A study of strategic responses and actions of Malaysian law firms in face of the liberalisation of legal services in Malaysia

Cheah, Soo Chuan (2013) A study of strategic responses and actions of Malaysian law firms in face of the liberalisation of legal services in Malaysia. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)]

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Abstract

Malaysia is set to embrace the liberalisation of legal services. This will pose strategic

challenges to Malaysian law firms and will impact on industry competition. It is not

certain as to how Malaysian law firms perceive the liberalisation of legal services, and

what strategic actions will be taken by them in order to maintain their strategic position

and competitiveness. Against this backdrop, this study seeks to find out the answers

to the questions as to how Malaysian law firms perceive the liberalisation of legal

services – whether it is perceived as a threat or an opportunity; the strengths,

weaknesses and core competencies of Malaysian law firms in face of the liberalisation

of legal services; and the strategic actions taken by Malaysian law firms in order to

maintain their strategic position and competitiveness. The bodies of literature that were

used to inform this research are the conceptual framework of Porter’s five forces and

the theory of the resource-based view. Using qualitative approach, this research seeks

to examine the research problem by interviewing participants who are partners of

Malaysian law firms as well as a representative from the professional body which

represent the largest State Bar Committee in Malaysia, i.e. the Kuala Lumpur Bar

Committee. From the fieldwork, it was found out that Malaysian law firms generally

perceive the liberalisation of legal services as both a threat and an opportunity. It was

also found out that Malaysian law firms do have their own strengths, weaknesses and

core competencies in face of the challenges that arise from the liberalisation of legal

services. This research confirmed and prove the usefulness of Porter’s five forces

framework to assess the attractiveness of the legal industry in Malaysia based on the

strengths of five competitive forces and the resource-based view to analyse the

internal asset (i.e. resources, capabilities and competencies) of Malaysian law firms.

Future research may be built upon this research to study the impacts of the

liberalisation of legal services on Malaysian law firms.

Item Type: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Depositing User: UNM, ePrints
Date Deposited: 26 Dec 2014 07:28
Last Modified: 07 Jan 2018 10:53
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/27989

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