A study on Malaysia consumer perception towards buying an automobile

This study is to conduct the research to examine the relationships of the factors, particularly perceived quality, perceived value and perceived risk that will affect on Malaysia consumer purchase decision towards cars. Survey using convenience sampling was done at Klang Valley to customers’ age between 23 to 65 years old and above. This study showed significant results and the association between the three factors mentioned previously with purchase decision

The Changeless Core in a Changing Business Environment

Rapid change in business environment poses threat to business survival. It is crucial to examine the core of business sustainability. This paper proposes changeless factors in response to today’s business environment. Specifically, it addresses (1) the people factor (2) the purpose factor and (3) the principle factor as the pillars through which an organization finds its stability in the sea of business change. This paper demonstrates the unchanged factors to ensure business sustainability and to achieve long term objectives. After mapping the conceptual model, the paper devotes particular attention to conceptualizing the changeless cores of business. This research contributes practical insights for managers to further understand the cores of business sustainability. Specifically, it will assist managers to have clear goals in making decisions and managing change to enhance competitiveness in the business environment

Trends in eBusiness and eGovernment

Technology affects all areas. Business and government processes are changing with the use of the internet, mobile devices, internet of things, blockchain, machine learning, artificial intelligence and many other new technologies. In this book, it is aimed to focus the use of technology, new trends in business life and government covering the studies in all sub-areas of Information Systems, Knowledge Management, eBusiness, eCommerce, eMarketing, mCommerce, eGovernment, ePublic Services, eGovernance etc. The book consists of 7 chapters. Book chapter authors are reputable scientists from different countries of the world. The first chapter is a critical review and a case study in e-Business, with special attention to the digital currencies resource and its possibilities. The second chapter attempts to incorporate the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model with perceived risk theory (security risk and privacy risk) to explore its impact towards the intention to use m-government services. The third chapter aims to assess the level of gender inclusivity in the municipal e-procurement processes in the City of Johannesburg as a case study. The fourth chapter examines the impediments that derail the intensive uptake of eLearning programmes in a particular higher education institution. The fifth chapter investigated the role of Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) in enhancing the export performance of firms operating within the manufacturing sector in Zimbabwe. In the sixth chapter, a survey was undertaken on 131 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from Pelagonija region in order to determine the current level of SME digitalization within the region. It is aimed to compare with European Union (EU) average and to make conclusions on the impact of the SME digitalization to region gross domestic product (GDP) growth as well as revenues collection. The last chapter's purpose was to develop a measuring and modelling framework/instrument of Internet banking service quality (IBSQ) for the South African banking sector

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Service Quality and Patient satisfaction in Lean hospitals, Malaysia during the Covid-19 pandemic

Patient satisfaction and healthcare service quality are tied together. During Covid-19 pandemic, Lean hospitals have experienced numerous of issues, resulting in drop in service quality and severe impact on patient satisfaction. To understand the patient expectation during the pandemic, service quality of Lean hospitals are further evaluate with employing the SERVQUAL model. 467 questionnaires were collected from the outpatient in the 52 Lean hospitals using non-probability quota sampling method. From the Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) findings shows that all service quality aspects, reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness has significant relationship with patient satisfaction. Particularly, patients view empathy as the most significant factor in service quality during the pandemic, whereas the healthcare reliability is discovered to have less influence in explaining the patient satisfaction. A success healthcare system's primary purpose is to ensure all people receive high service quality, respectful treatment and satisfaction to protect their health and well-being. Therefore, the findings provide valuable insights on the perception and expectation of patient towards the healthcare service quality measurement for future improvement. To safeguard the patient satisfaction, Lean hospitals must ensure that (1) sufficient care and attention given to patient to serve patient’s best interests, (2) be responsive to assist and provide prompt services, (3) regularly monitor and ensure the equipment condition and the healthcare environment are clean and appealing, (4) provide professional service throughout interactions to reassure patient with skills and knowledge, and (5) provide timely service with a high accuracy and consistency of medical information

INTENTION TO USE M-GOVERNMENT SERVICES: AGE, GENDER AND EDUCATION REALLY MATTER?

INTENTION TO USE M-GOVERNMENT SERVICES: AGE, GENDER AND EDUCATION REALLY MATTER