Malaysian Management Journal (MMJ) Vol. 8 No. 1 Special Issue, 2004

Mothers' Involvement: Children's Perception of Maternal Childrearing Practices

Zahyah Hanafi
Faculty of Cognitive Sciences and Education
Universiti Utara Malaysia

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

The purpose of this study is to identify maternal childrearing practices (achievement values, monitoring, and discussion) among employed and unemployed Malaysian mothers. Generally, these mothers have similar levels of childrearing practices. They instill high achievement values, conduct consistent monitoring on their children, and carry out regular discussions with them. They only differ in terms of monitoring. Discussion, implications, recommendations, and suggestions for future study are included.

A Cointegration Analysis on Trade Behaviour in Selected ASEAN Countries Using Dynamic OLS and Johansen Maximum Likelihood Approaches

Nor' Aznin Abu Bakar
Faculty of Economics
Universiti Utara Malaysia

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

This paper aims to analyse the trade behaviour of four selected ASEAN countries (based on their export/import products) by using a co-integration analysis. The demand for exports and imports are estimated for the period before the currency crisis erupted ( 1963 -1995 ), using the dynamic OLS (DOLS) method. The Johansen Maximum Likelihood (JML) approach is also employed to compare the results obtained. The results show that foreign income has a significant impact on export demand, suggesting that foreign disturbance in the form of economic activities is likely to be transmitted to these countries. The Marshall Lerner conditions are easily met for the case of Malaysia and Thailand (DOLS and JML). For Indonesia and the Philippines, the sum of the price elasticities of exports and imports demands are less than unity, this can be explained by the J-curve, in which the currency depreciation will first worsen the trade balance before it improves and it takes time to affect the trade balance.

Measuring Poverty in Malaysia: Applications of Distributive-Sensitive Poverty Indices

A. H. Roslan
Faculty of Economics
Universiti Utara Malaysia

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

This paper represents an attempt to seek a better way to measure poverty in Malaysia. Many studies, including government published figures employ the head-count ratio as the index of poverty. However; this measure is a narrow measure of poverty. Specifically, it ignores the distribution of income among the poor, and hence has its limitation. Here, besides the usual simple head-count ratio (H) that was reported in most previous studies as well as in government documents, better poverty measures were employed— the poverty-income gap ratio (I), Sen (S), Clark, Hemming and Ulph Index (P*), and Foster; Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) indices of poverty. These indices introduce a welfare function that is sensitive to the distribution of income among the poor Thus, they provide a richer picture of the nature of poverty and thus could be used for policy design with a greater level of confidence. Furthermore. the FGT index of poverty was decomposed to examine the contribution of different groups to total poverty. These indices were calculated using the Malaysian Family Life Survey (MFLS) data.

Divisia Index Monetary Aggregates: Do they Matter for Monetary Policy in Malaysia?

Jauhari Dahalan
Faculty of Economics
Universin Utara Malaysia

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

Divisia for narrowly and broadly defined monetary aggregate of a developing country Malaysia, are constructed. Unlike the Divisia for narrowly defined monetary aggregate MI, the Divisia for broader defined monetary aggregate M2 does show significant differences in both level and growth rates that signified the degree of the important and usefulness of Divisia index in formulating the monetary policy We ascertained that there exist long-run relationships between all measures of monetary aggregates in this study with inflations. By constructing dynamic error-correction models for all the alternative measures of monetary aggregates. we performed out-of-sample forecasting for three different periods. Analysis of the forecasting statistics indicates that the Divisia monetary aggregates performed better than their simple-sum counterparts in forecasting ability. We conclude that Divisia monetary aggregate namely Divisia M2, has the best forecast ability among all. As such, Divisia M2 can serve as an excellent candidate as a target or indicator in formulating the monetary policy for Malaysia.

Keywords: Divisia simple-sum, monetary aggregates, unit root. ECM, root mean square error; root mean absolute error, root mean absolute percentage error.

Multi-Source Assessment - A Total Quality Management Driven Performance Appraisal System: The Issue of Fairness

Zaini Abdullah
Institute of Knowledge Advancement (InKA)
Universiti Teknologi MARA

Rushami Zien Yusoff
Faculty of Management of Technology
Universiti Utara Malaysia

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

Performance Management and Total Quality Management are important factors of organizational life, it helps organizations to identify and manage the performance of highs achievers, as well as identify low and non-performers for intervention and development. Total Quality Management takes a system - oriented perspective in managing individuals and group performance and must be compatible with continuous improvement efforts and customer-based strategies. The TQM driven Multi-source Assessment provides an alternative to traditional supervisor only appraisal process. This study was under- taken to determine whether Total Quality Management (TQM) based multi-source assessment (MSA) appraisal is perceived as fairer than traditional supervisor only appraisal system. The study was con- ducted using multi-group experimental design in a field setting. The perceived fairness of the performance assessment system was tested using the combined pretest posttest data of the experimental and control group. The t-test results indicated that changes in agreement scores from pretest to posttest result were significant and respondents perceived the TQM driven MSA process to be fairer The results and discussion of the study show that the MSA process depicts a paradigm shift, not only to management process, but how employees see their changing roles in total quality management driven organization.

Key Risk Determinants of Listed Deposit-Taking Institutions in Malaysia

Nor Hayati Ahmad & Mohamed Ariff
Faculty of Finance and Banking
Universiti Utara Malaysia

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

Risk management is a critical function in banking operations in the wake of several banking crises. However, we find few studies on risk management and a lack of empirical investigation on factors affecting the risk of Malaysian banks. These gaps have motivated us to identify the main factors associated with the risk of locally listed deposit-taking institutions. The findings show that three factors were significantly associated with unsystematic risk, while the systematic risk and the total risk of these deposit-taking institutions were significantly affected by four main factors. These four factors namely non-performing loans, cost of funds, loan to deposit ratio and inter-bank offered rate however, were found to have a more profound effect on the total risk than on the systematic risk or the unsystematic risk of Malaysian deposit-taking institutions.

Keywords: bank risk, problem loans, deposit-taking institutions

JEL Classification: G21: G28

Leader - Member Exchange and Superior-Subordinate Communication Behavior: A Case of a Malaysian Organization

Hassan Abu Bakar & Bahtiar Mohamad
Faculty of Communication and Modern Languages
Universiti Utara Malaysia

Iran Herman
Faculty of Social Development and Humanities
Universiti Utara Malaysia

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

This paper attempts to test the quality of relationship between superiors and subordinates as indicated in leader-member exchange (LMX) theory on superior communication behavior: The results of this study indicate that there are no significance differences between out-group and in-group members. However when in-group members were compared to mid-group members the result reveals significance differences between these two groups.

Malaysian Management Journal (MMJ) Vol. 8 No. 1 Special Issue, 2004

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