A Case Of Sustainability Reporting And Organisational Change In Practice Of Malaysian Palm Oil Company: Beyond The Symbolic And Substantive Dichotomy

The concept of sustainable business practice and reporting have taken centre stage in the global consumer products supply chain and sourcing decision specifically with the widespread prevalence of environmental and social violations in the palm oil industry. The purpose of this study is to explore the institutional pressures and changes in sustainability reporting and practice made in respond to these pressures by a Malaysian public listed company in the palm oil sector. Case study methodology was employed, gathering primary and secondary data through semi-structured interview, observation, informal conversation, focus group discussion and content analysis. Neo-institutional, legitimacy and impression management theory were used as the lens to explain the study findings. The findings show there are both external and internal pressures/motivation for company to embark on sustainability reporting and practices. Externally, stakeholder pressure mainly came from the NGOs and competitors that puts pressure on the multinational buyers, investors and financiers whom in turn place pressure on the case company, making it highly effective, as it risked the company’s financial bottom lines. Regulatory pressures, conforming to industry norms, and seeking support of foreign government also increases the external pressures. Reputational problems and labour shortages, business case for sustainability and philanthropic nature of family-owned firm are the internal motivation behind the endeavour

To Stay or Relocate? International School Market Research Post Pandemic

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the viability of relocating Universiti Utara Malaysia International School (UUMIS) from its current location in Sintok to a nearby town in Jitra, Kedah in its effort of increasing student’s enrolment.   Theoretical Framework: The study uses the four p’s of marketing mix and Ansoff marketing matrix in evaluating the market demand for international school in Jitra if the school were to be relocated from its current location.   Design/methodology/approach: The study conducted interview sessions with UUMIS staffs, existing parents, and potential parents. Following to the input derived, a survey was formulated and distributed to the communities in Kedah and Perlis.   Findings: Most existing parents and teachers are willing to send their children to UUMIS should it is relocated to Jitra with a transportation and transit service assistant. This result is supported with the survey distributed, whereby the percentage of willingness are more than half of the existing parents (60.5%). However, despite the willingness, these parents (39.6%) also found this proposal to be burdensome. As such, they suggested UUMIS to provide transportation and transit service with reasonable fees charged instead.   Implication: The study has direct implication of policy for UUM and UUMIS in steering the international school development. The study also evidenced that market research prior to investments are needed not only to ascertain the demand in the new location but serving as reflective medium for an organization to improvise existing governance especially when there is an expansion/relocation plan in the pipeline.   Originality/value: The study has direct implication of policy for UUM and UUMIS in steering the international school development

Creative Leading Corporation / Farhana Aini Hailin...[et al.]

Umbrella is a primarily a device to keep people dry in rain and shade a person from the sun. Mostly, it can be seen that umbrella is used by women. In the market, there is abundance of designs, colours and functions that can be choose. The improvement in our design may lead umbrella to a better user friendly and easy to carry to anywhere. Basically, the new invention that we apply to our umbrella is that it can expand from the small size to a larger size just by clicking the button provided in the umbrella's handle. One of the reasons that we come out with this idea is that we notice most of the students carry their own umbrella to the class which the size of the umbrella usually is small and fit for 1 person only. By the time of raining, they cannot share the umbrella with their friends and we found out, the umbrella's owner also may get wet because of the small umbrella. Therefore, our group come with the idea of a helping-hand solution by having an expand umbrella. As we gather the information that is heeded, we eventually come out with some of the fantastic ideas that never had been explored by the other designers out there. Our new invention idea is that by having just 1 umbrella, you can share it with your friends. The canopy for our umbrella can be enlarged at 2 times. Basically, the size will be small that fit for 1 person. Then it can enlarged to the medium size that fit for 2 or persons, and again, the canopy can enlarged to the large size that will be fit for 4 or 5 persons. Other than that, this umbrella can also be a table umbrella. The umbrella's weight is not heavy although it has added the canopy enlargement which it is easy to be carried to everywhere

De novo transcriptome dataset of Stevia rebaudiana accession MS007

Stevia rebaudiana (S. rebaudiana) is a herbaceous and perennial plant belonging to Asteraceae family. The genus stevia is well known as a natural producer of sweetener comprising non-caloric and non-carcinogenic steviol glycosides. In recent years, the capability in producing natural sweetner has increased the demand for S. rebaudiana as substitute of processed sugars. Flowering phase of S. rebaudiana has shown to affect the content of steviol glycosides in the leaves. Steviol glycosides level is the highest at the time of flower bud formation and lowest at time preceding and following flower bud formation. Therefore, sequencing and analysing the genes that are involved in flowering phase will provide platform for gene manipulation in increasing steviol glycosides content. The Stevia transcriptome data that include two stages of growth (before flowering and after flowering), were obtained using Illumina RNA-seq technology and can be accessed at NCBI Sequence Read Archive under Accession No. SRX6362785 and SRX6362784

Behind Brainy Bunch International School Success: What Did They Do?

International schools are competing among themselves not only of varying fees but also in terms of their teaching staffs, their orientation of its curriculum, exit examinations available to primary school leavers, flexible learning spaces, second language learning and even rebranded the school with notable brand like Apple (Saba, 2020). To remain relevant, the education business generally has to be dynamic in balancing its profitable status and fulfilling the social purpose i.e. national education mission and vision. This phenomenon raised the question on how to remain relevant and sustain in education business for international school? The suitable and in time strategies have to be actively reviewed and placed to compete in the education business market without jeorpardising the social economic mission and vision. Among the important areas taken care by international school like BBIS are financial sustainability, full fledge facility, high quality teachers and teaching, interesting syllabus and curriculum, effective marketing strategy and assuring low staff turnover

Are There Non-Linear Relationships Between Ownership Structure and Corporate Social Responsibility? Malaysian Perspective

Purpose: The study aims to examine the extent of sustainability reporting in Bursa Malaysia listed companies for the years 2018 and 2019, to determine whether ownership structures (namely institutional ownership, managerial ownership and family ownership) affect sustainability reporting, and to examine if the relationship between ownership structures are non-linear with sustainability reporting. Methodology: The study utilizes secondary data collection through content analysis of annual reports and sustainability reports. The population is the listed companies on Bursa Malaysia in 2018 and 2019 with a total of 783 active companies and the final sample of 261 Malaysian public listed companies (PLCs) examined. Findings: Even though sustainability disclosure of Malaysian public listed companies shows encouraging improvement in the year 2019 than 2018, the quality of the disclosure is still far from reaching the maximum score where companies only disclosed approximately 18% for Economic Theme, 31.5% for Environmental Theme and 47% for Social Theme from the maximum total score for each theme, showing a possibility of emphasis in the extent of disclosure rather than the quality. The study also found there is a significant and positive association between institutional ownership and sustainability reporting, where companies with a high percentage of shares owned by institutional investors have greater reporting disclosure quality. However, the analysis reported an insignificant association between sustainability reporting and managerial ownership, as well as family ownership. The results suggest that companies with their executive directors holding a high proportion of shares and family-owned businesses are unable to influence sustainability disclosure quality. Further exploration of the association between institutional ownership and the quality of disclosure shows there is a non-linear or curvilinear relationship between the two variables. However, the effect declines when institutional ownership reaches a certain threshold. The results suggest that the interest of institutional investors may not be aligned with the rest of the shareholders as a whole regarding sustainability reporting when such ownership is high. This negative association shows that the shareholders would relegate corporate social responsibility practices to the background to minimize costs. Likewise, the existence of the multiple and conflicting voices or preferences from different large institutional shareholders may deter continuous commitment to sustainability reporting. Following the notion, this leads us to consider the existence of a curvilinear relationship (inverse U-shaped) and a cut-off point, after which the effects of institutional investors may fluctuate. In short, a marginal increase in institutional ownership after a certain critical point will not improve the quality of sustainability reporting disclosure among Malaysian public listed companies

Listening to the Voices of Undergraduate Students: Exploring Astin’s Theory of Student Involvement During the Covid-19 Pandemic

As future scholars and holistic education practitioners, it is important to understand how developmental theories are constructed and how they can serve as a foundation for further understanding. The primary objective of this study is to discover how the COVID-19 epidemic has affected students' involvement both inside and outside of the classroom. Astin’s Theory of Student Involvement was used to describe student involvement issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data for this study was gathered through a qualitative interview. Eight highly active undergraduate students were interviewed to know about their current life, whether in their involvement inside and outside of the classroom activities. Additionally, the impact of their student engagement, particularly during the COVID-19 outbreak, on their life development as individuals and university students is being investigated. The most immediate concerns among students were a loss of social connection, living conditions unsuitable for home office activities, such as inadequate data bandwidth, and a general lack of enthusiasm and concentration. As a result, the university must ensure that students have a reliable system in place for communicating with lecturers, club advisors, administrators, classmates, and peers. Maintaining a positive student-lecturer relationship, on the other hand, would surely increase academic performance and allow students to study more successfully

Graduate Communication Issues from Industrial Perspectives

A significant number of recent higher education graduates face difficulties as they try to enter the workforce, mainly due to inadequate preparation. This situation leads the industry to question whether the education system is in liability or if the students themselves are accountable for this issue. Consequently, the main objective of this research is to investigate whether the industry has developed its own strategies to address the obstacles that graduates encounter, especially related to their communication skills. This study utilizes an exploratory approach, including in-depth interviews with seven professionals who oversee the industrial training sector, as integral elements of the data collection process. The findings from this study suggest that universities should establish strong partnerships with industries to bridge the skills gap among graduates and better equip them for future employment opportunities

HRD Corp’s Stakeholder Engagement Practices

Mr. Soffian holds the role of Senior Vice President in the Training Market Department of Human Resources. Over about 6 years, he has significantly contributed to the organization. His responsibility involves overseeing vital interactions between two distinct stakeholder categories—corporate entities and the community—within the training market sector. Specifically, Mr. Soffian is charged with nurturing strong relationships with companies, persuading their active engagement as training providers. Additionally, he undertakes the task of promoting complimentary training programs accessible to all Malaysians, with a special focus on marginalized groups like B40 individuals and persons with disabilities. This initiative aims to empower them with skills for employability and selfsufficiency. However, our case study primarily examines his engagement with training providers, as they constitute his main stakeholders. Mr. Soffian emerges as an exceptional choice for the pivotal role vin this best practice case study, given his distinct expertise in adeptly managing stakeholder engagement. This proficiency is especially pertinent to a government-linked company (GLC) dedicated to achieving its corporate objectives. The study's relevance spans corporate communication, integrated marketing communication, strategic corporate communication, and strategic integrated marketing communication

Building E-Waste Performance Model for Green Growth (S/O 14847)

Wastes from electrical and electronic appliances (e-waste) have shown an alarming increase in this digitalization era. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the practice and performance of e-waste management in business organizations. The study also examines the impact of institutional pressures and organizational factors on firm’s e-waste management practice, and the impact of the practice on e-waste management performance. Further, the study investigates if an eco-efficiency strategy plays a significant mediating role in strengthening the impact of institutional pressure and organizational factors on e-waste management practice. Using a questionnaire survey, the study was conducted on Bursa Malaysia listed firms, specifically in the technology and telecommunication industries. The results revealed a significant impact of the organizational factors on e-waste management practice. However, the impact of institutional pressure on e-waste management practice was only found through the embedment of an eco-efficiency strategy. The study also found positive impact of e-waste management practice on e-waste management performance. The findings from this study contributes towards achieving green growth for sustainability and resilence