Decomposing market orientation and its relationship to innovativeness of SMEs in Malaysia: the moderating effects of market turbulence

This study aims to investigate the relationship between market orientation and innovativeness, and the moderating effects of market turbulence in the context of Malaysian SMEs. Market orientation comprises three dimensional constructs, the customer orientation, competitor orientation, and interfuncional coordination. Data was gathered through self-administered questionnaires and a total of 180 respondents comprising owners and managers of small and medium sized enterprises participated in this study. Smart PLS 2.0 (M3) was employed to assess the proposed model through path modelling and bootstrapping technique. The results showed that customer orientation, competitor orientation and interfunctional coordination are positively related to innovativeness. Also, market turbulence was found to have moderated the relationship between customer orientation and innovativeness. Interestingly, the findings revealed that market turbulence negatively moderated the relationship between interfunctional coordination and innovativeness. Implications of the findings, limitations of the study and directions for future research are further discussed

Relationship between Knowledge Management and Organizational Performance: A Test on SMEs in Malaysia

Generally, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in supporting the nation’s economy. Nevertheless, Malaysian SMEs have not developed their full potential. Therefore, it is essential for the entrepreneurs to search for and shift towards better strategies to become more successful. In the present turbulent environments, knowledge has been viewed as a major strategic competitive resource. Given the importance of knowledge, entrepreneurs are encouraged to develop their capabilities to manage knowledge which will move them to become more competitive and innovative. Extensive research is available in the knowledge management literature investigating the process of knowledge management as a composite construct; nonetheless little research has been done to examine the independent effects of the individual dimensions of knowledge management process. In particular, little empirical evidence has been found to determine the implementation of knowledge management practices in the context of developing countries and small business. This study aimed to fill the perceived gaps by investigating the relationship between knowledge management process capabilities and organizational performance in the context of Malaysian SMEs. Knowledge management process capabilities were conceptualized as four dimensional constructs: knowledge acquisition, knowledge conversion, knowledge application, and knowledge protection while organizational performance were divided into two dimensions namely, non-financial performance and financial performance. This paper anticipates that the four knowledge management process capabilities are important antecedents of organizational performance, which have in turn a positive relationship with both non-financial performance and financial performance of SMEs. The findings of this study will provide insights to entrepreneurs and help them to identify and develop effective strategies towards enhancing their overall performance

Determinants Of Destination Image And Competitiveness In Sibu Heritage Trail: A PLS-SEM Approach

Tourism is the largest sector in the world and contributes significantly to the economies of the most advanced and developing countries. A major concern on limited resources and acknowledgement of competitiveness all led to the expansion of the literature on the competitiveness of tourism destinations. While there are limited studies investigating destination image and destination competitiveness, no studies have been found to examine the determinants of destination image and destination competitiveness. Thus, the present study attempts to explore whether accessibility quality, accommodation quality, destination attractiveness & resources on destination image and competitiveness. Data were collected from 132 tourists who have visited Sibu Heritage Trail. SmartPLS 3.0 was used to assess the developed model. The results highlighted that accessibility quality was positively and significantly related to the destination image. Besides, destination attractiveness and resources were found to be positively and significantly related to destination competitiveness as well as destination image. On the other hand, destination image was also found to have a significant and positive impact on destination competitiveness. The implications and limitations of the present study were further discussed

ANTECEDENTS OF DESTINATION IMAGE IN NATURAL PROTECTED AREA: THE MODERATING ROLE OF PERCEIVED VALUE

Ecotourism is a nature-oriented tourism idea that is flourishing and with promising outlook. The present study attempts to explore the importance of local communities’ attitude, carrying capacity and destination attractiveness & resources towards destination image by adopting perceived value as a moderator on examining the antecedents on destination image. Data were collected from 146 tourists who have visited Bako National Park, Sarawak. The research employs WarpPLS 6.0 and the results revealed that local communities’ attitude, carrying capacity and destination attractiveness & resources have impact on destination image. Perceived value has moderating effect between destination attractiveness & resources and destination image

Novel Method for Differentiating Histological Types of Gastric Adenocarcinoma by Using Confocal Raman Microspectroscopy

[[abstract]]Gastric adenocarcinoma, a single heterogeneous disease with multiple epidemiological and histopathological characteristics, accounts for approximately 10% of cancers worldwide. It is categorized into four histological types: papillary adenocarcinoma (PAC), tubular adenocarcinoma (TAC), mucinous adenocarcinoma (MAC), and signet ring cell adenocarcinoma (SRC). Effective differentiation of the four types of adenocarcinoma will greatly improve the treatment of gastric adenocarcinoma to increase its five-year survival rate. We reported here the differentiation of the four histological types of gastric adenocarcinoma from the molecularly structural viewpoint of confocal Raman microspectroscopy. In total, 79 patients underwent laparoscopic or open radical gastrectomy during 2008–2011: 21 for signet ring cell carcinoma, 21 for tubular adenocarcinoma, 14 for papillary adenocarcinoma, 6 for mucinous carcinoma, and 17 for normal gastric mucosas obtained from patients underwent operation for other benign lesions. Clinical data were retrospectively reviewed from medical charts, and Raman data were processed and analyzed by using principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Two-dimensional plots of PCA and LDA clearly demonstrated that the four histological types of gastric adenocarcinoma could be differentiated, and confocal Raman microspectroscopy provides potentially a rapid and effective method for differentiating SRC and MAC from TAC or PAC[[notice]]補正完

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

Knowledge Management Process Capability and Organisational Performance of Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises in Malaysia: The Moderating Effect of Entrepreneurial Orientation

In today’s increasingly globalised world, knowledge has become the key source of competitive advantage and organisational performance. Knowledge management (KM) has been acknowledged as an essential process for managing knowledge. Nevertheless, the literature relating to the KM process and performance in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is rather limited. The competitiveness of an organisation also depends on how likely the organisation to be proactive, risk-taking when facing new opportunities. Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) therefore plays an important role in helping Malaysian SMEs to enhance their organisational performance. The main objective of this study is to investigate and provide empirical evidence on the interrelationships between KM, EO, and organisational performance. This study attempts to examine whether KM dimensions are critical success factors for SMEs performance. This study also attempts to determine the moderating effect of EO on the relationship between KM and organisational performance. To achieve these objectives, the survey was conducted with a sample of 159 Malaysian manufacturing SMEs located in Selangor, Johor, and Sarawak. The analysis of the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) reveals that KM dimensions are of importance in enhancing the organisational performance of Malaysian SMEs. Three of four KM dimensions: knowledge acquisition, knowledge conversion, and knowledge protection were found to be significantly and positively related to both financial and non-financial performance. Moreover, EO has been found to positively moderate the knowledge conversion and application in their relationships with non-financial and financial performance, respectively. The findings of this study contribute to scholars and practitioners by providing empirical evidence on the moderating effects of EO, and the impacts of KM dimensions on the organisational performance in the context of SMEs

Factors Affecting Satisfaction and Loyalty in Public Transport using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM)

With an increasing number of privately own vehicles in Malaysia, the popularity of public transports is increasingly challenged by ride-hailing services such as Grab, MyCar, JomRides and MULA. To develop effective strategies aimed at retaining users, it is necessary to understand the factors that affect users’ satisfaction and loyalty in public transport. In this study, we propose that satisfaction and loyalty in public transport are associated with five key factors: accessibility, reliability, perceived value, comfort, and safety and security. Data collected from a survey of 179 public transport users in Kuching city was used to test the research model. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data. The main findings were that safety and security, and reliability significantly affected the users’ satisfaction and loyalty in public transport, while no statistically significant relationship was found among accessibility, satisfaction and loyalty. These findings not only contribute to the theory development of transportation research but also help practitioners to develop novel strategies aimed at increasing public transport usage