Using bootstrap causality tests with leveraged adjustments, the link between exchange rates and stock prices in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand is investigated for the periods immediately before and during the 1997 Asian crisis. Two variables are found to be significantly linked in the non-crisis period but not at all during the crisis period. The … Read more
Many managers must be bewildered that, despite investing in the latest equipment and technology and paying very competitive wages, their organisations still fail to achieve the impressive results enjoyed by their more successful counterparts. Equally bewildering is the difficulty managers find in attracting and retaining the best talent for their organisations. This is the human … Read more
It is clear from the above that there are well founded reasons for Malaysia’s (re)emphasis on agriculture. The medium-term course charted in the 9MP holds great promise. Within this development, there is also a continuing interplay between agri-food supply chain management (SCM) and the rise of supermarkets. Whether countries benefit or lose from these developments … Read more
The right talent is fast becoming a scarce resource, especially with international labour mobility and increased competition from other countries. The war for talents will intensify as demand for high performers escalates and as they become aware of their market value. We must quickly muster the political and industry will to avoid falling behind! Download
The neighbouring Southeast Asian countries of Singapore and Malaysia have contrasting environmental reputations. The small citystate of Singapore, with a population of 4 million and a population density of around 6,150 per square kilometre, is often seen as a model green city. That reputation rests partly on its efforts to control urban congestion and pollution, … Read more
We will have an entirely homogenous, unquestioning decision-making process in an organisation that will not be open to any new ideas. This can be disastrous because as businesses become increasingly global, diverse and accelerated, it becomes ever more crucial for top management to understand, appreciate and tap into how different groups of people with different … Read more
This paper argues that both the self-proclaimed doctrinal Islam of the militants and Western perceptions of a homogeneous Islamist threat need to be deconstructed in order to discover the often ambiguous manifestations of ‘official’ and ‘opposition’ Islam, of modernity and conservatism. As a comparison of two Islamic countries, Egypt and Malaysia, which both claim a … Read more
Do governments in less-democratic newly industrialized countries (NICs) bargain with their citizens? In this article we develop a game-theoretic model to show that the government may not be able to avoid bargaining in open economies such as the Asian NICs when economic conditions are less than optimal. The reason is that, in the absence of … Read more
During the drawn-out FTA talks with Malaysia, US trade officials often remarked in private at the absence of domestic support for open markets and economic reform. With the March 8 elections, it appears that such support may have materialised. This could bode well for Malaysia’s FTA talks with its trading partners, including the US. Download
Abdullah’s own “perestroika??? (reform agenda) proved to be an egregious failure and accounts for the current developments. The jury may still be out on whether the new Abdullah government can be sustained for five more years. My guess is however long he may stay in the driver’s seat, it is obvious that others will be … Read more