Syed Omar Sharifuddin bin Syed Ikhsan

KM Initiatives in Malaysia
Syed Omar Sharifuddin bin
Syed Ikhsan, PhD

Malaysia started to lay the foundation for its
knowledge-based economy in the early 1990s as a
conscious effort to enhance competitiveness and
increase wealth creation.
Specific initiatives were undertaken to accelerate the
development of human resource, information and
communication technology, info-structure, science and
technology, research and development capability as
well as to introduce appropriate financing mechanisms

High-tech
Manufacturing
& Services
Knowledge
Based
Primary
Commodities
Labour
Driven
1960
Assembly type
Manufacturing
Labour
Driven
1970
Medium-tech
Manufacturing
& Services
Investment
Driven
1980
Productivity
Driven
1995
Knowledge
& Technology
Driven
2000 & beyond

Malaysia’s Journey …….
• Vision 2020 was launched in February 1991. The vision
committed Malaysia to become “scientific and progressive
society”, “ an economy that is … fully able to adapt, innovate
and invent, that is increasingly technology-incentives …” and
“an economy driven by brain power, skills and diligence, in
possession of a wealth of information..”
• National Information Technology Agenda (NITA)
– to foster the development of IT as a strategic
enabler of dynamic economic growth.
• Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) – to
be an engine of economic growth for the
21 st century
• Knowledge-based Economy Master Plan

Generic Office
Environment (GOE)
E-Syariah
Electronic Procurement
(eP) Project
Electronic Labour
Exchange (ELX)
Human Resource
Management
Information System
(HRMIS)
Electronic Service
Directory (eService)
Project Monitoring
System (PMS)

CITIZENS
• Assessment of Tax Payments
• Utilities Payment
• Higher Education Loan/Scholarship
Application
• Job Application
• Public Facilities Booking
• Renewal of Driving License
• Loan Repayment
• Summons Settlement
• Computerization Project Registration
• Pensions and Gratuity Calculation
• Public Service Exams Application
• Home Loan Balance Enquiry
• Public Service Department’s Cyber
Counseling
• Day With Client’s Online
GOVERNMENT
BUSINESS
• Vehicle Importation License (AP)
• Business Registration
• Bumiputera Contractor Status
Application
• Housing Developer License
Registration
• Domestic Shipping License Application
• MARA Business Premises Rental
• Malaysia’s My Second Home Program
Application
• Visitors Visa Application for certain
destinations
• Foreign Student Visa Application
NON-CITIZENS

eKL Initiative Project has won the
Government Technology Award
2009 in category of Technology
Leadership at Bali, Indonesia on
9th October 2009
mySMS 15888, part of eKL Initiative
Project has won MSC Malaysia APICTA
2009 award in category Best of
eGovernment & Services on 8 October
2009 at PWTC, Kuala Lumpur.
mySMS Project won the Public
Services Empowerment
Through Mobility Innovations
Awards on 21st October 2009.

To cultivate and secure the necessary human resources
To establish the institutions necessary to champion, mobilise and
drive the transition of K-based economy
To ensure the incentives, infrastructure and infostructure necessary to
prosper the optimal of knowledge in all sectors of the economy
To increase the capacity for the acquisition and application of
science and technology
To ensure that the private sectors spearhead the K-based
Economy development
To develop knowledge-based civil servants
To bridge the knowledge and digital divides

Policies and Strategic Directions (Goals and Targets)
A Public service which is skilful, knowledgeable,
efficient and competent
A people-centered public service which is proactive and
responsive to the needs of the people
A public service which is more open and accountable
A public service which fully adopts and leverages upon
ICT to enhance its efficiency and productivity

9 th Malaysian Plan
THRUST 1 THRUST 2 THRUST 3 THRUST 4
THRUST 5
To move the
economy up to
the values
chain. The
economy will be
centered on
human capital
To raise the
capacity for
knowledge
and
innovation
and nurture
first class
mentality
To address
persistent
socio-economic
inequalities
constructively
and
productively
To improve the
standard of
sustainability in
the quality of
life
To strengthen
the institutional
and
implementation
capacity

Case 1
This study is aimed to investigate the relationship between
organizational elements and knowledge transfer performance
in the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development of Malaysia.
Current Position
Sex
Male Female
Frequency Percent
Under Secretary/Director 5 0 5 3.2
Principal Assistant Secretary/Director 15 8 23 14.9
Assistant Secretary/Director 24 22 46 29.9
Engineer 5 4 9 5.8
Information System Officer 3 1 4 2.6
Assistant Administration Officer 16 24 40 26.0
Technical Assistant 7 7 14 9.1
Assistant Information System Officer 3 6 9 5.8
Others 0 4 4 2.6
Syed Omar Sharifuddin Syed Ikhsan (2005) (Thesis)

Sharing Culture
Individualism
Training/Management Support
Posting
Knowledge Transfer
Performance
Communication Flow
ICT Infrastructure
ICT Knowhow

RESULTS
p = 0.24**
Training/
Management
Support
(X 1 )
Posting
(X 4 )
ICT
Infrastructure
(X 2 )
p = 0.31**
p = 0.50**
p = 0.31**
p = 0.25*
p = 0.27**
p = 0.20**
p = 0.13**
ICT
Know-how
(X 3 )
p = 0.34**
Knowledge
Transfer
Performance
(Y 1 )
p = 0.34**
p = 0.34**
p = 0.20**
p = 0.13*
*Correlation is significant at 0.05 level
** Correlation is significant at 0.01 level
p = 0.16*
p = 0.40**
Sharing
Culture
(X 5 )
p = 0.17*
Communication
Flow
(X 6 )
Individualism
(X 7 )
p = 0.29*
The variables that have a
significant positive relationship are
training/management support, ICT
know-how, sharing culture and
individualism. Three other
variables, ICT infrastructure,
posting and communication flow,
have no significant relationship
with the performance of
knowledge transfer. The study also
reveals that several independent
variables that were identified in
the study show a positive
relationship among them. The
important independent variables
that correlate with almost all the
other independent variables are
sharing culture and
training/management support.

Case 2
This study is aimed to explore the role of KM in Local Authorities
(LA) toward achieving the E-Government orientation in Malaysia.
Types of Local
Authority
Number of
Local Authority
Respondent
(N)
Senior
Management
Middle
Management
City Council 2 43 (27%) 7 (16%) 36 (84%)
Municipal Council 6 91 (57%) 17 (19%) 74 (81%)
District Council 5 26 (16%) 2 (8%) 24 (92%)
Total 13 160 26 (16%) 134 (92%)
Demographic Profile:
Mean Median Mode
Age 38 37 30
Work Experience 10 7 4
Salleh, K., Syed Ahmad, S. N. and Syed Ikhsan, S. O. S. (2009). Knowledge Management in Electronic Government:
The Organisational Readiness of Local Authorities in Malaysia, Public Sector ICT Management Review, Vol. 3 No.1

Findings:
The level of awareness of the management staff shows that the Local Authorities are
well prepared to adopt the KM Implementation strategy to serve as a platform for the
implementation of E-Government.
There seem to be a gap in the requisite skills and knowledge of ICT as the number of
officers both in the senior and middle management who levels have given advanced ICT
training is only 27%.
Respondents feel that communication channels and KM technologies such as internet
access, intranet, groupware and lotus notes should be made available for knowledge
transfer and sharing among the senior and middle management officers.
The traditional mode of communication channels such as face to face meeting and
paper documentation is perceived as moderately important for the KM environment.
CONCLUSION
The exploratory study on the level of organizational readiness of KM adoption in LAs in terms
of physical assets (physical resources) and intellectual assets (human recourses), it can be
concluded that the KM implementation strategy is indeed a suitable platform for the LAs to
transform towards and E-Government paradigm.

Case 3
This study is aimed to investigate the relationship between
the learning factors of professional intellects and the transfer
of explicit knowledge in the Accountant General Department
(AGD) of Malaysia.
Type of Public Sector
Organisation
Number of
questionnaires
distributed
Number of
questionnaires
returned and analysed
Top and
Senior
Management
Middle
Management
Federal Government
(Specific Accounting Function)
365 203 (55.6%) 90 (44%) 113 (56%)
Kalsom Salleh, Syed Noh Syed Ahmad and Syed Omar Sharifuddin Syed Ikhsan (2008), Knowledge
Management and Public Sector Accountants: The Relationship Between Learning Factors and
Knowledge Transfer Performance, Seminar Penyelidikan Sektor Awam, 8 – 9 April 2008, INTAN,
Malaysia

Training and Learning
opportunities
Job Rotation
Performance Evaluation and
Incentive
Knowledge Transfer
Performance
ICT Skills and know-how
H1: There is a positive relationship between training and learning opportunities
of public sector accountants and knowledge transfer performance.
H2: There is a positive relationship between job rotation of public sector
accountants and knowledge transfer performance.
H3: There is a positive relationship between performance evaluation and
incentive of public sector accountants and knowledge transfer performance.
H4: There is a positive relationship between ICT skills and know-how of public
sector accountants and knowledge transfer performance.

Training and learning
opportunities
Training and
learning
opportunities
Job Rotation
Performance
Evaluation &
Incentives
ICT Skills and
Know-how
Knowledge
Transfer
Performance
1 .318** .706** .547** .532**
Job Rotation .318** 1 .288** .158* .211**
Performance
Evaluation &
Incentives
ICT Skills and Knowhow
Knowledge Transfer
Performance
.708** .288** 1 .468** .483**
.547** .158* .468** 1 .389**
.532** .211** .483** .389** 1
**Correlation is significant at the level of 0.01 (2 tailed)
* Correlation is significant at the level for 0.05 (2 tailed)
RESULTS
The correlation for the four (4) measures of learning factors and one (1) measure of
knowledge transfer performance was positive and significant; thus, providing
insights on the impact of learning factors on the transfer performance of explicit
knowledge. Training and learning opportunities are seen to be as one of the most
important independent variables that have significant relationship with dependent
variables and other independent variables.

Case 4
Sample
• N = 428 (195 male/233 female)
• Respondent involved directly in policy making of the public
sector human resources
• Middle management (grade 44, 48, 52, 54)
• 3 Central Agencies
Knowledge Sharing
Quality (Cronbach
Alpha – 0.827)
- Relevant
- Easy to understand
- Accurate
- Completeness
- Reliability
- Timelines
Service Delivery
Improvement
(Cronbach Alpha –
0.905)
- Fast
- Quality
- Satisfy the
customers
Result:
1. There is a moderate
correlation (R=0.489)
between knowledge
sharing quality and
public sector service
delivery
Ismail, M. B., Mohammad Yusof, Z and Syed Ikhsan, S. O. S. (2009). The Relationship Between Knowledge Sharing
Quality and Public Sector Service Delivery, International Journal of Economics and Development, Vol. 1, No. 1

National Institute of Public Administration
The National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN) is
the heart of the public sector human capital development
that provides and facilitates the necessary training for
public sector workforce. Investing in knowledge workforce
development is a high priority for the Government to
improve public service delivery.
Vision
Mission
Motto
Slogan
- To be a world class public sector training institution
- To develop human capital in the public sector through
excellence in training
- Training for development
- Always Ahead
4

Public Sector E-Learning
INTAN Employee Portal

Quality Manual
INTAN Training
Information and
Management System
(I-TIMS)

Technology is used to pioneer, sustain and innovate in the following ways:
K-Sharing
K-Preservation
Portal
Forum
E-Mail
Portal
Database
Kiosk
K-MIND@INTAN Portal
Electronic Learning History
21

Syed Omar Sharifuddin Syed Ikhsan, PhD
syedomar@intanbk.intan.my, sossi3@yahoo.com
+603-20847433, +6019-2677989