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This study aims to investigate applications of Lean Six Sigma approaches and quality performance in Malaysian hospitals. It identifies five dimensions of Lean Six Sigma conformance (i.e. continuous quality improvement, Lean management initiatives, Six Sigma initiatives, patient safety and teamwork) and quality performance of the hospitals based on demographics such as gender, types of hospital and working experience.

This study distributed 1,007 self-administered survey questionnaires to hospital staff resulting in 438 useful responses with 43.5 per cent response rate. Research data were analysed based on reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA using SPSS version 23.

Research findings indicate that there are significant differences between public and private hospital staff on Lean management initiatives, Six Sigma initiatives, patient safety and teamwork. Private hospital staff perceives Lean management initiatives, Six Sigma initiatives, patient safety and teamwork more favourably compared to public hospital staff. The present study findings also indicate that senior hospital staff (more than 10 years working experience) perceives patient safety and teamwork more favourably compared to other working experience groups.

The research focused solely on the Malaysian health sector, and thus, the results might not be applicable to other countries.

This research provides theoretical, methodological and practical contributions for the Lean Six Sigma approach and the research findings are expected to provide guidelines to enhance the level of quality performance in healthcare organisations in Malaysia as well as other countries.

This study aims to investigate applications of Six Sigma methodology in Malaysian private hospitals. It measures Six Sigma initiatives of the private hospitals based on demographics such as gender, position and working experience.

The present study measures Six Sigma initiatives of private hospitals and used stratified random sampling to collect data from eight selected hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia. The respondents of the study include doctors, nurses, pharmacists and medical laboratory technologists. In this study, 520 questionnaires were distributed to respondents who are working in Malaysian private hospitals. In total, 251 responses were received (48.27 per cent response rate). The descriptive analysis, independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA were undertaken using SPSS version 23.

The findings of this study indicate that male respondents have better perception on four aspects of Six Sigma applications such as process improvement tools, process improvement methods, manage quality improvement activities and formal planning process compared to female respondents. The research findings also indicate that doctors have better perception regarding process improvement tools to measure quality improvement process, leadership to continuous improvement processes, training in process improvement tools for employees’ skill improvement compared to nurses, pharmacists, medical laboratory technologists.

The present research focussed solely on the Malaysian private hospitals, and thus the results might not be applicable to other countries. This study focussed on Six Sigma initiatives of private hospitals in Malaysia, while the future research may consider investigating the difference or conformance between private and public hospitals on Six Sigma initiatives and its relationship with quality performance. In addition, present study findings are expected to provide guidelines to enhance the applications of Six Sigma methodology in private hospitals in Malaysia as well as other countries.

This research provides theoretical and practical contributions for the Six Sigma initiatives in private hospitals. Most of the past studies of Six Sigma initiatives are centred on manufacturing sector, but few empirical studies have been conducted on the health-care organisation. Thus, findings of the present study on the health-care sector contribute to the on-going pursuit of knowledge in the area of Six Sigma by using the strength of related theories and parent disciplines.

This study aims to measure quality performance of the Malaysian hospitals based on eight items, namely, progress of quality management, medical service cost, reduce errors in medical services, patient waiting time, reduce waste in processes, patient complaint, employee job satisfaction and patient satisfaction. Mainly, it identifies difference or conformance between public and private hospitals on quality performance.

This study distributed 1,007 self-administered survey questionnaires to the hospital staff (i.e. doctors, nurses, pharmacists and medical laboratory technologists), resulting in 438 useful responses (43.5 per cent response rate). Research data were analysed based on descriptive analysis and independent samples’ t-tests using SPSS version 23.

The findings of this study indicate that there are significant differences between public and private hospital staff on progress of quality improvement process, patient satisfaction and cost of the medical services. Private hospital staff believed that their hospital’s quality management process and patient satisfaction has been improved over the past years compared to public hospital. However, private hospital staff does not perceive their medical service cost has been reduced over the past years compared to public hospital.

This research focused solely on quality performance of the Malaysian health sector and, thus, the results might not be applicable to other countries.

Present research findings provide guidelines for enhancing quality performance in Malaysian public and private healthcare sectors and other countries.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and workforce management on the quality performance of Malaysian hospitals. This paper also investigates the direct and indirect relationships between top management commitment and quality performance of the healthcare organisations in Malaysia.

This study applied stratified random sampling to collect data from 15 different hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia. The self-administered survey questionnaires were distributed among 673 hospital staff (i.e. doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and medical laboratory technologists) to obtain 335 useful responses with a 49.47 per cent valid response rate. The research data were analysed based on confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling by using AMOS version 23 software.

The research findings indicated that LSS and workforce management have a significant impact on quality performance of the Malaysian hospitals, whereas senior management commitment was found to have an insignificant relationship with quality performance. The research findings indicate that senior management commitment has no direct significant relationship with quality performance, but it has an indirect significant relationship with quality performance through the mediating effects of LSS and workforce management.

This research focussed solely on healthcare organisations in Malaysia and thus the results might not be applicable for other countries as well as other service organisations.

This research provides theoretical, methodological, and practical contributions for the LSS approach and the research findings are expected to provide guidelines to enhance the level of quality performance in healthcare organisations in Malaysia as well as other countries.

The study addresses the critical need for a performance measurement model tailored to universities in fragile countries. It aims to identify and prioritise criteria and sub-criteria within the model, specifically designed to accommodate the unique challenges faced by the higher education institutions in fragile nations.

The study employs the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology, combining responses from respondents in four fragile countries: Somalia, Afghanistan, Sudan and Chad. The absolute measurement approach of AHP was employed for the final ranking of 15 Somali universities.

The study unveils a comprehensive performance measurement model customised for fragile countries. It identifies the necessary criteria and sub-criteria to assess university performance in such challenging contexts. The findings also reveal the significant performance disparities among 15 Somali universities, shedding light on areas for improvement.

This study’s small sample of countries and response bias are its limitations. The study is limited to fragile countries and may not fully depict the complexity of issues experienced by all types of universities.

This research provides a practical guide for universities in fragile countries to enhance their performance in the face of unique challenges. The model offers a framework for fostering quality practices, improving education quality and enhancing overall performance. Decision-makers and educators can leverage this model to drive changes within their institutions.

This research pioneers a performance-measuring model for fragile countries, filling a long-standing gap in the literature. It provides novel insights into the challenges of judging university performance in demanding contexts and is useful for academics, policymakers and top management of institutions.

SETARA is a well-known university rating tool in Malaysia. The study aims to enhance the transparency, accuracy, and reliability of SETARA assessment instrument by improving its weighting scheme for the domains, sub-domains, criteria, and indicators.

The study utilized a quantitative research design and collected responses from 29 academic administrators in both public and private higher education institutions in Malaysia. The four steps of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) were employed. An AHP questionnaire was developed, adopting the domains, sub-domains, criteria, and indicators of the SETARA assessment instrument. The “Superdecision” software was used to synthesize the pairwise comparison judgments and compute the consistency ratio for all group pairwise comparison matrices.

The AHP-assigned weights differed significantly from those assigned by the SETARA rating system. For instance, the weight for “Input” increased from 20 to 41.05 out of 100, and the weight for “Output” decreased from 40 to 25.52. The new SETARA rating instrument is expected to be used by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) due to its scientifically justified foundation to ensure transparency, accuracy, and reliability.

The study is limited by small sample size for data collection. Future research could benefit from a larger and more diverse sample, including participants from a number of national-level universities and relevant agencies like Malaysia Qualification Agency (MQA) and MOHE. Additionally, the research focused solely on recalculating weights and did not consider modifying the criteria set. Further investigation is needed to determine if some criteria can be added or removed.

This research offers practical implications for refining the SETARA assessment mechanism and improving the quality of higher education in Malaysia. The modified weights provide guidance to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) on where to focus their efforts to ensure quality. The transparent methodology introduced by this study can serve as a model for enhancing educational quality evaluations in Malaysia and potentially in other higher education systems worldwide.

The originality of this study lies in its innovative application of the AHP to the SETARA assessment tool, addressing a crucial gap in the assessment process. By providing a comprehensive and transparent methodology for assigning percentages and weights, this research offers a practical blueprint for enhancing the precision and impact of educational quality evaluations in Malaysia and beyond.

The Takāful (Islamic insurance) industry operates on the principles of Maqāṣid al-Sharī’ah, and of late, the industry has witnessed significant market growth. The purpose of this study is to develop a performance measurement model based on Maqāṣid al-Sharī’ah to evaluate the performance of Takāful firms.

A mixed-method research approach was adopted to conduct the present study. Priorities were assigned to various dimensions of the Maqāṣid model using analytic hierarchy process and by taking inputs from 18 Takāful experts. On the contrary, six experts were involved in identifying the elements and measures for the operationalization of the Maqāṣid dimensions.

Maṣlaḥa (0.359) was found to possess the highest priority, followed by Justice (0.345) and Educating Individuals (0.295). Furthermore, under Necessity, protection of religion (0.398) and protection of life (0.388) are assigned almost similar priorities. These two are followed by the protection of progeny (0.107), protection of wealth (0.058) and protection of intellect (0.047). The final outcome of this study is a hierarchical model for the evaluation of performance of Takāful firms.

The application of the performance evaluation model will provide information to the management of Takāful firms on where they stand in terms of fulfilling Maqāṣid al-Sharī’ah principles. If any firms are found to have a deficiency in a certain part of Maqāṣid components, then proper and adequate measures can be taken to ameliorate the situation.

It is necessary to have a performance evaluation model based upon Maqāṣid al-Sharī’ah to evaluate the performance of Takāful firms as these firms operate on the principles of Maqāṣid al-Sharī’ah. Because there does not exist any such model, this study fills up this gap. Details of the measures that can be used to evaluate the performance of Takāful firms are also provided.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a hierarchical model to rank the challenges faced by the private Malaysian higher education institutions (HEIs) in the provision of quality education and subsequently their corresponding critical success factors (CSFs) to address those challenges.

A sequential mix method was adopted in this study. Semi-structured interviews with 29 participants were initially conducted to identify the challenges and CSFs. This was followed by a questionnaire survey involving 158 respondents to prioritise the identified findings. Thematic analysis was conducted in the qualitative stage, uncovering the challenges and their corresponding CSFs. Data for both stages were accumulated from internal and external stakeholders of Malaysian private HEIs. Finally, the four stages of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) were applied to rank the challenges and CSFs.

The qualitative stage identified eight challenges, i.e. “academics”, “facilities”, “students”, “programmes and curriculum”, “competition”, “accreditation”, “finance” and “research” together with their corresponding CSFs. The AHP enables the ranking of these challenges. “Finance” has been found to be the most crucial challenge and “high competency in managing the institution’s finance” as the most important CSF to address this challenge.

As the study restricted its focus on Malaysian private HEIs, the results may not be generalised for public HEIs and foreign private HEIs operating in Malaysia.

The hierarchical model developed in this study is deemed important for implementation to resolve the prioritised challenges. It spells out the specific areas in which the resources of Malaysian private HEIs need to be prudently disbursed and properly managed.

The study aims to develop a hierarchical model based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award to enable the ranking of quality dimensions required for achieving business excellence in the hotel industry of Bangladesh.

The study adopted a sequential mix method approach in which semi-structured interviews with 24 participants were initially conducted during the qualitative stage to identify the quality dimensions. Subsequently, a questionnaire survey was conducted among 40 industry experts to prioritise the identified elements using the relative measurement of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). In total, 32 respondents were further surveyed to evaluate a selected number of hotels in Bangladesh using the absolute measurement of AHP.

The study uncovered eight criteria, together with 23 corresponding sub-criteria during the qualitative stage. Quality management emerged as the most crucial criterion, while health and safety-security measures were the most important sub-criteria in addressing the quality management criterion. In Bangladesh, five-star hotels were observed to be performing better than three-star and four-star hotels.

The developed model is unique and can be used by Bangladeshi practitioners to measure the performance of hotels. Moreover, it can also be applied to measure the performance of hotels in other countries just by incorporating minor modification to the model framework.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and subsequently validate a Maqasid al-Shari’ah-based performance evaluation model for Islamic banks.

Initially, a comprehensive review of the existing and relevant literature is carried out and a prototype evaluation model has been developed. This has been augmented and refined through in-depth interviews of Shari’ah scholars and banking experts. Afterwards, the modified model has been validated by taking inputs from academics and Islamic banking practitioners through a focus group discussion.

The major outcome of the present work is a Maqasid al-Shari’ah-based performance evaluation model for Islamic banks. At the inception of the work, the Maqasid frameworks of Imam al-Ghazali and Abu Zahrah were combined. The combined model incorporates various dimensions, elements and the corresponding measures of three components, namely, justice, education and maslahah.

Not being able to test the model statistically or empirically can be considered as a limitation.

The comprehensive theoretical framework of the developed model addresses all aspects of human well-being. Thus, if implemented the model will ensure welfare for all the stakeholders. It will also encourage the regulators to introduce new reporting standards which will be more reflective of Maqasid al-Shari’ah.

Fulfilling Maqasid will create a positive brand image for Islamic banks, which will attract more customers both Muslims and non-Muslims. Thus, this will create a wider scope for earning more revenues.

There has been concern that Islamic banks are converging towards conventional banking systems and the same performance measure instrument is being used to evaluate the performance of both Islamic and conventional banks. The present work has developed a Maqasid al-Shari’ah-based performance evaluation model for Islamic banks.