This study proposes a hybrid crowdfunding model to enhance financial services for microenterprises in Indonesia. The hybrid concepts of the proposed model are threefold namely product offering, services provided and service modes. The model encourages community involvement by engaging local investors who are geographically close to the microenterprises, allowing them to retain offline interactions with each other. Thus, this model suggests ways of improving and meeting the needs of microenterprises in Indonesia by providing affordable financial services. The research applied a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology. The interview was conducted to validate the hybrid crowdfunding model's suitability, sustainability, and prospects. The experts confirmed the proposed model have the suitability for unbanked and marginalized communities. Besides, the experts opine that the model is applicable in Indonesia, which has large Muslim population and microenterprises. They emphasized that the model could significantly enhance financial accessibility for these businesses by fostering a sense of community-based support. Additionally, experts highlighted the potential for this model to increase financial inclusion, especially in underserved rural areas, by leveraging local networks and trust. The quantitative part of the study examines the factors influencing the behavioural intention of microenterprises to use the proposed hybrid crowdfunding model. An extended technology acceptance model (TAM) was adopted, which incorporates perceived risk (PR), perceived trust (PT), government support (GS), and two moderating variables, Age and Experience, in addition to two original TAM factors, perceived ease of use (PEOU) and Perceived Usefulness (PU). All predictors' direct and indirect effects are examined using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and logit regression. The result of the PLS-SEM found that all hypothesized relationships between predictors (PR, PT, PEOU, PU, GS) and the criterion (BI) are statistically significant. Age moderates the relationship between predictors, namely perceived risk (PR), government support (GS), and endogenous variable behaviour intention (BI). On the other hand, the moderating effect of experience on the relationships between the constructs specified is found to be insignificant. Based on the logit regression result, both the basic and interaction models (the simple effect) confirmed that only three predictors, perceived risk (PR), government support (GS), and perceived ease of use (PEOU), are statistically significant in affecting outcomes, but PT and PU are found to be insignificant. The interaction term between age and four predictors (PR, PT, PEOU, and GS) is statistically significant. The interaction term between experience and three predictors (PT, PEOU, and GS) are confirmed to be significant. The study concluded that the hybrid crowdfunding model is acceptable in general. It highlights the need for strong support from the government in establishing robust data protection and privacy regulations for microenterprises who may be concerned about the security of their personal and financial information. Therefore, policymakers should consider formulating policies and guidelines, promoting the use of the proposed hybrid crowdfunding model, and building related infrastructure, such as widening internet penetration, especially in rural areas, to support model implementation

Accountability in public bodies in Asia remains a delicate issue. A public organization is characterized by its extensive engagement with multiple stakeholders, bureaucratic interconnections, rigorous oversight, and the inclusion of political considerations in decision making processes. The establishment of BPKH (Hajj Fund Management Agency) as the new and only authorized management body responsible for managing Hajj operations in the country aimed to improve the quality of Hajj services for Indonesian Muslims. Nevertheless, the issue of public trust and its legitimacy must be addressed mainly due to the history of Hajj fund mismanagement in prior eras. This study developed an accountability based conceptual framework for BPKH to gain public legitimacy. A proper accountability arrangement is essential in ensuring that BPKH, as a public organization in the country, stays true to its ethos. The investigation was carried out through in depth interviews with BPKH insiders and relevant stakeholders and cross checked against published documents. The study discovered that the BPKH insiders valued the new reform, which they cultivated through accountable actions and adaptation to the changing social landscape. Despite the availability of public information provided by BPKH, the information gap in society has remained relatively unchanged. It was found that there are two perspectives in understanding the legitimacy of Hajj fund management in Indonesia. First, in terms of organizational legitimacy, an improved transparency of public information has resulted in improvements in the governance of Hajj fund administration. It demonstrated how BPKH is adjusting to the needs of stakeholders in order to be accountable for professional management as a response to organizational and environmental pressure. Second, the public legitimacy perspective reveals that the Hajj fund managers were not perceived as legitimate organizers. An unresponsive entity coupled with a rather indifferent, albeit almost ignorant, public attitude suggests a lack of public legitimacy. Despite a changed information communication approach through an improved presentation of financial figures, such accountability action was rather muted. It was not felt, especially by the stakeholders who are not closely related to BPKH's routine activities. Therefore, developing accountable systems to sustain the Hajj fund is inevitable. This includes a more equitable allocation of Hajj subsidies that includes a healthier proportion for the long term functioning of a healthy organization.

This thesis seeks to develop a sustainable banking business model that addresses the funding gap in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by aligning with the challenges of sustainable development. It commences by identifying key limitations within the prevailing profit-centric sustainable banking model, specifically its lack of objectivity, significance, and efficacy in advancing the SDG implementation. To redress these deficiencies, the thesis introduces an impact-optimizing model, with a focus on augmenting sustainability contributions by banks in various aspects of impacts. Additionally, it adopts a Theory of Change initially proposed by Weiss (1972) and later popularized by Patton (1980) as a qualitative evaluation method for development programs, in order to establish a transparent link between sustainable banking interventions and desired outcomes. This research also entails the development of a multifaceted application framework encompassing planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation components to facilitate the practical application of the proposed model. Ultimately, the thesis culminates in the creation of tailored sustainable banking plans for relevant SDGs, accompanied by the formulation of objectively verifiable indicators and an assessment index, serving as a comprehensive test for the proposed model and its associated application framework. Methodologically, existing materials are reviewed, summarized, and analyzed to develop the proposed model and formulate the theory of change. Fundamental tools such as the log frame matrix, theory of action, and theory of change are utilized to devise planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation components. Statistical tools are applied alongside the application framework to formulate sustainable banking plans, establish objectively verifiable indicators, and calculate assessment indices for relevant SDGs for a sample bank in Bangladesh. The findings of this study can be categorized into four: first, the development of an impact-optimizing model incorporating strategies to optimize sustainability impact within different components of the Business Model Canvas (BMC); second, the selection of actionable themes from 11 relevant SDGs and the alignment of bank practices with these themes; third, the identification and categorization of objectively verifiable indicators into a triple-bottom-line framework; and fourth, the calculation of an overall composite index to evaluate sustainable banking performance in contributing to SDG implementation. This study guides the bank’s aligning micro-level sustainability efforts with macro-level sustainability themes derived from global goals. The significant contribution of this study lies in providing guidance on aligning existing banks’ micro-level sustainability efforts to address funding gaps in achieving macro-level sustainability themes derived from global sustainability goals

This study assessed different types of financing sources and their impact on social development in Africa through a multi-model analysis. The study explored the nuanced relationships between foreign aid and government expenditure on social development while moderating for government effectiveness, using data for 54 African countries from 2013 to 2022. Furthermore, the study examined the impact of country specific aid on social development of African countries that are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). African countries face diverse challenges in achieving social development, and understanding the dynamics of different types of financing sources and their impact on social development is crucial for formulating effective policies tailored to the unique context of the continent. The study utilized both 2-Step System Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM) and Difference Generalized Method of Moments (DGMM). Model 1 assessed the impact of foreign aid and government expenditure on HDI. The findings revealed that foreign aid and government expenditure negatively impact HDI. Model 2 investigated the moderating effect of government effectiveness on the relationship between foreign aid and HDI. The results showed a negative impact of foreign aid on HDI moderated by government effectiveness. Model 3 explored the moderating effect of government effectiveness on the relationship between government expenditure and HDI. The finding highlighted a negative association between government expenditure and HDI moderated by government effectiveness. Model 4 tested the non-linear relationship between foreign aid and HDI. The result revealed the existence of a non-linear relationship between foreign aid and HDI, suggesting that the impact of aid on HDI depended on a certain threshold. Model 5 examined the impact of country specific aid on HDI across African OIC member countries. The result showed a positive relationship between country specific aid and HDI. Furthermore, the study revealed that while aggregate aid does not positively impact HDI, country specific aid impact HDI positively. The study, therefore, recommended that policymakers should prioritize targeted foreign aid, efficient government expenditure and governance reforms to enhance the effectiveness of foreign aid and government expenditure for sustained social development in Africa.

Business sustainability has become one of the most strategic issues for leaders and business owners in the world. This research studies the challenge of prolonged instability facing business owners to sustain their business. This situation of prolonged instability is occurring in the Gaza Strip. Prolonged instability caused by many factors in the Gaza Strip. First of all, the Gaza Strip is suffering from the policy of "DeDevelopment" applied by the occupation for more than 70 years. This policy aims to starve the economy and nation. In the last two decades, the Gaza Strip faced several extreme events like wars and sieges. Moreover, the Gaza Stirp suffers from political conflict among the Palestinian political parties which increase the situation of economic instability. These factors form the situation of prolonged instability and increase the challenges for business owners in sustaining their business in long term. The main goal of this research is to investigate how business owners in the Gaza Strip sustain their business under a prolonged unstable environment. This research has three particular objectives. The first objective is to identify the main challenges facing business owners in the Gaza Strip and the methods and processes they use to overcome these challenges and sustain their business. The second objective is to identify the most effective decision-making processes used by business owners to sustain their business under prolonged unstable conditions. The third and last objective is to develop a model of business sustainability under prolonged instability. Two theories are used to guide the research work. The first is business sustainability theory as the main theory and the second is business continuity theory. The combination of two theories helped the researcher to develop a model of business sustainability under prolonged instability. This research as an exploratory research applying a qualitative methodology. The data were collected through semi-structured interview with open ended answers. The informants of this study were business owners in the Gaza Strip. The sample was selected as criterion sample. All of the informants are running their business for more than 5 years, still running the business and intending to continue their business in the Gaza Strip. The data are analyzed via NVivo Plus 12 software. The main outcome of this research is the model of business sustainability under instability. The research found that business owners can sustain their business under prolonged unstable environment. Business owners are using various tactics to sustain their business. Different conditions surrounding business owners and differences in management skills lead to different management styles and different business solutions to sustain business under prolonged instability. Decision-making plays a vital role in business sustainability. One of main findings in this research is that some business owners start new business under prolonged unstable environment to open new opportunity to stay in the market for a long term. Moreover, this research found that successful business owners are cooperating more than competing under extreme situation where they understand that cooperation means surviving for all. Older business owners gave valuable advices for new entrepreneurs to start, run and sustain their business under prolonged unstable environment.

This thesis intends to fill in a void in the banking competition and stability nexus literature by (1) investigating the impact of competition on financial stability of dual-banking system, (2) exploring the possible contingent of capitalization on the bank competition and stability association and (3) demonstrating the impact of competition on stability across various types of banks. The consolidation exercises enforced by the Malaysian government after the 1997 /l 998 Asian financial crisis that resulting in concentrated market with fewer number of conventional banks and the growing significance number of Islamic banks after the conversions of "Islamic window" of conventional banks to the Islamic bank subsidiaries have tremendously changed the Malaysia's competitive landscape and its risk implications. This study uses two-step system GMM in estimating Malaysian dual-banking system covering 39 banks ( 15 Islamic and 24 conventional banks) from year 2008 till 2018. The findings reveal a strong significant positive relation between competition and financial fragility. Upon further analysis, the estimates demonstrated that capitalization or capital adequacy ratio is contingent to the association of competition and stability where the capitalization becomes significance after its level is approximately 25%. The finding also indicates that competition affect Islamic banks' stability differently as compared to conventional banks where market power has positive effect on stability for conventional banks and competition increases in Islamic banks but does not bring negative impact to stability. The further results uncover that bank size and diversification activities have insignificant impacts on stability while the cost inefficiency, bank lending behavior and capitalization have significant positive relations with stability. Overall, the main results of this current study support the "competition-fragility'' hypothesis.

This study conducted a mixed-method approach to explore both experts’ and consumers’ perceptions towards the development of recombinant CLP as halal and vegetarian collagen. The experts’ perceptions were explored through interviews, while surveys were conducted to investigate the consumers’ intention to purchase products containing recombinant CLP. The interview outcome demonstrated that the experts have favorable opinions about the development of recombinant CLP as halal collagen. Meanwhile, the consumers’ perception was drawn upon the prospect theory and risk perception framework to investigate their intention to purchase the CLP. Consumers’ attitudes, religiosity, trust, and risk perceptions influence their intention to purchase. The framework also explained the mediating role of consumers’ attitude and risk perception as well as the role of knowledge as a moderator. Five hundred and fifty questionnaires were distributed for the survey and the outcome showed that consumers’ risk perception influences their intention to purchase and mediates the relationship between attitude and purchase intention, as well as the relationship between trust and purchase intention. Meanwhile, religiosity factors did not influence consumers’ risk perception and purchase intention but, attitude does mediate the relationship between religiosity factors and purchase intention. In the meantime, consumers’ knowledge did not moderate the relationship between the factors and consumers’ intention to purchase. This study has opened the door for additional research on topics including the potential of recombinant CLP in the halal industries, the mediating role of attitude and risk perception, and the moderating role of consumer knowledge. Furthermore, initiating CLP as halal collagen can help Malaysia expand its position in the global halal market.

In Malaysia, many small businesses failed before their 5th anniversary. Small businesses made up a major percentage of the businesses and provide jobs for 50% of the populace. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors required by small businesses in Malaysia to sustain operations beyond the first five years. The underlying theories discussed in this study were Self-Determination Theory, Self-Management Competency Theory, and Resource-Based View. A review of the literature focused on small business failure and factors required to sustain a business longer than five years which contributed from a good service quality of sports coaching for achieving a sustainable competitive advantage and personal values of the sports coach who were passionate to conduct the effective sports coaching activity. The first stage of this research methodology was to conduct a qualitative research method which is by interviewing 10 small business owners in different fields of the sports industry. Then, the second stage was done by distributing a questionnaire developed from the interview sessions. This research targeted 225 respondents. Data analysis strategies consisted of correlation and regression using SPSS software. Factors required for small business sustainability were: (a) effective strategizing, (b) flexible financial capital management, (c) human capital development, and (d) market positioning and sales. The research found that small business owners in sports businesses were passionate about starting up their businesses and have the necessary skills to strategize effectively and manage capital, thus sustaining their business beyond five years. Information derived from this study may assist small business owners in starting successful companies that support employees, other companies, communities, and families, contributing to the development of the Malaysian economy.

The significant growth of Baitul Mal wat Tamwil institutions (BMTIs), a renowned Indonesian Islamic microfinance institution, has planted a prominent position in the industry, albeit their accountability has been questioned. Thus, this study analysed three objectives concerning the BMTIs’ accountability issue by investigating their current financial reporting practices, as higher disclosure increases their prospects. Notably, this study is among the few studies on the accountability of BMTIs in Indonesia and internationally. The empirical data were obtained from 206 annual reports of BMTIs throughout 2012-2017, used to examine the disclosure score derived from the disclosure index, developed according to the current accounting regulations. The findings showed the extent and quality of BMTIs obtained through annual report data, in which the mean score for the extent of disclosure was at the medium level (49.56 per cent), while the quality of disclosure was at a lower level (31.81 per cent). Based on the four dimensions of annual reports, the social disclosure scored higher than the financial disclosure, while the extent of Shariah compliance disclosure exhibited the lowest score (37.6 per cent). Second, since BMTIs have different capacities, this study examined the differences in the extent and quality of financial and non-financial disclosures between micro, small, and medium BMTIs. The findings showed differences in the extent and quality of financial and non-financial disclosure between micro, small, and medium BMTIs. The third objective aimed to fill the research gap in Islamic social capital (ISC) applied to BMTI. The types of ISC information are considered essential to disclose in BMTIs’ annual reports. Ultimately, this crucial information provides empirical evidence for the stakeholders. Subsequently, questionnaires were sent to 117 participants to explore the stakeholders’ perceptions of the importance of disclosing Islamic social capital information in the annual reports of BMTIs. The result was then used for factor analysis, examining 36 proposed ISC information disclosed in the annual reports. Furthermore, the study highlighted that it is presumptively critical to disclose ISC information in the annual reports, which are valued drivers of BMTIs’ success. Most respondents perceived ISC components and the crucial information as essential in increasing its accountability level towards the community. Interviews further strengthened the data to complement the view on the importance of ISC information in annual reports of BMTIs, which its stakeholders agreed. BMTIs should be accountable for Shariah compliance and consider halal, haram, Toyyib, and religious activities as part of the belief system of the members and communities. Furthermore, BMTIs should provide significant attention to ISC to potentially strengthen the institution’s capacity and increase transparency by disclosing ISC information. Ultimately, this idea can enhance the members' and non-members' contribution to BMTIs. This study contributes to the understanding of the importance of social capital disclosure in BMTI annual reports. Overall, the findings contribute towards strengthening BMTIs for better accountability and sustainability of BMTIs in Indonesia.

Work engagement is a global problem that affects organisations in all sectors and countries. Despite extensive research and interventions, employee engagement remains low. In Türkiye, the situation is even worse, with significantly lower engagement rates compared to the global average. This study focuses on the Turkish Islamic banking sector, an emerging and important sector for the country's economy. Understanding the potential personal resources associated with work engagement in the Turkish Islamic banking sector is critical to the organisational effectiveness of these banks. The study examines the role of Islamic work ethic, growth mindset, psychological capital (PsyCap), perceived supervisor support and organisational identification in enhancing work engagement within Turkish Islamic banks. These factors are critical in the stressful Turkish banking sector and are consistent with the motivational process outlined by the JD-R theory. Using a quantitative method and purposive sampling, 368 participants from Turkish Islamic banks, including officers, assistant specialists, specialists, senior specialists and assistant managers from all branches and headquarters, completed an online questionnaire. The collected data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) to assess the relationships between the variables. The results showed that all hypotheses were accepted, except for the relationship between growth mindset and work engagement, which was not statistically significant. The results of the study close the existing knowledge gap in this area by providing actionable insights to improve work engagement. By considering various individual (personal resources) and contextual factors (job resources), the study aims to promote positive business outcomes and cultivate a highly engaged workforce. The findings are relevant and valuable for Turkish Islamic banks as work engagement significantly impacts employee productivity and performance. Overall, this study helps to address the critical issue of low work engagement in the Turkish Islamic banking sector and contributes to the sector's efforts to develop a more engaged and productive workforce.

As a vital third-sector organisation, waqf is essential in addressing socio-economic challenges through wealth creation, generation, and preservation. However, the underutilisation of waqf assets, insufficient stakeholder engagement, and fragmented governance structures often compromise its sustainability. While the government of Malaysia has established several initiatives on waqf, including the National Master Waqf Plan (NMWP), there are still significant gaps in understanding how stakeholders’ influence shapes strategies and identifies the information needs necessary for sustaining waqf resources in Malaysia. Notably, the existing literature has not adequately explored stakeholders' perspectives on formulating effective sustainability strategies for waqf and information needs. Research into how stakeholders affect strategy development, comprehend their requirements, and how information sharing can impact waqf sustainability remains limited. Thus, this research explored stakeholders' influence on strategies and information needs in sustaining waqf. As such, the study employs a qualitative phenomenological approach and is enhanced by Laughlin's Middle-Range Thinking (MRT) framework, which utilises the Stakeholder Salience Model developed by Mitchell et al. (1997) as the skeleton for the study. Meanwhile, data collection included semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis. Furthermore, thematic analysis was applied to interpret the data collected and to derive the study's findings. The research identified a new category of stakeholders: dynamic stakeholders who were essential for harmonising efforts to sustain waqf, including social influencers, activists, and international organisations. Accordingly, stakeholders' influence was categorised into five themes: competence for good governance through engagement, value creation in asset management, community and social influence, Shariah compliance and policy interaction, as well as knowledge empowerment and future innovation. At the same time, three key themes emerged for information disclosure: strategic and operational excellence, impact information for development, and stakeholder engagement insights. This information needs stems from enhancing reputation, fostering accountability, and promoting effective communication. Correspondingly, the findings offer fresh perspectives on the interconnected categories of power, legitimacy, and urgency, resulting in a comprehensive process based on three pillars: perceiving, perceptions, and positioning. In addition, this study contributes to the theoretical framework of the Stakeholder Salience Model by introducing the category of dynamic stakeholders within the waqf ecosystem. It bridges theoretical constructs with practical applications in stakeholder engagement and the sustainability of waqf resources. This research also presents actionable strategies for waqf institutions to improve stakeholder engagement, increase transparency, and align organisational goals with stakeholder priorities. Moreover, by integrating MRT and phenomenology, the study offers a replicable iterative approach for examining complex stakeholder dynamics, contributing to advancements in both academic and practical fields. Nevertheless, the research's geographic focus on Malaysia and its reliance on qualitative methods may limit its generalisability. Hence, future studies should consider broadening the geographic coverage to encompass diverse waqf practices in various regions.

Public procurement plays a crucial role in efficiently allocating public funds but is also vulnerable to corruption due to the involvement of large sums of money. Therefore, the government must adhere to procurement principles to achieve its regulatory, commercial, and socio-economic objectives. This study investigates the level of adherence by public entities to procurement principles in Bangladesh. The study uses Oliver's institutional theory model, to examine the factors influencing this adherence and its impact on public procurement performances. Furthermore, the study explores the mediating role of adherence to public procurement principles in the relationship between institutional factors and procurement performances. A self-administered questionnaire survey targeted public procurement officers in procurement agencies, yielding 398 valid responses. Descriptive analysis was conducted using SPSS, while partial least squares structural equation modelling was employed to test the hypotheses. The findings suggest a high adherence to Bangladeshi public procurement principles by the procurement agencies. Notably, the equality principle demonstrates the highest level of compliance, while the competition principle exhibits the lowest. Regarding factors influencing compliance, the results show that four out of eight institutional factors—dependence on rule setters, policy compatibility, professional discretion, and coercive power—significantly impact adherence to procurement principles. Additionally, the study reveals a positive relationship between adherence to procurement principles and various public procurement performances, including cost savings, improved quality, time efficiency, innovation, flexibility, and sustainability. Adherence to procurement principles is also identified as a significant mediator in the relationship between institutional factors and procurement performances. Specifically, it fully mediates the relationship between dependence on rule setters and coercive power and partially mediates the relationship between policy compatibility and professional discretion with procurement performances. The study contributes theoretically by operationalizing Oliver’s model to understand the influence of institutional factors on adherence to procurement principles and associated performances. This framework enhances our understanding of public procurement dynamics and their alignment with established principles. Additionally, the study offers valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners, highlighting areas for improvement and intervention. Ultimately, it aims to enhance the integrity, efficiency, and effectiveness of public procurement practices in Bangladesh, driving more effective transformations in the sector.

As a Least Developed Country (LDC), Bangladesh's economy highly depends on tax revenue to formulate the national budget and conduct development projects. However, the country has consistently exhibited poor tax revenue collection and recorded one of the lowest tax compliance levels among the South Asian nations. In prior studies, Tax Compliance Behavior (TCB) has been discussed from the economic, social, and behavioral aspects. However, in the context of LDC, some important and relevant factors are yet to be addressed. Based on the theoretical foundations of social exchange theory, social influence theory, cognitive theory, and deterrence theory, this study aims to examine the factors influencing TCB of individual taxpayers in Bangladesh. Specifically, the study investigates the effects of key dimensions of the Quality of Government (QoG) including impartiality, provision of public services and control of corruption, Quality of Online Tax Services (QoTS), dimensions of the Tax System Structure (TSS) that are the probability of being detected, the severity of penalty and tax rate, and demographic factors on TCB. Furthermore, tax knowledge is incorporated into the model to assess its moderating role in the relationships between these determinants and TCB. To achieve the objectives of the study, a survey was carried out. Using snowball sampling, the questionnaire was distributed to the taxpayers in Dhaka and Chattogram, the country’s capital and business capital cities, respectively. With a response rate of 22%, the collected data has been coded and keyed into the SPSS software, and multiple regression analysis along with independent sample t-test and one way ANOVA have been utilized to analyze the data. The results indicate that control of corruption (CoC) and severity of penalty (SP) that representing dimensions of the QoG and TSS are significantly and positively associated with TCB. The findings also reveal a significant relationship between demographic factors and TCB, suggesting that tax compliance levels vary across different demographic groups. Furthermore, the analysis shows that tax knowledge significantly moderates the relationship between CoC and TCB, but in a negative direction, implying that higher tax knowledge weakens the positive influence of CoC on TCB. Conversely, tax knowledge exerts a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between SP and TCB, although it slightly reduces the strength of the direct effect of SP on TCB. This study enriches the understanding of TCB by offering new empirical insights from the context of an LCD, specifically Bangladesh. The findings signify practical policy implications for LDCs, specifically, to improve revenue generation by introducing anti-corruption efforts, enforcing effective penalties, and promoting targeted tax education, which can strengthen compliance.

The implementation of infrastructure development projects through Public Private Partnership (PPP) that involve investments from the private sector has greatly benefited the country. Apart from being an alternative to conventional public infrastructure projects, PPP is also said to be a more efficient method of project implementation for the government as significant risks are transferred to the private partner. Even with the advantages, it cannot escape criticism, especially the implementation of PPP projects, which involve financial implications to the government in the form of “availability payments.” In 2018, the Government of Malaysia revealed the financial implications of PPP projects to the government with a total amount exceeding RM200 billion. This disclosure inspires the researcher to conduct this study, as this problem has not been adequately addressed in previous research. This study is qualitative case study research with Malaysian PPP experience as a single unit of analysis. The data focuses on the experience of government officials, especially their respective involvements in the process of evaluating and implementing PPP projects. A total of 29 officers from several government agencies were interviewed. Based on the data collected which was analyzed using Atlas.ti application, the main findings of this study are related to the loophole in the work process in recommending the implementation of PPP projects. This is in relation to the application of financial allocation. Since the requirement to pay “availability payment” will only appear after three or four years from the date of signing of the concession agreement. Since the allocation involved seems to be operational in nature, i.e., rental payments, the general view at the beginning was that the financial allocation would only be applied after three or four years, and the financial allocation to be applied for is under the annual operating expenditures. The issue has been resolved through a new approach, among others, by using the development expenditure for PPP-related payments, listing the PPP payment commitments as part of the annual development expenditure commitment for each Ministry, and the implementation of a single window approach where the proposed PPP projects are evaluated in conjunction with other infrastructure development projects in the five-year Malaysia plan. Apart from contributing several theories regarding PPP, the results of this study have provided a real case study example, especially on Malaysia's learning experience in dealing with financial commitment issues arising from the implementation of PPP projects.

The human resource management (HRM) practices have been broadened to include building a motivating work environment for employees that ensures their intention to stay (ITS) in their work and companies. Employee intention to stay plays a significant role in worldwide organizational development and economic growth. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between human resource management practices (HRMP), employee engagement (EE), organizational culture, and employee intention to stay in the telecommunication sector in Jordan. A proposed human resource management practices model that embeds six practices (training and development, selection, compensation, job security, job design, and performance appraisal) was formulated and tested on employee intention to stay. This study adopts a quantitative research approach. A questionnaire was conducted to obtain data from 400 telecommunications sector employees from 407 branches in 12 governorates in Jordan. Samples were telecom staff who worked at all job levels. Structural Equation Modeling analysis using AMOS version 22 was conducted to determine HRM's direct and indirect effects on employee intention to stay. The findings reveal that there is a strong positive causal relationship between HRM practices (training and development, selection, compensation) and employee intention to stay in Jordan's telecom sector. The findings also show the positive mediating effect of employee engagement on the relationship between HRM practices and employee intention to stay. The study also establishes valid measures for employee engagement and employee intention to stay constructs. The results clearly show that there is no moderating effect of organizational culture on the connection between employee engagement and intention to stay. Knowledge gained from this study could contribute to empowering telecom management in better comprehending the impact of HRM practices on employee engagement on the well-being as well as intention to stay of the employees. Having said that, this study is deemed essential in Jordan's government economy by focusing on the Jordanian telecommunications sector as the main supporter of Jordan's domestic and economic production. This study recommends that future research should consider using a longitudinal mixed-methods research design to study the relationship between HRM practices, employee engagement, and employee intention to stay. Thus, the findings of this research have undoubtedly created a pathway for future research in human resource management.

Sustainability issues have become critical problems plaguing SMEs worldwide. Undoubtedly, SMEs contribute largely to many countries' development; hence, they should take measures to ensure a sustainable competitive advantage. Based on this concern, this study was conducted to examine the effect of resources (tangible and intangible) on SMEs' sustainability in Malaysia. Dynamic capabilities (digitalisation and humanisation) have been identified as the mediating factor. At the same time, environmental uncertainties were considered as a moderating factor in the relationship between tangible and intangible resources and sustainability. This study applied a quantitative method, which was then supported by a qualitative method. For the quantitative data, questionnaires were distributed to respondents face-to-face and 338 responses were selected using a random sampling method and analysed using SPSS and AMOS. Based on structural equation modelling, the study found that tangible and intangible resources are significantly related to sustainability, and dynamic capabilities mediate the relationship between tangible and intangible resources and sustainability. In addition, environmental uncertainties play a moderate role in the relationship between tangible and intangible resources and sustainability. Qualitative data were then collected through interviews to support and explore the results obtained through this quantitative analysis. A total of 5 subject matter experts were involved in the interview. The result highlights the importance of practical resources and capabilities, learning new technologies and practices, enhancing dynamic resources, valuing tangible and intangible resources, and humanisation and digitalisation towards ensuring SMEs' sustainability. The results also support the mediation role of dynamic capabilities and the moderation of environmental uncertainties in the relationship between resource capabilities (tangible and intangible) and SMEs' sustainability. Furthermore, the study's findings assert that adopting proactive risk assessment frameworks can help stakeholders in Malaysian SMEs strengthen their support for sustainable growth by identifying and classifying potential financial, operational, market, and environmental risks by employing techniques like SWOT analysis and PESTEL analysis. It also helps by evaluating the probability and consequences of identified risks using qualitative and quantitative approaches, ranking risks according to their potential impact on business operations, creating and executing plans to reduce known risks, creating backup plans for critical risks to maintain business operations, keeping a constant watch on the risk environment and the effectiveness of mitigation strategies. The findings highlight the need to assist SMEs in implementing and managing the risk assessment framework by frequently updating the framework to align with changes in the business environment, delivering continual training on risk management and assessment methods to small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners and managers and providing support in the form of consultation and advisory services. The findings also suggest the benefits of establishing two-way communications between government agencies and Malaysian SMEs, sharing information and addressing the need for support, public trust, and business owners' awareness. Lastly, this study's findings can support SMEs and other related firms in ensuring sustainability and guide the government in developing policies related to SMEs and other related agencies

Online purchase decisions are heavily influenced by consumer trust, especially when it comes to personal luxury goods. This study addresses common issues that consumers have when thinking about making these kinds of purchases, such as concerns regarding authenticity, information asymmetry, and a lack of luxury experience. These challenges collectively contribute to a more profound concern, which is the erosion of trust among consumers to purchase such goods online. Existing research proposes using signalling theory to better understand consumer decision-making when presented with risks related to online purchases. However, this theory, in isolation, proves insufficient for addressing the broader issue of consumer trust. To address this gap, this study takes an innovative approach by integrating Signalling theory into the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model. By combining these theories, the study aims to provide a more holistic and comprehensive understanding of how consumers navigate online purchase decisions for personal luxury goods. The integration of Signalling theory and the S-O-R model has allowed for the investigation of both cognitive and emotional aspects of consumers' decision-making processes when purchasing personal luxury goods online. The main objective of the study is to comprehensively analyse the influence of four marketing signals, namely brand reputation, online reviews, money-back guarantee, and site aesthetics, on consumer trust and online purchase intention of personal luxury goods. The research was conducted quantitatively, where questionnaires adapted from previous research were used to conduct an online survey. Purposive sampling was used to draw insights from 214 consumers in Malaysia who either purchased or intended to purchase personal luxury goods from official luxury brand websites, third-party platforms, and social commerce platforms. SPSS and AMOS were used to analyse the data. The findings reveal that brand reputation, online reviews, money-back guarantee, and site aesthetics significantly influence consumer trust in purchasing personal luxury goods online. On the other hand, all marketing signals exhibit non-significant direct influences on online purchase intention. Mediation analysis demonstrates that consumer trust fully mediates the influence of brand reputation, money-back guarantee, and site aesthetics on online purchase intention. Meanwhile, consumer trust partially mediates the influence of online reviews on online purchase intention. This study emphasises the critical role of trust in enhancing consumers' online purchase intentions for personal luxury goods. Marketers are advised to prioritise trust-building strategies, focusing on cultivating strong brand reputations, transparent communication, and commitments to quality. Besides, incorporating customer review sections on online platforms is recommended, given their influence on consumer trust. Furthermore, new local luxury businesses are encouraged to implement credible and reliable money-back guarantee services to instil trust among consumers. In addition, luxury marketers should also invest in visually appealing online platforms to reinforce consumer trust in purchasing personal luxury goods online. Future research can fill the gaps in the study by validating the model using a qualitative study or conducting a quantitative study with a larger sample size.

Employee job satisfaction has been one of the main concerns in employee retention within organizations especially in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are chosen as the study population due to their important contributions to the country's economic development. Previous studies done on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) regarding job satisfaction and organizational justice have shown inconsistent results in the organizational justice dimension. There are two main purposes of this study. First, to examine the relationship between organizational justice and job satisfaction including Islamic spirituality and job satisfaction. Second, to determine the role of Islamic spirituality in moderating the relationship between organizational justice and job satisfaction. Organizational justice in this study encompasses three components: distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice. The Islamic spirituality values are based on Taqwa values (Islamic Piety) derived from the terminology of Islamic spirituality used by Mohsen (2007), Kamil (2012), Sulaiman et. al, (2013), and Bhatti (2015), which categorized spirituality as one of the components of taqwa, excluding the social responsibility aspect. Most local or international studies have not considered Islamic spirituality as a moderating factor to enhance job satisfaction through the organizational justice dimension. Hence, this study investigates Islamic spirituality as a moderating factor among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Two theories underpin this study, namely the Resource-Based Theory and Equity Theory. This study uses self-administered questionnaire and quantitative methodology to survey employees of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia by adapting measurement instruments from existing literature. A sample of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from the Directory of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia focusing in Klang Valley was selected from which Muslim employees were approached as the unit of analysis. Four hundred ( 400) questionnaires were distributed, and 276 completed responses were received which resulted in 69% response rate. Six (6) hypotheses were formulated and three (3) were found to be statistically significant. All preliminary analyses were performed to ensure that the data were valid and reliable to proceed with the main analyses. Multiple Linear Regression Analysis (MLRA) was adopted to test their relationships. All these analytical procedures utilized the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23, inclusive oftest of hypotheses. The results of the moderated multiple linear regression analysis show that the three organizational justice dimensions are significant in influencing employee job satisfaction. These indicate the importance of the factors in ascertaining that those employees are happy working with the organization. However, Islamic spirituality did not seem to moderate the relationship , between the organizational justice dimensions and job satisfaction. Among the three dimensions of organizational justice, the variance of job satisfaction is better explained by distributive justice followed by procedural justice and interactional justice. But the analysis of data showed that Islamic spirituality is directly and significantly related to job satisfaction. In other words, Islamic spirituality functions as an independent variable, not a moderator. Although half of the hypotheses were not supported, this study has contributed to enriching the existing body of knowledge by providing additional empirical evidence on the influence of organizational justice dimensions on employee job satisfaction in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) particularly in the Malaysian context. Practical suggestions to the organizations' top management, Human Resource (HR) professionals and policymakers were also proposed.

This study aims to develop a hierarchical model for Social Commerce Service Quality (SCSQ) in order to rank the quality dimensions necessary for measuring the performance of the Malaysian modest fashion industry. This study used a sequential mixed methods approach. Initially, online semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine participants where eight dimensions and 30 sub-dimensions were revealed. Then, 61 regular social commerce customers participated in a quantitative questionnaire survey whereby the SCSQ hierarchical model was created and the identified dimensions were prioritised using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) relative measurement. It has been discovered that Privacy and Security emerged as the most crucial dimensions, followed by Functional Quality and Design Quality, meanwhile Trustworthy Platform acts as a crucial sub-dimension. To operationalise the hierarchical model, AHP’ absolute measurement was used where a survey was conducted on 33 customers who had previous experience with social commerce purchases from three different Malaysian modest fashion brands. It is found that Malaysian modest fashion brands were at a good stage of SCSQ evaluation and also pointed out certain areas that could be enhanced. The developed model is unique and can be used not only by Malaysian modest fashion practitioners but most social commerce businesses to measure their SCSQ performance.

ABSTRACT Competitive Intelligence (CI) plays an essential role in enhancing the performance of Malaysian Institutions of Higher Learning (IHLs) by providing strategic insights that support effective decision-making. These insights are essential for developing organisational strategies and plans that foster high performance. Both profit-driven and non-profit organisations, including academic institutions, utilize CI to achieve sustainable profitability, financial self-sufficiency, competitive advantage, and improved overall performance. By equipping institutions with a clear understanding of the competitive landscape, CI promotes adaptability and ensures strategic alignment with evolving market demands and organizational objectives. Malaysian IHLs face significant challenges, including curriculum misalignment with industry needs, low research quality, insufficient funding, financial instability, and difficulties in achieving internationalisation. CI addresses these issues by enabling benchmarking against global standards, refining institutional strategies, and improving decision-making processes. Despite its potential, the effective adoption of CI is often constrained by outdated methodologies, inadequate data collection and analysis processes, and organisational barriers such as culture, structure, and limited awareness. This study examines the impact of CI on the organisational performance of Malaysian IHLs, with organisational factors serving as moderating variables. The theoretical foundation of this research is rooted in resource-based theory and knowledge-based theory. Data was collected from a sample of 92 respondents across 594 identified Malaysian IHLs. The findings indicate a significant positive relationship between CI and the organizational performance of IHLs, even in the absence of supportive organisational factors, namely process, structure, awareness, and culture. The findings emphasised the role of CI in generating distinctive resources that enhance institutional performance. This study contributes to the extension of resource-based and knowledge-based theories by exploring the influence of CI on the organisational performance of IHLs. Furthermore, it provides practical guidelines for Malaysian IHLs to identify and improve their performance indicators, ultimately fostering a more competitive and sustainable higher education sector.