Governance Structure and Challenges in COVID-19 Response Management by Public Authorities, Malaysia: A Case Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/jas.v22i2.7110Keywords:
Governance Structure, Challenges in COVID-19 Response Management, Disaster Governance Framework, Crisis Response Management EffectivenessAbstract
Crisis response management to non-conventional transboundary threats, such as COVID-19, necessitated a robust governance structure due to its unprecedented nature, marked by uncertainty and regarded as the worst global catastrophe since World War II. This health emergency not only caused immense human suffering but also triggered significant socioeconomic disruptions. As of May 6, 2023, approximately 687,968,896 individuals had been infected, with 6,894,694 reported deaths. In response, countries around the world were compelled to develop effective strategies to minimise infections and fatalities. A strong governance structure, particularly in public administration, is crucial for determining the success of response management, as emphasised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This study aimed to investigate the effective governance structure for managing COVID-19 responses in Malaysia and the challenges faced in ensuring an effective response. The analysis focused on four leading public authorities that were central to COVID-19 response management in Malaysia. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews using purposeful sampling, targeting top management representatives from the respective public authorities. Findings indicated that the current disaster response management necessitates a re-evaluation of existing governance structures or the development of a specific governance framework for non-conventional transboundary threats. It also highlighted the importance of embracing technology, enhancing data governance, improving communication, fostering community involvement, adopting flexible procurement procedures, and developing leadership skills to respond to such crises effectively.
References
Abdullah, R. (2021, February 1). Malaysia di kedudukan ke-16 dalam kecekapan menguruskan pandemik COVID-19. Astro Awani. https://www.astroawani.com/berita-malaysia/ Malaysia -di- kedudukan-ke16-dalam- kecekapan-menguruskan-pandemik-covid19-280713
Adebola, B. Y. (2021). Microfinance banks, small and medium scale enterprises and COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. European Journal of Economics, Law and Politics, 8(2),1–10.
Anderson, R. M., Heesterbeek, H., Klinkenberg, D., & Hollingsworth, T. D. (2020). How will country-based mitigation measures influence the course of the COVID-19 epidemic?. The lancet, 395(10228), 931-934. https://doi.org/10.1016 /s0140-6736 (20)30567-5
Ansell, C., Boin, A., & Keller, A. (2010). Managing transboundary crises: Identifying the building blocks of an effective response system. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 18(4), 195–207. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5973. 2010.00620.x
Baris, O. F., & Pelizzo, R. (2020). Research note: Governance indicators explain discrepancies in COVID‐19 data. World Affairs, 183(3), 216–234. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0043820020945683
Boin, R. A., Hart, P. 't, & Kuipers, S. L. (2018). The Crisis Approach. In H. Rodriguez, W. Donner, & J. Trainor (Eds.), The Handbook of Disaster Research (pp. 23-38). Cham: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-63254-4_2
Boin, A., Lodge, M., & Luesink, M. (2020). Learning from the COVID-19 crisis: an initial analysis of national responses. Policy Design and Practice, 3(3), 189–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2020.1823670
Bontempi, E., Vergalli, S., & Squazzoni, F. (2020). Understanding COVID-19 diffusion requires an interdisciplinary, multi-dimensional approach. Environmental Research, 188, 109814. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109814
Boubaker, S., & Nguyen, D. K. (2018). Governance issues in business and finance in the wake of the global financial crisis. Journal of Management & Governance, 22(1), 1–5.
Capano, G., Howlett, M., Jarvis, D. S., Ramesh, M., & Goyal, N. (2020). Mobilizing policy (in) capacity to fight COVID-19: Understanding variations in state responses. Policy and Society, 39(3), 285-308.
Chand, A. A., Lal, P. P., Prasad, K. A., & Mamun, K. A. (2021). Practice, benefits, and impact of personal protective equipment (PPE) during COVID-19 pandemic: Envisioning the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) through the lens of clean water sanitation, life below water, and life on land in Fiji. Annals of Medicine and Surgery, 70, 102763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2021. 102763
Chien, L., & Lin, R. (2020). COVID-19 outbreak, mitigation, and governance in high prevalent countries. Annals of Global Health, 86(1), 119. https://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.3011
Choi, Y. J. (2020). The power of collaborative governance: The case of South Korea responding to COVID‐19 pandemic. World Medical & Health Policy, 12(4), 430–442. https://doi.org/10.1002/wmh3.376
Christensen, T., & Lægreid, P. (2020). Balancing governance capacity and legitimacy: How the Norwegian government handled the Covid-19 crisis as a high performer. Public Administration Review, 80(5), 774–779. https://doi.org /10.1111/puar.13241
Christensen, T., Lægreid, P., & Rykkja, L. H. (2016). Organizing for Crisis Management: Building governance capacity and legitimacy. Public Administration Review, 76(6), 887–897. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12558
Christensen, T., & Ma, L. (2018). Coordination Structures and Mechanisms for Crisis Management in China: challenges of complexity. Public Organization Review, 20(1), 19–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-018-0423-9
Cook, T. M. (2020). Personal protective equipment during the coronavirus disease (COVID) 2019 pandemic–a narrative review. Anaesthesia, 75(7), 920-927.
Creswell, J.W. (2003) Research Design Qualitative Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage, Thousand Oaks, 3-26.
Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches. (3rd ed.). Sage Publications, Inc. https://www.ucg.ac.me/skladiste /blog_609332/objava_105202/fajlovi/Creswell.pdf
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Cucinotta, D., & Vanelli, M. (2020). WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic. PubMed, 91(1), 157–160. https://doi.org/10.23750/abm.v91i1.9397
Demiroz, F. (2017). Governance in crisis management. In Springer eBooks (pp. 1–5). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2893-1
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). Introduction: The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 1–32). Sage Publications Ltd.
Etienne, C. F., Fitzgerald, J., Almeida, G., Birmingham, M. E., Brana, M., Bascolo, E., Cid, C., & Pescetto, C. (2020). COVID-19: transformative actions for more equitable, resilient, sustainable societies and health systems in the Americas. BMJ Global Health, 5(8), e003509. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003509
Fukuyama, F. (2020). The pandemic and political order: It takes a state. Foreign Affairs, 99(4), 26– 32.
Greer, S. L., King, E. J., Da Fonseca, E. M., & Peralta-Santos, A. (2020). The comparative politics of COVID-19: The need to understand government responses. Global Public Health, 15(9), 1413–1416. https://doi.org/10.1080 /17441692.2020.1783340
Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How Many Interviews Are enough? an Experiment with Data Saturation and Variability. Field Methods, 18(1), 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903
Gustafsson, J. (2017). Single Case Studies vs. Multiple Case Studies: A Comparative Study. Academy of Business, Engineering and Science, Halmstad University.
Hennink, M., & Kaiser, B. N. (2022). Sample Sizes for Saturation in Qualitative Research: a Systematic Review of Empirical Tests. Social Science & Medicine, 292(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114523
Huston, P., Campbell, J., Russell, G., Goodyear-Smith, F., Phillips, R. L., Van Weel, C., & Hogg, W. (2020). COVID-19 and primary care in six countries. BJGP Open, 4(4), bjgpopen20X101128. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgpopen20x101128
Janssen, M., & Van Der Voort, H. (2016). Adaptive governance: Towards a stable, accountable and responsive government. Government Information Quarterly, 33(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2016.02.003
Kim, S. (2020). South Korea’s COVID-19 response: Flattening the curve through technology and transparency. Journal of Asian Public Policy, 13(3), 1–15.Kjær, A.M. (2004). Governance. Cambridge: Polity Press
Kuhlmann, S., Hellström, M., Ramberg, U., & Reiter, R. (2021). Tracing divergence in crisis governance: responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, Germany and Sweden compared. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 87(3), 556–575. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852320979359
Le, T. T., Vu, H. T., & Nguyen, T. H. (2021). Governance and community engagement in Vietnam’s COVID-19 response. Asian Politics & Policy, 13(4), 678–695.
Liang, L.-L., Tseng, C.-H., Ho, H. J., & Wu, C.-Y. (2020). Covid-19 mortality is negatively associated with test number and government effectiveness. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68862-x
Lichtman, M. (2010). Understanding and evaluating qualitative educational research. In SAGE Publications, Inc. eBooks. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483349435
Magaldi D., Berler M. (2018) Semi-structured Interviews. In: Zeigler-Hill V., Shackelford T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_857-1
Mahmood, S. U., Crimbly, F., Khan, S., Choudry, E., & Mehwish, S. (2020). Strategies for Rational Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Among Healthcare Providers During the COVID-19 Crisis. Cureus, 12(5), e8248. https://doi.org/10.7759 /cureus.8248
Martínez-Córdoba, P. J., Benito, B., & García-Sánchez, I. M. (2021). Efficiency in the governance of the Covid-19 pandemic: Political and territorial factors. Globalization and health, 17, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-021-00759-4
Maxwell, J.A. (2013) Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach. Sage, Thousand Oaks.
McMullin, C., & Raggo, P. (2020). Leadership and governance in times of crisis: A balancing act for nonprofit boards. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 49(6), 1182–1190. https://doi. org/10.1177/ 08997 64020 964582
Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative Research: a guide to design and implementation. http://digitallib.pps.unj.ac.id/index.php?p=show_detail&id=27892&keywords=
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis: an expanded Sourcebook. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 14(4), 336–337. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0272-4944(05)80231-2
Morse, M. and Field, A. (1995) Qualitative Research Methods for Health Professionals. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.
Muhamad Khair, N. K., Lee, K. E., & Mokhtar, M. (2021). Community-based monitoring in the new normal: a strategy for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(13), 6712. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18136712
Muhammad Nur Amir, A. R., Binti Amer Nordin, A., Lim, Y. C., Binti Ahmad Shauki, N. I., & Binti Ibrahim, N. H. (2021). Workforce mobilization from the National Institutes of Health for the Ministry of Health Malaysia: a COVID-19 pandemic response. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 574135. https://doi.org/10.3389 /fpubh.2021.574135
Ng, C. L., & Krishnan, A. (2022). The impact of COVID-19 and Corporate Governance: The Empirical study of Malaysia emerging market. International Journal of Innovation and Business Strategy, 16(1), 27–42.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (September 2, 2020). Building resilience to the Covid-19 pandemic: the role of centres of government. OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Patton, Michael Quinn (2015). Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Por, H. H. (2023). Governing the COVID-19 Pandemic in Malaysia: Shifting Capacity under a Fragmented Political Leadership. Pacific Affairs, 96(3).
Ranney, M. L., Griffeth, V., & Jha, A. K. (2020). Critical supply shortages—the need for ventilators and personal protective equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(18), e41. https://doi.org/ 10.1056/nejmp2006141
Richards, L. (2005). Handling Qualitative Data: A Practical Guide. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid /BB17343647
Rosenthal, U., Boin, A., & Comfort, L. K. (2001). Managing Crises: Threats, dilemmas, opportunities. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA5745786X
Rosenthal, U., Charles, M. T., and ’t Hart, P. (Eds.). (1989). Coping with Crisis: The Management of Disasters, Riots, and Terrorism. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas.
Sandelowski, M. (1995). Sample Size in Qualitative Research. Research in Nursing & Health, 18(2), 179–183. https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.4770180211
Sauer, M. A., Truelove, S., Gerste, A. K., & Limaye, R. J. (2021). A failure to communicate? How public messaging has strained the COVID-19 response in the United States. Health security, 19(1), 65-74. https://doi.org/10.1089/hs.2020.0190
Scott, R., & Nowell, B. (2020, September 28). Networks and crisis management. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. https://oxfordre.com/politics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/ acrefore-97801902 28637-e-1650
Sein, M. (2020). The serendipitous impact of COVID-19 pandemic: A rare opportunity for research and practice. International Journal of Information Management, 55, 102164 – 102164.
Serikbayeva, B., Abdulla, K., Oskenbayev, Y., 2020. State Capacity in Responding to COVID-19 [MPRA Paper](101511). Munich Personal RePEc Archive. https://mp ra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/101511/
Setyaningsih, T., Bastian, I., Arifa, C., & Rakhman, F. (2023). Pandemic Leadership: Is It Just a Matter of Good and Bad?. Public Organization Review, 23(2), 605-621. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-023-00712-6
Shadmi, E., Chen, Y., Dourado, I., Faran-Perach, I., Furler, J., Hangoma, P., Hanvoravongchai, P., Obando, C., Petrosyan, V., & Rao, K. D. (2020). Health equity and COVID-19: Global perspectives. International Journal for Equity in Health, 19(1), 1–16. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1186/ s12939- 020- 01218-z
Shibuya, K., Kondo, T., & Hashimoto, H. (2020). Japan’s response to COVID-19: Balancing public health and civil liberties. The Lancet, 395(10235), 1420.
Shoozan, A., & Mohamad, M. (2024). Application of interview protocol Refinement framework in systematically developing and refining a semi-structured interview protocol. SHS Web of Conferences, 182, 04006. https://doi.org/10.1051 /shsconf/202418204006
Stake, R. E. (2010). Qualitative research: studying how things work. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BB01625242
Tayeb, A., & Por, H. H. (2021). Malaysia: Improvised pandemic policies and democratic regression. In Oxford University Press eBooks (pp. 321–334). https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197553831.003.0022
Tung, L. T. (2021). Success in combating a pandemic: Role of fast policy responses. World Development Perspectives, 21, 100285. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.wdp.2020.100285
Uddin, K. F. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic is about more than health: A state of governance challenges in Bangladesh. South Asian Survey, 28(1), 72-91. https://doi.org/10.1177 /0971523121993344
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2013). Final Evaluation Report Submitted by Hindowa B. Momoh PhD: Leadership Development and Institutional Capacity Building for Human Development and Poverty Reduction in Sierra Leone https://erc.undp.org/evaluation/documents/download/7351
van Diggele, C., Burgess, A., Roberts, C., & Mellis, C. (2020). Leadership in Healthcare Education. BMC Medical Education, 20(S2), 456. https://bmcmededuc.biomed central.com/articles/10.1186/s12909-020-02288-x
Wang, C. J., Ng, C. Y., & Brook, R. H. (2020). Response to COVID-19 in Taiwan: Big data analytics, new technology, and proactive testing. JAMA, 323(14), 1341–1342.
Wilson, S. (2020). Pandemic leadership: Lessons from New Zealand’s approach to COVID-19. Leadership, 16(3), 279–292.
Worldometers. (n.d.). COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic Tracker. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/malaysia/
Yen, W., Liu, L., Won, E., & Testriono, N. (2022). The imperative of state capacity in public health crisis: Asia’s early COVID‐19 policy responses. Governance, 35(3), 777–798. https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12695
Yin, R.K. (2003). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. 3rd Edition, Sage, Thousand Oaks.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Zakwan Azahari, Anuar Shah Bali Mahomed, Ho Jo Ann3
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
