Taska Kyrana Sdn. Bhd.

: to change or
not to change its operating days?
Hazirhah Hashim, Rohaida Basiruddin, Farzana Quoquab and Maizaitulaidawati Md Husin

Introduction Hazirhah Hashim is

based at International
It was early morning of 3 November, 2013. Mrs Azizah Ayob (to be subsequently known as Business School,
Ayob), the entrepreneur cum founder of Taska Kyrana Sdn. Bhd. was lost in thought. She Universiti Teknologi
read in the newspaper that, the State Government of Johor Bahru had decided to change Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur,
the weekend rest days from Saturday and Sunday to Friday and Saturday with effect from Malaysia.
1 January 2014. However, it was not the case for other states like Negeri Sembilan, Melakka Rohaida Basiruddin is
and Selangor. The change of business operation days had been announced by the State Senior Lecturer,
Minister of Johor and was ordered to be implemented predominantly in the government Farzana Quoquab is
sectors in the State. On the other hand, businesses and corporations in the private sector Associate Professor, and
Maizaitulaidawati Md
were allowed to choose to continue observing Saturday-Sunday weekends or switch to the
Husin is Senior Lecturer,
new official rest days which were Friday-Saturday.
all based at International
In 2013, Taska Kyrana was a notable kindergarten and nursery in Johor. Its operating days Business School,
followed the usual pattern, which was Monday to Friday. As customers of the Taska Kyrna Universiti Teknologi
consisted of the parents who were working in government as well as the private sector, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur,
Ayob, the founder of Taska Kyrana wondered which option to choose as the operating days Malaysia.
and rest-days for Taska Kyrana. She whispered herself:
It means, I have to change the operating days of Taska Kyrana to align with the government’s
requirement. Should I change the operating days as per the state government’s new ruling? Or
should I stick to the old operating days? Is there any other indirect move that I need to consider
to overcome this situation?

Ayob had approximately two months, until the end of December 2013 to find a solution for
the problem. She realized that, failing to do so might affect Taska Kyrana’s profits, as 65 per
cent of its customers were parents who were working in the public sector and 35 per cent
were working in the private sector. She was overwhelmed by thinking that, changing its
operating days might increase additional working hours and extra overtime pay for the
employees.

Taska Kyrana SDN. BHD.

Ayob was the founder and owner of Taska Kyrana Sendirian Berhad. She was born into a
poor family. Due to monetary constraints, she started to work right after completing her
secondary education. She started her career with a clerical job in a small company in Johor Disclaimer. This case is written
solely for educational
Bahru. Prior to launching Taska Kyrana, she worked for 20 years in different institutions in purposes and is not intended
different posts. Ayob was a self-motivated, focussed and determined individual. To to represent successful or
unsuccessful managerial
establish her own company, she used her own hard earnings, approximately RM130,000 as decision-making. The authors
a start-up. Although Ayob encountered lots of challenges, she managed to sustain the may have disguised names;
financial and other
business, and by 2013, she expanded its services by having not only a nursery but also recognizable information to
preschool programmes. protect confidentiality.

DOI 10.1108/EEMCS-04-2016-0050 VOL. 8 NO. 2 2018, pp. 1-15, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2045-0621 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 1
 Taska Kyrana was registered as a private limited company on 1 September 1998. The first
Taska Kyrana branch was opened at the Taman Bukit Dahlia, Pasir Gudang. The nursery
was located at No. 17, Jalan Sejambak 1, Taman Bukit Dahlia, 81,700, Pasir Gudang,
Johor. The company had another branch at Taman Air Biru, Pasir Gudang, Johor. Taska
Kyrana’s motto was “Pilihan yang TERBAIK, TEPAT dan SELAMAT” (The BEST,
TRUSTWORTHY and SAFE choice). It had a logo that symbolized the company’s good
intention to take care of their customers’ children in a good manner at day and night. There
were 18 employees working in Taska Kyrana who used to take care of 100 children
approximately for both branches.
Taska Kyrana used to provide a child care facility for the children who were aged between
3 months and 6 years. There were three groups of children (based on their age):

1. Infant – aged between 3 months and 12 months;

2. Toddler – aged between 1 and 2 years old; and
3. Pre-school children aged between 3 and 6 years.
Taska Kyrana offered basic needs of daily child care routine including dressing, feeding
and diapering/toileting. In addition to routine care, the nursery also used to provide the
appropriate activities to support the development of children’s gross and fine motor skills
especially for the preschool group of children. The early childhood education programmes
helped the children to build their confidence, expand their physical abilities, enhance their
social skills and take part in play-based learning. In an attempt to provide the best services,
Taska Kyrana fully equipped its premises with high-class recreational and classroom
facilities which included furniture, tables, chairs, storage cabinets, television, DVD Player
and CD player. Taska Kyrana also offered additional services such as medical facilities and
“pick and drop” facilities for busy parents.

Target market
Taska Kyrana focussed on meeting parent’s needs for child care services on either a
part-time or full time basis within the Pasir Gudang areas. Taska Kyrana targeted middle to
upper income Malaysian and Singaporean parents, working either in the public or private
sectors who valued the quality of education and child care. In total, 35 per cent of Taska
Kyrana’s customers were from the private sector, while another 65 per cent were from the
public sector (Table I).
Middle income family. In this group, both parents were working full-time, and they did not
have time to take care of their children during the day. Thus, they were in need of support
to take care of their children while they were at work.
Upper income family. The parents who belonged to the upper income group were more
demanding, especially in regard to service quality, certification and reputation of the child
care centre. They were willing to spend more money for a better quality of childcare
services and advanced development programmes. This customer segment demanded
their children were taught basic concepts such as reading, singing and socializing.

Table I Taska Kyrana’s customer segments

Segmenting criteria (%)

Nationality
Malaysian 88
Singaporean 12
Occupation status
Public sector 65
Private sector 35

PAGE 2 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 8 NO. 2 2018

Considering the demand of such a group, Taska Kyrana continued to develop children’s
skills to the advanced level. Taska Kyrana tried to ensure that they were offering
competitive prices, high-quality child care services, a leading-edge educational
programme with certification and maintaining a reputation with parents and the community.

Operation
Taska Kyrana used to operate from 7 a.m. in the morning until 6 p.m. in the evening from
Monday to Friday. However, there were days when Ayob used to receive request from
certain parents to take care of their child for additional hours. In such cases, Ayob used to
charge additional RM10 per hour for overtime (i.e. after 6 p.m.) per child. Parents who sent
their children to Taska Kyrana used to pay RM150 for non-refundable registration fee
(one-off charges) and monthly commitment fees based on children’s’ age. The parents also
paid extra if they wanted extra time to take care of their children as overtime charges which
was very common practice. This is because, many parents also worked for extra hours and
they were in need of childcare services to take care of their children until they came back
home. For part-time basis or drop-off children, Taska Kyrana charged RM20 per hour for
child care services. In the past, Taska Kyrana generated about RM5,000 income per month
from part-time services (Tables II and III).
During 2013, Taska Kyana had 18 teachers and 4 support staff. The teachers were being
paid RM1,200/month and support staff RM900.00/month. The fixed expenses included the
rental cost of RM2,000/month and utilities bills of RM1,000/month. Taska Kyrana paid their
staff’s overtime claims approximately RM2,000 per month (Table IV).

Promotional strategy
To stay competitive in the market, Taksa Kyrana communicated directly with customers and
prospects through mail, texts and fliers. In addition to that, Taska Kyrana ensured that
positive word-of-mouth spread amongst parents living nearby the kindergarten areas. In
January 2013, Taska Kyrana launched a new distribution channel by extensively promoting
its business through social mass media, newspaper and parental magazines. A loyalty
programme was also introduced whereby parents were offered a loyalty card which entitled
them to receive up to a 20 per cent shopping discount at baby toys and clothes shop.
These efforts were taken to ensure its business growth. In the near future, Taska Kyrana
planned to open a few branches in Kuala Lumpur.

Change of operating days by the Johor state government

Ayob recalled an experience that she had encountered early in the morning. Once she
parked her car, she bought the daily newspaper from the nearest grocery shop in front of
Taska. Her eyes caught a sentence stated “Johor to have Friday and Saturday weekend
rest days from January 1, 2014”. She read the news with curiosity. According to the news,
Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar had declared the change of the
state’s rest days to Friday and Saturday (which was Saturday and Sunday) with effect from

Table II Infant and toddler group daily schedule

Operation time Daily schedule

7:00 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. Free play

8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Breakfast/snack
9:15 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. Diapering and clean up
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Outdoor activities or free play
12:00 a.m. to 1:00 noon Lunch; diaper changes
1:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. Nap time/ quiet time
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Diaper changes; Snack; Free play
4:00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. Free play; Outdoor activities; Diapers changes

VOL. 8 NO. 2 2018 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 3

 Table III Preschool group daily schedule
Operation time Daily schedule

7:00 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. Staggered arrival

8:15 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Exploration Time:
Playing blocks
Science/ Math
Art and craft
Sensory (water, sand, play-doh etc.)
Puzzles
Painting/ writing, printing
Computer
Music
9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Group circle:
Curriculum and class discussion
ABC’s, 123’s, Colors, Shapes
Music and movement
Song & nursery rhymes
Outdoor play
10:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Snack
10:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Clean up/ tidying time
11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Story time
11:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon Co-operative games and Good Bye circle
12:00 noon Dismissal
12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. Lunch and clean up
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Nap time/ quiet time
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 pm Wake up and snack
4:00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. Free play; outdoor activities

Table IV Information on Taska Kyrana’ operation

Different groups
Infant Group (3 months Toddle Group Preschool Group (3-6
Criteria to 1 year) (1-2 years) years)

Teacher – child ratio 1: 3 1: 5 1:10

Number of teachers
Number of children
Monthly fees
Meal cost (a day)
Overtime pay to staff
7 6 5
21 30 48 (15 half day and 33
full day)
RM450.00 RM400.00 RM450.00 per month for
half-day (up to 12noon)
RM550.00 per month for
full-day
RM5 per child RM5.00 per child RM2 per child (half day)
RM5per child (full day)
RM10.00 per hour RM10.00 per hour RM10.00 per hour

1 January 2014. The much-anticipated decision was announced during the investiture
ceremony on Saturday in conjunction with his 55th birthday. The Sultan said that the
change of weekend would take effect from 1 January 2014. The decision to change the
weekend holidays was made after receiving feedback from various quarters and to allow
majority in the Southern state of Johor Bahru to perform their religious duties on Friday. The
change of the state’s rest days to Friday and Saturday would be compulsory to those who
were working in the public sector. The private sector had the freedom to comply with the
regulation or to remain with rest days from Saturday to Sunday. As such, most of the
companies in the private sectors, especially in the banking industry chose to keep their
working days as Monday to Friday due to the fact that their headquarters were in Klang
Valley, which observed the rest days on Saturday and Sunday. Those banks were
operating their businesses in other countries and a change of working days might affect
their businesses. On top of that, some employees who worked in private companies had to

PAGE 4 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 8 NO. 2 2018

work for a half day basis on Saturday. Therefore, changing the operating days were not a
good choice for such companies.
As Taska Kyrana had parents working in both the private and public sector, they need to
operate on Saturday as well. Instead of having 5 days a week (approximately 20 days a
month), now they might need to operate 6 days a week (24 days a month). By doing so, it
might increase their operation costs including the additional childcare staff/ overtime pay,
utilities expense and kitchens supplies for children meals. All the fixed expenses were
expected to increase by 20 per cent per month, except for fixed salaries for teachers and
support staff). They also might need to consider developing a new schedule for staff, as
children attended at different times of the days. Moreover, not all children used to come
and leave at the same time. As such, to operate over 6 days, Taska Kyrana needed to
accommodate those costs and revise their payment system (or charging extra rate). In
addition to this, there are some parents who may not be affected by these changes
especially if one family has both parents working in the private sector.
The newspaper article had given Ayob a headache; she was not satisfied with the new
regulation imposed. She thought that the new regulation would affect not only her business
but also all other businesses in the state. Although her nursery was a private listed
company; thus, it was not mandatory for her to have rest days on Saturday and Sunday, she
was worried about losing her customers. Taska Kyrana’s customers were from various
sectors ranging from private and public, Ayob needed to choose the appropriate working
and rest days for her business.
Ayob was in conversation with her senior employee Sayeda who had worked at Taska for
the past 15 years. Sayeda was 45 years old and a single parent. She had seen Taska
Kyrana grow since 1998. Seeing Sayeda staring at Ayob for a long time, Ayob broke the
silence:
Ayob: I am wondering about our next step. This new regulation will affect our business
operation.
Sayeda: You are right. You have to think carefully before you make a decision. Because,
our customers are working in both private and public sectors. If you want to follow the State
Government’s new ruling, then the parents who are working in private sector will be
affected. If you stick to the existing operating day’s schedule, then we may lose the
customers who are working in public sector.
Ayob: Perhaps, we need to think any back up plan to handle this unexpected situation. May
be we can consider expanding our business and to focus on more promotional strategy!!
Sayeda: Agree. Why not we open one more branch at Kuala Lumpur? But the question is
whether we can support the extra expenditure at the moment? Also, definitely the
competition is going to be fierce in KL, unlike here in JB!
Ayob: Yup. Competition will be high that is true for sure. But if we do not try, we never know!
The discussion did not proceed further. Ayob felt that she would need to think properly
about the circumstances before taking any further steps.

Kindergartens in Malaysia
In Malaysia, kindergarten (also known as preschool education) was a non-formal and
flexible programme for children between 4 and 6 years old. The programme used to run for
one to three years’ time. Both public and private kindergarten curriculum guidelines and
programme was set and monitored by the Ministry of Education, Malaysia (MoE). While
admission was free or charged at a very minimal rate for public kindergarten, the priority for
admission was given to lower income families and under-privileged children who could not
afford to attend privately run kindergartens. Although all kindergartens had to abide by the

VOL. 8 NO. 2 2018 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 5

 curriculum guidelines set by the MoE, there were some exceptions for the International or
Expatriate Schools. These schools were privately run, catered for children from high and
middle-income families and followed the British or US curriculum as well as the syllabus of
their home country. The fees charged by these kindergartens varied significantly and was
largely determined by overhead costs and market forces.
Curriculum for kindergarten was set by MoE. The curriculum was prepared to enable
children to acquire basic communication, social and other positive skills in preparation for
their primary school level. Specifically, the aim of kindergarten education was to develop
children’s skills in five different aspects. The first aspect was to develop social skills which
focussed on children’s interaction with the environment and the people in their
surroundings, development of positive self-concept, discipline, social responsibilities and
positive attitudes towards learning. The second aspect was to develop the intellectual skill
which emphasized physical environment such as the concepts of space, numbers,
alphabets and prerequisites for writing, reading and language competencies. The third
aspect was to develop physical skills which focussed on the physical activities that involve
co-ordination of the various parts of the body such as the head, hand, leg, eye and fingers.
The forth aspect was to develop the spiritual skill which emphasized the inculcation of
noble values and believe in God. The fifth aspect was to develop aesthetic skills which
aimed to train the children to express themselves through their hand-made creations,
drawings, music and movement.

The major competitor: NURI Kindergarten

Ayob was wondering what would be the strategic move of her close competitor NURI
Kindergarten after this incident. NURI Kindergarten was situated at Pasir Gudang. NURI
kindergarten started its first operation in a small residential estate in Taman Perling, Johor
Bahru with 20 students. The founders opened a kindergarten after decades of experience
in the education line and managing kindergartens in Singapore and Malaysia. From a
single and small building with only 20 students, it had expanded to 3 buildings with over
400 students in only 2 and half years. Demand from society had been increasing since
then. During 2013, NURI had 20 branches in Johor and 4 branches in Selangor. NURI’s
headquarters and training centre was located at Tampoi, Johor Bahru.
NURI offered its customers two types of services: childcare and kindergarten. NURI
Childcare programme was a whole-day learning programme for ages 6 months to 6 years.
Their Childcare programme was named Creative Kids Academy. Fees for the programme
started from RM 560 per month. NURI Kindergarten programme, on the other hand, was a
4 h learning programme for ages 3 years to 6 years. The programme was known as Junior
Kids Academy (Figure 1). The cost of the programme was RM 300 per month. Both of the
programmes offered by NURI were a comprehensive quality English medium programme,
complete with elective language modules like mandarin, Tamil or Islamic studies. Teachers
and staff of all programmes were selected and employed by NURI, as the founder decided
not to franchise or license her brand. The decision was made by the founder in an attempt

Figure 1 Programme offered at NURI Kindergarten

Services Offered by
NURI

Childcare
Nursery
(Creative Kids
(Junior Kids Academy)
Academy)

PAGE 6 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 8 NO. 2 2018

to maintain the quality of education and services provided to their students and parents.
NURI’s customers were Muslim, Chinese and Indian parents working in the public and
private sectors.
Ayob was lost in thought. She realized that if she failed to make the right choice, her
customers may switch to NURI which would be a devastating situation for her business.

Ayob’s dilemma
Ayob was in a hurry to come up with a decision. She was aware that there would always be
two sides of the coin. “I’ll lose some of my customers from public sectors if I chose to remain
with the old rest days. On the other hand, I’ll lose some of my customers from private
sectors if I chose to comply with the new rest days. So, should I stick to current working
days? Or should I comply with the new working days requirement? Which decision would
be the best for my business? What consequences I’ll face if my decision turns to be
ineffective?”
Keywords:
Ayob was continued to think. “Should I consider any possible growth strategy to expand my Marketing,
business to other area? Do I need to think about more compelling promotional strategy to Entrepreneurship,
attract more customers. So that I can cover some of the cost of the lost customers?” Lots Market segmentation/target
of questions overshadowed her mind. markets

Reference
Ministry of Higher Education Report (2015), “Malaysia education for all end decade review report
2000-2015”, p. 8, available at: www.moe.gov.my/cms/upload_files/files/KPM%20-%20Malaysia%20
Education%20For%20All%20(End%20Decade%20Review%20Report).pdf

Corresponding author
Farzana Quoquab can be contacted at: fqbhabib@ibs.utm.my

VOL. 8 NO. 2 2018 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 7