INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HALAL FOOD FROM THE MALAYSIAN SMALL-MEDIUM ENTERPRISE PERSPECTIVES

Internationalization of small-medium enterprises is seen to be essentialas it contribute most to the country’s income. Despite all the governmenteffort in aiding SMEs to go global, there are still SMEs that hesitate tofollow the trend. Therefore, this paper seeks to investigate hinderingfactor of Malaysian SMEs from going global. The study adopted in-depthinterview of 14 SMEs entrepreneurs from various industry in Southernregion of Malaysia. Results indicate that five common barriers arise areHalal certification, entrepreneurs’ attitude, cross-cultural marketing, lack ofresources government initiative and inefficient supply chain. The results ofthe study can be used as a guidelines for a better SMEs internationalizationpolicy

Top management capabilities and performance of halal product

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of top management capabilities inclusiveof global mindset (GM), foreign knowledge (FK) and international firm performance (IP).Design/methodology/approach – This paper opted for a descriptive study using structuredquestionnaires involving 118 Malaysian small medium enterprises (SMEs) that are currently marketing theirproducts abroad with halal JAKIM certification. Multiple regression analysis was applied to test the influenceof the two variables on international performance.Findings – The findings revealed both GM and FK significantly influence IP, which is crucial to overcomeSMEs’ resistance to go international.Research limitations/implications – This study only focusses on the niche market which is halalexport product, thus the findings may not be generalized to other sectors. Furthermore, the firm size mightalso influence the significant contribution of top management.Originality/value – This paper is a part of ongoing study of internal capabilities and international firmperformance among SMEs halal product manufacturers in developing countries

Perceived support and intention to leave: the effect on new educators / Mazida Ismail, Muruga Chinniah and Nani Shuhada Sehat

The escalation of unemployed graduate’s phenomena not only is a local issue but have become global. Clark (2009) reported that graduate unemployment in UK has soared 44 per cent in a year and is at its highest for more than a decade while 81,046 Malaysian graduates registered on labour exchange seeking job (Electronic Labour Exchange, Ministry of Human Resources, 2009). Through a lot of discussion and research done by researcher, academicians and authorities, half of the findings pointing back to education policies and educators. Thus in order to overcome this problem from becoming huge, ones must go back to the root factor that is the educators. As a human, certain individual needs must be satisfied first before they could deliver their knowledge appropriately. These include need for belongingness that contains affection and interaction with other people (eg. Organization, supervisor and co-worker) and esteem need that are gained through recognition. Nevertheless, the different workplace expectations brought by the new generation (McShane & Von Glinow, 2009) might give a different connotation to this situation. Therefore a study on the relationship of perceived support and intention to leave among new academician will be conducted. The purpose of this study are to examine the direct relationship between perceived support and intention to leave and then examine which type of support (namely organisational, supervisor and co-worker support) give the most influence to intention to leave. Data on 113 permanent new lecturers (served less than 3 years) in UiTM Segamat will be obtained using questionnaires and recorded and further analyse using SPSS Version 17. It is assumed that perceived support and intention to leave has a direct negative relationship and supervisor support is the most influential factor of intention to leave

Management of Gamified Lesson: Understanding Aesthetics and Acceptance among Learners

Joyful learning evokes happy feelings and subsequently induces positive academic achievement.  With the rise of mental health issues due to intense study among students, gamification has recently grown in popularity among academic institutions to make learners happier, more engaged and ultimately improve learning outcomes. However, the management of gamified lessons has been a problem for years for all education levels on a varying basis. Nowadays, it is increasingly recognized that not all learners are acceptive of gamified lessons for learning. Drawing on a survey of 283 students of higher learning institutions, this study found that aesthetics, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment have a favorable impact on the intention to accept gamification in learning among learners. This study contributes to under-investigated scholarly works of suitable conditions under which gamified lesson best takes place with regard to aesthetics and learners’ acceptance that would be beneficial for the effective management of gamification