Co-operatives comprise the crucial third engine of growth for the Malaysian economy after the public and private sectors. This study investigates the human capital based governance structure, success factors and barriers to effective governance of co-operatives in Malaysia. Questionnaires were distributed to the top 100 co-operatives listed in the Malaysian Co-operative Societies Commission website. Analysis of the responses to the questionnaires showed that human capital based co-operatives governance comprise members’ participation, independence of the board, depth of expertise and competencies of directors and other characteristics of the board. This study also identified branding as the most important success factor ahead of competitiveness and proximity. Malaysia’s economy is projected to continue relying significantly on the performance of co-operatives. Thus, it is incumbent for greater attention to be given towards an effective governance that results in successful co-operatives.© 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies, Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.Keywords: Governance; branding; proximity; competitiveness

Cooperatives are expected to help generate economic growth; become competitive business entities; and remain as effective self-help organizations while upholding sensitivity towards the environment. However, cooperatives like their business cousins in the public corporations are plagued with governance issues (Shaw, 2006). This has prompted studies to isolate the probable causes of their predicament. The issue of corporate governance of cooperatives has begun to become mainstream in research, and conventional wisdom dictates that governance procedures and processes that abound in the corporate world can prudently be applicable in the governance of cooperatives (Cornforth, 2004). In a cooperative, the Board of Directors plays a pivotal role in safeguarding the collective interest of the members (Jussila, Goel, & Tuominen, 2012). The Board of Directors needs to demonstrate adequate and effective monitoring of the organizations they are helming. This paper examines the role of Board of Directors as custodian against financial fiasco in cooperatives organizations. This study focuses on the association of the size of Board of Directors of cooperatives and the frequency of board meetings with performance. Outcomes from the study indicated both the size of the board and the frequency of board meetings have no relationship with performance of cooperatives organizations in Malaysia. The results suggest that the board of directors may no longer be effective in managing the cooperatives towards achieving their members' objectives. Various literatures supported this finding. This result indicates that governance of cooperatives is in dire need of revision to increase its effectiveness.

Managing intellectual capital has gained popularity among both academia and industry setting due to numerous firms' attempts to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. In order to improve the ability of financial statements to offer an adequate picture of the firm's financial position, it will be necessary to capture a wide range of intangible determinants such as knowledge, innovation and intellectual property that are seen as the vital determinants of firms' success. The literature presents a series of intellectual capital management models that illustrate the various facets a firm must consider when managing intellectual capital. Then, the component of elements of intellectual capital are also identified, defined and discussed at different stages of knowledge development to fit better with the theory. Only when intellectual capital management is present, the intellectual capital components of the organisation can be tapped effectively. Though it is acknowledged that intellectual capital management promotes sustainable competitive advantage, intellectual capital management in Asian countries including Malaysia is not as rigorous as countries in the West. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore the CICM model for Malaysian firms that will improve the existing models. By employing the model, it is expected that there is a relationship between intellectual capital management and sustainable competitive advantage of Malaysian firms.

No abstract