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Academic vitality and burnout studies can help the university administrators and lecturers to develop a quality education and provide more conducive working environments. Hence, understanding and fostering what contributes to faculty and institutional vitality is central to prevent burnout during times of change. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to investigate the level of vitality amongst lecturers in Malaysia and to see if there is any significant difference in vitality between the subgroups of the demographic variables.

The study was conducted on 379 academicians from selected public and private universities, polytechnics and university colleges. Data were collected via Survey Monkey application. Descriptive analysis was conducted where mean values, standard deviation and median were calculated. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to see whether there is significant difference in vitality between the subgroups of the demographic. Additionally, Box and Whiskers plot was used to analyse the outliers to further scrutinise the extremely low mean scores. Open ended responses were also analysed to support the statistical analysis.

Results obtained reveal that almost 25% of the respondents indicate high vitality; another 25% are moderately vital; while about 50% fall under the group of low to very low vitality. Only administrative posts were found to have a significant difference in overall vitality, while age, gender, number of children, income level, working experience and teaching field showed no significant difference.

This paper differs from other previous studies as it defined the different levels of vitality amongst academics based on quartiles. One important contribution of this paper is the use of the slider scale with percentage as the scoring units that provide an infinitesimal rating option that enriches the collected data and enables application of mathematical operations, such as the mean. The use of this slider scale had also facilitated the analysis of outliers due to the scale’s discriminative feature to scrutinise those considered as outliers.

This paper aims to study the effect of knowledge management in formulating competitive strategies for knowledge-based small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia.

A quantitative approach of a survey was carried out on 135 owners and managers of knowledge-based SMEs in Malaysia. Structural equation modeling technique was used to investigate the relationship between knowledge management and competitive strategies. SmartPLS software is used to analyze the quantitative data. Only SMEs which are involved in R&D and innovation were selected to get the right respondents who meet the objective of the study.

The findings show mixed results. Most dimensions of knowledge management have significant relationships to differentiation strategy except for knowledge creation and knowledge acquisition, with only knowledge acquisition showing a significant relationship to cost leadership. Findings reveal that knowledge management has a positive effect on competitive strategies with more inclination toward differentiation strategy, compared to cost leadership strategy which does synchronize with their commitment in research and development and innovation.

This study is only focused on knowledge-based SMEs in central Malaysia. Second, the use of a survey approach minimized the flow of information.

SMEs do have knowledge management practices but may not be exploiting it well. Mapping knowledge management practices would help SMEs identify their strengths and weaknesses to explore better business opportunities. This proves that SMEs are leveraging their resources through knowledge application, dissemination, storage and protection to be different than their competitors. However, their apparent lack of knowledge in knowledge acquisition and knowledge creation should be addressed accordingly, as it is important for their future continuous sustainability.

This paper contributes to the literature of knowledge management relating to competitive strategies in SMEs. The study offers insights on how competitive strategies were formulated through knowledge management. The mixed results reveal a new different outlook of knowledge management relating to competitive strategies.

This paper aims to provide an analytical literature survey of selective studies on legal documentation in Islamic home financing with particular reference to Malaysia.

This study adopts the legal positivist methodology, with particular reference to inclusive legal positivism which takes into consideration the possibility of moral values challenging positive law. Within the context of this study, though positive law provides for rules that govern contractual matters in Islamic home financing, standardisation is a functionality of maslahah (or public interest) which transcends the mandatory provisions of positive law but helps to protect the interest of all stakeholders. This is analysed through a systematic literature review which aims to provide practical insights into industry practices relating to Islamic home financing in Malaysia.

This paper provides information on the standard documentation used by conventional banks and existing practices of diverse models of legal documentation in the home financing sector within the Islamic financial services industry in Malaysia. It also recognises the need for standard documentation that is not only Sharīʿah-compliant but also consumer-friendly, as the terms of any standard financing agreement ought to ensure consumer protection. There is also the need for a Shari’ah-compliant Sales and Purchase Agreement, as it forms part of the complete set of legal documentation for Islamic home financing.

It is not an exhaustive study, as it did not consider practices in other jurisdictions offering Islamic financial services and products but only focusses on Malaysia. Though one may not generalise the findings of this study, Malaysia remains a leading model and a global hub for Islamic financial services and products.

A very useful source of information on the current state of legal documentation in Islamic home financing in Malaysia and the prevailing practices in the industry, which may serve as a guide for policymakers such as the Association of Islamic Banks in Malaysia (AIBIM) to embark on a full scale project of standardisation of all the legal documentation used in Islamic home financing.

This study fulfils an identified need of standardisation of legal documentation used in Islamic home financing in Malaysia and offers practical help to policymakers and future researchers starting out on systemic reforms.

Increasing humanitarian disasters and the need for financial support – specifically within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries – has forced global humanitarian agencies to consider alternative funding sources. The victims of disaster and those disadvantaged that remain below the poverty line in much of the OIC countries remain concerned about the source of the funding they receive, based on their beliefs. Furthermore, institutions responsible for managing the funding for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets in their respective countries have also been considering alternative funding. The World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) suggest that the Islamic social finance is largely untapped, with significant potentials for more effective collection and distribution of compulsory alms called zakah and endowments known as waqf within the OIC countries. This chapter assesses the current challenges and opportunities for the Islamic social finance and covers some of the successful cases of the Islamic social finance deployment. The authors review approaches where world-renowned institutions have applied interest-free loans for poverty reduction, banking products for agricultural social financing, the utilization of cross-border social funding for socio-economic development and property management using social finance principles. The authors also assess capital market instruments integrated with the Islamic social finance for managing SDG funding gaps.

This study aims to construct comprehensive index of Tahfiz empowerment taking into account various factors such as social, intellectual, physical and religious, as well as economical. According to Maqasid Shariah, Malaysia has to establish a Tahfiz Empowerment Index (TEI) for the implementation of National Tahfiz Education Policy (NTEP) to ensure that Tahfiz institutions assist students’ development in a productive and meaningful way consistent with Islamic values and national educational objectives.

This study proposes the TEI using Maqasid Shariah to offer an organized framework for evaluating and improving the quality and social relevance of Tahfiz institutions. The TEI weaves the five fundamental aims of Maqasid Shariah – preserving religion, protecting life, fostering intellect, preserving lineage and ensuring economic sustainability – into measurable indicators. Comprehensive review of the literature supports the TEI and its using experts, and the TEI assigns equal weightage to each dimension and has provisions to address biases.

The TEI consists of five fundamental aspects: preservation of religion, life, intellect, lineage and economic sustainability. The results imply that systematic way of evaluating and enhancing performance of Tahfiz institution is crucial as the study proves the institution’s importance in the development of its students.

The TEI provides a systematic framework to be used in future empirical research that searches for the operation of Tahfiz institutions and their outcome. Moreover, it serves as a theoretical basis for further research on Islamic education and its alignment with Maqasid Shariah. It also propounds a holistic and inclusive approach encompassing improvement in educational possibilities.

The TEI has useful managerial and policy implications for the improvement of Tahfiz institutions. It can be used as a benchmark whenever the policymaker is in doubt about the quality, safety and equitable distribution of resources in education to achieve Malaysia’s NTEP objectives. The TEI also provides practical, tangible performance indicators for evaluation and benchmarking, resource allocation and strategy planning. It integrates Maqasid Shariah principles, focusing on areas like spiritual and intellectual development, economic sustainability and community engagement.

The TEI as part of Sustainable Development Goals 2030 contributes to social benefits: integrating the principles of Islamic education and human dignity and social welfare. It erases the existing gaps by providing the necessary means through such practices as offering vocational training to underprivileged students, contributes to social responsibility by enhancing mental health and encouraging services to the community, and ultimately improves community involvement through volunteerism and collaborations. Also, TEI directs the distribution of funds toward programs that should benefit underprivileged learners, thus maintain sustainable fund allocation as well as promoting social responsibility as per NTEP objectives.

This study presents a novel index grounded on Maqasid Shariah which is useful for assessing and improving the Tahfiz institutions. It gives a definite and systematic method of evaluating these institutions’ degrees of empowerments to meet all the diverse roles they play in the society.

This study aims to measure the relationship between the current practice status of good governance and that of integrity in the public sector of Malaysia.

This study collected primary data based on a set of questionnaire surveys among heads of 109 departments and agencies under 24 federal ministries, including the Prime Minister Department in Malaysia. The data were analyzed under descriptive statistics, ordinal regression and structural equation model. Furthermore, standard diagnostic tests were also conducted to check the reliability of the data and models.

Among the factors of good governance, practices of strategic planning, audit and fraud control have statistically significant positive relationship with the practices of integrity in the public sector of Malaysia. Moreover, the practices of strategic alliance and fraud control significantly contribute to determine the integrity practices in the public sector of Malaysia. Therefore, the practices of strategic alliance, strategic planning, audit and fraud control must be given significant attention to improve the integrity system.

This study is an attempt to measure the relationship between the current practice status of good governance and that of integrity in the public sector of Malaysia. The findings of the study will help policymakers improve the reliability and efficiency of the public sector in Malaysia and in other countries.