The mediating effect of green innovation on the relationship between green supply chain management and environmental performance in Malaysia manufacturing industries

Recently, many manufacturing companies in developed countries have recognised the concept of green supply chain management (GSCM). Additionally, the increasing stakeholders’ pressures from government, customers, suppliers, buyers and the public have forced manufacturing companies to improve their production processes to become more environmental-friendly, and continually seek ways to innovate their products. However, relatively limited research attention has been devoted to the consideration of the relationship between GSCM, green innovation and environmental performance. Therefore, this study aims to bridge this gap by providing empirical evidence to encourage companies to implement GSCM and green innovation to improve their environmental performance significantly. A conceptual model was constructed to link the above-mentioned constructs. Data were collected using a questionnaire-based survey. Through a census method, 123 ISO 14001 certified manufacturing companies in Malaysia were selected. Data were analysed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Empirical evidence showed that GSCM practices have positive effect on green innovation and environmental performance. Green innovation has been found to have a positive effect on environmental performance and its role as a mediator between GSCM practices and environmental performance has been confirmed. The results confirmed the complementary effect of GSCM practices on green innovation and environmental performance. This research discussed several theoretical and managerial contributions, and extended research in GSCM and green innovation domains. The findings may help managers and practitioners understand how GSCM practices influence green innovation and environmental performance, as well as assist manufacturers in identifying practices that need improvement. Recommendations for future research include the need to test and expand the conceptual model of GSCM and green innovation using longitudinal designs and multiple dimensions of organisational performance instead of environmental performance only

Hubungan di antara pengaturan kerja fleksibel dan prestasi pekerja dalam kalangan ejen insurans wanita

Ejen insurans merupakan jurujual pertengahan bagi syarikat insurans di mana mereka memainkan peranan penting dalam memberi khidmat nasihat kewangan (Hannah, 2011). Ejen insurans bekerja berdasarkan persekitaran pengaturan kerja yang fleksibel di mana mereka boleh menyediakan jadual waktu bekerja sendiri. Sebahagian daripada mereka bertemu dengan pelanggan pada waktu perniagaan siang hari, sementara yang lain pula membuat kertas kerja dan menyediakan konsultasi untuk pelanggan pada waktu petang. Kebanyakan mereka bekerja selama 40 jam seminggu dan ada juga beberapa ejen yang bekerja lebih lama daripada 40 jam (Hannah, 2011). Prestasi ejen insurans sangat penting untuk mengekalkan jenama produk insurans. Penilaian terhadap prestasi di kalangan ejen insurans biasanya bergantung kepada kejayaan atau kegagalan mencapai sasaran penjualan (Insurance Agent Job Overview, 2019). Proses menjual produk insurans memerlukan masa kerana mereka perlu mendekati pelanggan sebanyak mungkin dan ketersediaan waktu bekerja yang tidak tetap

Customer Retention in Service Industry

Customer retention is previously considered as the last resort of a company in traditional marketing approach rather than a way to improve long term profit (Krishnan & Govindarajan, 2013). This is because traditional way of marketing strategy tends to focus more on attracting new customers than satisfying the existing customers. However, as globalization continue to precede, low growth and highly competitive marketplace shows that retaining customers is the more effective way to sustain a company against inroad competition. It is found by some studies showing that companies which emphasize on attracting new customers are actually earning to cover up the regular loss of existing customers without them noticing. Thus, winning new customers are considered a risky way to be profitable (Rosenberg & Czepiel, 1984). Many previous literature reviews also showed the importance of customer retention in increasing company revenue. More companies are now changing their marketing and management strategies to reach out to their existing customers in order to prevent them for opting for service provided by competitive company. A number of researches posit that customer retention increase profitability by lowering the cost used to attract new customers. It is supported by studies showing that there is increase in profit to as high as 95% if customer retention of the company increases by 5% (Sharmeela-Banu et al., 2012). Many researchers came into agreement that repeated customers are the more valuable asset compared to new customers in today’s market (Climis, 2016). Meanwhile, it can be seen in today’s world economy, service industry has emerged to be one of the fastest growing sectors among the others. Customers are considered the real asset to service industry due to the nature of this industry which prioritizes relationship between customers with the service (Alshurideh, 2016). This makes it even more crucial for this industry to practice customer retention strategies in order to survive and grow in the very competitive marketplace. As such, this study intends to explore literatures pertaining to definitions, measures, importance and factors that influence customer retention in service industry as well as to discuss on possible strategies to be applied based on the studies

Deceptive Marketing

Deceptive marketing is the use of inaccurate or false information to catch the attention of the user through the usage of misleading information to coax purchaser into a business transaction that will unusual be beneficial to the consumer but advantageous to the one that doing the deceptive advertising (Peter & Olson, 2010). Deceptive marketing has been marked in the literature which give an authority view about deception in marketing (Wilkins et al., 2016). Deceptive marketing is also a untrue claims or fake news about a firm’s products by competing firms can be understood in the context of misleading in marketing and unethical business practices and understanding the effects of unethical marketing is important, given that negative information is often more important to buyers than positive information and that firms can easily begin misleading marketing on the internet, especially through social media (Song et al., 2017). The requirement for a description of deceit in spreading is a long way from another concern (Ullah & Hussain, 2015). Overstatement of product quality is same as misleading facts about the product which it can be a structure of false praise. Whether and how much deceptive advertising impacts utilization is uncertain a reasoning because firms can counter-advertise to reveal deceptive assert by their opponents and consumers may be understood to ignore overstate declarations. Advertising in common and deceptive advertising in specific can be united, grow total utilization or ruthless, grow in demand share at the cost of opponents, or both

Factors influencing intention to use mobile payment QR Code among teachers in Batu Pahat

Mobile payment is receiving growing attention globally, from consumers to merchants, as an alternative to using cash, check, or credit cards. The potential of this technology is enormous. In this study, the focus was on mobile payment using the QR code. This study aims to determine factors that influence the intention to use mobile payment QR code. To achieve the objective, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), namely perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, was employed to understand factors that influence the intention to use mobile payment. A survey method has opted through the distribution of questionnaires to 172 secondary school teachers in Batu Pahat. Data analysis was conducted using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. This study's findings showed that the teachers are ready to use the QR code for mobile payment. Besides, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were positively correlated to QR code mobile payment

The Impact of Digital Marketing Channels on Consumer Buying Decision

Recent reports show how Malaysians are increasingly turning to digital channels for purchasing and making decisions. However, some issues that arise in different digital marketing channels, including email marketing, search engine marketing, and social media marketing, can lead to negative consequences such as email overload, misinterpretation of search results, and the spread of false or offensive content. The study aimed to examine the impact of email marketing, search engine marketing (SEM), and social media marketing on consumer buying decisions. The study used a quantitative method, with 384 respondents from the region Johor, Malaysia, surveyed using convenience sampling. The results of the study indicated that email marketing has a negative relationship with consumer buying decisions, whereas search engine marketing and social media marketing have a positive relationship with consumer buying decisions. Therefore, the study recommends that marketers focus on digital marketing channels such as search engines and social media marketing to improve their marketing efficiency since they have a more significant impact on consumer buying decisions compared to email marketing

Consumer behavior during the pandemic Covid 19

An outbreak of Covid-19 is not simply a global pandemic and public health crisis only. The pandemic has affected the global economy and financial markets. According to Sheth (2020), the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown and the social distancing mandates have disrupted consumer buying behavior, especially at shopping. Many industries have undoubtedly been impacted, particularly service and industrial activities, which have been stopped to the point of insolvency. This is because much of the globe has imposed quarantine restrictions to contain the pandemic's spread, advising residents to stay at home and only go to acquire the necessities. Many customers' options for shopping are limited as a result of the lockdown and social distancing. This scenario has undoubtedly had an impact on consumer purchasing patterns. As a result, the shutdown significantly influences consumer behaviour, personal views, individual and household experiences, and traits

Marketing macro environment during the pandemic Covid-19

Without a doubt, COVID-19 is indeed a disease caused by a recently discovered coronavirus strain, a form of a virus known to cause human respiratory infections. On January 24, 2020, the first case of Malaysia with COVID-19 was detected. In Malaysia, the World Health Organization (WHO) worked closely with the Ministry of Health to respond to this epidemic. Furthermore, according to the WHO report, as of November 15, 2020, a total of 47,417 COVID-19 confirmed cases have occurred in Malaysia. There have been 23 new deaths recorded in the past week. This brings to 309 the cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths since the epidemic started in Malaysia (WHO, 2020). At the same time, COVID-19 has a significant effect on businesses and the economy and catastrophic cases for people's health. There has never been a more urgent need for companies to reconsider and reconfigure their businesses for a changing environment as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. It is now time for organizations to concentrate on supporting critical areas of their companies that will help them stabilize and strategize for what is next in the new climate

A Study of Employability Skills: From the Employers and Youth Perspectives

The issues of skills mismatched among the youth and employers appear to be very intense in Malaysia. The unemployed youth are actively seeking jobs and trying to fulfill the criteria needed by employers to get hired. However, many failed to fulfill the requirements due to skills mismatched. This situation does not show that the supply meets the demand in terms of youth employment and job vacancies. Thus, this study aimed to explore the perceptions of employers and youth regarding the employability skills required by the youth to secure employment and any disparities in their perceptions. This study was a cross-sectional survey research design and employed a quantitative method by distributing a set of questionnaires that adapted from the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) to two groups of respondents which are employers (n=375) and youth (n=384) in Batu Pahat, Johor. Descriptive analyses and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to analyze the data. The findings showed significant differences in the perception levels of employers and youth regarding most of the employability skills assessed except for Basic Skills. The results from this study can be used to enhance the understanding of employability skills as well as to be the guidelines for policy-making decisions to find mutual expectations and reduce the expectation gaps between these two groups

Hubungan di antara amalan pembuatan mampan dan prestasi mampan dalam sektor pembuatan

Pelaksanaan amalan pembuatan mampan telah membawa banyak keuntungan dan manfaat bukan sahaja kepada industri pembuatan itu sendiri malah kepada persekitaran. Antara manfaat tersebut ialah meningkatkan produktiviti, membawa imej yang baik, menghasilkan produk mesra alam. Walaubagaimanapun, masih terdapat banyak organisasi pembuatan yang masih tidak melaksanakan amalan pembuatan mampan oleh faktor kos yang tinggi dan budaya organisasi yang tidak menerima amalan tersebut. Justeru, kajian ini bertujuan mengenalpasti hubungan di antara amalan pembuatan mampan (SMP) dan prestasi mampan organisasi pembuatan. Data dikumpulkan berdasarkan kaedah kuantitatif dengan menggunakan borang soal selidik. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah persampelan rawak mudah dan SPSS digunakan untuk menganalisis data deskriptif dan korelasi. Sampel sebanyak 51 syarikat pembuatan di Johor digunakan untuk analisis bagi kajian yang akan dijalankan. Amalan pengeluaran bersih dan hubungan pekerja menunjukkan hubungan yang signifikan dengan prestasi mampan. Amalan eko efisiensi menunjukkan tiada hubungan terhadap kemampanan ekonomi, namun terdapat hubungan yang signifikan terhadap kemampanan persekitaran dan kemampanan sosial. Faedah daripada kajian ini ialah organisasi pembuatan dapat melihat beberapa SMP yang bertindak sebagai pemacu untuk meningkatkan prestasi mampan organisasi kerana manfaat jangka panjang yang ditawarkannya