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Selected Works

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Business

Business History

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Full-Text Articles in History

‘Adapt Or Divest: The New Economic Policy And Foreign Businesses In Malaysia (1970-2000), Shakila Yacob Dr, Khadijah Md Khalid Dr Jan 2012

‘Adapt Or Divest: The New Economic Policy And Foreign Businesses In Malaysia (1970-2000), Shakila Yacob Dr, Khadijah Md Khalid Dr

Shakila Yacob

This study explores the interplay between state policies and business strategies of foreign firms in Malaysia during and in the aftermath of decolonisation. Drawing from newly released British and US sources, this study demonstrates that distrust of state enterprises as well as antagonism towards Chinese speculators were significant factors in shaping the business strategies of targeted British firms under the New Economic Policy (NEP) in Malaysia. In addition, the business culture of some British firms served only to harden misperceptions and strengthen the resolve of the government to implement the NEP fully. Finally, in cushioning external shocks, firms embarked on …


Shakila Yacob And Nicholas White, ‘The “Unfinished Business” Of Malaysia’S Decolonisation: The Origins Of The Guthrie Dawn Raid’, Shakila P. Yacob Associate Professor Jan 2010

Shakila Yacob And Nicholas White, ‘The “Unfinished Business” Of Malaysia’S Decolonisation: The Origins Of The Guthrie Dawn Raid’, Shakila P. Yacob Associate Professor

Shakila Yacob

In a ‘dawn raid’ on the London Stock Exchange on 7 September 1981, the premiere British rubber and oil palm conglomerate in Malaysia, the Guthrie Corporation Limited, was taken into local control in less than four hours. Thiswas the most dramatic Malaysian acquisition of a foreign company during the restructuring of the country’s post-colonial economy during the 1970s and 1980s, and the Guthrie Dawn Raid remains a celebrated but, at the same time, contested juncture in contemporary Malaysian memory. Drawing upon a variety of sources—including original interviews and correspondence with key participants in, and observers of, the Guthrie Dawn Raid, …


Ford's Investment In Colonial Malaya, 1926-1957, Shakila P. Yacob Associate Professor Jan 2009

Ford's Investment In Colonial Malaya, 1926-1957, Shakila P. Yacob Associate Professor

Shakila Yacob

The corporate history of Ford in Malaya from 1926 to 1957 reveals Ford Canada’s global strategy to tap new British colonial markets. A combination of factors motivated Ford Canada to set up a subsidiary in Malaya, whose subsequent domestic sales and marketing success depended on maintaining mutually beneficial relations with the local merchant firms and Chinese entrepreneurs. After it was directed by the parent company to restructure its operations, Ford Canada imposed tight control on its own local operations to ensure that it could meet evolving consumer demands in Malaya and across the wider region. However, the company was careful …