The subject of fiscal federalism has been associated for many years with economics, in particular with the study of public finance. However, its political dimension is often neglected. This is the case in the conventional study of fiscal federalism in Malaysia, which focuses on the economic perspective. The aim of this thesis is to examine the design, implementation and problem of fiscal federalism in Malaysia as a political process in promoting national integration and the unity of the federation. This research is based on an intrinsic case study approach as the subject of fiscal federalism attracts strong public interest, which requires an in-depth study of the case. In doing this research, a combination of narrative report, statistical analysis and interview has been used. One of the significant findings of this research is that the design of fiscal federalism in Malaysia is essentially based not on the federal spirit, but on the strong central government theme imposed by the colonial authority concomitant to the historical and political background to the formation of the federation. As a result, today, fiscal federalism displays a federal bias and mounting centripetal forces, even to the extent of coercion on the states, making the federal government grow bigger and more dominant, financially and politically. Thus, the working of fiscal federalism depends not on what is enshrined in the Constitution and federal spirit but on centre-state political interactions. If states' politics are not affiliated with the ruling political party that control the federal government, federal-state fiscal relations will be strained. The effects are felt in petroleum royalties payments, disbursement of grants, borrowing and other form of fiscal 'sanction' imposed by federal executive supremacy. On the other hand, if the states are ruled by the same political party, they become financially complacent. To all intents and purposes, the exclusive control of revenue sources by the centre has enabled the federal government to prevent most states from falling to the opposition party, thus ensuring a majority in parliament. The outcome is that the states are subordinated and subservient to the centre and hence the futures of the states are subject to the federal government's 'unilateral action'. In the long run, Malaysia is moving towards becoming a unitary state. This is the antithesis of the federal spirit, and thus becomes a threat to the federation. Therefore, fiscal federalism is a crucial acid test of the viability of any federation. Fortunately, thus far, Malaysian federalism had passed the test, though the states find more pain than gain. In the final analysis, this thesis suggests that structural reform of the federal-states' financial arrangements should be undertaken in order to strengthen the states' finances and subsequently reduce the states' dependence on the largesse of the federal government for funds.

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Malaysia is one of a number of developing countries that have used employee share ownership schemes as part of its strategy to further economic development. There is a considerable literature on employee share ownership. However most of it has been based on schemes implemented in developed countries where their contextual environments are different from the one in Malaysia. It is expected that the different context will affect the implementation and the outcome of the schemes. This study looks at a number of issues related to the 'employee share option scheme' (ESOS), a common form of employee share ownership scheme in Malaysia. First this study identifies the nature and structure of the schemes implemented in the country. This is important as the nature of the scheme can affect its effectiveness. Furthermore, the type of scheme introduced in Malaysia has been distinctive. Second this study looks at the objectives of companies in introducing the schemes and their perception of the scheme's effectiveness. Third this study looks at the employees' understanding of the schemes and the relationship of the scheme to employees' attitudes and to organisation identification. Fourth, the relationship between the schemes and trade unions is identified. The results of this study shows that the nature and the structure of the schemes seem to be localised to suit the Malaysian context, even though the objectives of management in implementing them seem similar to the objectives of managers elsewhere. One interesting finding from this study, which does not seem to have been found elsewhere is that ESOS tends to be used by the government as part of its strategy to close the economic disparity between the ethnic groups and to educate its citizens about shares as part of its National Economic Development Policy. One of the other findings was that although on one measure (a comparison of participants and non-participants) there seems to be no significant effect on attitude towards work and company, on another measure (the employees' perception of the effect of membership of an employee share option scheme) participation seems to have a positive effect on identification with the company. Two factors that seem to differentiate Malaysia from other countries are its ethnic groups and its religion. These two variables appear to be related to the employees' view of the success of the scheme. The findings of this study also suggest that the role of trade unions does not appear to have been affected by the introduction of the employee share option scheme. On the contrary, the scheme seems to have strengthened the role of the union. Finally, this study looks at the overall relationship of the scheme to the contextual factors of the country. It is suggested that to some extent the contextual factors of the country seem to have influenced the implementation and the outcome of the scheme. This conclusion raises and strengthens the questions about the universality of implementation and the outcome of employee share ownership schemes.

The state has increasingly played a dominant role in the development of Malaysian industrial relations. Earlier researchers have shown that since the beginning of the relationship between employers and employees, economic considerations have been significant, and especially so during the British colonial era. This has therefore been a consistently important factor that has influenced the role of the state. The British policy of bringing in immigrants of the Indian and Chinese origins into Malaya created the plural society that was later further divided according to their economic activities. The Malays, in comparison to the immigrants, partly because of the 'protection' policy of the British, and partly because of their culture, became the least educated and economically unadvanced. This study looks into how the demarcation between ethnic groups has been used as one factor to determine the national development plans in Malaysia, which ultimately affected the development of industrial relations. The Malay-dominated government tried to ensure the Malays had a better place in the economy by introducing the National Economic Planning (1971-1990), originated after the l3th May 1969 race riot, and which legitimised the Malays/Bumiputeras 'special position' in the country. This study suggests that the government has given a high priority on economic growth as an instrument to achieve the status of a developed country, with the ultimate objective being 'national unity'. However, there were other non-economic factors, such as social and political considerations, that influenced the role of the state in the Malaysian economy that later dictated its role in industrial relations. The NEP was an affirmative action taken to correct the economic imbalance between the ethnic groups in Malaysia, especially between Malays and non-Malays, or later termed as Bumiputeras or non-Bumiputeras on the ground that they were the indigenous people, protected under the Malaysian Constitution. Other policies adopted by the government, including that of industrial relations, were developed to ensure that the objectives of NEP were met. Therefore, legislation, administration and other policies regarding the industrial relations were developed along this line. Meanwhile, as an employer to the public sector, the government ensured the sector played its role according to the bigger national agenda, the NEP. This continued during the National Development Planning (1991-2000), when it retained some of the NEP's objectives, but with new strategies that suggested Malaysia was ready to move on into another era that was barely based on ethnicity preference. However, the ethnic issue still persisted, and the social and political systems still influenced Malaysia in its quest to a fully developed and industrialised country by the year 2020 at the latest. This study examined how Malaysia tried to move forward, but at the same time still concerned with issues of the past. As long as this is the case, this study argues that Malaysia will preserve its old industrial relations policies.

The importance of managerial selection process to the success of an organisation has long been acknowledged. Yet, while an increasing amount of research has been carried out in the West, very few studies of a similar nature has been undertaken in South East Asia. As a result, very little is known on the techniques and practices used to select managers of local and foreign firms operating in this region. Focussing on firms operating in the Malaysian industry, this study attempts to bridge the knowledge gap by providing empirical evidence on the techniques and practices used to select managers of large local and foreign manufacturing firms operating in 3 areas of main industrial growth. It will also attempt to explain the reasons for employing these techniques and practices. This study also looks for any similarities or differences concerning the use of these techniques between these firms and those used in the West. Another concern of this study is to determine the factors which influenced these similarities or differences particularly between local and foreign firms. Data collected by mail survey from 60 firms and personal interviews with 32 firms illustrates that some firms in this study employ techniques used in the West to select managers such as the application form, cvs, interviews (both structured and unstructured), psychological (both personality and cognitive) tests and the assessment centre (Ae). None of these firms reported employing biodata, graphology and astrology. The findings also revealed broad similarities between local (Malaysian) and foreign (non-Malaysian) firms in terms of many of the techniques used : for example, both types of firms used the interview, application form, cvs, references, psychological (personalitty) test and the Assessment Centre and did not use the biodata, graphology and astrology. Nevertheless, there were some differences: in particular, the local firms did not use psychological (cognitive) tests. This study has also identified several factors which influenced these similarities and differences. It also illustrates that both formal and informal selection techniques were used by some practitioners to select external and internal candidate for the post of managers at al1 or some levels. Overall, this study supports the view that in HRM, the spread of ideas on selection techniques used to select managers is powerful although in practice, the differences in the way techniques are adopted rather than the differences in the types of techniques employed which allows for cultural influence to be most clearly felt.

This study aims to examine and review efforts taken by Malaysian publishing houses towards the marketing of books in the country. In addition, a comprehensive appraisal of the historical background that shaped the later developments in the trade is also presented because the early years set the contexts of the development of the book trade in Malaysia. Next, the environmental appraisal of factors in the current situation and how these factors each pose threats or opportunities are studied in terms of their impact on the trade. To achieve the objective of studying the marketing strategies of Malaysian producers of cultural products, a comprehensive mail-questionnaire survey enforced by personal visitations was conducted as an instrument to gather the necessary data on 49 publishers and distributors of books in Malaysia. The respondents are regular fee-paying members of the Malaysian Book Publishers Association (MABOPA) and also the Malay Book Publishers Association (IKATAN). The findings indicate that production of educational books is the mainstay of Malaysian book publishing and these books are the main source of income for most houses. Government policies especially in the educational system have become the major instrument in encouraging the growth of indigenous book publishing during the post-Independencey ears. The government is thus found to be rather influential on trends developing in the trade. Its actions lay emphasis on locally written and published books and have minimised dependence on imported publications. The other results of this study also show that in terms of usage of marketing research, Malaysian houses generally have a high awareness of marketing and marketing communications. This awareness is generally applied advantageously by most houses. With regard to the study of marketing practices, the approach includes the analysis of the 4Ps of the marketing-mix. When these practices are examined, it is concluded that the houses regard sales promotion, advertising, personal selling and direct mail as important tools and they are utilised continuously. It is concluded that publishing houses, especially among the larger and wellorganised establishments, have a high level of awareness and knowledge of marketing communications and have applied this capability to their advantage. There is however scope for more market-oriented approach among the smaller indigenous houses.

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My thesis argues that in 1982-2008, “state Islam” created a pluralistic Indonesia and an anti-pluralistic Malaysia. The rubric of “state Islam” is a political alliance of secular politicians, religious bureaucrats, and Islamic socio-religious organizations. During these twenty-five years, state policy in Indonesia repressed Islam through the political marginalization of the formal and informal institutions of Muslim piety and practice. On the other hand, state policy in Malaysia accommodated Islam through promoting similar institutions. The rise of Islamic political and cultural consciousness in 1979 had triggered leadership transition and elite factionalism in 1982 in Malaysia and in 1989 in Indonesia, during which a new Islamic-centric force of entrepreneurs drove policy change. From 1982 to 2008, Indonesia and Malaysia created new state religious bureaucracies that regulated Islam, persecuted minority Islamic sects, and curbed the political autonomy of socio-religious organizations embedded in Islam. Chapter 1 constitutes a literature review and outlines my argument and key variables, while Chapter 2 provides the historical context of Islam in pre and post-independence Indonesia and Malaysia. The next chapter takes us to Indonesia in 1982-1994, when the Suharto government embarked on its institutional repression of Islam. Chapter 4 demonstrates how in 1982-1994 the Mahathir government in Malaysia launched its parallel institutional accommodation of Islam. Returning to Indonesia, Chapter 5 shows how Suharto’s institutional repression from the late 1990s directly created the conditions for a pluralist Indonesia today. Chapter 6 examines how the Mahathir government, previously locked in a close relationship with Islam through institutional accommodation in the late 1990s to early 2000s, produced a contemporary Malaysia resolutely hostile to political and socio-cultural pluralism. The final chapter explores the concept of unintended consequences and suggests comparative and cross-regional implications for my findings.