An Empirical Study of IT Innovation Adoption Among Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Purpose—The purpose of this research is to use and validate the Entrepreneurial Event model as a base model to investigate SME owners’ perception toward IT innovation adoption and use. This paper also attempts to investigate the key determinants of the adoption of IT innovation among small and medium sized enterprises in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This study revised and validated the Entrepreneurial Event Model in a new context and tried to examine the effect of perceived desirability, propensity to act and performance expectancy on behavior intention to adopt and use IT innovation in SMEs companies.Design/ methodology/ approach—Based on the research model the questionnaire was developed using previous work in the areas of entrepreneurship (Entrepreneurial Event Model) and technology acceptance (UTAUT). The data used to test the hypothesis is collectedfrom various spectrums of Malaysian industries in Kuala Lumpur. A total of 1,000 businesses were identified and 412 completed questionnaires were available in this study. The research model was applied using the structural equation modelling technique.Finding—The results of this study indicated that perceived desirability, propensity to act and performance expectancy have a significant positive influence on behavioral intention, and explained a significant amount of the variance in predicting a SMEs owners intention to adopt IT innovation. Propensity to act is the strongest determinant of intention to use IT innovations among Malaysian SME owners follow by perceived desirability and performance expectancy. The results suggest that attractiveness of IT innovation is an important determinant towards the intention to adopt IT innovation. The result revealed that SME owners are more willing to use IT innovation, which is more attractive. Perceived usefulness (performance expectancy) of IT innovation is the third most important factor that SME owners consider when they want to adopt and use new technology in their jobs. The results also revealed that experience moderated the relationship between determinants and behavior intention.Research Limitations/implications—The number of male and female SMEsowners is not equal and our respondents were mostly men compared to women. This study measure intention to use IT innovation, and did not measure use behavior.Practical implications—This study extends to knowledge on IS adoption behavior research by using entrepreneurial event models in the context of technology acceptance.Furthermore, from the SME owners’ points of view, this study has shed some light on the adoption and use behavior and clarified the situation for SME owners when they want to adopt and use IT innovation to be successful in their job and market.Originality/value—This study is one of the first to utilize the Entrepreneurial Event Model (EPM) to the technology acceptance domain. It also provides a broader view of the IT innovation adoption decision and sheds some additional light on individual technology usage behavior

Flexural behaviour of plain concrete prism strengthened by textile fine grained mortar

This paper presents a flexural strength study of concrete incorporated with textile fine grained mortar (TFGM) as a strengthening laminate. TFGM is a combination of fine grained mortar (FGM) with alkali resistant glass fabric (AR glass). Fine grained sand with 600 m maximum size was used in FGM and fly ash (FA) or rice husk ash (RHA) has been used as a partial substitute for ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The potential of TFGM as strengthening laminate was tested under monolithic load with three point flexure loading. The TFGM were laid in layers of two, four, six, and eight. Results shown a promising flexure enhancement of up to three times of unstrengthened concrete when eight layers of both RHA and FA were laid. Load bearing capacity and ductility of the samples increased about 200% and 61%, respectively, compared to control samples as well. The outcome shows a highly potential use of agro-waste as cement replacement to produce load bearing structural component

Physico-mechanical properties of polymer concrete containing micro-filler of palm oil fuel ash

Objective of this study is to present a research conducted on ground (fine) and unground (coarse) POFA in polymer concrete (PC) followed by determination on the physico-mechanical properties of PC. Physical properties of micro-fillers and mechanical properties of produced PCs were characterized. Calcium carbonate and silica sand were also used as micro-fillers for comparison purpose. The samples were subjected to compression and flexural. Morphology images of the particles were captured under morphology test to support the findings. Results showed that fine POFA micro-filler has a highly promising potential in becoming PC filler compared to coarse micro-filler. Additionally, its produced PC had comparable strength to PC with calcium carbonate. From the strength development and sustainability stand point, fine POFA has demonstrated its capability to produce quality and sustainable P

Municipal solid waste recycling in Malaysia: present scenario and future prospects

This paper presents a current state-of-the art of municipal solid waste (MSW) management and recycling in Malaysia. It was revealed that mainly four sources were involved in the recycling program, e.g. recycle centers, recycle boxes, waste collectors and paper recyclers (by door to door collection system). On average, paper, aluminum, glass and plastic account for 63, 21, 15 and 1% of the recycled materials, respectively. The total waste generation was estimated to be 144 tons/day in Serdang and Seri Kembangan areas based on the number of collection vehicles, trips per day and vehicle capacity. The total recycled quantity was, however, about 2678 kg/day. Only 1.8% of total generated MSW was recycled, which is deemed to be very low compared to developed countries. Therefore, it is recommended to educate, motivate and encourage the citizens of Malaysia for reusing, recovering and recycling. It requires collaborative and consistent efforts, and technical know-how for a successful recycling program. Finally, some possible means of promoting the recycling program were recommended based on the current practice of developed countries. The first step would be the separation of recyclable items at sources or generation points. The local authorities and recycling organizations can play an important role in educating/motivating general mass through producing and disseminating appropriate guidelines

Finite Element Simulation of GFRP Reinforced Concrete Beam Externally Strengthened With CFRP Plates

The construction technology now has become more and more advanced allowing the development of new technologies or material to replace the previous one and also solved some of the troubles confronted by construction experts. The Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) composite is an alternative to replace the current usage of steel as it is rust proof and stronger in terms of stiffness compared to steel. Furthermore, GFRP bars have a high strength-to-weight ratio, making them attractive as reinforcement for concrete structures. However, the tensile behavior of GFRP bars is characterized by a linear elastic stress–strain relationship up to failure and, therefore, concrete elements reinforced with GFRP reinforcement exhibit brittle failure without warning. Design codes encourage over-reinforced GFRP design since it is more progressive and leads to a less catastrophic failure with a higher degree of deformability. Moreover, because of GFRP low modulus of elasticity, GFRP reinforced concrete members exhibit larger deflections and wider cracks width than steel reinforced concrete. This aims of this paper is to developed 2D Finite Element (FE) models that can accurately simulate the respond on an improvement in the deflection of GFRP reinforced concrete beam externally strengthened with CFRP plates on the tension part of beam. The prediction of flexural response according to RCCSA software was also discussed. It was observed that the predicted FE results are given similar result with the experimental measured test data. Base on this good agreement, a parametric study was the performed using the validation FE model to investigate the effect of flexural reinforcement ratio and arrangement of the beams strengthened with different regions of CFRP plates

Sustainable solid waste management knowledge and practices among rural community in Malaysia

This study aimed to explore the current knowledge and practices of sustainable solid waste management among the rural community in Malaysia. It is becoming a significant concern to promote sustainable practices to the rural community, given that the facilities of solid waste disposal are noticeably lacking in the rural area. Data was gathered through a survey questionnaire in two phases. The first phase of the survey examines the community’s current solid waste practices and their knowledge about solid waste management. The second phase gathered the community’s level of knowledge about sustainable solid waste management after a briefing and demonstration about composting. A total of 55 respondents from a rural community in northern Malaysia were selected via a convenience sampling method for the purpose of this study. Empirical results show that while the existing knowledge and practices of sustainable solid waste are low among the rural community, their knowledge about sustainable practices improves significantly after the briefing and practical activity. The study conveys some practical implications to the need for environmental awareness and education to promote sustainable practices in managing waste in the rural areas

Fabrication of low-cost, cementless femoral stem 316L stainless steel using investment casting technique

Total hip arthroplasty is a flourishing orthopedic surgery, generating billions of dollars of revenue. The cost associated with the fabrication of implants has been increasing year by year, and this phenomenon has burdened the patient with extra charges. Consequently, this study will focus on designing an accurate implant via implementing the reverse engineering of three-dimentional morphological study based on a particular population. By using finite element analysis, this study will assist to predict the outcome and could become a useful tool for preclinical testing of newly designed implants. A prototype is then fabricated using 316L stainless steel by applying investment casting techniques that reduce manufacturing cost without jeopardizing implant quality. The finite element analysis showed that the maximum von Mises stress was 66.88MPa approximately with a safety factor of 2.39 against endosteal fracture, and micromotion was 4.3um, which promotes osseointegration. This method offers a fabrication process of comentless femoral stems with lower cost, subsequently helping patients, particularly those from nondeveloped countries

Effect of CFRP plate length on flexural behavior of GFRP reinforced concrete beam strengthening

This research investigates the effect of CFRP plate length on flexural behaviour of GFRP strengthened reinforced concrete beam. CFRP plate was placed on the bottom of the beam to act as tension reinforcement. Ten beams were tested, largely divided into over designed and under designed reinforced beams. Each group had one steel reinforced concrete beam, one GFRP reinforced concrete beam and three GFRP reinforced concrete beam with different length of CFRP plate at the bottom of beam. Tested parameters included flexural strength, stress–strain relationship and deflection. Results indicated that all strengthened beams had improved structural performance where the maximum flexural strength increased by 102% and maximum deflection reduced by 35%. The CFRP plate can significantly improve the load-bearing capacity of strengthened GFRP concrete beams

A multi-stakeholder strategy to identify conservation priorities in Peninsular Malaysia

Malaysia, with its rapidly growing economy, exemplifies the tensions between conservation and development faced by many tropical nations. Here we present the results of a multi-stakeholder engagement exercise conducted to (1) define conservation priorities in Peninsular Malaysia and (2) explore differences in perceptions among and within stakeholder groups (i.e. government, academia, NGOs and the private sector). Our data collection involved two workshops and two online surveys where participants identified seven general conservation themes and ranked the top five priority issues within each theme. The themes were: (1) policy and management, (2) legislation and enforcement, (3) finance and resource allocation, (4) knowledge, research and development, (5) socio-economic issues, (6) public awareness and participation and (7) rights of nature. In spite of their very different backgrounds and agendas, the four stakeholder groups showed general agreement in their priority preferences except for two issues. Respondents from government and private sector differed the most from each other in their priority choices while academia and NGO showed the highest degree of similarity. This ranked list of 35 conservation priorities is expected to influence the work of policy-makers and others in Peninsular Malaysia and can be used as a model to identify conservation priorities elsewhere