Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to identify the important performance indicators used in assessing public private partnership (PPP) performance in terms of the two aspects of PPP which are “financing and markets” and “innovation and learnings”; and second, to investigate the differences in the perception between public and private sectors on the importance of performance indicators in terms of the two aspects of PPP. Design/methodology/approach Using a questionnaire survey, 237 completed questionnaires were received representing 51.52 per cent response rate. In examining the importance of performance indicators, the descriptive statistical tests of mean, standard deviation and mean score ranking were used. The independent t-tests were conducted to investigate the differences in the perceptions between the two respondents’ groups on the importance of performance indicators. Findings In relation to the two areas of indicators used in assessing PPP performance, the findings show that the top three important performance indicators for financing and markets are: “Operational cost”, “Construction cost” and “Construction period”. While the top three important performance indicators for innovation and learning are: “Technology innovation”, “Employee training” and “Financial innovation”. In terms of the differences in the perceptions between the public and private sector groups, the test results indicate that there is only one significant statistical difference for each aspect of performance indicators. Originality/value This study offers empirical evidence on key financial performance indicators for PPP projects as perceived by two key parties in a PPP contract that are public and private sectors.

PurposeThis paper explores the institutionalisation of a financial sustainability agenda in Malaysian public universities.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses semi-structured interviews and document analysis. New Institutional Sociology and the institutional logics perspective are utilised to frame the study and explain findings.FindingsThe findings reveal that universities manage the conflicting academic and financial logics to co-exist to ensure legitimacy and survival. By compartmentalising the functions of key divisions and through loose coupling, universities are able to support dual logics.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper provides university management and policy makers with insights into how leading universities in Malaysia cope with a financial sustainability agenda.Originality/valueThe present study documents how universities cope with and respond to government reforms and budgetary cuts in the context of a developing country, Malaysia. Most prior research in the area focuses on individual or organisational responses. This paper examines organisational-level responses but goes deeper to understand how universities, through three key divisions; bursaries, corporate strategy divisions and faculties manage to enable the multiple logics to co-exist through compartmentalisation and loose coupling.

PurposeThis paper has two objectives. The first objective is to examine the important performance indicators of the lifecycle process of public private partnership (PPP) projects. The second objective is to investigate the difference in the perception of the importance of the performance indicators between the public and private sectors.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the research objectives, the study used a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was distributed via postal mail to officers of government departments and private sector companies who may have been involved in PPP projects. A total of 237 completed questionnaires were received, representing a 51.52% response rate. To examine the importance of performance indicators, the descriptive statistical tests of mean, standard deviation and mean score ranking were used. Independent t-tests were conducted to investigate the differences in the perceptions of the importance of performance indicators between the two respondent groups.FindingsThe findings show that all the 16 performance indicators are perceived as important and very important. The top five important performance indicators for a PPP project lifecycle process are “Time management”, “Contractual management”, “Cost management”, “Safety management” and “Effective risk management system”, while “stress or conflicts management” is the least important. In terms of the differences in the perception of the public and private sector groups, the results indicate that four indicators (“environment protection”, “cost management”, “effective risk management system” and “good work environment”), show a significant statistical difference between the perception of the public and the private sector respondents.Originality/valueThis study offers empirical evidence on key performance indicators for a PPP project that are crucial throughout its lifecycle as perceived by two key parties in a PPP contract, i.e. the public and the private sectors.

Purpose The objectives of this present study are twofold. First, it aims to investigate the performance objectives of PPP implementation in Malaysia. Second, it aims to examine the differences in the perceptions of two PPP key players – the public and private sectors – pertaining to the performance objectives. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was used to elicit the perceptions of the public and private sectors concerning the performance objectives of PPP projects in Malaysia; 237 usable responses were obtained and analysed using SPSS to rank the importance of the performance objectives and to examine the differences in the perceptions between the government and private sectors. Findings The results reveal that the five most important performance objectives for PPP implementation in Malaysia based on overall respondents’ perceptions are “High-quality public service”, “Provide convenient service for society”, “Within or under budget”, “On-time or earlier” and “Satisfy the need for more public facilities”. As for differences in the perceptions of the two key players, only one objective was perceived as statistically more important by the public sector respondents than by their private sector counterparts. Originality/value The contribution of this paper is that it not only provides empirical evidence for the performance objectives for PPP implementation in Malaysia, but also offers evidence concerning the differences in the perceptions of the public and private sectors pertaining to the performance objectives.

This paper investigates the factors influencing the efficiency of Malaysian local governments. Three measures of efficiency are considered, namely (i) technical efficiency (TE), (ii) pure technical efficiency (PTE) and (iii) scale efficiency (SE). Design/ Methodology/ Approach: This study uses secondary data from annual financial statements of local governments in Malaysia. Financial statements from 2008 to 2015 from 35 local governments were obtained. Panel regression based on the ordinary least square was used to examine the determinants of efficiency of the Malaysian local governments. Research findings: The results reveal that the population size and value of assets have positive and significant influence on the PTE, economic independence has positive and significant influence on the TE and SE, while the dependence on tax revenues is found negatively and significantly associated with all the three measures of efficiency (i.e. TE, PTE and SE). Originality/value: The paper provides empirical evidence on the determinants of efficiency of local governments in Malaysia. More importantly, the investigation on the factors was carried out for three measures of efficiency that are TE, PTE and SE. Practitioner/ Policy implication: The findings offer useful information to the relevant local governments in improving their efficiency. Research limitation: The present study has focused only on examining the efficiency of local government and has not been able to assess the effectiveness of these services

This research aims to provide insights into the process of implementing an Activity-Based Costing (ABC) system in the Accountant General's Department of Malaysia (AGD). Additionally, this paper examines the critical factors that influence the success of the ABC implementation process, the usefulness of the ABC system and the challenges faced during the process of implementation. Using a single case study approach, this research uses semi-structured interviews, a selfdeveloped questionnaire survey and a documents review as methods of data collection. The findings show that the most critical factors impacting the success of ABC implementation in the AGD are related to the technicality of the ABC system during the design stage. However, findings also reveal that the ABC information derived from the ABC system has limited use. This study makes a contribution to the empirical literature on the application of the New Public Management (NPM) mechanism, particularly the adoption of a private sector management technique in the context of a public sector organization in a developing country.

No abstract

The objective of this paper is to assess the level of efficiency of local government in Malaysia. Using data envelopment analysis (DEA), the research provides evidence on the efficiency of Malaysian local governments in terms of technical (TE), pure (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE). Secondary data obtained from financial statements of 35 local governments over a period of seven years are used. DEA is performed using three inputs (tax revenues, fees and charges, subsidies from central government) and four outputs (net book value of land and buildings, net book value of motor vehicles, net book value of equipment and fittings, cost of goods and services). The results show that most Malaysian local governments recorded high technical efficiency (TE), pure technical efficiency (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE) with above 0.90 mean scores. Keywords: Local Government, Efficiency, Malaysia, Data Envelopment Analysis