Internship program: a bridge to close the gap between theory and practice / Marziah Mokhtar and Fauziana Fauzi @ Mat Rawi

Higher Learning Institutions today are increasingly required to produce highly mobile graduates able to respond to the ever changing needs of the contemporary workplace. Through industrial training, interns will be exposed to ethical values and good working practices as well as to help them understand the safety practices and regulations inside the industry and to instill the spirit of teamwork and good relationship between interns and employees. The motivation for the current research study is to examine the implementation of industrial training conducted by Faculty of Business and Management of Universiti Teknologi MARA and industrial perception on Business Students during their practical period. This research is also prompted by the concern in the increasing number of unemployed among fresh graduates. Feedback from industries would give a better picture of what is required of students since employers are increasingly looking beyond a graduate's academic knowledge. Results show that interns are flexible towards task assigned, committed and resourceful towards work. However, their level of problem solving and analytical skills were low and they also lacked communication skills. It is anticipated that this exploratory study will enable the academia to bridge the gap between theory and practice thus improving the curricula towards developing successful professional business graduates

Export problems among small and medium scale industries in klang valley: A preliminary finding / Zahariah Md. Zain, Jamaliah Khalili and Marziah Mokhtar

This research aims to identify the severity of the export barriers faced by small and medium scales enterprises (SMEs) in Klang Valley.Ten export barrier were listed and the result shows the five main problems are “Adapt Products”,” Fluctuating Exchange Rate”,“Lack of Foreign Channels of Distribution”, “Risks Involved in Selling Abroad”, “Lack of Capital to Finance” and “High Cost of Selling Abroad” regardless of the type of industries. The analysis indicated that the severity of the barriers differs from each industry to another. It is also found that with more years of experience in exporting the weaker will be the barriers since firms are able to cope better and learn from their experiences

Remittance Inflow and the Brain Drain Issue in Malaysia

This paper intends to study the impact of remittance inflow on the Malaysian economy. It was found that recipient countries benefited from the inflow of remittance economically, financially and socially. Malaysia is one of the remittance recipient countries besides Philippines, Mexico and India. In the Malaysian context, most of the remittances come from skilled workers or professionals. Although remittances received will have positive effects on the Malaysian economy, it also creates brain drain issues due to the outflow of high skilled workers and professionals to other countries. As reported, more than two million people have emigrated since Malaysia’s independence in 1957 resulting in increase in remittances which shows the inflow of capital. This is only the short run impact. In long term, the country might face ‘double whammy’ on decrease in the remittance inflow

An insight into online shopping behaviour among young adults in Malaysia / Marziah Mokhtar ... [et al.]

In twenty-first century, online shopping becomes increasingly popular as more people starts to shop online using their smart phones and internet. Online shopping is a process of buying and selling of products and services through internet. The purpose of this paper is to examine online shopping behaviour among young adults in Malaysia. This paper investigates four variables that influence young adults online shopping behaviour namely convenience, customers satisfaction, persived and price level. A survey has been conducted by distributing google form questionnaires through WhatsApps applications.The collected data was analised using both frequencies and multiple regression analyses. The empirical findings of this study shows that convenience, customers satisfaction and price level positively influence the online shopping behaviour among adults. In contrast, persived risk has a negative effect with regards to online shopping. Among the four variables, convenience, persived risk and price level were found to be significant while consumer satisfaction was not

The antecedents of financial wellness among young employees: empirical evidence in Kuala Lumpur / Zahariah Mohd Zain … [et al.]

The purpose of this study is to examine the antecedents of financial wellness among young employees in Kuala Lumpur. A survey was carried out to acquire data from 324 young employees using a self-administered on-line questionnaire, utilizing convenience sampling. Results showed that financial stress, work environment, locus of control and financial behavior has significant relationship with financial wellness. It was found that financial stress, work environment, locus of control and financial behavior has significant effect on respondents’ financial wellness. Based on the results, financial wellness can be enhanced through the decreased of the employees’ financial stress and increasing of their work environment, locus of control and financial behavior

“Tahu Salah Tapi Mahu”: cabaran remaja perempuan berhenti menonton pornografi

The study aims to explore how much female adolescents are willing to stop watching pornography and the challenges they face in abandoning their behavior. This qualitative study uses a phenomenological approach to understand the personal experiences of the adolescents involved. Given that the issue of pornography is considered ‘taboo’, only five adolescents who have engaged in pornography have voluntarily agreed to be interviewed in depth by adhering to established criteria and data saturation. They consist of late teens between the ages of 19 and 21 and are students from a public college. Data was collected via in-depth interviews based on semi-structured questions to achieve the research objectives. The questions are based on the Transteoretic Model with a focus on the readiness and challenges of abandoning pornographic behavior. The results of this study found that all respondents were less serious about change despite having the knowledge and awareness that watching pornography had a negative impact. The study also identified five challenges faced by respondents in abandoning pornographic behavior that were (i) incapable of controlling their appetite, (ii) internet attraction, (iii) filling their loneliness, (iv) their habit and (v) the way of thinking. The findings of this study are discussed by linking issues of internet addiction and the change model. Besides that, suggestions for referral to professionals in the help profession are also discussed

Export problems among small and medium scale industries in Klang Valley : a preliminary finding / Zahariah Md Zain, Jamaliah Khalili and Marziah Mokhtar

This research aims to identify the severity of the export barriers faced by small and medium scales enterprises (SMEs) in Klang Valley. Ten export barrier were listed and the result shows the five main problems are “Adapt Products”,” Fluctuating Exchange Rate”, “Lack of Foreign Channels of Distribution”, “Risks Involved in Selling Abroad”, “Lack of Capital to Finance” and “High Cost of Selling Abroad” regardless of the type of industries. The analysis indicated that the severity of the barriers differs from each industry to another. It is also found that with more years of experience in exporting the weaker will be the barriers since firms are able to cope better and learn from their experiences

Internship program: a bridge to close the gap between theory and practice / Marziah Mokhtar and Fauziana Fauzi @ Mat.

Higher Learning Institutions today are increasingly required to produce highly mobile graduates able to respond to the ever changing needs of the contemporary workplace. Through industrial training, interns will be exposed to ethical values and good working practices as well as to help them understand the safety practices and regulations inside the industry and to instill the spirit of teamwork and good relationship between interns and employees. The motivation for the current research study is to examine the implementation of industrial training conducted by Faculty of Business and Management of Universiti Teknologi MARA and industrial perception on Business Students during their practical period. This research is also prompted by the concern in the increasing number of unemployed among fresh graduates. Feedback from industries would give a better picture of what is required of students since employers are increasingly looking beyond a graduate's academic knowledge. Results show that interns are flexible towards task assigned, committed and resourceful towards work. However, their level of problem solving and analytical skills were low and they also lacked communication skills. It is anticipated that this exploratory study will enable the academia to bridge the gap between theory and practice thus improving the curricula towards developing successful professional business graduates

Penjagaan anak kurang upaya di Klang, Selangor : pengalaman hidup dan krisis yang dialami ibu

Kajian ini meneroka pengalaman ibu yang mempunyai anak kurang upaya di Malaysia. Secara khusus, kajian ini dijalankan untuk menilai krisis yang dihadapi oleh para ibu dalam proses membesarkan anak kurang upaya. Ibu seringkali dikenali sebagai penjaga utama kepada anak-anak. Oleh itu, adalah penting untuk memahami perspektif para ibu dalam mengasuh anak kurang upaya. Pendekatan temu bual secara mendalam digunakan ke atas sepuluh (10) orang ibu yang menghantar anak ke “sekolah khas” iaitu Pusat Pemulihan Dalam Komuniti (PDK) Klang Selatan. Temu bual secara mendalam telah dijalankan untuk meneroka keunikan, cabaran dan pengalaman istimewa para ibu. Satu set 12 soalan separa berstruktur telah digunakan kepada sepuluh informan. Kajian ini dijalankan bermula daripada Januari sehingga Jun 2020 di PDK Klang. Data telah dianalisis secara bertema dan dirumuskan kepada lima (5) tema merangkumi krisis emosi, krisis kewangan, krisis kesihatan, krisis peranan dan krisis penolakan. Dapatan kajian ini mendapati bahawa menjadi ibu yang mempunyai anak kurang upaya terkait dengan beberapa pengalaman negatif dan krisis. Namun, para ibu bertindak balas terhadap krisis yang dihadapi dengan strategi daya tindak termasuklah kerohanian, sokongan sosial, dan harapan dalam membesarkan anak kurang upaya. Dapatan ini memberi maklumat yang relevan untuk penambahbaikan polisi dan dasar kerajaan. Dasar Sosial Negara perlu lebih peka kepada keperluan anak-anak kurang upaya serta keluarga yang mempunyai anak kurang upaya. Program sokongan juga perlu dipergiatkan kepada ibu bapa yang mempunyai anak kurang upaya. Agensi berkaitan perlu mengenalpasti keperluan setiap keluarga yang mempunyai anak-anak istimewa ini