Abstract

Enterprise risk management (ERM) is a central focus for many private organizations, especially financial institutions. Like their counterparts, non-profit organizations are not safe from exposure to risk and is more crucial as their funding originates from the public. Little work has been done on the enterprise risk management factors in public organizations, and research is needed to find out whether their approach to managing risk is serious, with a formal structure and framework to handle it. There is also insufficient clear empirical evidence for the effectiveness of ERM, especially concerning future government funding, for example in the intensely competitive sector of higher education. The risk of a decrease in the number and quality of international post-graduate students through lack of funding might affect the university’s world ranking, with a reduction in research projects, leading to a loss of reputation. This study is therefore intended to develop an enterprise risk management model (ERMM) that can be used to improve the performance of Malaysia’s technical universities. Data were collected from the academic staff in the Malaysian Technical University Network (MTUN) which brings together four technology-based universities: The University of Malaysia Perlis (UNMAP), Technical University of Malaysia Malacca (UTEM), the University of Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) and the University of Malaysia Pahang (UMP). The target population, according to each university’s website, is UNMAP = 734, UTEM = 874, UTHM = 1,238 and UMP = 720. The total population of academics is 3,566. The sample size of this study was 346 researchers, surveyed through the self-administered Google form. The data was screened, and out of the 800 questionnaires distributed, 281 were completed and returned. Of these, 21 questionnaire sets were either incomplete or unacceptable for further examination, leaving 260 considered valid for further analysis. Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) in Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) confirmatory factor analysis (measurement and structural measurement models) were used to analyse the data. The outcome of the study was encouraging, as it indicated that ERM factors would have varying levels of influence on university performance. The contribution of the current study would be the improvement of the operations management (performance) and risk management practices by producing high-quality publications, attracting good-quality international students, and attaining high ranking and a good reputation. This would assist top management to make the right decisions to improve the university performance, controlling risk. Furthermore, the process of ERM was found to be effective, contributing to performance. This could be because risk management offers a better basis for decision making at strategic, tactical and operational levels by providing a clear understanding of potential risk profiles and options for dealing with risk management; this helps the university to make suitable decisions to reduce risk and maximize opportunities.