ASSESSING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PURCHASE INTENTION TOWARD THE ECO-FRIENDLY STATIONERY: THE MODERATION ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN

Sustainable products like eco-friendly stationery have gained much attention recently due to the increasing awareness and consciousness of consumers towards environmental issues. Numerous sustainable products have been studied in the literature but very limited studies have primarily concentrated on eco-friendly stationery from the perspective of university students. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the factors that affect Malaysian university students’ purchase intention (PI) towards eco-friendly stationery. Two environmental factors (perceived environmental responsibility (PER) and environmental knowledge (EK)) have been incorporated into the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model together with environmental concern (EC) proposed as a moderator to develop this study’s research model. In this study, 261 usable responses were gathered via purposive sampling. This study utilised the partial least square-structural equation modelling to validate the proposed hypotheses. The result first showed that attitude (ATT), subjective norms (SN), and PER played significant roles in affecting students’ PI towards eco-friendly stationery. Additionally, the moderation analysis further revealed that the influence of SN on PI is significantly strengthened by EC. These findings signified that the students’ PI is directly impacted by ATT, SN and PER only, while the greater EC tends to further enhance the effect of SN on PI. This study’s findings firstly enrich the literature by offering new evidence on the students’ sustainable behaviour, especially in eco-friendly stationery. Besides, the moderating effect of EC on sustainable behaviour is also proven in this study. Moreover, numerous practical implications have also been resulting from this study and it’s useful for the stakeholders to cultivate the students’ sustainable behaviour

BRIDGING THE GAP: ORGANISATIONAL IDENTIFICATION AS A CATALYST FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT FULFILMENT AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING

This study sets out to investigate the influence of psychological contract fulfilment and organisational identification on knowledge sharing behaviour among knowledge workers. A survey-based study on 233 knowledge workers was conducted to investigate the direct and indirect effect of psychological contract fulfilment. Results show that organisational identification mediates the effect of psychological contract fulfilment on knowledge sharing behaviour. This study highlights the pertinence of fulfilling the underlying expectations of knowledge workers to encourage them to share their valuable knowledge. While numerous studies which employed the social exchange theory (SET) had attempted to identify specific factors that could encourage employee to initiate knowledge sharing, this study focused on the underlying process that could explain why these factors worked in encouraging knowledge sharing. Fundamentally, this study posited that when psychological contracts were not violated, employees tend to identify with their organisations better. Consequently, they share their valuable knowledge with others within the organisation

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OPEN INNOVATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM MALAYSIAN PUBLIC SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

While confronting a multitude of internal and external challenges, public service organizations are consistently subjected to greater expectation and public scrutiny to perform. As such, previous studies have suggested that innovation could play important roles in enhancing the performance of public service organizations, especially by leveraging external resources and capabilities through open innovation. Despite the promise of how advantageous open innovation is, there is conflicting evidence of its impact on organizational performance. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the relationship between open innovation and organizational performance in the context of public service organizations. Through a survey questionnaire collected from 112 out of 155 local authorities in Malaysia, quantitative data were analyzed using PLS-SEM in the SmartPLS 4 software to test hypotheses of this study. The results suggest that while open innovation has a significant positive effect on organizational performance, the relationship was not moderated by the type of innovation. The findings of this study provide some new insights into the impact of open innovation on organizational performance, particularly in the public sector. Nevertheless, it is recommended for future research to investigate the specific impacts of different open innovation activities or types on performance in a more diverse context

THE ROLE OF INNOVATION IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FDI AND INCOME INEQUALITY: EVIDENCE FROM A TRANSITION ECONOMY

This study explores the impact of innovation and foreign direct investment (FDI) on income inequality, emphasizing the moderating role of innovation in the relationship between FDI and income inequality, using panel data from 63 Vietnamese provinces from 2005 to 2020. As economic expansion raises concerns about income inequality in Vietnam, understanding the distributional effects of innovation and FDI is essential. While innovation fosters technological progress and job creation, its benefits primarily accrue to skilled labor and capital-intensive sectors, potentially widening income inequality. Similarly, FDI promotes economic expansion, but its effects on inequality depend on absorptive capacity and investment composition, which may exacerbate income gaps. Using the system generalized method of moments (GMM) method on 1,008 observations, the findings reveal a U-shaped relationship between innovation and income inequality, whereas FDI exhibits an inverted U-shaped relationship. Specifically, innovation exacerbates inequality beyond a threshold of 27.63, while FDI reduces inequality once it exceeds 0.76. Moreover, the negative coefficient of the interaction variable between innovation and FDI suggests that innovation weakens the impact of FDI on income inequality. These findings remain robust when substituting the Human Development Index as an inequality proxy and align with modernization and endogenous growth theories. This study contributes novel empirical insights and policy implications for promoting inclusive innovation and sustainable investment, advancing Sustainable Development Goal 10 on inequality reduction

Volatile Components, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities of Komburongoh (Acorus calamus L.) Essential Oils as Potential Medicinal Herbs from Sabah, Malaysia

Acorus calamus L., known for diverse therapeutic applications, was studied for its volatile components, antibacterial and antioxidant potential in essential oils from Sabah, Malaysia. Employing hydrodistillation with a Clevenger apparatus, the oils were analysed through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Antibacterial activity was assessed via disc diffusion against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Escherichia coli. Antioxidant properties were evaluated using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Both leaf and rhizome oils were rich in phenylpropanoids, oxygenated sesquiterpenes, and sesquiterpenes including α-asarone, γ-asarone, methyl isoeugenol, 6-epi-shyobunone, and (E)-β-farnesene. They demonstrated significant antibacterial activity at 400 µg/mL, while displaying lower DPPH (IC50 = 28.20 ± 4.99 µg/mL) and excelling in the FRAP (150.12 ± 0.10 mg TE/g). This ongoing phytochemical analysis of A. calamus holds promise for enhancing quality control, ensuring safety, and validating its traditional applications

DETERMINANTS OF GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ADOPTION IN INSURANCE COMPANIES

This study aims to investigate the factors that influence the adoption of Generative artificial intelligence (GEN-AI) in insurance companies by utilizing the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework.This study employs the TOE framework to examine the factors that impact the GEN-AI adoption at organizational level and was conducted on 307 insurance company managers and analysed using partial least squares (PLS). The research offers insurance companies and policy maker insights and recommendations for GEN-AI adoption. The empirical results reveal that relative advantage (RA), perceived compatibility (PC) and top management support (TMS) significantly influence GEN-AI adoption, CP, OR have positive effect on TMS, but perceived compatibility (PC) cannot significantly influence GEN-AI adoption. TMS mediates between competitive pressure（CP） and GEN-AI in insurance firms, and it also mediates between organizational readiness (OR) and GEN-AI. This study provides countermeasure advice to AI technology developers, insurance company manager, and practitioners

Pharmacological Properties and Health Benefits of Aquilaria Leaf Extract: A Review of its Antioxidant, Antidiabetic, Antimicrobial, Anti-Inflammatory, and Gastrointestinal Regulation Effect

 Aquilaria or Karas tree belongs to the Thymelaeaceae family, a famous agarwood producer. This plant is widely distributed in the Indomalesia region, including Malaysia. Recently, these plants have attracted the attention of researchers. Infected wood resin from Aquilaria plants, also known as agarwood, is widely used for perfume production, religious and medicinal purposes. Due to the long development time of the plants and the need to inoculate them to initiate agarwood resin production, farmers have sought an alternative source of income by marketing the leaves of the Aquilaria tree. Aquilaria leaves are also known to have antioxidant, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties and are commonly used to regulate the gastrointestinal tract. In contrast to the abundant benefits of the Aquilaria leaves, there were lacking reports on the cytotoxicity of the leaves and their extract. Therefore, this review investigates and points out the pharmacological properties of Aquilaria leaves, their human health benefits, and toxicity of the leaves based on the in-vitro and in-vivo studies as it is crucial for safety consumption and downstream applications, including food and beverages, pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industry

DRIVING FACTORS TO TOURISM DESTINATION ATTRACTIVENESS IN ISKANDAR MALAYSIA: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF ENJOYMENT

Tourism destination attractiveness undeniably contributes to sustainable tourism. However, Iskandar Malaysia lacks a robust marketing strategy. This highlights that there is a need to investigate the driving factors and the mediating effect of enjoyment on tourism destination attractiveness from the tourist’s perspective, using Social Cognitive Theory and Comparative Advantage Theory. A total of 215 tourists participated voluntarily and IBM SPSS and SmartPLS 4.0 were applied. Interestingly, the findings revealed that price sensitivity, entrepreneurial competency, and self-efficacy are mediated by enjoyment toward tourism destination attractiveness. This study contributes to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 11 for sustainable cities

INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL, R&D AND SUSTAINABLE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: MODERATING ROLE OF FIRM CHARACTERISTICS IN AN EMERGING MARKET

Intellectual capital (IC) is a crucial driver of sustainable financial performance, particularly in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. This study uses panel data from Vietnamese firms between 2017 and 2022 to investigate how IC and research and development (R&D) investment influence firm sustainability in an emerging market. This research, compared with previous studies, confirms the positive impact of IC and R&D on short- and long-term financial stability and also highlights the moderating role of firm characteristics. Specifically, firm size and growth rate enhance the benefits of R&D investment, whilst older firms exhibit a diminishing effect, potentially owing to reduced adaptability or innovation capacity. By emphasising the relationship amongst R&D, IC and firm characteristics, this study offers fresh insights into maximising financial sustainability in dynamic markets. Findings provide a foundation for future research and practical strategies to foster long-term competitiveness in emerging economies

MOTIVATION FOR OVERSEAS TRAINING AMONG CHINA UNIVERSITY TEACHERS' - A SDT MODEL ANALYSIS

The Belt and Road Initiative has presented both opportunities and challenges for China and countries along its route. Despite policy efforts aimed at promoting international development by government and university, there remains a lack of enthusiasm among Chinese university teachers for participation in internationalisation efforts. The phenomenon of weak response is aimed at uncovering the expectations and key factors that influence a teacher's decision to join overseas programmes, as well as determining the actual impact of cross-cultural training on teachers. Based on the self-determination theory, this thesis uses qualitative research to investigate the motivations of international training on academics at the higher education in China. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 27 university teachers who have received or are undergoing overseas training to reinforce the impact of cross-cultural training on their professional growth. Competence, autonomy, relatedness, and satisfaction shape motivation within a supportive environment that meets expectancy and basic psychological needs, in line with expectancy-value theory and self-determination theory principles. This study also hopes to provide a reference for talent training in other universities and point out the direction for further studies by future researchers