Abstract
This paper examines research collaborations in the field of business and management in Malaysia, a fast-developing economy in Southeast Asia. The country aims to become a developed nation by the year 2020, guided by its well-charted Wawasan 2020 or Vision 2020 program. Research and development are important agenda items within this program. Rarely, however, have studies investigated the research collaborations of researchers based in Malaysia from the network perspective. After a manual author disambiguation process, we examined the network of 285 business and management researchers at the individual, institutional, and international levels. Author collaborations per paper almost doubled between 2001 and 2010 compared to the period 1980–1990. The popularity of researchers and the strength and diversity of their ties with other researchers had significant effects on their research performance. Furthermore, geographical proximity still mattered in intra-national collaborations. Malaysian institutions more often collaborated intra-institutionally or with foreign partners than with other institutions within Malaysia. The country’s five research universities are among the top-most productive of all institutions in Malaysia. Malaysia’s top international partners are all developed countries, including the US, Australia, Japan, the UK, and Canada. Surprisingly, Malaysia has had relatively little collaboration with ASEAN nations, of which it is a prominent member and which has an important agenda of educational cooperation within its member states. Internationally co-authored articles have been cited almost three times more than locally co-authored articles. Based on these results, we suggest an effective co-authorship strategy.
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Appendix: Full names of Institutions’ Acronyms
Appendix: Full names of Institutions’ Acronyms
Acronym | Unofficial translation in English | Official Name in Malay |
---|---|---|
IIUM | International Islamic University of Malaysia | Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia |
MMU | Multimedia University | Universiti Multimedia |
MSU | Management and Science University | – |
UiTM | MARA University of Technology | Universiti Teknologi MARA |
UKM | National University of Malaysia | Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
UM | University of Malaya | Universiti Malaya |
UMS | University of Malaysia, Sabah | Universiti Malaysia Sabah |
UNiM | University of Nottingham | Universiti Nottingham Kampus Malaysia |
UNIMAS | University of Malaysia, Sarawak | Universiti Malaysia Sarawak |
UPM | Putra University, Malaysia | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
USM | Science University, Malaysia | Universiti Sains Malaysia |
UTAR | Tunku Abdul Rahman University | Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman |
UTM | University of Technology, Malaysia | Universiti Teknologi Malaysia |
UUM | Northern University, Malaysia | Universiti Utara Malaysia |
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Kumar, S., Jan, J.M. Mapping research collaborations in the business and management field in Malaysia, 1980–2010. Scientometrics 97, 491–517 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-013-0994-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-013-0994-8