UNIMAS Journal (Universiti Malaysia Sarawak)
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Exploring Perceived Organisational Support and Resilience as Antecedents of Expatriates’ Work and Non-Work Spheres Amid the Covid-19 Pandemic
Get PDFExpatriates face more challenges when they are exposed to hostile environments in a foreign country. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most expatriates are stranded abroad without adequate support mechanisms. The aim of this paper is to empirically investigate the role of perceived organisational support (POS) and resilience in predicting expatriates’ perception of non-work constraints and work adjustment, and in turn, their withdrawal intention. Using the convenience sampling, questionnaire data was collected through social networking platforms from 205 expatriates across various industries in Malaysia. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling was employed to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that POS is influential in expatriates’ resilience, but not in their perceived non-work constraints and work adjustment. Spillover effects occur when perceived non-work constraints influence withdrawal intention. However, perceived non-work constraints are not significantly related to work adjustment. Further, work adjustment has a negative relationship with withdrawal intention. The results indicate that organisations should customise their human resource policies to improve expatriates’ resilience through webinars and counselling services during the COVID-19 crisis, which are likely to impact their work outcomes. The contribution of this study is its application of the conservation of resources theory to enrich the sparse literature on expatriation in a hostile environment
Do Determinants Influence the Capital Structure Decision in Bangladesh? A Panel Data Analysis
Get PDFMore than two decades, capital structure decision marked as variation from optimal decisions as determinants are not properly considered due to the collapse of corporate governance. This study examines the impact of determinants on capital structure decisions in Bangladesh using Fixed-Effect Model (FEM) and Panel Corrected Standard Error (PCSE). The study revealed that debt structure is considerably influenced by liquidity, firm size, asset structure, non-debt tax shield, and operational age of companies. The study also indicates that the companies, which are not financially, sound, but used more debt because the owners of such companies are politically empowered in stock market. The firms that hold less fixed assets (as a percentage of total assets, particularly the family-run and politically affiliated firms used more debt regardless of their tax bracket, profitability and growth—showed a greater capacity for increased debt. This study primarily focused on financial framework to make capital structure decision based on related determinants
The Relationship between Islamic Corporate Governance, Human Governance, Usage of Information Technology and Sustainability Reporting: Comparison of Shariah Compliant Companies in Malaysia and Indonesia
Get PDFThis study aims to evaluate the relationship between Islamic corporate governance (ICG), human governance (HG), and information technology (IT) usage on sustainability reporting (SR) by investigating Shariah compliant companies in Malaysia and Indonesia. Data was collected from 68 manufacturing Shariah compliant companies’ annual reports for Malaysia, and 70 manufacturing Shariah compliant companies’ annual reports for Indonesia, for the year ended 2019. Descriptive and multiple regression analysis was used to analyse the data. The study found that HG Index and IT Usage Index were positive and significantly related to sustainability reporting for Shariah companies in both countries. However, ICG was not found to be significantly related to sustainability reporting for Shariah companies in Malaysia and Indonesia. This could be because the study focuses only on manufacturing companies, and in Malaysia and Indonesia, only about 24% of the companies and 13% of the companies respectively, have an ICG structure in place. The study suggests that to increase SR of Shariah compliant companies, there should be a good HG structure in place, and they should increase their level of IT usage in their business operations. Resource-Based theory can explain the relationship of IT Usage and HG to SR
The Level of Involvement of Women Entrepreneurs in the Textile Industry in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia
Get PDFWomen and business are a unique phenomenon that can only be observed in the East Coast state of Peninsular Malaysia. The involvement of women entrepreneurs in the batik and songket-based textile industry in the East Coast outweighs the involvement of male entrepreneurs. It is interesting to highlight that only women entrepreneur in Kelantan and Terengganu engaged more actively in market activities than women entrepreneurs in other states. Women entrepreneurs in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia share the same entrepreneurial culture where entrepreneurship activities in two states in the East Coast have been held for a long time. This article aims to analyze the level of involvement of women entrepreneurs in the textile industry on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Quantitative design methods based on descriptive analysis and structured interviews were used in this study conducted on 102 respondents in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Data obtained from structured interviews were analyzed descriptively and multiple regression analysis. The results show that the level of women’s involvement in the textile industry is at a high level. Five factors influence the involvement of women entrepreneurs in this study to venture into the textile industry, namely total of income, increased income, self-motivation, self-satisfaction, and social motives. This study suggests that the high profits that female entrepreneurs can generate will encourage other women to participate in this business
Factors Affecting Overseas Internship, Employment and Further Education under the Background of "Belt and Road Initiative" - A TPB Model Analysis
Get PDFThe Belt and Road Initiative is a long-term foreign development strategy that China adheres to. However, the key to the promotion of the Belt and Road is the investment of a large number of high-quality international talents. In order to promote international talents to go abroad, it is not only necessary to deepen the system level and multilateral cooperation at the diplomatic level, but also to cultivate human resources with the willingness and ability to move internationally to make full use of their capabilities. From the perspective of the TPB model, this paper adopts the method of structural equation model, and takes an application-oriented university in Henan Province, China as the research object, to explore the influencing factors of overseas internship, employment and further study for college students. The results show that attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control all have significant effects on behavioural intention. Usefulness had no significant effect on behavioural intention; Usefulness has a significant effect on behavioural intention through attitude. Therefore, according to the conclusion, relevant suggestions are put forward for schools, teachers and students respectively
Signalling Strategy and Success of Crowdfunding Campaign
Get PDFImproving the funding results of crowdfunding campaigns is a pivotal point for entrepreneurs, investors, and platforms. Building upon previous research in the field of crowdfunding and signaling theory, we propose a logistic regression to identify the determinants of the success of 5228 KissKissBankBank crowdfunding. The main focus is on estimating the role of signalling opportunities provided to project initiators and funders in mitigating the harmful consequences of asymmetric information. Our main results reveal that, as expected, the success of crowdfunding campaigns is promoted by the signal of identity, patience, pointing, reciprocity, intention and interactivity. The ambition signal is a factor that hinders funding success. Contrary to our research hypotheses, the signal of reputation and social capital has a negative impact on the probability of crowdfunding projects' success. The findings provide not only empirical evidence to understanding the importance of the role of signals in determining the success of crowdfunding campaigns but also useful tools for stakeholders in developing their own crowdfunding strategies at an early stage
Identification of Corn Leaf Diseases Comprising of Blight, Grey Spot and Rust Using DenseNet-201
Get PDFCorn is a vital commodity in Malaysia because it is a key component of animal feed. The retention of the wholesome corn yield is essential to satisfy the rising demand. Like other plants, corn is susceptible to pathogens infection during the growing period. Manual observation of the diseases nevertheless takes time and requires a lot of work. The aim of this study was to propose an automatic approach to identify corn leaf diseases. The dataset used comprises of the images of diseased corn leaf comprising of blight, grey spot and rust as well as healthy corn leaf in YCbCr colour space representation. The DenseNet-201 algorithm was utilised in the proposed method of identifying corn leaf diseases. The training and validation analysis of distinctive epoch values of DenseNet-201 were also used to validate the proposed method, which resulted in significantly higher identification accuracy. DenseNet-201 succeeded 95.11% identification accuracy and it outperformed the prior identification methods such as ResNet-50, ResNet-101 and Bag of Features. The DenseNet-201 also has been validated to function as anticipated in identifying corn leaf diseases based on the algorithm validation assessment
Tajul Muluk: A Traditional Malay Text of Ethnobotany and Ethnomedicine
Get PDFEthnobotanical and ethnomedical knowledge of the Malays could be known either through oral sources or documented sources. The traditional sources of Malay medicine are useful for traditional and modern pharmaceuticals development in Malaysia and for conservation of biodiversity. This study aims to extract and categorise the ethnobotanical and ethnomedical contents documented in the medical chapter of Tajul Muluk, in the Malay ancient text. Transliteration and data extraction were carried out in order to identify and classify the information in the text. The manuscript has 292 medical interventions for 56 different diseases such as cough, fever, and mental health issues. There are descriptions available for different medical formulations using 209 plant-based materials, 12 animal-based materials and 40 other types. Many of the name and use of the materials are now rare or not well-known in modern today’s society. Medical descriptions listed in Tajul Muluk will be a documented proof of herbs used by local Malay population utilised as ethnobotanical and ethnomedical resources. Hence retrieving useful ancient documental knowledge should be explored in finding useful cures and alternatives therapeutics for various diseases
Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Supply Chain Traceability System Implementation for Shark and Ray Products in Pahang, Malaysia: Insights from Key Informant Interviews
Get PDFThe objective of this study is to obtain experts’ opinions in identifying factors influencing the implementation of supply chain traceability for shark and ray products in Pahang, Malaysia. The information was obtained through structured key informant interviews (KIIs), which were conducted one-to-one and face-to-face with relevant experts from government agencies and Malaysia’s National Plan of Action (NPOA-Shark) committee members. From the text discourse analysis, the study has identified seven indicators that need to be improved and explored before developing the full implementation of the supply chain traceability system in Pahang. The indicators are as follows: (i) policy and strategic management; (ii) acts and regulations; (iii) shark and ray resources; (iv) manpower and capability; (v) infrastructure and management information system; (vi) collaboration efforts; and (vii) buy-ins from stakeholders. It is recommended that the government reviews the current policy, acts, regulations, and strategic initiatives to increase the commitment from all relevant stakeholders to ensure sustainable utilisation of shark and ray species
Leveraging Green Human Resource Management Practices towards Environmental Performance: An Empirical Evidence from the Manufacturing Context in Emerging Economy
Get PDFThis study investigates the role of green human resource management (GHRM) practices on environmental performance (EP) of manufacturing organizations in Bangladesh. The study utilized a questionnaire survey among 328 manufacturing organizations selected conveniently from a population of 5608 firms located in Dhaka and Chattogram. PLS-SEM (partial least squares) was employed to assess the proposed research model. Out of six, three hypotheses were supported. Particularly, green job analysis and job description, green training and development, and green reward and compensation practices significantly influence environmental performance of manufacturing organizations. This study provides valuable insights for organizations on the GHRM-EP link in a unique South-Asian context with high level of environmental degradation. This research also contributes to fill the research gap as few studies have investigated the under-researched area. The findings are of important to scholars, decision makers, and practitioners. Further, the study explains the limitations and directions for future studies