Determinants of Investment In Islamic Crowdfunding

Investment decisions in Islamic Crowdfunding have many determinants, including: project quality, creator abilities, social network creators, reputation and entrepreneur experiences. This study examines the influence of significant and insignificant determinants of investment in Islamic Crowdfunding. It uses a random sampling technique with Structural Equation Modeling Partial Least Square (PLS) as the analysis model. The results show that social creators and entrepreneur experiences have a significant effect on investment in Islamic Crowdfunding. Contrastingly, project quality, creator ability, and reputation have insignificant influences. Entrepreneur experiences and reputation of the platform have dominant and least influence on investment in Islamic crowdfunding, respectively. Creator's ability has a dominant-negative effect on Islamic Crowdfunding, and therefore, it requires special attention. The sharia values contained in all investment determinants are the primary consideration by investors. Therefore, increasingly inevitable sharia compliance is a necessity from time to tim

Factors influencing success of Malaysian e-government implementation focused on websites assessment, infrastructure readiness and change management

The thesis explores the three main activities of websites assessment, infrastructure readiness test and change management as factors influencing the implementation of Electronic Government (EG) or Digital Government in Malaysia. The objectives of this research include understanding key factors that influence EG success in Malaysia, investigating the use of indicators within the factors that could facilitate measuring or monitoring the delivery and usage of online services, and developing a model based on factors and indicators that would help government agencies to deliver online services in EG. It is to facilitate delivery of online services and drive usage for the convenience of users or public at large. Mixed methods through triangulation evaluation approach where real life activities were emphasised with theoretical definitions for the case studies were used in seeking success of EG implementation. The first factor is the case study of the annual nationwide assessment and ranking of government agencies’ websites or portals. Websites were assessed based on a set of criteria and scored accordingly. These scores were then ranked according to 1-5 star ranking. The second factor is the case study with the activity of infrastructure readiness test for the bandwidth required for EG transactions over the internet. This was a crucial exercise since internet infrastructure is the basic requirement for EG implementation. The third factor is the case study of change management activity where awareness programmes and motivation practices towards respective agencies can be translated into usage increase of online services for the users. These case studies were conducted independently. Amongst the factors, the websites assessment was the key case study as it involved all government agencies nationwide and data of online services yearly could be gathered. The other two factors were to promote EG usage and have indirect contribution towards the delivery of online services. Selected agencies were used to correlate with the number of online services offered for a period of time against star ranking. A positive correlation between online services and the websites assessment rankings attained by the respective agencies was found. This is in line with the findings that using these factors increased number of online services and usage. A directional model illustrates the use of factors and indicators for future activities in implementing EG successfully

Small businesses in rural areas: Evidence of their role and success in North Yorkshire

This study investigates the role and success of small businesses in North Yorkshire, setting them firstly in context within the UK as a whole and the region, then in a more in depth analysis of the characteristics of a sample of small businesses (less than 10 employees) from the Harrogate and Ryedale Districts of North Yorkshire. The phenomenon of the growth in size and significance of the small business sector has been part of economic life in this country in recent decades, and is one of the possible pieces of evidence of a regional economic resurgence. The growing importance of small businesses, in terms of their numbers, is undoubtedly a feature of the new economic landscape of the 1980 ' s and 1990 ' s .Some traditional preconceptions are challenged, for instance, previous studies suggest that new firm foundations in rural areas are not stimulated by economic recession, as normally expected, and studies suggest the growing significance of embeddedness and networking, aspects which are not important to traditional economic theory. The research in North Yorkshire provides evidence to support the existence of a new economic landscape. The research describes the current economic climate in North Yorkshire in terms of wealth indicators, employment and VAT registrations and deregistrations, which underline the relatively healthy circumstances of the county. In the second part of the study, based on a survey of small businesses, the particular characteristics of small businesses, including their location, their longevity and reasons for their establishment are examined. The typical small business was found to be a 'niche ' type service, established on the outskirts of a village or small market town, typically in home premises, established there for an average of around 11 years, and set up after voluntarily leaving employment, not redundancy. Many of the founders were qualified and a moderate level of technology was used in the business. There was firm evidence of local embeddedness and informal networking, though little or no evidence of agency assistance and formal networking, such as membership of business associations. The various characteristics were exhaustively cross - tabulated to further determine the characteristics of the sampled firms. Finally, the results of the sample survey were compared and contrasted with previous studies in the field of small business characteristics, particularly recent studies of small businesses in rural areas, and the results generally conformed to the patterns - there is a new economic landscape where countless small businesses play a small but significant role, perhaps a more static role in North Yorkshire than is commonly supposed

Marketing strategies for Visa cards in Hong Kong.

by Chan Wai-Tak.Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1989.Bibliography: leaves 113-118

The Relationship between Information Literacy and Global Learning

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between undergraduate student performance on an information literacy assessment activity and their performance in global learning assessment activities for three global learning outcomes: global awareness, global perspective, and global engagement. Global learning is the process whereby people from varied backgrounds collaboratively analyze and seek solutions for complex problems that go beyond borders. Important components of global learning are the acquisition, analysis and use of information, relating to complex problems which may include, but are not limited to, poverty, environmental protection and food security. These components of global learning are analogous to information literacy, which represents skills that students apply to recognize, access, evaluate, and use information for decision making. Students enrolled in global learning courses, at Florida International University, participated in this investigation during the fall of 2016. Data from an 18-question information literacy assessment survey, and results of three global learning assessment activities were collected. Instructors teaching the global learning courses scored the global learning assessment activities. Information literacy and global learning data for 43 students were analyzed using multiple regression correlation methods. Research findings indicate no significant relationship between information literacy and the three global learning outcomes: global awareness, perspective and engagement. Descriptive data analysis show that over 79% (n=34) of participants reported having never received information literacy instruction from a librarian. Curricular implications include exploring opportunities for exposing students in global learning courses to information literacy processes either by adding information literacy to the general education core curriculum or by integrating information literacy into these courses. Recommendations for future research include replicating this study with a larger sample of students and conducting a study involving an information literacy intervention with pre- and post-test components

2010–2011 Annual Report

This annual report highlights students' achievements, accomplishments for the year, student profiles, budget and financial matters and a list of donors

The impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies on legal practitioners in law firms and legal publishers.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions currently have the capabilities to perform tasks quicker, more accurately and consistently than legal professionals. This could result in inducing the opinion in employers at private law firms and legal publishers that AI software may have a quicker return on investment and a lower total cost of ownership. The purpose of this study is to discover whether the availability of yield-producing, affordable AI technologies in the legal industry could lead to legal practitioners and their roles becoming redundant. An explanatory quantitative study was established using a cross-sectional descriptive survey design to achieve the objectives of the research. A self-administered structured questionnaire was developed and delivered via hardcopy and e-mail to 102 legal professionals by means of snowball sampling. These respondents were drawn from 19 different private law firms, legal publishers and legal departments at private corporations. Statistical analysis performed on the data collected was analysed and interpreted using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that there was a general awareness of advancement in certain legal AI solutions and there was a general agreement that legal professionals would advocate that their companies invest in AI Solutions if it produced additional accurate work yield while being cost-effective. The final revelation was that legal professionals agreed that AI solutions were not yet mature enough to replace human legal professionals. Regardless of this sentiment, they felt that they and their companies, would hire fewer legal professionals presented with the opportunity of value-adding legal AI solutions. Recommendations include legal professionals investigating the advancement and availability of AI solutions for the purposes of utilising it to strategically augment and bolster their job functions. Further recommendations include investigations into understanding their company’s current capability and strength in comparison to their competitors and to understand how AI would augment their company performance to provide additional value in terms of insight and improve turn-around times. The final recommendation was for South African tertiary institutions of higher learning to start incorporating the topics of AI and Law into its Law Degree curriculum in an effort to make students aware of the advancement of AI in the area of Law and how it will affect their lives. The importance of this study is in the opinion of the professionals surveyed who believe that there was a strong possibility that they and their companies would hire fewer legal professionals if there was the availability of an economically beneficial legal AI solution which produced accurate, consistent, yield-producing output

The drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility in the supply chain. A case study.

Purpose: The paper studies the way in which a SME integrates CSR into its corporate strategy, the practices it puts in place and how its CSR strategies reflect on its suppliers and customers relations. Methodology/Research limitations: A qualitative case study methodology is used. The use of a single case study limits the generalizing capacity of these findings. Findings: The entrepreneur’s ethical beliefs and value system play a fundamental role in shaping sustainable corporate strategy. Furthermore, the type of competitive strategy selected based on innovation, quality and responsibility clearly emerges both in terms of well defined management procedures and supply chain relations as a whole aimed at involving partners in the process of sustainable innovation. Originality/value: The paper presents a SME that has devised an original innovative business model. The study pivots on the issues of innovation and eco-sustainability in a context of drivers for CRS and business ethics. These values are considered fundamental at International level; the United Nations has declared 2011 the “International Year of Forestry”