Teachingan entirely reading topic to accounting students in higher education is sometimes challenging as students generally prefer calculation topics. Teaching a purely reading topic is a challenge to the lecturer and the students may face problems in digesting the topic taught.Therefore, the engagement in learning is essential to enhance the understanding on the subject matter among students. Educators use a competition-based learning model to bring students’ deficiencies under control in their learning process in higher education. A specific learning activity involving the model was carried out through the production of mind mapping video for the course of Advanced Financial Accounting and Reporting 2 on the Corporate Social Responsibility topic. The study was conducted to examine the factors influencing the effectiveness of the Competition-Based Learning activity in the accounting course. A questionnaire was particularly developed and distributed to all 63 students from the Bachelor of Accountancy Program, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sarawak Branch, who went through the course in Semester March-July 2018. From the survey, the mind mapping video competition was effective for teaching and learning as the respondents and participants had agreed in general. However, factors, such as number of times taking the course, number of family members in higher education, parents’ level of academic qualification and MUET results revealed no differences on the effectiveness of the competition-based learning activity in the accounting course. Finally, the Corporate Social Responsibility examination score showed no correlation with the effectiveness of the competition-based learning activity

The increasing demands for accountants in the future have resulted in an increased number of students enrolling in the accounting programmes of Malaysian universities. This expansion, however, has caused some concern about whether these students are likely to succeed in their studies. This study, therefore, aims to examine the factors that drive the academic performance of accounting students at Malaysian universities. The factors included gender, ethnic groups, type of secondary school, sponsorship, and family income. The students’ academic performance was represented by their cumulative grade point average (CGPA) obtained at the end of their programs. The study used a quantitative research design using secondary data of 367 undergraduate accounting students graduated in 2016 from the Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) for analysis. The findings suggested that there were significant differences in students’ academic performance related to ethnic groups, type of secondary school, and family income. Specifically, Malay, Indian, and other students performed less well than did Chinese students. Gender and sponsorship, however, had no significant influence on their academic performance. The study’s findings could help higher learning institutions, parents, and policymakers to formulate effective intervention mechanisms and to introduce a more holistic approach to improve student performance.

The increasing demands for accountants in the future have resulted in an increased number of students enrolling in the accounting programmes of Malaysianuniversities. This expansion, however, has caused some concern about whether these students are likelyto succeed in their studies. This study, therefore, aims to examine the factors that drive the academic performance of accounting students at Malaysianuniversities. The factors includedgender, ethnic groups, type of secondary school, sponsorship, and family income. The students’ academic performance was represented by their cumulative grade point average (CGPA) obtained at the end of theirprograms. The study useda quantitative research designusing secondary data of 367 undergraduate accounting students graduated in 2016 from the Universiti Utara Malaysia(UUM)for analysis. The findings suggestedthat there were significant differences in students’ academic performance related to ethnic groups, type of secondary school, and family income. Specifically, Malay, Indian, and other students performed less well than did Chinese students. Gender and sponsorship, however,hadno significant influence on their academic performance. The study’s findings could help higher learninginstitutions, parents, and policymakers to formulate effective intervention mechanisms and to introduce a more holistic approach to improvestudent performance.

Gallery Walkhas the potential to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning. Many teachers have especially been interested in using thisstrategyas a means of providing learning opportunities. Thispaper explores and discussesthe definition of gallery walk,and the potential of this approach andits limitations. This article discussesthe advantages of gallery walk and shows that researchers are still wondering on how gallery walk will help reaching the goals of a better learning, and how it will be different from the rest of learning method.This study can become a guidance or reference for educators, and researchers in the field.

As university students are enteringacompetitive workforce, getting a desirable job has become more demanding. Many universities offer industrial training or internship placements in their degree programmes.Thus, this study provides a qualitative perspective of anticipation of working experiences among university students in Klang Valley. This study iscarried outin the form of face-to-facesemi-structuredinterviewswithtenuniversity students inKlang Valley. The contents are analyzed by its content andcode in themes. The results show that the anticipations of working experiences among university students fall into a few categories which are; relevant education, purposes andimportance of working experiences as well as the challenges faced in the workforce. This study closes the gap betweenworkforce expectation andstudents’ impractical expectationsas itgivesuniversity students a better insight about working experience especially during their studies so that they can pre-plan their future. Overall, this study can benefit future universitystudents by improving their expected skills which will lead to higheremployers’satisfaction.

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between board diversity,financial performance and disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR)informationof the Malaysian listed companies.Different from prior literature, board diversity is viewed from the perspective of gender, age, tenure, educational level, professional membershipand functional background. We used one explanation i.e. diversity as variety, out of three explanations from a typologyin social psychological and organizational managementfields. The sample consists of 205 companies listed on Bursa Malaysia. Using regression analysis,a significant positive relationshipwas noted between the functional backgroundsof directors andthe companies’financial performance. The result shows that boardsshould have diversity in theirfunctional background. The other formsof board diversity such as gender, age, tenure, educational level and professionalmembership have been found not to influencecompanies’financial performance. Board professional membership diversity was found to significantly increase the CSR information disclosure. However,other formsof board diversity were found not to influencethe CSR information disclosure. These findings may suggest that corporate boards should have diversity in their functional background and professional membership in order to enhance companies’financial performance and CSR information disclosure.

Understanding entrepreneurship concept is indispensable in formal education system to support entrepreneurship education especially in school and higher education institutions. However, the need tounderstand entrepreneurship conceptis essential and important as every individual has the potential to be an entrepreneurs.This study aimsto assessthe understanding of entrepreneurship conceptamong Orang Asliafter playing agame; and to remark the emotional connotationafter playing the game. This paper employedqualitative method in the form of observation and interview with 20 Orang Asli Semai in Perak state. The findings indicatedthatmostparticipants showedbasic understanding of entrepreneurship and developed positive connotation whileplaying the game. The study drewattention to the importance of learning through playingin non-formal learning especially among the Orang Asli community.

This paper is aimed at advancing empirical indications on micro variablefactors determining systematic risk in Shariahcomplaints firms listed on Bursa Malaysia. This paper also attempts to identify whether the Shariahcompliant firms are showing the same micro variables factors that determine systemic risk. The systematic issues have become the main concern to many related parties such as policy makers, investors and stakeholders as systematic risk is unable to be removed through diversification. Shariahcompliant firms have their own unique systematic risk owing to their difference in business philosophy. A hypothesis between the relationship of the firms-specific micro variable factors and systemic risk are established on foregoing studies and theoretical framework respectively, and analyzed using the Fixed Effects Model tested on the data from 80 listed companies covering a period from 2009 to 2018. The results show that leverage and growth are the most significant factors of the systematic risk of Shariah compliant firms. Therefore, high leverage and growth firms are considered to be high risk for investment in Malaysia capital market.

In colleges and universities, competition-based learning strategy is one of the ways used by instructors to overcome students’ challenges in their learning process. An investigation on the non-accounting major students’ perception on participating in the online accounting quiz competition for the Introduction to Financial Accounting and Reporting course has been carried out. The questionnaire was specifically developed and distributed to students from the Diploma in Computer Science, Diploma in Public Administration, Diploma in Tourism Management and Diploma in Office Management and Technology programs of Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sarawak Branch, who underwent the course in Semester March 2018. Descriptive statistics were performed to achieve the objective of this paper. Overall, the respondents and participants have mixed feelingsthat the online quiz was effective for learning in an accounting course. The Competition-based Learning strategy explains that the non-accounting students intend to get the certificate from the involvement in the online quiz competition. The limitations and future research opportunities are also provided in this paper.

Todays leader deals with many challenges in enacting roles as agents of change. Extremely uncertain and rapidly changing in a dynamic environment become a crucial problem for a leader in mobilizing organizational change. It is imperative for a leader to adopt a strategic approach to drive organizational change effectively for establishing organizational improvement and sustainability. This article reviews transformational leadership as an effective model to drive organizational change in the context of todays organization leader. Although,there is still controversy about the significant leadership style for establishing changes,the results of previous studies have proven that transformational leadership is a specific approach to achieve the success of organizational change in todays environment.

Research productivity is a vital element in enhancing the university ranking and , it is an important metric to measure the performance of academic staff. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors impacting research productivity of academic staff at Cihan University Erbil, Iraq. A survey was carried out among 87 academic staff randomly selected at the university to determine the impact of Fund, Collaboration, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and Job Satisfaction on Research Productivity. The data was analyzed by using Smart PLS3.2.9. The results indicated that Fund, Collaboration, ICT and Job Satisfaction had positive and significant impact on Research Productivity, although Fund has the highest impact on Research Productivity. The implication of this study is the management of universities should pay greater attention on research funding opportunities, rewarding collaboration among researchers, enabling ICT and improving job satisfaction to boost research productivity of the academic staff. For future research, it is recommended to measure the mediating roles of the variables and consider sampling academic staff from other universities to increase generalizability.

The study assessedthe influenceof resilience skillfor the survival of SMEs in EdoState. Tworesearch questionsguided the study, while research question two was hypothesized andtested. 236respondents wereused usingaproportionate sampling technique from a population of 1117business owners. This is 23.63% of the population.A descriptive survey was used. A reliability coefficient of 0.77was obtainedwith the use ofCronbachalpha formula. Data wereobtained with the aid of a questionnaire.The research question wasanswered with mean, while t-test for the hypothesis. From the result, it was discovered that resilience skillinfluencesSMEs survival. The two groups of entrepreneursused for the study did not show any significant difference in possession of resilience skillfor SMEs survival.It was concluded that resilience skill isneeded by entrepreneursto a high extent. It was also concluded that males do notdiffer significantly from femaleentrepreneurs in possessing resilience skillfor SMEs survival. Consequently, it was recommended thatappraisal of SMEs operations should be on a consistent basis to check for lapses, make improvement and increase customers’ goodwill, among others.

This study was conductedto determine the effectivenessof authoritative school climate, particularly thedisciplinary structure and student support, on student academic achievement. The study adopted a quantitative approach and a sample survey method. 200 students were selected from two secondary schools in Zone5 Kinta Utara, Ipohusing a systematic sampling method. Multiple linear regressionswere used to test the proposed hypotheses. The results show that the student supports have a significantand positive effecton the student’s academic achievement, but not disciplinary structure. Accordingly, to boost student achievement, the school administrators should adopt authoritativeschool climate,specifically by embedding the student support culture among all school teachersand support staffs. Despite the results provide insights on the significance of the authoritative school climate to increase student achievement, this study is subjectedto somelimitations, which requireimprovement and replication in the future studies.

The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of human resource (HR) practices namely training, career development, performance appraisal and compensation on teachers job satisfaction. Quantitative correlational method was used and data were collected by using questionnaires from teachers pursuing their studies in a public university in Malaysia. The samples were selected by using simple random sampling technique. Upon receiving 148 returned questionnaires, data was cleaned and missing values were amputated by using mean. Data were then analysed by using multiple regression analysis. The findings of this study revealed that teachers were generally satisfied (mean>3.69) with all of the HR practices. However, only training (ß=0.326, p-value<0.05) andperformance appraisal (ß=0.255, p-value<0.05) contribute significantly to teachers job satisfaction. Overall, 30.3 percent of the variance in job satisfaction could be predicted by the independent variables. In conclusion, this study confirmed that training and performance appraisal influenced teachers job satisfaction. The implication of this study is that schools principals should develop better training structure and carry out performance appraisal ethically and objectively in order to increase job satisfaction among teachers.

Many studies have been done in addressing work-family conflict (WFC) among employees working in organizations.Thus, the focus of this study is to address WFCthat has been faced by currently working and studying adults,and examine its relationship with their health and stress condition. In addition, this study examines the moderating effect of social support between WFCand working student’s health and stress condition. The sample for this study consists of working students enrolling in part-time programs in Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia. Questionnaires were distributed to students pursuing part-time programs in Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris. The questionnaire was developed based on past literature and proposed research framework.The questionnaire comprisedof questions regarding WFC, stress, health,social support and demographicquestions. Findingsfrom the research indicated that WFC,faced by working students in UPSI,weresignificantly related to stress, health, and social support. As for the moderation effect, this study found that social support significantly moderatedthe relationship between WFCand working students’stress condition, butnot with health. Suggestions on actions needed to be constructed in unravelling WFCmatters among working students.Policies and plans on how to mitigate WFCwere suggested. Such suggestions might benefitpolicymakers and government in introducingrelevant initiatives so that working adults’ special needs couldbe fulfilled, consequentlyreducedWFCfaced by them.

Issues on college students spending behaviour have been studied numerous times due to improper use of education funds. Various studies examined determinant factors for thismisbehaviour in order to understand, identify and recommend ways to educate these future generations. Some documented relationships between financial behaviours and financial literacy, money beliefs and socialization agents. This study walks the same path but focuseson spending behaviour rather than financial behaviour and examinesits association with determinant factors by means segmentation analysis. The aimof the study is to profile Sultan Idris Education University undergraduates’ according to their spending using a decision tree analysisprocedurecalled Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID).CHAID generates predictive tree models by segmenting based on predictor variables which include demographic characteristics, program of study related traits and funding aspects that were utilized to profiles students’ spending. Spending in this study excludes most incurredexpenditures namely living and subsistence costs. Spending profiles were determined based on 751 feedbacks received from business students of Sultan Idris Education University. It was found that, top five most incurred non-subsistence expenses were personal hygiene products, study materials, telecommunications services, clothing and health products. Interestingly, all these five types of spending can be segmented according to only one predictor variable namely, faculty. It can be assumed from this results that, spending profiles are shared within the same faculty. Since spending profiles can be differentiated between faculties, it can be recommended that education programs directed at influencing spending behaviour should be tailor-made according to faculties.

The purpose of this conceptual paperis to develop the education supply chain framework by integratingthe supply chain coordination dimensions that are information sharing, commitment, joint decision making and responsiveness. A qualitative framework analysis methodologyproposed by Srivastava and Thomson (2009)will be performed by interviewing seven groups of supply chain actors (schools/polytechnics, university, employers, government, professional bodies, current students and alumni) until data saturation is reached to understand the participants’ experiences about supply chain coordination. The interview data will be analysed by using thematic analysis and emerging themes will help to explain the education supply chain framework from supplychain coordination perspectives. In education supply chain context, this is the first attempt to embed the selected supply chain coordination dimensions in the existing framework. Education supply chain actors could benefit from this framework by performing better coordination to reduce the education-job mismatch.

The purpose of this study isto investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and commitment to change among senior Administrative and Diplomatic Service (ADS) officers attached to the federal government ministries in Putrajaya/Kuala Lumpur. The data werecollected in aform of questionnaire where a total of 360 senior officers participated in this research. The measurements used comprised the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) by Wong and Law (2002) and Commitment to Change by Herscovitch and Meyer (2002). The result of multiple regression analysis showed that one dimension of emotional intelligence namely self-emotion appraisal has a positive relationship with all dimensions of commitment to change. Whereas, all dimensions of emotional intelligence were found to have a positive relationship with one dimension of commitment to change namely the affective commitment to change. Thus, it was noted in this study that the emotional intelligence was found as an important factor in enhancing the level of commitment to change among senior ADS officers. This finding would serve as an indicator to the high-level management of civil service to take into account the element of emotional intelligence especially in upskilling ADS officers’ emotional intelligence competencies.

Accounting information system and internal audit effectiveness assist management in making appropriate decisions.The experience of accountants and auditors may enhance decision making. Moreover, the effect of accountants’and auditors’experience on the relation between accounting information system and internal audit effectiveness wasnot considered in the previous studies. This research aims to develop a structural equation model for the moderating effect of experiences on the relation between accounting information system characteristics and the internal audit effectivenessinIraqi stock exchange-traded companies.Five constructs representing the characteristics of accounting information system have been selected including integration, flexibility, reliability, relevance, and timeliness. A quantitative approach has been used to achieve the research objective. A survey was conducted on365 respondents including accountants, auditors and managers in several companies in the Iraqi stock exchange. Statistical Package for the Social Sciencesand Analysis of Moment Structurewereused to analyze the data and develop the structural equation model. The research results indicated that all the selected accounting information system characteristics had significant effects on internal audit effectiveness. Moreover, experience moderated the relationships betweenflexibility, integration characteristics, and internalaudit effectiveness. Such research findings can assist organizations in assessing and enhancing the quality of their information and the skills and knowledge of their employees, particularly their accountants and auditors.

This paper aims to investigate the effect of the presence of female board directors and corporate governance mechanisms on agency cost focusing on board of directors’ and audit committee’s characteristics. The samples used inthis study consisted of 150 companies listed on Bursa Malaysiain trade and services sectorfrom 2010 until 2013. The dependent variablein this research is agency cost. Based on the extensive literature review, this study applied two agency cost proxies,which are asset utilisation ratio (AUR) and expense ratio (ER). Meanwhile, there are seven independent variable which are female board directors, board size, CEO duality, independent directors, size of the audit committee, audit committee meeting and audit quality. Data was analysedusing descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and linear regression. The empirical result reveals that female board directors, board size, CEO duality, independent directors, and audit quality have a significantly negativerelationship with agency cost using asset utilisation ratio (AUR) as the proxy. Meanwhile, for expense ratio (ER) proxy, the result shows that female board directors, the size of the audit committee, and audit quality have a significantly negative relationship with agency cost. Besides that, with these research findings, the corporate companies could have a better and thorough understanding about corporate governance which would help them decreasetheiragencycost from time to time. The findings also could be used as the reference and guidance in establishing companypolicies or finance policies in decreasing the company’s agency cost. Plus, these findings enrich the literature in corporate companies, thus helpfuture researchers. Finally,the researcher presented some suggestions and recommendations for future studies to diversify the sectors of the selected companies so that the data obtained will be wider and larger. Besides, future researchers may extend the data period from four years up to 10 years.

This paper identifiesfactors affecting the adoption of mobile learning application in the classroom. The principles of the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) were adopted as the main elements that were investigated in this study, namely relative advantage, complexity, mobile learning acceptance, and intention to use mobile learning. The research design was based on a quantitative approach using an online survey involving a group of 200 undergraduates. Data collected were analyzedusing the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) and Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) on AMOS 20.0. Interestingly, the main research findings showed that all the indices fit the hypothesized model perfectly and all the technology acceptance constructs were significantly correlated. The finding encourage that UPSI’s undergraduates are perceptive to utilizing mobile learning approach with the utilize of novel mobile applications, which surely would have an enormous impact on the current teaching and learning practice in the campus. From the practical standpoint, such a learning paradigm would become more prevalent in many institutions of higher learning as mobile technology keeps on improving and becoming more affordable, hence enabling more students to gain unrivaled access tomobile online learning content.

The aim of this paper is to conceptualize the significance of customer-defined market orientation in creating superior customer value and building long-term customer relationship which in turn increases the customer satisfaction and loyalty, moreover,the framework also theorized the mediating role of customer inspiration to strengthen the framework. A comprehensive review of latestconceptual and empirical literature was grounded to develop the propositions. Teachers and students of higher education institution shall be taken as a social lab for examining the propositions, and to report the empirical findings. The finding of this study provides a basis for developing a model to obtain customer satisfaction and loyalty. This study could be of practical valuefor organizations who want to improve satisfaction and loyalty among their customers, with a special focus on teachers and students since they are considered as a potential cluster of the market. This paper makes a significant contribution by developing aconceptual framework to improve customer satisfaction and customer loyalty through customer inspiration and customer-defined market orientation practices.

Fraud in insurance is becoming an interesting issue nowadays among researchers and parties involved in the industries. Increase in numbers of insurance claim leads to unstable and unpredictable operating profit suffered by insurance companies. These claims are believed to include both bogus and authentic claims. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine customers’ intentions in committing motor insurance fraud. The objective is to determine the relationship between individual attitude and subjective norms on intention to commit motor insurance fraud. The sample for this study will be teachers from selected schools in Petaling District, Selangor. Data from the respondents will be collected using questionnaires. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) will be used to analyze the data collected. Specifically, correlation and regression will be used to test the hypothesis. Finding from this studyis believed useful for insurance regulator and industry to handle insurance fraud attempts.

Public sector reforms in Malaysia begun in the 1980s with theprimaryobjective of improvingthe effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of governmental operational and financial management. The shift from cash-based accounting to accrual-based accounting in the public sector constitutes one of the measures outlined in the New Economic Model (NEM)under this reform initiative. The aim of this paper is to examine the opportunities and challenges faced by the Malaysian public sector in implementing accrual-based accounting. A review of previous literature in this area showed that accrual-based accountingimproves decision-making processes,promotes better financial management and enhances public accountability. However, the transition process between these two accounting methods is not without challenges. Human resources competency, software and technology capability, accounting policies and standards suitabilityare identified as major challenges in the implementation effort. These challenges should be taken into consideration carefully by the government in order toensure successful migration towards accrual-based accounting.

This study was conducted to ascertain the management of safety in secondary schools located in the Northern Kinta District, Perak. The aspects of school safety studied were social dimension and physical dimension. This study was also conducted to find out whether a significant relationship existed between the social dimension and physical dimension towards school safety. The study sample consisted of teachers who had undergone the Higher Order Thinking Skills (KBAT) Course for Lower Secondary and a questionnaire was utilised as the study instrument. The data collected was then analysed to ascertain the practices, effects, limitations and findings from the school safety management programme which had been conducted for 11 years. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20.0 and also using descriptive analysis in the form of percentages and frequencies. The findings showed that 6 factors had a significant co-relational relationship (Truancy, Fights, Classroom safety, Workshop safety, Laboratory Safety and Fire Safety) and only two factors were not significant (Bullying and Co-curriculum activities safety). The R2 value was moderate at .482 which showed that the 48.2% change in school safety was due to the eight independent variables. This showed that there was a significant relationship between the social dimension and physical dimension. As such, the study findings showed that the safety practices were important in influencing the study environment at school especially for the students as they needed to feel safe from any disruption or risks of accident.

There has been an increase in the students? enrolment to the private schools across Malaysia. The shift in the parents? preference on the selection of secondary school has been predominantly attributed to the dissatisfaction with the current school education system. Subsequently, this study attempts to study the factors that affect parents? preferences in selecting the secondary school for their children. Four factors namely school characteristics, school environment, social influences and the parents-administration-teachers (PAT) relationship that are related to school choice were examined in this study. 203 representative elements were drawn using judgmental sampling technique and structural equation modelling(SEM) analysis was used to analyse the data collected. The findings showed that all factors significantly affect the parents? preferences in selecting the secondary school for their children. Comparatively, the effect of school environment on the parents?preferences was found slightly lower than social influences, school characteristics, and PAT relationship. This study accordingly puts forward several implications for both academics and practitioners alongside recommendations for future researchers

The concept of work behaviour and its constructs derived fromnumerous approaches and disciplines. However, in the making of these work behaviorconstructs, religion has oftenbeen sidelined. Islamic management scholars have came up with Islamic work behavior theories according to the Qur’an and hadiths, but there is hardly enoughempirical proof to support these theories. This paper aimedto determine the constructs of work behaviorfrom the Qur’anicperspectiveusing empirical method. The foundation of the constructs and items in the instrument are derived from the Qur’an and hadiths. A total of fifty-one items were extracted from versesof the Qur’an and hadiths. The content validity of the items were determined by consulting subject matter experts from the Faculty of Islamic Studies andPsychology, while factor analysis was used to analyse the reliability of the constructs. Data from respondentsof a public university in Malaysia was analysed using principal component factor analysis. Six sub-constructs were extracted from two main constructs which are al-Qawiy(Ability) and al-Amin(Trustworthiness). The two main constructs have an alpha coefficient of .95 and .94respectively. The al-Qawiyconstruct consists of three sub-constructs, which areProfessional, Competent and Sensitive withalpha coefficient valuesof .93, .90 and .85 respectively. As for the al-Aminconstruct, whichalso consists of three sub-constructs namely Integrity, Just and Principled, thealpha coefficient valuesare.88, .89 and .85 respectively. The outcome of this research proves that Islam integrates human nature and practical needs in a working surrounding across time. The output contributed to the literature of related research field such as the psychology of religion, organizational psychology and management, thus providing an alternative to assess Muslims’ work behaviors with more reliability.

This paper sets out to examine the effect of business diversification strategy on capital structure in Malaysia. The study segregates the firms into related and unrelated firms based on segmentation of Standard Industry Classification Code. It involes 76 public listed firms in Bursa Malaysia from 1994 to 2012. This research uses static panel data to determine the credible association between diversification strategy and choice of financing.The authors find that period fixed effect with seemingly unrelated regression produce better results to explain the relationship between independent and dependent variables. The results demonstrate that there is insignificant relationship between diversification strategy and capital structure. Robustness check on pre and post crisis data generate similar output. The potential contribution of this work lies in offering empirical evidence to test the previous held assumption that there is a significant relationship between corporate expansion and financing decision done by firms. Futureresearch should explore the possibility by using international firms to investigate the association between those variables

There are two major trends in household financial level in Malaysia. The financial size level of households has expanded since 2002 so as the composition of household assets now are more wide-ranging. A study is carried out to identify the dominant factors that influence the household consumptionexpenditure in Malaysia between year 1970 to 2014. This study uses household income (YH) and inflation (CPI) as its independent variables, while using household consumption expenditure(C) as its the dependent variable. This study employs econometric method, namely Ordinary least squares (OLS) or linear least squares to determine variables that are significant and accurate. The result of this research shows that all tested variables influence household consumption expenditurein Malaysia. The result also suggests that, household income has positive and significant relationship with household consumption expenditure. Meanwhile, consumer price index, which represents inflation rate, negatively influenceshousehold consumption expenditure. To emphasize, Multiple Linear Regression model is the best model to estimate household consumption spending pattern in Malaysia.

This study aimed to investigate the practice of transformational leadership among academic administrators of a faculty at one of the public universities in Malaysia. Further, this study measured the level of leadership outcomes namely extra effort, effectiveness, and satisfaction. This study used all its population in the faculty, which consists of 71 full-time academicians. The MLQ 5X-Short was utilized as an instrument used to obtain the data. Academicians perceived their academic administrators’ leadership style as transformational (M = 2.42, SD = .55). The most practiced leadership style was inspirational motivation (M=2.72, SD = .60), followed by idealized influence (behavior) (M = 2.60, SD = .63) and idealized influence (attributed) (M = 2.42, SD = .64). The least frequent types of leadership styles were individual consideration (M=2.05, SD = .65), and intellectual stimulation (M = 2.32, SD = .71). However, the findings of this study revealed that the mean scores of the academicians at the university were below the mean scores of the normative sample for all transformational subscales. The result described that academic administrators displayed transformational leadership styles less than the normative sample. The study also discovered that the mean scores of the academicians were below the mean scores of the normative sample for all the leadership outcomes factors: extra effort, effectiveness, and satisfaction.

The worsening obesity problem in Malaysia has urged various efforts from various parties to address them. The effective use of the nutrition labels is widely accepted and used as one of the efficient measures to address obesity. However, previous studies on the literacy of the nutrition label, especially among Malaysian consumers are still limited. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the differences in consumers’ literacy of the nutrition label by demographic factors, such as gender, age, education level, income level and ethnicity. This study adopted survey technique and employed a quantitative approach. The sample consisted of 200 respondents, which were selected using random cluster sampling. Data collected were analyzedusing Independent Sample T-Test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results showed that the literacy of the nutrition label varies significantlyby gender and ethnicity, but the difference was not significant by age, education level and income level. Specifically, the literacy of the nutrition label is higher among female and Malay. Although these findings provide useful information for designing education and motivation programs towards healthy eating habits among consumers and consequently reduce the obesity problem, this study is limited to a few factors that need for replication and improvements in other studies in the future.

Since a decade ago, the Malaysian educational system has undergone a tremendous transformation due to recent technologicaladvancement. To achieve the targets in the Malaysian Educational Blueprint, comprehensive usage of technology is crucial, not only in teaching and learning but also in management and administration. This study had been conducted using online administered questionnaires. About 80 secondary school teachers randomly selected in northern states of Malaysia, managed to complete all the questions in the questionnaires. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS and SmartPLS. It was found that organizational culture and technological acceptance influenced the 1BestariNet application but service quality did not. As such, this study had been conducted to fill in the gaps in previous research, especially in terms of the extent of the influence of service quality, organizational culture and technology acceptance on the 1BestariNet application. Future research directions were recommended at the end of the paper

Coaching classes have gained immense popularity in the metropolitan cities of India in recent times. There are classes catering to diverse needs in terms of different courses, varying timings and locations and course material requirements. The main purpose of this research paper is to identify how popular coaching classes are with the students pursuing commerce based courses in the city of Mumbai. With the help of a structured questionnaire circulated among a sample of students from Mumbai University, the paper aims at identifying the need and relevance of coaching classes and tries to understand the gaps in the education system. The study concludes that the need for coaching classes has much to do with disillusionment with college faculty and to a large extent to supplement the learning done at college. The paper recommends policy measures in this regard

Ethical crises in business have gained more attention from public and have led many to question the effectiveness of ethics education in university. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the ethical attitudes of accounting and business students, their willingness to become whistleblowers, and the impact of ethics education on students’ ethical attitude. A total of 275 usable questionnaires that consists of four ethical scenarios were analysed. The findings of the study showthat a small percentage of accounting and business students are willing to involvein unethical behaviour. About 10.9% of students were categorized as unethical as they would cheat in an examination and that only 1% of the students would accept bribesto defraudthe tax office. Once an element of risk of being caught was introduced, the percentage of students willing to cheat in an examinationand those willing to defraud the tax office decrease to 4.8% and 0.7% respectively. The finding also shows that once the penalty was introduced, the number of students who would act unethically decrease and the number of those who would act as whistle blowers increase. In general, the students are willing to become whistleblowers. The majority of accounting and business students who discovered fraud and decided not to participate are willing to report the case to relevant authorities. However, the findings indicate no significant relationship between ethics courses and ethical attitudes of students

This study aims to identify factors that affect the readiness of the university students to get involvedin entrepreneurship. This study was conducted at one of the public universitiesin Malaysia. 150 of final year students were involved in this survey study. The level of students’ readiness, their motivation level and attitude towards entrepreneurship were measured. The results of the analysis revealed that students had a moderate level of readiness to start a business. Their motivation level and attitude to become an entrepreneur also at the moderate level. The finding also showed a significant positive correlation between motivation level, attitude, and readiness to participate in entrepreneurship

The main objective of this study is to examine the relationship between dimensionality of teacher self-efficacy and organisational citizenship behaviour amongst teachers at government school, Malaysia. Teacher self-efficacy is comprised of personal teaching efficacy and general teaching efficacy. A research issue is highlighted and discussed in detail and thoroughly. A theoretical background for both construct: efficacy theory and organisational citizenship behaviour have been systematically and clearly discussed. Both constructs are also found to be significantly contributed to the school achievement positively. The conceptual framework is also developed based on past empirical arguments. Numerous contributions are pointed out and adequate justification is provided. Past studies revealed and confirmed the relationship between personal teaching efficacy and organisational citizenship behaviour as well as between general teaching efficacy and organisational citizenship behaviour. Hypothesis is formulated that used to achieve research objective.

Prior experience of entrepreneur can decrease the amount of uncertainty and it might give motivation or encourage them to bear uncertainty. Through education, it can help entrepreneurs to have a critical thinking and expose them to the new business potential or benefits in globalization era. So, it is important to understand prior work experience and education of entrepreneurs because it will affects the business performances. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of work experience and education towards business performance among entrepreneurs in Kelantan. Simple random sampling procedures, a total of 379 entrepreneurs were selected and participated in this survey. The data from structured questionnaire was analysed by regression analysis (stepwise) in this study. The finding shows that the work experience of entrepreneurs influenced more than entrepreneurs education towards business performances. Therefore, exposure on the real business experience in university and college should be included in entrepreneurship education courses curriculum to have more successful entrepreneurs.

Costing skills are among the critical skills that SME owner-managers should have for managing a successful enterprise. However, Malaysian SME owner-managers still lack costing skills. The current entrepreneurial training programme provided by the government and its agencies lacks a module on costing skills. Thus, this study is conducted to develop a costing skills course within the entrepreneurial training programme conducted bythe government. This study employs a practical action research (AR) approach. Practical AR training includes a cyclical process of planning, acting, observing and reflecting. Each stage of practical AR provides feedback for improvement of the next stage. At the acting stage of this research, feedback was collected and this is the focus of this paper. One interesting finding in this paper is the difference in acceptance between rural and urban entrepreneurs of the costing skills course

The paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the CPA Board Examination Review being administered by the Institute of Accountancy at Mary the Queen College of Pampanga, Inc. (MQCPI). The review program is part of the interventions being undertaken by the Institute to improve the performance of its graduates in the CPA licensure examination. In the assessment of the program, correlation analysis was utilized using linear regression. Several variables in connection with the review program were correlated with the actual CPA board examination ratings of the graduates of the Institute. The results suggest that the Institute should focus its resources on improving and/or strengthening the following areas: faculty selection process, physical facilities, basic courses in the BS in Accountancy program, library holdings and review materials. Amidst the stiff competition in private highereducation nowadays, academic institutions such as MQCPI must see to it that interventions undertaken to improve curricular programs must be cost effective. As such, the Program Theory framework becomes an effective tool in this endeavor.

Teaching profession is perceived as a female domain as it is dominated by female teachers. This study aims to explore why male student choose teacher education programme at higher education, and how social context influence the development of professional identity as future teacher particularly during teaching training. Data collected from focus group discussions with nine male student teachers during their teaching practise at three secondary schools in the state of Perak. Data were transcribed verbatim, and thematic analysis was used to identify the main themes on social influence and professional identity male student teachers tried to negotiate. Findings suggest that male student teachers motivated to embark in teacher education programme as a result of peer influence. During commencement in teacher education programme, majority of student teachers were influenced by group pressure in order to comply and conform with teaching profession. Results also showed that the majority of male student teachers perceived themselves as „parent and friend to school pupil

A well organize monetary policy depends on a stable demand for money. Therefore, the stability of the money demand function is a necessary condition for ensuring implementation and application of central bank’s monetary policy. The aim of this paper is to propose an investigation framework on the relationship between the money demand and the economic uncertainty. This study extends the Keynes’s money demand function by including the optimal economic uncertainty index that proposed by Gan (2014). The expected finding suggests that the optimal economic uncertainty fulfils its role as a useful uncertainty indicator for central bank’s monetary policy procedure, which may help to improve the knowledge concerning the demand for money and improve the correctness ofmoney demand theory. The expected finding also suggest that the optimal economic uncertainty index can serve as a predictive content for money demand, and therefore, the monetary targeting can serve as an important monetary policy strategy as the uncertainty inherent in the money demand can be identified by using the optimal economic uncertainty index.

The paper considers the changing nature of leadership roles in increasingly globalized social, educational, and professional environments and the corresponding need for leadership education development. Historically unprecedented multinational conditions in these spheres call for similarly unique conceptions of leadership and leadership studies. The competencies that will be most valuable to the future are adaptability, self-awareness, cultural consciousness, collaboration and network-based thinking. We are now in the digital era, where business and organizational networks reach across oceans. Educational changes necessary to develop the leaders of the future. Previous understandings assumed leadership resided in individual managers. However, singular, centralized power figures are less viable in the digital age, as cultural and social commonality between leaders and followers can no longer be safely assumed. The research of leading experts such as Daniel Goleman, Robert Greenleaf, and the GLOBE project, the theoretical approach of servant leadership, and the authors’ experiences as international instructors of leadership majors in China are used to propose new models for ongoing study. The paper suggests that going forward, the discipline of leadership studies’ focus will need to become increasingly collaborative, inclusive, and adaptable. Contemporary definitions of leadership must reflect greater awareness of international perspectives, as a variety of different goals, worldviews, and understandings of power structures are newly required to cohere around mutually satisfying common visions. The leaders of the future will be faced with a complex set of tasks and aims that calls for a decentralized, international approach to organizational structuring.

Nowadays, knowledge management has become an important element in the success of an organization including schools. In relation to that, this study was conducted to investigate the elements of knowledge management in Malaysian schools. Knowledge management in this study was measured by the elements vision and mission, strategy, organizational culture, intellectual capital, learning organization, leadership and management, teamwork and learning communities, sharing knowledge, knowledge creation and digital sophistication proposed by Sallis and Jones. This study was investigated the relationship between principals experience and age with the elements of knowledge management in the Malaysian schools based on teachers perceptions. A number of 132 teachers were selected as respondents from 3 schools which included primary and secondary schools. This study used a set of questionnaire to gain the teachers views on knowledge management. Data was analyzed descriptively. Overall, schools in Malaysia had shown high mean score for every element of knowledge management in this study and it can still be improved. All the elements have significant, weak relationships with the principals experiences, The elements of vision, mission and organization strategy showed significant relationships with principals age but the relationship was also weak.

Over the last decade or so, distributed leadership has gained increasing attention in education. It has been claimedthat distributed leadership, in its different patterns of distribution, have valued-added effects on school effectiveness, remains to be intuitively attractive, compelling and positive, and is endorsed by many as good practice. Its prominence is due to educational contexts that are increasingly getting complex insofar as the changes accompanying educational reforms are characterized by increasing intensity, rapidity, fluidity and uncertainty. Schools are now expected to deliver diverse curricular experiences towards a wider set of learning outcomes to satisfy broader school stakeholders’ needs. School leadership, which has traditionally been within the realm of the school principal and her management team (usually, department and level heads), is placed under great strain, especially that which pertains to maintaining practices to support teaching and learning. This most likely explains why over time practices on instructional leadership has been delegated, shared or distributed to teachers not in the management team. The close links between distributed and instructional leadership is therefore understandable –the result of which is the rise of teacher leadership. This paper presents a theoretical frame on collective learning for teacher leadership which cancut across different contexts within the school organization. The central argument is for teacher leadership to support collective learning for instruction. The conclusion highlights four research gaps pertaining to this central argument.

This aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of mobile shopping aid using mobile devices through augmented reality. Against the background of emerging trends in mobile shopping, the researchers offer a mobile shopping aid or tool developed on the web, technology that is heightened with a novel setting, namely the augmented reality technology. Essentially, augmented reality is a computing environment in which the real world (as experienced through the camera of a mobile phone in real time) is superposed with a synthetic user interface. To elicit opinions and feedback from potential users, a survey involving 60 students (20 boys and 40 girls) were recruited to collect data pertaining to three important measures, namelyease of use, perceived benefit, and user satisfaction. The data gathered were analysed, and the findings indicated that these three elements were significant in making online shopping more effective. Thus, these findings emphasize that these three factors have to be carefully factored in the design of such a novel mobile tool to help ensure shoppers become highly engaged and satisfied in online shopping.

This paper explores the development of professional identity amongst students during their commencement in teacher education programme. Particularly, it examines the process of adaption that take place during teaching practice or practicum at school whereby student teachers negotiate teacher identities they assume as they engage in their work with practising teachers and pupils. Lave and Wengers work on apprenticeship to communities of practice (CoP) is used to examine the effect of teaching practice on the development of professional identity. Group interviews were used to explore student teachers experiences at school. All interviews were recorded, transcribed and coded line-by-line. Thematic analysis was used to identify the patterns of meaning across datasets to provide answers to research purpose being addressed. Results showed that pupils constitute an important part of the teacher education students community of practice as well as socialisation agent that influence their professional identity development.

Drawing on Means-End Chain (MEC) theory, service information is retained and evaluated in the customers’ cognitive at three levels of abstraction namely, Service Personal Values (the highest level); Service Value; and Service Quality (the lowest level). Although the lowest levels have been extensively investigated particularly through SERVQUAL model, there is a clear research gap at the highest level of abstraction. The limitation of investigating the highest level of abstraction is due to its individuality and complexity in comparison to the other levels. In 2005, Lages and Fernandes have developed the SERPVAL scale to measure the customers’ cognitive based on their individual values in telecommunication service experience. However, the scale still needed further validation in other types of services including higher education to establish its generalizability. Thus, the main objective of this research is to validate the SERPVAL scale in higher education context. In this research, the postgraduate international students (PIS) at Malaysian research universities were selected as sample elements. The data was gathered through online survey. The online questionnaire was sent to PIS emails following the proportionate stratified sampling technique. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) measurement model using AMOS 18.0 was performed to validate the SERPVAL scale. The findings reveals that SERPVAL scale achieved unidimensionality, validity and reliability which presented by the Cronbach Alpha>0.70; Construct Reliability (CR)>0.60; Average Variance Extracted (AVE)>0.50 and the fitness indexes have achieved the required levels. This research concluded that SERPVAL is an accurate scale to measure personal values in higher education context. The theoretical and managerial implications as well as the directions for future research are also discussed.

The main purpose of this study is to explore students’ expenditure behavior and their effectiveness in managing their budget. The respondents are comprised of local university students from Business and Economics disciplines, whom are considered as economically and financially literates.1In order to meet the objectives, three analyses; the income, expenditure and saving analyses, are carried out. The effectiveness of budget management is identified through the saving level. All analyses employ descriptive tests. The results of the first analysis recorded an average income worth RM889.66, while the spending level is RM1077.12per month. The difference between the average income and spending level is -RM187.46. This difference is the value of the saving level. The finding provides indication that the university students have inclination to overspend. We these findings we may conclude, in terms of behavior, students have high inclination to spend more than their level of income, and this type of behavior implies university students’ financial management is ineffective.

Since performance of lecturers is the key contributor of academic excellence, universities need to empower their human capital to be competitive and subsequently achieve world-class status. Unfortunately, efforts to conduct research on measuring the performance of higher education institutions face a major setback compared to other industries due to its complex nature and difficulty in measuring its outputs. Furthermore, a review of literature indicates that research conducted in the education environment mainly focuses on organizational performance rather than work performance. This study fills the gap by providing a research framework focusing on the Theory of Work Performance. The interaction between performance measurement system and competency on the work performance of lecturers at the individual level was investigated through the analysis of data gathered from 368 academic staff from five Malaysian research universities. The findings indicate that 1) performance measurement system (PMS) is positively associated with lecturers’ performance; 2) competency is positively associated with lecturers’ performance; 3) competency partially mediates the relationship between performance measurement system and lecturers’ performance.

The focal point of this study is to examine the robustness of theexport-led growth hypothesis in Malaysia after the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997/1998. This study adopts the Vector Error Correction Mechanism (VECM) to differentiate between short run and long run causal effects in examining the led growth determinants.By using the standard time series procedures, the result propose for the bi-directional and/or uni-directional causality between exports and economic growth, both in the short-run and long-run. Moreover, this study found the evidence for the strong case of Export Led Growth Hypothesis (ELGH) in Malaysia in post crisis regime by employ the test procedure proposes by Darrat (2002). Hence, we conclude for the robustness cases of ELGH in post-crisis exchange rate regime in Malaysia, issuccessfully documented.

This study is experimental in nature, conducted to investigate the effectiveness of The Mastery Learning Strategy towards students academic performance, achievement and competency development. The main objective of this study is to compare the effectiveness of Mastery Learning Strategy against the traditional learning strategy. The effect of these strategies on students achievement is measured through their score marks on a test set and their development in competencies such as problem solving, communication, leadership and team work. The study is quasi experimental involving a total number of 68 students. The duration of the study was eight weeks. The data collected were in the form of responses through questionnaires and performance test. Data were analyzed using t-test and ANCOVA The results of the study shows that the students academic performance and competency achievement of mastery learning strategy group is significantly higher compared to that of the traditional learning strategy group. Over all, most of the students in the mastery learning strategy group have a positive perception towards the implementation of the mastery learning strategy. The implications of the study suggests that mastery learning strategy should be used as one of the instructional strategies in accounting education in order to increase students academic performance and competency development

This study was designed to examine the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership styles and their influence on teachers’ commitment from the perspective of teachers in selected public primary schools reform. This study sought to examine the degree to which these leadership styles managed to influence levels of teacher commitment. The researcher surveyed 285 teachers from four primary schools to study the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership and commitment using the multifactor leadership questionnaire (Bass & Avolio, 2004) and the three-component model of employee commitment survey (Meyer & Allen, 1997). The findings indicated that transformational leadership had a significant influence on teachers’ commitment, whereas no significant influence on teachers’ commitment was found as a result of transactional leadership

The paper aimed on whether young inmates in Malaysia should be given more empowermentingainingeducationalopportunitiesthroughlifelonglearningprogramsduringtheir imprisonmentperiodinthedetentioncentres.ThecurrentstudyadoptsaqualitativemethodologyapproachinvolvinginterviewswiththeofficialsoftheMalaysiaPrisonsDepartment.Thoughts andviewsoftherespondentsonhowtheyperceiveregardingtheeducationalempowermentof theinstitutionalisedchildrenandyoungpeoplethroughlifelonglearningprogramsarediscussed. The findings can be demonstrated as follows: a) the government through its various related departments plays a major role in fulfilling the responsibility to provide more educational opportunitiesthroughlifelonglearningprogramsfortheinstitutionalisedchildrenandyoung peopleinMalaysia;andb)theeducationalempowermentforthe·institutionalizedchildrenand youngpeoplethroughlifelonglearningprogramsisvitalasitwouldenablethemtobebetter personsafterrelease.ItisanticipatedthatthebeliefsoftheprisonsofficialstowardsthetopicsignifytherationaleandvaluesonwhethertheinstitutionalisedchildrenandyoungpeopleinMalaysiawould be more empowered through lifelong learning programs during their imprisonment

Motivated employees are the substantial assets of any organization. Newly appointed employees’ behavior set the tune of an organization’s future. So their motivation is an important point to concentrate on for firms’ decision maker. This study is a new dimension of the research of Malik et al. (2011), in which newly appointed sales personnel preferences revealed about non-monetary incentive (NMI) as a motivational tool. In this study, the importance of factors of non-monetary benefits like security, social NMI, tangible NMI, relations with peers their effects on motivation of newly appointed sale force of the soft drink industry of Karachi, Pakistan. The findings suggested that, most preferred NMI (ranking wise) for newly appointed sales personnel is tangible non-monetary incentives, job related, non-monetary incentives, security, relations with peers and social non-monetary incentives. One interesting finding of the study is consistent with Malik et al. (2011) that newly appointed sales personnel also prefer the monetary benefits to non-monetary benefits.

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings on whether job satisfaction which is pay, promotion, the job itself supervision, demographical factors which age and tenure, have any relationship with turnover intention among medical employees of National Heart institute Kuala Lumpur (IJN). Quantitative data were collected via a questionnaire distributed amongst the medical employees of IJN. A total of 210 medical employees of IJN completed the questionnaire. Respondents were selected through systematic sampling as the sample of study. The result shows that pay, supervision, promotion, and the job itself were significantly related to turnover intention while the demographical factors namely age and tenure were not significantly related. The research also found that the most dominant factor influencing the turnover intention among IJN’s medical employees was pay.

This study examines factors stimulating women to choose entrepreneurship as their career. The main hypotheses are personality and cultural factor directly related to intention in choosing entrepreneurship as a career. Respondents consist of 170 women entrepreneurs in the district of Kinta, Perak. A structured 47 item questionnaire is used to collect data. This study uses a quantitative method such as correlation analysis and multiple regressions to analyze the variables. The results show that women entrepreneurs’ career choice of entrepreneurship is significantly influenced by cultural factor rather than personality factor. This finding if this study can be used by various parties including private entities, department of service management, Human Resources Management Division, Ministry of Human Resources and other Government agencies.

Challenges are seen as a sign that building learning organizationrequires a consistent effort and one has to be committed enough to make sure that everything is working right. There is no simple way to buildalearning organization. Each organization must develop a structure and style that is best suited for its own people, history, skill base, technology, mission and culture. The objective of this paper was to highlight the study of the challenges in building a learning organization that has been conducted in selected Malaysian organizations. Three organizations were selected for this study. The nature of the organizations varies based on their own functions. The study was conducted by means of qualitative research methodology. This means that the focus was to understand an event and its interaction within the natural context in order to determine what and how the challenges faced by the selected organizations inabuilding learning organization. The study found that the challenge faced by the selected organizations inabuilding oflearning organizations are varied and indicates some evolving elements. It was observed that the elements of challenges are interpreted based on the organization’s own identity. It can be concluded that the study had identified the elements of challenges in buildingalearning organization. It also provides some guidelines to enable the organizations’concern to develop intoafull-fledge learning organization. The study implies that each organization has different challenges in building to be a learning organization. Therefore, it is necessary to develop ways of identifying challenges whilebuilding learning organizations.

This paper aims to evaluate the financial performance of the property-related companies in Malaysia using a fuzzy logic approach and provide information of the companies to help investors in a share-investing decision. In this research,the companies in the real estate or property industry are prioritized based on their financial performance using a fuzzy logic approach. The algorithm for the proposed evaluation model consists of three steps: choosing the industries in Bursa Malaysia, choosing the right criteria to select and rank the company’s stock and rank the companies. Finally, the indexes obtained are used to rank the companies. An algorithm is developed and demonstrated in a case study of data on the property industry taken from Bursa Malaysia in 2009. Findings of the research are discussed and future research is recommended.

This article aimsto studythe concept of emotional needs among primary schools leaders in Malaysia. This study involved 485 primary school leaders in the northern states like Kedah, Perlis,Perak and Penang. The emotional competency inventory (ECI-2)was usedtomeasurefour emotional competencies i.e. self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and business relations. TheMultifactorLeadership Questionnaire was used to measure transformational leadership in terms of exploring motivation, encouraging intellectual and considering individual. The data collected were sorted and keyed in for analysis to examine the relationship between transformational leadership and emotional competencies. This article drew the line between the strengths and weaknesses found among schools leadership in their efforts to increase the transformational leadership. The test and data analysis showed that there were four emotional competencies significantly correlated with transformational leadership, yet self-awareness and relationship management was the important key of emotional competencies in elevating the level of transformational leadership among primary school teachersin Malaysia.

This paper presents a study on the relationship between quality management practices and organizational performance, while exploring the influence of sustainable product development in the Malaysian automotive industry context. The demand for high quality is emerging as the single most critical factor for organizations to survive in the ever-expanding global marketplace, where quality is vital in determining the economic success of manufacturing firms. Furthermore, organizations that minimize the negative environmental impact of their product, process recycling of post-customer waste, and establish environmental management system, are poised to expand their market or displace competitors that fail to promote strong environmental performance. A number of empirical studies had also concluded that adopting environmental management does bring certain advantages for the business. However, in the Malaysian automotive industry context, there is still lack of researchers that seek to determine the relationship of quality management practices, sustainable product development, and organizational performance. Even though the relationship between quality management practices and organizational performance has been widely discussed, there still exists potential empirical study on sustainable product development. This paper describes the relationship of sustainable product development as a moderator that influences the relationship between quality management practices and organizational performance. The outcome of this research effort may offer more viable solutions for those firms in the automotive industry to enhance organizational performance in terms of overcoming global competition.

The transition into the working world is a major life change for many college or university students, during which they face the complex demands of economy, a challenging, highly competitive job market, as well as increasingly diverse population and work force. In light of the changing nature of work, it is important to understand the career choice and exploration and how they relate to the multidimensional conceptualization of careers in the 21stcentury. This paper analysed the influences of various factors on the career choice of final year business students in Polytechnic Ungku Omar (PUO), Ipoh, Perak. This paper also examined the importance of family/individual and non-family/external influence, career goal and success and role of values in making career choices among these students. From the data analysis, it appeared that family and non-family factors do have significant influence onthe students’ decisions of their choice of career. Another factor which was also an important determinant that influenced career “choice” of students was the cultural dimension of individualism-collectivism. However data analysis conducted revealed that students regarded both individualism and collectivism as equally important factors in determining their career choices.

The study attempts to explain the occupational safety and health management system that has been practices in a few southern countries and also to analyze a case study of Japan’s management system in preventing industrial accidents. The discussion presents the issues of the industrial accidents phenomenon in the local and global degree. It is revealed that the industrial accidents phenomenon has been a serious phenomenon in Malaysia due to organizational factors or the factor of the individual behavior. The study also discovers that the effectiveness of Japan’s management practice in handling industrial accidents phenomenon through its “working culture” as based on Kaizen concept of attitude has successfully led the countries to their peak in the world. Thus, this study is significant not only to highlight the seriousness of the industrial accidents in Malaysia and other southern countries, but also to help lessen employees’ burden and trauma by practicing a more systematic safety management in International Labor Organization (ILO), as well as by upholding Japan to be the role model in the implementation of industrial safety programs, specially occupational safety and health management system (OHMS) programs.

People in an organization are critical to direct, but healthy organization is very important to improve productivity, quality, and performance. A scholar claimed that to find out how to improve productivity, quality, and performance, one should involve the people who do the work.This study focus on leadership with the aims of exploring the roles of education institution all eader in creating a healthy organization for quality achievement. It emphasizes the necessary roles of successful leader in organization through implementations of major component which suggested as necessary and responsible for achieving a healthy organization. The literatures on leadership were consulted for proper justification. This study based its findings on former researchers factors that responsible for healthy organization andcreatea modelfor clear procedure in creating a healthy organization. Similarly, this study employed descriptive statistical method with Factor Analysis describe the results of the findings. Nevertheless, thefindings from this study were useful for administrators as well as other staff for a healthy organization achievement.

The objective of this study is to reveal the direct influence of self-efficacy, emotional intelligence, innovativeness and organizational commitment on the performance of the echelon iii employees of the Regional Government of Palembang Municipality. This study employs a survey method and the data are analyzed using path analysis, the number of respondents is 148 samples who are selected by means of random sampling. The result of the study reveals the following findings: (1) There is direct influence of self-efficacy on the organizational commitment; (2) There is direct influence of emotional intelligence on the organizational commitment; (3) There is direct influence of innovativeness on the organizational commitment; (4) There is direct influence on the organizational commitment on the performance. The result of this study also concludes that the influence of self-efficacy, emotional intelligence, innovativeness and organizational commitment on the performance of the echelon iii employees of the Regional Government of Palembang Municipality is an important factor in improving performance.

This study analyses the relationship between principals’ transformational leadership practices and teachers’ motivation in context of Islamic private schools in Songkhla, a southern province of Thailand. Based on survey, the statistical data indicate that teachers’ motivation is significantly related to principals’ transformational leadership practices as perceived by teachers. The study found that although teachers perceive that their principals exhibited transformational leadership more frequently than transactional leadership, the principles are viewed to display more idealized influence and inspirational motivation rather than individual consideration and intellectual stimulation practices. To strengthen the teachers’ motivation in schools, they should exhibit the individual consideration and intellectual stimulation practices more frequently.

Nowadays, customer relationship management is an important marketing strategy to retain the customer. Many literatures proved that by maintaining a good relationship with the customers, they will come back to our premise for give more businesses. This empirical paper investigates the antecedent factors of customer relationship management performance and its impact on electronic banking adoption. This background scales were developed from extensive reviews of literature and focus group analyses. This is subjected to a thorough validation process from a valid sample of 325 electronic banking customers in Malaysia via exploratory factor analysis, reliability test, data normalization, and mahalanobis for outliers detect. A total of 74 original items were tested in this preliminary analysis. The results indicate 39 constructs measuring social values, ease of use, delivery performance, economic value, usefulness, privacy, customer relationship management performance and electronic banking adoption satisfied the rigorous validation process of construct validity and reliability. This paper ends with the completed original hypothesized model ready for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). However, all construct for online security were unidentified and dropped out from the list. Structural equation modeling was used since it has the ability to examine a series of dependence relationships simultaneously.

Most researchers explored the usage of corporate annual report by creditors, investors and financial analysts. This preliminary study explores the perception by Malaysian students. Therefore, the studypresents a way in which external users view the annual report for the purpose of teaching and learning implementation. The study focused on the perceived importance, ability to read, difficulty in understanding, relevance, reliability and usefulness for each various section of Corporate Annual Reportamong the students. Our research samples consisted of 185 business students were required to answer a set of questionnaire. Data was analysed by using descriptive, cross tabulation and correlation test. Theresearchers also gathered information about the time spent and frequency in reading, purpose of using corporate annual report and the basic learning to read and understand corporate annual report. Theresults explained the usefulness of corporate annual report as indicated by the students in teaching andlearning process.

In the globalization era, Malaysian automotive industryis facing greater challenges due to the general quest for high quality, the local and international requirement and regulation and the increasing competition between local carand foreign car manufactures. Therefore, to increase the competitiveness, companies must implement and maintain quality initiatives such as Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in order to compete between local, regional, and global market. The Balanced scorecard strategy helps managers to manage strategic plan, monitor and control the performance result, encourages effective communication and discussion, provides reward based system, and feedback with quick action approach that align with organization goal. Managers need to focus on both, not only for multiple performance measurement, but also Strategic Control Systems (SCS) to achieve organizational goals. This research reviews the SCS literature and proposed four con-structs with the underlying items of clarifying and translating vision and strategy, communicating and linking, planning and target setting and strategic feedback. Data were obtained from 252 top management of Malaysian automotive industry. This paper presents finding of Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and reliability analysis empirically verified and validated. The results indicate that four SCS constructs are acceptable for further analysis. The paper with a proposed future direction ends of this research.

ThisstudywasundertakentoexploretheinclinationtowardsentrepreneurshipamongUniversity PendidikanSultanIdrisstudents.Thepopulation forthestudywasUPSIsfinalyearstudents fromfacultyofmanagementandeconomics.Theentrepreneurshipcoursewasintroducedasacore subject in the areas of business program. This course was made compulsory for all business undergraduates students. The total samples in this study was 181. In this study it was discovered that there were two aspects of demographics i.e. qualification andprogrammes of study that showed a relationship and had a positive significant on inclination towards entrepreneurship. The study also showed a strong significant relationship between family background and entrepreneurial inclination. It was suggested thatto attract more students involveinentrepreneurship,UPSIshoulddesignentrepreneurialcurriculumandcontent,provide trainingprogramsforfacultymembers,establishtheclubofentrepreneurshipintheuniversityand establishstudentone-stopbusinessadviceandguidancecenters.Itcouldbeconcludedthatthe roleofuniversitiesinpromotingentrepreneurship,entrepreneurialcurriculumandcontentand rolemodelshadsignificantimpactontheinclinationofthestudentstowardsentrepreneurship. Therolemodelsuchasfriendsandlecturerswerethemainfactorwhichinfluencedstudentson inclinationtowardsentrepreneurship.Onthepartoftheuniversitiesinpromotingentrepreneurship, itshowedthatthemajorityofthestudentssupportedtheentrepreneurshipandbusinesseducational programmesincampus.Whileonthepartoftheentrepreneurialcurriculumandcontent, the course could develop entrepreneurial knowledge andskills

ThisstudywasundertakentoexploretheinclinationtowardsentrepreneurshipamongUniversity PendidikanSultanIdrisstudents.Thepopulation forthestudywasUPSIsfinalyearstudents fromfacultyofmanagementandeconomics.Theentrepreneurshipcoursewasintroducedasacore subject in the areas of business program. This course was made compulsory for all business undergraduates students. The total samples in this study was 181. In this study it was discovered that there were two aspects of demographics i.e. qualification andprogrammes of study that showed a relationship and had a positive significant on inclination towards entrepreneurship. The study also showed a strong significant relationship between family background and entrepreneurial inclination. It was suggested thatto attract more students involveinentrepreneurship,UPSIshoulddesignentrepreneurialcurriculumandcontent,provide trainingprogramsforfacultymembers,establishtheclubofentrepreneurshipintheuniversityand establishstudentone-stopbusinessadviceandguidancecenters.Itcouldbeconcludedthatthe roleofuniversitiesinpromotingentrepreneurship,entrepreneurialcurriculumandcontentand rolemodelshadsignificantimpactontheinclinationofthestudentstowardsentrepreneurship. Therolemodelsuchasfriendsandlecturerswerethemainfactorwhichinfluencedstudentson inclinationtowardsentrepreneurship.Onthepartoftheuniversitiesinpromotingentrepreneurship, itshowedthatthemajorityofthestudentssupportedtheentrepreneurshipandbusinesseducational programmesincampus.Whileonthepartoftheentrepreneurialcurriculumandcontent, the course could develop entrepreneurial knowledge andskills

This study examined the relationship between work overload and job involvement within two dimensions of work-family conflict [ work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW). The sample comprised of 391 local doctors working full-time in nineteen public hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia. Statistical results using regression analysis indicated that work overload was positively related to both work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW). On the otherhand,job involvement was found to have no significant impact on the two forms of work-family conflict. Implications of the results,limitations, and future research directions are also presented.

The objective of this paper is to determine the most accurate Value-at-Risk (VaR) model as market risk measure for the non-financial sectors in Malaysia. Using Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) plus selected volatility models for seven sectors, the expected maximum losses are determined at 95% level of confidence. To complement the risk measure, several accuracy tests namely Kupiec, Christoffersen and Lopez tests were applied in later stage. Final results proved that by allowing abnormalities (such as fat tails or asymmetries), the estimation for market risk in the Malaysian market will certainly improve the reliability of the risk forecast.

The objective of this paper is to determine the most accurate Value-at-Risk (VaR) model as market risk measure for the non-financial sectors in Malaysia. Using Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) plus selected volatility models for seven sectors, the expected maximum losses are determined at 95% level of confidence. To complement the risk measure, several accuracy tests namely Kupiec, Christoffersen and Lopez tests were applied in later stage. Final results proved that by allowing abnormalities (such as fat tails or asymmetries), the estimation for market risk in the Malaysian market will certainly improve the reliability of the risk forecast.

The purpose of the study was to quantify the effect of emotional intelligence and occupational stress on personal outcomes. The survey method was employed to gather self-report questionnaires from academic employees in Malaysian private higher learning sector in Borneo Island.Outcomes of hierarchical regression analysis showed three important findings:firstly, the levels of physiological and psychological stresses cannot increase job satisfaction when employees have not adequate competencies to manage their emotions in executing job. Secondly, the level of physiological stresscan increase job performance when employees have adequate competencies to manage their emotions in executing job. Thirdly, the level of psychological stress cannot increase job performance whenemployees have not adequate competencies to manage the emotions in executing job. This result demonstrates that emotional intelligence does act as a partial moderating variable in the relationshipbetween occupational stress and personal outcomes in the studied organizations. Further, discussion, implications and conclusion are elaborated.

Over the last several decades, globalization and internationalization have changed the landscape and method of acquiring and sharing the knowledge at the higher education level worldwide. Along with this, international activities of most universities have expanded in volume, scope and complexity. In many ways the Malaysian higher education system particularly private higher education mirrors the global higher education system. Manystudies were conducted at various levels (institutional, national and international) in order to cultivate a reliable framework for Malaysian higher education especially the university education system to realign their structure and mission towards international standards. In thecontext of the Malaysian private higher education sector, the private universities role is considered vital in adapting to internationalization policies and strategies. This study addresses the concern whether Malaysian Private Universities (MPUs) have internationalized as much as they have declared throughtheir international strategic intents or mission statements. In addressing the above issue, cluster analysis was adapted as to explore MPU’s status on the internationalization continuum. This research provides a better understanding on the performance of the Malaysian private universities that embrace internationalization.

This study attempts to validate technology acceptance model (TAM) factors for measuring e-filling taxpayers’ acceptance particularly in Malaysia. Data are collected from 100 taxpayers in three higher learning institutions in Labuan FT. Factor analysis is employed in this study to measure and validate TAM factors ( attitude, behavior intention, information quality, information system quality, perceived credibility, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness) which contribute to e-filing acceptance by Malaysian taxpayers. The finding of this study verifies that tam instrument is still valid in measuring the acceptance of e-filing among taxpayers. We found that most of the factor loading for eachitem above 0.7, which support the TAM model previously adapted by Chang et, al., (2005). The implication of this study suggests that Inland Revenue Board can confidently apply the instrument in measuring e-filing acceptance among taxpayers.

Many researchers have conducted studies exploring teaching practices used by accounting educators. However, a limited number of empirical studies have been conducted in Libya. This study which attempted to increase knowledge in such area in Libya had two objectives. The first one aimed to identify the teaching methods that Libyan accounting educators practiced in their use of teaching methods. To achieve this, questionnaires were administered to collect quantitative data of teaching practices at Aljabel Algarby University (AAU), and then analyses were conducted. Findings revealed that respondents reported a high level application of teacher-centered methods than learner-centered methods, by ranking lecture and in-class discussions as the most dominant teaching methods in their classrooms, only four of the 11 teaching methods showed significant relationship with gender, rank and experience; internet, power-point slides, and overhead projector showed significant association with gender, and computer simulations method was significantlyassociated with Rank and experience. This study helps reads better understand the teaching effectiveness in the Libyan context and provides data for future comparative studies regarding in teaching strategies in accounting.

Unemployment and dissatisfaction among employers are issues that need to be tackled order to align courses and academic programmes in public higher learning institutions (PHLIs). Curriculum, academics, publications, researches, facilities, administrations and students input are some of the factors at PHLIs that influence students learning. Students will understand the importance of evaluating their knowledge, skills and attributes better when they have been in the working environment. Effective educators must possess professional skills and attributes that will be examples to students, colleagues and members of their community. Business graduates in education are expected to understand and able to disseminate the theories and practices in the business world. Therefore, this research aims to: assess the importance of skills and attributes deem important in the field of business education as ranked by the teachers themselves: assess the development the skills and attributes among the teachers; and look at differences in the development level of the skills and attributes base on demographic factors. Statistical tests such as mean scores and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to answer the research questions involved.

The research was carried out in January 2009. The study was to identify the important elements in the effectiveness of the internal auditors of primary and secondary schools in Perak. Factors were examined for the effectiveness of school internal auditor.They were experience,knowledge and skill,management support and organization setting. There are 100 respondents responded to the questionnaires. They were amongst the internal school auditors in Perak. A pre-test was carried out for the study. This study used frequencies,Pearson correlation and multiple regressions. It was found out that there were two main important factors that contributed to the effectiveness of the school internal auditors. They were such as management support and organization setting. This study proposed that in order to increase the effectiveness of the school internal auditors, the teacher’s work load should be reduced and the teachers must be continually encouraged to attend seminar and courses in auditing.

Sourcing has become quite a popular topic in both research and practise of modern business management. It brings a revolutionary philosophy and approach todays management because of technology, globalization and the never ending pursuance of competitive advantage. However, present performance measurement instruments have nor been able to provide the necessary support in strategic decisions and performance improvement. This paper attempts to propose and test an innovative performance measurement by introducing new parameters on the existing financial and non-financial performance measurements specifically in the development of strategic sourcing management. Basically the research is based on the Industrial Organization (I0) Theory, the Transaction Cost Theory and the Resource Based View (RBV). Meanwhile, Questionnaires were sent via mail survey to 1300 firms and 314 of them responded. In sum the findings suggest that the use of the proposed measurement instruments reflect better performance of the organizations in this sourcing study (make or buy).

In this study the credit card holders (respondents) were divided intotwo groups, the obedient (O) and the disobedient (DO) groups. Obedient payers were those who had their entire credit card balance every month and those who madetheir monthly payment on time, while disobedient payers were those who made monthly payment not on time and those regularly carry unpaid credit card debt. Using the cross-tab analyses and inferences, this paper attempts to identify the basic characteristics associated with each group of card payers. The characteristics focused on two main factors;the demographic factors and the income factor.The demographic factors were comprised of the holders’race, age, gender, marital status and education level.The findings of the study indicated that, significant results were documented in the income, age, and status factors. From the income analysis,those who earned between RM1001-4000 had a higher tendency to make payment on time (Obedient) compared tothose fromother income categories. Other than income factor,the age factor alsowas identified as having a significant association with the credit card payment behaviour.In particular,card holders aged 45 years and belowhad a higher tendency to make payment on time (Obedient) than the other age categories. Apart of the findings, the respondents payment behavior was detected to also have a significant association with the marital status factor. The resultobtained gave anindication that, card holders under divorced status had a higher tendency to be in the Obedientgroup than those who were single and married. Based on these findings we concluded, in order in ensure payment received on timely basis from the card debtors,institutions that issue credit cards should give priority to those who are 45 years obelow,earning between RM1001-RMI4000 per month, and were married or with divorced status.

The paper will analyse the data from interviews with the officials of the Malaysian establishments to show their attitudes in relation to the concept of rehabilitation applied to the child and young offenders. Thoughts and beliefs of the respondents regarding the importance of education and its role in rehabilitating the child and young offenders in the institutions are discussed. The paper will assess whether the attitudes of the officials towards understanding the importance of education influences the rehabilitation process for the child and young offenders inthe institutions. In conclusion, the findings suggest that the officials believe education is the key underlying concept that would ensure the effective rehabilitation process for the child and young offenders in Malaysia.

The current research explores the job and life attitudes among New Zealand managers. The author provides a model of stressor, strain and job satisfaction and put forward a research question. The relationship between stressors, strain and satisfaction appear to respond to a significant gap in the literature. This research has amassed one of the largest datasets on managers’ health and wellbeing in Australia. A pilot study was conducted as part of a larger questionnaire survey of self-reported 1041 participants. This study was conducted using different modes of the survey that tapped into mode preferences among the participants. A sequence of regression analysis and descriptive test produced some interesting results. This implications of the findingswere discussed.

The purpose of this study is to see how far entrepreneurial profiles among native students in urban and rural secondary schools. Besides that, this study also aims to observe whether they are any relationships in determining entrepreneurial profiles based on gender, school location, family background, residential area and field of studies. A total of 200 samples were chosen from eight secondary schools from urban and rural area in the district of Hilir Perak, Perak, Malaysia. A set of questionnaires containing 100 items was formulated to determine entrepreneurial profiles among native students from urban and rural secondary schools. Entrepreneurial profiles of native students were assessed using 13 competencies namely, (i) Initiative (ii) Looking and seeking for opportunities (iii) Tenacity (iv) Search for information (v) Emphasis on high achievement (vi) Committed towards work contract (vii) Orientation of proficiency (viii)To make systematic planning (ix) Ability of solving problem (x) Self confidency (xi) Certainty (xii) Able to convince others and (xiii) Able to use influencial strategy. In the study, two types of statitics were used namely descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistical analysis showed that native students possessed entrepreneurial profiles at the moderate level. This is proven where the mean scores were 3 for all competences. Therefore more effort to raise entrepreneurial profiles among natives students in secondary students should be done through curriculum and co-curiculum activities. T-test analysis was used to determine the difference in entrepreneurial profiles based on the variables. The findings showed there were no significant relationships among gender, school location, family background, residential area and field of studies in deteremining entrepreneurial profiles among native students in urban and rural secondary schools.

The world recession or world financial crisis in 2008 was primarily triggered by housing credit crisis (subprime-mortgage) in the United States of America. Financial crisis in the United States has resulted in the collapse of large financial institutions in the United States, Europe and Japan. Clogged credit as huge as US$ 1.8 quintillion predicted to cause potential loss of more than US$ 300 billion, according to monetary experts it could be more than US$ 1 trillion. Clogged credit led to credit crunch that had great impact on real sector. Financial institutions become illiquid, Federal reserve rate was on a high constantly, weak demand, decrease production, oil price attack on the flank until United States economy suffered stagnation. This financial crisiswas a serious condition hit by high world oil price, raised commodity prices and falling consumption, high Fed rate, fall in production, soaring inflation, rising unemployment rising, fall of stock price, negative growth economy, until United States economy experience stagflation. The global recession hit Asia hard on its economy mainly manufacturing, which depended on industrialize economies for their market. The export potential Asia to United States is as big as 63%, until economy stagnation of United States caused significant decline in Asia economy. Fortunately, Asian countries have strong domestic demand (largely populated as China, India and Indonesia) managed to drive the economy towards positive growth in 2008 (China 10.8%, India 8%, Indonesia 6.2%) although the growth percentage of the world economy was below zero

In this present century, it is likely that school administration will continue to grow by interfacing with new and important domains such as planning and implementing appropriate program, developing goals, policies, and materials necessary to support the administration inorder to achieve school excellence. It is agreed that school excellence is being achieved due to explicit strategy and committed administration. Surveying the practice of strategic planning for school excellence is a research that attempts to understand the concepts of strategic planning. It provides a process model for school managers to integrate into school development plans. This enhances the school manager’s efforts in combining goals, policies and other administrative activities into an action plan. The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent of strategic planning practices in schools. This research is quantitative in nature that employed Factor analysis in explaining five strategic planning factors for school excellence. Thus, findings from 81respondents planning-team of sub business unit of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM); International Islamic School (IIS) Malaysia would be of benefit to school managers, stakeholders and as well as customers for school excellence.

This study was conducted to examine the mediating effect of distributive justice in the relationship between pay level, distributive justice and job satisfaction using 120 usable questionnaires gathered from academic staff in a public higher institution in East Malaysia, Malaysia. The results of exploratory factor analysis confirmed that the measurement scales used in this study satisfactorily met the acceptable standards of validity and reliability analyses. Next, the outcomes of stepwise regression analysis showed that the relationship between pay level and distributive justice positively and significantly correlated with job satisfaction. Further, this result confirms that distributive justice does act as a full mediating variable in the pay level model of the organizational sample . In addition, discussion, implications and conclusion are elaborated in this paper

This study was conducted to examine the mediating effect of distributive justice in the relationship between pay level, distributive justice and job satisfaction using 120 usable questionnaires gathered from academic staff in a public higher institution in East Malaysia, Malaysia. The results of exploratory factor analysis confirmed that the measurement scales used in this study satisfactorily met the acceptable standards of validity and reliability analyses. Next, the outcomes of stepwise regression analysis showed that the relationship between pay level and distributive justice positively and significantly correlated with job satisfaction. Further, this result confirms that distributive justice does act as a full mediating variable in the pay level model of the organizational sample . In addition, discussion, implications and conclusion are elaborated in this paper

Hyper competitive rivalries are undeniable in todays business environment. It is essential for competing firms to understand and take advantage of dynamic motion of technological breakthroughs. This paper aims to describe the movement toward hypercompetition and roles of information technology in distance learning. The research find technology is the principle accelerator toward hypercompetitive rivalries in distance learning market. Sucessful higher learning institutions ( HLIs) are always aware of all complex interactions among competing institutions, and can observe patterns of movement and response, punches and counter punches

The Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are forced to improve their quality of service due to certain reasons. This includes the declining of graduates quality, stiff competition and the pressure of statutory and funding bodies. In order to ensure the quality of HEIs product they choose the certification of ISO 9000:2000. The purpose of the study is to determine the academic management and teaching and learning evaluation are fulfill the ISO 9000:2000 and to examine all activities and processes in teaching and learning are meet specified requirements set by statutory bodies and stakeholders. The sample consists of 100 undergraduate students who are studying in the FBE. A structured of 50 closed ended items questionnaires were used to collect the data. This study uses descriptive statistic. The finding confirms that FBE has the entire requirement set by ISO 9000 and met the standard set by statutory bodies and stakeholders.

The purpose of this study is to see how far entrepreneurial profiles among native students in urban and rural secondary schools. Besides that, this study also aims to observe whether they are any relationships in determining entrepreneurial profiles based on gender, school location, family background, residential area and field of studies. A total of 200 samples were chosen from eight secondary schools from urban and rural area in the district of Hilir Perak, Perak, Malaysia. A set of questionnaires containing 100 items was formulated to determine entrepreneurial profiles among native students from urban and rural secondary schools. Entrepreneurial profiles of native students were assessed using 13 competencies namely, (i) Initiative (ii) Looking and seeking for opportunities (iii) Tenacity (iv) Search for information (v) Emphasis on high achievement (vi) Committed towards work contract (vii) Orientation of proficiency (viii)To make systematic planning (ix) Ability of solving problem (x) Self confidency (xi) Certainty (xii) Able to convince others and (xiii) Able to use influencial strategy. In the study, two types of statitics were used namely descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistical analysis showed that native students possessed entrepreneurial profiles at the moderate level. This is proven where the mean scores were 3 for all competences. Therefore more effort to raise entrepreneurial profiles among natives students in secondary students should be done through curriculum and co-curiculum activities. T-test analysis was used to determine the difference in entrepreneurial profiles based on the variables. The findings showed there were no significant relationships among gender, school location, family background, residential area and field of studies in deteremining entrepreneurial profiles among native students in urban and rural secondary schools.

One of the education functions is socialization. It has role to continue or deconstruct certain value. In the context, besides teachers, textbooks have an important role to socialize values in connected with hidden curriculum in their materials. Gender values in hidden curriculum will socialize certain gender values to children. Together with gender value changes in a society, textbooks can either accelerate or impede deconstruction efforts of gender value from traditional to egalitarian ones.

This paper investigates the impact of oil price shocks on the Malaysian stock market. The co-integration test results documented zero co-integration equation. This finding implies no long-run relationship between the variables in the system. The causality test which looks at short run dynamic interactions between the variablesalso documented the same finding where shocks in all types of oil prices do not impose any effect on movements in stock price. This finding leads us to conclude that, a change in oil price(s) has no significant effect on stock market both in the short-runand long-run. These findings also lead us to conclude thatchange in oil price, particularly domestic oil pricecannot be used as a policy tool in adjusting the stock market in any case shocks in oil price strike again in future.

The purpose of this study was to discover the attributes of economics instructors that are associated with teaching effectiveness using responses from students evaluations of teaching effectiveness (SETE) surveys at the Economic Education Department Social Sciences and Economics Faculty Yogyakarta State University. This study modifies and adopts L. F. Jameson Boex’s model that examines attributes of effective economics instructor at Georgia State University. This models defines six broad instructor attributes and estimates how each of these attributes to the effectiveness of economics instructors as perceived by students. To examine the attributes of economics instructors and how these attributes are associated with the effectiveness of instruction, I used data from student evaluations of teaching effectiveness (SETE) questionnaires for economics instructors at Economics Education Department Social Sciences and Economics Faculty Yogyakarta State University. In this study, I defined and quantified six instructor attributes. I define and qualified six composite instructor attributes. Subsequently, the effects of the six instructor attributes, as well as selected course, student, and instructor characteristics, on the teaching effectiveness ratings were determined using an ordered probit model.

Business diversification has drawn attention of strategic management and finance scholars. This study examines relationship between diversification effect on performance using multiple measures of performance namely accounting and market measurements.The study used panel data analysis for a sample of 70 Malaysian firms from various industries during the period 2001 to 2005.The evidence produces some interesting findings with regard to risk factors and effect on firm’s performance while other factors are consistent with previous findings.In particular, firms that adopt the focused strategy perform better than those with diversified strategy.Different measures of performance used in the study produces varying results after controlling for risk,firm size and economic condition,using inflation rate as a proxy

Customer relationship management performance (CRM) is to establish the relationship between customer and service providers. Therefore, the tangible and intangible results of e-customer relationship management performance are repeat purchase, word of mouth,retention, brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. The increasing numbers of mobile phone users all over the world has influence the researchers to investigate the antecedent of Customer relationship management performance in this service country. 850 questionnaires have returned, however, 488 were analysed due to incomplete and missing data problem. Five technology factors been tested as the main antecedent for customers relationship management performance; trust, commitment, privacy and usefulness. Electronic service quality has failed to predict e-customer relationship management performance. As a contribution this paper ends with discussion, conclusion and suggestion for the managers in improving their customer relationship management performance especially in mobile phone industry.

In this era of rapid globalization, economic development in any one country is invariably linked with strategic management practices across the globe. This is because businesses in any one country increasingly have to compete globally and standards for success or failure also become global. Despite their pervasive use, mission statements in particular are among the most poorly understood strategic management tools available to organizations. Mission statements are an essential part of globally succeeding management practice and content analysis is in fact a fairly popular research stream, with consistent attention devoted to identifying potential items for mission statements inclusion. This paper studies the mission statements of plantation based companies listed in the Malaysia Bourse. Ironically the results show 79.5% of them have no mission statements and those with mission statements basically pursue four major issues; to be a responsible corporate citizen" (18.8%), to exceed customer expectation" (12.5%), "to enhance shareholders value" (12.5%), and "to provide opportunity for career advancement" (9.4%). In conclusion, these findings indicate the lack of strategic management practices among these companies despite being known as one of the most important sectors to the countrys economic sustainability.

This study was conducted to measure the moderating effect of distributive justice in the relationship between benefit types and job performance. A survey research method was used to gather 150 usable questionnaires from employees who have served in Malaysian federal government linked companies in Sarawak (GLCOMPANY). Outcomes of testing a moderating model using a hierarchical regression analysis showed that (l) interaction between distributive justice and medical treatment had not increased job performance, and (2) interaction between distributive justice and official duty claims had increased job performance, and (3) interaction between distributive justice and promotions had increased job performance. This study demonstrates that distributive justice does act as a partial moderating variable in the benefit program models of the organizational sector sample. In addition, the implications of this study to theory and practice, methodological and conceptual limitations, and directions for future research are also discussed.

This study was carried out to investigate current practices and attitudes towards the management of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) in a public hospital in northern region of Malaysia. Data were collected using a set of questionnaires. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple regressions. Empirical evidence indicated that there were no differences in safety reporting, safety satisfaction, errors and incidents, safety rules, safety communication, training & competence, work pressure, management commitment, roles of supervisor and leadership style faced by the male and female workers. In addition, the results also showed that there were no significant difference for seven variables such as safety reporting, errors and incidents, safety rules, safety communications training & competence, work pressure, and management commitment but there were significant effects for three variables: safety satisfaction, roles of supervisor, and leadership style among the respondents withfour types of education level. The findings suggested that there was a significant positive correlation between safety satisfactionand seven elements of OHS management namely safety reporting, errors and incidents, management commitment, work pressure, role of supervisor, safety rules, and leadership style. The regression analysis revealed approximately 54.8% (R2 = 0.548) of variance in safety satisfaction that was explained by the nine independent variables. In conclusion, the results highlighted an important finding: the employees perceived that there was a need to improve the workplace by perceived that there was a need to improve the workplace by emphasizing all the OHS management practices as significant in relation to safety.

the principle of Accounting (PA) subject is a core course in most business faculty or department. However, only limited research has examined the perceptions of business students about the accounting course relative to their respective majors. This study examines the differences perception of interest and important and also difficulty and confidence level of the students according to major programmes, accounting experience and non-accounting experience as well as gender. A short questionnaire was distributed to 306 business students in Universiti Malaysia, Sabah, Labuan International Campus. By employing an ANOVA, the result shows significant differences among gender and accounting experience relating to level of important and interest. Significant differences were also found in the level of difficulty and confidence relating to the courses registered among five major programmes. Besides, accounting experiences students perceived more confident in taking the course compared to non-experience student. The implication of this study suggest that non-experience students must be provided with clear explanation and encouragement to increase their perceived level of important, interest and confidence in taking this course.

The study was conducted to examine the effect of service quality and perceived value on customer satisfaction using a sample of 150 usable questionnaires gathered from undergraduate students in one public university in Sarawak, Malaysia. The outcomes of hierarchical regression analysis showed four important findings: firstly, relationship between perceive value and reliability significantly correlated with customer satisfaction. Secondly, relationship between perceive value and responsiveness significantly correlated with customer satisfaction. Thirdly, relationship between perceive value and assurance significantly correlated with customer satisfaction. Fourthly, relationship between perceive value and empathy significantly correlated with customer satisfaction. This result confirms that perceive value does act as partial mediating variable in the service quality models of organizational sample. In addition, implicationsand limitations, as well as directions for future research are elaborated.

This economic growth was the result of economic development that create increasing output from each input both fact input of natural production , capital and skilled labor. The growth of input aggregately will create revenue of aggregate consumption and finally will open work opportunity. Economic growth include national growth, sector groth and competition growth. Therefore it needed the planning and education policy with approach such as: social demand approach, needs for national approach and development generation approach. Especially for high education it was necessary to emphasize on preparation because of nation leadership and mastering the development of science and technology of the future. One effort that can be done was by represhing leadership insight and superiority.

It is important that business ethics education be conducted and socialized to students at higher schools. Non-ethics phenomena and crisis at many different life sectors may happen due to ethics education neglect in educational process at schools, includingat higher schools. Whatever is th students’ profession, they will be always taken part in business activities either as producer, consumer, workers, or other stakeholders, because business is a modern phenomenon separated from society life. Therefore, we must pay attention to the ethics educational process. In the process, lecturers have very important roles to socialize and internalize ethics values to students. Their function in the process are someone being models and information resources, someone selecting and determining the materials and text books used by students, developing educational process, and creating conducive learning environment.

The motivation of students determines the success of an institution in producing prospective competent teachers in their profession. However, the students’ performance for the subject Budgeting was low. Informal observation also indicated that students were not enthusiastic in the learning activities. The study aimed at researching factors that caused students’ low motivation in lecture participation. A total number of respondents involved were 32. Data of the research were collected through a questionnaire, interviews, observation, and document review. Findings revealed that the factors that caused students’ low motivation were (1) lecturers’ inability in the teaching and learning process especially in giving assignments either individually or in groups; (2) lack of available learning resources; (3) students’ difficulties in understanding the assignments given especially Forecasting Budget. It is suggested that during the teaching process, lecturers should consider the level of difficulties students have either individually or in groups when they give out materials/assignments, and provide them with learning resources available. The most important thing is that lecturers can create situations or conditions that can increase students’ motivation.

Expectations are the reference point students have coming into service experience in school while perceptions reflect the service as actually received from the school. The difference or the gap between perception and expectation could be used as an indicator of the quality score in schools. Therefore the objective of this research is to collect data and information regarding expectation and perception of students towards service quality of their schools. SERVQUAL instrument has been utilized in this research. Survey has been carried out in twelve schools in the Hulu Selangor District, the middle of Malaysia. The service dimensions being used in this research are tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Data has been analysed in order to know the level of the service quality in schools. Service shortfalls have been identified and a few suggestions have been forwarded to overcome the shortfalls. The service quality then was compared with the students’ academic performance to know the relationship between both aspects. The instrument contains sixty items altogether. Part A is regarding expectation and perception of the respondents towards their school. Part B is to identify the relative importance of each dimension of service quality while Part C is for respondents’ profile. Some modifications have been made to the statements in the SERVQUAL instrument suitable to the education field.

This article investigates two forms of withdrawals behaviours, that is, turnover intentions and absenteeism among hotel employees. Many hospitality managers are convinced that excessive turnover is a costly phenomenon. Employee turnover does influences company hotel performance. Similarly, absenteeism is also one of the major contributors that indirect costs such as productivity and disruption of scheduled work. However, for service organizations like hotels, the effect of turnover and absenteeism can be significant not just in terms of costs but also to the quality and continuity of service provided. Therefore, the leader must align these behaviour with organizational change in order to survive. The ability to change rapidly and continuously is not a core competence; it is also at the heart of their cultures. Mastering strategies for managing change is more important today since the rate of change is greater than at any time in history. The risk failure is greater than ever before and the tension within the workforce is great and needs constant attention. Managerial level transformation could bring changes and transformation by injecting new ideas and policies. We must understand that change is not a process that can be forced or rushed but rather must be nurtured at a rate that is appropriate for each individual involved, as well as the organizational as a whole.