Investigating the effectiveness of process genre-based approach to teaching technical writing in a higher learning institution

I wish to dedicate this work to my beloved parents, Md. Nordin b. Md. Nor and Halimah bt. Hj. Jaafar, who have always been a constant source of inspiration to me in my pursuit of education to the highest levels. The dedication also goes to my beloved brothers and sisters: Nadiah, Fahariyah, Fadzli, Fauzi and Rabiatul Adawiyah. In completing this thesis I am greatly indebted to my supervisor Dr. Norhisham bt Mohamad, without whose knowledge and insight, I would not have been able to come this far. My highest appreciation goes to her for guiding me through every step of the way. My heartfelt thanks to my immediate superior, Encik Mohd Noor Rosli b. Baharom, and my fellow colleagues and friends in General Studies Programme, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, for the abundant assistance and support I received throughout my studies. I am especially thankful to Associate Professor Dr. Mohamed b. Haleb for his constant support and guidance throughout the duration of this research work. Most of all, I want to thank my dear husband, Mohd Zairee Shah b. Mohamed Shah, for his continuous support and encouragement. My thanks also go to my beloved daughter Hannan Balqis, for her patience and affection

The Implementation of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Principles in Branding and Advertising: A Conceptual Exploration

Theorists and advocates of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) behold that IMC was an innovation to rescue the downward of advertisement industry and to strengthen the strategic and tactical power of branding. IMC offer the option of integrating several marketing communication approaches in one message content for the purpose of developing effective brand equity. However, IMC is a theoretically celebrated panacea that has experienced a longstanding conceptual and practical muddling, which includes the practicality, definitions, implementations and measurement of its effectiveness. Pertinently, an explicit strategy and tactics of implementing the principles of IMC in advertisement still remain obscure. In a quest to quench the conceptual haziness of IMC and its implementation in advertisement-being one of the very crucial tool in marketing communications, this paper presents the review of the implementation process of IMC in the general marketing communication fields, advertisement and branding in particular. Relevant theoretical and practical gaps were deduced from past studies to inform future studies of possible ways to resolve the theoretical and practical inconsistencies in implementing the principles of IMC in an effective advertisement and brand equity. Keywords: Integrated Marketing Communication; Brand Equity; Advertisement Effectiveness; Message Strategy

Influence of Leadership Communication in Fostering Employees' Safety Commitment in Oil and Gas Industry

Over the span of decades, sustained research efforts have been dedicated to the realm of occupational safety and health practices within high-hazard work environments. This focus stems from the alarming frequency of accidents and injuries occurring within these settings. Recent research findings have consistently underscored the pivotal role of human factors – encompassing individual perspectives, communication, attitudes, and behaviors – as the chief catalysts behind such unfortunate incidents in high-risk workplaces. Nevertheless, the trajectory of these accidents and injuries can be altered, and the toll mitigated, by scrutinizing the safety commitment of employees. This commitment, crucial for ensuring safer work environments, can be cultivated through consistent interaction and communication with leaders. This interaction serves to enhance employees’ knowledge and awareness concerning safety practices. In this context, the current article delves into the profound impact of leadership communication on employees’ safety commitment within the oil and gas industry. Employing a quantitative approach, the study relied on survey-type questionnaires to fulfill its objectives. From maintenance and operation departments, a random selection of 260 technical employees participated as respondents. The findings convincingly establish that leadership communication exerts a substantial and significant influence on employees’ safety commitment. Keywords: OSH, leadership, communication, safety commitment, oil and ga

Building a unique online corporate identity

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the current state of mission and vision statements on corporate websites of Malaysian and Singaporean corporations based on Aaker's brand personality dimensions and analyze how the dimensions are effectively used to develop a unique corporate identity. Design/methodology/approach: Content analysis is employed to examine similarities and differences for 300 Malaysian and 214 Singaporean consumer corporations based on Aaker's big five brand personality framework. Findings: Generally most companies tend to publish and communicate their mission and vision statements visibly to general stakeholders. First, both Malaysian and Singaporean companies have weak brand personality dimensions which reflect the projection of corporate identity of companies. Second, there is a significant difference in the brand personality dimensions between Malaysian and Singaporean consumer corporations. Finally, evidence showed that most Malaysian and Singaporean companies rather failed to position themselves in the marketplace using brand personality dimensions in their vision and mission statements. This may affect their overall organizational direction in building a unique corporate identity and gaining competitive advantages within the context of a global business environment. Practical implications: The study acknowledges the increase in communicating the mission and vision statements on the corporate websites of Malaysian and Singaporean corporations. However, there is a need for corporations in Malaysia and Singapore to orchestrate their core competence in order to develop a unique corporate identity in a global business environment. Originality/value: The study contributes to the corporate identity literature in providing an insight into how corporations communicate the desired brand personality through their websites for the critical inquiry of the dominant coalition and main stakeholders

Inter-organization Communication Management between Organizations in a Subsidized Fertilizer Market in Malaysia

AbstractInter-Organization Communication (IOC) is one of the used communication disciplines to communicate between two or more organizations. It is proven vital to sustain relationship between organizations particularly between consumers and suppliers. However, there is still lack of empirical research and findings in the subsidized market. Malaysian paddy farmers have been receiving fertilizers subsidy since 1971 making the environment of subsidized market stand more than 40 years long. The relation between Area Farmer Organization known as Pertubuhan Peladang Kawasan (PPK) and the subsidized fertilizer supplier has now extended to 30 years. PPKs are responsible on the procurement process of the subsidized fertilizer from the supplier. This paper presents a preliminary findings based on IOC theories of communication management between PPKs and the supplier based on the perspectives of the PPK. It will critically discuss the elements of IOC and communication commitments based on the perspectives of PPKs. Thirteen PPKs from Kemubu Agriculture Development Authority (KADA) granary area were involved in this study. The results indicate organization communication willingness, behaviour, and quality as communication commitment of the PPKs

Innovation Diffusion of New Technologies in the Malaysian Paddy Fertilizer Industry

AbstractThere are a number of players in the domain of agriculture playing different roles as key stakeholders with different level of involvement and influence. Government agencies, agri-entrepreneurs and individual farmers are amongst those who play significant roles in ensuring sufficient food supply for the nation. The agriculture sector contributes significantly to the economic growth in Malaysia and in ensuring food security in the country. The recent occurrence of staple food crisis affecting many countries became severe when India, Vietnam and China had limited the exporting of rice to other countries. The overall development of paddy sector under the agricultural framework initiatives are carefully planned and implemented in the recent Economic Transformation Program (ETP). The aim of the initiatives is not only to ensure national food security but also to tap into the global market as the world population continues to grow driving for an increase in the demand. One of the quick win initiatives by the government in overcoming the crisis is to increase the soil fertility for paddy planting which requires promotion of new technology and rigorous research. The paper critically discusses innovation diffusion in the agricultural context with specific reference on the analysis of how innovation is diffused, its communication channels, and the dissemination movement. Preliminary findings of farmers’ experience on innovation diffusion process shall be discussed in this paper. Farmers at the granary area in Perak, under Integrated Agriculture Development Agency (IADA), had taken part in the study. The results indicate the level of farmers’ knowledge and information about fertilizer in general, management of the innovation dissemination process, and the extent of readiness in realizing innovations

Inter-Organization Communication Management between Organizations in a Subsidized Fertilizer Market in Malaysia

Purpose: This paper presents a preliminary findings based on IOC theories of communication management between PPKs and the supplier based on the perspectives of the PPK. It will critically discuss the elements of IOC and communication commitments based on the perspectives of PPKs. Design/methodology/approach: This study is a quantitative research. Data was collected by using a survey questionnaire. Thirteen PPKs from Kemubu Agriculture Development Authority (KADA) granary area were involved in this study. Findings: The pilot study was successfully executed in determining the internal reliability consistency of items used. Cronbach's alpha values were used to measure the consistency strength of the instrument. The entire dimensions which are organization communication willingness, behaviour, and quality as communication commitment used for this study show high Cronbach's alpha values which indicate high consistency of the instrument employed in this study. Research Limitation: The data observed was on preliminary stage obtained from a pilot study. A larger data from full scale study which involves more respondents throughout different geographical and demographical areas are required to answer the research questions and fulfil the objectives of the overall research. Originality/value: This study is conducted to close the gap of empirical research on relationship between organizations particularly between consumers and suppliers especially in agriculture industry in Malaysia

Analyzing Inter-Organization Communication between Customer and Supplier of Subsidized Paddy Fertilizer

Inter-Organization Communication (IOC) is a commonly used communication discipline to communicate between and among organizations. This paper aimed to investigate elements of IOC theories of communication management used between a local farmer union (PPK) and subsidised fertilizer suppliers based on the perspectives of the PPK. This study employed a quantitative method through a survey using questionnaires which were distributed to a total of 192 representatives of 63 PPKs from granary areas. The findings revealed two essential indicators to support inter-organizational communication; communication willingness and communication commitment. This study will be useful for both scholars and practitioners in further understanding the current situation of communication in subsidized fertilizer industry in Malaysia. Further study on another variables in IOC and the relationship between components/variables involved would be beneficial on expanding knowledge of inter-organizational communication

Innovation Diffusion: The Influence of Social Media Affordances on Complexity Reduction for Decision Making

Social media is a prominent communication platform. Its active usage permeates all generations and it is imperative that the platform be fully optimized for knowledge transfer and innovation diffusion. However, there are several considerations regarding platform usage, including media affordances. Social media affordances enable users to interact with the world around them through features of modality, agency, interactivity, and navigation. Previous studies have indicated that social media affordances significantly influence user behavior and usage. However, research exploring the effect of social media affordances on knowledge acquisition and the reduction of decision-making complexities is limited. Therefore, focusing on 179 paddy farmers in Malaysia, this study examined the effect of social media affordances on information quality, knowledge acquisition, and complexity reduction regarding innovation adoption decisions using a quantitative approach. This study’s findings reveal that social media affordances have a significant effect on perceived information quality, knowledge acquisition, and complexity reductio

Impak Komunikasi terhadap Penerimaan Inovasi Penanaman Padi

Penanaman padi merupakan industri tanaman makanan utama negara Malaysia. Pembaharuan dan inovasi merupakan elemen penting yang menambahbaik industri ini. Pengenalan teknologi baharu dan inovasi dipengaruhi oleh pelbagai faktor termasuklah komunikasi. Penggunaan komunikasi berkesan berupaya meningkatkan penyebaran inovasi di dalam pelbagai bidang. Kajian ini memperlihatkan impak komunikasi terhadap inovasi di dalam penanaman padi. Tiga aspek utama iaitu peranan dan penglibatan pesawah, pengetahuan dan maklumat pesawah serta pengurusan inovasi dalam konteks komunikasi diteliti kesannya terhadap penerimaan inovasi dalam kalangan pesawah. Kajian ini dilaksanakan ke atas para pesawah di negeri Perak melibatkan seramai 150 orang responden. Hasil kajian mendapati komunikasi memainkan peranan penting terhadap penerimaan inovasi oleh pesawah. Pemilihan saluran komunikasi yang betul akan menambah baik penerimaan inovasi. Cadangan penambahbaikan dalam konteks komunikasi turut dipaparkan di akhir penulisan ini