The global & Malaysian food crisis and the need of genetically modified (GM foods)

This study empirically examines the level of consumers’ understanding and knowledge about food crisis and Genetically Modified (GM) foods. Through self reported experiences on consumers’ understanding and knowledge about food crisis and GM foods, the consumers that had been shopped in hypermarkets around Shah Alam area were surveyed. Result revealed the consumers do understand and have knowledge about global and Malaysian food crisis, but have little knowledge and understanding about GM foods. In further, it can be concluded that during global and Malaysian food crisis, there is a need for GM foods and GM foods might be a viable option to deal with the crisis. Consumers’ understanding from the interviews were validated and supported through qualitative information obtained from interview approach. The face-to-face interview approach was conducted among experts of various areas such as biotechnology, economic and food industry and it provided truly significant and in-depth information for this study. The overall findings from this study could be streamlined and at the end it clearly indicates that during global and Malaysian food crisis, there is a need for GM foods and the scientific advance such as GM foods is important to deal with the long term needs. However, it is important to see a more focused initiative and systematic development for biotechnology in Malaysia. Thus, efforts to increase funding and improve coordination between government agencies, private companies, academicians and experts responsible for food assistance are all excellent initiatives that have to be looked into

Factors influencing the adoption of information technology in independent casual dining restaurants

The purpose of the paper is to examine factors influencing the adoption of information technology (IT) in independent casual dining restaurants. Sample populations of this study were taken among the manager or owner of the independent casual dining restaurants around Klang Valley which already implemented the IT. Self-administered questionnaires which consist of five sections were used. The overall findings from this study involving 53 managers could be streamlined and at the end it clearly indicates that most of the managers were influenced by motivational factors in decisions making of implementing IT in the restaurants. Thus this study could illustrate a visual to the foodservice operators, body of knowledge and to the government on the restaurant IT adoption scenario in Malaysia. Generally, some useful insights were attained

Validating Model of Travellers’ Intention to Revisit of an Islamic Destination via Consistency Partial Least Square (PLSc)

The purpose of this study is to validate the links among factor influencing tourists to revisit of an Islamic destination towards Muslim amenities and lifestyle, cognitive destination image and quality of service on a traveller’s intention to revisit Islamic tourism destination. All the data was being collected using a self-administered approach questionnaire. The influencing factors of tourists to revisit are being validated by using the Consistency Partial Least Square (PLSc) via Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique. The findings indicated that, the purposed model were valid to modelling the travellers’ intention since the SRMR and NFI indices were meet the minimum requirement of the analysis. Besides that, Muslim-Friendly Amenities and Lifestyle, Cognitive Image, and Service Quality having a simultaneously positive significant effect toward Intention to Revisit. It is indicated that, Islamic tourism should be acknowledge of the importance of Muslim amenities and lifestyles, cognitive destination image and quality of services in keep tourists to revisi

Perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) of information technology application towards managerial productivity in fast food chain outlets

The usage of information technology in fast food chain outlets is to be pervasive and compulsory to improve organizational performance and strategic competitiveness. However, having technology available is not enough, it must be accepted and used appropriately by its target user group in order to realize anticipated productivity gains. Therefore, this study aims to examine the relationship between perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) of information technology application towards managerial productivity of managers who are attached in the fast food chain outlets in the Klang Valley area. A random survey with questionnaire method was conducted as a quantitative data collection on 326 managers from participating food chain outlets with regard to their acceptance of IT application leading to their productivity. The findings indicated that perceived usefulness (PU) have significant (positive) relationship on managerial productivity (MP). In contrast, ease of use (EOU) has insignificant (negative) relationship on MP. It has been concluded that perceived usefulness of IT application was influence the productivity of managers and on the other hand, the ease of use not influence manager's productivity in today's work environment. Based on the findings, it is hoped that this study will further enhance knowledge in the human resources field and training, with respect to managers' attitude and awareness towards IT application in restaurant operations

The need of genetically modified (GM) foods for Malaysia food security

Malaysia could also be one of the countries that propose the need of GM Foods due the food crisis problem after facing with uncertainty of economic conditions recently and it could be a preparation for the Malaysian food supply system. This study empirically examines the level of consumers’ understanding and knowledge about food crisis and Genetically Modified (GM) foods. In this study, quantitative and qualitative methods or known as triangulation methods had been applied. Through quantitative methods, the questionnaire survey was developed to evaluate consumers’ understanding, knowledge and the perception of food crisis and GM Foods which are the main issues of this research. Using the qualitative approach, the face-to-face interview approach was conducted among experts of various areas such as biotechnology, economic and food industry and it provided truly significant and in-depth information for this study. The overall findings from this study could be streamlined and at the end it clearly indicates that during global and Malaysian food crisis, there is a need for GM foods and the scientific advance such as GM foods is important to deal with the long term needs. However, it is important to see a more focused initiative and systematic development for biotechnology in Malaysia. Thus, efforts to increase funding and improve coordination between government agencies, private companies, academicians and experts responsible for food assistance are all excellent initiatives that have to be looked into

Crowd management strategies and safety performance among sports tourism event venue organizers in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor

High risk of injuries and accidents among attendees at event, especially Sports Tourism Event has become one of the major concerns to researchers and practitioners. One of the major strategies to ensure attendees safety is by practicing effective crowd management strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of crowd management strategies and safety performance practices among sports tourism event venue organizers in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia. The sample included 40 of safety or operation manager attached to sports tourism event venue organizers. The results of the statistical analysis revealed that the correlation crowd management strategies had significant relationship with safety performance. Since the findings may not have utilitarian value to other event venues in Malaysia, future studies might consider using a national sample rather than the local sample

Determinants affecting purchase intention of organic food among medical employees

Organic food is natural food items restricted from artificial chemicals such as fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, and genetically modified organisms. Thus, organic food is considered healthy food as synthetic chemicals are prohibited in its production. Organic food has become more common and in greater demand among consumers due to improved awareness of eating healthily. This study aims to identify the determinants that may influence customers’ purchase intention of organic food, such as knowledge, safety, health consciousness, environment, price, and availability of the organic food. Moreover, this study discovers the dominant factor that may affect the organic food purchase intention. The participants of this study are the medical employees of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan. In finding the factors affecting organic food purchase intention, self-administered close-ended questionnaires have been distributed to 357 respondents. From the responses, the dominant factors that are affecting organic food purchase intention among the employees are price and availability of organic food. The results of this study may benefit from developing an effective marketing strategy for vendors involved in organic food marketing and help them comprehend their customers’ perceptions of organic food

Online grocery shopping: the affect of time availability on Malaysian consumer preferences

Online grocery shopping is a new way of buying desired grocery products for household consumption. It has been started in Malaysia few years back with early local online grocer such as PasarBorong.com, SubangGrocer.com, CGdeMart.com and Citrasspicemart.com. Due to the advancement of today technology, online grocery shopping is gaining their market share in the food retail industry in Malaysia. Therefore, this study examined the perceptions and preferences of Malaysian consumers towards online grocery shopping. It is also examines three (3) important factors in online grocery shopping; cost and charges, time availability and convenience of online grocery shopping, which will contribute to the impact of online grocery shopping. Sample of population for this study were consumers who had some experience in online food retailing, particularly online grocery shopping and also those who have not yet to use internet to purchase grocery products. The researcher used self administered questionnaire and applied quota sampling in this study to represent three main ethnic in Malaysia (Malay, Chinese and Indian). Result of the study showed that Malaysian consumers were disagreeing on the extra cost and charges of online grocery shopping charged by the online grocers. The same feeling they expressed on the time availability that they have and also the time used to navigate the online pages. Most of the respondents were strongly disagree to have a repeat purchase for buying grocery product online. Therefore, the overall findings highlighted some important points which should be useful to the online grocers in order for them to capture the market and also to have repeat business in the future. It also helps the online grocers to understand consumers’ needs and preferences in online grocery shopping. By acknowledging this study, online grocers are able to position themselves in the market at par to be accepted by Malaysian consumers

Customer's perception towards McDonald's icon-based nutritional labels

Nowadays, nutritional labels are very important instruments in the restaurant industry as it helps customers in making informed food choices. Therefore, McDonald’s should take action to become the first in the world to make extensive nutritional information and comprehensive ingredient listings and other food facts available to the customers. Additionally, McDonald’s provided in-store nutrition information pamphlets, on food wrappers, on tray placemats as well as official restaurant website in order to let the customers be aware of it. However, McDonald’s are always perceived as unhealthy restaurants and portray a bad image to the public. In relation to that, in order to change public perception towards fast foods, nutrition label acts as a safety guide in choosing healthy foods. Thus, this study aims to determine customers’ perception on the icon-based nutrition labels of McDonald’s food products. The study was conducted at McDonald’s outlets within Shah Alam area and the data was gathered through self-administered questionnaires. From the analyses, the results showed that customers positively perceived McDonald’s icon-based nutrition labels as a good effort and step towards healthier lifestyle as people nowadays are more conscious and aware of their health and nutritious food intake. Furthermore, the findings revealed some important points which could be useful for the fast food operators, food manufacturers as well as other restaurant operators to come out with the idea of producing nutrition labels as a new marketing strategy or tool. Additionally, it will increase customer turn over, as well as create a new environment geared towards a healthy lifestyle. As a final point, for future researchers they should explore on the effectiveness of nutritional labels on the customer in terms of making healthy food choices. In addition, the study can be broadened to investigate whether nutritional labels help build more trust in providing nutrition information to the customers in making decisions to buy a meal

The application of technology devices in commissary catering kitchen establishments

Technology is undeniably very important in food service industry. This study empirically investigated the application of technology in Malaysia commissary catering establishments and how it implicated the productivity. Using semi-structured interviews with managers and questionnaire survey with employees of four commissary catering establishments, some meaningful insights on the topic of interest were obtained. The application of technology had brought vast benefits to commissary establishments. Technology used not only increased the speed, volume, quality and cleanliness but also helped in smooth running of the food production and most importantly boosted the productivity of the commissary catering establishment. These findings produced significant indicators not only to those who are already in commissary catering but also to those individuals or companies who intent to venture into food service businesses