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The purpose of this paper is to review the novel application of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in sensing heavy metal ions and the development of SPR to become an alternative heavy metal ions sensor.

The possible dangerous toxic effects of heavy metal ions are revealed in the short introduction. The existing conventional methods for sensing heavy metal ions and their drawbacks are also discussed. To overcome these drawbacks, SPR has been investigated from the basic principle to the potential alternative in sensing heavy metal ions.

Application of SPR in sensing heavy metal ions emerged a decade ago. A wide range of active layers or recognition elements (e.g. polymer, protein, nanoparticles) have been developed to combine with SPR. The detection limit, sensitivity and selectivity of SPR sensing in heavy metal ions have been improved from time to time, until the present.

This paper provides up-to-date and systematic information on SPR sensing for heavy metal ions. Different advancements on active layers or recognition molecules have been discussed in detail and arranged in the order of their chronological evolution. The present review may provide researchers with valuable information regarding novel heavy metal ions sensor using SPR and encourage them to take this area for further research and development.

Without prejudice to the efficacy of other poverty alleviation mechanisms, micro-financing arguably enjoys relative prominence. However, notwithstanding the remarkable loan repayment rate that the microfinance firms report, they still face the challenge of sustainability. The paper aims to provide insights into how three dimensions of market orientation, namely, customer orientation, competitor orientation and inter-function coordination, affect the two aspects of the sustainability of microfinance institutions (MFIs; management and financial).

To achieve this goal, this study focuses on Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), a leading microfinance provider which is also the largest MFI in South East Asia. Data elicited via a survey questionnaire administered on 190 management staff of AIM across Malaysia are subjected to statistical analysis via the partial least square-structural equation modeling using SmartPLS 2.0.

The results provide empirical evidences that indicate that management sustainability is significantly influenced by customer orientation and inter-function coordination. However, only customer orientation affects the financial sustainability of AIM. Nevertheless, competitor orientation has non-significant effects on both aspects of sustainability of AIM.

The result of the paper contributes to the literature in understanding the long-term sustainable financial and social performance-based market orientation.

Findings are useful for policy makers, management of MFIs, practitioners and academics to enhance microfinance system. Managerial implications, limitation of the study and suggestions for future research are also included.

This paper aims to explore the specific causes of failure among Malaysian female entrepreneurs who were provided with financial services by the microfinance institution: Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) to start up their own businesses.

This paper adopts a qualitative-based case study design approach, with data collected from a total of 18 female entrepreneurs who had failed to develop their businesses. In-depth personal interviews were conducted, coupled with personal observation via purposive cum snowball sampling.

Thematic analysis revealed a pattern-based outcome which discloses a variety of causes affecting the failure of Malaysian female entrepreneurship. These causes ranged from inter-related external factors which were perceived as beyond their control, such as personal life events, intensive competition and loan inflexibility to internal causes, which were related to lack of resources, poor financial management and personal dissatisfaction with their own business performance.

The findings of this study provide valuable information for Malaysian economic policymakers in how to practically address the objectives of the National Women's Policy (NPW) and improve the innovative quality of their products and services. A thorough understanding of the specific obstacles facing female entrepreneurs in Malaysia is essential if policymakers are to improve opportunity exploitation efficiency and assist in mitigating the external and internal causes of business failure among Malaysian females.

Studies in this field have demonstrated that most new “start-ups” fail within three years of their establishment. While determinist, emotive and voluntarist theories can often provide an adequate explanation for the causes of business failure, it is clear that no single factor is usually responsible. Rather, multiple interrelated factors are found to be at play. This study, therefore, provides an integrative model for causes of business failure among small-business female entrepreneurs. It also represents one of only a few such studies in the literature and, to the best of knowledge at the time of writing, is the first such study that used an integrative approach to explain the causes of business failure in the Malaysian context.

Ubiquitous digital technologies are driving organisations to embrace non-traditional digitally transformed business models incessantly. Heterogeneous literature contributions have resulted in a spur in the research related to business transformation driven by digital technologies in recent years; consequently, the research under the digital transformation (DT), even though becoming a hotspot, remains very fragmented. The authors endeavour to holistically present the literature's intellectual structure under DT as a concept, its evolving journey and the emerging research streams in the business and management domains using the techniques of bibliometric analysis.

By performing bibliometric analysis on 234 research articles published over the last 20 years in the DT domain, retrieved from Thompson Reuters Web of Science ^TM, this study culls out thorough insights from the citation, co-citation and keyword analysis. Further emerging research streams were evaluated using VOSviewer software.

The study depicts an overall incremental trend of year-on-year publications, authors' performance, publication journals, associated institutions and research driving countries, along with key insights from co-citation network analysis. Furthermore, the study evaluates four research areas – organisational impacts, applied applications and insights, operational processes and social aspects, comprising eighteen research streams that comprehensively cover-up research under the DT domain.

The study contributes to the literature of DT by amalgamating the status of the present research, but more importantly, by deriving the research areas and research streams, which can be further expanded by researchers as future research streams.

For the practitioners, the study aims to act as a ready reckoner repository with practice-oriented literature references to facilitate them building knowledge and taking effective strategic decisions to harness the benefits of DT more proficiently.

This study illustrates the bibliometric structure of the DT literature and presents insights from the growth of the literature year-on-year.

This paper aims to estimate the influence of spirituality on halal-labeled food shopping behavior both directly and through the mediating roles of image, trust and satisfaction.

Using quantitative methods, this research analyzed the responses to questionnaires distributed to 212 respondents from Bandung, Indonesia. To prove the hypotheses, the collected data were analyzed by partial least square (SEM-PLS) using SmartPLS.

This research shows that the direct relationship between spirituality and halal-labeled food shopping behavior was insignificant. However, the relationship between spirituality and halal food shopping behavior became indirectly significant through the mediating roles of image, trust and satisfaction. This finding confirms that image, trust and satisfaction are influential factors in the increased shopping behavior of consumers who choose halal-labeled foods.

To increase the shopping behavior of Muslims for halal-labeled food, halal food companies need to expand the halal label campaign to electronic and social media. Besides, halal food companies need to develop the accountability of food quality to ensure that the halal food products meet the health and safety standards expected by the public. Spiritual education is also required to harmonize the love for God and the food choices approved by God.

This study is the first in testing the influence of spirituality on halal-labeled food shopping behavior both directly and through the mediating roles of image, trust and satisfaction. It successfully revealed the strengths and weaknesses of spirituality in influencing the behavior of halal food shopping.

This study aims to examine psychological mechanisms underlying tacit knowledge-sharing behaviours. The personality trait of conscientiousness is tested in relation to knowledge sharing, and the effect of eagerness and subjective norm on the intention to share is measured in the context of local and multinational knowledge-intensive enterprises in Croatia.

The quantitative study was conducted on a sample of 288 employees of small and medium-sized companies working on knowledge-intensive tasks. The purposive sampling technique and a survey strategy were used in the study. Organizational affiliation, as it was presumed that these individuals possess a higher degree of tacit knowledge. The data collection was conducted in October 2019. Respondents worked in science and technology companies in Croatia on assignments involving information technology, electronics, petrochemicals, medicine and biochemistry. Statistical product and service solutions analysis of a moment structures software was used to perform confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.

The findings suggest that the personality trait of conscientiousness has a positive impact on tacit knowledge sharing behaviour. An attitude of eagerness and subjective norm were also confirmed as predictors of tacit knowledge sharing behaviour. Furthermore, conscientiousness influences the eagerness to share knowledge. A significant association between subjective norm and conscientiousness was also established. Finally, the mediating effects were identified, indicating that subjective norm and eagerness mediate the relationship between conscientiousness and tacit knowledge sharing.

Explaining the relationship between personality and attitude in the context of knowledge sharing will result in a better understanding of factors that should be nurtured within individuals. Accordingly, distinct management initiatives are to be developed to suit these factors. Furthermore, to intensify the knowledge exchange when working on knowledge-intensive tasks of significant economic value, organizations tailor a more particularistic application to suit the individual in the domain of leadership, staffing decisions, work organization and incentive systems.

This study provides an in-depth analysis and theoretical understanding of factors salient for knowledge-sharing behaviour. The authors provide an overview of how knowledge sharing evolves during social interaction through intensive problem-solving sessions and teamwork. The authors render the explanation on how the personality trait of conscientiousness, conjoint with the attitude of eagerness to share know-how in the expert surrounding, is conducive to the generation of tacit knowledge sharing. Underpinning this study are employees’ psychological motives and internal drives to communicate individual cognitive capital outweighing the potential negative consequences, such as losing the competitive advantage over the colleagues.

The paper aims to identify the emerging themes on the challenges faced by the Malaysian private higher learning institutions (HLIs) in the provision of providing quality education.

Semi-structured interviews were purposively conducted with 29 of the Malaysian private HLI internal and external stakeholders ranging from the relevant personnel of the institutions (the quality director, administrators and senior academics), regulatory agencies, prospective employer, students and parents. Thematic analysis was then applied to analyze the participants’ responses in determining and clarifying the challenges faced by the Malaysian private HLIs in the issue of providing quality education.

Eight overarching themes were identified, namely, Academics, Facilities, Students, Programs and curriculum, Competition, Accreditation, Finance and Research. Academics represent the most frequent challenge raised by the participants, whereas Research emerged as the least mentioned challenge during the interview sessions.

The present paper focused solely on Malaysian private HLIs, and thus, the findings may not be applicable to the foreign private HLIs that are operating in Malaysia as well as to the public HLIs.

The findings are expected to provide valuable guidelines to the Malaysian Private HLIs in areas where resources need to be critically disbursed. To the regulatory agencies and policy-makers, the findings could enlighten them on the difficulties faced by these privately funded institutions so that further policies can be designed and implemented to assist these institutions in their operations and long-term survival.

Workforce diversity is essential for success from the perspectives of economic development and intellectual property. However, the construction industry is losing out on these gains due to the low diversity among them. The study aims to identify challenges impeding workforce diversity in construction literature through a mixed review approach.

The study desk reviewed 188 relevant construction peer-reviewed articles and conference papers with no restrictions on the time range. The study adopted the mixed methodology review approach through bibliometric and systematic content analyses.

The study identified 67 challenges and further classified them into 4 broad categories. These were industry-related, organisational-, personal or attitudinal- and health-related challenges. Organisational challenges were the most prevalent challenges of diversity uptake in the construction industry. The publications' most influential sources, countries/regions and annual trends were also discussed.

Classifying the challenges hindering diversity contributes to the existing knowledge base. The framework's interrelationships among categorised barriers will enable construction professionals to make informed decisions in promoting diversity in the industry.

This study has a broad geographical reach, allowing the findings to be widely applicable to the diverse practice of the worldwide construction sector.