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This study aims to investigate how over-the-top (OTT) media services affect consumers’ demands for value, convenience, visual experience and their ability to advance media communications. This study also examines the constructs that impact viewers’ satisfaction and subsequently lead to continuance usage intention of OTT platforms. Using the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model as the theoretical basis, the present study constructs include content quality, accessibility, entertainment, hedonic value, attitude, satisfaction and continuance usage intention of OTT platforms.

The responses were collected from 1,280 OTT platform users in Malaysia through online questionnaires. This study aimed to examine the perceptions of OTT viewers towards their satisfaction and continuance usage intention of the respective platforms. The study used a quantitative approach, and the relationships among the study constructs were assessed using partial least squares – structural equation modelling.

The present study found that the content quality and accessibility were significant in determining OTT viewers’ perceived hedonic value and attitude, which subsequently led to their satisfaction and continuance usage intention of OTT platforms. Additionally, it was identified that satisfaction had a substantial influence on viewers’ continuance usage intention of OTT platforms.

This study uses the SOR model to determine the relationships among OTT platform characteristics, hedonic value, attitude, satisfaction and continuance intention.

This study aims to examine the relationship between public knowledge, awareness and attitudes towards post-COVID-19 infection prevention in Sarawak. At present, Sarawak is in the post-pandemic stage, marked by a gradual return to normalcy, albeit with some persistent changes caused by the pandemic.

Data were collected from various geographic areas in Sarawak through a Google Form link and QR code during a cross-sectional study, resulting in the acquisition of 1,128 responses. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 28.0 and WarpPLS 8.0.

The result revealed that out of five hypotheses, four were found to be supported, indicating a positive relationship between public knowledge, awareness and attitudes towards COVID-19 infection prevention. However, an unsupported relationship was found between public awareness and infection prevention practices.

This study is limited to the Malaysian population and has a cross-sectional design, affecting generalizability. It is recommended that future research complete an in-depth study of the knowledge, awareness and practices of COVID-19 using other data collection techniques.

Public health and policymakers can use the study to implement effective communication strategies and prioritize digitalization for economic recovery. It highlights the importance of preventive measures and the public’s role in managing future pandemics.

The originality of this research can be drawn from key findings that indicate that people overall gained knowledge on the prevention measures during the post-COVID-19 pandemic, and the accuracy of the information significantly impacts public knowledge, awareness and practices of COVID-19 infection prevention.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of audit committee independence, board ethnicity and family ownership on earnings management in Malaysia.

The effect of audit committee independence, board ethnicity and family ownership on corporate governance is investigated via 1,206 firm-year observations between the fiscal years of 2004 and 2009 of Bursa Malaysia listed firms. Panel data regression analysis is used to analyze the relationship.

The findings of this study fail to associate the role of audit committee independence as proposed under RMCCG (2007) in curtailing earnings management activities, thus supporting the findings on power distance scores that power granted to the top management may result in less effective independent directors. Nonetheless, in support of the alignment effect theory, family ownership is found to reduce earnings management activities. The findings show that corporate governance is more effective in developing country family firms due to their long history of family reputation and the importance of institutional culture factors.

This study focuses on board ethnicity, family ownership and its influence on earnings management.

This study offers insights into the importance of family institutional structures on corporate governance reforms in Malaysia as Malaysian family firms are mostly traditional firms that have built their reputation and strength in the industry for many generations.

This chapter describes the journey of four social entrepreneurs in the Malaysian landscape. The objectives of the case study are to provide a description of the social entrepreneurship development in Malaysia and to illustrate how social entrepreneurs start their ventures, and mobilise change within this landscape. Primary data was collected through a survey and indepth interviews. Four social entrepreneurs participated in this study. The findings show that the Malaysian social entrepreneurship landscape is thriving and supportive, giving many opportunities for individuals to establish social enterprises. The indepth interviews revealed that the social entrepreneurs were motivated to start their social enterprises after being exposed to various socio-economic problems of diverse communities. They leveraged on their strength, both technical and business to create social enterprises. Digitalisation is a major enabler for the social enterprises where ICT tools are used to create solutions to optimise socio-economic impact. Training, coaching and mentoring are also widely used to empower the target beneficiaries. All the social entrepreneurs are deeply aware of the sustainable developmental goals (SDGs) and have strategically incorporated the relevant SDGs into their business model to guide impact measurement. This case study contributes to the field by providing insights on the what drives the ‘selfless side’ of an individual to start a social enterprise, and how do social enterprises leverage on available resources to grow and sustain their ventures. It also provides insights on how to pilot and scale social enterprises.

This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of the existing literature on corporate governance (CG) aspects of the Malaysian market. It offers insights into the phases of Malaysian CG, identifies crucial gaps in the literature and outlines an agenda for impending research.

Following a systematic literature review approach, a final sample of 125 studies from Scopus and Web of Science databases was used in this study. These studies were selected based on quality assessment criteria. Then, the sample literature was evaluated in terms of journals, methodology, theories, modelling, research outcomes and CG characteristics.

The results show that there is a growing interest among researchers to further explore CG aspects in Malaysia due to the continuous development of the Malaysian CG codes. Likewise, the review reveals that the majority of prior studies are quantitative and were carried out using archived data from non-financial firms. Also, the existing literature has primarily focused on the outcomes of CG, especially firm performance.

Overall, the results show that there is ample room for future research. The present paper identifies a number of methodological problems and concerns, and discusses the implications of these problems, while also providing recommendations for future research. The main caveat is that the authors use scholarly papers published in academic journals only, but this approach offers them with opportunities for considerable further developments.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study contributes to the literature by being the first of its kind to concentrate on the Malaysian context. It provides a comprehensive knowledge assessment of the Malaysian CG research and offers advice regarding improvements in research, policy and practice by identifying possible knowledge gaps. Consequently, this study provides a cohesive story of the past and a road map for future research on Malaysian CG.

In the opening speech at the International Islamic Capital Market Conference held in Kuala Lumpur recently, the Deputy Prime Minister Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim (1996: 5), referring to the role of the capital market, advocates an “economic growth with distributive justice, profitability with social responsibility, prudent management and transparency in dealings”. He believes that these are the prerequisites of a healthy and sustainable economy.

University research institutes were established in Malaysian Universities to facilitate research activities that do not fit into discipline-oriented departments, including the multi- and inter-disciplinary research that goes beyond the single-disciplinary boundary. This paper aims to report on a case study of one university research institute established in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), known as the institute for environment and development (LESTARI). LESTARI conducts multi-disciplinary research that emphasises research and capacity building on issues related to sustainable development. The aims of this paper are to examine the research evolution undergone at LESTARI, and to ascertain its contribution towards sustainable development goals (SDGs).

LESTARI was established two years after the Rio Conference held in 1992, with the aims of promoting sustainable development through research and capacity building. This paper uses a qualitative approach to evaluate the research evolution of LESTARI, and a quantitative analysis to ascertain LESTARI’s contribution to SDGs.

After almost 30 years of establishment, LESTARI has moved from multi-disciplinary research to inter-disciplinary research. Although the transition was based on respective research areas (e.g. chemicals management and geopark), the research maturity of LESTARI is shown in its transformation from conventional to translational research. LESTARI has proven its capability to conduct multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research, and the research outputs are also contributing to the SDGs.

The LESTARI case study has shown that as long as a research institute has a firm and clear research direction, regardless of how it is evaluated and monitored (e.g. evaluated by SDGs), the research institute remains relevant in the context of its establishment.

The findings from this paper serve to set LESTARI as an example for other university research institutes, whether in Malaysia or in other countries.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this contribution is the first that discusses the transition from multi-disciplinary research to inter-disciplinary research, as well as the contribution to SDGs, among university research institutes in Malaysia.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate Malaysian practitioners’ general perspective on corporate social responsibility (CSR) of Islamic banks and their views on having a special CSR framework.

This study used semi-structured face-to-face interviews, which contained both qualitative and quantitative data. The study also used observation and document review to support the data drawn from the research participants whenever necessary.

In total, 34 practitioners from all 16 Islamic banks in Malaysia responded to the interview questions designed for this purpose. The results show that the majority of the research participants viewed positively that Islamic banks should have a special CSR framework.

The Islamic concepts of CSR will be of interest not only to academicians but also, especially, to Islamic financial institutions. This paper will also send a strong signal to regulators that they should develop and introduce an Islamic CSR framework to Islamic financial institutions, especially Islamic banks.

This paper contributes to the growing debate on CSR among Islamic financial institutions, especially in the Islamic banking industry, by investigating practitioners’ views on having a CSR framework. In addition, to the knowledge of the authors, this is the first research that has involved Chief Executive Officers, Heads of Shari’ah, and Heads of Corporate Communications as research participants to talk about the CSR of Islamic banks.

This study aims to systematically explore the approaches used by previous studies in measuring the performance of Islamic banks based on maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah.

The data obtained in this study were derived from a review of empirical literature based on 15 articles published between 2012 and 2019. The sample articles on the performance of Islamic banks based on maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah were located by searching keywords in the most relevant social science research databases such as Scopus, Web of Science and EBSCOhost.

The emerging trend in measuring the performance of Islamic banks from the maqāṣid perspective highlighted that there is insufficient research on the determinants of Islamic bank performance.

The reviews undertaken in this paper will resolve the literature gaps in the area of maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah and Islamic banks, as this study serves as a reference for scholars, academicians and interested researchers in Islamic banking and finance studies to pursue more research in this area.

Performance measurement based on maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah enhances society’s confidence in supporting Islamic banking practices, particularly among the Muslim community. Islamic banks can also be exemplary financial intermediaries supporting fair and equitable financial systems for the entire community.

This paper is original in its nature, considering that understanding the relationship between maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah and the performance of Islamic banks is limited. This paper reveals a literature gap that can be explored by future studies theoretically and practically.

This chapter focuses on the definition of the Arab World. This is followed by a treatise on the meaning and purpose of comparative education. Next, the origin and development of comparative education in the Arab World is discussed. Trends and progress of comparative education in the region receive significant attention and discussion. Finally, the research methodologies and research interests of comparative educationists are examined.