Business Administration and Business Economics

Hong Kay Tze · Ng Siew Imm · Ho Jo Ann · Tan Houng Chien · Lim Chui Seong ·International Journal of Economics and Management ·2021 ·JEL: M14, M30, M31

It is commonly accepted that positive corporate social responsibility (CSR) image brings desirable outcomes, for instance, brand loyalty, improved brand image, enhanced store image, as well as increased visit intention; suggesting there are various direct outcomes of CSR image. Underpinned by the Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM), this paper proposes that these outcomes are presented in a sequential manner, where there is a core mechanism that relates CSR image to store image and brand awareness, and in turn associate with consumers’ visit intention. A quantitative research methodology has been used where a structured questionnaire was distributed to consumers in selected states in Malaysia using the mall intercept method. Structural equation modelling was applied to examine the proposed model. The discoveries of the current study offer the observed evidence for the correlation between perceived CSR image and hypermarket visit intention, mediated by overall store image and brand awareness. The study emphasises a prominent role of CSR schemes, bringing together the overall hypermarket store image and the hypermarket brand awareness, which will enable hypermarket management to further boost visit intention from consumers

Maisyarah Stapah @ Salleh · Bayu Taufiq Possumah · Nizam Ahmat ·Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia ·2018

This study investigates the determinants of Net Profit Margin (NPM) in Malaysia’s Islamic banking system for the period of 2011-2015 by using static panel data analysis. In Malaysia, conventional banks through its Islamic subsidiary banks are dominating the Islamic banking system in terms of total assets, total loans and total deposits. Therefore this paper attempts to investigate the impact of these Islamic subsidiaries of conventional banks towards the NPM. In relation to that, the impact of the conventional parent banks’ Net Interest Margin (NIM) towards its Islamic subsidiary banks’ NPM is also investigated. For the first objective, the displayed results shows positive relationship indicating that the Islamic subsidiaries of conventional banks’ NPM is higher than the full-fledge Islamic banks’ NPM. While the empirical results on the banks’ specific variables suggest that size, risk aversion and operating cost are positively related to NPM. However, credit risk tends to reduce NPM. Besides that, this study also finds that market concentrations and GDP growth will influence NPM in negative ways whilst inflation and Islamic stock market developments will increase NPM. Liquidity however is found insignificant to NPM. As for the second objective, the Islamic subsidiaries of conventional banks’ NPM is observed as being independent from its conventional parent banks’ NIM.

Mohd Yassir Jaafar · Anuar Nawawi · Ahmad Saiful Azlin Puteh Salin ·Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities ·2019

This study is intended to examine the levels of directors’ remuneration disclosure among public-listed companies in Malaysia. It further aims to examine the relationship among total directors’ remuneration, directors’ education level, size of external auditors, and proportion of managerial ownership and directors’ remuneration disclosure. The analysis is conducted based on three models, which are constructed from the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (Model 1), Global Practices (Model 2), and a combination of both Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance and Global Practices (Model 3). This study found that the size of external auditors had a positive significant relationship, while the proportion of managerial ownership had a negative significant relationship with the disclosure. This study contributes to the improvement of policymaking and body of knowledge by highlighting the relationship between the selected corporate governance characteristics and directors’ remuneration disclosure in the context of Malaysia.

Siew-Boey Yeoh · Chee-Wooi Hooy ·Malaysian Journal of Economic Studies ·2021 ·JEL: G31, G32

Our paper uses a multidimensional analysis to provide a better insight on the relationship between CEO foreign experience and corporate risk-taking. By decomposing the foreign experience of CEOs from developing economies such as Malaysia, we find that CEOs who have studied in OECD countries undertake higher levels of risk-taking and CEOs’ foreign working experience may have an adverse effect on risk-taking behaviour especially if the working experience is obtained from non-OECD countries. Additional analysis reveals that younger CEOs and family CEOs with foreign working experience matter in reinforcing the firms’ risk-taking activities. Overall, our findings provide implication for researchers and policymakers seeking to nurture risk-taking behaviours and innovativeness in emerging countries.

Qian Long Kweh · Norazlin Ahmad · Irene Wei Kiong Ting · Cheng Zhang · Hasahudin Hassan ·Institutions and Economies ·2019 ·JEL: G34; L21

This study investigates the influences of board gender diversity and board independence on firm performance. Ordinary least squares, two-stage least squares and generalised method of moments are employed to test the relationships among board gender diversity, board independence, and firm performance in firms listed on Bursa Malaysia between 2010 and 2015. The regression results indicate that female directors and independent directors significantly and negatively affect firm performance, respectively. However, the interaction term of board gender diversity and board independence is statistically insignificant. Overall, managers must consider that board gender diversity and board independence may not have an interactive effect on improving the performance of their firms.

Siti Hajar Salwa Binti Ahmad Musadik (University Utara Malaysia (UUM)) · Ilhaamie Binti Abdul Ghani Azmi (Academy of Islamic Studies University of Malaya (UM)) ·Malaysian Journal of Consumer and Family Economics ·2019

Studies on impulse buying have been substantially conducted in developing countries by vast researchers. Nevertheless, such studies are in scarcity amidst Asian countries, particularly Malaysia. Besides, studies that have looked into the variables of materialism, sale promotion, money and time availability, and hedonic motivation are also rather sparsely carried out in the light of impulse buying behaviour. As such, this study examined the correlations between situational variables (sale promotion, money and time availability) and individual variable (materialism and hedonic motivation) with impulse buying behaviour among Muslim credit cardholders in Malaysia. In terms of instrument development, this study instrument consisted of 44 items adopted and adapted from prior studies. Questionnaires were distributed to 1,000 Muslim credit cardholders in Malaysia via purposive and snowball sampling techniques and only 635 were usable for final data analysis. The analysis was performed via Partial Least Square (PLS-SEM) analysis. The outcomes revealed that materialism, sale promotion, money and time availability, and hedonic motivation displayed significant positive correlations with impulse buying behaviour.

Abd Halim Ahmad · Nur Adiana Hiau Abdullah · Kamarun Nisham Taufil Mohd ·International Journal of Economics and Management ·2022 ·JEL: G33, G32, G34

This study examined the effects of institutional factors, including; board size, blockholder ownership, and political connections, as some of the determinants (apart from various company-level financial variables) on the outcomes of financially distressed listed companies in Malaysia. A highly concentrated ownership structure is common in most developing countries, including Malaysia. Besides, Malaysia has a unique disclosure environment where all listed companies must release relevant and adequate information to the public to improve investors' protection and corporate transparency. Therefore, Practice Notes which are standards and measures for Malaysian Listed Companies, are designed to help listed companies that are financially distressed to restructure their debts within a stipulated time, giving them sufficient time to re-emerge in the exchange. The logistic regression analysis results on a sample of financially distressed Malaysian public listed companies suggested that; interest coverage ratio, stock returns, blockholder ownership, and political connections were significance at the 5% level. The institutional variables suggested that blockholder ownership and political connectedness had a positive and significant effect on the possibility of companies emerging from financially distressed conditions. The findings have provided important practical implications for managers and potential investors in their risk management decisions.

Kai Chen Goh · Nur Syahidah Said · Hui Hwang Goh · Ta Wee Seow · Sulzakimin Mohamed · Md Asrul Nasid Masrom ·Malaysian Journal of Consumer and Family Economics ·2019

Tourism industry in Malaysia has experienced continued growth due to Malaysia’s beautiful natural assets over decades. Tourism is largely depending on the clean environment, so the issues of operational hotel waste cannot be ignored. It is expected that customer behaviour while staying at the hotel can produce tonnes of waste. As a result, becoming a green customer is a step to cope with this problem. Green customers are people who committed about going green that will help to create a better environment. This concept is widely used in other countries but “limited” in Malaysia especially on green customers’ intention. Therefore, the theory of planned behaviour has been tested to define which factor is influencing the customer intention to practice green while staying at the hotel. This paper aimed to define which measurement items represent the factors of (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behaviour control and overall image). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) is used to validate the measurement model. The questionnaires are distributed and 210 respondents are received. The respondents are focussed to hotel customers in Malaysia. Data analysing is using Analysis of Moments Structures (AMOS) to confirm the unidimensional, validity and reliability for measurement model. Findings indicate most respondents perceived positive perception toward participating in green campaign favourably affect to practice green while staying at the hotel while the other factors were found no significantly generalise the finding. This highlighted the finding as to the emerging of group green customer in Malaysia still a long way to go.

Nur Sa’adah Muhamad · Syahnaz Sulaiman · Khairul Akmaliah Adham · Mohd Fuaad Said ·Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities ·2019

Halal tourism, which arises from the growth in the number of Muslim travellers world-wide and the rapid development of halal industry, is defined as the engagement of any object or action by Muslim travellers that conforms to the Islamic teachings and facilitates the practice of the religion. As such, the application of halal concept in tourism, including in its development and marketing, must be guided by the Islamic principles. With the purpose to understand the current state of knowledge and practice, we reviewed the literature on halal tourism that has been published in high-tier academic journals. Based on the review, we identified the emergent themes and the knowledge gaps for future research. Among others, we found that the industry is booming with increased participations from Muslimminority countries. However, there seems to be variations in the practice, perhaps due to the complexity of the market needs. The implementation of halal tourism by Muslimminority countries is the most pressing issue due to the need to ensure that the process and the service offered strictly comply with the requirements of Islamic teachings, while at the same time, to ensure that the countries are able to develop their halal sectors into competitive industries. Understanding the implementation of halal tourism is an important agenda for future research to ensure that the service provided addresses the fundamental issue of Muslims’ obligations to adhere to the Islamic teachings in all aspects of their lives including while travelling.

Wan Norhidayah W Mohamad · Faten Nabila Abdul Fatah · Zaiton Samdin · Bakti Hasan-Basri ·International Journal of Economics and Management ·2022 ·JEL: Q51, Q57

The tourism sector plays an important part in Malaysia's economy. It includes beach and recreational tourism. However, most recreational beaches in Malaysia do not impose an entrance fee on visitors. Depending on government funding to maintain recreational beach facilities is not the best option for the future. Therefore, funding directly from visitors is needed to help cater for beach maintenance costs. Based on this, it is crucial to understand how much visitors are willing to pay for the recreational use of beaches, as any money collected could be used to help to improve facilities and services at beach areas. This study investigated visitors' willingness to pay for recreational beach facilities and has provided policy recommendations for better management of tourist facilities and services in the future. Teluk Kemang beach in Port Dickson was chosen as the case study location. This study applied the Choice Experiments (CE) method, and the model used was the Conditional Logit (CL) model. This research used four attributes: amenities, recreational facilities, cleanliness, and entrance fee. The CL results revealed that visitors were willing to pay for good amenities and cleanliness, with values of RM2.07 and RM2.43, respectively. Therefore, it was discovered that it was practical to charge an entrance fee to cover improved maintenance of beach facilities

Noryati Ahmad · Wan Evva Wan Suriea · Ummu Naziha Mohd Ariffin ·Malaysian Journal of Consumer and Family Economics ·2019

In Malaysia, the insurance industry is operated by conventional insurance companies and Islamic insurance companies (or better known as Takaful.). Even though the nature of business of these two types of companies is almost similar however at operational and investment level, Islamic insurance companies must be in tune with the Shariah principles. Policyholders, investors and regulators are interested in the performance of these companies. Hence, this study aims to investigate the determinants of investment performance of Islamic and conventional insurance companies in Malaysia. Company-specific factors (company size, solvency margin and liquidity) and macro factors (GDP, interest and profit rates, equity returns and inflation) are independent variables employed in the study. A panel regression was estimated on 11 Islamic and 14 conventional insurance companies in Malaysia from the year 2006 to 2015. Interestingly empirical findings revealed that only liquidity and lagged GDP statistically significant relationship with the investment performance of Islamic insurance companies. On the other hand, in addition to liquidity and lagged GD, the investment performance of conventional insurance companies is also statistically and significantly influenced by interest rate and equity returns. These findings provide policyholders, investors as well as regulators with pertinent information related to an appropriate decision made on Islamic and conventional insurance companies.

Hasnan Baber ·Malaysian Journal of Consumer and Family Economics ·2019

The study is aimed to investigate the gap between the level of service quality expectations and perception and its impact on customer satisfaction in Islamic banks of Malaysia. Shariah Compliance dimension was included in the SERVQUAL model of service quality. A 29 item questionnaire was employed to collect data from 721 customers of selected banks of Malaysia. In this study, data were statistically analysed through reliability analysis, paired sample t-test, exploratory factor analysis, regression analysis and followed by confirmed factor analysis. Structural equation modelling was used to measure service quality perception and customer satisfaction. This study revealed that there is a partial significant gap between expected and perceived service quality level except in Shariah Compliance and tangibility. The study suggested that there is a positive and significant impact of modified multidimensional SERVQUAL quality scale on customer satisfaction. Addition of Shariah compliance dimension showed the highest contributing factor among all dimensions and thus its inclusion was justified. The study was original and novel to find a quality gap and its impact on Malaysian Islamic bank customers and it will help policymakers of Malaysia and other countries to improve to meet customer expectations.

AHMAD FAHMI SHEIKH HASSAN · ADI FAZULI MAMAT · YUSUF KARBHARI · MUSLIM HAR SANI MOHAMAD ·International Journal of Economics and Management ·2018 ·JEL: M42; M41;G34

This study examines the effectiveness of an Audit Committee (AC) operating in a large government statutory body in an emerging economy, namely the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM). This study is timely, as previous studies focussing on AC effectiveness in relation to the public sector are sparse. Data collection was through in-depth interviews with key individuals involved in the IRBM governance process, including AC members, senior management and external auditors. The study finds existence of a weak AC governance function that inadequately oversees financial reporting and internal control systems. We find the independence of AC members questionable, as a communication gap exists between AC members and the external auditor. In particular, the study highlights that top management should ensure that its AC fulfils its assigned role and that urgent attention is given to issues on composition, appointment and diligence of its AC members. We conclude that the IRBM should consider improving independence by appointing an external independent AC member(s) from either the big four or an influential industry expert to provide the necessary input and expertise to ensure that public confidence continues.

Kean-Siang Ch'ng · Suresh Narayanan ·Malaysian Journal of Economic Studies ·2019

It is widely held that risk preferences differ between the three ethnic groups in Malaysia with the Chinese having the highest preference for risk and Malays having the lowest. This has been used to explain the Chinese preference for, and success in, business ventures relative to Malays. However, this assumption has never been tested in a controlled environment. Three hundred working adults from the three groups were recruited and participated in two-choice lottery games with real monetary reward and risk. The results were analysed using the framework of cumulative prospect theory. The outcomes indicate that broad generalisations regarding inter-ethnic risk tolerance are inaccurate. Malays were less risk averse than the Chinese or others when facing choices with the possibility of losing but became more risk averse only when facing choices with the possibility of winning. Malays were also more willing to take greater risk to reduce possible loss than to settle for a sure gain, compared to the others.

Parisa Mohammadi · Suzilawati Kamarudin · Rosmini Omar ·International Journal of Economics and Management ·2020 ·JEL: M130, M210

Social entrepreneurship is considered a powerful means that provides sustainable solutions to existing problems, especially in developing societies. Since intention significantly affects the individuals’ involvement in social entrepreneurship, it is extremely important to support the intention of the young generation to move toward social entrepreneurial activities. To achieve this goal, the determinants of social entrepreneurial intention (SEI) need to be recognized and well understood. Literature suggests that Islamic values influence decision-making processes and individuals' intention to become a social entrepreneur. However, little research has been undertaken to understand social entrepreneurship from an Islamic perspective and the mechanism through which values impact social entrepreneurial intention. Using the theory of planned behavior, this study aims to examine the interrelationship between Islamic values, empathy, and SEI. The researchers employed structural equation modeling-partial least square technique to analyze the data. Based on a sample of 202 Muslim students selected from public and private universities in Malaysia, we found that empathy mediates the relationship between Islamic values and SEI. More specifically, Islamic religious values only affect SEI indirectly through empathy. Additionally, empathy positively affects individuals’ intention to establish a social venture. Bringing religion into play sheds light on the antecedents of SEI