Influence of gender role on internet usage pattern at home among academicians

The paper examines gender differences in Internet usage pattern among male and female academicians. Internet usage pattern covers items such as knowledge and experience on the Internet, purpose of using Internet and frequency of using e-mail. The paper also examines the influence of gender role on Internet usage pattern. The data of this qualitative study were based on interviews with five academicians in a private university in Malaysia. The study shows that gender role to certain extent does influence Internet usage pattern at home. Women are seen to have more limitations compared to men to access to the Internet at any time due to family commitment

A Descriptive Analysis on Usage of Online Knowledge Sharing Technology in Malaysian Research Universities

This study investigates the level of usage of online knowledge sharing technology among academics in Malaysian research universities. The prerequisite to successful knowledge sharing is the acceptance and utilization of the knowledge sharing technology (i.e.KMS), however, past studies testing the significant relationship between various technologies and knowledge sharing showed that there is no significant relationship between the two variables. Hence, the current study is interested in examining the level of usage of online knowledge sharing technology for the purpose of knowledge sharing among academic staff. A questionnaire survey was utilized in this study and a descriptive analysis was done. Specifically, the academics showed a high usage of online knowledge sharing technology. Therefore, an increasing emphasis on knowledge creation and sharing and technology application leads to a continuous evaluation on the role of technology in HRD

Effectiveness of the transformation program to assist B40 Community in social economic development in Malaysia

This conceptual paper explores the effectiveness of the programs introduced by the government to the group of people who are classified under the category of bottom 40 (B40). This group has high poverty level which is caused by many factors such as low income job, unemployment, low education level, lack of skills and health factors. Therefore, one way to have a better livelihood is to increase their income level through offering work opportunities. Statistically there are 2.7 million Malaysian household categorised under (B40) with a average monthly household income of RM2,537. Though government has undertaken various initiatives to eradicate the poverty level and improve the quality of life for the B40 household, the total amount of poverty population is still large in number. Looking at this problem, this study analyzed the effectiveness of the programs provided and recommended factors that can further enhance the socio-economic state of B40 households in Malaysia

Conceptualizing organizational learning system model and innovativeness

The link between organizational learning, organizational innovativeness and performance is very profound in the literature. Organizational Learning Systems Model (OLSM) focuses on organizational learning as a social organization and how it learns to exist in the surroundings. Emphasis on organization learning based like Parsons general theory of social action has linked performance and learning element in order to evaluate organizational performance. The Organizational Learning Systems Model (OLSM) grounded from Parsonian social system perspective which is active in nature help identifies the importance of working and learning process of adjustment. Organizational learning here is drawn from behavioural dimensions; acquiring knowledge, distributing and interpreting data, and organizational memory. Evidence has indicated that organizational performance increases when learning happens in an organization. Organizational innovativeness has shown the relationship with learning. This subject tries to evaluate the relationship between organizational learning systems model, organizational innovativeness that leads to positive output for the system

The Mediating Role of Halal Awareness in Purchase Intention for Cosmetic Products: An empirical study in Klang Valley

Halal Trade has received much attention recently due to the increased Muslim population around the world. The rise of Muslim population has given much insights to the marketers as they present another concern in term of their consumption pattern. The religious belief required the Muslim to consume only the halal product. Hence, halal awareness becomes a determining factor for comestic product purchase among the Muslims. Current research paper studies the consumer’s purchase intention through the mediating role of Halal awareness by adopting Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The results revealed there are signficant direct relationships between Attitude, Perceived Behavoiral Control (PCB) and Subjctive Norm towards Halal Awareness. Meanwhile, halal awareness is not mediating attitude-purchase intention relationship. The results explain that halal awareness influences the relationship between subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and purchase intention. This paper contributes by complementing existing research of the mediating role of halal awareness in TPB, particularly in cosmetic products.&nbsp

A Study of the Employability of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Malaysia

The Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) Act, 2008 of Malaysia was established to grant disable people the equitable right of access to employment just as a non-disabled person. Although most of the developed and developing countries have established their own comprehensive education blueprint to support the PWDs, their employability is still doubtful. Therefore, the PWDs are uncertain as to their future employment opportunities. As stated in Item 4.4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2015 which identified the quality of education. Whereby 2030, there must be a substantial increase in the number of youths and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship. Hence the purpose of this study is to explore the thoughts and opinions of employers, teachers, and parents of PWDs in order to gain a deeper understanding with regard to the employability of PWDs.  For that purpose, a qualitative study approach was systematically applied. The findings of the study showed a mixed opinion in regards to the employability of PWDs

Relationship between individual beliefs and usage of online knowledge sharing technology, and moderating effects of cognitive style among academicians in Malaysian Research Universities

Knowledge is a crucial device for institutions of higher learning, more specifically to Research Universities. In fact, the growth of these institution ties solidly to their capability of obtaining, managing and sharing their knowledge. Knowledge sharing technologies i.e knowledge repositories are introduced and used in universities as an intellectual saviour in promoting the management and sharing of knowledge among the academic staffs. However, previous studies indicated that the knowledge that resides within individuals is hard to be transferred to others, as not all academics are willing to share it openly. Past literature has indicated a significant relationship between functional determinates and acceptance or rejection of a technology. However, most of the previous studies did not consider arousal as an emotional determinant in understanding the usage of online knowledge sharing technology. Thus, in this study, the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the hedonic consumption model was applied to examine the relationship between individual beliefs (perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness) and emotional element (arousal) towards usage of online knowledge sharing technology among academic staffs in research universities in Malaysia. Moreover, the study also examined the moderating effect of cognitive style on the relationship between the independent variables (perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and arousal) and the dependent variable (usage of online knowledge sharing technology).In this quantitative study, a total of 321 respondents were surveyed. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the respondents from the five research universities in Malaysia. Data were gathered using a structured, self-administrated questionnaire where the items of the questionnaire were adopted from pervious literature. The questionnaires were administrated to the respondents by the researcher. The descriptive analysis were analysed using SPSS and the contribution of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and arousal on usage of online knowledge sharing technology were determined using structural equation modelling (SEM-AMOS). Results from the Pearson correlation analysis showed that, there is a significant relationship between perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, arousal, and usage of knowledge sharing technology. Moreover, the analysis of the structural equation modelling indicated that the standardized path coefficient were consistent with the hypothesis by indicting the significant contribution of predictor variables to the outcome variables based on the goodness-of-fit indices: Chi – Square 2 (CMIN) = 489.913 (df = 203), Relative 2 (CMIN/df) = 2.413, p = .000, AGFI = .849, GFI = .879, CFI = .945, IFI = .945, NFI = .910, TLI = .937, RMSEA = .066. Moreover, the Structural Model also indicated that about 74% of variances in dependent variables i.e. usage of online knowledge sharing technology was explained by the predictor variables entered into the Structural Equation Modeling respectively. Base on the standardized regression weight in the hypothesized path model showed that perceives ease of use, perceived usefulness and arousal are significant predictors of usage of online knowledge sharing technology. Moreover, the relationship between arousal and usage of online knowledge sharing technology was further strengthen with cognitive style.as a moderator. The findings of this study can be used by policy makes to implement policies and activities to strengthen the emotional bonding between academics and the technology in order to facilitate knowledge sharing behaviour in research universities in Malaysia

Conceptualizing Organizational Learning System Model and Innovativeness

Abstract Overview There have been many studies relating Schwandtz's learning systems model in studies relating knowledge management, innovation, learning capacities and also information technology. Looking into the analogy that every learning accompanied by actions or performance, this research emphasis on how may these actions significantly affectservice quality performance. The Organizational Learning System Model (OLSM)created by Schwandt's aim to give a continuous solution towards learning and performance from a theoretical perspective. The organizational learning here acts as an action based which involves organization as social organization where employees work collectively, share experience and cognition. When learning action takes place, action in the form of performance happens simultaneously. Thus, both learning and performance make ends meet in the form of collective action in organizations. The Schwandt Learning Systems Model meant to be applied specifically perspective on the important dimension as organizational learning, innovation and performance. Organizational learning is seen as a system that able to transform information into valuable knowledge through its actions, actors, symbols and process for a long term sustainability of an organization (Johnson & Bailey, 2010: 7