Kesan latihan formal sebagai mediator dalam hubungan antara amalan pengurusan kejat dengan prestasi perusahaan kecil dan sederhana

Abstract

SME company currently operate in a rapid changing economics environment and unlimited consumer needs. This situations need SME to provide an efficient service to avoid the waste of resources and lean service practice is one of the tools that can be used. However, studies on lean service practices are still lacking, particularly those concentrated on the SME service sector. This study aims to achieve two main objectives, firstly to investigate lean service practices and the level of adoption by SME’s in Klang Valley, and secondly, to examine the role of formal training as mediator in the relationship between lean service practices and performance. The study utilised quantitative method and a total of 220 questionnaires were sent out in the study area. The measurement model were examined using PLS-SEM whereas the data were subsequently analyzed using Pearson Correlation and Multiple Regression. A key finding is that there are seven lean service practices of SME consist of value stream mapping, pull oriented culture, multifunction of human resource in service operations, utilisation of information technology, standardization of work, customer involvement and workplace flow. For each practice, the director of the SMEs company stated that their departments adopted a high level of lean service practices. The finding also revealed that there are significant relationships among the three lean service practices namely, value stream mapping, customer involvement and utilisation of information technology and SME performance. Furthermore, the variables of formal training are partially mediated by the relationship between three lean service practices and the SME performance. Theoritically, this study contributes to the development of theories and knowledge in this field, by identifying three lean service practices as having significant influence on SME performance, as well as the mediating effect of formal training. The findings also contribute to the practical awareness among SME owner that they could implement lean service practices with proper formal training to achieve higher performance. Thus, for future research, attention must be given to other human resource development dimension such as the delegation of power to employees and informal learning to better achieve the goals of SME company.