Predicting intention to invest in Unit Trust among UUM's postgraduate students

Unit trust is one of the investment mechanisms that nowadays have been given much attention by Malaysian government. Principally, investing in unit trust allows every people with or without sound knowledge of investment to invest in any investment vehicle with expectation to generate positive income or return. However, even though many responsible parties including government have done many efforts to encourage Malaysian citizen to invest in unit trust, the result is hampered. In predicting future investment, intention plays important role to predict actual behavior. Therefore, this study is done to examine the intention of the postgraduate students to invest in unit trust.The model of Theory Planned Behavior is used to measure the intention by looking at the three key variables, which are attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control.212 respondents successfully completed the 19 items questionnaires.Result of the study revealed that only attitudes and subjective norms significantly influence students’ intention to invest in unit trust.However, perceived behavioral control is not significant.The implications to the responsibility parties especially the policy makers are discussed further

Intention Towards Whistle-Blowing Among Internal Auditors in the U.K.

Whistle-blowing has garnered widespread attention in many countries, including the U.K. Whistle-blowing has been seen as one of the most effective ways to cater with illegal and unethical practices in organisations. Whistle-blowing describes the action of a worker disclosing (internally or externally) questionable practices, from within an organisation, to the parties that can take remedial actions. Nevertheless, whistleblowing is a risky action where the worker might lose his/her job for making the disclosure. In the early years of whistle-blowing practice, not much whistle-blowing protection legislation has been introduced. In the U.K. whistle-blowing protection legislation, known as the Public Interest Disclosure Act, was only enacted in 1998. Since then, various amendments to the Act have been made to give better protection to whistle-blowers. Many other policies have been introduced by policy makers in an effort to encourage whistle-blowing practice. Nevertheless, it is still an action that an individual might be disinclined to undertake. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that influence internal auditors in the U.K. to blow the whistle. Seven individual-level, independent variables (attitude, injunctive norm, descriptive norm, perceived behavioural control, self-efficacy, organisational professional conflict and awareness of the whistle-blowing protection legislation) are examined for their relationship with the dependent variable (intention to blow the whistle). Moral intensity is examined for its moderating effect on the relationships that exist between the seven independent variables and the dependent variable. Multiple regression analysis found positive and significant relationships involving six independent variables and the dependent variable. The six independent variables are attitude, injunctive norm, perceived behavioural control, self-efficacy, organisational-professional conflict and awareness of whistle-blowing protection legislation. The moderated multiple regressions found significant moderating effects of moral intensity in a relationship between injunctive norm and whistle-blowing intention, and descriptive norm and whistle-blowing intention. Overall, the findings suggest that, individual-level variables also play significant role in determining internal auditors’ intention to blow the whistle. Relative to individuallevel variables, organizational-level and situational level variables have received much attention among researchers in the past. Therefore, the findings suggest that future researches should also put emphasis and consideration on individual-level variables along with organizational and situational level variables in their future work. Also, intention to whistle-blow among internal auditors in the U.K. is high especially in a scenario involving a wrongdoing that may harm public safety than in scenario involving falsified invoices and collusion and tiers of hierarchy. The spirit of whistle-blowing can be infused if more efforts were taken by government, media and many other parties. The efforts include promoting the encouragement for whistle-blowing and institutionalise effective whistle-blowing policies and procedures in organizations

Entrepreneurial intention among accounting students in UUM

The government strongly promotes entrepreneurship as a career choice among students.However, many students do not turn out to be an entrepreneur after their graduation. Students’ behavior and decision to involve in entrepreneurship can be explained by their intention. Therefore, this paper examines the relationships of attitude towards entrepreneurship, subjective norm and perceived behavior control on the students’ intention to be an entrepreneur based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model.A sample of 489 final year accounting students from University Utara Malaysia completed a questionnaire consisting of 19 items measuring attitude towards entrepreneurship, subjective norm, perceived behavior control, and intention to be an entrepreneur.The finding of the study shows that attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control are significantly influence students’ intention to be an entrepreneur.This implies that TPB model is capable to predict students’ intention towards entrepreneurship, which at the end able to explain students’ decision and behavior to be an entrepreneur in the future.The implications to the university and policy maker are discussed further in this study

Predicting entrepreneurship intention among Malay university accounting students in Malaysia

The Malaysian government strongly promotes entrepreneurship as a career choice among students.However, many students do not turn out to be entrepreneurs after their graduation, especially Malays.The students’ behaviour and decision to get involved in entrepreneurship can be further explained by their intention.Therefore, this study identifies factors that influence students’ intention to become an entrepreneur based on the model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB).A sample of 121 final year Malay accounting students completed questionnaires from Universiti Malaya and Universiti Utara Malaysia, consisting of 18 items measuring attitude towards entrepreneurship, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, and intention to be an entrepreneur was compiled. The findings of the study show that all three factors significantly influence students’ intention to become entrepreneurs.Out of these three factors, perceived behavioural control emerged as the strongest factor that had a strong influence on intention.This implies that the TPB model is capable of predicting students’ intention towards entrepreneurship, and further explain the students’ decision to become an entrepreneur in the future.The implications to the theory and policy makers are discussed further in this study

Determinants of students' intention to use Internet for academic purposes

This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing students’ intention to use the Internet for academic purposes amongst 422 final year business students in public universities in Malaysia. This study integrated theory of planned behavior (TPB) and theory of acceptance model (TAM) as the base model toward that purpose. The research model employs the variables from both theories namely attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, intention, and behavior. A multiple regression analysis provides empirical support for the applicability of integration of TPB and TAM in predicting students’ intention to use the Internet for academic purposes.Results of the study show that attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use, are statistically significant in influencing intention to use the Internet for academic purposes.Intention was also found to significantly influence actual usage behavior.Based on the results, it can be concluded that students’ intention to use the Internet for academic purposes could be predicted from their attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use at 51% level. Meanwhile, intention could explain 45% variance in actual behavior. In view of the results, several implications and recommendations are discussed

Using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) in predicting the intent to use the internet for academic purposes

Purpose – This study sought to investigate the factors that influence students’ intention to use the Internet for academic purposes in Universiti Utara Malaysia. This study applies theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as the base model. The model employed the original variables from the theory i.e. attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and intention.Method – A survey involving of questionnaires was conducted among 369 public university students. Multiple regression was employed to examine the factors influencing intention to use the Internet for academic purposes.Findings – Results revealed that the variables attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control are statistically significant in influencing intention to use the Internet for learning purposes.It was also found that 38% of the variance in students’ intention to use the Internet is cumulatively explained by their attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control.Significance – The paper provides useful scientific insight into the relationships between attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control variables towards intention to use the Internet for academic purposes. The findings can be used to promote the use of Internet among students in enhancing their learning experience

Determinants of students’ internet usage for academic purposes

The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that influence students’ use of the Internet for academic purposes. This study applies underlying theory of planned behavior (TPB). Based on the theory, the original variables of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intention were hypothesized to determine Internet usage. A survey involving 422 students in various public universities in Malaysia was carried out. Results of multiple regression indicated that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are statistically significant in influencing intention to use the Internet for learning purposes. Meanwhile, intention was found to significantly influence Internet usage for academic purpose. Students’ intention to use the Internet for academic purposes could be predicted from their attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control at 41% level. Meanwhile, intention significantly influences Internet usage at 45% level.Implications and recommendations for practice and future work, and limitations of the study are also discussed

Bea scoring system: Selecting the right person for scholarship

Disability may involve visual disability, physical disability, learning disorder, speech disorder, mental disorder and others various disabilities. This situation can reduce the quality of life, and causes clear drawback to that person. Due to this, in many countries, there are scholarships for students with disability, and students with disability parents.Universiti Utara Malaysia also provides a scholarship known as Bestari Education Award (BEA) scheme to assist poor students with disability.The process of selecting the right student for the scholarship is through a manual approach by analyzing the individual application forms and usually very time consuming. In this study, a scoring system is developed to simplify the selection process.The score is based on monthly household income, number of dependents and taking into consideration any disabilities, critical illnesses, orang asli and orphan. This scoring system can replace the long manual process of analyzing the forms and assist administrative to strategize the management of this special scheme

Intention towards whistle-blowing reporting among internal auditors

The objective of this study is to determine the internal auditors’ readiness to be a whistleb-lower.For over 20 years, many researchers across the disciplines have done research that examined issues related to whistle-blowing but there have been limited research themes on the internal auditors as whistle-blowers being carried out.This study examined the relationship between organizational-professional conflict, social influence, self-efficacy, and intention towards whistle-blowing.In doing so, the study also explored two aspects of moderating interaction of moral obligation and awareness.This study utilized the Theory of Planned Behavior model as a research framework as it is widely accepted as a general framework for predicting behavioral intentions.This study applied the method of random sampling based on list given by the Institute of Internal Auditors Malaysia (IIAM).The questionnaires were distributed to auditors by mail.A total of 115 auditors participated in this study.This research provides evidence that the auditors with professional conflict awareness will have higher intention towards whistle-blowing.The findings also indicate that there are moderating effects of organizational moral obligation in the relationship between organizational conflict and intention towards whistle-blowing reporting.Specifically, the results indicate that with low level of moral obligation, auditors are more likely and have more intention to blow the whistle in the presence of fraud or wrongdoing in the organization. Finally, auditors who have high level of self-awareness will have high intention towards whistle-blowing reporting when dealing with professional conflict.As a conclusion, based on the analysis, auditors who experience professional conflict, social influence and self-efficacy (without being influenced by the moderator) will only intend towards whistle-blowing reporting if deemed necessary.In addition, auditors who encounter professional conflict and at the same time have high level of statutory moral obligation and self-awareness will have higher intention towards whistle-blowing reporting

Factors influencing students’ intention to use internet for academic purposes

This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing students’ intention to use the Internet for academic purposes amongst 204 final year business students in public universities in Malaysia.This study integrated theory of planned behavior (TPB) and theory of acceptance model (TAM) as the base model toward that purpose.The research model employs the variables from both theories namely attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, intention, and behavior.A multiple regression analysis provides empirical support for the applicability of integration of TPB and TAM in predicting students’ intention to use the Internet for academic purposes.Results of the study show that attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and perceived usefulness are statistically significant in influencing intention to use the Internet for academic purposes.Based on the results, it can be concluded that students’ intention to use the Internet for academic purposes could be predicted from their attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and perceived usefulness at 49% level.In view of the results, several implications and recommendations are discussed