Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to build upon Chen et al.'s work by investigating inter-organizational knowledge transfer needs and practices among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which have received relatively little research attention to date. Design/methodology/approach -A questionnaire survey was conducted on SMEs which have been accorded the Multimedia Super Corridor Malaysia status. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Findings -In total, nine important areas have been the focus of this study, i.e. the importance of external knowledge; the extent to which external knowledge is more important than internal knowledge to organizational success; areas in which insufficient knowledge contributes to costly errors or mistakes in the SMEs; SMEs' involvement in knowledge transfer activities; number of social networks involved; SMEs' perceptions about networks; use of tools and technologies to transfer inter-organizational knowledge; constraints of inter-organizational knowledge transfer; and SMEs' effectiveness in leveraging knowledge. The data collected from 70 owners/managers of SMEs suggest that to some extent external knowledge is believed to be an important need by the enterprises.Research limitations/implications -The small sample size raises the question of generalizability of the findings. Practical implications -Overall, the empirical findings point to the need for the SMEs to pursue inter-organizational knowledge transfer practices.

Purpose – In order to bridge the gap and provide organizations with practical assistance in dealing with the effectiveness of executive coaching. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between coaching relationship which constitutes of rapport, trust, commitment and match with coaching effectiveness in Malaysia using a quantitative research method. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the extensive review of the current literature, rapport, trust, commitment and coach-coachee match with coaching effectiveness are investigated through questionnaire. Objective-driven model which focuses on the extent to which coaching objectives have been met, is used to measure the effectiveness of executive coaching. Findings – The main results of the multiple regressions demonstrate that both rapport and commitment significantly influence coaching effectiveness. These findings provide a basis for developing a quality relationship to advance the executive coaching and HRM research literature. Practical implications – The practical implication of this study could be useful for HCM managers, who want to enhance leadership capabilities through executive coaching engagement that support their organizations performance. Originality/value – This Malaysian study will build upon the existing knowledge by investigating the factors contributing to quality coaching relationship from the coachee’s viewpoint.

Purpose-This purpose of this paper is to assess the perceived importance and actual implementation of four knowledge management (KM) strategies, i.e. culture; leadership; information technology; and measurement, in the Malaysian telecommunication industry. Design/methodology/approach-Data were collected from 289 telecommunication organizations in Malaysia and analyzed using indices and parametric statistics. Findings-The paired t-test results show significant differences among all the KM strategies in terms of their importance and actual implementation. Strategies such as technology, culture and leadership are moderately implemented, with measurement being the least implemented factor. Research limitations/implications-This paper focuses on KM implementation rather than on learning and knowledge utilization. Practical implications-Malaysian telecommunication organizations should give equal attention to the implementation of all the four KM strategies. They need to have proper planning and overcome any problem or difficulty for the four KM strategies to be implemented smoothly, and subsequently narrow the gaps between the perceived importance and actual implementation of these strategies. Such viable practice will significantly help the government of Malaysia to achieve the K-Economy status and Vision 2020. Originality/value-This study is perhaps one of the first to empirically investigate and compare the perceived importance and actual implementation of the four KM strategies in the Malaysian telecommunication industry.

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