corporate site case study on malaysian company

• Corpus ID: 195059422

Corporate Site : Case study on Malaysian Company

• Noor Latiffah Adam , Nordin Abu Bakar
• Published 2013
• Business, Computer Science

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Trends in online media relations: web-based corporate press rooms in leading international companies, degree of internet corporate reporting: a research framework, the internet as a vehicle for investor relations: the swedish case.

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1. EcoWorld-UEM Sunrise merger plans terminated

The proposed merger between property developers UEM Sunrise Bhd and Eco World Development Bhd (EcoWorld) dissipated as quickly as it had first surfaced. A little over three months after the proposed merger was brought to light via an announcement to the stock exchange in October 2020, plans were swiftly swept under the rug in the wake of the then new year.

UEM Sunrise had proposed the merger, suggesting it be undertaken via a swap of shares and warrants between the two companies, citing a “pressing need for industry players to consolidate resources and capabilities” amid the Covid-19-related headwinds they faced.

Subsequently on Dec 30, 2020, EcoWorld said it had decided to proceed with discussions on the proposed merger with its rival, but cautioned that it was subject to the company’s assessment on viability and feasibility issues.

A mere two weeks later, any merger hopes were quashed following EcoWorld’s decision to not pursue the proposition.

This move came on the heels of its careful evaluation of the merger alongside the company’s business plans, as well as taking into account the then challenging environment and the re-implementation of Malaysia’s Covid-19-driven Movement Control Order.

2. AmBank settles 1MDB-related claims for RM2.83 billion

AMMB Holdings Bhd’s unit AmBank Bhd was slapped with a RM2.83 billion settlement by the Malaysian government on Feb 26 for its involvement in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) corruption scandal.

It is believed that the bank had to pay the settlement owing to its role in handling the RM5 billion bond issued by 1MDB back in May 2009. This was on top of the RM53.7 million penalty imposed by Bank Negara Malaysia.

The RM2.83 billion settlement, which was nearly 30% of AMMB’s market capitalisation at the time, dealt a big blow to the banking group and it also fanned speculation of a possible merger with its bigger peers. AMMB’s share price plunged 11.4% on March 3 — the first trading day after it suspended the trading of its securities for two days.

For the financial year ended March 31, 2021 (FY2021), the banking group posted a record net loss of RM3.82 billion or 127.22 sen loss per share, compared with net profit of RM1.34 billion or 44.64 sen earnings per share.

It undertook a private placement to raise RM810 million to replenish its core capital in April.

To date, the banking group has paid RM1.8 billion out of the RM2.83 billion. The second and third payments of RM515 million each are due this month and in July 2022 respectively.

As of July, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) said Malaysia’s Assets Recovery Trust Account had received a total of RM18.176 billion of funds seized, returned or for settlements in connection with 1MDB.

The government also agreed to settlements of US$80 million (RM334 million) each with 1MDB’s former auditors Deloitte PLT and KPMG PLT, in relation to the financial scandal.

3. Supply chain problems give businesses a major headache

Car manufacturers have been grappling with global semiconductor shortages since early this year owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In October, European car manufacturer Renault said it would cut output by 500,000 vehicles this year, more than double its previous forecast due the shortages. Closer to home, Perodua highlighted in November that it is unlikely to meet its sales targets for 2021 due to the shortages and expected the chip supply issue to persist until next year.

The chip shortage boosted by strong global demand has lifted share prices of semiconductor related companies.

Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd outshone its peers, gaining 92.6% year-to-date as at Dec 29, and Frontken Corp Bhd soared 71.5%, while Inari Amertron Bhd jumped 44.3% and Vitrox Corp Bhd climbed 35.6%.

The impact of chip shortages are not limited to vehicles. In October, Apple highlighted it is likely to slash Apple IPhone 13 production amid the supply chain disruptions.

On top of that, the supply chain problems due to the pandemic have caused commodity prices to escalate to multi-year and decade highs.

Besides manufacturers, Real Estate & Housing Developers' Association said builders cited material and labour problems as the top cost component that affected their cash flow in the first half of 2021.

4. Felda fails to take FGV private

The Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) launched a takeover bid in late December 2020 to take FGV Holdings Bhd private at RM1.30 per share.  

The decision to take the plantation group private came roughly two months after Felda chairman Datuk Idris Jusoh revealed that the Cabinet gave the nod to Felda to terminate a land lease agreement (LLA) with FGV.

However, Felda did not receive enough valid acceptance it needed to trigger a compulsory share acquisition and take the listed company private.

Interestingly, following its failed bid to take over FGV, Felda had indicated that it will not terminate the LLA or take over the former’s mills.

Felda currently owns a 79.77% direct and indirect stake in FGV. It has been mopping up more shares over the past months after the failed takeover bid.

Like its plantation peers, FGV has benefitted from the sharp rise in crude palm oil prices that breached RM4,000 level. The group posted net profit of RM702.78 million for the nine-month period ended Sept 30 compared with RM15.09 million a year ago. Its revenue grew to RM13.39 billion from RM10.06 billion previously. As a result, FGV’s share price has climbed to RM1.49 on Dec 29, which is 14.6% higher than Felda’s offer price.

5. Second attempt at a Celcom-Digi merger

The year saw another merger attempt between Axiata Bhd and Telenor Asia. But this time around, it is on a smaller scale involving only Malaysian operations. In short, DiGi.Com Bhd’s subsidiary Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd is merging with Celcom Axiata Bhd’s mobile telecommunication network operations, the second try after previous plans were terminated in September 2019.

Telenor owns a 49% stake in DiGi.Com while Khazanah Nasional Bhd holds a 36.74% in Axiata.

The merger plan was announced in April — Axiata said it was in advanced discussions with Telenor Asia, with each to have equal ownership of about 33.1% in the merged entity, dubbed Celcom Digi Bhd.

Axiata, along with Malaysian institutional funds, would own over 51% of the merged company.

The merged entity was touted to be a “leading telecommunications service provider in Malaysia”, Axiata said, with a pro forma revenue of about RM12.4 billion, pre-synergy earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation of RM5.7 billion and an estimated 19 million customers.

The fate of the planned merger now lies in the regulator’s hands, as both parties have completed their side of the proposal.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission formally received the merger application in November, although no timeline has been given yet on when the authorities would make a decision.

The completion of the exercise, amongst others, will also be subject to the approval of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) and the shareholders of Axiata and DiGi.Com.

6. Bandar Malaysia deal is terminated again

This Bandar Malaysia mega real estate development project had always sprung surprises over the years, and 2021 was no exception.

In July, MoF and IWH CREC Sdn Bhd mutually agreed to terminate their deal, in which the latter would buy a 60% stake in the project for RM7.4 billion.

IWH-CREC, a 50:50 joint venture between Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) and China Railway Engineering Corp (M) Sdn Bhd, would get a RM1.54 billion refund due to the termination.

The Bandar Malaysia project was one of the real estate investments of the controversial 1MDB, initiated during Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s tenure as prime minister and finance minister.

This was the second deal that IWH CREC struck with Malaysian government to purchase a stake in the massive development project located at the former airbase in Sungai Besi.

To recap, on Dec 31, 2015, IWH CREC sealed its first deal with 1MDB to buy the 60% stake in the Bandar Malaysia project for RM7.41 billion. Back then, the joint venture concluded the agreement with 1MDB’s former president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy.

In an abrupt turn of events, the joint venture was informed that the share sale agreement (SSA) had lapsed due to failure to meet conditions precedent in May 2017 — 16 months after the agreement was signed.

A year later, Pakatan Harapan’s win in the 14th General Election opened a window of opportunity for IWH CREC to renegotiate the stake sale.

Malaysia signed a framework agreement to revive the deal during then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad’s second visit to China in April 2019.

IWH CREC signed the restated and amended SSA for the equity sale in December that year — roughly three months before the country went through another change of government in less than two years.

Despite all the negotiations and efforts, the Covid-19 pandemic that has taken a heavy toll on the global economy seems to be another unexpected factor that has resulted in the aborting of the development, at least for now.  

7. Forced labour allegations abound

Several Malaysian companies were plagued by allegations of foreign worker abuse and forced labour, with the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seen to be breathing down the necks of a number of local manufacturers for their purported transgressions.

Glove makers — Supermax Glove Manufacturing, Top Glove Corp Bhd — and palm oil manufacturers — Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, FGV Holdings Bhd, were issued with CBP directives. While most were able to endure the scrutiny and repercussions relatively unscathed, some did not share the same fortune.

At the forefront was electronics manufacturing services provider ATA IMS Bhd, which ended up losing its largest customer Dyson Ltd.

ATA’s unit in Johor had been levelled with forced labour allegations which in turn prompted the household appliances giant to sever ties with its manufacturer.

Initially, ATA and Dyson had jointly refuted the allegations but following an audit of the former’s operations conducted by the British technology company, contract manufacturing agreements were terminated effective June 1, 2022.

ATA, after suffering damage to its reputation and the loss of its primary customer, which reportedly contributed around 80% of its revenue, the electronics manufacturing services provider faces tough times ahead.

8. AirAsia, AAX fly through another difficult year

Low-cost carrier AirAsia Group Bhd and associate company AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) managed to weather another tough year as cross-border travelling remains minimal for the second year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In March, AirAsia raised RM336.46 million from a private placement of 470.21 million shares and it secured the RM500 million Danajamin-guaranteed club facility in October.

The airline ended the year with cheerful news that it managed to raise RM974.5 million through its rights issue of redeemable convertible unsecured Islamic debt securities at a nominal value of 75 sen apiece, although the fund raising exercise was undersubscribed.

AirAsia has in total raised RM2.5 billion, according to its co-founder and CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, including asset sales this year.

Analysts have said that the fund raising exercises were critical for the group to remain afloat — it needed cash to cover expenses given that it could not carry on full operations during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, a majority of AAX’s creditors, including a minority group of passengers who attended the meeting, have greenlighted the airline’s debt restructuring plan that involved severe haircuts.

On Dec 16, AAX also obtained the High Court’s sanction for the restructuring of its debts amounting to RM33.65 billion.

AAX also proposed a renounceable rights issue of new shares to raise up to RM300 million from its existing shareholders and a proposed private placement of new AAX shares to raise an additional RM200 million.

Will there be money pumped into the two airlines? The coronavirus is probably one key determining factor.  

9. Cancer scare at Hup Seng

Biscuit maker Hup Seng Industries Bhd was in the spotlight in October after Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog highlighted cancer-causing substances were detected in the biscuits and crackers it produces.

The Hong Kong Consumer Council announced that 60 samples of pre-packed biscuits and crackers it tested contained cancer-inducing elements, such as glycidol or acrylamide.

The news sent Hup Seng’s share price nearly 7% lower in a single day to 87.5 sen on Oct 25. The hardly-traded stock saw its trading volume swell to 13.67 million shares that day — the second highest level since it was listed in November 2000.

Subsequently, Hup Seng, which was founded in 1958, stated it will extend full cooperation to the authorities in their investigation if required.

It made an attempt to clear the air by ensuring consumers that its special cream crackers manufactured and marketed in Malaysia “are fit for human consumption and in compliance with the local regulations, quality standards and food safety standards”.

According to the Ministry of Health, the factory premises of Hup Seng hold HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) and MoH certificates.

10. Budget 2022 surprises corporates with 33% prosperity tax

The Cukai Makmur (Prosperity Tax), a one-off corporate income tax hike, was introduced by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz when tabling the 2022 Budget on Oct 29 to help replenish the nation’s coffers.

This will see companies earning above RM100 million being slapped with additional tax on a company level (local subsidiaries) rather than the group level, at 33% instead of 24% for the first RM100 million previously.

A random check by The Edge shows there were roughly 113 listed companies that recorded pre-tax earnings of over RM100 million in both FY2019 and FY2020. Meanwhile, there were 145 listed entities that posted pre-tax profit of RM100 million and above in FY2019, while the number fell to 125 FY2020.

The additional tax, although it is one-off, did not go down well with the market. A total market capitalisation of RM33.8 billion evaporated on Nov 1, while the FBM KLCI declined 31.39 points or 2.01% to 1,530.92 — its largest single-day decline since March 31.

Deputy Finance Minister II Yamani Hafez Musa said in parliament that the government expects to collect at least RM3 billion with the one-off tax hike, while analysts estimate that between RM5 billion and RM9.5 billion in tax revenue will be generated.

The industries’ response to the move had been varied. The Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants said it was surprised by the proposition while noting that it is “a rather off-tangent initiative”, while Deloitte Malaysia said the insurance and takaful industry would see the biggest financial impact from the tax.

11. The 5G roll out

It was big news to Malaysians when the government announced it would roll out the 5G network this year starting with Putrajaya, Cyberjaya and Kuala Lumpur this month and to achieve an 80% nationwide coverage by end-2024. With such a lofty goal, Malaysia will likely end up being ahead of many countries in the region in terms of telecommunication infrastructure.

Sadly, the bigger surprise came about when Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa announced that the Cabinet was reconsidering the decision to adopt the Single Wholesale Network (SWN) model for the nationwide roll out of 5G via Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) — a wholly-owned unit of the MoF. This raised uncertainties as well as eyebrows.

The minister’s announcement came five months after DNB had selected Ericsson (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to design and build the nation’s 5G network via an open tender.

Ericsson had also undertaken to arrange the financing. Consequently, the government will not incur capital expenditure upfront — it will securitise future cash flow from its wholesale business to repay the vendor and for future operating expenditures.

Under the SWN model, DNB will own both the 5G spectrum and infrastructure, and it will lease the network to all telcos to enable equal access.

The SWN is vastly different from the previous network model whereby spectrums were allocated to the telcos plus non-telco firms, allowing them to build their own infrastructures.

Tengku Zafrul said the implementation via DNB will be “way cheaper”, highlighting that the charges paid by telcos to DNB for 5G leasing would be over 50% lower than the capital spent for the current 4G network.

The Cabinet will in January decide on the model to adopt. And that will not just determine the speed of the 5G roll out in Malaysia, but also the country’s digital economy future.  

12. Serba Dinamik’s executives charged by the SC

The audit saga of Serba Dinamik Bhd had grabbed headlines since late May, as developments continued to unfold — the most recent being the charging of the company and its top executives, including major shareholder Datuk Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah who is also the CEO, for submission of false statement to Bursa Malaysia.

On Dec 28, the SC charged Serba Dinamik along with its executive director Datuk Syed Nazim Syed Faisal, group chief financial officer Azhan Azmi, and vice-president of accounts and finance Muhammad Hafiz Othman, for furnishing a false statement to Bursa Malaysia.

Abdul Karim, who owns a 21.23% stake, was charged a day later as he was not present on Dec 28, while Muhammad Hafiz was slapped with an additional charge for creating fictitious sales.

The group’s audit troubles began on May 25, when its auditor KPMG had flagged issues involving transactions and receivables amounting to at least RM3.5 billion. The SC initiated a probe on the company after KPMG raised the red flag.

Serba Dinamik, meanwhile, appointed Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd (EY Consulting) to conduct a special independent review (SIR) and Nexia SSY PLT as its new external auditors following KPMG’s resignation as result of legal action taken by Serba Dinamik against its former auditor.

The group also filed a suit against Bursa Malaysia, alleging that the regulator had acted in excess of its powers when it suspended the trading of Serba Dinamik’s securities and directed the company to reveal the factual findings of EY Consulting’s SIR on Oct 22.

It also filed an injunction to block the auditors from releasing the findings, but this was dismissed by the court.

Since the start of the audit issue, three chairmen plus seven directors have resigned from the board.

Its share price has tumbled 78% from RM1.61 in late May to 35 sen on Oct 22. The audit fiasco has wiped away RM4.71 billion of market capitalisation from the company, which announced impressive earnings growth over the past five years.

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Case study: How Bursa Malaysia promotes ethical business behaviour

Bursa Malaysia is an exchange holding company incorporated in 1976, operating a vibrant and diverse marketplace in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), which is one of the fastest growing economic regions in the world. As the Exchange, Bursa Malaysia is responsible for setting the right tone on ethics and integrity in the capital market ecosystem. To achieve this, Bursa Malaysia must embrace ethical practices as an integral part of its DNA, and fulfil its duties in an exemplary manner.

This case study is based on the 2019 Sustainability Report by Bursa Malaysia published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database  that can be found at this link . Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.

One of Bursa Malaysia’s key priorities is to build and maintain a strong culture of anti-fraud, bribery and corruption     Tweet This! , taking a zero-tolerance approach towards fraud, bribery and corruption and making sure that it is in compliance with all relevant laws, including anti-corruption laws. In order to promote ethical business behaviour Bursa Malaysia took action to:

• carry out corruption risk assessments
• strengthen due diligence
• establish a Corporate Integrity Task Force
• implement a ‘three lines of defence’ strategy
• apply a Whistleblower Policy and Procedures
• implement comprehensive policies and guidelines

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Please subscribe to the SustainCase Newsletter to keep up to date with the latest sustainability news and gain access to over 2000 case studies. These case studies demonstrate how companies are dealing responsibly with their most important impacts, building trust with their stakeholders (Identify > Measure > Manage > Change).

With this case study you will see:

• Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Bursa Malaysia has identified;
• How Bursa Malaysia proceeded with stakeholder engagement , and
• What actions were taken by Bursa Malaysia to promote ethical business behaviour

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What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2019 Sustainability Report Bursa Malaysia identified a range of material issues, such as economic performance, customer privacy, cyber security, climate change, employee diversity, inclusiveness and equal opportunity. Among these, promoting ethical business behaviour stands out as a key material issue for Bursa Malaysia.

Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards              

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.

Key stakeholder groups Bursa Malaysia engages with:  

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Bursa Malaysia carried out an online survey of both internal and external stakeholders.

What actions were taken by Bursa Malaysia to promote ethical business behaviour ?

In its 2019 Sustainability Report Bursa Malaysia reports that it took the following actions for promoting ethical business behaviour:

• Carrying out corruption risk assessments
• As the first step to identity potential high-risk areas, Bursa Malaysia’s Risk and Compliance (RC) team incorporated corruption-related elements in its Risk Control Self-Assessment (RCSA). This is a self-declaration exercise/tool that all divisions and departments are required to conduct, on a quarterly basis. Next, the RC team will continue to engage various stakeholders to strengthen the controls in place, and perform compliance reviews on high-risk areas. The reviews will be prioritised for departments with the highest exposure to corruption risks.
• Strengthening due diligence
• To minimise its risk exposure brought about by third parties, Bursa Malaysia strengthened its due diligence regarding anti-fraud, bribery and corruption when establishing relationships with vendors. This includes requiring vendors to make a commitment to Bursa Malaysia’s standards via the Vendor Declaration Form, as well as carrying out third party background checks and annual assessments on critical vendors.
• Establishing a Corporate Integrity Task Force
• Bursa Malaysia set up a Corporate Integrity Task Force to spearhead and coordinate the efforts to review its policies, procedures and controls to ensure it has ‘adequate procedures’ to prevent corruption, as required under section 17A, MACC Act 2009 (Corporate Liability Provision) and the Guidelines on Adequate Procedures issued pursuant to that section. Bursa Malaysia’s review also took into account the Corporate Integrity System Malaysia (CISM) Initiative’s policies required to be adopted by a Corporate Integrity Pledge signatory. The Task Force also led efforts to commence development of the Organisational Anti-Corruption Plan (OACP), which will outline Bursa Malaysia’s corporate anti-corruption strategies and action plans in preventing, detecting and managing fraud, bribery and corruption issues. The Task Force is chaired by the Director of Sustainability and comprises representatives from relevant divisions/ departments within Bursa Malaysia.
• Implementing a ‘three lines of defence’ strategy
• Employees and management are responsible to identify fraud, bribery and corruption risks in their business units and operationalise effective controls in managing these risks.
• RC develops and monitors the implementation of effective fraud, bribery and corruption risk management policies. It also supports the Risk Management Committee’s oversight function by assisting the Board to fulfil its responsibilities in the management of fraud, bribery and corruption risks.
• Internal Audit (IA) enhances and protects Bursa Malaysia’s organisational value by providing risk-based and objective assurance, advice and insight. IA helps Bursa Malaysia accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, controls, and governance processes. The IA engagements are carried out based on an annual audit plan approved by the Audit Committee (AC). Depending on the auditable areas assessed and the scope of audit, the level of exposure to the relevant fraud, bribery or corruption risks will be taken into consideration during the audit process. The results of the audits in the IA reports are reviewed by the AC.
• Applying a Whistleblower Policy and Procedures
• Bursa Malaysia has a Whistleblower Policy and Procedures (WPP) to provide an avenue for employees or any external party to report any breach or suspected breach of any law or regulation, including business principles and policies and guidelines, in a safe and confidential manner. An employee who makes a report of improper conduct in good faith shall not be subject to unfair dismissal, victimisation, demotion, suspension, intimidation or harassment, discrimination, any action causing injury, loss or damage or any other retaliatory actions. The AC has the overall responsibility in overseeing the implementation and monitoring of the WPP, and ensuring effective administration by the Director of IA. To drive awareness and education on anti-fraud, bribery and corruption, Bursa Malaysia also provided training at all levels in its organisation, covering 93% of its employees and 100% of its Board as of August 2019.
• Implementing comprehensive policies and guidelines
• Anti-Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy
• Enterprise Risk Management Principles and Framework
• Guidelines For Handling Conflict of Interest
• Code of Ethics for Bursa Malaysia Group
• Code of Conduct and Ethics for Directors
• Securities Transaction Policy for Bursa Malaysia Group
• Asset Declaration Guidelines

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1)  Disclosure 205-2 Communication and training about anti-corruption policies and procedures

2)  Disclosure 205-3 Confirmed incidents of corruption and actions taken

Disclosure 205-2  Communication and training about anti-corruption policies and procedures corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 : Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
• Business theme:  Anti-corruption

Disclosure 205-3  Confirmed incidents of corruption and actions taken corresponds to:

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that  responsible companies can look to the future with optimism .

FBRH GRI Standards Certified & IEMA recognised Sustainability Course | Venue: London LSE

By registering for the next 2-day FBRH GRI Standards Certified & IEMA recognised course you will be taking the first step in gaining the many benefits of sustainability reporting .

References:

1) This case study is based on published information by Bursa Malaysia, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to Bursa Malaysia: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us .

Corporate-Community Engagement—The Case Study of Malaysian Palm Oil Companies in Indonesia

• Conference paper
• First Online: 14 July 2022
• Cite this conference paper

• Mohd Rafi Yaacob 11 ,
• Siti Amaliya Mohd Radyi 11 ,
• Azwan Abdullah 11 ,
• Juliansyah Noor 12 ,
• Ahmad Firdause Fadzil 13 &
• Faizu Hassan 14  

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 487))

Included in the following conference series:

• International Conference on Business and Technology

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Corporate-community engagement is one of the integral components of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), this is especially challenging in international business endeavour where a company is considered a foreign entity and any negative encounter against a local community would easily backfire its existence as well as portrays negative image of its home country. By and large, any business’ CSR initiatives in whatever forms and shapes would positively contribute to the triple-bottom-line of business, namely profit, people and planet. Apart from looking after its employees, engaging local community is inevitably included under the people bottom line. Malaysian Palm Oil Companies over the last three decades have expanded their activities in Indonesia to gain competitive edges by tapping attractive land’s price and relatively cheaper labour resources. Notwithstanding of socio-economic contribution of Malaysian Palm Oil Companies in their host country through job opportunities, improvement in infrastructure as well as economic gains by Indonesian government through tax payment, not much has been studied about their benefits to local communities who live within the vicinity of the palm oil plantations. Against this academic lacuna, this study aims to investigate level of engagement of Malaysian Palm Oil Companies in Indonesia with local communities by using six companies as the case study. Utilising on qualitative method where interviews were conducted with the community leaders and palm oil companies’ management in various provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The results of the study found that majority of those companies hardly engage with their local communities. These findings are instructive where Malaysia Palm Oil Company needs to proactively embrace and engage community engagement through a deeper, meaningful and continuous collaboration the local communities in order to gain minds and hearts of their existence which in turns can contribute to the sustainability of their companies and also the palm oil industry .

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Yaacob, M.R., Radyi, S.A.M., Abdullah, A., Noor, J., Fadzil, A.F., Hassan, F. (2023). Corporate-Community Engagement—The Case Study of Malaysian Palm Oil Companies in Indonesia. In: Alareeni, B., Hamdan, A. (eds) Sustainable Finance, Digitalization and the Role of Technology. ICBT 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 487. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08084-5_41

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Home > Jurisdictions > Register company in Malaysia > Successful Case Study of Malaysia Company Setup

Successful Case Study of Malaysia Company Setup

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Corporate Governance

Managing fraud and bribery risks across corporate functions.

• Date: Oct 11, 2023
• Category: Corporate Governance

Incidents of fraud and bribery pose significant threats to the integrity and reputation of organisations in Malaysia. To combat these risks, companies must implement robust risk management strategies across all corporate functions. These risk management practices are currently in place through a mix of internal processes, certifications and implementing good practices in managing employees and third parties.

In this case study, we examined the best practices of three prominent Malaysian organisations – Bank Negara Malaysia, Khazanah Nasional and Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) [KWAP], when it comes to mitigating fraud and bribery risks effectively.

Case Study 1: Bank Negara Malaysia’s Whistleblowing Policy

A whistleblowing policy enables individuals within an organisation or the public to report improper conduct that has occurred within the organisation. Effective whistleblowing measures must address several barriers to report the wrongdoing, such as fear of retaliation, the level of trust within the organisation, apathy and a personal preference of not interfering with others’ affairs.

As part of its plan to implement an effective whistleblowing policy, Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank of Malaysia has defined what type of offences fall under the scope of “improper conduct” on its website . These include:

• Criminal offences by the bank’s officers, employees and directors including fraud, corruption or abuse of power;
• Misuse of the bank’s funds or assets;
• Gross mismanagement within the bank;
• Breach of the bank’s code of ethics by its officers and employees;
• Breach of the bank’s vendor code of conduct by vendors
• Failure to comply with the provisions of laws administered by the bank by any person
• Assisting a person to commit any of the above instances of improper conduct
• Detrimental action taken against whistleblowers and persons closely related to the whistleblowers.

In addition, Bank Negara has also explained the types of protection given to whistleblowers as outlined under the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010. The central bank also explains situations in which protection of whistleblowers would be revoked, as well as brief guidelines on what details whistleblowers should disclose in their report. The information whistleblowers are recommended to provide to support their allegations include a description of the improper conduct, names of individuals who committed the incidents or are involved in the improper conduct, and any evidence or supporting documents.

This information should be reported via the correct communication channels, Bank Negara states on its website. The central bank lists these steps on its website so the information is available to all employees and members of the public. As shown in the table below, whistleblowers should report alleged wrongdoing to the relevant authorities based on the alleged wrongdoer. The email addresses of the designated persons are also available on Bank Negara’s website, as well as a mechanism for reporting wrongdoing via physical letters.

Source: Bank Negara Malaysia

By publishing its whistleblowing policy on its corporate website and disclosing all pertinent information to support whistleblowers, Bank Negara makes it accessible, convenient and secure for employees and members of the public to report any misconduct. It also signals to stakeholders that the bank is committed to fighting fraud, bribery and corruption.

Case Study 2: Khazanah Nasional’s Code of Conduct and Code of Business Ethics

Khazanah Nasional Berhad, as the sovereign wealth fund of the government of Malaysia, is mandated with growing the country’s long-term wealth and contributing to its economic development.

Khazanah has published a Code of Conduct for its employees, which provides guidance on the standards of behaviour for all of the organisation’s staff, including those in the regional offices. The handbook explains the company’s core values and outlines the company’s code which covers duty of confidentiality, independence and conflict of interest and professional conduct, and provides a framework for ethical decision making to guide employees how to approach real-life situations. The Code of Conduct is available online to inform the public of the standards of behaviour that Khazanah’s employees are to hold themselves to when dealing with, among others, Khazanah’s business associates.

As a counterpoint reference for their business associates, Khazanah has established a Code of Business Ethics which provides guidance on how to conduct sustainable business relationships with Khazanah, and applies to, among others, contractors, consultants, agents, advisors, and suppliers. The code is based on seven key principles:

• Act with Integrity – Business associates are to conduct all procurement and business activities with integrity and must not disclose any confidential information.
• Maintain accountability – Business associates are to maintain full accountability for the goods and services that they provide and honour their commitments.
• Avoid the appearance of or actual conflicts of interest – Business associates must immediately declare real or potential conflicts of interest to Khazanah.
• Abide by the rule of law – Business associates must comply with all applicable laws and avoid practices which can lead to bribery, corruption and other prohibited business practice.
• Honest representation – Business associates must provide honest representations of their organisation, its qualifications, experience and capabilities.
• Prohibit any form of gifts or business courtesies to procure favours and/or unfair advantage – Business associates must never give or agree to give a bribe, kickbacks or bartering arrangement in any form (donation, cash, gift or other incentives) to Khazanah’s officers, their families or on behalf of Khazanah to other people.
• Business sustainability – Business associates should aim to implement best practices to foster sustainability, such as having good corporate governance, minimizing carbon emissions and maintaining the wellbeing of their employees.

In addition to complying with the key principles of Khazanah’s Code of Business Ethics, the fund’s business associates must also demonstrate that they have implemented their own anti-corruption measures such as policies, processes and procedures to prevent misconduct committed by their officers.

By clearly outlining its code of business ethics and making the guidelines publicly available via its website, Khazanah helps its vendors understand and manage the bribery and corruption risks that might arise within their organisations.

Using both its Code of Conduct and Code of Business Ethics, Khazanah helps its vendors understand and manage the bribery and corruption risks they may face, whether those risks arise within the vendors’ organisation, among their employees or agents, or externally within the course of their relationship or activities with Khazanah and/or its employees.

To underscore and enforce its commitment to champion integrity and corporate governance, Khazanah specifies a whistle-blowing channel in the Code of Business Ethics by which its business associates may escalate their concerns. Details of that whistle-blowing channel is also publicly available via the Khazanah website, making it accessible to individual employees or agents of Khazanah’s business associates.

Case Study 3: KWAP’s Integrity and Governance Office

KWAP is a statutory body that manages pension funds for Malaysian civil servants. In 2019, KWAP established its Integrity and Governance Office, an independent body that reports to the organisation’s Board Integrity Committee and is given the authority to enforce the organisation’s anti-bribery and anti-corruption compliance measures.

In December 2021, KWAP was certified with ISO 37001:2016 Anti-Bribery Management System (ABMS). Complying with external standards such as ISO 37001 supports KWAP’s efforts in strengthening its ethical practices by offering a clear framework for action that is aligned with its own risk profile.

What is ISO 37001?

ISO 37001 is an international standard for Anti-Bribery Management Systems and was published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 2016. It is designed to help organisations prevent, detect and respond to bribery incidences and is applicable to organisations of any size or sector. Under the ABMS standard, a compliant Anti-Bribery Management System should cover:

• anti-bribery policy
• management leadership, commitment and responsibility
• personnel controls and training
• risk assessments
• due diligence on projects and business associates
• financial, commercial and contractual controls
• reporting, monitoring, investigation and review
• corrective action and continual improvement.

Although ISO 37001:2016 is applicable only to bribery , organisations can choose to extend the scope of their management system to include other aspects such as fraud or money laundering.

Corporate Integrity System ™ Malaysia (CISM)

As an alternative or in preparation for the ABMS certification, all organisations can voluntarily enroll for CISM programme which is carried out via self-assessment and self-monitoring. (Ref. cism.iim.gov.my )

KWAP’s Integrity and Governance Office, which is an integral component that helps maintain its ISO 37001 certification, is responsible for undertaking the following tasks:

• Setting, reviewing and achieving KWAP’s objectives on integrity, anti-bribery and anti-corruption
• Managing the design and implementation of KWAP’s Anti-Bribery Management System (ABMS)
• Providing advice and guidance to KWAP staff on the ABMS and anti-corruption compliance programme
• Reporting on the performance of the ABMS and opportunities for improvement or need for change
• Ensuring the integrity of the ABMS is maintained when changes to the ABMS are planned or implemented.

The Integrity and Governance Office is also tasked with verifying and investigating the authenticity of claims of abuse of power and bribery. To facilitate its anti-corruption efforts, the IGO has established online platform on its intranet for sharing integrity and anti-corruption information among its employees. Additionally, a dedicated section on Integrity and Governance is available on KWAP’s official website which is open to the public, providing easy access to integrity and governance information and documents along with their whistleblowing channels.

In 2020, KWAP developed an Organisational Anti-Corruption Plan, which is a 5-year programme designed to strengthen the organisation’s governance and anti-corruption measures.

In conclusion, the case studies above indicated that there are multiple ways where organisations can implement systems to combat bribery and fraud risk. While these examples highlight the best practices implemented by Malaysian prominent organizations, companies are recommended to tailor their own policies on anti-bribery and corruption to meet organisational needs and industry standards.

• Tags : Corporate Governance

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The Airbus Bribery Case Study: Six Corporate Liability Lessons For Malaysian Companies

By  themalaysianlawyer.com

I set out six cautionary lessons for Malaysian companies arising from the  Airbus US$4 billion global resolution  for bribery involving authorities from the UK, France and the United States.

In the UK, Airbus faced five counts of failure of a commercial organisation to prevent bribery. This was under section 7 of the UK Bribery Act. This section 7 is a similar provision to Malaysia’s section 17A of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act, known as the corporate liability provision. I have written about the elements of Malaysia’s corporate liability  here .

You can read the  UK High Court grounds of judgment  in relation to the Airbus settlement through the deferred prosecution agreement. You can also read the  detailed agreed Statement of Facts  for all the background facts.

From the Airbus case study, I set out below six cautionary lessons for Malaysian companies, especially where we are on the brink of seeing the introduction of corporate liability on 1 June 2020.

#1: Persons Associated with Airbus

In summary, persons associated with Airbus, including Airbus employees and other intermediaries, offered very substantial sums of money by way of bribes to third parties in order to secure the purchase of Airbus aircrafts.

The first category of ‘persons associated’ was what was referred to as Business Partners or BPs (sometimes referred to as intermediaries or agents) of Airbus. BPs were third parties used to increase Airbus’ international footprint and to assist it in winning sales contracts in numerous jurisdictions. When Airbus made a successful sale of aircraft, it would typically pay BPs a commission based on a percentage value of the sale, or a fixed amount per aircraft sold.

The second category of ‘persons associated’ were senior employees of Airbus itself. For example, several senior Airbus employees helped to facilitate a sports sponsorship agreement with certain airline executives.

Under Malaysia’s section 17A, the person associated with a commercial organisation will be as wide as the UK position. The categories of persons such as an employee, or an agent or intermediary carrying out services for a Malaysian company, would be such a person associated. The corrupt activities of the person associated would then expose the commercial organisation to the offence under section 17A.

#2: Airbus Compliance Procedures: Failure to Have Adequate Procedures

In both the UK and Malaysia, a commercial organisation can raise the defence that it had adequate procedures in place to prevent the bribery or corrupt activity.

However, in the Airbus case, the High Court Judge noted the following (see generally [65] of the grounds of judgment).

First, Airbus did have bribery prevention policies and procedures in place. There were written policies which governed payment and contractual relationships with third parties, and Business Ethics Policy and Rules, and with detailed due diligence process to be undertaken. However, those policies and procedures were easily bypassed or breached. There existed a corporate culture which permitted bribery by Airbus business partners and/or employees to be committed throughout the world.

Second, the Judge took note of the wrongdoing of a number of very senior, senior and other employees of Airbus. This included employees with compliance responsibilities. Some of the conduct included creation of false invoices, false payment and other compliance material, and the deliberate circumvention of both Airbus’ internal compliance procedures and external compliance procedures.

Third, the weakness of senior corporate oversight, and the seriousness of the offending overall, must be considered in the context of the increased awareness internationally of the pernicious nature of corrupt business practices. Also, taken into account was the obvious vulnerabilities of businesses operating in and selling in international markets, as Airbus does.

#3: Extraterritorial Effect

The Airbus entity was essentially a Dutch and French domiciled company. But Airbus accepted the extraterritorial effect of the UK Bribery Act.

In Malaysia’s corporate liability, there is also extraterritorial effect especially for Malaysian incorporated companies. The corporate liability will extend to these Malaysian companies, whether carrying on business in Malaysia or elsewhere. Liability would also extend to foreign companies carrying on a business or part of a business in Malaysia.

#4: Cooperation by Airbus for Deferred Prosecution Agreement

Malaysia does not have the option of a commercial organisation entering into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA). A DPA provides a mechanism for an organisation to avoid prosecution for certain economic offences through an agreement with the prosecuting authority.

There are certain advantages of a DPA as highlighted in the Airbus decision (see [119] of the grounds).

First, the DPA requires a significant financial penalty and this has an important deterrent message to corporate wrongdoers. Second, the DPA recognises and rewards what Airbus did to address the wrong, and there was a discount of 50% in the financial penalty. Third, the DPA gave Airbus the opportunity to demonstrate its corporate rehabilitation and commitment to effective compliance. Fourth, with the DPA, it avoids the significant expenditure in time and money in any prosecution of Airbus. Fifth, the DPA is likely to provide an incentive for the exposure and self-reporting of organisations in similar situations to Airbus.

At [74] of the grounds, the Judge noted the significant cooperation by Airbus in the investigation by the UK Serious Fraud Office. I set out some of the examples:

• Identified a comprehensive compilation of red flag cases across divisions.
• Reported conduct which had taken place almost exclusively overseas.
• Fully cooperated on any investigative interviews and provided first accounts of all relevant individuals.
• Collected in excess of 30.5 million documents.
• Provided extensive and detailed representations with supporting documentation.
• Adopted a co-operative position in respect of legal professional privilege.

Without the mechanism of a DPA in Malaysia, it remains to be seen whether a Malaysian company would cooperate so extensively with the anti-corruption agency and other enforcement agencies. Would a Malaysian company and its management ‘lawyer up’ and try to withhold information to prevent a successful prosecution? Or would a Malaysian company cooperate in order to fully mitigate any sentence or fine imposed?

#5: Transformation of Airbus’ Procedures

Airbus also took significant steps to demonstrate that it had fully transformed itself from past bad practices. These are noteworthy items to demonstrate the level of compliance and steps taken to stamp out future misconduct.

At [78] of the grounds, first, the Judge noted that Airbus now had a change in management team, with a largely different Board of Directors.

Second, Airbus conducted disciplinary investigations against existing and former employees. Since 2015, Airbus parted with 63 of its top and senior management employees.

Third, Airbus had commissioned an Independent Compliance Review Panel for a complete independent review of Airbus’ ethics and compliance procedures.

Fourth, Airbus Ethics and Compliance teams had been restructured to ensure functional independence from the business. There was a merger of legal and compliance functions and the change of the reporting line to the newly appointed General Counsel.

Fifth, the creation of a sub-committee of the Board, entitled the Ethics & Compliance Committee, to provide independent oversight of Airbus’ Ethics & Compliance programme.

Sixth, Airbus appointed a new Ethics & Compliance officer with changed reporting lines directly to the General Counsel and the Ethics & Compliance Committee.

Seventh, and at [80] of the grounds, the Judge also noted other examples of steps taken by Airbus including:

• Created numerous new compliance roles and extensively recruited highly experienced senior compliance professionals.
• Revised its Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABC) polices and procedures in response to recommendations by external stakeholders.
• Launched a company-wide, systemic and comprehensive ABC Risk Assessment
• Redesigned the ‘onboarding’, due diligence and ongoing monitoring for all third parties with a business relationship with the Airbus group

#6: Malaysia’s Personal Liability of Directors and Management

In the UK, the Bribery Act provisions on personal liability of senior officers are different from the Malaysian corporate liability provision.

In the UK, it would have to be shown that the senior officer consented or connived to the committing of the bribery offence. This also applies only to the general bribery offences and bribing a foreign official, and does not apply to the section 7 Bribery Act corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery.

In Malaysia however, the corporate liability provision is graver. Where an offence is committed by the commercial organisation, it is then already deemed that the senior officer (i.e. director, controller, officer, concerned in the management of the company’s affairs) has also committed the offence. The burden then reverses on the senior officer to have to show that the offence was committed without his consent or connivance, and that he exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.

If it occurred to a Malaysian company, the facts of the Airbus case would have exposed the directors and senior management to a grave risk of personal liability under Malaysia’s corporate liability provision.

The content was originally published on TheMalaysianLawyer.com . Photo by  贝莉儿 DANIST  on Unsplash.

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, corporate social responsibility and corporate governance in malaysian government‐linked companies.

Corporate Governance

ISSN : 1472-0701

Article publication date: 8 June 2012

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether there has been a change in the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and to determine whether corporate governance attributes influence CSR disclosure in corporate annual reports of Malaysian government‐linked companies (GLCs).

Design/methodology/approach

The annual reports of 27 GLCs for two years (2005 and 2007) were analysed using content analysis. Multiple regression analysis was performed to identify factors influencing CSR disclosure in annual reports.

Consistent with expectations, the paired‐sample t ‐tests showed that there was an increase (significant at the 1 percent level) in the extent of CSR disclosure. The multiple regression analysis revealed that board size was positively associated and statistically significant (at the 1 percent level) with the extent of CSR disclosure.

Research limitations/implications

The regression model reported an R 2 of 33.9 percent, which means that almost 66 percent of factors influencing CSR disclosure in Malaysian GLCs have not been captured by the model. These other factors may perhaps be identified through other research methods such as questionnaire surveys or interviews.

Practical implications

The findings appear to suggest that the government efforts in promoting CSR among GLCs through the introduction of the Silver Book in 2006 have had some positive impact on CSR disclosure in annual reports. The results also imply that larger board size through wider exchange of ideas and experience could lead to better appreciation and involvement in corporate social activities and hence disclosure in annual reports.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the few studies to examine CSR disclosure and corporate governance attributes in GLCs after the introduction of new initiatives to promote CSR.

• Corporate social responsibility
• Corporate annual reports
• Corporate governance
• Government‐linked companies
• Financial reporting

Esa, E. and Anum Mohd Ghazali, N. (2012), "Corporate social responsibility and corporate governance in Malaysian government‐linked companies", Corporate Governance , Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 292-305. https://doi.org/10.1108/14720701211234564

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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The Importance of Corporate Brand Character: Case Study of Malaysian Bank Mascots

2017, Advanced Science Letters, Volume 23, Number 8, August 2017, pp. 7966-7969(4)

This study examines the design elements of corporate brand characters or also called mascots of two prominent Malaysian financial institutions, Maybank and CIMB Bank. Generally mascots have been introduced in many organizations as representative. The presence of mascots can also be seen in the Malaysian banking sector. Hence three questions are posed; What forms does the bank mascots take?; How the bank mascots communicate corporate philosophy to consumer?; What meaning do the bank mascots convey? The findings of the study show that the sampled bank mascots display anthropomorphic features, which takes the form of human and animal. This characteristic can be specifically referred to another term called Zoomorphic. In addition to that, the mascots also display unique qualities that reflect company's identity and philosophy. In regards to meaning, it is noticed that the bank mascots suggest emotional expression that Malaysian consumers can easily relate to. We conclude that the two Malaysian bank mascots sampled in this study possess anthropomorphic characteristic which are important for marketing purpose and have the capabilities to represent the corporate banks and capture the attention of Malaysian consumers.

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There is no end to the brands that lend themselves to anthropomorphic comparison. As an area under researched, the ultimate aim of this thesis is to improve our understanding of the phenomenon of brand anthropomorphism via focusing on one of the most prominent tactics currently being used by industry – the use of marketing mascots. This research begins by theoretically positioning the topic in a rich body of literature. Drawing on branding literature, the multidimensional nature of brands is explored as a starting point for understanding brand mascots. The fundamental theories referred to are integrated to form the Brand Puzzle. Next, the phenomenon of anthropomorphism is examined by referring to literatures from the disciplines of anthropology, animal behaviour, English literature and religion. To complete the extensive literature review, this thesis draws on marketing, advertising, psychology and consumer behaviour literature to reveal any existing classifications for brand anthropomorphism prior to introducing a new typology. Additionally, an investigation into the use of mascots is carried out paying particular attention to their conceptual development and their ‘humanity’. By designing an interpretive case study methodology that relies on a variety of research techniques, including netnography, interviews and photo-essays, as well as a provocative style of presentation, this thesis sets out firstly to explore the development of three marketing mascots on the social media site of Facebook: Aleksandr Orlov mascot for price comparison website CompareTheMarket.com; The M&M’s Spokescandies mascots for Mars’ M&M’s chocolate; and Mr Peanut mascot for Planters peanuts. A literary approach was adopted when tackling this mysterious process of creating marketing mascots. Secondly, this thesis sets out to analyse consumer engagement with the brands via their engagement with the selected marketing mascots. Six forms of consumer engagement were identified which were perceived to have an effect on the narrative of marketing mascots. The discussion section of this thesis creatively links the empirical evidence presented in the findings chapters and the insights from the literature with novels, storytelling and genre reading. The prominence of these have led to the development of a Literary Wheel model that has scope for use by industry and offers a direction for future research. In conclusion, this research contributes to knowledge in the field of brand anthropomorphism. It provides a formula for the creation of captivating marketing mascots that fulfil the needs of our increasingly communication hungry culture, encouraging elevated consumer engagement and the development of stronger consumer-brand relationships.

Journal of Marketing Management

Julien Cayla

Suparada Prapawong

Article history: Received: 05 November, 2020 Accepted: 21 December, 2020 Online: 30 December, 2020 The purpose of this study is to show how to design the character used as the symbol or Mascot of the educational institution and how to apply the design results into advertising and Brand identity design such as printing art, poster, digital media, toy, and souvenir. In this study, the ideas of mascot design have been leaded to present a contemporary design under the conceptual framework from local culture, organizational culture, theories of society, arts and design through the analysis and synthesis of the organization, which is CAMT from Chiang Mai University, as the model of this study. CAMT has 7 bachelor’s degree majors, namely Animation and Visual effects (ANI), Software Engineering (SE), Digital Film (DF). Modern Management and Information Technology (MMIT), Digital Game (DG), Digital Industry Integration (DII) and Knowledge Innovation Management (KIM). These Mascot design grou...

Sameer Hosany

Brand characters are ubiquitous in marketing. Previous studies establish their relevance in advertising. Surprisingly, little research exists on how to build and sustain brand characters. Adopting a case-study approach, this paper explores the brand management strategies of Sanrio's iconic character Hello Kitty, a cat epitomising cuteness and innocence. Findings indicate that eight tactics help to build and sustain the Hello Kitty brand: keep it simple, character licensing, third-party collaboration, capitalising on nostalgia, product-line extensions, brand extensions, sustaining consumer interests, and harnessing technology. The paper also identifies some challenges facing Hello Kitty

Documentos de Trabalho em Gestão ( …

Ana Corte-Real

Michael R Hyman

To examine design antecedents and consumer responses to ascriptions of anthropomorphic features for logos, we applied a best-practices conceptual framework to evaluate 120 US collegiate sports logos. Data collected from three logo experts and 119 consumers indicate that (1) processing fluency mediates the relationship between elaborateness and all logo personality dimensions, and (2) ascriptions of aggressiveness (negatively) and activeness (positively) influence consumer affect and purchase intentions. These findings imply that universities should benefit from brand management informed by anthropomorphic ascriptions to their sports logos. Possible future research could consider the effect of sports logo elements (i.e. colour, parallelism, symbolic meaning) on yet-to-be-assessed anthropomorphic ascriptions.

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics

Rungtai Lin

Azahar Harun

This paper sets out to examine the Anthropomorphic Mascots of SUKMA games (1990-2010). The main aim is to establish understanding regarding its Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). The outcome of the analysis (observation analysis and SWOT analysis) indicates that some of the Anthropomorphic Mascots of SUKMA games from 1998-2010 lack credibility thus fail to depict sporting image as well as representing the host state. Despite this set back, we discovered some unique features that can be utilized to increase brand perception. For example in 2010, the organizing committee of SUKMA XIII introduced Tuah as the official mascot to represent Melaka state. The design of Tuah is based on two popular local legends, Sang Kancil (legendary animal) and Hang Tuah (legendary hero). We believe that this factor can help build strong personality (anthropomorphic visualization) and enhance the promotion and branding of SUKMA games. We hope that the result from this study will benefit the organizing committee of SUKMA and the National Sport Council in Malaysia.

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