Search results

Since independence, Malaysia has generally registered continuous economic growth and this development has brought about numerous benefits including improved social amenities and a trend toward greater urbanization of the population. Economic development in Malaysia has contributed to environmental degradation and uncontrolled physical development, especially in the urban areas. Protection of the environment has become a necessity rather than a luxury in order to maintain public health and well-being as well as to sustain the economic growth. As in most developing countries, there are many challenges facing the country, especially so in urban areas, where the human, physicochemical and biological environments are interlinked (Pereira & Komoo, 2004). One major challenge is the increasing occurrence of geological and flood-related disasters, causing property damage and high cost of maintenance as well as loss of lives, in extreme cases. In part, this is a manifestation of poor planning, and many of the problems related to hazards in urban areas are often exacerbated by human activities.

Claims that, in Singapore, there is intense competition among local banks, hence increasing emphasis is being placed on offering a high quality customer service. Investigates how customers choose which banks to use, taking into account factors such as non‐verbal communication (including behavioural/interpersonal communication and environmental – deriving meaning from one’s surroundings); convenience; reputation; supply of information; and cosmetic factors such as the bank’s stationery. Uses a verbal questionnaire survey to examine the effect non‐verbal communication has on bank patrons’ attitudes. Evaluates banks’ businesslike approach, competency, friendliness, warmness, environment, electronic tellers, location and queueing. Makes a number of recommendations on how banks can improve their image and the service they offer.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors (trust, formalization, knowledge technology, empowering leadership, effective reward systems and motivation) that influence knowledge sharing among the small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia, in order to meet the challenges of today's dynamic business environment.

Systematic sampling was used to select 680 manufacturing sector participants from the SME Corporation Malaysia business directory to participate in the survey, out of which 250 valid responses were returned, yielding a response rate of 36.75 percent. Factor analysis and reliability analysis were conducted before testing the seven hypotheses formulated for this study using regression analysis.

The results indicate that knowledge technology, motivation, effective reward systems, trust and empowering leadership explain up to 60.2 percent of the variance observed in attitude towards knowledge sharing. It was also found that attitude towards knowledge sharing influences intention to share knowledge with an R² of 0.387.

The sample for this study is based on manufacturing sector SMEs only and it is suggested that future studies enlarge the scope to include the SMEs in the service sector.

In order to encourage knowledge sharing within SMEs, firms need to ensure that both the technical (knowledge technology) and social (motivation, effective reward systems, trust and empowering leadership) elements are addressed. Hence, a socio‐technical approach needs to be adopted to ensure the effectiveness of the knowledge management strategies formulated by SMEs.

This study highlights the importance of six factors in encouraging knowledge sharing intentions in SMEs operating within the manufacturing sector and confirms that knowledge technology, which encompasses a range of information and communication technologies does play a pivotal role vis‐à‐vis ensuring that SMEs have favorable attitudes towards knowledge sharing for their sustained competitive advantage.