The Mediation Effect of Trusting Beliefs on the Relationship Between Expectation-Confirmation and Satisfaction with the Usage of Online Product Recommendation

Online Product Recommendations (OPRs) are increasingly available to onlinecustomers as a value-added self-service in evaluating and choosing a product.Research has highlighted several advantages that customers can gain from usingOPRs. However, the realization of these advantages depends on whether and towhat extent customers embrace and fully utilise them. The relatively low OPR USAgerate indicates that customers have not yet developed trust in OPRs’ performance.Past studies also have established that satisfaction is a valid measure of systemperformance and a consistent significant determinant of users’ continuous systemusage. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the mediation effect of trustingbeliefs on the relationship between expectation-confirmation and satisfaction. Theproposed research model is tested using data collected via an online survey from626 existing users of OPRs. The empirical results revealed that social-psychologicalbeliefs (perceived confirmation and trust) are significant contributors to customersatisfaction with OPRs. Additionally, trusting beliefs partially mediate the impactof perceived confirmation on customer satisfaction. Moreover, this study validatesthe extensions of the interpersonal trust construct to trust in OPRs and examinesthe nomological validity of trust in terms of competence, benevolence, andintegrity. The findings provide a number of theoretical and practical implications.&nbsp

An empirical investigation of the academic performance in management education: Case study of the University of Malaya MBA Program

The Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) program is one of the most popular management education program in the country. University of Malaya has been offering this program since 1981. It is known to be among the most comprehensive and rigorous program in the country. This study will examine the academic performance of these MBA students. It investigates the impacts of several variables to the academic performance of the MBA students. Among the variables examined are qualifications (type of degree and undergraduate cumulative grade point average), age (with age and experience as covariates), gender, and ethnicity. Preliminary analysis indicates that qualifications and age have a correlation with the students’ academic performance. The paper also discusses the implications of the study to management education especially the admission requirement into the MBA program

The Influence of Travel Web Sites Effectiveness on Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Malaysian Travellers’ Perspective

There is growing reliance on the web sites for promotion of tourism and travel related product/services. Thus, identification of travel web site effectiveness attributes based on traveller/internet users’ expectation is necessary. This paper explores the travel web site effectiveness attributes and their relationships with the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of Malaysian travellers. Here an attempt is made in the context of explaining internet users’ beliefs using Technology Acceptance Model with data collected from 679 internet users/travellers. Factor analysis results indicate three dimensions of travel web effectiveness were derived, namely: i) technical adequacy & customization, ii) system quality & specific content and iii) web appearance. In testing the model, multiple regression results show that the above dimensions have positive influence on individual extrinsic motivation (perceived usefulness). Meanwhile, web appearance and technical adequacy & customization have positive influence on intrinsic motivation (perceived ease of use and enjoyment) of travel web sites

Role of Social Media on Information Accessibility

Social media is the gathering place of a large pool of consumers. It is the repository of consumer information and acts as a means of spreading information to build market presence. Most literature states that organizational usage of social media enhances customer relations, but social media also acts as a medium for information acquisition. Not many previous studies have investigated the role of social media on information accessibility. Therefore this study examined the impact of social media on information accessibility. A total of 171 organization responded to the survey and the result of the survey showed that social media usage has a positive impact on information accessibility. Also it was found that factors such as interactivity, trust and institutional pressure positively influence social media usage in organizations. This study provided a clearer understanding on the real importance of social media and its benefits towards information acquisition. The results would motivate and guide organizations in the adoption of social media for information acquisition which is important for understanding the customers, competitors and the industry and to develop strategies for enhancing business performance

System Generated Recommendation Vs Consumer Generated Recommendation: A Differential Effect on Consumers Beliefs and Behavior in e-Commerce Transactions

Online product recommendation (OPR) has received much attention in industry and academics, but less attention has been paid in exploring and understanding how different sources of recommendation influences consumers’ evaluation beliefs and behavior, and whether these impacts are relatively different for different types of products in their OPR continuous usage and product purchase intentions. This study aims to examine the distinct effects of system generated recommendation (SGR) and consumer generated recommendation (CGR) on consumers’ decision, affective, and social-psychological beliefs of OPR evaluation and to assess how these OPR evaluation beliefs subsequently effect consumers’ OPR continuous usage and purchase intentions. Results of a cross-sectional survey with 453 Amazon customers show that users of CGR express significantly higher trusting beliefs and perceived decision quality than users of SGR, while users of SGR elicit higher perceived enjoyment and lower perceived decision effort than users of CGR, resulting in different effect mechanisms toward OPR continuous usage and purchase intentions. Additionally, results also showed that product type (search & experience) significantly moderate the effects of OPR use on consumers’ OPR evaluation beliefs, indicating the way different type of recommendation sources (SGR vs CGR) for different types of product are comprehended and assessed. The findings are potentially beneficial to e-retailers who want to design sales-efficient websites by effectively employing OPR which improve consumers’ experience of buying different types of products

MEDIATION ANALYSIS USING THE HIERARCHICAL MULTIPLE REGRESSION TECHNIQUE A Study of the Mediating Roles of World-Class Performance in Operations

The changing environment in an organization is forcing the organization to find a plan of integrated management framework and adequate performance measurement. Failure to plan basically means planning failure for the business. Finding the critical factors of quality management practices (QMP), the mediating roles of the contextual factors of world-class performance in operations (i.e., world-class company practices or WCC, operational excellence practices or OE, company nonfinancial performance or CNFP), and the company financial performance would enable the company to facilitate the sustainability of TQM implementation model. This empirical study aims to assess how TQMa holistic management philosophy initially developed by W. Edward Deming, which integrates improvement strategy, management practices, and organizational performanceis specifically implemented in the oil and gas companies operating in Indonesia. Relevant literature on the TQM, the world-class performance in operations (world-class company and operational performance), the company performance (financial and non-financial performances), and the amendments of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia concerning the oil and gas industry, and related research on how the oil and gas industry in Indonesia develops sustainable competitive advantage and sustainable development programs are reviewed in details in our study. The findings from data analysis provide evidence that there is a strong positive relationship between the critical factors of quality management practices and the company financial performance mediated by the three mediating variables, i.e., world-class company practices, operational excellence practices, and company non-financial performance

E-Ticketing in Malaysia: Usage Trends

E-Ticketing is recognized as one of the online shopping facilities provided by Malaysian companies to consumers. It was pioneered by Air Asia, low budget Airline Company, and its usage has increased with the rapid growth of technological infrastructure and Internet usage. This study aims to identify e-ticketing trends among urban communities. In addition, the characteristics of e-ticketers and the barriers to e-ticketing are examined