Universiti Malaysia Pahang- first Technical University in Malaysia to achieve 5-Star QS rating

On 17 July 2018, faculty and staff at Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) cried “hurray!” for being awarded the prestigious QS 5-star overall rating. We shouted for joy as becoming the only and first Malaysian technical university and non-research university to have received such a distinguished 5-star overall excellence rating. Specifically, UMP’s QS Star ratings reflect high qualities of teaching, research, and community services taking place at the institution, all of which contribute towards the great program strength and high employability generated. UMP also does well in the advanced criteria of QS Star ratings, namely ‘Innovation’ and ‘Inclusiveness’, with 5-star ratings. This groundbreaking achievement reinforces the results of previous prestigious ratings and high-profile assessments. Big congratulations to UMP

Flashback - Universiti Malaysia Pahang in the past, present and future

Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) has been on the run in achieving continuous excellences amidst the dynamically challenging environment since it was established as a public technical university by the Malaysian government on 16 February 2002. Certainly, UMP celebrated another milestone anniversary last month, marking a closer step in fulfilling its vision to be a distinguished technological university. UMP has been the leader within the Malaysian Technical University Network (MTUN), which is made up of four technological universities in Malaysia though

Examining and validating a bankruptcy prediction models in Malaysia

The purpose of this paper is to propose and validate the combined model for bankruptcy prediction for the Malaysian firms. This combined model is adopted from previous studies by combining Ohlson logit model, Springate-Canadian model and macroeconomic factors. The proposed combined model is developed by using the financial and macroeconomic constructs. The result indicates that logistic regression performs well and it is used to validate the model. Our results also show that, the capacity of the proposed model to predict correctly is 100% for both samples (distress and non-distress firms). Finally, the results of this study could also be applicable to business and investor's decision making contexts other than the bankruptcy prediction model

Risk assessment of SunCon: An empirical study of construction sector in Malaysia

Risk assessment plays a crucial and vital role in the construction sector. This research paper presents an empirical study on the risks associated with SunCon, an extraordinary pure-play construction company in Malaysia. The objectives of this study are to analyse the potential risks exposed to SunCon company and suggest risk management strategies that could help to mitigate or control those potential risks. The research conducted primarily focuses on the financial risk exposure of SunCon by analysing the secondary data that gathered from annual report. The research conducted a time-series comparative analysis of SunCon's financial performance from 2018 2022. The quantitative approach is used in this research methodology in order to evaluate the risk exposure direct to SunCon in terms of the company's financial performance. The risk measurement analyses the risk exposed including Z-score, liquidity risk, debt risk, credit risk, and interest rate risk. The findings provide an empirical analysis of SunCon's risk management strategies in terms of their financial risk over the past five years. To accomplish the objectives of the study, the study also suggested the risk control strategies that can be implemented by SunCon to mitigate the risks. In conclusion, this research provides significant implications on potential risks exposed to SunCon and the strategies to mitigate those risks. This research paper put concerns of the importance of risk management practices in the dynamic construction sector

R&D investment and future firm performance: The role of managerial overconfidence and government ownership

We investigate the relationship among managerial overconfidence (MO), government ownership, and research and development (R&D) investment using data from Vietnamese public companies for the period 2007–2016. We also investigate how R&D investment, given MO and government ownership, affect future firm performance. Our results indicate that MO and government ownership are positively related to R&D investment. Conceptually, this study investigates novel factors affecting of R&D investment and their role in improving firm performance. Overall, this study emphasizes the importance of R&D investment in the corporate world, improving firm performance and, ultimately, economic prosperity

Risk Management Practices and Financial Performance of Property Developers in the Context of Covid-19 Pandemic

The global economy can be impacted by significant events such as financial crises and pandemics. Recently, the outbreak of COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has disrupted the stability of markets and economies across various sectors. One area of interest is the risk management practices of property developers and their impact on financial performance during the pandemic. This study aims to investigate the risk management practices of property companies in Malaysia in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the five areas being explored are identifying risks, assessing risks, mitigating risks, implementing risk management, and monitoring risk management. The research seeks to provide theoretical contributions by offering insights to organizations on how to improve their financial performance, as well as practical contributions by providing guidelines for more structured risk management practices. The study employs a quantitative research approach, with a random sampling of 282 respondents from various property developers in Malaysia, including residential, commercial, mixed-use, special purpose, industrial, and agricultural sectors. Results indicate that risk mitigation has a significant positive effect on financial performance, while risk identification and risk assessment have negative effects

Exploring the Influence of corporate social responsibility on efficiency : An extended dynamic data envelopment analysis of the global airline industry

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has received significant attention from practitioners, encouraging companies to consider it as a business model for their sustainable development. This study examines the effect of CSR on the dynamic efficiency of the global airline industry from 2013 to 2017. The study integrates DuPont and two-stage network data envelopment analyses to evaluate global airline efficiency and its relationship with CSR. Multiple proxies are used to establish a performance evaluation method and analyze the performance of global airlines from the perspectives of their financial structure, production performance and CSR. The study examines the influence of CSR to global airlines’ production efficiency and CSR is measured according to environmental, social and governance activities. The findings are as follows: (1) the profitability of low-cost carriers (LCCs) is superior to that of full-service carriers (FSCs); (2) the energy and wealth-creation efficiencies of LCCs are superior to those of FSCs; (3) FSCs are more committed to CSR activities, and their CSR is positively correlated with overall production efficiency; and (4) environmental and social elements in CSR improve airline efficiency levels. Overall, this study suggests that global airlines should practice CSR to address challenges in the dynamic global airline industry

Innovation and firm performance: The moderating role of intellectual capital among Chinese companies

This study examines the impact of innovation on firm performance and how intellectual capital (IC) moderates the association between innovation and firm performance. We apply an innovation index that measures the frequency of innovative related words, which appear in firm financial reports to proxy for innovation. IC is estimated through the value-added IC (VAICTM) model. This study analyses Chinese firm-year observations of financial profitability (firm value) datasets, which total 19,152 (18,276) over the years from 2007 to 2019. Results indicate that the innovation index is positively related to financial profitability and firm market value. Moreover, the moderating outcomes suggest that IC boosts the positive relationship between innovation index and firm performance. Overall, this study highlights the importance of having innovation and IC together for gaining firm competitive advantages and progressing profitably. That is, firms should be innovative and must manage their IC well

The effects of managerial ability on firm performance and the mediating role of capital structure: evidence from Taiwan

This study utilizes mediation analysis and bootstrapping to analyze the mediating effect of capital structure on the association between managerial ability and firm performance. The dataset consists of 6384 firm-year observations from the Taiwanese electronics industry during 2005–2018. Our results indicate that (1) low (high) levels of debt are likely observed in firms with CEOs with high (low) ability, (2) managerial ability positively affects firm performance, and (3) capital structure mediates the positive relationship between managerial ability and firm performance. Overall, the findings may have limited generalizability due to the specific sample characteristics and provide convincing support for the importance of capital structure as a mediator in the managerial ability-firm performance nexus. Specifically, this study highlights the need for examining the effect of managerial ability on firm performance through a mediator