Understanding the individual values of working and non-working wives in Malaysia

Changes in the socio-cultural environment such as the emergence of dual career for women are seen to be an influence to the values of the specified gender. Malaysian society differs from the West in terms of family composition and structure, values, norms and behaviour, which affect the role of wives. This study is considered preliminary and investigates the values of women, specifically the wives, across various areas in Peninsular Malaysia in an effort to further understand the uniqueness of this group. The methodology entails a survey approach using structured questionnaires on a sample of 1252 wives throughout Malaysia. Quota sampling was used to ensure representativeness of the Malaysian household's social diversity. Findings revealed a few similarities and also differences in terms of values between wives across the various locations and levels of education

Exploring hedonic and status appeals of vacation among Malaysian female travelers and implication on marketing

The region-wide market trend shows the emergence of a female market for outbound travel. Personal travel forms a component of hybrid lifestyles of women today. More Malaysian women travel attributed to mindset shifts from traditional role to modem role, aided by entry of low cost carriers and online ticketing. This paper investigates hedonic and status appeals of vacation and the mediating effect of individual hedonic orientation on status consumption. The study utilized triangulation approach. Focus group discussions identified hedonistic and status appeals of female vacation consumption. Survey indicated hedonic experiences in vacation had indirect impact on status consumption through individual hedonic orientation. The hedonistic and status-seeking behavior in women's travel lifestyle has widespread marketing implications in the female travelers market

Sourcing practices of manufacturers in the Malaysian electronics and electrical products industry

The main objective of this study was to identify the sourcing practices currently followed in the electrical and electronics products industry in Malaysia. The findings show that the manufacturers rely on local vendors for material inputs for packaging printed material, metal pans and chemicals but not for TV and VCR chassis. The study also found that price, product delivery and quality are three major factors considered in the selection of vendors. The manufacturers are in general more satisfied with non-local vendors, and are quite satisfied with the local vendors' financing terms, maintenance and after-sales service. To be more competitive, it is suggested that local vendors emphasize research and development of their products. Local vendors also need to focus on product quality and consistently maintain good service

Impact of psychological ownership on the performance of business school lecturers

The purpose of the present article is to investigate the impact of psychological ownership, job performance, job commitment, and job satisfaction among business school lecturers of public universities in Malaysia. As psychological ownership is a relatively new concept, the present study expands the use of it in a different setting. Based on the correlation analysis, it was found that psychological ownership had significant and positive relations with job commitment, job satisfaction, and performance. The findings of the present study can help the management of universities select the lecturers with a right attitude and provide them with a right environment to perform better

Relationship between work-family conflict and quality of life: an investigation into the role of social support

Purpose – The main purpose of this study is to link work-family conflict, quality of work and non-work lives, quality of life and social support (supervisor and spouse supports). Specifically, it seeks to address three different roles of social support that have theoretical and empirical support and the mediating roles of quality of work life and quality of non-work life. Design/methodology/approach – The SEM-based approach has been used to study supervisor and spouse supports as moderators between work-family conflict and quality of life; independent variables of work-family conflict; independent variables of quality of life. The study has been carried out in Malaysia. Findings – The main findings are: work-family conflict has relationship with quality of life; quality of work life and non-work life are “partial” mediators between work-family conflict and quality of life; and, among the various roles of social support, its role as an independent variable of quality of life gives the best results. Research limitations/implications – The research is based on a cross-sectional study conducted in Malaysia and addresses only the spouse and supervisor supports as components of social support. Originality/value – The research has developed a comprehensive model linking work-family conflict, quality of work and non-work lives, and quality of life and has studied the role of social support

Measuring hedonic appeals and individual hedonic orientations in female consumption of status products

Marketers today acknowledege that the female consumer segment has emerged and is shaping the future markets. They are seeking status by way of consumption of status appealing products and seeking hedonism from consumption. This study explores female hedonic orientations in their effort of seeking status and hedonic values attached to status products. The outcome is to develop scales to measure interest to consume hedonically. The study utilizes qualitative and quantitative approach to develop the scales. Three studies were conducted. The preliminary study was to identify three status product classes (shopping, specialty and credence service) consumed by female consumers followed by focus group discussions to generate items to measure hedonism in products and individual behavior. The final study was a survey on 444 working females to test the validity of the status product hedonism scale and female hedonic orientation scale. Product hedonism generated includes imaginal-emotion for holiday vacation, voyeurism pleasures for dressing and symbolism for jewellery. Individual hedonic orientation yielded extrovert behavior, emotional attachment to product, exhibitionism, uniqueness and excitement seeking pleasures of females. The scale were subject to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to derive model fit using SEM. Findings show both scales had adequate model fit with acceptable internal consistency, construct rel iability and divergent validity. Some implications for research and marketing were explained

Influence of Dynamics of Actors and Information on the Organic Supply Chain

The agricultural sector throughout the world has seen shifting significantly by suitably using e-technology. A good number of studies have been conducted on agriculture and food security. The growth rate of world organic farming or business increases to more than the growth rate of traditional agriculture. In Bangladesh the pace of growth of organic agriculture is insignificant. The organic agriculture or organic supply chain in Bangladesh was scarcely studied. Hence, an intensive study is needed for the organic agriculture industry to pursue the organic supply chain that leads to a promising growth of organic business.  A great deal of research has been conducted to explore the factors that may influence the organic supply chain and growth of the organic business. Several theories such as the diffusion of innovation theory, theory of planned behavior, marketing system and price of organic products, and quality function deployment have been studied and proposed to enhance the understanding of the issue. The integration of all these literature and theories has attracted the researcher’s attention. Thus, this study aims to explore the influence of information systems, e-technology, and the dynamics of the actors (consumer, retailer, intermediaries, transporter, farmer, and basic suppliers) on the organic supply chain enhancing the growth of the organic business. By adopting secondary data with collected data (primary data) using self-administrated questionnaires the research work was evaluated. A total of 389 responses from the organic agriculture industrial actors, consumers, and transporters were collected using stratified random sampling methods. To inspect and analyze data, Path Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques were used with AMOS. The results of the study indicated that the proposed model provided a good understanding of the factors influencing the organic supply chain.  From the result, it was also revealed that the organic supply chain has a significant impact on the growth of organic farming and organic consumers and the performance of organic businesses. The research objectives of this study were accomplished and all research hypotheses were supported. This study theoretically offers useful information and collected data might help to further research relevant to the organic supply chain. In addition, the study finds a way to foster a better understanding and knowledge of the organic supply chain. It is encouraged to do future research to study the factors and information and impact of the organic supply chain from various aspects.Keywords: organic supply chain, e-technology, organic agriculture, growth of organic business, SEM, AMO

Determinants and influence of wives' sex role orientation in urban family purchase decision making in Malaysia

Changes in the socio-cultural environment such as emergence of women with dual careers entail that dimensions of their influence in family purchase decision making (FDM) be investigated in a specific context. Malaysian society differs from the West in terms of family composition and structure, values, norms, and behaviour, which affect the role that working and nonworking wives play in FDM. This study investigates factors that determine sex role orientation (SRO) of women and its influence on FDM. The methodology used a survey with structured questionnaires on a sample of 1252 working and non-working wives throughout Malaysia. Quota sampling was used to ensure representativeness of Malaysian household’s social diversity. Findings reveal that FDM is governed by SRO based on socioeconomic and cultural factors. Wives’ SRO influences major purchases of products and services that are bought for the family’s consumptions