Service Quality in the School of Management, USM: Perceptions of Students in Pursuit of MBA

In many countries and many cultures, the issue of service quality is firmly on the agenda for higher education institutions. Universities and faculties strive to provide high quality services because they need to compete for their students. Measuring the quality of their services is therefore an important task

Visual Foto Penderaan Kanak-Kanak: Mendidik Dan Memberi Kesedaran Terhadap Masyarakat Di Malaysia

Kajian ini adalah mengenai peranan komunikasi visual di dalam visual foto penderaan kanak-kanak.Elemen visual foto berfungsi sebagai satu alat yang membuktikan isu penderaan kanak-kanak itu berlaku.Ianya juga sebagai salah satu instrumen dalam mendidik dan memberi kesedaran terhadap masyarakat di Malaysia.Penyelidikan ini menggunakan pendekatan secara kualitatif dan kuantitatif.Model Kari Killen digunakan bagi menerangkan hubungan di antara dunia kanak-kanak dan dunia kanak-kanak luar yang berkait rapat dengan isu penderaan kanak-kanak tersebut.Teori komunikasi visual dan pendidikan seni visual turut digunakan terhadap penderaan kanak-kanak serta keberkesanannya dalam menyampaikan maklumat kepada masyarakat.Bagi kajian ini, pemilihan terhadap 50 keping visual foto penderaan kanak-kanak yang bersesuaian, dipilih bagi menyampaikan mesej yang positif kepada masyarakat.Sesi temubual dan soal-selidik dilakukan pada sampel kajian iaitu 10 orang kanak-kanak yang didera, ibubapa dan doktor yang terlibat dalam kes penderaan kanak-kanak.Kajian di lapangan dilakukan iaitu di 6 buah daerah di negeri Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. Hasil dapatan kajian akan dijadikan bahan rujukan kepada pihak-pihak tertentu, sebagai satu medium fotografi yang diyakini dan medium pemujukan dalam mendidik masyarakat. Hasil kajian juga diharapkan, melalui visual-visual foto yang dipaparkan berhubung penderitaan kes kanak-kanak yang didera dapat mendidik serta memberi kesan mendalam terhadap emosi khususnya ibubapa dalam mendidik anak-ana

Journalism as national dialogue platform: Celebrating the news and opinion

In a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society, journalism is expected to play a mitigating and stabilizing function.We generally expect balance and objectivity.But what we see and expect to see is couched in Manichean terms – the black and white, binary rendition of the narrative which we nurture and in turn nurtured us.Prejudice is learnt.We need to unlearn prejudice without being apologetic.This paper argues that the Malaysian media should project a national consensus in the form of a ‘Journalism Dialogue.’The initiative calls for some philosophical reflection on the news and opinion

The relationship between lecturers’ paralanguage and students’ satisfaction in Universiti Teknologi Mara, Kedah, Malaysia / Rosliza Md. Zani...[et. al.]

Satisfaction among students has become an essence particularly in an education industry. The industry is growing rapidly and competition is intense. Every organization is trying to become the most preferred education provider, especially in Malaysia and communication is the most important element to be stressed on to ensure students‟ sat-isfaction on services provided. Past researches indicated that, most meaning of conversational messages comes from non-verbal communication. Evaluation on students‟ perception on lecturers‟ paralanguage that would lead to their satisfaction to the services provided was examined. The results of the study illustrated that paralanguage which include vocal pitch, vocal loudness, pitch variation, pauses and fluency were shown to have an impact on students‟ satisfaction. Therefore, from this study, it can be inferred that students‟ in Malaysian universities are mostly observant on the vocal pitch of their lecturers when lectures are delivered to them. The present study caters for a wide variety of students and development professionals, especially those who are interested in non-verbal communication specifically paralanguage-related issues. It is highly hoped that the information gleaned from the present study may assist all service employees specifically in understanding better, the importance of paralanguage and its effects on students‟ satisfaction

Foreign Direct Investment And Sustainable Development Of Four Asean Members

This study attempts to answer the research question of what and to what extent are the economic (growth), social (inequality), and environmental (pollution) impacts of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the four Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN-4). The next question is how well the results of the study fit the theories of FDI from both the neo-classical cum neo-liberal theories, dependency theory, and the pollution-haven hypothesis (PHH) perspective. Employing the time-series analyses utilizing the Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) technique suggest that the FDI does better than domestic investment at promoting growth levels in Malaysia, Indonesia but not for Thailand and the Philippines where the reverse is true. Hence, neo-liberal theory is supported in Malaysia and Indonesia while dependency theory is supported in Thailand and the Philippines. In terms of inequality, FDI improves income inequality in Malaysia and Indonesia but worsens inequality in Thailand and proved insignificant for the Philippines. Neo-liberalism is supported in Malaysia and Indonesia while dependency is supported in Thailand. However, Philippines is neutral to either school of thought. Environmental wise, the PHH which postulates that lower environmental standards in host-developing nations attract FDI from their developed countries of origin is supported in Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines but not in Indonesia where FDI is inversely related to pollution. Hence, the neo-liberal claim that FDI via multinationals brings cleaner technology to host developing nations is contested in these three nations but could be supported in Indonesia. The differences in the study’s findings could be attributable to the differences in FDI inflows’ composition itself. Malaysia’s FDI inflows mainly went to the secondary and followed by the primary sector and a trickle flowed into the tertiary sector. Thailand had slightly more FDI inflows into the tertiary sector as opposed to the secondary and far less into the primary sector. Indonesia’s FDI inflows mainly resided in the manufacturing sector, followed by the tertiary and primary sectors. Philippines had about equal FDI share in the primary and secondary sectors with the tertiary receiving the majority share

Laboratory Characterization of crude oil and sandstone reservoir for Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery

Purpose Because of the increasing global oil demand, efforts have been made to further extract oil using chemical enhanced oil recovery (CEOR) methods. However, unlike water flooding, understanding the physicochemical properties of crude oil and its sandstone reservoir makeup is the first step before embarking to CEOR projects. These properties play major roles in the area of EOR technologies and are important for the development of reliable chemical flooding agents; also, they are key parameters used to evaluate the economic and technical feasibilities of production and refining processes in the oil industries. Consequently, this paper aims to investigate various important physicochemical properties of crude oil (specific gravity; American Petroleum Institute [API]; viscosity; pour point; basic sediment and water; wax; and saturate, aromatic, resins and asphaltenes components) and sandstone reservoir makeup (porosity, permeability, bulk volume and density, grain volume and density, morphology and mineral composition and distributions) obtained from Malaysian oil field (MOF) for oil recovery prediction and design of promising chemical flooding agents. Design/methodology/approach Three reservoir sandstones from different depths (CORE 1; 5601, CORE 2; 6173 and CORE 3; 6182 ft) as well as its crude oil were obtained from the MOF, and various characterization instruments, such as high temperature gas chromatography and column chromatography for crude’s fractions identification; GC-simulated distillation for boiling point distribution; POROPERM for porosity and permeability; CT-Scan and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray for morphology and mineral distribution; wax instrument (wax content); pour point analyser (pour point); and visco-rheometre (viscosity), were used for the characterizations. Findings Experimental data gathered from this study show that the field contains low viscous (0.0018-0.014 Pa.s) sweet and light-typed crude because of low sulfur content (0.03 per cent), API gravity (43.1o), high proportion of volatile components (51.78 per cent) and insignificant traces of heavy components (0.02 per cent). Similarly, the rock permeability trend with depth was found in the order of CORE 1 &lt; CORE 2 &lt; CORE 3, and other parameters such as pore volume (Vp), bulk volume (Vb) and grain volume (Vg) also decrease in general. For grain density, the variation is small and insignificant, but for bulk density, CORE 2 records lower than CORE 3 by more than 1 per cent. In the mineral composition analysis, the CORE 2 contains the highest identified mineral content, with the exception of quarts where it was higher in the CORE 3. Thus, a good flow crude characteristic, permeability trend and the net mineral concentrations identified in this reservoir would not affect the economic viability of the CEOR method and predicts the validation of the MOF as a potential field that could respond to CEOR method successfully. Originality/value This paper is the first of its kind to combine the two important oil field properties to scientifically predict the evaluation of an oil field (MOF) as a step forward toward development of novel chemical flooding agents for application in EOR. Hence, information obtained from this paper would help in the development of reliable chemical flooding agents and designing of EOR methods. </jats:sec

Bibliometric Review of Corporate Governance of Islamic Financial Institutions Through AI-Based Tools

Purpose: Although corporate governance vis-à-vis Shariah governance (SG) has remained a cornerstone of research in Islamic financial institutions (IFIs), little is known about the themes covered by the plethora of studies conducted in this domain. Accordingly, this research aims to unpack the major themes covered in the literature on SG from 2007 to 2023 employing bibliometric analysis technique.   Design/methodology/approach: The evaluation of 440 published articles in Scopus is done through different analytical tools i.e., Gephi, VOSviewer, and Scholarcy (artificial intelligence-based research tool) to decode publication trends, outlets, performance, authors, and themes.   Findings: The findings elucidate the double-digit increase in the publication, Malaysia is the leading country, Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research is the most popular publication outlet, and the International Islamic University (IIUM) is the spearhead institution on SG research. Our results further reveal that SG research broadly covers four main topics; significance of SG, fundamental ingredients of effective SG, impact of SG on IFIs, and latent issues in SG.   Originality/novelty: This study contributes to strengthening the governance and management system of IFIs by identifying the novel research avenues

Relationship between Islamic Social Finance and Sustainable Development Goals: A Conceptual Framework

The success of a country’s economic development can be assessed by the extent to which the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are achieved. However, many developing countries face challenges in attaining the SDGs, often due to budget constraints. To overcome these obstacles, the presence of Islamic social finance, also known as ZISWAF (Zakat, Infaq, Sadaqat, and Waqf), is expected to play a significant role. Islamic social finance aims to address social and economic issues such as poverty and income inequality. This study aims to analyze the role of Islamic social finance (ISF) in the context of the SDGs. As Islamic social finance adheres to principles that align with the SDGs, it is essential to investigate whether ISF can support the achievement of the SDGs through its funding activities. The role of Islamic social finance in relation to the SDGs can be observed by examining the programs funded by ISF and assessing their alignment with the SDGs. The analytical approach employed in this study is descriptive and qualitative, aiming to explain the role of Islamic social finance in the SDGs. The analysis draws insights from relevant literature and data, and a conceptual framework is formulated to illustrate the relationship between Islamic social finance and the SDGs. The findings highlight the important role of Islamic social finance, including zakat, in contributing to the achievement of the SDGs. Through several case studies in various countries, Islamic social finance has demonstrated its potential to support the attainment of SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, and 12. These results emphasize the significant contribution of Islamic social finance in the success of SDGs programs, underscoring its potential as a tool for achieving the SDGs. Keywords: Islamic social finance, SDGs, relationshi

First records of morphological diversity and ecology of periphytic cyanobacteria from Tukun River, Penang Forest Reserve, Malaysia

Despite the abundance of streams and rivers in Malaysia, the algal communities of these lotic ecosystems have remained largely unstudied. In a one-year floristic survey conducted from December 2014, 24 cyanobacterial morphospecies were identified for the first time from Tukun River, Penang Forest Reserve. Ten morphospecies were identified directly from field specimens while the remaining 14 morphospecies were identified only in cultures derived from the field samples. A total of 17 morphospecies; Leptolyngbya cf. boryana, L. cf. foveolarum, L. valderiana, Chroococcus cf. cohaerens, C. cf. disperses, C. cf. membraninus, C. cf. minutus, C. cf. varius, Gloeocapsopsis cf. crepidinum, Geitlerinema cf. tenuius, Phormidium simplicissimum, Dolichospermum sp., Fischerella sp., Homoeoptyche repens, Nematoplaca inscrustans, Scytonema hofmanii and S. stuposum are new records for Malaysia. Crusts were the most dominant macroscopic forms (seven morphospecies) followed by mats (three morphospecies). Scytonema was the most frequently encountered genus, occurring at 8/9 sampling sites. The presence of heterocytous cyanobacteria (S. stuposum, S. hofmanni) in 8/9 sampling sites is consistent with the low nitrate levels (< 0.74 mg/L) recorded throughout the study stream. Chroococcales were dominant in both upper and middle parts of the stream. The morphospecies present showed distinct distribution patterns despite apparently minimal variations in ecological parameters such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and conductivity between the sampling sites. This study provides important new baseline information in understanding the diversity of periphytic cyanobacteria not only in Penang Island but more widely in Malaysia. This information can make a useful contribution in biomonitoring stream health

Does coping strategies have asignificant relationship with quality of life among caregivers of chronic illness patients?

The present study aimed to investigate the coping strategies and quality of life among caregivers of chronic illness patients. The study was conducted among the caregivers from five (5) villages in Sibu District of Sarawak by using a survey research design. A total of sixty seven (67) participants were participated in this study. Two different instruments were used to measure different types of variables. Research data collected was tested and analyzed by using a descriptive statistic and Pearson Correlation. The result revealed that there was a significant relationship between the coping strategies and the quality of life among caregivers of chronic illness patients. The relationship between both coping strategies and domains of quality of life was in a moderate level.  As an implication, counselors should be more aware about the types of coping strategies used by the caregivers because it can affect the individual’s quality of life indirectly