change Malaysia’s economic position in the world as of 2020. The human factor in the hypothesis of “Phenomenon of Inertia” does comprise of society at large; people, leadership, and institutions. The fourth essay in this book titled “Managerial practices, employee satisfaction and 􏰀rm’s competitiveness in Asian small and medium enterprises SME’s: the case of Malaysia” con􏰀rms the argument made above. Man- agerial practices in Malaysia are still hierarchical and power based. Titles such as Dato, Dato Sri, and Tan Sri amongst others are signi􏰀cant in organizational power based managerial practices. Such hierarchy and power bases, are an evident participant in the in- ner-play of socio-economics of the Malaysian nation. The Malaysian current state of a􏰁airs (as of 2020) is self-in􏰃icted condition. The 􏰀fth and sixth essays titles “Quality and Change Management at the Malaysian Public School System. The Case of SIGS” and “Impact of service quality, trust and perceived value on customer loy- alty in Malaysia services industries” both the

notion that the education system in Malaysia is deeply 􏰃awed. This naturally lead into the state of Malaysian industrial competitiveness, which is not breaking through its global competitors. It is regret- table to conclude that with lack of socio-economic advancements and stagnant global competitive posi- tion is, Malaysia would be limited to a great tourist destination, agricultural and services based nations with numerous challenges that can only be changed by a self-less visionary leadership, that has to impose change to break out of its social and economic strug- gle in the eve of the 21st century. With so much to o􏰁er, Malaysia still has a great chance to make the leap forward to achieve its Wawasan to be realized in a later date, as long as it gets there. This will entirely depend on the will of the Malaysian people collectively.