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Inter-organizational trust has a vital role in any external trade relationship. However, there are not many studies relating to growth strategies and inter-organizational trust in firms in emerging markets. The purpose of this paper is to identify and compare the effect of external growth strategies on the organizational performance of companies and to examine the mediating role of inter-organizational trust between growth strategies and organizational performance.

Data were collected from 240 senior managers from public listed companies (PLCs) in Malaysia and were analyzed using analysis of a moment structures.

The findings indicate that growth strategies have a significant effect on organizational performance. Strategic alliances and acquisitions also have significant effects on organizational performance. Moreover, inter-organizational trust fully mediates the effect of growth strategies on organizational performance.

As purposive sampling was used, selecting only managers with experience of the issues concerned, any common findings are likely to be generalizable to managers in similar situations.

Building inter-organizational trust among companies and relying on strategic alliance and acquisition, rather than merger, will sharpen their competitiveness and enable them to survive and thrive.

The increase in organizational performance of PLCs will have a significant effect on employment and on gross domestic product (GDP), which will have a beneficial effect on citizens.

Studies that are related to these variables in emerging economies are still in their infancy. This study compared the effect of external growth strategies and contributed to the literature in the area of trust and external growth strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a comprehensive model using balanced scorecard (BSC) approach instead of the current ranking system to measure the performance of private higher education institutions (PHEIs) in Malaysia as the ranking system is deemed inaccurate and certain items in the system are redundant.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted involving 105 academicians from seven PHEIs in Malaysia. The data were analyzed for factor analysis using Principal Axis method with Promax rotation in IBM SPSS Statistics Version 20.

The result demonstrates that 22 items were successfully extracted into four dimensions that suited the BSC approach with acceptable range of composite reliability and factor loading values.

The paper reveals the issues of ranking system of the current method in measuring performance of PHEIs. The proposed BSC model should be tested on more PHEIs to increase its validity and reliability.

This research analyzes the performance of PHEIs from academicians’ perspectives based on the four BSC perspectives. It can be considered as an alternative model for PHEIs’ managers to measure performance of PHEIs in Malaysia rather than the current ranking system.

In the midst of intense competition in private higher education industry in Malaysia, it is crucial to understand that a high performance PHEI is expected to deliver quality tertiary education. This research assists the society to evaluate the strength of a particular PHEI in Malaysia, and further enable them to make a deliberate choice on which PHEI to enter.

A growing concern for sustainability of PHEIs requires a method to be undertaken by the authority to measure PHEIs’ performance. This paper addresses this concern by offering 22 items to measure PHEIs’ performance and dictating the need to manage PHEIs in a strategic manner, not by ranking system per se.

Many researchers have stressed the importance of using the right measures and metrics to manage a supply chain efficiently and effectively and have developed them from different perspectives. The basic purpose of this paper is to consolidate the measures and metrics that have been developed so far, verify the relevance of these measures from the practitioners, produce a usable list with proper classification (database), and demonstrate the use of this database through a case study.

An initial list of metrics and measures is consolidated after analyzing the literature (journals and books) and web sites that deal with supply chains and conducting interviews with industry practitioners. A questionnaire is designed with these measures and metrics and is sent to 300 companies within the electronics industry in Malaysia to obtain feedback from the industry practitioners about the relevance of these measures. A case study is conducted with an electronics manufacturing company to demonstrate the use of the database to identify relevant measures and metrics.

About 838 performance measures form the initial list. From these, the practitioners consider 159 important and very important measures and 135 are in use in the industry. The entire list of measures is classified into the following metrics: Fund flow, Internal process flow, Material flow, Sales and services flow, Information flow, and Partner evaluation. These metrics are further classified into different groups of measures using confirmatory factor analysis.

Only the industry practitioners from electronics industry in Malaysia participate in the study to identify the relevant measures and metrics.

The paper will be valuable to the academicians and practitioners working to develop measures and metrics for manufacturing supply chains.

e‐Supply chains are fast becoming a reality. In order to manage such supply chains efficiently and effectively, traditional measures of supply chain performance are not adequate. The literature search revealed lack of measures and metrics for e‐supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to develop new measures and metrics for monitoring the performance of e‐supply chains.

A framework based on the benefits of e‐supply chains has been used to develop the metrics and measures. The study makes use of focus group discussion by assembling eight experts and practitioners in the field of e‐supply chain to come up with the measures and metrics. A questionnaire is designed with these measures and metrics and is sent to about 300 electronic component manufacturing companies in Malaysia to obtain feedback from the industry practitioners. Appropriate reliability and validity tests are conducted to measure the reliability of the instrument and validity of the constructs.

Through the focus group discussion, this study identifies six metrics and 21 measures. Further validation through the industry practitioners, reveals that these measures are important and some are in use by the industries. The six metrics are: web‐enabled service, data reliability, time and cost, e‐response, invoice presentation and payment and e‐document management metrics.

The study uses a simple framework and a sound methodology to develop new measures and metrics that are relevant for e‐supply chains.

The aims of this paper are: to argue the role of Kelley's personal relationship theory (PRT) in explaining the maintenance and success of alliance outcomes; to argue the inclusion of communication between supply chain partners as a major component of relationship capital in addition to trust and commitment; to test the impact of interdependence between supply chain partners on strategic alliance outcomes; and to test the role of relationship capital as a mediating construct between interdependence.

A questionnaire was constructed and sent to 2,156 supply chain managers in Malaysia. The questionnaire captured three constructs: interdependence – task, goal and reward; relationship capital – trust, commitment, and communication; and strategic alliance outcomes – goal, value‐creation, and re‐evaluation. The companies were selected randomly from the Federation of Malaysian Manaufacturers (FMM) directory. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses.

The major findings are: communication must be included as a major component of relationship capital in addition to trust and commitment; Kelley's PRT plays a prominent role in explaining the maintenance and success of strategic alliance outcomes; interdependence has a significant relationship with relationship capital; relationship capital has a significant relationship with strategic alliance outcomes; and relationship capital acts as a pure mediator between interdependence and strategic alliance outcomes.

This research contributes significantly to the theoretical and empirical developments that enrich the strategic alliance literature.

The case is suitable for use in the topics related to the functions and roles of Islamic pawn-broking and the Islamic risk management framework.

The case is designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students taking courses in Islamic Banking, Islamic Finance and Risk Management for Islamic Banking Institutions.

This case is meant to explain the mechanics of pawn-broking (Ar-Rahnu) in Islam as well as to understand the risk management of Ar-Rahnu in the bank. Ar-Rahnu is discussed, in general, from the perspective of muamalat and then is related to the financing service offered through Ar-Rahnu scheme at Al-Qamari Bank Berhad (a disguised bank). Ar-Rahnu means making an asset as a security or collateral for a debt. The collateral will be used to settle the debt when the debtor is in default. It may also be known as borrowing with either collateral or pawn-broking. In Al-Qamari Bank Berhad, gold and jewellery are the subject of collateral for Ar-Rahnu. In return, customers will get the cash based on the margin of loan with regards to the current market value of gold/jewellery as determined by the bank. The operation of Ar-Rahnu is discussed in Exhibit 1, while the risk management of Ar-Rahnu is discussed in Exhibit 2.

The learning outcomes include: to identify a problem and issue related to Ar-Rahnu; to evaluate the modus operandi of Ar-Rahnu; to analyze the risk management practices of Ar-Rahnu; and to develop decision criteria on whether Ar-Rahnu in Al-Qamari bank is Shariah-compliant or not.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven marketing has transformed the landscape of consumer interactions, but it also raises ethical concerns regarding perceived manipulation and subsequent unethical young consumer behavior. This study aims to investigate the direct and indirect effects of AI-driven marketing on unethical young consumer behavior, with digital literacy as a moderating variable. The authors introduce and conceptualize a digital literacy construct that influences how young consumers perceive and react to manipulative AI-driven marketing tactics.

Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and the Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM), this research explores how digital literacy influences the reception of AI-driven marketing and moderates the effects of perceived manipulative tactics. This study adopts a three-wave, time-lagged survey method among young consumers in urban Pakistan, integrating measures of AI-driven marketing techniques, perceived manipulation, digital literacy and unethical consumer behavior.

The results reveal that perceived manipulation mediates the relationship between AI-driven marketing and unethical young consumer behavior. Digital literacy significantly moderates this effect, indicating that higher digital literacy levels can mitigate the negative impacts of perceived manipulation. Conversely, lower digital literacy amplifies the negative impacts of perceived manipulation.

The findings underscore the need for marketers to foster transparency and ethical practices in AI-driven strategies. Enhancing consumer digital literacy can serve as a protective factor against unethical marketing practices.

This study contributes to the understanding of digital literacy’s protective role against unethical AI-driven marketing practices. It extends existing models of persuasion and consumer response by demonstrating how digital literacy reshapes traditional consumer response frameworks in the context of AI-driven environments.

Detecting and preventing fraud are challenging and risky tasks, especially in a fast developing economy such as Nigeria. The efforts become crucial in the government sectors, as they involve public’s trust and resources. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between the fraud incidence and the elements of fraud triangle theory (FTT) with the aim of combating current fraud outrages in the Nigerian public sector.

A survey was conducted and 302 questionnaires were distributed to the staff of the departments of accounting, internal auditing and investigation of ten selected ministries, departments and agencies of Kano State, Nigeria. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data.

The study reveals a significant relationship between three elements of FTT and fraud incidences in the Nigerian public sectors (p-value < 0.001 for pressure and opportunity and p-value = 0.024 for rationalization).

The findings of the study are useful for forensic accountants and the Nigerian anti-graft bodies to enhance existing control mechanisms in fraud prevention initiatives. The research also contributes to bridge the gap in academic theory and empirical study related to FTT.

Fraud scandals can cause public’s frustration, damage the reputation and integrity of the ruling government and result in negative image of the public sector.

Accordingly, the study suggests a salary scale reform (SSR) in the Nigerian public sector and improvement in fringe benefits to increase employees’ standard of living. The study concludes with recommendations to enhance fraud awareness and training programs to the government employees.

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.