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A Bilingual Approach to Islamic Studies Education for Upper Primary Students in Malaysian International Islamic Schools
Get PDFMany international Islamic schools in Malaysia enroll learners from various multicultural and multilingual backgrounds. In these schools, proficiency in both Arabic and the language of instruction, typically English, is required for Islamic education. However, many students encounter difficulties because of limited proficiency in these two languages. Thus, it is crucial to examine how the teaching and learning (T&L) of Islamic studies (IS) is conducted in international Islamic schools. This study aimed to answer the following research questions: a) What is the nature of the curriculum of IS in international Islamic schools?; b) What bilingual teaching and learning methods are employed for IS in international Islamic schools? ; c) How is the assessment of IS conducted in international Islamic schools? ; d) What challenges are faced by stakeholders in learning IS in a bilingual environment? ; and e) What are the perceptions of stakeholders regarding the bilingual education of IS in international Islamic schools? The study adopted a mixed-method, sequential explanatory research design which involved the use of questionnaires and interview protocols. The participants of the study were from seven international Islamic schools in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, including principals/heads of department, teachers, students and parents (n=449). A purposeful sample of 54 participants was selected for stakeholder interviews. The results of the study revealed that: a) the curriculum appears to emphasise the inculcation and practice of Islamic philosophy, teacher and student- centered T&L as well as bilingual practices; b) T&L involves use of Arabic and English with a focus on the application of Islamic values; c) an emphasis on summative assessment, with English as the language of assessment; d) the use of two languages in T&L is a major challenge for teachers and learners; e) all stakeholders view the practice of bilingual education for the Islamic studies subject positively. This research contributes to our understanding of T&L as well as effective classroom communication by : a) highlighting the benefits of a bilingual approach to IS within multicultural and multilingual school communities; b) expanding the discourse in the interdependence of Arabic and English in mediating meaning during IS lessons; c) deepening knowledge on instructional policies in relation to language integration in the classroom, as well as challenges in the use of a bilingual approach to IS instruction; and d) providing insight to teachers’ role and competencies in implementing IS lessons, and how they are related to teacher professional development
Embedding Trust Factor into ICT-Based Knowledge Sharing Framework for Cassava Farmers in the Informal Organization
Get PDFThe progression of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has enabled organizations to share knowledge and collaborate from diverse locations with experts; to accomplish organizational tasks. However, the characteristics and dynamics of informal organizations have posed various challenges to good knowledge sharing, especially in a virtual environment. The literature on organizational knowledge sharing has shown that the investigations on different constructs of organizational knowledge sharing indicate that trust has been one of the essential aspects to be addressed. Informal organization, particularly in a virtual environment, may pose additional challenges when the knowledge owner and knowledge seeker do not know each other. Establishing the trust model and embedded into the theoretical framework in a web-based knowledge-sharing platform is demonstrated in this research. A virtual knowledge-sharing environment is facilitated using a web-based portal and mobile devices, so-called Knowledge Acquisition Processing, and Exchange (KAPE). Trust-Based Knowledge Sharing Framework (TBKSF) is established based on the notion to be applied in the informal setting of an organization using KAPE, which encompasses (a) A web-based knowledge of the entire Cassava plantation, (b) Cassava Yield Simulation, (c) Downloadable Cassava production video, and (d) Mobile Application. A survey was conducted, and data were collected from 382 farmers (Cassava and mixed crop farmers) drawn from 7 states, 21 farm communities, and interviewees. Observations were made over three years and nine months. To test the hypothesis and determine meaningful relationships, Cronbach’s Alpha, a reliability test; Tukey’s Honestly significant difference (HSD) analysis; PLS-SEM, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC), and all trust acceptable measures (TAM) were used to test the hypothesis. The findings revealed that identifying and managing factors that enable trust in knowledge sharing would positively facilitate knowledge sharing in the informal setting (β = 0.412, t-value = 2.955). However, there was no significant association between satisfactory factors that validated the knowledge source and acceptance of the knowledge provided (β = -0. 062, t-value = 0.518). Equally, a trust model (integrating all acceptable trust measures) can be built on a computational knowledge-sharing platform for informal organizations where workers are unfamiliar with each other (β = 0.436, t-value = 4.258). Hence, positively, a trust model (integrating all acceptable trust measures (TAM) can be built on knowledge sharing for the informal organization in an informal setting for workers who are not familiar with each other. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between KAPE, a knowledge-sharing platform, and an increase in Cassava production (r=0.784, p<0.000). Similarly, there was a significant positive result in farming activities and yield, the using KAPE trust model in knowledge sharing in the rural community of practice amongst cassava growers (r=0.703, p<0.000) showed a positive relationship between the variables, and the relationship was statistically significant at 1%. The result implies that the adopted trust model (KAPE) positively improves knowledge-sharing activities amongst rural farmers based on trust. Notably, the research findings revealed that trust and the farmers shared cultural values have a beneficial impact on sharing knowledge. Finally, the result shows that the success of any virtual team must be built on trust because it was the strength of trust relationship amongst the farmers that provides the underpinning for their willingness to share and knowledge-sharing effectiveness in these informal agricultural communities
The Impact of Leadership Styles, Knowledge Management Process and Team Outcomes on Project Success: A Study Among Employees of Software Companies in Pakistan
Get PDFBy applying the concept from Resource Based View (RBV) and Knowledge-Based View (KBV), this study aims to determine the impact of Leadership Styles, Team Outcomes, and Knowledge Management Processes on project success (PS) in the software companies of Pakistan. The main cause of project failure in Pakistan is poor leadership which is a vital factor behind project success. There is generally little empirical testing of the direct and indirect relationships between leadership styles and project success. Research has focused primarily on the effect of various leadership styles on individual knowledge management, team outcomes, and project success. Since no leader practices a single style of leadership. Current research has called for more research to clarify the process of effect on project success of leadership styles. Moreover, the mechanism through which the impact of leadership styles is translated onto project success is still weak and scarce. By studying the mediating variables between leadership styles and project success, the study will add to the literature. The data were collected from 350 project team professionals working in the IT sector of Pakistan. The study applied partial least squares structural equation modeling to validate the direct and mediating effect. The result indicated that Leadership Styles have a positive and significant impact on project success. Moreover, the result further validated that knowledge management processes mediate the relationship between Leadership Styles and project success. The study further confirmed the positive and significant role of Team performance between Leadership Styles and Project success, however, team communication, empowerment, and identity were found Insignificant between leadership styles and project success in software companies in Pakistan. The implications of this research in software companies in Pakistan can be significant. The research emphasizes the positive and significant impact of leadership styles on project success. By adopting effective leadership styles, software companies can enhance their chances of achieving successful project outcomes. This can result in higher client satisfaction, increased profitability, and a stronger reputation in the industry. Moreover, Software companies can focus on implementing robust knowledge management practices to facilitate the sharing, creation, and utilization of knowledge within project teams. This can lead to improved decision-making, faster problem-solving, and better project performance. software companies in Pakistan should not dismiss the importance of team communication, identity, and empowerment. Instead, they should explore how these factors can be effectively integrated into their project management practices to foster collaboration, motivation, and a sense of ownership within project teams. There is a dearth of an empirical investigation on the relationship between Leadership Styles and Project Success in developing republics context. This study makes a significant contribution to the field of IT project management by demonstrating that these five styles of leadership if a project manager follows impact Project success. This is one of the earliest studies that explore the inter-relationship among Leadership Styles, Knowledge Management processes, team outcomes, and Project Success
Teachers’ Self-Assessment of and Perceptions on Higher-Order Thinking Skills Practices for Teaching Writing
Get PDFCultivation of students’ higher-order thinking ability has become the main agenda of the education curriculum. The transfer of knowledge pertaining to higher-order thinking by teachers to the students can prepare the latter with the necessary attributes for the 21st century. The present study is aimed at exploring Malaysian secondary ESL (English as a Second Language) school teachers’ self-assessment of, and perceptions on the higher-order thinking skills practices for teaching writing. Using a mixed-method research design, the validated 30-item five-point Likert scale questionnaire with an open-ended question was administered to a group of respondents consisting of 72 ESL teachers. The findings indicated that the overall mean score of ESL teachers’ self-assessment of using higher-order thinking skills practices for teaching writing was at a high level. Meanwhile, their perceptions on the integration of higher-order thinking skills in the teaching of writing include the concern of students’ low proficiency, difficulties in implementing HOTS in writing, poor participation by passive students, and teachers’ attitude towards using HOTs for teaching writing. This study suggests that fostering and creating awareness of mastering the elements of HOTS can benefit both the teachers and the students. Teachers have to be creative and innovative in their teaching so that the students can be given the opportunity to showcase their knowledge, skills and abilities in the quest to imbue them with the 21st century life skills
A Critical Assessment of the Impact of Loan Defaults on Profitability of Banks: A Case Study of HSBC Bank PLC
Get PDFIncreasing default and bankruptcy in banking sector, has significantly increased the concern ofacademicians, investors, and research to assess the impact of loan default on financial performanceof banking sector. Therefore, main intent of the current research was to critically assess the impactof loan default on profitability of the banking sector, specifically on HSBC Bank Plc in UK. Forresearch method, secondary quantitative approach has been employed, and information wasderived on HSBC Plc, while covering period from 1993 to 2022. Regarding variables, NPL as anindicator of loan default was used as an independent variable, and ROA and ROI as an indicator ofprofitability were used as a dependent variable. For analysis, descriptive, correlation, and linearregression model were used via using SPSS software. Findings shows that NPL has a positive andsignificant influence on both ROA and ROI of HSBC bank. Thus, it suggested that increase inincrease in NPL leads to increase in profitability of the banking sector as well. However, this effectcould be result of a proportional relation between the NPL, number of approved loans andprofitability. As number of approved loans increases then proportion of NPL would also increaseand in the same as profitability. Findings in the current research suggested for future researchwhile integrating both quantitative and qualitative research approach. It also suggestedconsideration of control variables (i.e., bank size, liquidity, and capital structure) for furtherdetailed analysis
Store Image and Brand Attitude on Retail Service Quality and Customer-Based Brand Equity among Petrol Stations in Klang Valley, Malaysia
Get PDFThis thesis examines the relationship between retail service quality and customer-based brand equity. For this reason, it explores the role of store image, chain store image and brand attitude in forming customer-based brand equity of petrol stations in Klang Valley, Malaysia. A pilot study on thirty petrol station customers was used to test the items with Cronbach’s alpha. Self-administered and structured questionnaires were amended accordingly and distributed in front of petrol station in Klang Valley to 450 petrol station customers. The customers were approached personally using purposive and convenience sampling. Screening questions were asked prior to handing over the questionnaire. The completed questionnaires were collected immediately, keyed into SPSS version 25, cleaned and used for initial tests. PLSsc in ADANCO 2.1.1 was used to test twenty hypotheses, addressing six research questions. The outcome indicate physical aspect, reliability and policy dimensions of retail service quality having positive relationships with store image with effect size 0.341, 0.169 and 0.154 respectively. The reliability and policy dimensions show positive relationship with chain store image with effect size of 0.314 and 0.174. The overall RSQ has direct positive relationship with customerbased brand equity but showed weak effect size of 0.056. This indicated the mediating effects of store image and store brand attitude, with bootstrapping quantiles showing no ‘0’ between significance level of 2.5% and 99.5%. Theoretically, even though this study proofs perceived quality is an element of customer-based brand equity, the indirect relationship through store image and store brand attitude pave a stronger path. Furthermore, this study also shows chain store effect on store brand attitude and customer-based brand equity is through store image. Thus, it is important for petrol stations to build individual store image and brand attitude using key retail service quality dimensions
Mediating Effect of Investments on Medical Sales Representatives between Personal Selling Tactics through Medical Doctors and Organizational Sales Performance
Get PDFGlobally and in Sri Lanka, pharmaceutical companies are not allowed to promote the product directly to the end user, the patients, due to the regulatory guidelines issued by
the regulatory authority. Hence, the pharmaceutical industry uses medical sales representatives as a critical method to promote the products to doctors; in return, the doctors prescribe the product to patients with many investments spent on promotions. However, the return on the investment made on the medical sales representatives to induce them to promote company medical products to doctors with the expectation of prescribing organization products to end-user (patients) needs to be evaluated in measuring marketing effectiveness. Based on the above premise, this study proposal aims to investigate if the organizational investments in medical sales representatives’ personal selling through medical doctor promotions to promote corporate products (brands) to their end-users (patients) significantly help the organizational sales performance. This study uses a deductive research approach with a quantitative quasi�experimental design, this DBA study aims to administer a survey with a sample of 338 respondents selected based on the random sampling method. The population represents senior managers, middle managers, and medical sales representatives are randomly chosen from three hundred and sixty-eight registered pharmaceutical companies
operating in Sri Lanka. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire with scales (1-5) to measure each item. Data were processed for analysis using Microsoft Excel
2019 and eventually uploaded to R-Studio (4.1.2 version) to analyze data to compute correlation, linear regression, and path analysis. Secondary data were collected from the industry depository about the organizational performance in annual sales turnover and market share for at least the last five years. The findings reveal that personal selling
by medical sales representative positively influence by 68% and each 1 unit increase organizational sales by 1.43 units. Investment made on medical sales representatives positively influence by 57% of the organizational sales performance and each 1 unit of investment yield 2.8 times of organizational sales performance. There have been a few preidentified limitations associated with the study: the number of variables included for the investigation, sample size, and time availability are a fe
Unpacking the Impact of Customer Perceived Value and Competitive Advantage on Customer Loyalty: The Mediating Role of Trust
Get PDFNew studies are needed to illuminate the factors that affect customer satisfaction when using sharia banking services in Indonesia. This is especially significant given the existing study gap regarding Indonesia's relatively low number of sharia bank customers, despite the country's predominantly Muslim population. Instead, many of them prefer to use conventional banks, highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of the reasons behind this trend. This study examined the impact of customer perceived value and competitive advantage on customer loyalty mediated by trust. This investigation employed a quantitative methodology to examine the relationship between consumers' perceived value, competitive advantage, trust, and customer loyalty. The participants of this study were selected from the customer of Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI), and data were collected through a questionnaire. The sample size was 210, and the researchers utilized random sampling to select participants. To analyze the collected data, the researchers employed structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis. The study results indicate that perceived value, competitive advantage, and trust significantly impact customer loyalty. This study also shows the mediating role of trust in the relationship between variables
Managing Supply Chain Risk with the Integration of Internet of things in the manufacturing Sector of Pakistan
Get PDFIn the ever-evolving landscape of global trade and manufacturing, supply chain resilience has emerged as a vital concern for organizations operating in the manufacturing sector. This research study delves into the critical domain of managing supply chain risk through the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies within the manufacturing sector of Pakistan. With the advent of Internet of Things, the manufacturing industry in Pakistan has witnessed transformative opportunities to enhance operational efficiency and mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities. This qualitative study engaged ten seasoned supply chain professionals through in-depth interviews to discern the multifaceted impact of IoT integration on risk management within the manufacturing sector. The results of this study, analyzed using thematic analysis within Nvivo software, illuminate the implications of using the Internet of Things in supply chain risk management, the aim is to understand how the Internet of things influences and impacts the supply chain risk management process, both internally and externally, and the resulting outcomes. The study is guided by the information processing theory and employs a methodology based on theory to investigate the information requirements and processing capabilities of supply chain risk management supported by the internet of things. The findings of the study reveal that the organizations involved experienced increased data availability, which led to improved process transparency and management. Supply chain risk management also showed enhancements across its various stages, including risk transparency, risk awareness, and risk strategies. These improvements provided a competitive advantage by aligning the information needs with the information processing capabilities. The study provides detailed insights into the structure of internet of things systems, main use cases, and the impact on the supply chain risk management process, offering valuable information for managers. It highlights the benefits of increased data availability, improved process transparency, and management, as well as the implications for personnel and potential barriers. The findings provide valuable insights for Supply chain managers and pave the way for further research in this area
The Role of Information Technology in Governance Mechanism for Strategic Business Contribution: A Pilot Study
Get PDFInformation Technology Governance (ITG) aligns IT and business transformation in schools. Private schools need to implement a method to evaluate the process of aligning IT strategy with business strategy and whether IT investment supports business objectives. Â What factors influence the ITG of selected Indonesia High School (HS) aligning IT-Business strategy? Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) is a tool for analyzing the ITG model results in this study. The result is the composition of 9 variables with four independent variables (as structure mechanism variables), four dependent variables (as process and relational mechanism variables), and the ITG variable (as the final variable) shows a significant value of 0.75 at the ITG variable. This considerable value means that the ITG supporting variables of four independent and four dependent variables significantly affect the ITG variable by 75%. This study provides information if the system trust variable is increasing due to the influence of good IT strategy (independent) variables and good business (dependent) variables. The recommendation is that this ITG trust model can be used to evaluate the alignment of IT strategy with business strategy and whether IT investment supports business objectives in H