Effect of perceived fairness in pay system on work-related attitude

Perceived fairness in pay system has two critical features, namely procedural fairness and distributive fairness. Recent studies have shown that the capability of employers to propose and administer pay systems appropriately, including allocating pay and determining the value of pay in a fair manner, has a positive association with employees’ work-related attitude. Although this association has been well-researched, the role of perceived fairness as avital predicting variable of work-related attitude, particularly towards job satisfaction and organizational commitment, has still not been thoroughly deliberated. Hence, this study fills this gap. Self-report survey questionnaires were collected from the employees of a public audit agency in Peninsular Malaysia. Smart PLS software was utilized to assess the quality of the research instrument and test the research hypotheses. The results of hypothesis testing confirm that perceived procedural fairness and distributive fairness in managing the pay system, are important determinants of job satisfaction and organizational commitment in the examined organization. Additionally, this study offers useful guidelines for practitioners to improve the pay management system and proposes future studies

Halal tourism: literature synthesis and direction for future research

Halal tourism, which arises from the growth in the number of Muslim travellers world-wide and the rapid development of halal industry, is defined as the engagement of any object or action by Muslim travellers that conforms to the Islamic teachings and facilitates the practice of the religion. As such, the application of halal concept in tourism, including in its development and marketing, must be guided by the Islamic principles. With the purpose to understand the current state of knowledge and practice, we reviewed the literature on halal tourism that has been published in high-tier academic journals. Based on the review, we identified the emergent themes and the knowledge gaps for future research. Among others, we found that the industry is booming with increased participations from Muslim-minority countries. However, there seems to be variations in the practice, perhaps due to the complexity of the market needs. The implementation of halal tourism by Muslim-minority countries is the most pressing issue due to the need to ensure that the process and the service offered strictly comply with the requirements of Islamic teachings, while at the same time, to ensure that the countries are able to develop their halal sectors into competitive industries. Understanding the implementation of halal tourism is an important agenda for future research to ensure that the service provided addresses the fundamental issue of Muslims' obligations to adhere to the Islamic teachings in all aspects of their lives including while travelling

Exploring internationalization of Halal Taiwan: analysis of Taiwan’s halal food products in Malaysia

Taiwan is one of the emerging players in the global halal industry. Since the launching of its New Southbound Policy in late 2016, the country has been aiming to move rapidly into the lucrative global halal markets through its brand of Halal Taiwan. However, thus far, the current state of its halal campaign in the international market is not yet identified. This study intends to fulfill this gap by exploring the internationalization of Taiwanese halal-certified food products that are exported to Malaysia. This qualitative study observed the availability of made in Taiwan halal food products at thirteen supermarkets and convenient stores in Kuala Lumpur and greater Klang Valley in Malaysia, as well as on two major online shopping platforms. The study found that the internationalization strategy of Taiwanese halal food products in Malaysia is characterized by the offering of product variety mainly for impulse purchase with high affordability. However, in terms of number and range of products, as well as the establishment of brand identity, it is found that Taiwan is lacking behind South Korea and Japan. The latter two are Muslim-minority countries that fast becoming emerging players in the global halal market. Implications for policy and managerial practices are also discussed

Opportunity recognition in immigrant entrepreneurship through social capital and geographical proximity: a conceptual framework

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework of the role of social capital as an ultimate resource for immigrant entrepreneurs in recognising entrepreneurial opportunities. Research consistently reveals that immigrants have higher tendency to engage in entrepreneurial activities in countries where they reside. Based on a review of existing literature, resources such as human, social, and financial capital facilitate immigrants to pursue entrepreneurial activities. In recognising business opportunities, social contexts have immensely influenced the entrepreneurial process. However, the role of social capital as an ultimate resource for immigrant entrepreneurship have yet to be comprehensively understood. Social capital is significantly related to the information flows, the trust and norms between individuals. Additionally, the geographical proximity between immigrants and their co-ethnic groups and local communities which enable more rigorous social exchanges plays prevalence role for immigrants to pursue entrepreneurial activities. Therefore, we could argue that the social capital and immigrant entrepreneurs’ geographical proximity are crucial constructs for immigrant entrepreneurs to recognise opportunities for their business ventures in a host country. The review of past literature enables us to develop a conceptual framework on how social capital and geographical proximity may assist the opportunity recognition of immigrant entrepreneurs. The proposed conceptual framework offers three general propositions than can be empirically validated in future research. This paper contributes to enhance the understanding of immigrant entrepreneurship from the lens of opportunity recognition, social capital and geographical proximity

Diagnosing the halal industry of Taiwan: a viable system model approach

The global halal industry is currently a trillion dollar industry. Businesses around the world are upbeat to get a piece of this lucrative market, including those operating within Muslim-minority contexts. To leverage on this opportunity, there is a need for emerging players to understand the current situation, with the purpose of planning and implementing strategies for the industry’s growth. This study examined the Muslim-minority context of Taiwan and utilized the Viable System Model (VSM) as the framework to diagnose the current state of Taiwan’s halal industry. Data for the diagnosis were collected mainly through interviews with the relevant agencies, managers or entrepreneurs of halal businesses as well as the consumers of Taiwan’s halal products and services. The analysis found that the halal industry in Taiwan already has several implementation units including the Taiwan Halal Center in support of halal business promotion and growth. Taiwan’s halal industry has multiple certification bodies co-existing, with several being business-oriented, while the others community-based. The findings also revealed the central role of local-born Muslims and the mosques in facilitating halal certification practices in this Muslim-minority society, indicating a strong foundation in its environment to support of the rapid growth of halal industry. Malaysia’s endorsement of Taiwan’s certification bodies is deemed as a crucial support mechanism for their global entry into the halal market. On the whole, the halal industry in Taiwan lacks a formalized halal industry development policy, hence the absence of the functions of policymaking, intelligence, control and coordination in support of a viable halal industry ecosystem. Moving forward, Taiwan needs to institute an integrated halal industry development policy and to fill the missing functions while ensuring cohesions among the functions to manage varieties both in its local as well as in the global environment

Halal tourism: literature synthesis and direction for future research

Halal tourism is defined as the use or engagement of any object or action by Muslim travellers that conforms to the Islamic teachings or facilitates the practice of the religion. It is one of the latest trends that arises from the growth in the numbers of Muslim travellers world-wide and the rapid development of halal industry. The application of halal concept covers all aspects of tourism that cater to Muslim travellers’ needs, including its development and marketing, and this must be guided by the Islamic teachings and principles. Thus, this study’s objective is to analyse the current state of knowledge and practice of halal tourism. To achieve this objective, we reviewed the extant literature on halal tourism that have been published in high-tier academic journals. Based on the review, emergent themes on halal concept and its relation to tourism are discussed and the knowledge gap for future research is identified. We find that the halal tourism industry is booming, with an increase of interest among non-Muslim majority countries in attracting Muslim tourists. However, there seems to be variations on the practice of halal tourism, perhaps due to the complexity in serving different markets. Based on our analysis, implementation of halal tourism by Muslim-minority countries, such as Japan and New Zealand poses as the most pressing issue because of the need to ensure that the process and product complies with the requirements of Islamic teachings; while at the same time, to fulfil the need in developing and marketing halal tourism in those countries. Understanding implementation in this context is an important agenda for future research because of the need to ensure that the halal tourism services satisfy the fundamental issue of Muslims’ obligations to adhere to the Islamic teachings in all aspects of their life including while travelling

Structural properties of deposited ZnO thin films on flexible substrates at various substrate temperatures and RF power

ZnO thin films were deposited on Teflon substrates by RF magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperature and different RF power. In this work, we investigated the dependence of the deposition rate and also the ZnO physical and electrical properties on the substrate temperature and RF power. It is observed that the deposition rate increased as the temperature and RF power increased. FE-SEM images confirmed that microstructure of the thin films consists of nanoparticles. XRD data confirmed that the ZnO thin films at various RF power and substrate temperature have (002) structure