Service operations practice and performance of local authorities in Malaysia

Operation practices, commonly deals with design, management, planning, coordination, and control of resources, are the elements in the operational strategies of an organization. These operation practices are improvement programs in organizations that are carried out to achieve competitive advantage in terms of cost, speed of delivery, quality, flexibility, and innovation. There are many service improvement programs that have been undertaken by the government of Malaysia, however, local authorities are still receiving criticisms and complaints from the public stating the inability of local authorities to deliver services that meet the customers' needs. Empirical studies showed that operation practices have an influence on the performance of an organization. However, most studies only focused on specific operation practices such as quality management practices, just in time practices and human resource management practices This study, therefore, focused on examining the relationship between operational practices and performance of local authorities in Peninsular Malaysia. This study uses a cross-sectional design to identify the service operation practice and organization performance measured in one occasion to obtain data and identify relationships between variables studied. Unit of analysis of this study is the departments in the organization of local authorities and respondents are directors or heads of department. The study population was all the departments (416 departments) in the City Council and the Municipal Council in Peninsular Malaysia. Stratified sampling method was used to select 300 departments based on the characteristics of local authorities in Peninsular Malaysia. This study collected data from a total of 202 respondents who are directors or department heads of 300 selected City Councils and Municipal Councils in Peninsular Malaysia. The findings showed that the dimensions of leadership practices have a significant influence on performance. Findings of this study also show that organizational culture practices have a positive and significant influence on performance. In this study, organizational culture is defined as the practice of shared values, beliefs, attitudes, and norms practiced in the department that is conducive to the welfare of workers as employees, recognition, appreciation and listening to workers. Findings of this study also noted a positive and significant influence of the push-pull orientation in service operations with performance. The government should, therefore, emphasize local governments’ ability in the push and pull orientation to improve their performance. New services development and design is the process of preparing a new delivery system procedure or making an investment in organizational resources to facilitate the service delivery organization.