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According to the literature concerned with this study, less than satisfactory outcomes have been achieved through implementing business process improvements methods (BPIMs) in industries, in general, and in healthcare, in particular. The existing methods used need to be enhanced in order to create more effective outcomes. There has also been a lack of studies documenting gaps or shortfalls in implementing BPIMs, to be presented to the BPI research community. Therefore, researchers of this paper have attempted to fill gaps between theory and practice. On the contrary, there is also a need to link practical outcomes in the healthcare domain with those of the BPI research community. The purpose of this paper is to review popular BPIMs, techniques and tools applied in the healthcare domain; it seeks to examine and highlight their significant roles, clarify their pros and cons, and find opportunities to enhance their impact on the achievement of more sustainable improvements in the healthcare domain.

This study has been carried out by using a methodology combining an in-depth literature review with a comparison framework, which is called as the “Framework for Comparing Business Process Improvement Methods.” The framework is composed of seven dimensions and has been adapted from four recognized, related frameworks. In addition to the in-depth review of related literature and the adapted comparison framework, researchers have conducted several interviews with healthcare BPI practitioners in different hospitals, to attain their opinions of BPI methods and tools used in their practices.

The main results have indicated that significant improvements have been achieved by implementing BPIMs in the healthcare domain according to related literature. However, there were some shortfalls in the existing methods that need to be resolved. The most important of these has been the shortfall in representing and analyzing targeted domain knowledge during improvement phases. The tool currently used for representing the domain, specifically flowcharts, is very abstract and does not present the domain in a clear form. The flowchart tool also fails to clearly present the separation of concerns between business processes and the information systems processes that support a business in a given domain.

The findings of this study can be useful for BPI practitioners and researchers, mainly within the healthcare domain. The findings can help these groups to understand BPIMs shortfalls and encourage them to consider how BPIMs can be potentially improved.

This researchers of this paper have proposed a comparison framework for highlighting popular BPIMs in the healthcare domain, along with their uses and shortfalls. In addition, they have conducted a deep literature review based on the practical results obtained from different healthcare institutions implementing unique BPIMs around the world. There has also been valuable interview feedback attained from BPI leaders of specific hospitals in Saudi Arabia. This combination is expected to contribute to knowledge of BPIMs from both theoretical and practical points of view.

Islamic finance and Halal product sectors are thriving successfully. This chapter is a general review of the perception of Asian consumers on Islamic finance and Halal sectors in the global Halal economy.

The first section will briefly describe the Halal concept in both Islamic finance and Halal industries, and the growth of both sectors in Asian countries. The second part highlights the review of Asian consumers’ perception towards Islamic finance products and Halal products.

The review found that the consumers’ perception towards the Islamic finance products and Halal products is distinctive. This is due to the diversity of Asian countries in terms of geography, religion, culture, ethnic, school of thoughts (madzahib), income per capita and government’s involvement.

The third part of the chapter concentrates on planning towards Halal marketing, which involves the move and future challenges in different layers of industries to gear up and strengthen the Halal economy.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting co-operatives performance by focussing on the roles of its intangible assets which are in the form of intellectual capital and members’ participation.

Questionnaires have been distributed among co-operatives board of members of the 100 best co-operatives in Malaysia. This study used Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis to examine the impact of intellectual capital and members’ participation on the co-operatives performance and determine the most influencing factors that affect the performance.

Results showed that there is a positive relationship between structural capital, relational capital and members’ participation with the co-operatives performance while human capital has been found to have a negative relationship. This is further supported by the findings based on the multiple regression analysis whereby all the independent variables were found to be significant expect for structural capital. Based on the findings, this study proposed a model for co-operatives’ performance which is based on its intangible assets.

Findings of this study would provide guidance for the co-operatives sector to improve its performance and indirectly help the government in realizing the nation economic goals.

This study provided a better understanding on the performance of the co-operatives by focussing on the roles of its intangible assets. Apparently, there are very limited studies on intellectual capital which is based on co-operative framework and thereby this present study would fill in the gap. In addition, due to the objective of the co-operatives which differs from other types of organization, findings of this study might provide significant contribution on the study of intellectual capital.

This study aims to develop an educational tourism demand model, particularly in respect to dynamic effects, university quality (QU) and competitor countries. Educational tourism has been identified as a new tourism sub-sector with high potential, and is thus expected to boost economic growth and sustainability.

This study reviews the literature on the determinants of educational tourism demand. Even though the existing literature is intensively discussed, mostly focusing on the educational tourism demand from an individual consumer's perspective, this study makes an innovation in line with the aggregate demand view. The study uses data that consist of the enrolment of international students from 47 home countries who studied in Malaysia from 2008 to 2017. The study utilised the dynamic panel method of analysis.

This study affirms that income per capita, educational tourism price, price of competitor countries and quality of universities based on accredited programmes and world university ranking are the determinants of educational tourism demand in both the short and the long term. Also, a dynamic effect exists in educational tourism demand.

The results imply that government should take the quality of services for existing students, price decisions and QU into account to promote the country as a tertiary education hub and achieve sustainable development.

Research on the determinants of the demand for educational tourism is rare in terms of macro data, and this study includes the roles of QU, competitor countries and dynamic effects.

This study aims to develop a measurement model of the halal supply chain resilience (HSCRES) index, which represents the capability of the supply chain (SC) to handle disruption caused by halal risks. A case study is conducted to apply the HSCRES index in the halal chicken SC in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, to test the proposed methodology.

A literature synthesis was conducted to establish the main capability and vulnerability factors and their relevant indicators. The indicators were validated using the confirmatory factor analysis approach. Then, applying an analytical hierarchy process involving ten experts – practitioners and academicians – the weight of each indicator was obtained. A survey of 20 employees of slaughterhouses, 35 sellers and 100 consumers was conducted to obtain the value of each indicator. Finally, the HSCRES index was calculated by comparing the total weighted capability value to vulnerability.

The results revealed that the resilience of halal chicken SC in Yogyakarta is at a good level, with an index of 3.459, and “halal team” is the most significant indicator. The findings also revealed several capabilities that need improvement, including dedicated halal facilities, employees’ halal competence and halal regulation. However, the lack of a halal certification board, lack of management commitment and packaging contamination were found as vulnerability indicators that need to be reduced.

The case of this study is limited to the halal chicken SC in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. As a consequence, the obtained results are limited to a specific context. The application of this method to different areas and objects enables the establishment of different capability and vulnerability indicators.

The halal resilience measurement model offers a comprehensive understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the HSC. The findings can help stakeholders improve preparedness for halal risks, deal with halal risks better and recover more quickly. Measuring the HSCRES index can be particularly useful for policymakers in developing evidence-based strategies to increase HSCRES.

The current study is the first to define and classify the contributing halal resilience attributes and also to calculate the halal resilience index.

The purpose of this study is to address United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs) 8 and 9 from a service perspective. SDG 8 is a call to improve the dignity of service work by enhancing wages, working conditions and development opportunities while SDG 9 calls upon nations to construct resilient infrastructures, promote inclusivity and sustainability and foster innovation.

This study uses a bibliometric review to extract important themes from a variety of scholarly journals.

Researchers tend to investigate policy-level topics, such as national and international standards related to working conditions, while ignoring the experiences or well-being of workers occupying marginalized and low-opportunity roles in service organizations. Service researchers, educators and practitioners must collaborate to improve the state of service industries by conducting participatory action research, promoting grassroots organizing/advocacy, implementing digitized customer service and addressing workforce soft skills deficiencies.

The authors consider how service work can be transformed into respectable employment and present four specific ways nations can enhance their service industries.

Economic planners can view SDGs 8 and 9 as a framework for understanding and promoting the well-being of service employees and accelerating the productivity and innovation levels of the service sector.

The United Nations’ SDGs are examined from a services perspective, which increases their significance in service-dominated economies.