2017

No.   Name of Project Leader   Name of the Project   Abstract
1.   Ehsan Fansuree Mohd Surin (Dr.)   Modal Insan, Persekitaran Perniagaan Dan Prestasi Syarikat Bagi Perusahaan Kecil Dan Sederhana (Pks) Di Malaysia: Kajian Perbandingan Antara Usahawan Bumiputera Dan Bukan Bumiputera   Penyelidikan ini membuat perbandingan antara perniagaan Perusahaan Kecil dan Sederhana (PKS) yang dimiliki oleh usahawan Bumiputera dan bukan Bumiputera dari segi modal insan, persekitaran perniagaan dan prestasi perniagaan di Malaysia. Sampel penyelidikan terdiri dari 91 usahawan Bumiputera dan 56 usahawan bukan Bumiputera dari kalangan tujuh industri pembuatan; makanan dan minuman, elektrik dan elektronik, produk berasaskan kayu, produk berasaskan getah, produk berasaskan plastik, tekstil, pakaian dan kulit serta industri kertas dan percetakan. Dengan menggunakan kaedah persampelan rawak berstrata, borang kajiselidik telah dihantar ke PKS yang dikenalpasti ke seluruh Malaysia. Menerusi analisa data secara regresi hirarki, didapati bahawa (1) terdapat hubungan yang positif dan signifikan antara modal insan dan prestasi perniagaan bagi PKS Bumiputera, dan (2) terdapat hubungan yang positif dan signifikan antara modal insan dan prestasi perniagaan bagi PKS bukan Bumiputera. Manakala untuk menguji pengaruh persekitaran perniagaan sebagai penyederhana antara perhubungan antara modal insan dan prestasi perniagaan menerusi ujian regresi berganda penyederhana, didapati bahawa (1) persekitaran perniagaan tidak menyederhanakan perhubungan antara modal insan dan prestasi perniagaan bagi PKS Bumiputera, dan (2) persekitaran perniagaan tidak menyederhanakan perhubungan antara modal insan dan prestasi perniagaan bagi PKS bukan Bumiputera. Dapatan analisa ini juga menghasilkan satu penemuan baru yang empirik dimana persekitaran perniagaan tidak memainkan peranan sebagai penyederhana antara modal insan dan prestasi perniagaan terutama di negara membangun seperti Malaysia.
             
2.   Faridah Haji Hassan (Prof. Dr.)   Theorizing Islamic Financial Literacy (Ifl) And Halal Literacy (Hl) On Attitude Towards Islamic Financing   Halal business is not just about halal ingredients and production. Besides focusing on halal production, the right Halal business operators should also concentrate in adopting Halal financing that is called Islamic financing. However, the assessment of the level of awareness, knowledge and skills of Halal and Islamic financing among business operators should be prepared. This research aims to bridge the Halal Literacy and Islamic Financial Literacy on the attitude of Halal business producers towards Islamic financing adoption. This study proposes the measurement and validity approach for Halal Literacy and Islamic Financial Literacy. Halal Literacy and Islamic Financial Literacy are two crucial concepts where it can lead to the behavior of person towards its attitude and decisions especially in adopting Islamic financing. Halal Literacy and Islamic Financial Literacy were measured using true/false test questions with an option to choose don’t know. Then, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were used to analyze the scoring using Weighted Least Square method to test the construct validity. This study attempted to contribute towards new theoretical knowledge especially in proposing the measurement items for Halal Literacy and Islamic Financial Literacy. This study was also expected to help the policymaker to understand the level of literacy among consumers, especially from Halal business producer's perspective
             
3.   Mashitah Mohamed Esa   Factors Contributing To The Defect In Wafer Fabrication Process: A Case Study Of Manufacturer In Semiconductors Product   Semiconductors are the foundation of modern solid state electronics, including transistor, solar cells, light emitting diodes (LED) and analog integrated circuits. Nowadays, around 95% of all semiconductors are fabricated by silicon. Silicon needs to undergo a wafer fabrication process such as slicing; grinding, etching and polishing. As manufacturing process become complicated, few factors will lead to defect in wafer fabrication process which one of it contamination during wafer fabrication process. High contaminant will cause defect of wafer and drastically reduce coating adhesion on the wafer or chip. This contaminant also can be the sources for killing circuit. Once the circuit is affected with contamination, the quality of product will destroy and it will lead to defect and incurred high cost of operations. The concept of purposive sampling was applied for this research because the researchers selected individuals and sites for the study. This research used structured and semi-structured interview, document analysis, and observation in gathering the data. Based on the data, analysis shall be carried out using appropriate techniques such process flow charts, activity diagrams and pie chart The factors will be identified based on the facilities, human and tools, while the effects will be the defect in wafer fabrication process. This study will investigate why contamination occur during wafer fabrication process and the effect of this contamination towards quality of silicon. After identify the factor and effects toward defects in wafer fabrication process, this research will further investigate how to minimize the defect during wafer fabrication process.
             
4.   Mohd Redhuan Dzulkipli   Integrating Health Belief Model (HBM) and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to Predict Intention to Purchase Medical and Health Insurance Policy (MHI)   Only small percentage of Malaysians is insured, as evidenced by a very low demand, and the current market penetration and density rate of Medical & Health Insurance (MHI) industry. Some studies revealed that Malaysia has the lowest rate of market penetration, even when it is compared with other Asian countries such as Hong Kong and India. Local studies suggest that this phenomenon is attributable to Malaysian’s attitude towards MHI policy and ownership, although these had not been systematically investigated. This study is mainly to propose a new conceptual model to predict the intention to purchase medical health insurance.The study will be based to the two behavioral model namely as Health Belief Model and Theory of Planned Behavior to determine individual’s intention to purchase medical and health insurance. This study is to determine the perceived intention to purchase medical and health insurance is in line with the Government Economic Transformation Program (ETP) under NKEA Healthcare of widening the eco-system of health services as well as lessening the government burden in financing healthcare cost. A quantitative study will be conducted and the data from the survey will be analyzed using Structural Equation Method. This study is expected to provide outcomes to several key stakeholders mainly the policy makers, government as well as the Medical and Health Insurance Industry to dig an ideal and affordable MHI product that suit the need of the population thus closing the gap of the uninsured population in Malaysia.
             
5.   Nini Hartini Asnawi   Theorizing A Customer Loyalty Model   The premise of this study is that in a consumer purchase decision process, there must be some phenomenon that triggers the consumers mind about their future consumption experience. In other words, consumers tend to develop some perception and expectations towards their consumption experience. However, consumers’ perception and expectation will only develop if it is activated by a certain event. Customer-based brand equity (brand awareness, brand association and perceived service quality) is a construct that explains possible key to the development of consumers perception and expectation towards consumption experience. Applying Experience Economy concept and supported by functional and emotional experience concepts as well as recommendations from the literature (Verhoef et al., 2009; Almana & Mirza, 2013; Bansal & Voyer, 2000), this study attempts to investigate the antecedents of customer experience in a Malaysian resort setting. Although there appears past studies on examining antecedents of customer experience, however, none has related customer-based brand equity to it. A quota sampling technique was applied to collect data from 500 domestic and international tourists who stayed at beach and island resort in Malaysia. A structural equation modeling software (Partial Least Square or PLS-SEM) was subsequently applied to examine the direct effects hypotheses. Results in this study supported hypothesized relationships between guest based brand equity and guest experience (service environment, service employee, esthetic experience and escapism experience). Findings also confirmed that guest experience is related with guest loyalty. This study makes theoretical contribution. For example, an examination of guest-based brand equity and eWOM as antecedents to guest experience revealed that both factors could indeed contribute to the theory of customer experience.
             
6.   Norfadzilah Abd Razak   Study Of Relational Model And Willingness To Share Knowledge   A willingness to share knowledge is an individual intention to share or not knowledge. It is unenforceable but depends on individual’s itself. Recent studied highlight a social psychological context might be major factors that influence willingness to share knowledge. In sharing knowledge process, there is need at least two actors as sender and recipient so that the sharing process will be effective. However, if the relationship between the two parties is harmful, the sharing process is not well implemented. Apart of this process, a social factor vital stimulate individuals intention and willing to share knowledge. Literature review analyses comprehend the previous study to explore the understanding between social factor and willingness to share knowledge. Data was collected among knowledge worker in ICT companies that registered with MSC Malaysia and further analyzed using Partial Least Square. The finding of this studied found only social power was not significant to willingness to share knowledge while social cohesion, affective commitment and rewards was significant. The finding implies to employee participation and engagement, while employer should consider on the knowledge sharing environment that allow people to share knowledge
             
7.   Norliza Che Yahya (Dr.)   Flipping Activity In Malaysian IPO Market. A New Explanation From The Winners' Curse Perspective   This study investigates the influence of winners’ curse phenomenon on flipping activity of Malaysian IPOs. Using a sample of 381 IPOs for the period from January 2000 to December 20132, this study finds that the significant and negative relationship between allocation rate (a measurement to winners curse) and flipping activity are consistent when it is estimated on the first trading day and first trading week. The consistent regression results are also reported on the negative relationship when standard proxy of flipping activity is modified. The negative ALLOCT coefficients found in this study indicate that when winners curse on an issuing firm is suspected to occur, the aftermarket demand of its share is possibly lower inferring that less supports or subscription from the market on the shares are received. Following demand and supply theory, the less demanded shares will less likely generate high positive initial returns such that discourages the shareholders particularly flippers to immediately sell their shares. An equally important justification is the shares that have not received sufficient demand by the market will give low permissibility of the shares to change hands in the secondary market such that tight up the shareholders to be a longer period in the company. Arguing that lower demanded shares will produce lower aftermarket value and initial return; investors therefore, must closely scrutinize all available information pertinent to the IPOs in addition to that provided in the prospectus prior to making decision to place an application or subscription for the IPOs. This is to ensure that they will not invest in losing investment since in Malaysian IPO market for particular, the withdrawal option during the allocation stage is unfortunately not available for the subscribers to make “u-turn” or escape from holding the shares. Since flipping activity is also not really an alternative for them to go out from the company at the soonest time possible, thus a close and wise judgement on the new issue prior to subscription is essential.

Keywords: Flipping Activity, Winners’ Curse, Malaysian IPO Market.
             
8.   Noor Azlina Mohamed Yunus    Theorizing Event Attendees' Behavior To Increase The Demand For Sustainable Events   In Malaysia, the public has yet to embrace the sustainable event concept regardless of the countless efforts done to promote and educate on this new idea.  Not many researchers have lodged into how consumers perceive the sustainable event concept in Malaysia.  Despite the efforts by the government and the NGOs, questions have been raised regarding how knowledgeable are the consumers and how consumers perceive on sustainable which is still inconclusive. Thus, this paper is to identify the relationship between event attendees’ behavior and intention to attend sustainable events in Malaysia.  The data were gathered through the distribution of questionnaires to the total of 250 respondents during one of the sports event organized by students from Bachelor of Event Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia located in the middle city of Selangor. For this study, the researchers used the correlational as well as multiple regression methods. The result recognized that there was a significant relationship between event attendees’ behavior and intention to attend sustainable events. The most influential factor to attend sustainable events was attitude followed by perceived behavioral control and normative beliefs.  Nevertheless, there was no significant influence among behavioral beliefs, control beliefs and subjective norms with intention to attend sustainable events.

Keywords: Sustainable Events, Event Attendees’ Behavior, Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)
             
9.   Noor Azura Dahalan   Ascertaining Effects Of Recognition And Rewards, Work Life Balance And Internal Communication Towards Employee Engagement Among Engineering Employees In Malaysia   This paper describes whether recognition and rewards, work-life balance,and internal communication contribute towards employee engagement among engineering employees in Malaysia. According to Employee Engagement Report [1], only 31 percent of employees are engaged in their jobs at global level. This statement supported by Shuck and Rose [2] who discovered that less than 30 percent of global employees are engaged. In Malaysian context, according to Kelly Global Workforce Index [3], the latest survey finds that Malaysia has come in below the global average of 31 per cent out of 31 countries for employee engagement, with only 28 per cent of Malaysian workers surveyed saying they are "totally committed" to their current employer.Using purposive samples of 113 employees of an engineering company in Malaysia, this study established that, all the three factors have the relationship with employee engagement. Therefore, the significance of this study is that it can help many organisations and corporate in forming their business strategy especially in rapidly changed engineering industry in Malaysia. This study can also provide the human resources management an understanding on which factors that could influence the employee engagement in which will improve their performance and make the organisation a profitable entity
             
10.    Veera Pandiyan Kaliani Sundram (Assoc. Prof. Dr.)   Internal And External Supply Chain Integration: Revisiting Resource Based View [RBV] Theory   The purpose of this study was to test and redefine the measurement of supply chain integration practices in the manufacturing industry in Malaysia as a developing country. The study employed a survey method where data collection was done through a questionnaire composed of supply chain integration dimensions; internal integration and external integration. Data was obtained from 113 respondents, from manufacturing firms across Malaysia. The collected responses were analysed using Partial Least Square based Structural Equation Modelling, [PLS] to test and validate supply chain integration measurement and its model confirmation in a developing country. Findings suggest that supplier, customer and internal integration eminently established inter-organisational capabilities through supply chain integration both externally and internally. The sample consisted logistics managers, supply chain managers and operational managers with vast operational experience. As there was only one respondent from each of the firms, it is open to response biasness. Managers from manufacturing firms in Malaysia could employ the selected supply chain integration elements in developing key performance indicators to enable and enhance inter-organisational capabilities. The research is an original contribution to the body of knowledge as supply chain integration is used to measure inter-organisational integration among manufacturing firms in a developing country like Malaysia – something that has not been attempted by researchers in this field
             
11.   Wan Soraya Wan Abdul Ghani   Assessing The Relationship Between Brand Equity Towards
The Success Of Sports Event Sponsorship:
The Case Of Local Running Event		   The reciprocity practice between sponsored body and local sports event, namely for this case, local running event will be analyzed regarding the impact of sponsoring their services and products to obtain the benefits in associating themselves among the runners. It is pertinent to improve the utilization of brand equity of the sponsors. This study was conducted to examine the relationship of brand equity toward the success of sports sponsorship by adopting the brand equity criterion to result the success of the sponsorship. The study consisted of 400 usable questionnaires that had been collected randomly from Allianz Pacer Run Event 2016. Three distinct forms of elements in the brand equity are reviewed – brand identity, brand image and brand relation. Brand identity demonstrate weak relationship and brand identity and brand relation show no significant relationship. Sports events can be a powerful catalyst to position the sponsors. The sponsored body can reach out different genre besides sports as the development of how brand equity elements can help in understanding on how sponsorship works in a cost-effective way.
             
12.   Zarina Abdul Munir   From The Mouth Of Y-ERS: Determinants Of Teamwork In Malaysia   As the Gen Y is growing and they are the majority Generation that enters the workplace nowadays, it is a need to examine the factors for teamwork among them. The objective of this study to determine the factors that influenced the preferences for teamwork among Gen Y employees in Malaysia. Understanding the preferences of Gen Y may be found useful in improving their involvement in teamwork. By using the frequency analysis, reliability analysis, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis, the results show that collectivism, skill utilization and trust in co-workers were significant factors affecting Gen Y preference for teamwork. It can be conclude that all the independent variables were positively related to the teamwork preferences. By understanding the key dimension that associated with teamwork, the organization can broaden insight into the best strategies to enhance and encourage the Gen Y to work in a team as teamwork has its impact on employees’ working life and organization.