Lessons from post-colonial Malaysian economic development

Malaysian economic development has been shaped by public policy in response to changing national and external conditions. Public investments peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s, until the policy reversals driven by sovereign debt concerns and new policy ideology fads. Foreign investments continued to be favoured after independence for ethnic political reasons. Thus, foreign investments continued to be very significant in financial services as well as manufacturing growth, both for import substitution from the 1960s and for export from the 1970s. Private investments were attracted by government provision of infrastructure, cheap but schooled labour, tax incentives, lax environmental regulations and an undervalued currency. Poverty reduction and ownership redistribution by ethnicity were most successful during the 1970s and early 1980s, although it is unclear how much these improved inter-ethnic relations. Economic liberalization and the growing influence of business interests and political elites have undermined the government's developmental role, culminating in the 1997-8 financial crisis and lacklustre growth since. Malaysian industrialization could only have been achieved with appropriate incentives for investments and technical progress through key policy interventions

Management control systems and organisational learning: the effects of design and use

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a study on relationships between the design of management control systems (MCS), the use of MCS and organisational learning (OL). Design/methodology/approach – This study adopted a survey method. A written questionnaire was prepared and mailed out to collect quantitative data. After analysis of the empirical results, follow-up interviews were conducted to develop a deeper understanding of the empirical results. Findings – Findings of the study show that both the design and use of MCS are significantly associated with levels of OL activities in organisations, and the use of MCS is found to be a more influential factor in OL. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the accounting literature by providing empirical evidence on the relative impacts of the design and use of MCS on OL activities in organisations and the interaction between the design and use of MCS in influencing OL

Structural and electronic properties of Al nanowires: an ab initio pseudopotential study

The stability and electronic structure of a single monatomic Al wire has been studied using the ab initio pseudopotential method. The Al wire undergoes two structural rearrangements under compression, i.e., zigzag configurations at angles of $140^o$ and $60^o$. The evolution of electronic structures of the Al chain as a function of structural phase transition has been investigated. The relationship between electronic structure and geometric stability is also discussed. The 2p bands in the Al nanowire are shown to play a critical role in its stability. The effects of density functionals (GGA and LDA) on cohesive energy and bond length of Al nanostructures (dimmer, chains, and monolayers) are also examined. The link between low dimensional 0D structure (dimmer) to high dimensional 3D bulk Al is estimated. An example of optimized tip-suspended finite atomic chain is presented to bridge the gap between hypothetical infinite chains and experimental finite chains.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Style of information usage and use of accounting information : a Malaysian study

Purpose &ndash; Since the 1990s, there has been a growing interest in style of information usage. However, most studies on style of information usage are conducted in developed countries. There is limited research on style of information usage in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to fill the gap in the existing literature by examining relationships between style of information usage and use of financial and non-financial information in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach &ndash; The authors adopted a survey method, for which a written questionnaire was prepared and mailed out to companies in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Terengganu and Pulau Pinang. Findings &ndash; Findings of the study show that diagnostic style of information usage is positively associated with use of financial information, while interactive style of information usage is positively associated with use of non-financial information. Further analysis on types of non-financial information used by managers who adopt interactive style of information usage reveals that customer-related non-financial information such as quality, customer satisfaction and flexibility play a more important role in their decision-making processes. Originality/value &ndash; The paper provides insights into relationships between style of information usage on and use of accounting information in developing countries. Findings of the study can be applied to assist management accountants in meeting managers&rsquo; information requirements.<br /

Acetylation of C/EBP alpha inhibits its granulopoietic function

CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha (C/EBP alpha) is an essential transcription factor for myeloid lineage commitment. Here we demonstrate that acetylation of C/EBP alpha at lysine residues K298 and K302, mediated at least in part by general control non-derepressible 5 (GCN5), impairs C/EBP alpha DNA-binding ability and modulates C/EBP alpha transcriptional activity. Acetylated C/EBP alpha is enriched in human myeloid leukaemia cell lines and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) samples, and downregulated upon granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF)-mediated granulocytic differentiation of 32Dcl3 cells. C/EBP alpha mutants that mimic acetylation failed to induce granulocytic differentiation in C/EBP alpha-dependent assays, in both cell lines and in primary hematopoietic cells. Our data uncover GCN5 as a negative regulator of C/EBP alpha and demonstrate the importance of C/EBP alpha acetylation in myeloid differentiation

Factors determining the survival of nasopharyngeal carcinoma with lung metastasis alone: does combined modality treatment benefit?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) with lung metastasis alone has been reported as a relatively favorable prognostic group, and combined modality treatment might be indicated for selected cases. However, the prognostic factors determining survival of this group and the indication of combined therapy have not been thoroughly studied.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We retrospectively reviewed 246 patients of NPC with lung metastasis(es) alone presented at diagnosis or as the first failure after primary treatment from 1993 to 2008 in an academic tertiary hospital. Univariate and multivariate survival analyses of post-metastasis survival (PMS) and overall survival (OS) were carried out to determine the prognostic factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year of PMS and OS for the whole cohort were 34.3%, 17.0%, 8.6% and 67.8%, 45.4%, 18.5%, respectively. The median PMS (45.6 months <it>vs</it>. 23.7 months) and OS (73.7 months <it>vs</it>. 46.2 months) of patients treated with combined therapy was significantly longer than that of those treated with chemotherapy alone (<it>P </it>< 0.001). Age, disease-free interval (DFI) and treatment modality were evaluated as independent prognostic factors of OS, while only age and treatment modality retain their independent significance in PMS analysis. In stratified survival analysis, compared to chemotherapy alone, combined therapy could benefit the patients with DFI > 1 year, but not those with DFI ≤ 1 year.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Age ≤ 45 years, DFI > 1 year, and the combined therapy were good prognostic factors for NPC patients with lung metastasis(es) alone. The combination of local therapy and the basic chemotherapy should be considered for these patients with DFI > 1 year.</p