Perceived organizational support (POS) and the career success among academician in Malaysian Universities / Siti Meriam Ali and Mohd Rizaimy Shaharudin

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of percieved organizational support (POS) on subjective and objective career success, aiming at career success among Malaysia academician. The sample of this study consisted of 100 lecturers from one of the higher learning institution in Malaysia. The findings indicated that partial relationships exists between perceived organizational support with the career success. Perceived organizational support was significantly and positively related to the subjective career success (career satisfaction) but not the objective career success (number of promotion)

Factors Influencing Purchasing Intention of Smartphone among University Students

AbstractMobile communication has made an impact towards interaction between people while conducting business either locally or internationally. The expansion of mobile communication technology e.g. wireless internet, mobile phone and Global Positioning System (GPS) are constantly evolving and upgrading as a result of consumers’ changing needs and preferences. Therefore, this paper examines about factors influencing purchasing intention of smartphone among university students. The result shows that three variables that are product features, brand name and social influence have significant relationship except one variable, product sacrifice that has no significant relationship with purchasing intention

Consumer’s Perception and Purchase Intentions Towards Organic Food Products: Exploring Attitude Among Academician

This study is attempted to gain knowledge about consumer attitude towards organic food products. With sample of 136 respondents consist of lecturers from Universiti Teknologi MARA (Northern Zone), the data obtained from the survey were analyzed with reliability test, correlation and regression analysis. Result from this study indicated that academician do aware of what is happening to surroundings with regards to environmental problems or ecological concern. The findings indicated that health consciousness factor have more impact on customer purchase intention of organic food products rather than the environmental concern. Environmental concern was found to have less impact because academician perceive that although they have knowledge towards environmental and ecological factors that can contribute to sustainable environment, however their current consumption pattern will not change their perception towards organic food product however good it is. Hence, this study is expected to provide understanding on the reasons of buying and would probably help marketers of organic food products to establish a proper communication message to different category of buyers who exhibit their interest towards organic food products. The limitation of this study is that the sample was restricted to a single geographic area in Malaysia. Future research should focus on extended scope to all states in Malaysia and further investigate the details of how consumer perceived the organic food products as a way for building sustainable consumption pattern. Keywords: Organic food products; Health consciousness; Environmental concern; AcademicianRésumé: Cette étude tente d'acquérir des connaissances sur l'attitude des consommateurs envers les produits alimentaires biologiques. L'échantillon se compose de 136 professeurs de l'Universiti Teknologi MARA (dans la zone du nord), et les données provenant de l'enquête ont été analysées par le test de fiabilité et l'analyse de corrélation et de régression. Le résultat de cette étude ont indiqué que les universitaires sont conscients de ce qui se passe dans l'entourage en ce qui concerne les problèmes environnementaux ou des préoccupations écologiques. Les résultats indiquent que le facteur de la conscience de la santé a plus d'impact sur l'intention d'achat des consommateurs de produits alimentaires biologiques que celui de l'environnement. La préoccupation environnementale a été trouvée d'avoir moins d'impact parce que les universitaires perçoivent que même s'ils ont des connaissances concernant les facteurs environnementaux et écologiques qui contribuent au développement durable, leur modèle de consommation actuel ne changera pas leur perception des produits alimentaire biologiques. Ainsi, cette étude devrait permettre aux marchands de produits alimentaires biologiques de comprendre les raisons de l'achat et probablement les aider à établir un message de communication propre aux différentes catégories d'acheteurs qui manifestent leur intérêt pour les produits alimentaires biologiques. La limitation de cette étude est que l'échantillon a été limité à une seule zone géographique en Malaisie. Les recherches futures devraient mettre l'accent sur la portée étendue à tous les États de la Malaisie et d'étudier plus en détail comment les consommateurs perçoivent les produits alimentaires biologiques en tant qu'un moyen du renforcement du modèle de consommation durable.Mots-clés: produits alimentaires biologiques; conscience de la santé; préoccupation environnementale; universitaire

Gender differences in entrepreneurial intention among university students / Siti Meriam Ali... [et al.]

The purpose of this study is to examine gender differences in attitude, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm and entrepreneurial intention among university students. A self-administered and structured questionnaire was employed in eliciting responses from one hundred and forty-three (143) undergraduates of University Teknologi MARA in Kedah. An independent sample t-test was conducted to compare the study variables scores for male and female students. The test of equality of variance shows that the p-value is higher than 0.05 for majority of the studied variables, hence this indicates that there is no significant difference between the two groups. However, results have revealed that there is a significant difference in the entrepreneurial intention between male and female students. Male students (M=3.8882) has significantly higher entrepreneurial intention than female students (M=3.570). The finding of this study provides useful implication for academic institutions and policy makers in enhancing entrepreneurial participation among university students. An effective entrepreneurial programs and activities can be designed based on the gender specific needs

Factors influencing tourists’ revisit intention to Pangkor Island: the role of travel motivation and destination satisfaction / Musdiana Mohamad Salleh... [et al.]

It is interesting for the tourism industry worldwide to better understand the intention of tourists to revisit destination. Despite the considerable number of research on repeat visitors, it remains unclear why people undertake repeat visit and what kind of characteristics hold repeat visitors. This study examined the attraction of Pangkor Island in Perak, an island tourism as perceived by international and domestic tourists. Pangkor Island is chosen because it is currently being developed as a world class island tourism destination which endowed with rich natural resources, variety of coral reefs and exotic marine liives. Therefore, this study aims to identify the factors influencing tourist intention to revisit Pangkor Island. Multiple regression analysis was carried out in order to examine the relationship between destination satisfaction and travel motivation towards revisit intention within a sample of 140 respondents. Results indicated that destination satisfaction and travel motivation which are the pull and push factors were significant predictors of tourists’ intention to revisit and recommend Pangkor Island as a holiday destination. Island tourism including maritime attractions, water recreations and scuba diving are forms of alternative tourism which have gained increasing demand among tourists nowadays. Thus, the result of this study can serve as inputs to the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia and Perak State Government in particular with developing effective strategies to stimulate island tourism demand from both international and domestic tourist

Association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the multinational Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been associated with exposures in the workplace. We aimed to assess the association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study. Methods We analysed cross-sectional data from 28 823 adults (≥40 years) in 34 countries. We considered 11 occupations and grouped them by likelihood of exposure to organic dusts, inorganic dusts and fumes. The association of chronic cough, chronic phlegm, wheeze, dyspnoea, forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/FVC with occupation was assessed, per study site, using multivariable regression. These estimates were then meta-analysed. Sensitivity analyses explored differences between sexes and gross national income. Results Overall, working in settings with potentially high exposure to dusts or fumes was associated with respiratory symptoms but not lung function differences. The most common occupation was farming. Compared to people not working in any of the 11 considered occupations, those who were farmers for ≥20 years were more likely to have chronic cough (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.19–1.94), wheeze (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.16–1.63) and dyspnoea (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.53–2.20), but not lower FVC (β=0.02 L, 95% CI −0.02–0.06 L) or lower FEV1/FVC (β=0.04%, 95% CI −0.49–0.58%). Some findings differed by sex and gross national income. Conclusion At a population level, the occupational exposures considered in this study do not appear to be major determinants of differences in lung function, although they are associated with more respiratory symptoms. Because not all work settings were included in this study, respiratory surveillance should still be encouraged among high-risk dusty and fume job workers, especially in low- and middle-income countries.publishedVersio

Cohort Profile: Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study was established to assess the prevalence of chronic airflow obstruction, a key characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and its risk factors in adults (≥40 years) from general populations across the world. The baseline study was conducted between 2003 and 2016, in 41 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, the Caribbean and Oceania, and collected high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry from 28 828 participants. The follow-up study was conducted between 2019 and 2021, in 18 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. At baseline, there were in these sites 12 502 participants with high-quality spirometry. A total of 6452 were followed up, with 5936 completing the study core questionnaire. Of these, 4044 also provided high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry. On both occasions, the core questionnaire covered information on respiratory symptoms, doctor diagnoses, health care use, medication use and ealth status, as well as potential risk factors. Information on occupation, environmental exposures and diet was also collected

Predictors of career success: a study among academic staff in northern region, Malaysia / Siti Meriam Ali, Mohd Rizaimy Shaharudin, Azyyati Anuar

The purpose of this study is to determine the predictors of career success among Malaysia academicians. Specifically, this study investigates the relationship between human capital factors (job position and work experience), organizational sponsorship factors (perceived organizational support and perceived supervisory support), personality (self-efficacy), career commitment and career success. The sample of this study consisted of 100 academic staff of one particular institution of higher learning in the Northern region of Malaysia. Firstly, the human capital (job position and work experience) has positive significant relationship with the objective career success. However, there is an insignificant relationship that exists between the human capital and the subjective career success. Secondly, organizational sponsorship (perceived organizational support and supervisory support) has insignificant relationship with the objective career success. However, there is a partial relationship that exists between the organizational sponsorship with the subjective career success, on which perceived organizational support has a significant relationship with the subjective career success but not to the factor of supervisory support. Thirdly, personality supports a full relationship with the objective and subjective career success. Finally, career commitment has no relationship with the career success since no significant effect was found exists with both, objective and subjective career success. Examination of the relative importance of each independent variable on subjective career success (career satisfaction) revealed that perceived organizational support and self-efficacy were most important in explaining career satisfaction. Other factors such as job position, work experience, supervisory support and career commitment were not significant to influence the employee’s career satisfaction. Except for career commitment, the rest of study variables showed mixed result. To the surprised, career commitment was found to be insignificant effect to both objective and subjective career success. Another variable, human capital (job position and work experience) were found to be positive significant related to objective career success (number of promotion) but not to the subjective career success (career satisfaction). A different way has been demonstrated by the variable of self-efficacy which was found to have positive significant effect on the subjective career success, but not to the objective career success. However, both dimensions of organizational sponsorship (perceived organizational support and supervisory support) as insignificant relationship with the career success, although they partially influenced the subjective career success but realized full insignificant effects towards the objective career success. Future research should be conducted to determine if the results could be replicated empirically through more diverse and larger sample of the study. In addition, since the result of this research is connected well with some of the earlier publications regarding career success, further research in this area is expected to contribute to the existing body of knowledge, particularly on the use of new variables and analysis using robust analysis software such as Structural Equation Modeling. As mentioned, it would be useful to complement this research with the studies from other perspectives other than the academic staff, so that the generalization of the results towards the practicality and theory enrichment in the area can be successfully reached

Social capital structural modelling in mathematical literacy / Kor Liew Kee ...[et al.]

This study proposed a model that integrates social capital in predicting mathematical literacy (ML). A five-factor (parents, family, teacher, friend and the Internet) 16-item social capital model measured in Likert scales ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 10 (strongly agreed) was developed and validated. A Mathematics Literacy Test consisted of questions selected from PISA 2006 released mathematics items was administered. A sample of 1021 respondents from 11 secondary schools was selected. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM using AMOS 22) was employed to test the measurement model and the structural model. Results showed that the factor loadings of all five-factor were above 0.6. The goodness-of-fit test indicated the fit indices GFI = 0.934, AGFI = 0.904, CFI = 0.934, NFI = 0.903 and RMSEA= 0.070 met the criteria set for model fit. The hypothesis testing supported the effect of the Internet and home economic capital, and the teacher factor on the ML. Parent, the Internet, and family as mediators had a negative effect on the relationship between parents’ educational attainment level and ML. It is relevant that we included the Internet as an additional social capital factor when striving to compete for global educational excellence in this information age

Consumers’ purchase intention towards organic foods: a study among UiTM lecturers in northern region, Malaysia / Siti Meriam Ali ...[et al.]

This study attempted to gain knowledge about consumer attitude towards organic food products. With sample of 136 respondents consist of lecturers from Universiti Teknologi MARA (Northern Zone). The data obtained from the survey were analyzed with chi- square test, ANOVA, and correlation analysis. Result from this study indicated that academician do aware of what is happening to surroundings with regards to environmental problems or ecological concern. The findings indicated that healthy consciousness factor have more impact on customer purchase intention of organic food products rather than environmental concern. Environmental concern was found to have less impact because academician perceive that although they have a knowledge toward environmental and ecological factors that can contribute to sustainable environment, however their current consumption pattern will not change their perception towards organic food product however good it is. Hence, this study is expected to provide understanding the reasons of buying and would probably help marketers of organic food products to establish a proper communication message to different category of buyers who exhibit their interest tow ards organic food products. The limitation of this study is that the sample was restricted to a single geographic area in Malaysia. Future research should focus on extended scope to all stated in Malaysia and further investigate the details of how consumer perceived the organic food products as a way for building sustainable consumption pattern