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MOTIVATION OF EMPLOYEES IN SMALL-MEDIUM FOOD MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISE (SMEs)

Siti Syuhada Binti Abd Rahman, Suhaily Md Shamsudin & Nor Rosmawati Binti Abdul Karim

Department of Business Management, Faculty of Management and Muamalah International Islamic University College Selangor (KUIS)

sitisyuhada@kuis.edu.my, suhaily@kuis.edu.my, norrosmawati@kuis.edu.my

ABSTRACT Employee motivation is an issue that is usually overseen by most managers, yet many studies have shown that it is the key for having a successful and profitable company. The purpose of this paper is to examine factors that affect motivation of employees in small-medium food manufacturing enterprises based on Frederick Herzberg’ Two-Factor Theory of motivation. Data were gathered through interview and structured questionnaires by using a sample of 84 employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd., a medium-sized food manufacturing enterprise. The results of regression model suggest that responsibility and company policy are the top motivators which posted significant relationship with motivation. Other variables such as recognition, opportunity for advancement, salary, and interpersonal relationships have less profound effect on motivation. Field of Research: Motivation, Job satisfaction, Frederick-Herzberg Theory, Small-Medium

Enterprise, Food industry. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction Malaysian food manufacturing industry is a highly competitive sector, which in the case of SMEs food manufacturers, often remains relatively labor intensive due to limited access to finance and capital (Bent, Seaman, & Ingram, 1999). Census Report on SMEs 2011 indicates that 97.3 percent or 645,136 of Malaysian business establishments are SMEs. These SMEs provide about 56 percent of the total employment market. However, despite the high percentage of total business establishments, the SMEs’ contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is only at the level of 32 percent and in terms of export value is 19 percent. According to Wayne Lim, Group CEO of Malaysia SME, although the GDP contribution is in increasing trend year by year, it is still slightly low compared with SMEs counterparts in developed countries. As the backbone of the country’s economy, the SMEs need to be more aggressive to improve their productivity and competitiveness. Employees in SMEs play vital role as assets due to the working environment and organizational culture in SMEs that relies mostly on labor, which is different than large corporations that are typically capital intensive (Galabova & Mckie, 2013). Therefore, one of the major issues for competitive advantage in SMEs is the motivation of employees. This is because employees are unlikely to be committed if they are not sufficiently motivated (Galabova & Mckie, 2013; Islam, Zaki, & Ismail, 2008; Bent et al., 1999). Thus, the challenge to management is to understand the diverse needs and motivation of employees and to come up with appropriate rewards based on the different needs (Remi, 2011). There has been a lot of research done on motivation by many scholars . There are also numerous researches conducted on SMEs and the food manufacturing sector. However, there has been little attempt to combine these factors or to examine the factors that affect employee motivation in small-medium food business. Therefore, the objective of this research is to examine factors that

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motivate employees in a medium food manufacturing enterprise based on Frederick Herzberg’ Two-Factor Theory of motivation. This research will primarily focus on the extent of these factors in influencing motivation of the employees. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Motivation The term motivation has been discussed and conceptualized by various researchers. Generally, all definition given by many scholars brings the same notion with respect to the term motivation. Motivation is defined by Robbins (2013) as the process by which a person’s efforts are energized, directed, and sustained toward attaining a goal. When someone is motivated, he or she will persistently exert high effort in a direction that benefits his or her organization in order to achieve goals. According to Islam et al. (2008), motivation represents psychological processes that energizes behavior, directs behavior, and underlies the tendency to persist. Yudhir (2012) in the same manner claimed that in order to achieve goals, individuals must be sufficiently stimulated, have a clear picture on what to achieve, and have commitment to put utmost effort for a long enough period of time and never give up in realizing their aim. 2.2 Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory Two Factor Theory (also known as Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory) was developed by Frederick Herzberg in 1959. Herzberg's theory states that there are two factors that influence employee motivation; motivator factors and hygiene factors (Robbins, 2013). According to Herzberg, the motivator factors are factors that relate to the job content and they are intrinsic to the job itself. When present, employees will be satisfied and thus motivation will increase. However, when absent, employees will be in neutral state of mind (no satisfaction). Herzberg claimed that opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction but rather no satisfaction. On the other hand, the opposite of dissatisfaction is no dissatisfaction. Motivator factors include achievement, recognition, advancement, the work itself, the possibility of personal growth and responsibility (Kwasi Dartey-Baah, 2011; Yudhir, 2012). The hygiene factors on the other hand are factors that are not directly related to the job but the conditions that surround doing the job. When present, employees will be in neutral state of mind (no dissatisfaction), but when absent employees will be dissatisfied. These factors include company policy and administration, technical supervision, interpersonal relations with supervisor, interpersonal relations with peers and subordinates, salary, job security, personal life, work conditions and status (Kwasi Dartey-Baah, 2011; Yudhir, 2012). Herzberg argued that organizations must emphasize on motivator factors in order to motivate employees. Organizations that that only meet hygiene factors would not be able to motivate employees, but would only prevent them from being dissatisfied (Wan Fauziah Wan Yusoff, 2013; Islam et al., 2008). Despite its popularity, there are some criticisms on Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory. Among others is on the practicality of this theory when applied on different settings and that it applies least to people with largely unskilled jobs or those whose work are uninteresting, repetitive, monotonous and limited in scope (Kwasi Dartey-Baah, 2011).

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3. Hypothesis This study attempts to test the following hypotheses: H10: Recognition does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn.

Bhd. H1A: Recognition exerts a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd. H20: Responsibility does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn.

Bhd. H2A: Responsibility exerts a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd. H30: Advancement does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn.

Bhd. H3A: Advancement exerts a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd. H40: Salary does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd. H4A: Salary exerts a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd. H50: Relationship does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn.

Bhd. H5A: Relationship exerts a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd. H60: Company policy does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ

Sdn. Bhd. H6A: Company policy exerts a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd. 4. Methodology 4.1 Population and Sample The population of XYZ consists of 90 employees in which 84 of them are lower level Administration and Operation staff. These lower level staff was derived as samples. Due to the nature of topic for this research, a nonprobability sampling design was used, which judgement is sampling. Judgement sampling involves the choice of subjects who are the most advantageously placed or in the best position to provide the information required (Sekaran, 2003). 4.2 Data Collection Primary data were collected by two means; interview and questionnaire distribution. A preliminary interview was arranged with the organization’s Human Resource Manager which lasts for 40 minutes. The goals were to explain the purpose and method of the study, participants that would be

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involved in, as well as to get information on the current situation/problems faced by the company with regards to motivational issues. Interview data were recorded, transcribed and documented. Data were also collected through questionnaires, personally administered at XYZ through the Human Resource Manager. Appointments were made to visit the company to personally deliver 84 set of printed questionnaires to the manager. A package with survey questionnaires was to be answered by the employees. An envelope was also attached to each questionnaire. Instructions were written on the envelope for the respondents to place the questionnaire into the envelope and to seal it before returning to the manager in charge. From these 84 samples size, all the questionnaires distributed were returned, giving 100% response rate. The research also drew on other sources of evidence, such as the organization’s documents and records, articles, and journals on the subject matter under study. 4.3 Measures Three motivators which are recognition, responsibility, and advancement and three hygiene factors which are salary, interpersonal relations, and company policy were used to test whether these factors will influence motivation and to what extent. These 3 sets of motivators and 3 sets of hygiene factors were chosen as independent variables to motivation since the 6 factors were favoured by the upper management and the Human Resource Manager in XYZ as they perceived that motivation among the Operation and Administration staff revolves around these factors. The questionnaire comprised of 32 items and the respondents were asked to express their opinion on the scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is strongly disagree, 2 is disagree, 3 is neutral, 4 is agree, and 5 is strongly agree. The questionnaire was prepared in two versions that are in Bahasa Malaysia and English. There are three sections on this questionnaire, section A is about demographic profile, section B is about motivation, and section C is about motivators and hygiene factors. 4.4 Reliability Test

Variable Cronbach’s Alpha

Motivation 0.71

Recognition 0.70

Responsibility 0.71

Advancement 0.74

Salary 0.73

Interpersonal Relationship 0.82

Company Policy 0.82

Table 1: Result of Reliability Test Table 1 shows the reliability test of the research. 28 items were selected, which come from the item under Section B (motivation of employees) and Section C (determinants of motivation). According to Zickmund (2003), if the result of Cronbach’s alpha is more than 0.6, the research is acceptable. Since the Cronbach’s alpha for all variables is more than 0.7, the internal consistency reliability for the measurement of them can be considered as good.

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5. Analysis and Findings 5.1 Preliminary Interview This preliminary interview was conducted in order to review the company’s current situation with regards to motivation issue. Focus was on issues related to the 6 independent variable namely recognition, responsibility, advancement, salary, interpersonal relations, and company policy. 5.1.1 Company Background XYZ Sdn. Bhd. was established in May 1999. The company is located at Shah Alam, Selangor. Its core business activities include manufacturing of edible oil products such as cooking oils, salad oils, margarine, shortening and vegetable ghee. XYZ currently produces and markets over 20 brands of quality edible oil products to domestic and international markets. Its products are consumed in more than 40 countries around the world. 99 per cent of its sales are for export market, which covers Australia, Europe, Russia, Middle East, Asia, China, Korea, Africa and GS Countries. XYZ has a total number of 90 employees, which include 26 Administrative staff and 64 Operation staff. The company has a small Human Resource Department to manage matters pertaining to human resources. It consists of five staff headed by Mrs A as Manager of Human Resource Department. The Operation Department is divided into few sections namely Production Department (consists of production itself, warehouse and maintenance), and Product Development and Quality Control Department. Since 99 percent of the company’s production is for export market, the business is highly dependent on seasonal demand. According to Mrs A, the peak seasons are from May to December. During the peak seasons, Operation staff work 24 hours per day with three shifts; 8am to 4pm, 4pm to 12pm, and 12pm to 8am. Meanwhile, there is no night shift during slow demand period. 5.1.2 Motivation Issues Despite the good business, there are several problems with regards to human resources faced by the company, especially the Operation staff. These include poor attendance record and social loafing. As a medium-sized manufacturing company, which highly relies on labour, a lack of one employee alone can create a big problem with regards to production. Apart from that, since the core business is manufacturing of food based products, the company is in critical need to have highly motivated and good morale employees so as to avoid any form of sabotage by employees that can deteriorate the company’s name and reputation. At present, XYZ is having difficulty to control night shift staff. Although all operation supervisors are equipped with logbooks to record employee attendance, most of the time the logbooks are not showing the real problem. This suggests that even the direct supervisor cannot handle the employees’ attitude problems. There are ways for employees to cheat on their attendance. There are also cases where staff produce fake Death Certificates (of their parents or immediate relatives) and buy Medical Certificates as proof of their leaves taken. Although Administration staff’s attitude and motivational level are better to compared to the Operation staff, the company still faces disciplinary problems from the former especially the newly hired employees.

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The following figure shows XYZ’s staff turnover for the year 2012 (for all levels and departments), as provided by the company. The graph shows that there is a fluctuating trend in staff turnover, whereby some months are below the average of 4.5 per cent, while other months are above average. April 2012 turned out to be the worst month, whereby staff turnover was 7.8 per cent, which is 3.3 per cent above the average. July 2012 also showed similar upward trend of turnover, which 7.5 per cent. However, turnover rate seemed to be favourable in August which is 3.6 per cent, a 0.9 per cent below average. Although the company did not disclose staff turnover report for previous years for comparison purposes, this data can still be used to portray the extent of staff turnover at the company.

Figure 1: Staff Turnover 2012 Responsibility At XYZ, Operation staff work in groups comprising of eight to ten members, headed by a leader who is appointed by the management. The company practices job rotation which is the periodic shifting of groups from one task to another. This is aimed to reduce boredom, increase motivation through diversifying the group’s activities and help them better understand how their work contributes to the organization. Recognition According to Mrs A, the company does not conduct any event to recognize employees’ achievement. However, the company does appreciate employees’ good work by providing target incentive allowance to groups which manage to achieve certain production target. The allowance will be given to all group members. Advancement In order to enhance the employees’ knowledge, skills, and abilities, the company regularly conducts in-house training that is called small group activities. Besides that, the company also sends key Operation people like supervisors and leaders for external training two to three times a year, while the company also conducts team building program to all Operation staff once a year. Salary According to Mrs A, the basic salaries for all employees are equitable to other employees of the same level in other similar size and core business companies. This suggests that money may not be

Staff Turnover 2012

0

2

4

6

8

10

Month

Percentage

Series1 4.7 3.5 6.2 7.8 1.3 3.8 7.5 3.6

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug

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the factor of low level of motivation among the employees. There must be other things that determine their motivation level. As for Operation staff, besides their basic salaries, the company also provides several allowances to them, which include good attendance, transportation, housing, meal, shift, and laundry allowances. Beginning last year, attendance allowance has been increased from RM 80 to RM 120 per month. In consequence with that, attendance problem improves, but not for long. Interpersonal Relationship Relationship among staff is generally good since XYZ is a medium-sized company which consists of quite a small number of employees who know each other. Furthermore, the Human Resource Department has implemented many programs such as consultation sessions and family day to bridge the gap between and among upper and lower management and non-managerial employees. However, there is low level of interaction, communication, and cooperation between other employees of different groups, which might due to different groups having their own goals. Company Policy XYZ has a documented, well-written policy in both English and Bahasa Malaysia. However, employees only have low level of involvement in the policy. At the moment, the company provides only two ways to get employees’ response and feedback which is through suggestion box as well as monthly meetings with the Managing Director. Any dissatisfaction/opinion will be considered by the management and up the management’s discretion to accept or not. In order to encourage employees’ feedback on any matter, the company usually gives monetary reward to suggestions/feedback that benefits the company. XYZ has taken several measures to curb problems with regards to employee motivation level. These include providing personal consultation and counselling to problematic staff, introducing several allowances, initiating internal promotion prior to a public one, regularly revising policy and procedures (ask absent/late comers to produce supporting document and show cause letter), and organizing several motivational programs such as ‘Motivation Game’, ‘team building’, ‘ice breaking’ and ‘5S’. On one hand, the company believes that poor attitude and motivational level of the employees resulted from low level of self-belongings to the company. 5.2 Frequency Analysis

GENDER

54 64.3

30 35.7

84 100.0

male

female

Total

Valid

Frequency Percent

Table 2: Gender

The respondents comprised of 64.3 per cent males and 35.7 per cent females.

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AGE

11 13.1

46 54.8

21 25.0

6 7.1

84 100.0

less than 20

20-29

30-39

40-49

Total

Valid

Frequency Percent

Table 3: Age

Most employees are relatively young with 13.1 per cent of them aged less than 20 years old, 54.8 per cent aged between 20 to 29 years old, 25 per cent aged 30 to 39, and 7.1 per cent aged 40 to 49.

STATUS

52 61.9

32 38.1

84 100.0

single

married

Total

Valid

Frequency Percent

Table 4: Status

Most of the employees were single (61.9 per cent), and 38.1 per cent were married.

TENURE

29 34.5

16 19.0

37 44.0

2 2.4

84 100.0

less than 1 year

1-2 years

3-5 years

6-9 years

Total

Valid

Frequency Percent

Table 5: Tenure

Most of the employees have been working in XYZ between three to five years (44 per cent), 34.5 per cent of employees have been working for less than one year, 19 per cent have been working between one to two years, and 2.4 per cent have been working in XYZ for more than 6 years. 5.3 Multiple Regressions Analysis

Model Summary

.467

Model

1

R Square

Table 6: Strength of Relationship

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Coefficients

.077

.002

.469

.162

.862

.003

Recognition

Responsibility

Advancement

Salary

Relationship

Policy

Model

1

Sig.

Table 7: Regression Analysis

Table 6 above shows the strength of the relationship between motivation and all the 6 independent variables. The R Square for the overall model is 0.467 indicating that recognition, responsibility, advancement, salary, relationship, and company policy exert a strong influence on motivation. Table 7 shows that responsibility (p = 0.002) and company policy (p = 0.003) influence most the variance in motivation. It is also evident that these two variables are the only independent variables that are significant. Responsibility may influence motivation the most because employees, especially Operation employees crave to be empowered in their job due to the nature of their repetitive work. Therefore, it can be concluded that the employees want less repetitive work and more work that requires responsibility and variety such as doing job rotations and job enhancement. Policy is also significant to motivation because good company policies which cover management of its employees’ welfare, providing good benefit packages and maintaining better working condition can directly motivate the employees to work for the company. It is also found from table 7 that relationship is the least influential variable for the variance in motivation. Table 8 below shows the conclusion made based on the hypothesis testing:

Hypothesis Sig. value

Conclusion

H10: Recognition does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

0.077 Since p > 0.05, accept H10.

Thus, Recognition does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

H1A: Recognition exerts a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

H20: Responsibility does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

0.002 Since p < 0.05, reject H20.

Thus, Responsibility exerts a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

H2A: Responsibility exerts a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

H30: Advancement does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

0.469 Since p > 0.05, accept H30.

Thus, Advancement does not exert

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H3A: Advancement exerts a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

H40: Salary does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

0.162 Since p > 0.05, accept H40.

Thus, Salary does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

H4A: Salary exerts a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

H50: Relationship does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

0.862 Since p > 0.05, accept H50.

Thus, Relationship does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

H5A: Relationship exerts a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

H60: Company policy does not exert a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

0.003 Since p < 0.05, reject H60.

Thus, Company policy exerts a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

H6A: Company policy exerts a significant influence on motivation of employees in XYZ Sdn. Bhd.

Table 8: Summary of Results 6. Discussion The results of the regression model suggest that generally XYZ’s employees perceive that responsibility and company policy greatly motivate them, while other factors have less effect on their level of motivation. As such, the company should organize various programs to inculcate excellent motivation level of its employees by giving top priority on the two factors. In terms of responsibility, findings show that more responsibility can reinforce the employees’ motivation level. This may due to the fact that their nature of work involves repetitive tasks that may cause them to easily bored doing the same tasks ever and ever again though their works are being rotated periodically. At present, job design for Operation employees are based on job rotation, whereby groups are periodically shifted from one task to another. However, findings from questionnaires reflect that employees need more responsibility for their jobs, which suggest that current practice does not really satisfy them. Therefore, in order to increase employee motivation level, the company should review its current job design and if possible try to increase the number and variety of tasks that the groups perform so as to have more diversity (job enlargement). Alternatively, the company could change the job design to one that allows more vertical expansion of jobs (job enrichment). By having this, employees in their respective groups will have more control over the planning, execution, and evaluation of their works. This will allow them to do a complete activity, increase their freedom and independence, increase responsibility, and provide feedback. Thus, each group will be able to assess and correct their own performance (George and Jones, 2005).

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As for company policy, the employees will be more motivated if the company policy is regularly reviewed and that they are given opportunities to participate in decisions that affect them. By that, the management will be able to know what motivates the employees and then match programs based on those needs. Currently the company only provides two formal means for employees to voice out their opinion or feedback, which is suggestion box and monthly meetings with the Managing Director. However, results from questionnaires suggest that the employees feel that high level of involvement will greatly motivate them. According to Reis and Pen (2001), organizations that want to develop any management program should incorporate the factors that affect the working lives of the workers. Programs that do not adequately take into consideration inputs from employees are prone to fail since employees are the implementer and direct recipient of the programs. Furthermore, when their voices are heard, they will be more committed in doing their tasks as they will feel appreciated and have sense of belongingness towards the organizations. While prioritizing on the two significant factors, the company should not take for granted on the rest four factors. This is because although recognition, advancement, salary, and relationship do not have significant influence on the level of employees’ motivation, they still can help in avoiding dissatisfaction, and thus retains the employees. Findings on significant influence of responsibility towards motivation is consistent with Herzberg Two-Factor theory which states that responsibility is one of the motivator factors that when exists will enhance motivation level. However, findings on significant influence of company policy towards motivation is incompatible with Herzberg theory since company policy is categorized as hygiene factor that only play role as mediator to prevent dissatisfaction but not motivate employees. Nonetheless, this finding is consistent with findings from study conducted by Wan Fauziah Wan Yusoff (2013) on motivation of employees from various countries and industries which show the existence of hygiene factors towards employees’ motivation. Similarly, study conducted by Ruthankoon & Ogunlana (2003) and Kwasi Dartey-Baah (2011) also reported different results of Herzberg Two-Factor theory when the theory was tested in different occupations and workplace settings. They highlighted that different level of employees would perceive motivators and hygiene factors differently and there are some factors that can contribute to both job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. 7. Conclusion The primary aim of this study was to examine the factors that employees at XYZ perceive as motivating them. Results from this study suggest that responsibility and company policy are factors that motivate employees at XYZ the most, while recognition, opportunity for advancement, salary, and interpersonal relationships do not have significant influence on their motivation level. Therefore, if the management were to spend time focusing on the elements that employees feel will increase their motivation; motivation can be redirected back into the workplace. This study is not without limitation. The approach used was a case study and is subjected to the weakness associated to this method. The generalizability of the findings may be limited due to the presence of various characteristics which are specific to the characteristics of XYZ Sdn. Bhd. Furthermore, this study only reveals general perception of the employees. In order to have substantial improvement in employee motivation level, the management should also consider and recognize individual differences since every employee is unique, thus having different needs and

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motives. Nevertheless, it is hoped that findings from this study can become a source of reference when it comes to understanding motivation of employees in SMEs particularly in Malaysian food manufacturing sector. References Bent, R., Seaman, C. E. A., & Ingram, A. (1999). Staff motivation in small food manufacturing enterprises. British Food Journal, 101(9), 654–667. Galabova, L., & Mckie, L. (2013). “ The five fingers of my hand ”: human capital and well-being in SMEs. Personnel Review, 42(6), 662–683. Islam, R., Zaki, A., & Ismail, H. (2008). Employee motivation : a Malaysian perspective. International Journal of Commerce and Management, 18(4), 344–362. Kwasi Dartey-Baah, G. K. A. (2011). Application of Frederick Herzberg ’ s Two-Factor theory in assessing and understanding employee motivation at work : a Ghanaian Perspective. European Journal of Business and Management, 3(9), 1–9. Remi, J. (2011). An Empirical Study of the Motivational Factors of Employees in Nigeria. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 3(5), 227–233. Ruthankoon, R., & Ogunlana, S. O. (2003). Testing Herzberg ’ s two-factor theory in the Thai construction industry. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 10(5), 333–341. Wan Fauziah Wan Yusoff, T. S. K. & M. T. M. I. (2013). Herzberg’ Two Factors Theory on Work Motivation: Does Its Work for Today's Environment? Global Journal of Commerce and Management Perspective, 2(5), 18–22. Yudhir, S. (2012). Employee’s Motivation: Theories and Perspectives. Asian Journal of Multidimensional Research, 1(2), 56–64. George, J. M. & Jones, G. R. (2005), Understanding and Managing Organisational Behaviour. 4th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson Prentice, New York: McGraw-Hill. Stephen P. Robbins, David A. DeCenzo, Mary Coulter. (2013). Fundamentals of Management, Essential Concepts and Applications. 8th Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall. Zickmund, W.G., (2003). Business Research Methods. 7th Edition. Thompson South Western:Ohio. CK Wong. (2013). Malaysia's SME Statistics and E-Commerce Readiness. Retrieved 2 April 2014, from http://www.ecommercemilo.com/2013/12/malaysia-sme-statistics ecommercereadiness.html Department of Statistics Malaysia. (2012). Press Release Census Report On SMEs 2011, (September), 2011–2013. Retrieved 2 April 2014, from http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/images/stories/files/LatestReleases/BE/BI/BE2011_SMEsBI.pdf.