Integrity Practices Among Royal Malaysia Police Officers In Perlis: The Role Of Organizational Culture And The Border-State Context

Abstract

This qualitative study examines how integrity practices among officers of the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) are shaped by organizational culture, using the Perlis contingent as an embedded single case in a border-state setting. Although PDRM has established internal and external oversight mechanisms, integrity breaches continue to be reported, and little is known about how officers themselves understand the cultural conditions that sustain or weaken integrity, particularly in a border contingent. Guided by the Competing Values Framework (Cameron & Quinn, 2011), the study pursued four objectives: to identify the factors associated with integrity practices; to examine how organizational culture shapes these practices; to analyse how the culture–integrity relationship is shaped by the border-state context; and to propose measures for strengthening integrity practices. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with four key informants, one focus group discussion with four participants (one from each of the four constituent establishments of PDRM Perlis), and analysis of publicly accessible institutional documents, and were analysed using six-phase thematic analysis. Integrity practices were shaped by interacting individual, organizational and institutional-contextual factors, with organizational factors (leadership and supervision, fair but situationally responsive handling of errors, peer influence and workload) most prominent. PDRM Perlis exhibited a hybrid hierarchy–clan culture that produces “structure-guided, relationally-supported integrity”, accompanied by two distinct forms of silence. The border-state context functioned as an amplifier rather than a creator of existing cultural requirements. The study extends the Competing Values Framework to border-state policing and offers a practical action plan for PDRM Perlis leadership, the Department of Integrity and Standards Compliance (JIPS) and policymakers.