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In retrospectives on Brunei’s first feature film Gema Dari Menara (1968), commentators have tended to focus on either its historical representation of Brunei’s booming post-curfew years in the late 1960s as ‘a time capsule of Brunei’s lost pop history’, or the film’s propagandistic nature for Da’wah (religious propagation). In this paper, however, I will concentrate my observations on the aesthetic values of the film itself, including the narrative structure, plot design, camerawork, characterisation and character relationships, as well as the resulting artistic effects manifested by these production elements as a whole.

Putting all the propagandistic elements aside, I would like to argue that Gema Dari Menara, as a family melodrama, is carefully constructed and propelled by the above-mentioned filmmaking techniques. The drama not only tells the story of an intense familial conflict revolving around the theme of faith rooted in the Bruneian tradition, it also implies the necessity of an internal negotiation between the predominant Islamic ideology and the increasingly secularised Bruneian civil society at the time. While the implied negotiation may have been unintended or subconscious in the original making of the film, it is well-balanced and reflective of the political and social reality of Brunei as a British Protectorate in the late 1960s, foreshadowing the current coexistent status quo of the dominance and sacredness of MIB and the secular popular culture in Brunei.

Gema Dari Menara (1968) was intended as a mode of da’wah (the propagation of Islamic teachings) in response to the situation faced by the local community in Brunei at that time. Following its status as a medium of disseminating the Islamic values, the film embodies Islamic teachings that guide Bruneian Muslims to fully embrace Islam. This current study aims to unravel the meaning of the Islamic value of Amar Ma’ruf Nahi Mungkar (enjoining good and forbidding wrong) that is strongly depicted in the film and perceived as the enlightening Islamic value from the film. Therefore, this study examines the extent of the manifestation of Amar Ma’ruf Nahi Mungkar in the film. It is found that the portrayal of da’wahism using Amar Ma’ruf Nahi Mungkar is imbued in education, social interaction, clothing, and one’s upbringing which is the most influential factor. By applying the Islamic requisites, the scenario and sentiments in the film also encourage the audience to ponder upon the cause and effect of the characters’ actions and deeds.

This paper argues that the film Gema Dari Menara produced in 1968 reflects Brunei’s attempt towards constructing a Brunei Malayness as a national identity. During the early twentieth century, the colonial powers particularly in the Peninsula, tried to help establish a sense of unity among the Malays. Although it was not clear whether this was entirely successful, it is possible that the presence of colonial powers had some influence towards fuelling Malays to be more proactive in their own identity construction. After the British began to leave Brunei, the nation-state can be perceived to have intensified its efforts in creating a national identity as a way to unify its people, including the preservation and reconstruction of its Malayness. A close analysis of the characters in the film will reveal portrayals of ideals of Malayness and how Islamic values penetrate Malayness in the Bruneian context. The main character Azman is arguably the epitome of ideal Malayness, as his behaviour, his way of thinking as well as the way he dresses complement what Brunei aspires to for its people, whereas his younger siblings’ partying and wild behaviour are a cautionary tale. These findings will hopefully provide insights for further studies on the impact of the British administration on the Brunei Malay culture or identity formation in Brunei as a postcolonial state.

Historians of technology have for the past decade begun to recognize the important role that technology plays in nation-building. From the development of the steam locomotive in Britain in the early 19th century that was integral to the Industrial Revolution to America’s emphasis on its technological progressiveness in its national narratives in the 20th century, studies have shown that the history of technology is necessarily the history of nations as well. While the majority of previous research focuses primarily on Western nations (and unsurprisingly so, considering that a greater proportion of technological advancements have happened in these countries in the recent past centuries), less have studied how other countries have dealt with the rise of modern technologies in the development and maintenance of their national identity. This paper seeks to expand the critical scope by examining Brunei’s stance on technology in the 1960s – just after the 1959 Constitution was established declaring the nation an independent, sovereign Sultanate – a time when Brunei was still in the early stages of defining its own identity. I propose that Brunei used modern technologies in order to further solidify its Muslim identity as a response to modernization and globalization, which is distinct to many previously-studied countries that focus more on boosting their military and/or industrial prowess. Brunei’s approach, then, notably counters oft-perceived contradictions between religion and technology. This study will focus on Brunei’s first film, Gema Dari Menara (1968), which was tellingly commissioned by the Religious Affairs Department, and will examine the portrayal of modern technologies that seek to break the binary between religion and modernity to show an image of Islam that is compatible with a developing Brunei.

With the increased stress on sustainability and food security, in addition, the need towards halting environmental deprivation has focused attention on green fertilizer technology (GFT), which is the means of improving the situation causing the rising environmental concern. It also gives efficient use of farm resources which can help to protect crops. Moreover, the adoption of GFT is one aspect to answer the problem in regards to the sustainable environment. In the year 1980, an initiative took place to simplify the adoption decision in the developing countries. Regardless of the low adoption rate elsewhere, comparable exertions in the current year have originated in developing countries. Accepting those primary factors that influence the adoption of GFT is very important. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This study re-examines these factors and draws policy implications from that review for future actions. This research study re-examines them, based on other studies examining the inadequate adoption of GFT in developing countries, by generalising their conclusions to clarify why farmers have or have not made the decision to adopt GFT. The ability to address that awareness enables the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model to predict the farmer’s intention of acceptability of the GFT. By following a socio-psychological approach, by using TPB, the researchers have found out the paddy farmers’ adoption decision towards GFT. The researchers later discuss the implications for promoting the adoption of GFT, which delivers suggestions for the upcoming research study.

The idea of this research study is to seek farmers’ understanding about environmental attitudes in connection with conservation behaviour. The overall aim of this paper is to conceptualise the framework created by amending the environmental concern amongst paddy farmers towards GFT.

This research study will allow more academic consideration and may direct future research on the empirical findings on the environmental concern through the proposed conceptual framework amongst paddy farmers in Malaysia.

This study enables to critique the development of a sustainability strategy brand; integrated reports, sustainability reports, usage of safe internet and online learning skills to reduce inequalities and increase stakeholders’ values.

Digi Telecommunications (Digi) has been publishing annual sustainability reporting in line with Global Reporting Initiatives since 2009. Albern Murty, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Digi, the largest player in the mobile telecommunications industry in Malaysia by the number of subscribers, decided to establish a responsible business brand known as Yellow Heart in 2018 to better serve their stakeholders demand. There was a low stakeholder understanding of Digi’s sustainability efforts and societal impacts. Digi’s Sustainability department aspired to make Yellow Heart the best industry practice for continuous improvements by making Responsible Business commitment one of the main pillars of the company’s strategy and vision. Yellow Heart was linked to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)10 on reducing inequalities by focusing on Digital Inclusion and Resilience to increase safe access opportunities, provide marginalized communities with opportunities to pursue interests in digital learning pathways and create a more sustainable digital future for all. The case study illustrates the sustainability management at Digi and the planned migration from sustainability reporting to integrated reporting to build trust in the business with all the stakeholders. The case dilemma involves the challenges that Philip Ling Oon Hun, the Head of the Sustainability, faced in deciding the SDGs to focus on and measuring and reporting their outcomes to contribute to the greater good, not only in pure business terms but also to society at large.

This case is appropriate for undergraduate or graduate-level programs in Accounting, Corporate Governance and Strategy Implementation.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of the capital market on economic growth by considering the role of ṣukūk (Islamic investment certificates) and other capital market sub-components in Malaysia between 1998 and 2018.

The empirical investigation is based on the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration bounds test.

The results reveal the prevalence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between capital market variables and economic growth. As expected, bond market components (ṣukūk and conventional bonds) have a positive, albeit insignificant influence on economic growth. In contrast, in the long-term, stock market development – regardless of the indicator used on economic growth – is shown to have a significant and positive effect. The study suggests that stock market sub-components affect Malaysia’s economic growth the most.

The primary limitation of this study is that only corporate ṣukūk were considered, while government ṣukūk were excluded from the estimation due to a lack of requisite information, resources and data.

A strategic framework should be established, especially in pricing efficiencies. Furthermore, there is a need to create more awareness on the benefits of ṣukūk investment among conventional bond investors, including retail investors. Thus, there will be more players in the ṣukūk market, and this will help to improve market liquidity.

Apart from conventional capital market sub-components, this study takes into account ṣukūk as a sub-component in the capital market on economic growth using the ARDL framework. Also, this study particularly concentrates on the world’s largest ṣukūk issuer, Malaysia, rather than focusing on other ṣukūk-issuing countries.

The purpose of this study is to examine and establish how sensemaking develops among a group of external change agents (ECAs) engaged to disseminate a national quality register nationwide in Swedish health care and elderly care. To study the emergent sensemaking, the theoretical concept of cognitive shift has been used.

The data collection method included individual semi-structured interviews, and two sets of interviews (initial sensemaking and renewed sensemaking) have been conducted. Based on a typology describing how ECAs interpret their work, structural analyses and comparisons of initial and renewed sensemaking are made and illuminated in spider diagrams. The data are then analyzed to search for cognitive shifts.

The ECAs’ sensemaking develops. Three cognitive shifts are identified, and a new kind of issue-related cognitive shift, the outcome-related cognitive shift, is suggested. For the ECAs to customize their work, they need to be aware of how they interpret their own work and how these interpretations develop over time.

The study takes a novel view of the interrelated concepts of sensemaking and sensegivers and points out the cognitive shifts as a helpful theoretical concept to study how sensemaking develops.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how external change agents (ECAs) engaged to disseminate a national quality register (NQR) called Senior alert nationwide in the Swedish health care and elderly care sectors interpret their work. To study this, sensemaking theories are used.

This is a qualitative inductive interview study including eight ECAs. To analyze the data, a thematic analysis is carried out.

Well-disseminated NQRs support health care organizations’ possibility to work with quality improvement and to improve care for patient groups. NQRs function as artifacts that can influence how health care professionals make sense of their work. In this paper, a typology depicting how the ECAs make sense of their dissemination work has been developed. The ECAs are engaged in prospective sensemaking. They describe their work as being about creating future good results, both for patients and affiliated organizations, and they can balance different quality aspects.

The number of NQRs increased markedly in Sweden and elsewhere, but there are few reports on how health care professionals working with the registers interpret their work. The use of ECAs to disseminate NQRs is a novel approach. This paper describes how the ECAs are engaged in prospective sensemaking – an under-researched perspective of the sensemaking theory.

The research on effects of outsourcing tends to focus on financial effects and effects at a country level. These are not the only consequences of outsourcing, though. When firms outsource functions previously performed in‐house, they risk losing important competencies, knowledge, skills, relationships, and possibilities for creative renewal. Such non‐financial consequences are poorly addressed in the literature, even though they may explain financial effects of outsourcing. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop a model that enables the study of non‐financial consequences of outsourcing.

Based on a review of the literature on interdependencies between organizational functions, a main proposition is developed: given that savings gained from outsourcing are not reinvested in the organization, outsourcing of any function will negatively impact the capabilities of that and other functions in the organization. This proposition is broken down into sub‐propositions, which are tested through a focus group study. Respondents include purchasing professionals with experience from best practice outsourcing.

The initial proposition is developed through identification of variables mediating the proposed negative consequences of outsourcing. Mediating variables are broken down into four categories: variables relating to the outsourcer, the outsourcee, the relationship between the parties, and the context.

By developing a model for the study of non‐financial consequences of outsourcing, this paper takes a step towards opening up an important avenue for future research.

This paper contributes to the outsourcing field by not only considering non‐financial effects, but also by drawing on examples of best practice outsourcing to identify ways in which potentially negative consequences of outsourcing may be managed.