Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1977. / Mimeographed. Also availalbe in microfilm.

published_or_final_version / Applied Geosciences / Master / Master of Science

published_or_final_version / Comparative Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

No description available.

Organisational commitment has been suggested as a function of the degree of integration and congruence of individual and organisational goals and values. The more employees can satisfy their needs through work, the more they will be committed to an organisation. The organisational conditions that influence such need satisfaction are generally known as quality of worklife (QWL). The purpose of the study was to examine the relative importance and perceived presence of factors associated with QWL, their relationships with organisational commitment (OC), and demographic patterns of their relationships for nonsupervisory employees in Malaysia. Underlying questions explored were the crosscultural universality of theories of QWL and OC and their utility for management policy and action. The research instrument employed was a survey questionnaire in the Malaysian language based on Western models of QWL and OC and using Likert scaling. Usable responses were obtained from 672 employees in 671 organisations. Statistical analysis was carried out using factor analysis, t-test, analysis of variance and multiple regressions. The Western model and measures of affective, normative and continuance commitment were generally supported, but two sub-factors emerged for continuance commitment relating to cost of leaving and lack of alternatives. The collectivist nature of Malaysian culture emerged as an important determinant of QWL and, in turn, OC. The most important QWL factors were workplace integration, work environmenta nd supervision. The first two of these were perceived as those most present. Different demographic relationships emerged between affective, normative and continuance commitment and QWL. Indicators for changing management policies and action to improve QWL and hence OC among non-supervisory employees in Malaysia concern work environment, workplace integration and the social relevance of work. The equity of pay and benefits, though itself an unimportant QWL factor, was also related to affective commitment.

This comparative study examines trends in the representation of the environment in Malaysian and New Zealand newspapers over an eight year period. By comparing the two media contexts, it explored the role of journalism’s occupational norms, of the relationship between journalists and sources and of media ownership in determining the quality of news coverage of the environment. The sample was made up of eight mainstream newspapers which were selected based on biggest circulation figures, sampled in 1996, 2000 and 2004. The four Malaysian newspapers, all nationally distributed, were the English-language papers The New Straits Times and The Star, and the Malay-language papers Berita Harian and Utusan Malaysia. The four New Zealand newspapers, all regionally distributed, were The Press, The Dominion Post, The New Zealand Herald and The Otago Daily Times. The study employed content analysis as the prime method to observe trends in environmental news; while in-depth interviews with 40 respondents were used to verify from subjects’ experiences the various forces that might cause the trends. Major content analysis findings were that environmental news is underrepresented in both countries and that the news patterns in the two countries are quite similar. The study raised questions about the quality of the news, with much of the coverage being conflict-framed, one-source event stories, with high dependency on government officials. These problems were less acute in New Zealand. Trends were largely stable across the three years. The most significant change in Malaysian coverage was an increase in the use of the public and scientists as sources over time. Interviews revealed some differences between New Zealand and Malaysia in journalists’ awareness of organizational determinants of news, editorial policies towards the environment, sources criticisms of journalists’ laziness, but also many common problems, including journalists’ lack of knowledge about environmental issues and science. In Malaysia, government control of the news and editors’ self-censorship of sensitive news was identified as a problem. The study concludes that newspapers in both countries do not operate as information providers or educators, but most of the time are reactive towards environmental issues.

No description available.

Japanese-style management has attracted a lot of attention from managers, business executives and scholars worldwide. The sudden intensity of interest in the so-called Japanese Management Model has been partly due to the rapid ascendancy of Japan as, a leading economic superpower in a relatively short period after her humiliating defeat in the Second World War. In 1982, Malaysia officially launched the "Look East" policy to emulate the Japanese by adopting Japanese-style management practices. It was believed that by adopting Japanese-style management techniques, the Malaysians can replicate the Japanese success. This study aims to discuss what constitutes Japanese-style management and also to determine if it can be transferred to the Malaysian public enterprise sector. From this study, it was revealed that only some elements of Japanese-style management are transferable to Malaysian public enterprises. There is a number of problems encountered in trying to transfer the Japanese practices to Malaysian public enterprise sector, especially if they are not compatible with the Malaysian values. The problems of transferring Japanese management techniques across national boundaries are further compounded when the transfer is from private sector to public sector. Even in the case of Japan, her public enterprise sector does not even have a reputation of efficient management. It was also found that despite the official policy and persistent effort towards "Japanisation" by the government, the majority of Malaysian workforce still prefer the present existing management system. To some extent, the study has provided some answers to questions regarding the feasibility of adopting the Japanese-style management. But most important of all, the study has revealed that Japanese-style management is not a panacea to the problems confronting the public enterprise sector in Malaysia.

No description available.

For the past thirty years the Malaysian economy has been said to contribute well to the progress of the nations. However, the intensification of global economic activity and the extensive use of ICTs in recent years are challenging government's effort to further develop Malaysian society. The competition posed by the low wage economies such as China and Vietnam have made the government realise the importance of engaging in high-skill and high technology industries. It is hoped this will be the basis of attracting more FDI (foreign direct investment) in order to help the country to compete in a globalised world. Using Vision 2020 as its targeted vision, the government has decided to engage in the use of ICTs and introduce many policies pertaining to it. This thesis is mainly concerned with the study of ICT policy in Malaysia and its consequences for both the economy and society. The investigation focuses on the three dimensions: 'ICTs and economic growth', 'ICTs and inequality' and 'the element of neo-colonialism'. Two approaches are used to achieve the objectives of the study. They are secondary analysis and semi-structured interviews. This thesis is largely dependent on library research and secondary sources such as government official policies and data. Semi-structured interviews are used as a means to support or test some of the arguments and evidence collected throughout the analysis and discussion. For the interviews, three groups of people were identified: policy developers, implementers and evaluators. These people are those involved directly and indirectly with ICT policy establishment and implementation. The findings show that policy pertaining to ICTs in Malaysia contributes to economic growth, but the consequences of this have resulted in greater division within society. Although some of the divisions such as gender and ethnicity are narrowing down, the gap in important areas such as regions and class differences, is becoming wider. The widespread use of ICTs might contribute to the further establishment of democracy in Malaysia, but the increasing number of foreign entities such as FDI and foreign workers, cultural hybridisation and to some extent cultural doniination are contributing to neocolonialism in Malaysia. This has obvious consequences for the government's effort to create a Malaysian national identity. An important finding of this work is that there are contradictions within ICT policy between the effort to develop the economy and society.