UNIMAS Journal (Universiti Malaysia Sarawak)
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Exploring the Intention to Cheat Among Undergraduate Students through the Lens of the Theory of Planned Behaviour
Get PDFThe escalation of academic dishonesty cases is becoming alarming. This study uses the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and conscientiousness as an antecedent of the intention to cheat. Data were collected through electronic and paper forms. Partial least squares path modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the responses from 917 undergraduate students in a Malaysian public university. The results support that conscientiousness is a valid predictor of the intention to cheat among students. Further, the three constructs of the TPB, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and attitude, significantly mediated the conscientiousness-intention to cheat relationship. Researchers are encouraged to test the model in private universities and other countries. This study is the first to study the intention to cheat among undergraduate students in Malaysia using conscientiousness as an antecedent of the TPB model. Implications for ethics education and research are discussed
The Mediating Effect of Trust in the Relationship Between Reputation and Opportunism Towards Commitment to Paying Zakat
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to investigate the influence drivers for zakat payers to commit to paying zakat through the official zakat institutions. To execute this study, the Stimulus Organism Response (SOR) theory was used as the basis of the investigation in which stimuli will invite attention or interest from the recipients and produce responses. Data were collected through a survey questionnaire that asked the respondents’ opin-ions on reputation, opportunism, trust, and commitment from a mass Islamic lecture. We employed the Partial Least Squares program named Warp-pls 5.0 to analyse the data. The result shows that the reputation of the zakat institution stimulates zakat payers to trust it and commit to paying zakat. Nevertheless, opportunism is not been proved statistically. The result shows that the zakat institution must maintain and improve its reputa-tion and look for other factors to stimulate zakat payers to pay zakat to the official institution for bigger zakat
The Effect of Human Resource Management Practices on Motivation to Transfer: Evidence from the Malaysian Public Sector
Get PDFMotivation to transfer is a requirement for transfer of training to occur in an organization. Motivation to transfer is defined as the employees’ desire to utilize the knowledge, skills and attitudes learned in training to their current task in organization. This paper argues that the motivation to transfer can be enhanced through human resource management (HRM) practices. In addition, this study proposes that motivation to learn mediates the relationship between HRM practices and motivation to transfer. The results of this study using a sample of 306 public sector employees in Malaysia provide support for the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, the results show that the motivation to learn partially mediates the effects of HRM practices on employee motivation to transfer. There are two important contributions of this study. First, this study provides empirical evidence about the role of human resource management (HRM) practices as a predictor to motivation to transfer in the context of public sector organization in Malaysia. Second, this study provides empirical evidence that motivation to learn mediates the relationship between HRM practices and motivation to transfer
The Future of Social Enterprise Café in Malaysia: A Study on Millennials’ Perception and Intention
Get PDFOver the past decade, there have been a growing number of social enterprises in Malaysia, especially in the food and beverage industry. However, social enterprise cafes face various challenges in liquidity and lack of public awareness that hindered their progress. In view of this, millennials are the potential target market for social enterprises due to their rapid growth in population and increasing purchasing power. Millennials have high awareness of social issues and support for socially responsible organisations. Based on a survey collected from 424 millennials in Malaysia, data were analysed using the structural equation modelling. Results indicate that millennials are influenced by perceived price and attitude, followed by social norms, while social enterprise knowledge had a significant but weak influence on their intention. In moving forward, the findings suggest that social enterprise cafes could emphasize more on creating value through their pricing strategy and encourage knowledge sharing and attitude towards social enterprises to strengthen purchase intention towards social enterprise cafes. This study not only sheds light on millennials but also assist social enterprises to sustain their business and have a long-term impact on society and environmental causes
Resource Perceptions and Employee Well-Being during the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Role of Personal Control as a Moderator
Get PDFThis paper used Hobfoll’s conservation of resources (COR) theory to investigate the extent to which interpersonal and financial resources predict the well-being of salaried employees in the United States. Data were collected from a nationally representative survey of adults in the United States conducted by the RAND Corporation . Two measures of well-being (depressive symptoms and life satisfaction), along with an actual loss of financial resources and a perceived lack of interpersonal and financial resources, were examined. The role of perceived control as a moderator in the relationship between resource deficit perceptions and well-being was also examined. The results of the regression analysis indicate that the perceived lack of resources was associated with a decline in well-being. Perceived control was found to buffer the negative effects of resource deficit perceptions. Employees with high levels of perceived control showed less of a reduction in well-being than those with low levels of perceived control as the perceived deficit of resources increased. The study also revealed that actual loss of resources, measured as a decrease in wages, is associated with a decrease in life satisfaction but is not associated with depressive symptoms. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of our research on the relationship between resource deficits and well-being during a public health crisis
Multi-Stimuli-Responsive Organogel Based on Bisthiourea Compounds for The Removal of Selected Organic Dyes
Get PDFThe self-assembly of a series of bisthiourea containing amino acid side chains has been studied in a large range of organic solvents. Self-assembly is driven mainly by hydrogen bonding groups of thiourea and amino acids moieties. Of all the synthesized compounds, only bisthiourea with alanine side chains, 3.5 formed thermoreversible gel in 50:3 dichloromethane:water mixture at minimum gel concentration of 0.5%. SEM micrographs of the gel showed the formation of entangled cross-linked fibres. The addition of anions such as Cl¯, F¯ and AcO¯ disrupted the gel network of 3.5 thus inducing the gel-sol transition. To investigate the ability of the bisthiourea to form metallogel, metal ions such as Co2+, Cu2+, Ni2+ and Pb2+ were introduced, however, none of them induce the formation of metallogel. In particular, the gels show good performance in the absorption of bromocresol green and Eriochrome black-T at 75% and 61% efficiency, respectively within 24 hours. The good dye absorption properties of gel 3.5 render the potential of bisthiourea gels as new dye absorption materials, which show significant benefit for water pollution treatment.  
Geospatial Analysis of Habitat Suitability for Greater One-horned Rhino Rhinoceros unicornis (Linnaeus, 1758) in Central lowlands of Nepal using MaxEnt Model
Get PDFThe prime Greater One-horned Rhino’s (Rhinoceros unicornis) habitats include a mosaic of grasses, oxbow lakes, Shorea robusta forests, and alluvial floodplains and the major habitat of this species is riverine grasslands dominated by Imperata cylindrical and riverine forests dominated by Trewia nudiflora. This study was mainly focused on the analysis of habitat suitability of Rhinoceros unicornis in Nawalparasi, Chitwan, and Parsa districts of Nepal. The secondary data such as bioclimatic and topographical variables were collected from relevant sources. Spatial data were processed using various tools of ArcGIS while the presence data were converted using Excel, and analysis was done with Maxent. The results showed that approximately 75.17% (53.32 sq. km) of suitable area is occupied by Chitwan National Park. Similarly, Barandabhar Corridor Forest occupies 7.38% (18.89 sq. km) of the suitable area of the landscape. While, there is no area suitable for Greater One-horned Rhinoceros in Parsa National Park. Among Land Use Land Cover (LULC), the riverbed was found to be the most important variable. Invasion of invasive plants was found to be the most frequent disturbance factor followed by human disturbances and forest fires. Though grassland management is an important part of habitat management, it is highly recommended that the management of waterholes should be done. Protected Area manager should conduct localised habitat suitability assessment once the area is found suitable at the landscape level and further field verification should be done. Invasive plant control measures and alternatives to meet the forest product demand should be promoted
Antibacterial and Antifungal Activities of Leaf Extract of Morinda elliptica
Get PDFThis work was designed to evaluate the antimicrobial potential of Morinda elliptica by determining the zone of growth inhibition of the leaf extract against selected bacterial and fungal strains. Antifungal and antibacterial properties of the extract at different concentrations (25, 50, 100, 250 and 500 μg/ml) were investigated after successive maceration in four solvents in order of increasing polarity [hexane (180 g), dichloromethane (342 g), ethyl acetate (471 g), and methanol (384)]. The agar disc diffusion method was used against selected human bacteria Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhii, Staphylococcus aureus, and the antifungal activity of the extract against Aspergillus brasiliences and A. flavus. Zones of growth inhibition of the extract were then compared with the standard antibiotic chloramphenicol (500 μg/ml) for the antibacterial activity, and against nystatin (500 μg/ml) for antifungal activity. The result of the study showed a remarkable bactericidal activity of the plant extract against the test organisms E. coli (14.667 + 0.577) and S. typhii (13.667 + 0.577) with a weak activity against the growth of S. aureus as compared to standard (21.667 + 0.577) at 500 μg/ml. The result of the antifungal activity showed considerable activity of the plant extract against the growth of A. brasiliences (11 + 0.1000) and weak activity against the growth A. flavus at 500 μg/ml. The findings of the study indicated that the leaf extract of M. elliptica is a reservoir of bioactive compounds. The compounds can be useful in the development of new pharmaceutical products that can be effective against human pathogenic strains E. coli and S. typhii. This could serve as a lead for understanding a novel mechanism of action in future research activities
Factors Motivating the Adoption of Geographical Indication-Based Quality Standards among Robusta Coffee Farmers in Indonesia
Get PDFRobusta coffee is one of the superior commodities of the Temanggung Regency. As the quality of a coffee determines its market competitiveness, geographical indications (GIs) are one of the quality standards used in coffee cultivation and post-harvest processing to indicate the quality of a good Robusta coffee. However, most Robusta coffee farmers in Indonesia do not practice the production methods required to meet these standards. Therefore, the produced coffee does not meet the quality standards of consumers. As such, this study aimed to analyse the factors that may motivate or dissuade farmers from adopting GI-based quality standards for Robusta coffee in Temanggung Regency. A descriptive method; specifically, a survey; was used for data collection. This data was then analysed using the partial least squares (PLS) method. The findings of this study revealed that, while knowledge did not motivate the adoption of GI standards, optimising collaboration between farmers and relevant associations may increase the adoption of GI-based quality standards among Robusta coffee farmers in Temanggung Regency
Determinants of Tax Revenue: A Comparison Between ASEAN-7 Plus China And 8- European Countries
Get PDFThe aim of this paper is analyzing the level ratio of tax revenue and GDP depending on different consumer behaviors between two groups of countries: ASEAN-7 plus China (called the Eastern) and eight European countries (called the Western). The study applied the Feasible Generalized Least Square model to confirm the robustness of the Panel Corrected Standard Errors model, and the results indicate that all countries have a positive association between tax revenue with the human capital and FDI variables. In addition, in the Eastern, forest area and broad money has a statistically significantly positive impact on tax revenue while gross savings has a negative one. Further, the Western witnessed the positive impact with gross savings while broad money variables lead to a decrease in tax revenue. The major results indicate that in the East, the Governments should focus on how to improve their taxation by promoting the broad money - M2 and expanding the forest area as well as support their consumers spending more instead of saving. In contrast, European countries try to reduce the M2, encouraging their consumers to save more. The Eastern and Western governments may control natural and demographic determinants aimed to support taxation and sustainable economic growth