Malaysian Foreign Direct Investment Flows Under Fixed Exchange Rates System (1998-2005) The Case Of FDI Inflows From Northeast Asia Countries

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the relationship between Malaysian fixed exchange rates regime (1998-2005) and its foreign direct investment inflows. This study attempts to study the impact of a currency depreciation or devaluation (specifically in Malaysia case) and the flows of Malaysia foreign direct investment in the period of currency crisis (1998-2005) which Malaysian Ringgit had been pegged with RM 3.80/USD. Focus of this study will look at the Malaysia flows of foreign direct investment from Northeast Asian countries especially from Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan over the pegging period of 1998-2005. This study will look at the inflows of foreign direct investment from those countries to see the effect of currency devaluation to the foreign direct investments inflows to Malaysia. In order to obtain the relationship between exchange rates and foreign direct investment, the Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) method has been used. Results from the analysis suggest that Malaysian fixed exchange rates regime for the period of 1998-2005 does not have a significant relationship to its foreign direct investment inflows from Northeast Asian countries. However, results for control variables such as labor cost, interest rate, and GDP of Northeast Asian countries as well as Malaysia do have a significant impact to the inflows of Malaysian foreign direct investment. Under the fixed exchange rate policy, Malaysia was able to sustain and attract inward foreign investment due to the lower costs of production compared to others affected countries. Due to this, the policy helped so much to ensure Malaysia competitiveness is lasting even under the crisis pressures

The Relationship between Employability Skill and Job Mismatch towards Graduates’ Unemployment

Academic graduates are expected to contribute more significantly to industry and the national economy by bringing in skills, knowledge, innovation, and productivity. Their role is essential in driving industrial growth, sustainability, and overall development for economic growth. However, in Malaysia, the difficulty of finding employment for graduates has become a major problem, not only from the graduates’ point of view but also from the employer. While the graduates are struggling to find job openings that match their skills, the employers at the other end find it difficult to locate people who are compatible with their businesses' vision. In Malaysia, several causes contributed to an increase in the unemployment rate for recent graduates including graduates' lack of employability skills and job mismatches. Quality such as communication, soft skills, problem-solving, and creative abilities, are shown to be weak in unemployed graduates. This research attempts to examine the relationship between employability skills and job mismatches towards the graduate’s unemployment. A questionnaire has been developed to gather the data. Graduates of the Faculty of Business and Management (FBM), UiTM have been identified as the population. Descriptive and regression analyses were run using SPSS software. Findings suggested that both independent variables (employability skills and job mismatches) contributed significantly towards the graduate’s unemployment. This study is significant as it highlights the need for graduates to improve necessary skills such as leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills (Briones, G. et al., 2021) needed within the industry to land a job

Factors That Influence Job Stress among Foreign Construction Site Workers in Malaysia

This study’s goal is to address factors that cause major stress scenarios and identify the factors that cause such a dilemma among foreign workers. These issues stem from three different variables that contribute to stress, which include job characteristics (job demand, job control and job support) workload and reward. To affirm and verify the said variables, a quantitative research approach is implemented based on participants from the construction site. The sampling frame was for foreign workers from different levels and positions in a selected construction site in Klang Valley. This study was based on 100 samples of foreign workers selected using the snowballing method. Results indicate a significant relationship between job factors (job demand, job control and job support) on the job stress of foreign workers at the construction site. Results also show a significant relationship between workload and job stress and no relationship was found between reward and job stress. This study discussed the results from the psychological, and human resource perspectives, as well as their implications for human resource management. The findings can be used to guide the progress of policies and programs that can navigate the negative effects of employees’ stress. The present study was done to further combine and explore whether the main initial factors influencing stress in Malaysia are still applicable in the context of foreign workers in the construction industry. Up until now, there has been only scarce research on the combination of the discussed factors on stress.&nbsp

The effects of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on acceptance towards office assistance application among employers to disabled employees / Nor Intan Adha Hafit … [et al.]

Employment among people with disabilities remains debatable. This paper investigates employers' points of view towards accepting technological assistance for employees with disabilities at the workplace. Specifically, this paper examines the effects of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on acceptance towards Office Assistance Application among employers to disabled employees. Acceptance towards any technology has been broadly tested using Davis' Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). To prove if that is the case or not for Office Assistance Applications within the context of employers to employees with disabilities, this research was undertaken to affirm the past research. Data was collected via online questionnaires from 35 employers to Micro Enterprises organization. 6 of surveyed employers were current employers to disabled workers, 18 employers affirmed interest to employ PWDs in the future with 9 employers asserted no interest to hire disabled workers. Data was analysed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The result showed two hypotheses were supported evidencing positive and significant relationship between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, and relationship between perceived usefulness and technology acceptance. Findings are useful for employers to improve functions of their disabled workers at the workplace along with increasing employment prospects for people with disabilities

Effects of Age and Mobile Technology Usage on Employee Engagement

This study begins with realizing the essential contributions of mobile technology usage factors which are function, accessibility, cost, and security on employees' engagement in Malaysia's healthcare industry's workplace. The independent variables of mobile technology usage factors include function, accessibility, cost and security, while employee engagement is the independent variable. The sampling frame concentrates on the employees in KPJ Tawakkal Kuala Lumpur. Findings suggest that function, accessibility, and security influenced KPJ Tawakkal Kuala Lumpur's employee engagement. The moderating variable, age, was found to be insignificant in influencing the relationship between mobile technology usage factors (function, accessibility, cost, security) and employees' engagement

A Study of Personal Values, Sociocultural Adaptation And Subjective Well-Being From the Perspective of Refugees in the Time of Covid19 Pandemic

The goals of the present study were to test the relationship between personal values (i.e., self-transcendence and self-enhancement) and subjective well-being and the mediation of this relationship by sociocultural adaption among a sample of Afghan refugees (N = 381) during COVID19. The data was analysed using SPSS 25. Results show that self-transcendence was a significant predictor of subjective well-being, even by controlling for sociocultural adaptation. Sociocultural adaptation did not significantly mediate the positive relationship between refugees’ self-transcendence and subjective well-being. This research provides a novel understanding from the psychological perspectives of refugees’ well-being in time of crisis. We anticipate many new insights with the recent flourishing of research on personal value-subjective well-being relations, and with the additional inclusion of sociocultural adaptation