Search results

This paper aims to describe the development and prospects of an Islamic finance professional programme structure (IFPPS).

This paper is conceptual in nature. It begins with a review of issues leading to the development of IFPPS by the Finance Accreditation Agency (FAA). The process of developing the IFPPS is then delineated, followed by discussions on its intended benefits, the challenges encountered, as well as ways the issues and challenges can be addressed.

The benefits of IFPPS to different stakeholders are highlighted, with consideration given to its strategic roles in addressing the issues and challenges put forth.

Because this paper focuses on the conceptual development of IFPPS, its actual application will further reinforce its value. The outcomes will be presented in the form of case studies in a subsequent publication to contribute to theory and practice.

Having a knowledgeable and skilled workforce through continuous learning and development is key to sustaining the growth of the Islamic financial services industry (IFSI). One possible way is through the adoption of a unified structure, such as the IFPPS which links quality learning to competencies of IFSI practitioners. In addition, the IFPPS possess characteristics which could potentially serve to facilitate the development of sectorial-based national qualifications framework for Islamic finance, making harmonisation in terms of the design, development, delivery and assessment of different learning programmes and qualifications possible.

A uniformed structure that guides learning and development of practitioner-based Islamic finance programmes is long overdue. With the rapid growth of the IFSI, coupled with the concomitant need for a competent workforce to meet business requirements, the time has come for the development of the IFPPS for the IFSI. The development of IFPPS represents the first of its kind for the IFSI. Once the professional qualifications standards are fully developed and implemented, it is expected to bring enormous benefits to different stakeholders involved in Islamic finance learning and practice.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of knowledge management critical success factors (KM CSFs) on project management performance outcomes in major construction organisations in Sri Lanka. As a result, the significant KM CSFs are prioritised to support KM implementation.

This study is cross-sectional in nature, adopting the quantitative method of analysis. The research model includes nine KM CSFs (culture, leadership, organisational structure, IT support, T-shaped skills, training, teamwork, performance measurement and benchmarking) and nine items measuring project management performance outcomes. Data were collected from senior, middle and technical staff involved in projects by means of a self-administered survey questionnaire mailed to them.

The Pearson’s correlation coefficient suggests that all of the KM CSFs are adequately correlated except for organisational structure, which has a poor correlation with IT support, T-shaped skills, teamwork and benchmarking. The results of multiple linear regression show that four KM CSFs (T-shaped skills, teamwork, benchmarking and transformational leadership) are significantly and positively related to project management performance outcomes. The remaining five KM CSFs are not significant. The multiple-criteria decision-making analysis reveals that benchmarking, transformational leadership, teamwork and T-shaped skills are the main priority for the construction organisations to consider in implementing KM.

Future studies should consider construction organisations of multiple sizes and include factors beyond organisational control, KM processes and the effects of demographic variables. Longitudinal studies are also imperative to determine the performance impact brought about by KM implementation over a period of time.

Benchmarking, transformational leadership, teamwork and T-shaped skills should serve as the initial focus to support KM implementation to achieve the desired project management performance outcomes. It is only after these KM CSFs are in place that the construction organisations can concentrate on other factors.

This study contributes to a better understanding of the relationships between the KM CSFs and project management performance outcomes in the construction industry in Sri Lanka, which is still at its infancy stage of KM implementation. Prioritisation of the significant KM CSFs in supporting effective KM implementation in the construction organisations further enhances the value of this study.

The purpose of this research is to explore how current implementation of KM practices, KM processes and KM-centred strategies among Malaysian R&D firms contribute to improving their knowledge quality. In addition, the KM practices investigated are supported by ways of how the R&D firms are motivated to share knowledge and what are the constraints inhibiting such sharing.

A total of 320 questionnaires were disseminated to Malaysian R&D firms and the response rate was 47 per cent. Descriptive analysis such as percentage, mean values and indexes were used to analyse the data.

Overall, the findings reflect the nature of R&D firms as knowledge-intensive organisations. KM practices show that there is a very high tendency of implementation of knowledge exploration and knowledge exploitation activities. In all, 90 per cent of more firms have implemented the three KM processes with constructing new knowledge appears to be the most implemented process. Knowledge-centred culture scores the highest overall mean, followed by leadership and HR practices.

This study provides an identification of KM practices that serves as a starting point for R&D managers to determine the gaps and appropriate actions to collectively achieve the desired R&D results and national innovation.

This study serves as a careful examination in exploring the extent to which KM practices, KM processes and KM-centred strategies are implemented in improving the knowledge quality in the Malaysian R&D firms. It helps R&D firms to frame their KM activities to drive the capability of creating and retaining a greater value onto their core business competencies.

This paper aims to review the knowledge management (KM) processes, knowledge conversion modes and critical success factors (CSFs) and contextualise them to the construction setting to guide effective KM implementation.

This paper is conceptual in nature. It begins with a review of issues faced by construction organisations, which led them to consider implementing KM. This is followed by a comprehensive review of KM processes, knowledge conversion modes, KM CSFs and their application to the construction industry.

Based on the socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation (SECI) model, the knowledge conversion modes are discussed, linking them to the KM processes of knowledge creation, sharing, storage and application. The KM CSFs identified from construction literature suggest that they can be categorised into two groups, namely, factors within organisational control (managerial influence, technological influence and resource influence) and factors beyond organisational control (social influence, political influence, environmental influence, economic influence, industry influence and construction technology influence). The resulting review is discussed in terms of how construction organisations can implement KM effectively to achieve the desired project performance outcomes in terms of time, cost and quality.

Although this paper has made some theoretical contributions, a quantitative analysis will further reinforce its value both in theory and practice, particularly in terms of applying the KM processes and CSFs to different organisational, industry and country settings. A quantitative research is being carried out in the major construction sector in Sri Lanka to establish the relationships between the KM processes, knowledge conversion modes and KM CSFs with project performance outcomes, which will be reported in a subsequent publication.

As the construction industry uses a considerable number of knowledge workers, implementing KM for project planning and execution is the key to sustaining the growth of construction organisations and industry, particularly when KM implementation is linked to project performance outcomes. Practical implications are provided in terms of what successful KM implementation entails.

Effective KM implementation can serve as a conduit for construction organisations to build capacity and develop the ability to react quickly to social challenges brought about by different stakeholders, even before the project commences, so that the project performance outcomes will not be affected. Another social implication is the role played by project team members, in which efforts have to be put in place to facilitate the use of KM processes, so that teams can align project activities to the general good of their organisations.

A comprehensive KM framework that guides the construction industry on KM implementation is long overdue. This research represents the first of such attempts to view KM from a wider perspective, both in terms of internal and external influences affecting construction organisations. Once the conceptual framework developed is validated, it is expected to bring enormous benefits to different stakeholders.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating effect of religiosity of farm owners on the resource-capability-competitive advantage interaction.

A self-administered structured questionnaire was developed to collect data from farm owners who possess the experience in commercial cultivation of three main minor export crops in Sri Lanka.

The results of linear regression analysis on 456 responses received suggest that the religiosity of farm owners significantly moderates the relationships between resources, capabilities and competitive advantage of the minor export crop farms, confirming the study hypotheses.

Future studies should consider the specific impact of different religious affiliations, traits and/or precepts of the farm owners. In addition, educational level, income level and mental capacity of the farm owners should be considered too since they may form part of the observed relationships.

The study has addressed the gap in literature by highlighting the potential of religiosity in the interaction between resources, capabilities and competitive advantage. From the practical standpoint, besides providing some directions to the farm owners, the results also benefit different stakeholders such as policy makers, government and local communities in suggesting and implementing appropriate measures with regard to selecting suitable resources and integrating them with proper capabilities for greater competitive advantage of the agribusiness sector.

The agribusiness sector has long been acknowledged as a major source of livelihood to many people in developing countries. Hence, determining the resources and capabilities influencing farm-level competitive advantage are vital to better understand and formulate appropriate strategies to increase the competitiveness ofminor export crops farms. This study aims to understand of the link between resources-capabilities-competitive advantage for appropriate measures to be recommended to enhance the competitive position of the smallholding farms.

This study adopts the resource-based view in combination with dynamic capabilities. The scope comprises owners of farms who possess experience in commercial cultivation of minor export crops in Sri Lanka. A self-administrated structured questionnaire was used to collect data.

Based on the responses from 456 farm owners, results of the multiple regression analysis indicate that variables representing resources such as human assets, physical assets, financial assets, institutional capital, collective action and entrepreneurial identity; and dynamic capabilities such as organisational learning, relationship building, quality management and marketing are significantly associated with competitive advantage of the minor export crops farms. Reputation and farm process management capability are the only two insignificant variables. Taken together, the resources and dynamic capabilities investigated explain 89.3 per cent of the variation in competitive advantage, in which 82 per cent is contributed by resources.

The findings provide useful insights not only in terms of understanding the link between resources, dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage but also how resources and capabilities can be channelled and leveraged to bring about competitive advantage to the minor export crops farms. Theoretical and practical implications as well as future research directions are provided.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the perceived importance and actual level of implementation of five preliminary success factors, four knowledge management (KM) strategies and three KM processes towards the performance of the Malaysian telecommunication industry.

A questionnaire survey was conducted on telecommunication companies based on a convenience sampling technique. Data were analyzed using paired t‐tests and multiple regression analyses.

The results show that Malaysian telecommunication organizations view all the KM preliminary success factors, strategies and process as important and critical but fall short of implementation. K Audit, K Map, leadership, measurement, construction and embodiment are the variables that have the largest gap between perceived importance and actual implementation. For perceived importance, culture is the only important variable associated with organizational performance whereas for actual implementation, both business strategy and construction process are found to be significantly associated with organizational performance.

This paper was conducted in only one industry in Malaysia. Furthermore, it focuses on KM implementation rather than on learning and knowledge utilization. This paper provides a framework for developing an instrument for assessing the use of preliminary elements in the Malaysian telecommunication industry. Telecommunication organizations have to overcome problems identified and enhance their implementation level in order to achieve better organizational performance.

This paper has extended knowledge in KM, especially concerning implementation issues at the beginning stage of KM. Moreover, it is among the first empirical work to specifically examine preliminary success factors, processes and strategies that affect the preliminary implementation of KM.

This paper aims to investigate the effects of service quality and perceived price (monetary and behavioural price) on the revisit intention of patients to hospitals, as well as the mediating role of perceived price on the relationship between service quality and revisit intention.

This paper distributes questionnaires to outpatients in three major cities in Malaysia, namely, Penang, Melaka and Johor. Patients who were in the foyer, dispensary area and waiting area were intercepted where their responses were sought. The responses obtained from 400 patients were analysed using the structural equation modelling technique. Besides analysing the path coefficients, this study has examined the common method variance, bias and indirect effects of the relationships.

The results suggest that patients pay more attention to certain values in their search for the best health-care service and subsequently move on to new values. Pricing is an effective strategy to promote favourable behavioural intentions amongst patients. Better service quality is reflected in the reasonableness of monetary costs incurred by patients in acquiring health-care services. Patients who received poor services will be more likely to compare such services to the medical costs incurred to ascertain the worthiness of the amount paid. In addition, service quality also influences how patients perceive spending their time and efforts (waiting for nurses and physicians, as well as queueing in hospitals) as worthy and vice-versa. Their revisit intention will also be affected by the extent of which they invest their time, energy and efforts to search for relevant information.

The hospitals which desire to charge additional fees should enhance their service quality to reflect price equity. This is imperative in view of the pricing structure which can be relatively complex in subsequent follow-up treatments that may affect the decision of patients on the sources of health-care services.

Given the inevitable increase in medical fees, the perceived price can be a key determinant to the overall judgement patients had in terms of the health-care services received and the time and efforts sacrificed. However, the importance of monetary price and the behavioural price is still relatively unstudied, particularly their influence on revisit intention in the health-care setting.

Based on the stimuli-organism-response (SOR) model and relationship marketing theory, the paper aims to examine whether servicescape influences trust, service credibility and affective commitment amongst older adults, and their effects on the intention to recover in a rehabilitation setting.

The study takes a quantitative approach, applying confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model to examine the responses. A total of 400 data were collected using questionnaires distributed to older adults in Malaysia. Respondents were selected based on two criteria: they should be over 65 years, and they should have been visiting the rehabilitation centres in the last 12 months.

The results suggest that trust and affective commitment play significant roles in increasing the intention of older adults to recover. Contradicting previous research findings, service credibility does not have any significant impact on the intention to recover as hypothesised. The direct effect of service credibility on trust and affective commitment enhances the premise further that the relationship between service credibility and intention to recover is primarily indirect. Even though we expect servicescape to be a significant driver in forming the behaviour of older adults, its impact on intention to recover, trust and affective commitment remain non-significant, with the exception of service credibility.

Past studies have focused on the roles of servicescape and service credibility separately. We have extended the literature by examining the combined effects of both servicescape and service credibility. The findings, therefore, contribute to a deeper understanding of the literature on the intention–behaviour relationship in the context of healthcare, as well as in service marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between people-related total quality management (PTQM) practices and employee work attitudes, as well as the impact of the specific PTQM practices on work attitudes in the context of the Sri Lankan apparel industry.

The five PTQM practices included top management commitment, employee empowerment, training, employee involvement and teamwork. Employee work attitudes comprised of job satisfaction, affective commitment, job involvement and turnover intention. Data collected from the machine operator-level employees in the top 100 apparel exporters in Sri Lanka were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM).

The findings suggest that the PTQM practices were significant drivers of job involvement but not of job satisfaction, affective commitment and turnover intentions. It was also found that teamwork, training and employee involvement were the most important PTQM practices towards employee work attitudes. Top management commitment drove affective commitment and job involvement, while employee empowerment was important only for job involvement.

The research only considered the top 100 export- apparel manufacturers in Sri Lanka; hence, care has to be taken for the findings to represent the entire manufacturing industry in Sri Lanka.

Based on the perceptions of floor level employees, which is scarcely investigated in the PTQM domain, the paper presents an interesting and unique perspective on the relationship between the PTQM practices and employee work attitudes, challenging majority of previous research findings. Besides making theoretical contributions, the findings offer valuable insights into the management of Sri Lankan apparel companies by highlighting the PTQM practices, which need to be strengthened.