Posts Tagged ‘mgmt’

 

The core idea is to maximize customer value while minimizing waste. Simply, lean means creating more value for customers with fewer resources.

A lean organization understands customer value and focuses its key processes to continuously increase it. The ultimate goal is to provide perfect value to the customer through a perfect value creation process that has zero waste.

To accomplish this, lean thinking changes the focus of management from optimizing separate technologies, assets, and vertical departments to optimizing the flow of products and services through entire value streams that flow horizontally across technologies, assets, and departments to customers.

Eliminating waste along entire value streams, instead of at isolated points, creates processes that need less human effort, less space, less capital, and less time to make products and services at far less costs and with much fewer defects, compared with traditional business systems. Companies are able to respond to changing customer desires with high variety, high quality, low cost, and with very fast throughput times. Also, information management becomes much simpler and more accurate.

Lean for Production and Services
A popular misconception is that lean is suited only for manufacturing. Not true. Lean applies in every business and every process. It is not a tactic or a cost reduction program, but a way of thinking and acting for an entire organization.

Businesses in all industries and services, including healthcare and governments, are using lean principles as the way they think and do. Many organizations choose not to use the word lean, but to label what they do as their own system, such as the Toyota Production System or the Danaher Business System. Why? To drive home the point that lean is not a program or short term cost reduction program, but the way the company operates. The word transformation or lean transformation is often used to characterize a company moving from an old way of thinking to lean thinking. It requires a complete transformation on how a company conducts business. This takes a long-term perspective and perseverance.

The term “lean” was coined to describe Toyota’s business during the late 1980s by a research team headed by Jim Womack, Ph.D., at MIT’s International Motor Vehicle Program.

The characteristics of a lean organization and supply chain are described in Lean Thinking, by Womack and Dan Jones, founders of the Lean Enterprise Institute and the Lean Enterprise Academy (UK), respectively. While there are many very good books about lean techniques, Lean Thinking remains one of the best resources for understanding “what is lean” because it describes the thought process, the overarching key principles that must guide your actions when applying lean techniques and tools.

 

Lean Thinking

 

Purpose, Process, People
Womack and Jones recommend that managers and executives embarked on lean transformations think about three fundamental business issues that should guide the transformation of the entire organization:

– Purpose: What customer problems will the enterprise solve to achieve its own purpose of prospering?

– Process: How will the organization assess each major value stream to make sure each step is valuable, capable, available, adequate, flexible, and that all the steps are linked by flow, pull, and leveling?

– People: How can the organization insure that every important process has someone responsible for continually evaluating that value stream in terms of business purpose and lean process? How can everyone touching the value stream be actively engaged in operating it correctly and continually improving it?

“Just as a carpenter needs a vision of what to build in order to get the full benefit of a hammer, Lean Thinkers need a vision before picking up our lean tools,” said Womack. “Thinking deeply about purpose, process, people is the key to doing this.”

 

Ramli who have been involved in the areas of consulting,training and writing on subjects like Project Teams (QCC,ICC,KIK,MQT,QIT,WIT.TCS) have realized many years ago on the importance to UNLEASH THE HIDDEN POTENTIAL OF HUMAN CAPITAL through the active participation and completion of their inhouse project/s where teams are established with Management support and cooperation and these teams will embarked on their projects with a duration of 4-6 months tenure and they will have a mission to:

  • improve their current performance to a higher level in areas of quality improvement,productivity gains,cost reductions,waste eliminations,safety improvements,enhanced morale in workplace and also areas of better and cleaner environment.
  • work as a team and apply quality tools or teachniques to make improvements at their workplace or at times work cross functionally with other teams
  • record all their progress and report their findings and results to management for approval and institutionalisation
  • and many more

While the 1.4 Million strong Malaysian Civil Servants are now enjoying their new pay scheme and see their monthly salary increases they too have an important duty to the nation and the Rakyat.They can ensure their commitment to continual excellent service,integrity,honesty at work,responsible at all times and always seeking for ways to improve their performance.One of the best ways is in the active participation of Project Teams like Kumpulan Inovatif & Kreatif or KIK.

KIK will be the best vehicle to allow active participation of all govt employees and being 1.4Million  people they can form almost 140,000 KIKs around the country in the over 35 Ministries concerned.KIK is best to have about 4 to 10 persons in a team.

So,with 140,000 KIKs (a 100% participation achievement) the Malaysian Civil Servants can do so many projects and that means:

  • 140,000 projects of problem solving or Breakthrough results can be realized by the Govt
  • if 140,000 projects succeessfully completed will helped saved about RM 1,000 per project per KIK that  means RM 140,000,000 (yes RM140 Million) is saved per KIK calender (about 4-6 mths tenure).Imagine the IMPACT to the Ministries and Nation?
  • 1.4 Million people will now gained new knowledge,better teamwork,cooperation,expert in their work and many other tangible and intangible benefits

So,the DRIVE FOR REAL TRANSFORMATION in the Malaysian Civil Service is to really promote,register and ensure the 1.4 million malaysian civil servants are participating in this KIK and ensure all their projects are completed as scheduled in their PDCA Cycle and meet or exceed their targets of improvement or problem solving.

Can they do that?They must since they have received salary increases and better perks and its fair that they too become more productive,better quality and do all their KIK projects with great success,determination,teamwork and service to the Rakyat and Nation.As almost 90% of Malaysian Civil Servants are Malays and Muslims they too have a duty to serve Islam and Allah SWT.

Please contact Ramli Abu Hassan at hp:+6-019-2537165 or email: ramlipromoter@yahoo.com for assistance.

Lets have a look what is the Education status in Malaysia (ref:Wikipedia)

Education in Malaysia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Education in Malaysia is overseen by two government ministries. The Ministry of Education (Kementerian Pelajaran) handles matters pertaining to pre-school, primary school, secondary school and post-secondary school. Matters regarding tertiary education are dealt with by the Ministry of Higher Education (Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi). Although education is the responsibility of the federal government, each state has an Education Department to coordinate educational matters in its territory. The main legislation governing education is the Education Act of 1996.

Education may be obtained from the multilingual public school system, which provide free education for all Malaysians, or private schools, or throughhomeschooling. By law, primary education is compulsory. As in many Asia-Pacific countries such as the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Japan,standardised tests are a common feature.

History

 

Batu Pahat High School, Johor

Sekolah Pondok (literally, Hut school), Madrasah and other Islamic schools were the earliest forms of schooling available in Malaysia . Early works of Malay literature such as Hikayat Abdullah mention these schools indicating they pre-date the current secular model of education.

Secular schools in Malaysia were largely an innovation of the British colonial government. Many of the earliest schools in Malaysia were founded in the Straits Settlements of PenangMelaka, and Singapore. The oldest English-language school in Malaya is the Penang Free School, founded in 1816, followed by Malacca High School, and Anglo Chinese School, Klang. Many English-language schools are considered quite prestigious.

British historian Richard O. Winstedt worked to improve the education of the Malays and was instrumental in establishing Sultan Idris Training College. The college was established with the purpose of producing Malay teachers. R J Wilkinson helped established the Malay College Kuala Kangsar in 1905 which aimed to educate the Malay elite.

Initially, the British colonial government did not provide for any Malay-language secondary schools, forcing those who had studied in Malay during primary school to adjust to an English-language education. Many Malays failed to pursue additional education due to this issue.[1]Despite complaints about this policy, the British Director of Education stated:

It would be contrary to the considered policy of government to afford to a community, the great majority of whose members find congenial livelihood and independence in agricultural pursuits, more extended facilities for the learning of English which would be likely to have the effect of inducing them to abandon those pursuits.[2]

Malay representatives in the Federal Council as well as the Legislative Council of Singapore responded vehemently, with one calling the British policy “a policy that trains the Malay boy how not to get employment” by excluding the Malays from learning in the “bread-earning language of Malaya”. He remarked:

In the fewest possible words, the Malay boy is told ‘You have been trained to remain at the bottom, and there you must always remain!’ Why, I ask, waste so much money to attain this end when without any vernacular school, and without any special effort, the Malay boy could himself accomplish this feat?[3]

To remedy this problem, the British established the Malay College Kuala Kangsar. However, it was mainly intended as a way to educate low-level civil servants, and not as a means to opening the doors of commerce to the Malays — the school was never intended to prepare students for entrance to higher institutions of education.[4]

Missionaries of various Christian denominations, such as the Roman Catholic Josephian order and the Lasallian BrothersMarist BrothersSeventh-day AdventistAnglican as well as Methodist also started a series of mission schools which provided primary and secondary education in the English language. Most of these were single-sex schools. Although nowadays they had fully assimilated into the Malay-medium national school system and most admit students regardless of gender and background (some single-sex schools remain), many of the schools still bear their original names today, such as the ones with the names of various saints or words such as “Catholic”, “Convent”, “Advent” and “Methodist”.

During the British colonial period, large numbers of immigrants from China and India arrived in Malaya. The Chinese and Indian communities eventually established their vernacular schools with school curricula and teachers from China and India respectively.

In the 1950s, there were four initial proposals for developing the national education system: the Barnes Report (favoured by the Malays), Ordinance Report (modification of the Barnes Report), the Fenn-Wu Report (favoured by the Chinese and Indians), and the Razak Report (a compromise between the two reports). The Barnes proposal was implemented through the 1952 Education Ordinance amidst Chinese protests. In 1956, the Razak Report was adopted by the Malayan government as the educational framework for independent Malaya. The Razak Report called for a national school system consists of Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil-medium schools at the primary level, and Malay and English-medium schools at the secondary schools, with a uniform national curriculum regardless of the medium of instruction. Malay-medium schools would be known as “national”, while other languages schools would be known as “national-type”.

In the early years of independence, existing Chinese, Tamil and mission schools accepted government funding and were allowed to retain their medium of instructions on the condition that they adopt the national curriculum. Chinese secondary schools were given the options of accepting government funding and change into English national-type schools, or remain Chinese and private without government funding. Most of the schools accepted the change, although a few rejected the offer and came to be known as Chinese Independent High Schools. Shortly after the change, some of the national-type schools reestablished their Chinese independent high school branches.

In the 1970s, in accordance to the national language policy, the government began to change English-medium primary and secondary national-type schools into Malay-medium national schools. The language change was made gradually starting from the first year in primary school, then the second year in the following year and so on. The change was completed by the end of 1982.

In 1996, the Education Act of 1996 was passed to amend the Education Ordinance of 1956 and the Education Act of 1961.

School grades

The school year is divided into two semesters. The first begins in the beginning of January and ends in June; the second begins in July and ends in December.

Level/Grade

Typical age

Preschool
Pre-school playgroup 3-4
Kindergarten 4-6
Primary school
Darjah 1 7
Darjah 2 8
Darjah 3 9
Darjah 4 10
Darjah 5 11
Darjah 6 12
Secondary school
Tingkatan 1 13
Tingkatan 2 14
Tingkatan 3 15
Tingkatan 4 16
Tingkatan 5 17
Post-secondary education
Tertiary education (College or University) Ages vary (usually four years,
referred to as Freshman,
Sophomore, Junior and
Senior years)

Preschool education

There is no fixed rules on when a child needs to start preschool education but majority would start when the child turns 5 years old. Schooling can begin earlier, from 3-6, in kindergarten. Preschool education usually lasts for 2 years, before they proceed to primary school at age 7. There is no formal preschool curriculum except a formal mandatory training and certification for principals and teachers before they may operate a preschool. The training covers lessons on child psychology, teaching methodologies, and other related curricula on childcare and development.

Preschool education is mainly provided by private for-profit preschools, though some are run by the government or religious groups. Some primary schools have attached preschool sections. Attendance in a preschool programme is not universal; while people living in urban areas are generally able to send their children to private kindergartens, few do in rural areas. Registered preschools are subjected to zoning regulations and must comply to other regulations such as health screening and fire hazard assessment. Many preschools are located in high density residential areas, where normal residential units compliant to regulations are converted into the schools.

Primary education

Primary education in Malaysia begins at age seven and lasts for six years, referred to as Year (Tahun) 1 to 6 (also known as Standard (Darjah) 1 to 6). Year 1 to Year 3 are classified as Level One (Tahap Satu) while Year 4 to Year 6 are considered as Level Two (Tahap Dua). Students are promoted to the next year regardless of their academic performance.

From 1996 until 2000, the Penilaian Tahap Satu (PTS) or the Level One Evaluation was administered to Year 3 students. Excellence in this test allowed students to skip Year 4 and attend Year 5 instead. However, the test was removed from 2001 onwards due to concerns that parents and teachers were unduly pressuring students to pass the exam.

Before progressing to secondary education, Year 6 pupils sit for the Primary School Achievement Test (Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah, UPSR).[5] The subjects tested are Malay comprehension, written Malay, English, Science and Mathematics. In addition to the five subjects, Chinese comprehension and written Chinese are compulsory in Chinese schools, while Tamil comprehension and written Tamil are compulsory in Tamil schools.

School types and medium of instruction

See also: Tamil primary schools in Malaysia

Public primary schools are divided into two categories based on the medium of instruction:

  • Malay-medium National Schools (Sekolah Kebangsaan, SK)
  • non-Malay-medium National-type Schools (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan, SJK), also known as “vernacular schools”,[6] further divided into
    • National-type School (Chinese) (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Cina), SJK(C)), Mandarin-medium and simplified Chinese writing
    • National-type School (Tamil) (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil), SJK (T)), Tamil-medium

All schools admit students regardless of racial and language background.

Malay and English are compulsory subjects in all schools. All schools use the same syllabus for non-language subjects regardless of the medium of instruction. The teaching of the Chinese language is compulsory in SJK(C), and Tamil language is compulsory in SJK(T). Additionally, a National School must provide the teaching of Chinese or Tamil language, as well as indigenous languages wherever practical, if the parents of at least 15 pupils in the school request that the particular language to be taught.

In January 2003, a mixed medium of instruction was introduced so that students would learn Science and Mathematics in English. Due to pressure from the Chinese community, SJK(C) teach Science and Mathematics in both English and Chinese. However, the government reversed the policy of teaching Science and Mathematics in English in July 2009, and previous languages of instruction will be reintroduced in stages from 2012.[7]

By degree of government funding, National Schools are government-owned and operated, while National-type Schools are mostly government-aided, though some are government-owned. In government-aided National-type Schools, the government is responsible for funding the school operations, teachers’ training and salary, and setting the school curriculum, while the school buildings and assets belong to the local ethnic communities, which elect a board of directors for each school to safeguard the school properties. Between 1995 and 2000, the Seventh Malaysia Plan allocation for primary education development allocated 96.5% to National Schools which had 75% of total enrollment. Chinese National-type Schools (21% enrollment) received 2.4% of the allocation while Tamil National-type Schools (3.6% enrollment) received 1% of the allocation.

Previously, there were also other types of National-type Schools. The English National-type Schools were assimilated to become National Schools as a result of decolonization. Others, such as those for the Punjabi language were closed due to the dwindling number of students. The role of promoting the Punjabi language and culture is currently fulfilled by Gurdwaras (Sikh temples) based organizations.

The division of public education at the primary level into National and National-type Schools has been criticised for allegedly creating racial polarisation at an early age.[8] To address the problem, attempts have been made to establish Sekolah Wawasan (“vision schools”). Under the concept, three schools (typically one SK, one SJK(C) and one SJK(T)) would share the same school compound and facilities while maintaining different school administrations, ostensibly to encourage closer interaction. However, this was met with objections from most of the Chinese and Indian communities as they believe this will restrict the use of their mother tongue in schools.

Secondary education

 

Chio Min Secondary School, KulimKedah.

Public secondary education in Malaysia is provided by National Secondary Schools (Sekolah Menengah KebangsaanSMK). National Secondary Schools use Malay as the main medium of instruction. English is a compulsory subject in all schools. Since 2003, Science and Mathematics had been taught in English, however in 2009 the government decided to revert back to using Malay starting in 2012.[9]

As in primary schools, a National Secondary School must provide teaching of Chinese and Tamil languages, as well as indigenous languages wherever practical, on request of parents of at least 15 pupils in the school. In addition, foreign languages such as ArabicJapaneseGerman orFrench may be taught at certain schools.

Secondary education lasts for five years, referred to as Form (Tingkatan) 1 to 5. Form 1 to Form 3 are known as Lower Secondary (Menengah Rendah), while Form 4 and 5 are known as Upper Secondary (Menengah Atas). Most students who had completed primary education are admitted to Form 1. Students from national-type primary schools have the additional requirement to obtain a minimum C grade for the Malay subjects in UPSR, failing which they will have to attend a year-long transition class, commonly called “Remove” (Kelas/Tingkatan Peralihan), before proceeding to Form 1. As in primary schools, students are promoted to the next year regardless of their academic performance.

Co-curricular activities are compulsory at the secondary level, where all students must participate in at least 2 activities for most states, and 3 activities for the Sarawak region. There are many co-curricular activities offered at the secondary level, varying at each school and each student is judged based in these areas. Competitions and performances are regularly organized. Co-curricular activities are often categorized under the following: Uniformed Groups, Performing Arts, Clubs & Societies, Sports & Games. Student may also participate in more than 2 co-curricular activities.

At the end of Form 3, the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR, formerly known as Sijil Pelajaran Rendah (SRP) or Lower Certificate of Education (LCE)) or Lower Secondary Evaluation is taken by students. Based on PMR results and choice, they will be streamed into either the Science stream or Arts stream starting in Form 4. The Science stream is generally more desirable. Students are allowed to shift to the Arts stream from the Science stream, but rarely vice-versa.

At the end of Form 5, students are required to take the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) or Malaysian Certificate of Education examination, before graduating from secondary school. The SPM was based on the old British ‘School Certificate’ examination before it became General Certificate of Education ‘O’ Levels examination, which became the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education). As of 2006, students are given a GCE ‘O’ Level grade for their English paper in addition to the normal English SPM paper. (Previously, this was reported on result slips as a separate result labelled 1119, which meant students received two grades for their English papers.) This separate grade is given based on the marks of the essay-writing component of the English paper. The essay section of the English paper is remarked under the supervision of officials from the British ‘O’ Levels examination. Although not part of their final certificates, the ‘O’ Level grade is included on their results slip.

Shortly after the release of the 2005 SPM results in March 2006, the Education Ministry announced it was considering reforming the SPM system due to what was perceived as over-emphasis on As. Local educators appeared responsive to the suggestion, with one professor at the University of Malaya deploring university students who could not write letters, debate, or understand footnoting. He complained that “They don’t understand what I am saying. … I cannot communicate with them.” He claimed that “Before 1957 (the year of independence), school heroes were not those with 8As or 9As, they were the great debaters, those good in drama, in sport, and those leading the Scouts and Girl Guides.” A former Education Director-General, Murad Mohd Noor, agreed, saying that “The rat race now begins at Standard 6 with the UPSR, with the competition resulting in parents forcing their children to attend private tuition.” He also expressed dismay at the prevalence of students taking 15 or 16 subjects for the SPM, calling it “unnecessary”.[10]

A subset of the public secondary schools are known as National-type Secondary Schools (Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan, SMJK). At Malayan independence, it was decided that secondary education would be provided in Malay-medium National Secondary Schools and English-medium National-type Secondary Schools. English schools run by missionaries were offered government aid provided that they adopt the national curriculum. Secondary schools using other languages as medium of instruction, most of them Chinese schools, were offered government aid on the condition that they convert into English-medium schools. In the 1970s, as the government began to abolish English-medium education in public schools, all National-type Secondary School were gradually converted into Malay-medium schools. The term “National-type Secondary School” is not present the Education Act of 1996, which blurred the distinction between SMK and SMJK. However, Chinese educational groups are unwelcoming of the new development and continue to push for the distinction to be made between the 78 formerly Chinese-medium schools and other secondary schools. The schools continue to have “SMJK” on the school signboards and boards of directors continue to manage the school properties, as opposed to schools that are directly managed by the government. Furthermore, these schools usually have compulsory Chinese language classes incorporated into the school teaching hours, as opposed to other schools where elective language classes are conducted outside normal school hours.

Other types of government or government-aided secondary schools include Religious Secondary School (Sekolah Menengah Agama), Technical Schools (Sekolah Menengah Teknik), Residential Schools and MARA Junior Science College (Maktab Rendah Sains MARA).

Within the national public school system are a few magnet type/charter public high schools. Admissions are very selective, reserved for students who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement and potential at the elementary level, Year/Standard 1 through 6. These schools are either full time day or boarding schools (‘asrama penuh’). Examples of these schools are Malacca High School,Royal Military College (Malaysia) and Penang Free School.

Residential schools or Sekolah Berasrama Penuh are also known as Science Schools. These schools used to cater mainly for Malay elites but have since expanded as schools for nurturing Malays who are outstanding academically or those displaying talents in sports and leadership. The schools are modeled after British Boarding School.

Post-secondary education

After the SPM, students from public secondary school would have a choice of either studying Form 6 or the matriculation (pre-university). If they are accepted to continue studying in Form 6, they will also take the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (which is usually abbreviated as STPM) or Malaysian Higher School Certificate examination (its British equivalent is the General Certificate of Education‘A’ Levels examination or internationally, the Higher School Certificate). STPM is regulated by the Malaysian Examinations Council. Form 6 consists of two years of study which is known as Lower 6 (Tingkatan Enam Rendah) and Upper 6 (Tingkatan Enam Atas). Although it is generally taken by those desiring to attend public universities in Malaysia, it is internationally recognised and may also be used, though rarely required, to enter private local universities for undergraduate courses.

Additionally all students may apply for admission to matriculation. However, unlike STPM, the matriculation certificate is only valid for universities in Malaysia. This matriculation is a one or two-year programme[11] run by the Ministry of Education. Previously, it was a one-year programme, but beginning 2006, 30% of all matriculation students were offered two-year programmes.

Not all applicants for matriculation are admitted and the selection criteria are not publicly declared, which has led to speculation that any criteria existing may not be adhered to. A race-based quota is applied on the admission process, with 90% of the places being reserved for the Bumiputeras, and the other 10% for the non-Bumiputeras.

The matriculation programme is not as rigorous as the STPM. The matriculation programme has come under some criticism[citation needed] as it is the general consensus that this programme is much easier than the sixth form programme leading to the STPM and serves to help Bumiputeras enter public universities easily. Having been introduced after the abolishment of a racial-quota-based admission into universities, the matriculation programme continues the role of its predecessor, albeit in modified form.

The matriculation programme adopts a semester basis examination (two semesters in a year) whilst STPM involves only one final examination, covering all one and a half years’ syllabus in one go. The scope and depth of syllabus in matriculation is also lesser to that of STPM.

The Centre for Foundation Studies in Science, University of Malaya, offers two programmes only for Bumiputera students : i) The Science Program, a one-year course under the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Higher Education. After completing the program, the students are placed into various science-based courses in local universities through the meritocracy system. ii) The Special Preparatory Program to Enter the Japanese Universities, a two-year intensive programme under the Look East Policy Division of the Public Service Department of Malaysia in cooperation with the Japanese Government.

Some students undertake their pre-university studies in private colleges. They may opt for programmes such as the British ‘A’ Levels programme, the Canadian matriculation programme or the equivalent of other national systems – namely the Australian NSW Board of Studies Higher School Certificate and the American High School Diploma with AP subjects. More recently, the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is becoming more popular as a pre-university option.

The Government has claimed[citation needed] that admission to universities are purely meritocracy based, but having so many different pre-university programmes and without a standard basis for comparison among the students, the public has been highly sceptical of the claim.

Tertiary education

See also: List of universities in Malaysia

Tertiary education is heavily subsidised by the government. Before the introduction of the matriculation system, students aiming to enter public universities had to complete an additional 18 months of secondary schooling in Form Six and sit the Malaysian Higher School Certificate (Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia, STPM); equivalent to the British Advanced or ‘A’ levels.[12] Since the introduction of the matriculation programme as an alternative to STPM in 1999, students who completed the 12-month programme in matriculation colleges (kolej matrikulasi in Malay) can enrol in local universities. However, in the matriculation system, only 10% of the places are open to non-Bumiputra students.[13] Excellence in these examinations does not guarantee a place in a public university. The selection criteria are largely opaque as no strictly enforced defined guidelines exist.

The classification of tertiary education in Malaysia is organised upon the Malaysian Qualifications Framework (MQF) which seeks to set up a unified system of post secondary qualifications offered on a national basis both in the vocational as well as higher educational sectors.

In 2004, the government formed the Ministry of Higher Education to oversee tertiary education in Malaysia. The ministry is headed by Mustapa Mohamed.

Although the government announced a reduction of reliance of racial quotas in 2002, instead leaning more towards meritocracy. Prior to 2004, all lecturers in public tertiary institutions were required to have some post-graduate award as a requisite qualification. In October 2004, this requirement was removed and the Higher Education Ministry announced that industry professionals who added value to a course could apply for lecturing positions directly to universities even if they did not have postgraduate qualifications. To head off possible allegations that the universities faced a shortage of lecturers, Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Fu Ah Kiow said “This is not because we are facing a shortage of lecturers, but because this move will add value to our courses and enhance the name of our universities…Let’s say Bill Gates and Steven Spielberg, both [undergraduates but] well known and outstanding in their fields, want to be teaching professors. Of course, we would be more than happy to take them in.” He went on to offer as an example the field of architecture whereby well-known architects recognized for their talents do not have masters’ degrees.

There are a number of public universities established in Malaysia. The academic independence of public universities’ faculty has been questioned. Critics like Bakri Musa cite examples such as a scientist who was reprimanded by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak for “publishing studies on air pollution”, and a professor of mathematics at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia who was reproved for criticising the government policy of teaching mathematics and science in English at the primary and secondary levels.[14]

Students also have the option of enrolling in private tertiary institutions after secondary studies. Private universities are also gaining a reputation for international quality education and students from all over the world attend these universities. Many of these institutions offer courses in cooperation with a foreign institute or university, especially in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, allowing students to spend a portion of their course duration abroad as well as getting overseas qualifications. One such example is SEGi University College which partnered with University of Abertay Dundee.[15] Many private colleges offer programmes whereby the student does part of his degree course here and part of it in the other institution, this method is named “twinning”. The nature of these programs is somewhat diverse and ranges from the full “twinning” program where all credits and transcripts are transferable and admission is automatic to programs where the local institution offers an “associate degree” which is accepted at the discretion of the partnering university. In the latter case, acceptance of transcripts and credits is at the discretion of the partner. Some of them are branch campuses of these foreign institutions. In addition, four reputable international universities have set up their branch campuses in Malaysia since 1998. A branch campus can be seen as an ‘offshore campus’ of the foreign university, which offers the same courses and awards as the main campus. Both local and international students can acquire these identical foreign qualifications in Malaysia at a lower fee. The foreign university branch campuses in Malaysia are:

Others are

The net outflow of academics from Malaysia led to a “brain gain” scheme by then (1995) Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamed. The scheme set a target of attracting 5,000 talents annually. In 2004, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, Datuk Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis in a parliamentary reply stated that the scheme attracted 94 scientists (24 Malaysians) in pharmacology, medicine, semi-conductor technology and engineering from abroad between 1995 and 2000. At the time of his reply, only one was remaining in Malaysia.

Postgraduate programmes

Postgraduate degrees such as the Master of Business Administration (MBA) and the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) are becoming popular and are offered by both the public universities and the private colleges.

All public and most private universities in Malaysia offer Master of Science degrees either through coursework or research and Doctor of Philosophy degrees through research.

Vocational programmes and polytechnics schools

Besides the university degrees, students also have the option of continuing their education in professional courses such as the courses offered by the ICSA (Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators) etc. Polytechnics in Malaysia provide courses for diploma level (3 years) and certificate level (2 years).

The following is a list of the public polytechnics in Malaysia.

The Vocational Courses for Automotive Technology:

  • TEKAT Automotive College

Universities produce almost 150,000 skilled graduates annually.

Other types of schools

See also: List of schools in Malaysia

Apart from national schools, there are other types of schools in Malaysia.

Islamic religious schools

A system of Islamic religious schools exists in Malaysia. Primary schools are called Sekolah Rendah Agama (SRA), while secondary schools are called Sekolah Menengah Agama (SMA).

Another type of schools available in Malaysia is the Islamic religious schools or sekolah agama rakyat (SAR). The schools teach Muslim students subjects related to Islam such as early Islamic history, Arabic language and Fiqh. It is not compulsory though some states such as Johor make it mandatory for all Muslim children aged six to twelve to attend the schools as a complement to the mandatory primary education. In the final year, students will sit an examination for graduation. Most SAR are funded by respective states and managed by states’ religious authority.

Previously, former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohammad suggested to the government that the SARs should be closed down and integrated into the national schools. However, his proposal was met with resistance and later, the matter was left to die quietly.

Such schools still exist in Malaysia, but are generally no longer the only part of a child’s education in urban areas. Students in rural parts of the country do still attend these schools. Since the academic results published by these schools are not accepted by mainline universities, many of these students have to continue their education in locations such as Pakistan or Egypt. Some of their alumni include Nik Adli (Son of PAS leader Nik Aziz).

Some parents also opt to send their children for religious classes after secular classes. Dharma classes, Sunday schools and after school classes at the mosque are various options available.

Chinese independent high schools

After receiving primary education in national-type primary schools, some students from SJK(C) may choose to study in a Chinese independent high school. Chinese independent high schools are funded mostly by the Malaysian Chinese public, with UCSCAM (United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia, also known as Dong Jiao Zong after its Chinese acronym) as the overall coordination body. Students in Chinese independent high schools study in three junior middle levels and three senior middle levels, similar to the secondary schools systems in mainland China andTaiwan, each level usually takes one year. Like the students in public secondary schools, students in Chinese independent high schools are streamed into several streams like Science Stream or Art/Commerce Stream in the senior middle levels. However, some schools recently provided unique streams like Electrical Engineering stream, Food and Beverage Studies or Arts design stream. The medium of instruction in Chinese independent high schools is Mandarin, and uses simplified Chinese characters in writing.

Students in Chinese independent high schools take standardized tests known as the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) at the end of Junior Middle 3 and Senior Middle 3. UEC has been run by UCSCAM since 1975. The UEC is available in three levels: Vocational Unified Exam (UEC-V), UEC Junior Middle Level (UEC-JML/JUEC) and Senior Middle Level (UEC-SML/SUEC). The syllabus and examinations for the UEC-V and UEC-JML are only available in the Chinese language. The UEC-SML has questions for mathematics, sciences (biology, chemistry and physics), bookkeeping, accounting and commerce in both Chinese and English.

UEC-SML is recognised as an entrance qualification in many tertiary educational institutions internationally, including those in Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China and some European countries, as well as most private colleges in Malaysia, but not by the government of Malaysia for entry into public universities. As the government of Malaysia does not recognize the UEC, some Chinese independent high schools provide instructions in the public secondary school syllabus in addition to the independent school syllabus, thus enabling the students to sit for PMR, SPM, or even STPM.

Dong Jiao Zong’s policy

A “Rooted” Chinese

According to UCSCAM (United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia), known as DJZ (Dong Jiao Zong – the stronghold/fortress of Chinese), it was the British colonial policy (1786–1957) allowing the vernacular language schools to exist and develop, at the same time enabling the Malays while placing restrictions on the Chinese. Students of British school gained better opportunities in employment than any other schools. Nevertheless, under such policy, the development of Chinese language education thrived. Before Malaysia gained independence, the Chinese has had 1300 primary schools, nearly 100 high schools, and even Nanyang University, built without the financial support of the government. The report of UCSCAM claimed that the main reason for many Chinese parents sending their children to Chinese schools was that Chinese parents generally hoped their children would retain their Chinese identity, with love and awareness of the nation, love of their own culture and traditions, ethnic pride, and most importantly being aware of their ethnic “roots”.

Mr Lim Lian Geok (simplified Chinese: 林连玉; traditional Chinese: 林連玉), known as the “Soul of ethnic Chinese” (Chinese: 族魂), the former president of UCSCAM, said: “One’s culture is the soul of one’s ethnicity, and its value as important to us as our lives. And if any of you (Chinese) want to inherit Chinese cultural heritage, and if any of you (Chinese) want to live a “true” Chinese, your children must be sent to a Chinese school.

“Final goal”

The UCSCAM believed that the government of Malaysia had a “final goal” (referring to Razak Report) to eradicate the Chinese schools and Tamil schools. The report claimed that the Government of Malaysia’s culture and language education policy, over the past 50 years was, to not give up implementation of the “final goal”, that is, only a final “national school” with the Malay language (National language) as the main medium of instruction. The language of other ethnic groups, namely Chinese and Tamil, thus could only serve as a foreign language. The reason given by the government was that the Chinese and Tamil primary schools were the root cause of disunity of this country. In order to achieve “national unity”, all other non-National Schools should be restricted, and finally merge with the National School.

“Do not give up and do not compromise”

The standpoint of UCSCAM is that only the implementation of a multilingual school policy befits Malaysia’s multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-linguistic and multi-religious society. Dong Jiao Zong’s distinctive position for this protest has remained unchanged over the last 50 years. [1]

International schools

In addition to the Malaysian National Curriculum, Malaysia has many international schools. International schools offer students the opportunity to study the curriculum of another country. These schools mainly cater to the growing expatriate population in the country. International schools include: R.E.A.L Schools (British Curriculum), Melaka International School (British curriculum),[16] Australian International School, Malaysia (Australian curriculum), The Alice Smith School (British Curriculum), elc International school (British Curriculum), The Garden International School (British Curriculum),Lodge International School (British Curriculum), The International School of Kuala Lumpur (International Baccalaureate and American Curriculum), The Mont’ Kiara International School (International Baccalaureate and American Curriculum), The Japanese School of Kuala Lumpur (Japanese Curriculum), The Chinese Taipei School, Kuala Lumpur and The Chinese Taipei School, Penang (Taiwanese Curriculum), The International School of Penang (International Baccalaureate and British Curriculum), Dalat International School in Penang (American Curriculum), The Prince of Wales Island International School in Penang (British Curriculum, opening in September 2011), Lycée Français de Kuala Lumpur (French Curriculum), Horizon International Turkish School[17] amongst others.

School uniforms

See also: School uniform#Malaysia

 

A Malaysian secondary school class photo. The girls are wearing the baju kurung. The woman not in uniform is the teacher.

Present-day Malaysia introduced Western style school uniforms (pakaian seragam sekolah) in the late 19th century during the British colonial era. Today, school uniforms are almost universal in the public and private school systems. Standardised beginning January 1, 1970, public school uniforms are compulsory for all students and standardised nationwide.

A common version of Malaysian school uniform is of public schools. The dress code for males is the most standardised while female uniforms are more varied based on the religion of students and the type of schools. Male students are required to wear a collared shirt with a pair of shorts or long pants. Female students may wear a knee-length pinafore and a collared shirt, a knee-length skirt and a collared shirt, or a baju kurung consisting of a top and a long skirt with an optional hijab (tudung) for Muslim students. White socks and shoes of black or white are almost universally required for students, while ties are included in certain dress codes. Prefects and students with other additional school duties may wear uniforms of different colours; colours may differ between primary and secondary schools.

Education policy

Education in Malaysia is monitored by the federal government Ministry of Education.[18] In July 2006, Higher Education Deputy Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat stated that a review of the controversial Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) will be held among Malaysian MPs.[19] The ruling political alliance is composed of ethnically based parties and one of the concessions allowed by the controlling Malay party is to allow the Chinese and Indian parties to start colleges.

National Education Blueprint

In 2006, the National Education Blueprint 2006–10 was released. The Blueprint set a number of goals, such as establishing a National Pre-School Curriculum, setting up 100 new classes for students with special needs, increasing the percentage of single-session schools to 90% for primary schools and 70% for secondary schools, and decreasing class sizes from 31 to 30 students in primary schools and from 32 to 30 in secondary schools by the year 2010. The Blueprint also provided a number of statistics concerning weaknesses in education. According to the Blueprint, 10% of primary schools and 1.4% of secondary schools do not have a 24-hour electricity supply, 20% and 3.4% respectively do not have a public water supply, and 78% and 42% are over 30 years old and require refurbishing. It was also stated that 4.4% of primary students and 0.8% of secondary students had not mastered the 3Rs (reading, writing and arithmetic). The drop-out rate for secondary schools was given as 9.3% in urban areas and 16.7% in rural areas.[20]

The Blueprint also aimed to address the problem of racial polarisation in schools. Under the Blueprint, schools will hold seminars on the Constitution of Malaysia, motivational camps to increase cultural awareness, food festivals to highlight different ethnic cooking styles, and essay competitions on different cultural traditions. Mandarin and Tamil language classes will be held in national schools, beginning with a pilot project in 220 schools in 2007.[21]

The Blueprint has been subject to some criticism. Academic Khoo Kay Kim has criticised the plan, saying:

We do not need this blueprint to produce excellent students. What we need is a revival of the old education system… meaning the education system we had before 1957. That was when we saw dedication from the teachers. The Malaysian education system then was second to none in Asia. We did not have sports schools but we produced citizens who were Asian class, if not world class.[22]

Issues in Malaysian education

The history of Issues in Malaysian Education started from the British government, the Barnes Report back in 1951, that is to unite all races with the colonial language. The later Razak Report was made to replace the unsuccessful Barnes Report, and the system remains until today.

Language

The issue of language and schools is a key issue for many political groups in Malaysia. UMNO champions the cause of using Malay as the medium of instruction in all schools. However, under the Razak Report, primary schools using the Chinese and Tamil language as medium of instruction are retained. Up until 1981 in Peninsular Malaysia (and some years later in Sarawak), there were also English-medium schools, set up by the former colonial government and Christian missionaries. Following the severe race riots in Kuala Lumpur in May 1969, English-medium schools were phased out from January 1970, so that by 1982 these became Malay-medium schools (“national schools”).

The existence of national-type schools is used by non-Malays components of the ruling Barisan Nasional to indicate that their culture and identity have not been infringed upon by the Malay people. Dong Jiao Zhong (the association of Chinese school boards and teachers) and other Chinese educational organizations took on the role of safeguarding Chinese education in the country, and are opposed to the idea of Malay replacing Chinese as medium of instruction in Chinese schools. They still shape much of the views of the Chinese educated community, which is a key electoral constituency.

In 2002, the government announced that from 2003 onwards, the teaching of Science and Mathematics would be done in English, in order to ensure that Malaysia will not be left behind in a world that was rapidly becoming globalised. This paved the way for the establishment of mixed-medium education. However, the policy was heavily criticized by Malay linguists and activists, fearing that the policy might erode the usage of Malay language in science and mathematics, which led to a massive rally in Kuala Lumpur on 7 March 2009.[23] Various Chinese educational groups were opposed to the policy as well, fearing that it might erode the usage of Chinese as the medium of instruction in Chinese schools. The government announced in 2009 that this policy will be reversed in 2012, where the teaching of both subjects would be reverted back to Malay.[24]

Due to the lack of Chinese students attending national schools, coupled with the increasing number of non-Chinese students attending Chinese national-type schools, the government announced in April 2005 that all national schools will begin teaching Chinese and Tamil in order to attract more students, not as mother tongue courses but as elective courses.

Gender

In 2004 the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) representative Dr. Richard Leete stated that Malaysia’s ranking in the UNDP gender index was not “as high as it should be”. Former Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Shafie Salleh replied that it was not unique to Malaysia. His quoted statistics revealed that there was a 2:1 ratio of boys to girls in polytechnics and at public higher learning institutions. However it should be noted that in virtually all developed countries that both females and males enter university in approximately equal ratios, thus the 2:1 ratio in Malaysia is seen as rather peculiar when placed in a global context.

Malaysian polytechnics and community colleges are not degree producing institutions and none have post-graduate programmes. Most are vocational or technical institutions. This imbalance is corrected once the respective genders leave the educational system.

Racial Quotas in Universities

In 2004, a new Ministry – the Ministry of Higher Education – was formed. The then minister, Dr. Shafie Salleh, stated at the United Malays National Organisation 2004 general assembly, “As the Higher Education Minister, I will ensure the quota of Malay students’ entry into universities is always higher”.[25]

Some, such as prominent opposition figure Lim Guan Eng, have alleged that this quote may be taken out of context, stating that Shafie was instead guaranteeing that the number of Bumiputra students admitted to public universities would increase every year.[26] He has also stated that “Education is looked at from a racial perspective and not on the basis of educational needs.”

Racial quotas, a highly politicised and controversial issue in Malaysia, exist for university admission. In 2002 the government announced a reduction of reliance on racial quotas, instead leaning more towards meritocracy. However, in 2004, 128 students who obtained 5As in the STPM (the best possible grade for university application) were denied their first choice of course which was medicine. This is part of an ongoing issue, where the only thing these students had in common was that they were non-Malay or non-Bumiputra. All students managed to successfully gain offers to private institutions but some did not pursue a medical education due to lack of funds and financial support.

What Ramli think of how Malaysia’s Education or Lingual Policy must be now: (some ideas..)

Can Malaysia adopt a MultiLingual Journey to become a World Class Nation or What?

Understanding the way Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore adopted a Bilingual Journey for his Nation and knowing that is the best way to make Singapore prosper and survive the global era especially in this 21st Century make us Malaysian ponder whether Malaysia too must seriously take the lead of having a Bilingual Policy (that is English first and Malay second or vice versa) or adopt a multi lingual policy of English first and Malay,Mandarin and Indian all follow suit.

Now we experienced the problem of whether to adopt or teach Maths and Science in Malay or English.There are some who wants it to be Malay and others in English and we need a decision to get over these arguments and not allow our students motionless and also teachers as to what must be selected and done with.

From the many experiences of Singapore maybe Malaysia must maintained English as the first language and let Malay be the second since Maths and Science are very well in the realms of English.These long history and development of Maths and Science have always been in the English speaking world and literature.

How best to keep Malay as a powerful second language as what Singapore have selected Chinese to be their major second language in their work,education and social life.They want Mandarin or all the many Chinese dialects to be learned,practised and a way of life so that the rich culture,values and skills associated with that second language can be preserved,respected and a sense of continuity for the coming generations.

Like Mr.Lee Kuan Yew have iterated Singapore is not a Chinese country nor Malay or Indian but a successful initigration of their various races that make Singapore good for all and accepted by all like the 1Malaysia philosophy.

Malaysia too with almost a 60% Malay majority (while Singapore a 75% Chinese majority) must seriously think and decide what language to be the driver of all growths and what language to be the secondary choice or importance.If we keep on disputing this language issue year in and year out then it is a pity for the generation or generations to come possessing or living this confusion of what language is the major and minor.

The Malays are now also engrossed with Arabic as a language of great potential not just for business with the Arab World but understanding Islam in her finest content and explanation.Without understanding how to read Arabic and speak the language,Malays are deprived of reading many Arab based books especially on Islam and all the wonders of Knowledge that Islam have brought to the many civilizations or centuries.

So,maybe English is the key language driver to all Malaysians and let Malay become the second force with all the others supporting them both.

more views to come….

interested contact Ramli at hp:+6019-2537165 or emailed: ramlipromoter@yahoo.com

famous quotes:

  • we make man before we make products
  • quality begins and ends with education
  • the moment you think you know something that means you must study more and more
  • knowledge is power
  • belajarlah sampai ke liang lahat
  • all the wealth can be finished by a stupid person but even the slightest knowledge possessed cannot be fooled by anyone..

 

 

The Basics of Good Management is to keep on doing well the fundamentals and practise Continual Improvement so that things become Good to Great.

Many companies failed after gaining early success while others never achieved success or profits at all!Why?

From Ramli’s experience as an employee and company owner,Ramli realized the need by Top Management to understand the fundamentals of Good Management and what are they?:

  • Q-Quality is the cornerstone of Good Business. We must ensure our products and services meet to the requirements of our global and domestic customers.Customer Satisfaction must an important focus of companies and government agencies.
  • C-Cost.Top Mgmt must always produce products and services at economical prices so that customers can afford them and we also can beat our competition by offering value for money products and services.China is reputed to be the World’s Manufacturer where they can produce products at cheap prices,with quality and in abundance with a good delivery period.
  • D-Delivery.To produce quality and cheaper products is good but to produce them with good speed or fast delivery is better and love by the customers.If one were to wait longer than our competition than our customers will buy from them and not us!Delivery like those fast food delivery shops are loved by customers and they get repeat business.
  • S-safety or security.To make quality products is important but to work safely is also important both to the business and people.Companies like making hazardous or dangerous products like ammunitions,chemicals,health risks products,oil and gas industries all need to think safety first than quality!Only with good safety environment and management can people work safely,confidently and stress free.
  • M-morale.The morale of staff or good happy company culture will ensure talents remain and retained in the company.People like a harmonious and comfortable working environment and any “company politics” or poor management on people can make talents restless and they will soon find new jobs as at times it is more of an employee market where jobs are plenty and salaries are high.Companies must know what the Voice of Employee is and at current levels so that they can take immediate or remedial actions if something went wrong or about to happen.
  • E-environment.The environment nowadays also play an important role with companies,employees and stakeholders.They want to see that the company is practising good sustainable mgmt and all the green management.They want CSR actions are in line with Global Standards and sustainable mgmt are always being the norm and gaining stronger momentum in the organisation.
  • Others.Many other factors are also considered by companies so that with new mgmt knowhow and best practices,companies can actually survive the competition and marketplace.They can maintain their existence with continual good performamce and profits plus keeping their Talents loyal and improving the business with more innovations,creativity,team working and world class performances.
These are some fundamentals where companies big and small or micro must understand and practise with discipline and consistency.At least when your company grow bigger in size,with larger turnover and profits,you can at least assure your company can sustain the business well and good.
Any interested parties,please contact Ramli +6019-2537165 or email: ramlipromoter@yahoo.com for assistance to help build your business better,safer,faster,stronger,cheaper prices and respectable brand at the marketplace etc…

Ramli realized that with lots of money maybe you can prolong your life better as compared to a poor man!Why?

Allah SWT will be the final decision maker as to when u are born and die in this world and other than that is just our human efforts or painstaking work to keep a person still breathing and kicking!

Many Rich People seem to get the best medical treatment money can buy and a good example is Sir Run Run Shaw (the famous Movie Mogul) who now is about 103 years old!He is a very rich man and maybe he can afford to seek all the best medical treatment and new R&D work on prolong people’s life made available anywhere in this world.

If a normal or poor person he or she will be at the mercy of normal hospitals or govt owned hospitals that can only afford whats available stuff to treat you if you fall sick what more if you are on a serious illness like heart,cancer,mental and all the rest of life threathening sickness!Thats the sad part of our human society or reality where the rich can have a good chance of living longer than the poor or normal person!

So,Ramli suggest Top Mgmt at all govt hospitals,private hospitals like in Malaysia do lots of study and R&D on how best to help prolonged people’s life by giving the RIGHT MEDICAL CARE WITH ECONOMICAL PRICES AND STRONG CHANCE FOR RECOVERY AND LONEGIVITY!Can they do that?

Sure they can if they apply this knowledge of GAP ANALYSIS!

Here,they benchmark with the best quality hospitals in the world with their own and understand what or where are all the gaps!Once they know whats the gap,they must now try by closing the gaps or at least make it closer to the best practices so that with these initiatives the govt hospitals will at least know what to do,who to lead,why all these shortcomings arise,how much it costs to get these gaps closer and when or what kind of time frame they need to close these gaps?

Only by knowing and working with certainty can we see some HOPE of Success or a Good Chance to Survive and not just make stupid statements that “we are a govt hospital and we cannot compete with the best hospitals in the world because they have lots of money!”

Govt Hopitals have PEOPLE and these include Medical Staff,Admin Staff and normal employees just like the World’s Best Hospitals.Its just the leadership,tools and techniques,innovation and creativity plus all the tiredless efforts to improve all the time and NEVER GIVE UP ATTITUDE.

Thats good enough assurance for the Rakyat to know that their lives will be safeguarded and the hospitals will do all they can to sustain,prolong and let live a little longer until Allah SWT finally decide your time have come to move on the Hereafter.

Please study the Gap Analysis technique below:

Gap analysis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In business and economics, gap analysis is a tool that helps companies compare actual performance with potential performance. At its core are two questions: “Where are we?” and “Where do we want to be?” If a company or organization does not make the best use of current resources, or forgoes investment in capital or technology, it may produce or perform below its potential. This concept is similar to the base case of being below the production possibilities frontier.

Gap analysis identifies gaps between the optimized allocation and integration of the inputs (resources), and the current allocation level. This reveals areas that can be improved. Gap analysis involves determining, documenting, and approving the variance between business requirements and current capabilities. Gap analysis naturally flows from benchmarking and other assessments. Once the general expectation of performance in the industry is understood, it is possible to compare that expectation with the company’s current level of performance. This comparison becomes the gap analysis. Such analysis can be performed at the strategic or operational level of an organization.

Gap analysis is a formal study of what a business is doing currently and where it wants to go in the future. It can be conducted, in different perspectives, as follows:

  1. Organization (e.g., human resources)
  2. Business direction
  3. Business processes
  4. Information technology

Gap analysis provides a foundation for measuring investment of time, money and human resources required to achieve a particular outcome (e.g. to turn the salary payment process from paper-based to paperless with the use of a system). Note that ‘GAP analysis’ has also been used as a means for classification of how well a product or solution meets a targeted need or set of requirements. In this case, ‘GAP’ can be used as a ranking of ‘Good’, ‘Average’ or ‘Poor’. This terminology does appear in the PRINCE2 project management publication from theOGC (Office of Government Commerce).
The need for new products or additions to existing lines may emerge from portfolio analysis, in particular from the use of the Boston Consulting Group Growth-share matrix—or the need may emerge from the regular process of following trends in the requirements of consumers. At some point, a gap emerges between what existing products offer and what the consumer demands. The organization must fill that gap to survive and grow.

Gap analysis can identify gaps in the market. Thus, comparing forecast profits to desired profits reveals the planning gap.: This represents a goal for new activities in general, and new products in particular. The planning gap can be divided into three main elements:

Usage gap

This is the gap between the total potential for the market and actual current usage by all consumers in the market. Data for this calculation includes:

  • Market potential
  • Existing usage
  • Current industrial potential

Market potential

The maximum number of consumers available is usually determined by market research, but it may sometimes be calculated from demographic data or government statistics. Ultimately there are, of course, limitations on the number of consumers. For guidance one can look to the numbers who use similar products. Alternatively, one can look to what happened in other countries.[citation needed] Increased affluence[citation needed] in all major Western economies means such a lag can now be much shorter.

Existing usage

Existing consumer usage makes up the total current market, from which market shares, for example, are calculated. It usually derives from marketing research, most accurately from panel research, such as conducted by the Nielsen Company, but also from ad hoc work. Sometimes it may be available from figures collected that governments or industries have collected. However, these are often based on categories that make bureaucratic sense but are less helpful in marketing terms. The ‘usage gap’ is thus:

usage gap = market potential – existing usage

This is an important calculation. Many, if not most marketers, accept existing market size—suitably projected their forecast timescales—as the boundary for expansion plans. Though this is often the most realistic assumption, it may impose an unnecessary limit on horizons. For example: the original market for video-recorders was limited to professional users who could afford high prices. Only after some time did the technology extend to the mass market.

In the public sector, where service providers usually enjoy a monopoly, the usage gap is probably the most important factor in activity development. However, persuading more consumers to take up family benefits, for example, is probably more important to the relevant government department than opening more local offices.

Usage gap is most important for brand leaders. If a company has a significant share of the whole market, they may find it worthwhile to invest in making the market bigger. This option is not generally open to minor players, though they may still profit by targeting specific offerings as market extensions.

All other gaps relate to the difference between existing sales (market share) and total sales of the market as a whole. The difference is the competitor share. These gaps therefore, relate to competitive activity.

Product gap

The product gap—also called the segment or positioning gap—is that part of the market a particular organization is excluded from because of product or service characteristics. This may be because the market is segmented and the organization does not have offerings in some segments, or because the organization positions its offerings in a way that effectively excludes certain potential consumers—because competitive offerings are much better placed for these consumers.

This segmentation may result from deliberate policy. Segmentation and positioning are powerful marketing techniques, but the trade-off—against better focus—is that market segments may effectively be put beyond reach. On the other hand, product gap can occur by default; the organization has thought out its positioning, its offerings drifted to a particular market segment.

The product gap may be the main element of the planning gap where an organization can have productive input; hence the emphasis on the importance of correct positioning.

Gap analyses to develop a better process

The gap analysis also can be used to analyse gaps in processes and the gap between the existing outcome and the desired outcome. this step process can be summarised as below: Identify the existing process, Identify the existing outcome, Identify the desired outcome, Identify the process to get the desired outcome, Document the gap. develop the means to fill the gap

See also

Market gap analysis

In the type of analysis described above, gaps in the product range are looked for. Other perspective (essentially taking the “product gap” to its logical conclusion) is to look for gaps in the “market” (in a variation on “product positioning,” and using the multidimensional “mapping”), which the company could profitably address, regardless of where the current products stand.

Many marketers would question the worth of the theoretical gap analysis described earlier. Instead, they would immediately start proactively to pursue a search for a competitive advantage.

 

 

Yes,Ramli have written his book titled in Malay REVOLUSI AKSI (ACTION REVOLUTION) and published and released on 24thMarch,2006.

Whats the outcome or results so far?

The book basically have sold out for the 1st Printing of 1,000 copies and Ramli have requested his Publisher ie.IBS Buku Sdn.Bhd, to print the second time without any need for further edition just to meet the many requests of customers who come to like to read the book.In fact many customers also requested an English Translation of the book.

Ramli nowadays love writing and always get lots of inspiration to write on many subjects that suddenly cross his mind as well as those that have been hovering in his mind all the time.Ramli writes best on subjects that he personally get involved and also become a strong component of his business like TRAINING & CONSULTING,SPORTS PROMOTION,TRADING OF MALAYSIAN AND OTHER COUNTRIES PRODUCTS & SERVICES PLUS OTHER HOT SUBJECTS OF THE DAY OR THAT HAVE BEEN AROUND A LONG TIME.

Ramli also will add photographs and videos where necessary to make the article or posting worth the reading and add value to someone’s life or knowledge.

Like what Warren Bennis have said before “the worth of any society is not what you know but what you do with what you know” and this is very important to take note since nowadays information is everywhere and the availability of the Net and Social Medias have “plagued” us with so much of information that if we do not digest or know what are those infos then they become mere junk or wastes and only by understanding the knowledge these infos bring can we build up our talents,increase or knowledge and apply those new found knowledge to areas or in our work to get better results,productivity,quality and so many other outcomes!

Like the old saying KNOWLEDGE IS POWER and still remain true till today maybe forever!

If you are given a choice of wanting KNOWLEDGE OR MONEY maybe its better to choose KNOWLEDGE since with great knowledge we easily can make money and more money all the time BUT if we choose money or wealth then once they are gone or dried up we have no more money and we do not possess enough knowledge to make more money and so we become poor or weakened.

Ramli’s Revolusi Aksi is basically inviting us to ACT FOR RESULTS after the earlier REVOLUSI MENTAL (MENTAL REVOLUTION)where we think of all the ways to act and get better results after the Thinking or Mental Mode!

No Action No Result !Simply Put!

To get good Outcome we need to go the 4 stages or elements of Revolusi Aksi ie.Thinking->Doing->Measuring->Discipline.

Only with the best ways of actions in this Revolusi Aksi Cycle can we get Great Outcomes,thats for sure!

Ramli actually have completed  more manuscripts to be edited and finally publish as Ramli’s new books but they are now on hold by the Publisher maybe to unsuitable timing for release of the books or not so favourable economic conditions in the country to purchase books since Malaysia is still performing lowly as far as readership performance is concerned ie.Malaysians only now read about 8 books a year as compared to 2 books maybe many years ago!

Revolusi Aksi must happen all the time and not confined to professionals only but to all sectors of the private,public and social sectors also.We need to ACT FOR RESULTS AND THE MORE GOOD RESULTS WE HAVE THE BETTER THE COUNTRY BECOMES!

Maybe this is the FOCUS,DIRECTIONS,PASSION AND OUTCOME that Ramli wants upon achieving this 1,111 postings and soon it will be more of QUALITY POSTINGS rather than just QUANTITY POSTINGS!However Ramli being Different wants to achieve QUALITY AND QUANTITY POSTINGS so that all work is not wasted but performing to the highest level of achievement and commitment.Inshallah.

see Ramli’s Book and Read and Understand plus Apply the Knowledge for Great Outcomes!

Ramli and wife have attended many of the GTP and ETP Open Days or Roadshows and as always there are lots of FUNFAIR (GOOD FEELING MOMENTS),INFOS LIKE BROCHURES,HANDOUTS,DOORGIFTS,WONDERFUL POSTERS AND SIGNBOARDS,HELPERS OF ALL KINDS,SMILES AND WHAT HAVE YOU THAT MAKE AN EVENT HAPPY,ENJOYABLE AND GREAT PLACE TO HANG AROUND.

All these are OK lah,BUT the main agenda is ARE THE GLCS REALLY PERFORMING TO GLOBAL LEVELS OR WHAT PEMANDU OR KHAZANAH NASIONAL ASPIRE AS GLOBAL,REGIONAL OR NATIONAL CHAMPIONS OR WHAT RAMLI TEACH WORLD CLASS LEVELS!

The performances of GLCs are critical to ensure the GTP and ETP targets are met or better still exceeded to a greater levels of performance.To become Global Champions like Microsoft,Toyota,Google,Accor Mittal,GE,Walmart,Yahoo,Lenovo and many other FORTUNE 500  companies we need GREAT RESULTS NOT MANY FUNFAIRS,LOTS OF TALK AND PROMISES NOT DELIVERED AND WORST STILL  BECOMING LEADERS WHO ACT AS GREAT PERFORMERS WHEN THE ACTUAL OUTCOME IS MAYBE A GRADE C OR C- PERFORMANCE.

Ramli (together with Maimunah and 2nd son Zaim Ikhwan)was able to snap some photos at the Open Day although Ramli was there at KLCC for about 3 hours.In fact TV3 also invited to interview Ramli but strong chance the short interview by the charming TV Reporter may not be made on air yesterday’s news or at any special screening about the GLC Open Day!Its ok,maybe soon Ramli will always be on air and you (tv audiences) will get fed up of seeing Ramli’s face and hear Ramli’s voice…hahaha

OK,what Ramli see of great significance at the GLC Open Day is the 3Es that Ramli teach to companies and govt agencies that are:

  • excellence
  • excitement
  • enthusiasm
Malaysia Airlines booth that Ramli visited seem to be so lacking of these 3Es! Why?
Where the gusto,mesra,hooray and all the MH spirit to PROMOTE,SELL AND MAKE MAS A GREAT GLOBAL CHAMPION?
WHO TO ASK? IDRIS JALA IS NO MORE THERE AND NOW BOSS AT PEMANDU SO MAS IS NO MORE HIS ‘BABY” THEN BETTER ASK TENGKU DATO AZMIL ZAHRUDDIN (CURRENT CEO OF MAS)
Like Ramli have written earlier in his blog posting MAS market capitalization is DOWN and LOWER than Air Asia!Why?MAS have greater value assets,planes,people,skills etc….BUT maybe LEADERSHIP IS A MAJOR FACTOR IF YOU BENCHMARK WITH now Tan Sri Datuk Seri Dr Tony Fernandez-the Head Honcho,Mastermind and Group CEO of Air Asia!Maybe if Air Asia market capitalization and business is greater than MAS,our friend Tony Fernandez may offer to buy or friendly take over of MAS like what he did when he bought the former owners of Air Asia (cant remember that old co’s name..sorry)Then MAS become history and all the Malaysian Pride of having a national airline goes crumbling,trumbling and gone!See what Singapore Airlines have become and what Malaysia Airlines is NOW although the early start up days was the same with MSA (the name Malaysia Singapore Airlines before they decided to break up to form SIA and MAS)
Khazanah Nasional being the Big Brother of GLCs MUST ACT FAST to make MAS so much better,greater than Air Asia.Just a RM1 increase in MAS share price can easily overtake Air Asia market capitalisation value NOW!So,MAS TOP MGMT must have a WORK PLAN,MISSION POSSIBLE AND THE 3Es’ of Ramli’s Business Philosophy to target an increase of a minimum RM2 to their share price by 31stDec,2011.can MAS do it,YES MAS CAN! You can ask Datuk Seri Idris Jala whether MAS can do it or not because he have done it before!
Try flying Malaysia Airlines and YOU can really feel the MH,comfort and great feeling BUT you pay extra (its ok,value for money) rather than Air Asia (its ok also but just a flying experience from point to point-thats all)
Ramli have no bad feelings for Air Asia or other Malaysian Companies in general BUT what is KEY in this discussion is MAS must be saved and make greater not by mere poor leadership,tidak apa attitude or worst still lack Ramli’s 3Es of Management Excellence.Inshallah all good intentions will be rewarded by Allah SWT.
contact Ramli anytime at +6019-2537165 or emailed at: ramlipromoter@yahoo.com
see the photos taken by Ramli at GLC Open Day on 26thJune,2011:

Ramli have actually written on this waste elimination subject in his earlier postings in this blog and still feel this subject need to be seriously dealt with as Malaysia is really experiencing lots of wastes coming from bad decisions at Govt,Corporate and Rakyat levels.What are they?

At the Govt levels,the Top Leaders are to be blamed since their decisions have effected many people and many decisions have also become “bad” and did not produce the results as expected.The decisions to invest or appoint Top Mgmt for Govt Agencies have at times become bad and these corrupt leaders have effected billions of RM to be lost and can never be recovered again!There are also decisions made where our investments turn “sour” and no OUTCOME are realized just wasted efforts,time,resources and opportunities better spent elsewhere!

The study of eliminating waste is serious business,why?When we study all these Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) we realized the importance to think,plan and act well plus our monitoring system.When we have done our PDCA well we can at least reduce or even eliminate the chances of errors happening!We make many errors everyday and some errors we do not know that we have made it,why?

Errors are a result of many reasons and the most important of all is our mistakes due to reasons like did not understand the subject or situation well or errors made due to poor judgement and no detailed planning.In quality we called it making quality at the design stage where we think quality right from the start of our product initial stage not when the product is almost completed and need final inspection.Like in the manufacturing of cars like Proton or Perodua,they need to ensure quality is important at the early stages and not ensuring quality at the final inspection stages!Thats dangerous thinking actually.

When we want to produce a ZD Car we must ensure all throughout the supply chain knows what is Zero Defect!The many vendors of Proton or Perodua MUST guarantee a ZD status of their products before supply to their Main Customer!So that means quality input will result in quality output!

Many people think quality is the Quality Manager’s job and others have only secondary responsibility!This is wrong and everyone is responsible for quality of their products and services.

When we have almost 28 million Malaysians and if everyone of us think quality is important then the whole country can realistically become a Quality Nation and that also means quality output and minimal errors or defects.When we work or do it right first time (DIRFT) we will produce error free work or actions!Errors caused wastage and wastage in terms of time,lost opportunities,wasted resources like manpower used and raw materials used can be curtailed and put to better use.We need to work rightly  and producing what we have planned for and not making mistakes and piling up lots of wastages in the dust bins ready to throw as wastes or recycle for recovering what we can again.

Every hour Malaysia will lose millions of RM as a  result of poor decisions,poor conditions and errors made!Our Klang Valley transportation woes or problems also caused lost of thousands of hours of productivite time for all commuters when they should be quick to their destination but with all the “crazy” jams around KV,people get caught in the traffic and this situation seems to go on day after day,week after week,month after month and worst of all year after year without SERIOUS determination to STOP THE PROBLEM.

WASTE is so important to stop especially when a country or company find so difficult to make profits by sales or new product or service introduction.So,all the efforts to use the “head” to stop all wastes in our location is the best thing or action to take.When we do it right the first time we reduce or eliminate to call our people via telephone or memos or sms about our meeting dates or to attend a training programme scheduled in the month or quarterly scheduled.All these extra work of trying to make it right are WASTES!This must be curtailed or best STOP.

There are many ways to eliminate waste and among them are understanding the 7 sins of MUDA..Ramli will write on this subject later in this BLOG..so watch out for the next posting….

For enquiries or training contact Ramli at 019-2537165 or emailed at ramlipromoter@yahoo.com

Berdikari or being Self Reliant is Great!

We need to “stand on our own feet” and perform excellently ourselves!

Our knowledge and wisdom can enable us to know whats right for Malaysia and Malaysians.Some say why do all the manual work or sweat when we can hire lots of foreigners to work for us and they can also produce what we want?

Yes,its good to work smart but Malaysians must know what it takes to get things done ourselves especially when we cannot depend anymore on expats or cheap foreign labour or talent.

The construction of the Petronas Twin Towers (PTT) was done by the Japanese and Korean construction companies and many Malaysians were hired to work for these 2 giant world class construction companies.The PTT is now well known all over the world but Malaysia cannot be so proud to say we build them with “our own people,hands and sweat” but we hired foreigners to help build for us the PTT same also like the Penang Bridge etc…

Malaysia need to Build Quality People to help unleashed her hidden talents and also discovering all the infinite possibilities that Malaysians can perform to the best!Who’s responsibility are these ?

Ramli learned also that we need to possess these 3 Consciousness if we want to build a Quality Malaysia.What are these 3 Conciousness?

1.Quality Consciousness

2.Problem Consciousness

3.Improvement Consciousness

If only all Malaysians possess these 3 Consciousness and become a habit of doing things everyday then Malaysia have no problems to proceed with all the 10MP and ETP,GTP etc…because the basic requirements of getting things done are met or realized ie.Right Attitude,Good Behaviours and Correct Skills are there and all the investments will not be wasted,have great errors and uncompleted projects or not met to budget or targets!

Revolusi Mental atau Minda sangat perlu dan kemudian di teruskan dengan Revolusi Aksi untuk mencapai kegemilangan atau hasil (outcome yang terbaik)

Tanpa aksi tiada hasil!

 

Contact Ramli at hp:+6019-2537165 or emailed at:  ramlipromoter@yahoo.com

 

 

The FIFA World Cup can be considered as one of the World’s Greatest Story of Sporting Excellence.Based on the number of playing football nations and the long duration of taking part in the Championships( ie. only once in 4 years) Countries that take part knows it is never an easy journey to build a Champion Team and that journey will take lots of planning,studying,investments,execution,reviews,good mgmt,dynamic leadership and discipline followers plus many more important factors that finally produce the success!

Maybe to be  World Champion like what Spain have achieved in this just completed 2010 FIFA World Cup edition in South Africa need many years of hard work and planning.Ramli think a book of well studied facts and stories must be written on this long road to fame as to know what were the ideas and strategies decided to finally produce this winning team of players,officials and all concerned.Maybe this book can enable countries like Malaysia who are so far back in the FIFA Rankings can study seriously and intelligently as to how to do things right as to produce the right results maybe in 12 years time or even 40 years time BUT what is important a “mission is accomplished” like what took Spain 80 years to win the World Cup!