COMPLETION REPORTStrengthening Japan-Malaysia Trade Ties: Green Supply Chain Management in Malaysian Organizations,Practices, Performance, Barriers and Opportunities
Dr. Wong Wai Peng (+2)
Senior Lecturer
School of ManagementUniversiti Sains Malaysia
There are three main findings from this research. Firstly, from the Federation of Malaysian Manufactures(FMM), Malaysian Investment Development Authorities (MIDA) and Malaysia External Trade Corporation(MATRADE) data, we found there are only 524 companies or 20% of the companies registered in Malaysia exporting toJapan. Of these companies which export to Japan market, 199 have ISO14001 certification, 218 are non-ISO14001
certified (but have other certification) and 107 do not have certification. As for the non-exporting group of ISO14001
certified companies to Japan we found about 1052 of them. These indicate that there is still a large base of untapped
Malaysian suppliers without ISO14001 certification but could potentially export to Japan market in future.
Secondly, we found some differences between Japanese companies’ environmental requirements and the US/European
companies’ environmental requirements. For Japan, in addition to the ISO14000 certification, it also emphasizes its
numerous Japan Industrial Standards (JIS) as important export and import requirements. Adherence to JIS standards will
be given preferential treatment in procurement decisions. For US/European market, in general the ISO standard is usedas the basis for legislation for trade. US has its Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which enforces food andproduct safety and hazardous waste. EU’s import requirements are listed in its Export Helpdesk which provides
comprehensive information for developing countries to access the EU market. This also covers the adherences to theWaste Electrical and Electronics (WEEE) Directives (for manufacturers who export electrical and electronic goods toEU market must comply with this directive) and Restriction of Hazardous Substance (RoHS) Directive (to restrict theuse of six hazardous materials in the manufacture of electronic and electrical equipment).
Our third finding from this research identified two main factors that could influence the adoption of environmental andsustainable supply chain management in Malaysian companies. They are institutional pressures and organization
identity. Institutional pressure is an external factor comprising government rules and regulations, competitors’ pressure
and market needs compelling companies to adopt environmental and sustainable supply chain management practices.
Organizational identity is an internal factor, culturally and deeply rooted in an organization that nurtures theenvironmental and sustainability thinking among the employees in their daily work and processes. From our survey
among manufacturing companies in Malaysia, 118 companies responded and statistical analysis shows organization
identity in green and sustainability as well as institutional pressures are positively associated with the adoption ofsustainable supply chain management practices in the organizations. In addition to these two factors, where the absenceor lack of forces have become barriers to implement environmental and sustainable practices in organizations, ourresearch also have ultimately identified and introduced pathways to sustainable supply chain triple bottom line
performance for these companies. These pathways are potentially useful to qualify Malaysian non-exporting companies
with features suitable for the Japanese market. These quality features go beyond certification. A research framework forfurther sustainable supply chain management has been derived from the linkages of institutional pressures andorganizational identity to environmental and social sustainable practices. The framework shows the superordinate goal ofsustainable supply chain are met by unyielding external pressures and desirable organization identity driving theunequivocal environmental and responsible social practices of firms. This framework is useful to organizations toenhance their understanding on effects of different interventions which will lead to improved firm performance. With
improved firm performance, supply chain operations will raise the quality of Malaysian firms so desired by the Japanesemarket.

In summary, the main objective of the research which is to identify the opportunities to improve the sustainable
environmental conservation capability of Malaysia’s exporters and non-exporters to Japan is achieved. The researchers
deeply appreciate and are thankful to the funding support and efficient administration of Sumitomo Foundation to realize
the successful completion of this research within the stipulated time.

Publication of the Results of Research Project:
Verbal Presentation (Date, Venue, Name of Conference, Title of Presentation, Presenter, etc.)
5th October 2016, 4th International Conference on Business, Accounting, Finance and Economics 2016,“Organization Identity in Sustainable Supply Chain Management: A Proposed Framework for Research”, KaiChong Thong & Wai Peng Wong

Thesis (Name of Journal and its Date, Title and Author of Thesis, etc.)
1. Forthcoming paper/ article: “Pathways for Sustainable Supply Chain Performance - Evidence from
Malaysia’ – submitted to Journal Industrial Management and Data Systems’ on 11 April 2017 –currently under review.
2. PhD (Mixed Mode) Thesis Title - A Brief Review on Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SCM) and A
Proposed framework for future research. Thong Kai Chong, January 2017. Supervisor: Associate Professor
Dr. Wong Wai Peng.
Book (Publisher and Date of the Book, Title and Author of the Book, etc.)
Research Report (as attached)