More similar than different? A study on the effects of trauma on intra and inter-group relations in Israeli and Palestinian informal groups

We present here an analysis of a qualitative research that took place in Ramallah, West Bank and Jerusalem, Israel, from October 2011 to June 2012. The research consisted of semi-structured interviews with university students from West Bank and Israel. The students belonged to small informal groups formed through personal choice and based to an assignment. The aim of the research was primarily centralized in the exploration of the different ways collective trauma has been incorporated in the national identity as well the individual identity of the interviewees. It was conceived as a central key in the formation of everyday life through influencing the intra- and inter-group relationships within the two ethnic groups. In the content analysis of the interviews, we trace similarities in the two ethnic groups that occurred in the process of group formation and the elements that bring young people together. In this content analysis we take into consideration the existing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the historical/collective trauma transferred through memory from one generation to the next as well as the personal experiences connected to conflict and trauma. Finally, we argue that, the socio-economic background of the individual/member of the informal groups defines (a) the proximity and the personal involvement in the ethnic conflict and thus the possibility of experiencing traumatic events and (b) the level of internalization and incorporation of the collective trauma in the individual identity. Based on these parameters the ideas of belongingness of the individual to the group is discussed

Query Expansion of Zero-Hit Subject Searches: Using a Thesaurus in Conjunction with NLP Techniques

The focus of our study is zero-hit queries in keyword subject searches and the effort of increasing recall in these cases by reformulating and, then, expanding the initial queries using an external source of knowledge, namely a thesaurus. To this end, the objectives of this study are twofold. First, we perform the mapping of query terms to the thesaurus terms. Second, we use the matched terms to expand the user’s initial query by taking advantage of the thesaurus relations and implementing natural language processing (NLP) techniques. We report on the overall procedure and elaborate on key points and considerations of each step of the process

Green Halal Supply Chain in Malaysian Halal Food Companies: A Conceptual Framework

The aim of becoming a global Halal hub has been outlined in the Third Industrial Master Plan 20062020 (IMP3) and Malaysia now is on target to attain the status by 2020. However, the progression needs to be geared with a holistic ecosystem that enable closing compliance loop within Halal supply chain. Thus, calling for sustainable development to strengthen the Halal definition. Despite the urge, the degree of readiness to employ green practices in Halal food industry is still vague and the issues are still new and developing. Food industry is one of the major contributors to environmental problems, large amount of waste is generated from food industry, by promoting sustainability in producing Halal food can reduce their environmental footprint and will benefit Malaysia where other countries can recognize Malaysian Halal standards not only for hygiene and safety but also as a symbol of eco-friendly practices. Therefore, green Halal supply chain is now seen to be central towards global Halal hub. Responding to these needs, this study is expected; (1) to identify what are the green practices implemented in collaboration with supplier and customer in managing Halal food supply chain (2) to assess what is sustainable performance achieved from green practices implemented (3) to determine if supplier-customer collaboration moderates the impact of green practices on sustainable performance. This study will employ mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative to answer the studys objectives. Overall, this study is expected to present a model that provides a comprehensive view on Green Halal supply chain concerning supplier-customer collaboration in green practices. The model can help the industry and policy maker to identify what green practices are feasible to collaborate with and what are the related benefits and barriers. Engaging Green Halal Supply Chain can further improve Malaysian reputation as the worlds leading Halal hub

Genetically Modified Food in Malaysia Halal Food Supply Chain: An Insight

The aim of this paper is to investigate Genetically Modfied Food(GMF) management and acceptance in the halal food supply chain and to explore how the GMF impacted Malaysia food consumerism. In this study, the researchers adopted in depth critical review of various publications and data made available on the issues and various studies on GMF consumerism and acceptance in Malaysia. The findings showed that in general GMF is still a new concept among Malaysians and despite a few studies on the matter, it is far from being able to conclude solidly or generalize compellingly the acceptance, understanding or even awareness among Malaysian consumers towards GMF. In the term of halal status of GMF, in depth and further study should be made on the unresolved issues concerning understanding on GMF products before any halal assessment could be done on it. Therefore, it is assumed that the subject of GMF in Malaysia is still far from being clear and much less distinctive among the consumers themselves. For future research, the researcher needs to take a look at the understanding level of GMF concept among consumers before wading down deeper on their behaviour, intention as well as awareness towards consuming GMF. Keywords: GMF, Halal, Food Supply Chai

Can the Malaysian Inland Revenue Board become a learning organisation: issues of bureaucracy, culture and change

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN043671 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Amalan pengurusan kualiti sebagai perantara ke atas sumber penyelidikan dan pembangunan dengan prestasi syarikat berteknologi tinggi

The business environment has changed significantly over the past few decades. Efforts toward innovation and globalization have increased due to the enhancement in the relationship and interdependence between markets and different business segments worldwide. In order to follow the changers, companies need to transform the conventional operations management. Quality management practices (QMP) is a modern operational management practice that have been found to promote effectiveness of company performance by many researchers. The literature review found that the QMP implementation can provide a competitive advantage to the company to be globally competitive and sustainable. However, there are gaps that exist in the implementation of QMP in research and development (R&D) area. Literature review also showed inconsistent findings regarding the relationship between R&D resources and company performance. There is a study which highlighted that the results of R&D failed due to poor quality products but failed to be proven empirically. Furthermore, there are very few studies that examined the relationship between R&D resources, QMP and company performance. Thus, this research is conducted to provide empirical evidence. The objectives of this research are to: (1) identify critical dimension of R&D resources, QMP and company performance; (2) evaluate the dimension of R&D resources, QMP and company performance; (3) analyze the different levels of R&D resources, QMP and company performance based on company profile; and (4) identify QMP as a mediator between R&D resources and company performance. The development of the conceptual framework is based on resource-based view theory. The mailed survey was carried out on 100 randomly selected, high technology companies in Malaysia. 58 respondents were used for subsequent analyses. T-test analysis showed that the company management should focus more on R&D resources especially on financial and infrastructure resources. In addition, the companies also need to increase efforts in the QMP especially in human resource management. In addition, the commitment to quality and customer focus are important elements in the implementation of QMP. Company performances for high technology companies in Malaysia are found to be in satisfactory level. One way analysis of variance analysis shows that R&D resources, QMP and company performance did not differ according to size, cluster and duration of the operation. This shows that there is insufficient evidence to support the existence of differences based on statistical evidence. Partial least square analysis supports QMP as a mediator between R&D resources and company performance. Besides contributing to increasing knowledge and understanding of the relationship between QMP, R&D resources and company performance in the high technology firms, this research finding also allows the practitioner to obtain a deeper knowledge concerning the effects of QMP in research and development

Learning mechanism used in strengthening local automotive vendor's absorptive capacity

in attaining competitive advantage, inevitably, firms had to innovate. The development of innovation capability was crucial for firms to stay in competition.In developing firm innovation capability, absorptive capacity and learning mechanism were important factors.Absorptive capacity is built through accumulation of prior knowledge base and internalization of the knowledge in an organization. The purpose of the study was to describe learning approch used by firms in strengthening local automotive vendor's absorptive capacity.This paper also explored one component of absorptive capacity named firm's knowledge base,The research design used in this descriptive study was quantitative method with questionnaires mailed to the respondents. The sampling technique for this study was random sampling with a sample size of 113 automotive component manufacturers,who supplied automotive parts to various car assemblers and manufacturers.Out of 113 automotive manufacturers,only 45 respondents responded to the survey sent to them.The results of the study indicated the level of manufacturers' absorptive capacities was high in the project management,product development performance measurement,cost benefit analysis and early production output evaluation areas.In addition,the learning mechanism adopted by most of the manufacturers were interacting among employees in the R&D or engineering department as a means for them of solve problem related to product development design and acquiring knowledge in PDD through documenting explicit knowledge in a manual or product catalogue.The implication of this study was the manufacturer needed to improve their knowledge absorption capacities through proposed learning mechanisms

Quality Management Practices among High Technology Firms: One-way ANOVA Analysis

Quality management practices (QMP) are modern approaches used to enhance firm performance. Although there are numerous research findings on quality management practices, the focus of the research is not much on high technology firms. Hence, this study aims to look at the different levels of quality management practices and firm performance in high technology firms based on firm profiles such as firm cluster, firm size and duration of the operation. Data were collected using questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive and inferential analysis. The one-way ANOVA analysis shows that quality management practices among high technology firms were moderate and the results also indicate that there is insufficient evidence to support the existence of differences based on statistical evidence between QMP and firm cluster, firm size, and duration of the operation. This research finding also allows practitioners to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the importance QMP and firm performance in the high technology firms

The impact of GST on the spending pattern of students from the Faculty of Accountancy, UiTM Puncak Alam, Selangor / Nadiah Abdul Hamid ... [et al.]

The implementation of GST in Malaysia as of 1st April 2015, which replaced the current Sales and Service Tax (SST) is viewed as a more efficient tax to manage and to generate greater revenue collection for the government. This multi-tiered tax rate of 6 percent is finally borne by the end users who consumed the goods and services regardless of their income levels. As a result, even non-income earners such as students are inevitably bearing the rising price of their consumed goods and services. This study aimed to investigate the level of GST knowledge among the final year students in the Faculty of Accountancy, UiTM Puncak Alam. The students’ knowledge and perception on issues related to GST implementation were found to have certain impacts on their spending pattern. Evidently, the findings revealed that students who have much information about GST implementation and in cases where they perceived that GST is an unfair and unequitable tax system, both situations are highly likely to have significant effects on their spending trend