156 research outputs found
Service Quality in Islamic and Conventional Banks in Malaysia: An Explorative and Comparative Analysis
No full textIslamic banks now operate in competition with other Islamic banks, foreign Islamic banks and also with conventional banks offering banking products and services based on Islamic principles. However, it is known that the intense competition in banking industry results in providing better services to the customers as well as providing competitive products.
The aim of this research, hence, is to explore and examine the perceived level of service quality of Islamic and conventional banks in a comparative manner through the perceptions of the customers in Malaysia. This research also aims to explore and examine the relationship between perceived customer satisfactions and the identified service quality dimensions in Islamic and conventional banks.Furthermore, the study also investigates the customers’ level of knowledge and awareness of relevant financial and banking concepts and terms in conventional and Islamic banking in Malaysia with the objective of establishing the sources of patronage and motivation in bank selection. Importantly, the study explores the expectations of the customers on these areas so that a comparison can be made within Islamic and conventional banks and also between these two bank categories to identify service quality gap.
This study utilises a modified SERVQUAL model, which is based on the widely accepted SERVQUAL model and CARTER model to measure the service quality in Malaysian banks. In responding to the aims of this study, a questionnaire survey was utilised with 941 respondents, which was carried out in late2010 in large cities in Malaysia. In analysing the data, descriptive and inferential statistics analyses were employed. The approach taken by the study in examining the service quality gap is to compare the customers’ expectations with their actual perceptions. In addition, the study examined and analysed the customers’ satisfaction relationship with the service quality dimensions.
The findings in relation to customers’ familiarity with Malaysian banking products and services evidenced that they possessed a higher level of knowledge and awareness of conventional banking services compared to Islamic banking services.
The findings on the factors influencing banking selection criteria revealed that ‘religious obligation’ was the most important criterion for the Islamic banks’ customers, while ‘courteous and competent personnel’ was identified as the most important criterion for conventional banks’ customers. In addition, the findings on the factor analysis showed that for Islamic banks, all of the service quality factors could be grouped into three components: ‘service oriented factors’, ‘financial oriented factors’, and ‘religious obligation and image factors’. On the other hand, the factors for the conventional banks are re-classified with factor analysis as :‘service oriented factors’, ‘financial oriented factors’, and ‘marketing oriented factors’.
As for the level of service quality, the main findings produced seven dimensions of service quality: (i) compliance with Islamic values; (ii) assurance; (iii) reliability; (iv) tangible; (v) empathy; (vi) responsiveness; and (vii) social responsibility. For the expectation part, the ‘reliability’ dimension scored the highest average mean for both categories (Islamic banks and conventional banks) while the lowest average mean score for both type of banks was the ‘tangible’ dimension. On the other hand, the ‘assurance’ dimension scored the highest average mean in the perception part of Islamic banks, while ‘reliability’ dimension scored the highest in the perception analysis related to conventional banks. In contrast, the lowest score of average mean for the perception of Islamic and conventional banks was the ‘empathy’ dimension.
The results of the study depicts that all of the service quality gap values (perception minus expectation) were negative which showed that the performances were below expectations (obtaining a negative score), which led to a perception of low service quality. Finally, the regression analysis showed that the most important dimension that had positive direct effect on customers’ satisfaction is ‘tangible’ related factors.
The study has significant implications for Malaysian banks in providing a direction for service quality improvement. It is expected that the study can inform the management of the banks in developing their marketing strategy, which is crucial for emerging intense competition in Malaysian banking in general and for Islamic banking in particular. Lastly, while the Islamic banks have been subjected to criticism for having poor service quality, this study shows that there was not much difference on the service quality gap (perception minus expectation) between the Islamic and conventional banks in Malaysia
Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS)-entropy Methodology for Inherent Safety Design Decision Making Tool
No full textAbstractInherently Safer Design (ISD) concept has been recognized as a way to achieve safer operation and economically attractive for the process plant. However, the challenges in selecting between ISD alternatives are the need to satisfy conflicting objectives. Therefore, there is the need for a multi-criteria decision-making tool that can make a reliable, coherent and defensible decision. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the use of the TOPSIS-entropy method as a decision-making tool to evaluate the trade-off of ISD alternatives. Entropy method was included in TOPSIS calculation to remove the subjectivity problem during the weight scoring process for attributes. This methodology has been applied to identify the best ISD alternatives for methyl isocyanate storage at West Virginia fertilizer production plant. The results show that the rank obtained for ISD alternatives influenced by the weight value that indicate the priority given to the attributes. The Du Pont method has been identified as the best option when higher priority given to the attributes under external/regulatory pressure and the existing methodology with inventory reduction has been identified as the best option when higher priority given to the attributes under internal/cost pressure. The results obtained using TOPSIS-entropy method are congruent with the results reported in the previous work using Multi Attribute Utility Analysis proves that this method can be used to resolve ISD conflicts effectively. More than that, the capability of TOPSIS to deal with different types of weight estimation techniques gives an added value to this methodology
1st Process systems engineering & safety (ProSES) symposium 2019 preface
No full textThe special issue of 1st ProSES Symposium is a collection of invited contributions from the presenters of the inaugural Process Systems Engineering & Safety (ProSES) Symposium, organized by Process Systems Engineering & Safety (ProSES) Research Group, Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology, formally known as the Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, on 4th September 2019 in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. The theme for the 1st ProSES Symposium 2019 is The Role of Modelling and Simulation Towards IR 4.0, since the emergence of IR4.0 technology provides the opportunity for dramatically increasing the reliability and efficiency in production operations of many industrial sectors including chemical-based processing. Hence, it is the aim of this conference to provide the platform for intellectual discourse for the application of computer aided tools for modelling and simulation in the area of process systems engineering and safety particularly in the era of IR4.0, and related topics. 1st ProSES Symposium 2019 attracted more than 60 extended abstracts submissions. Two keynote speakers delivered their particularly interesting topics – Professor Ir Dr Haslenda Hashim from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia with a talk on "Process Modelling and Simulation Toward IR4.0"; and Professor Dr Azmi Mohd Shariff from Universiti Teknologi Petronas on "Process Safety in IR4.0"
Using risk matrix as an inherent risk tool at preliminary design stage for inherently safer design
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Framework for Ecotoxicological Risk Assessment of Ionic Liquids
No full textAbstractAlthough ionic liquids (ILs) hold salient features and considered as a replacement of conventional organic solvents, but their possible toxicological and ecotoxicological impacts must be considered equally in the design and development stage. Predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) plays a vital role in assessing the ecotoxicological hazards in the ILs. A systematic methodological framework is presented for assessing the predicted environmental concentration (PEC) of ionic liquids. Initially, an effect level is predicted with a general quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR). Secondly, predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) is calculated by using assessment factor (AF). The PEC is compared to the PNEC to characterize the risk for the freshwater aquatic organisms. If the ratio continued to exceed one, ionic liquids under investigation will need further aquatic risk assessment procedures, which involve iterative steps to refine the PEC and PNEC
Numerical Simulation for Dehydration of Natural Gas using Joule Thompson Cooling Effect
No full textAbstractIn this study, the potential of Joule Thompson cooling effect for natural gas dehydration was studied using numerical simulation method. Population balance model (PBM) was used to simulate the non-equilibrium water condensation process. Meanwhile, empirical nucleation model and diffusion growth model were taken under consideration in order to predict the onset of the water nucleation and the non-equilibrium mass transfer rate. The simulation condition was set at 78% of CO2content,feed pressure of 71bar and temperature of 300K. The Joule Thompson effect has been validated with the experimental data. The non-equilibrium results were then compared with the equilibrium results in order to investigate the pressure drop required for the water nucleation. Results showed that,alarge homogeneous nucleation of water occurred at the pressure drop larger than 30bar. This has resulted in an extremely high condensation rate for the vapor in the natural gas under high pressure drop. Hence, the transition of non-equilibrium to equilibrium can be achieved within 5 milliseconds condensation time, indicating the possibility of Joule Thompson cooling effect in high efficient natural gas dehydration
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