Validating SERVPERF model in government agencies.

The research measures on the service quality assessment in three research samples of tax-collecting government agencies by using customer as the respondents. Customers are vital in service organization as they are aimed at reactive targets, they are the people who are directly involved in shaping and formulating the eventual ‘product’ (Irons, 1997). Customers’ view and expectations will be used to analyze the service quality assessment in particular tax collector government agencies. The present study seeks to address the following objectives; (1) to examine the customers’ perceptions of the service provided in three tax collecting government agencies; (2) to identify and analyze the relative importance of factors contributing to the service quality offered by Malaysian tax- collecting agencies. Result from the research was expected to contribute new information in the development criteria for measurement of quality of service particularly in the tax-collecting agencies in Malaysia. It also will generate an improvement in ‘service quality’ provided by the agencies that would help to solve or act as helpful sources in making effective decisions. The result would help the agencies to improve their level of service to both their employees and customers

Construct validation of supply chain management in cooperative

This study attempts to analyze construct in supply chain and to determine which construct contribute to performance of agricultural cooperatives in Malaysia. The primary data is collected via questionnaire from top level management of agricultural cooperatives using 5-item Likert scale. Factor analysis and structural equations modeling were used to analyze the data. Findings show that cooperatives places importance on quality and technology, logistic, supplier and governance. As a whole, supply chain is significance in determining performance. However, governance alone is not significant in determining performance. The empirical result could be used to improve further studies in supply chain management.Agricultural cooperatives; supply chain management model

HRM issues in quality initiatives for Malaysian universities

The aim of this paper is to provide evidence on the importance of human resource (HR) related factors in total quality management (TQM) implementation. This involves identifying and defining HR-related critical success factors (CSFs) from an exhaustive source of literature reviews on quality initiatives. The ‘soft’ or HR-related CSFs in the literature review stand as the fundamental issue in building a theoretical framework. Non-scheduled-structured interviews were conducted on seven Malaysian universities involved in IS09000 certification processes. Results from the qualitative survey suggest the importance of effective communication, visionary leadership, congruent objectives and recognition and motivation as the four most critical HR factors in TQM implementation in the HE context. Practically, quality HRM as suggested in this study is not only the listing of human resource management (HRM) factors, but also to recommend that H-R-related CSFs are the crucial factors that must go right to ensure successful quality initiatives. Quality HRM demands that the management of an organisation consider the factors required to produce excellent performance. The ‘soft’ aspect is always suggested theoretically to be important to ensure successful TQM implementation. The findings on HR-related CSFs put forward in this research serve as building blocks for the development of a comprehensive conceptual theory in TQM. This study suggests and validates those HR-related CSFs that play crucial roles in successful quality initiatives

Testing the criticality of HR-TQM factors in the Malaysian higher education context.

The aim of this paper is to provide evidence on the degree of criticality and reliability tests for human resource (HR) related critical success factors (CSFs) in TQM implementation. This involves identifying and defining the HR-related CSFs from an exhaustive source of literature reviews on quality initiatives. In higher education (HE) contexts, the CSFs in TQM programmes emphasise more management commitment, HR management and quality working attitudes for customer satisfaction. Therefore, the ‘soft’ or HR aspects in the literature review stand as the fundamental issue of concern for organizational management in quality planning and creating a quality working climate to ensure successful expected performance. Using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), the HR-related CSFs that have high mean scores and reliability coefficients, are teamwork spirit, competent staff, customer-focus orientation and visionary leadership. Other factors have reasonably high scores and are recommended to be included in similar research in contexts other than simply the HE context

Impact of relationship marketing on customers loyalty of Islamic banks in the state of Kuwait

This study aimed to investigate the impact of relationship marketing on Customers Loyalty of Islamic banks in the state of Kuwait. Five dimensions of relationship Marketing was included in the study: Trust, Communication, Commitment, Competence, and Cooperation. On the other hand, customer loyalty was measured by two dimensions: Attitudinal Loyalty and Behavioral Loyalty. To achieve the aim of this study, a random simple sampling was applied as a sampling technique. Population of this study was the customers of four Islamic banks in the state of Kuwait, they were provided with 600 questionnaires, (560) responses were valid for test. The researchers used the descriptive and analytical methods. The results indicated that there is a significant statistical impact of relationship marketing dimensions (Trust, Communication, Commitment, Competence, and Cooperation) on Customers Loyalty of Islamic banks in the state of Kuwait. Based on the study results, the researchers recommend managers and decision makers of Islamic banks in Kuwait to be committed to their customers in terms of the needs and desires, and to provide timely services to customer to win their commitment in return

THE MEASUREMENT OF CONSUMER GREEN PURCHASE INTENTION DETERMINANTS TOWARD HYBRID CARS IN MALAYSIA

Transportation is acknowledged as one of the major sources of greenhouse gasses and air pollution. Thus, promoting cars with high efficiency in fuel consumption and reduce emission is required to replace conventional cars. In that case, encouraging consumer to purchase green car by identifying factors that affect green car purchase intention among Malaysian is important. This study provides some preliminary evidence on determinants of hybrid cars purchase intentionin Malaysia and green product attachment as a mediator.Hence, the validity and reliability of instrument were examined via pretest and a pilot test. The data normality also waschecked by using SPSS version 21. The findings suggest that the Green Trust and Green Product Attachment are the most significant factors on the influence toward Green Purchase Intention of hybrid cars in terms of reliability score

Impact of Social Customer Relationship Management on Customer Retention of Islamic banks in Kuwait: The Mediating Role of Customer Empowerment

In order to investigate the impact of social customer relationship management on customer retention through customer empowerment, this research paper was took place using a sample of social media users who were customers of Islamic banks in Kuwait. An online survey-founded questionnaire was conducted to gather data. A total of 600 questionnaires were distributed to participants in this study and 417 questionnaires were returned. On the basis of IBM SPSS 24 and IBM AMOS 22, data analysis confirmed that customer empowerment significantly mediated the effect of social CRM on customer retention. That is, social CRM was found to have a significant effect on customer empowerment and customer retention and indicated that customer empowerment had a significant influence on customer retention. Consequently, it was concluded that customer empowerment as a key pillar of social CRM positively effectuates customer outcomes such as customer retention

The mediating effects of risk tolerance on fund performance.

Risk tolerance in fund performance is a topic which is of enormous interest not only to researchers all over the world, but also to investors. Motivated by limited empirical studies on the effects of risk tolerance on fund performance in Malaysia and in response to reasonable gaps in the literature, the objective of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of individual fund manager risk tolerance(IFMRT) measured as level of confidence (LOC) and level of risk tolerance (LORT) as these mediate on the individual fund manager characteristics (IFMC) and fund performance (FP) relationship. The fund performance measures in this study use Sharpe (FPS), Treynor (FPT)m and Jensen (FPJ) ratios. The results indicate a weak linear correlation between individual fund manager characteristics and level of confidence, and also between individual fund manager characteristics and level of risk tolerance. Simultaneously, when the level of confidence and level of risk tolerance is added in the individual fund managers and fund performance relationship, it shows that the LORT variable acts as a mediator between IFMC and FP but LOC does not act as a mediator between IFMC and FP

Does fund management level of risk affect the fund performance?

Fund management risk tolerance is a topic which is of enormous interest not only to many researchers but also to investors. Motivated by limited empirical studies on the effects of risk tolerance on fund performance in Malaysia and in response to reasonable gaps in the literature, the objective of this paper is to examine the moderating effects of fund risk tolerance on the fund characteristics and fund performance relationship. The fund characteristics consist of the type of fund, fund categories, investment objectives, and popularity of fund. Meanwhile, the time horizon and risk profile are the proxies to measure the level of risk for the fund. The fund performance measures in this study use Sharpe ratio as the fund performance measurement. The findings revealed that time horizon acts as a moderator variable on the relationship between type of fund, popularity fo fund and fund performance measured by Sharpe ratio, but does not moderate on the relationship between categories of fund, investment objective and fund performance. In addition, when risk profile was included in the test, the results indicate that the relationship of type of fund and popularity of fund with fund performance measured by Sharpe ratio is significantly moderated by the firm risk profile)

The Use of Cognitive Mapping Technique in Management Research: Theory and Practice

The purpose of this article is to analyse the use of a qualitative approach using cognitive mapping techniques in the study of a decision‐making process. This study takes place in a public sector and in the context of a performance appraisal system (PAS). This is in line with recommendations by scholars and researchers to conduct a management research in a public service context (see Brown, 1999; Bissessar, 2000; Jabroun and Balakrishnan, 2000; O’Donnell and O’Brien, 2000; Redman, Snape and Thompson, 2000). This article also intends to elucidate and justify the methodological approach used, examine the assumptions underlying the use of a particular research design, and provide arguments for the preference of the methodology used. It is hoped that this will contribute to the understanding of the nature and validity of the research undertaken. This article begins by reviewing the theoretical issues of the research framework, the main features of the qualitative methodologies, and finally, the research method applied in this research is determined and justified