Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Future of ASEAN (ICoFA) 2017 - Volume 1

Organizational commitment is a topic that is widely discussed. Issues related to meaning of work, social responsibility, social exchange relationship (leader-member exchange, perceived organizational support), and the different generation gaps among employees are crucial in the new millennium. Respondents consisted of 140 employees of the Kubang Pasu District Office. It shows that the relationship was significant between perceived organizational support and significant difference between baby boomers and Gen Y with organizational commitment among employees. The findings show that future researchers and practitioners need to focus on improving the relationship between employer and employees, the quality of work and generation gaps in the organization accordingly.

College is a time of transition from adolescence to adulthood where habit that begins in childhood grows or stops to exist and new habits are formed. Learning to make an appropriate nutritious food choice may be difficult for many college students as most of their meals were once provided by parents. This study empirically examines the factors influencing college students in making nutritious food choice. Hundred students went through a questionnaire survey. Personally administered questionnaires were used and through a series of analyses from the frequencies, descriptive to inferential statistics. Results revealed that both taste and price influenced college students in making nutritious food choice which is a major determinant considered by them. This study will encourage college students to define healthy eating behaviors and lifestyle. With that, food operators should be able to prepare food that have greater quality and better taste and are fresher, more nutritious, healthy, better for the environment, and affordable for the college students.

Effective implementation of innovation process is important for every organisation especially Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Successful innovation implementation in an organisation enables to improve organisational performance. SMEs play a vital role in the economic growth and development of Malaysia besides becoming the lifeblood of a large industry. However, as an organisation that is classed as small and medium size, SMEs face several shortcomings and weaknesses. Among the main barriers faced by SMEs are those related to financial resources and knowledge as well as low-level technical expertise of workers. This has caused the number of SMEs involved in innovation activities to be seriously limited. Therefore, SMEs require support in the form of a simple framework and easily understood guideline of critical success factors (CSFs) that are able to support innovation implementation in organisations. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to identify the CSFs that can facilitate the process of innovation implementation within an organisation. A questionnaire survey is used in this study. The analysis was conducted using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. Descriptive statistics was carried out to analyse information about SME background and SME resources towards SME innovation. Regression analysis was executed to analyse 11 CSFs that have been identified from previous literature review in order to identify CSFs that are most appropriate for SMEs. Based on regression analysis, only four CSFs were judged to be able to influence the innovation process for SMEs, which are project leader commitment, incentive and reward for employees, involvement of customers, and cooperation with external organisations. The results from this study may serve as a guideline for Malaysian manufacturing SMEs in order to achieve effectiveness in innovation process implementation.

Small businesses are beneficial for local economic prosperity as they contribute to the nation’s financial gain and create job opportunities. At present, the Malaysian government aims to facilitate the growth of small businesses through innovation and productivity as a measure to become a high-income nation by 2020. However, agriculture sector-specific business data is still in scarce. Thus, this paper aims to provide the sociodemographic profile of Malaysian ASME owners as a measure to demonstrate the preparedness of small business owners, especially in the agribusiness sector to accept and practice changes promoted by authorities. Structured interviews were conducted with the aid of closed-ended questionnaires with 297 respondents conveniently sampled from six different states: Terengganu, Perak, Selangor, Johor, Sabah, and Sarawak. As a result, microscale businesses were found to dominate the business count for Malaysian ASMEs. Apart from that, 57.1% of businesses are conducting marketing as the core business activity. Processed food was found to be the most popular sub-sector ventured by Malaysian ASMEs owners, involving 41.6% of respondents. A gender imbalance of 16.2% was found in terms of participation with more male than female ASME owners. In terms of age, the participation of youth is 52.0%. However, only 32.6% of business owners had attained tertiary education. Most of the respondents (72.5%) are married. In addition, 61.5% of ASMEs owners are having between one and five dependents. Moreover, 51.7% of them are earning below RM 3000 per month. On the other hand, 57.7% ASME owners are former wageworkers either from public or private sectors. From these findings, it is clear that participation of youth and women in this sector should be boosted. However, it is necessary to consider the execution mechanism to be suited with secondary school leavers. In short, with the availability of ASME owners’ demographic profile, future SME development agendas are expected to be more appropriate.

In order to improve students’ interest in history classes, a pilot experimental module of producing and playing board games was conducted on 52 fourth-semester architecture students. This paper outlines students’ perceptions of the experimental module. The arguments are based on the learning theory of constructivism, which had been discussed to develop collaboration, promote engagement in class, and create critical thinking process. Investigation of the module’s perception from students was made through observations, questionnaire surveys, and in-depth interviews. The results showed that students create and appreciate collaborations between their peers. Students are seen more active and engaged in the subject even in their free time, and they had developed a creative synthesis in their task by applying the course content in their board game productions. The study hopes research can be extended to other levels of semesters and conduct the experimental module to other subjects than history.

Competition in getting jobs among Malaysians is increasingly fierce. Many people have examined this issue from different perspectives. Every year many students graduate from public or private institutions of higher learning. In 2016 alone, approximately 3 million students in Malaysia graduated with a bachelor’s degree. This research applies constant market share (CMS) analysis to identify the competitiveness between 11 states in the employment market in Peninsular Malaysia. CMS analysis is commonly used in the applied studies of export development. This research also analyses the changes in total job opportunities in Malaysia. The information obtained using CMS analysis may help job seekers and fresh graduates to identify which states offer the highest number of job opportunities and higher chances of getting jobs. This study consists of three data sets of years, which were from 2000 to 2001, 2008 to 2009 and 2014 to 2015. The results show that Kedah, Perak and Selangor have the highest number of job opportunities during 2000–2001, 2008–2009 and 2014–2015, respectively.

Self-esteem and proactive personality play an important role in determining students’ career adaptability. This chapter explores the relationship between self-esteem and proactive personality in an academic setting. The instruments used to evaluate the variables are adapted from various sources. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to final year undergraduate students of a local university in the northern area. A total of 257 questionnaires were distributed, but only 188 were returned and used for further assessment. Data were analyzed using regression analysis to examine the relationship among the variables. Proactive personality indicated positive relationship with career adaptability, while self-esteem does not have an effect on students’ career adaptability.

The purpose of this research is to identify the relationship between trust and perceived risk regarding online purchase intention among cyber citizens in Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia. In addition, this research also aims to identify which of the variables has the strongest relationship with online purchase intention among cyber citizens. The dataset was collected through a self-administered questionnaire and was conveniently collected using non-probability sampling method. A sample size of 230 questionnaires was collected from cyber citizens in Kota Samarahan. The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between trust and perceived risk in the online purchase intention of cyber citizens. Based on these results, it was found that trust has the strongest relationship with online purchase intention among cyber citizens in Kota Samarahan.

This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of consumers towards medicinal and aromatic plant (MAP). MAPs have been utilized as an alternative medicine for quite a long time based on indigenous knowledge inherited from the older generation. However, there is a lack of documentation concerning the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of consumers specifically in the East Coast Economic Region (ECER). Knowledge, attitude and practices have an impact on the consumption of medicinal and aromatic plants. Descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation, multiple regression analysis and factor analysis will be employed to analyse the data. Findings from this study will benefit the consumers, producers and academic researchers.

Tourism is a flourishing industry and vital in mobilizing the national economy. Malaysian economic sectors have benefited from tapping on the tourism industry with various promotional activities that include shopping. Shopping is the most favourite tourist activity and a significant economic contributor to the tourism and retail industry. Although various researches were conducted on tourism and shopping, a comprehensive investigation on tourist’s shopping styles and preferences remains very much unanswered especially in the Malaysian shopping landscape. Thus, a comprehensive research on this subject and arising issues is much needed to avoid a drop in retail sales, a decrease in tourist spending, and other unfavourable aspects. Therefore, to fulfil this gap, this study was conducted to examine the interrelationship between tourist demographic characteristics, tourist shopping styles, and tourist shopping preferences, during their visit to Kuala Lumpur. Administrative questionnaires were distributed personally to 471 tourists using mall intercept surveys. Data were analysed using the Statistical Program for the Social Science (SPSS), and findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between demographic characteristics and tourist preferences towards tourist shopping style. Both local and international tourists prefer to buy clothing while they are in Kuala Lumpur. In terms of their shopping styles, international tourists tend to be novelty-seeking, and local tourists tend to be price conscious since they prioritized value for money while shopping. This study includes, among others, the matters of influence, such as the styles, choices, and regulatory impact, such as tax redemption to assess their preferences. This study concludes that understanding tourist shopping styles according to their preferences and demographic characteristics is beneficial for shopping tourism and retail industry in Malaysia.

Employee retention is one of the key issues in many organizations. The inability to retain employees can cost the organization financially and nonfinancially. Although employee retention has been widely investigated, less attention is given to the manufacturing sector. Such neglect is unfortunate because the manufacturing sector in Malaysia is reported to experience between 18% and 20% annual human capital turnover rates. This chapter argues that despite having limited resources to formulate a holistic mechanism to retain employees, concern for employee retention should not be ignored. Against this backdrop, this chapter proposes a model that hypothesizes the role of management practices in promoting employee retention initiatives.

Flood disasters have incurred remarkable costs to humans and the economy. Floods affect not only the local but also the national and world economies. However, the impact of floods on the construction sector’s GDP growth in Malaysia is not known. The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the effects of flood disaster on the construction sector’s GDP growth in Malaysia using time series data for the period 1960–2013. In addition, the chapter also explores the existence of short-run and long-run relationships between the construction sector’s GDP growth and flood variables in the case of Malaysia. To achieve the objectives, the study employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method and the error correction model (ECM) in examining the long-run and the short-run relationships, respectively. In addition, the augmented Dickey–Fuller, Phillips–Perron and Kwiatkowski–Phillips–Schmidt–Shin unit root tests were used to examine the stationarity of the series. The results show that flood size and flood damage influence the construction sector’s GDP growth the most in the short and long run, respectively. Several policy implications arise from the results. First, there is a need to develop a new method of construction so that the infrastructures and buildings are durable, as flood disasters cannot be prevented. Well-developed infrastructures and buildings are able to prevent massive damages in the long run. Furthermore, the construction sector should prepare sufficient stock of items such as basic metals to prevent temporary setback in the short run.

With the intention to help students learn English grammar better and in a fun way, a language-learning game called Grammar-Related Autonomous Supportive Practice (GRASP) was developed by a group of researchers. The inclusion of fun elements like pictures on grammar question cards, the determination of the winner according to who is the fastest to arrive at the finish line, the penalty for giving wrong answers, and a surprise penalty or reward can result in the players being more interested in learning English grammar, thus improving their grammar comprehension for more grammatical English use. To identify whether this game was perceived as an enjoyable grammar learning tool and if it was effective in strengthening grammar comprehension, 114 Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Pulau Pinang students, who played GRASP, were given a questionnaire which contained 20 self-reporting statements about the game for them to complete. It was discovered that most of the respondents believed that GRASP managed to engage them in an enjoyable grammar learning experience as they admitted to have enjoyed testing their grammar understanding through playing this game (M = 4.43, SD = 0.515). The majority (M = 4.18, SD = 0.632) of the participants also claimed that their English grammar had improved after playing GRASP, as presented by the findings in item 19. Obviously, GRASP was perceived positively by the respondents as an effective learning tool for them to utilize.

Field trips may best be viewed as a form of short-term experiential learning offering meaningful experiences that play an extremely crucial role in successful educational initiatives. The study of field trips has largely been overlooked by education-related literature that generally focuses on classroom, text-based, and, more recently, computer- or electronic media-based learning. Within the tourism context, only 2% of the literature is associated with education and training. In the light of this literature gap, this study examines the perceived values of field trips through the eyes of tourism students. The sample was a group of tourism-major students who recently went on an international field trip in partial fulfillment of the course requirements. Online survey was employed to collect data which were then analyzed using both descriptives and content analysis. The findings were in accord with those of previous studies, promoting the five key values of field trips. The study confirmed the importance of incorporating field trips in the curriculum not for the sole purpose of knowledge acquisition or enhancement but also for students’ personal and social growth.

A field trip is any journey taken under the auspices of the school for educational purposes. A positive learning environment of field trips incorporates almost every component of the experience. This study assesses the students’ view of the ideal learning environment characteristics of a meaningful field trip for a non-science program. Specifically, it (1) determines which of the seven learning environment scales (environment interaction, integration, students’ cohesiveness, teacher supportiveness, open-endedness, preparation and organization, and material environment) are the most important and (2) investigates any statistically significant differences between lower-semester students and higher-semester students in their views of important learning environment attributes of a meaningful field trip. The study sample consisted of students enrolled in Diploma in Tourism Management at a major university in Malaysia. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical tests. Results suggest that the students consider teacher supportiveness, interactive environment, and material environment as the most important learning environment characteristics when considering an ideal field trip. Higher-semester students are more agreeable with the importance of these learning environment attributes to form and shape a meaningful field trip experience. The study concludes by showing the importance of carefully planning and organizing a field trip from both the instructor’s and students’ perspectives.

In the context of a multicultural society, such as Malaysia, the history of the education system has witnessed various phases of development to meet the growing demands for education opportunities. Likewise, in meeting the needs of various ethnic groups in Malaysia, vernacular schools at primary and secondary levels were introduced based on the different races that comprised the society. Driven by the fact that education system is an important agent in the transmission of culture, the role of schools is often associated to nation building. As such, the culture of education in the landscape of vernacular schools in Malaysia is deemed crucial in creating values, norms, and beliefs of the various societies as well as individual learners. This research aims to analyze the forces of intercultural communication toward national unity in Malaysian vernacular schools. Hence, three objectives were set forth, that is, (i) to identify the forces of intercultural communication adopted in vernacular schools in Malaysia, (ii) to determine issues related to intercultural communication faced by vernacular schools, and (iii) to develop a theoretical framework to support the case under study. This research adopts phenomenological epistemology through quantitative research design, whereby data were gathered via in-depth interview. The forces of intercultural communication toward national unity in Malaysian vernacular schools were revealed in the summation of four themes. It was evident that perceived cultural differences in a particular ethnic group in vernacular schools have challenged the attempts to engage in a positive intercultural contact with other races outside the vernacular culture. Additionally, as a result of historical forces and ethnocentric bias, cultural tension raised the perception of being segregated, leading to anxiety affecting unity in society.

The effect of flooding on land property value is a major concern of all landowners. Numerous studies have already discussed the risk of potential decline in the value of land property situated in flood-prone areas; however, those that focused on the impact of flooding on land property in Malaysia are still limited. This chapter investigates the effect of flood on the value of agricultural and industrial land properties in Peninsular Malaysia. This chapter’s results suggest that a metre increase in flood depth significantly decreases land property value by 44.6%. This result helps policymakers in designing and developing the policies of land property development that would minimize land property devaluation due to flood depth and help landowners in understanding the effect of flood on land property values.

Efficient working capital management is important to ensure companies’ liquidity and ensure sustainability. This chapter aims to investigate and compare the determinants of liquidity for low-cost carriers and national airlines in Asia. The study encompasses five listed low-cost carriers (LCCs) and five listed national carriers in Asia based on three aspects: profitability, leverage, and firm size for two different time periods, 2006–2014 for LCCs and 2003–2013 for national airlines. The study employs random effects model (REM) using unbalanced panel data for ten companies selected randomly. The liquidity of these airline companies is represented by current ratio. The study shows a significant relationship between leverage and liquidity for both LCCs and national carriers in Asia; however, the study fails to find any significant relationship of profitability and firm size with liquidity.

Student learning time (SLT) is learning hours set/prescribed for a course that consists of hours for learning activities in the classroom (face to face) and also learning outside the class hour (non-face to face). SLT is to be met to fulfill one of the requirements for accreditation by the Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA). A survey by circulating questionnaires was conducted at UiTM Perlis Branch involving 50 first-semester students from various faculties. The purpose of the study is to identify the effectiveness of the use of SLT for course code CTU101 (Fundamentals of Islam). This study found that 100% of the respondents can fulfill hours of face-to-face (F2F) learning in accordance with the provisions of the course, but 56% of the respondents were not able to use non-face-to-face (non-F2F) learning hours by a predetermined amount. This happened because students had no specific plans and were unable to discipline themselves to comply with the implementation of SLT. One hundred percent of the students agreed that SLT or non-F2F learning hours would be better if they were guided and monitored directly by the lecturers. Therefore, the researchers would like to recommend a guidance book called PSK Smart Kit to facilitate the lecturers provide guidance and monitor the use of SLT for the students.

Nowadays, academic dishonesty has become an endemic academic phenomenon because students seem to be treating cheating on tests or examinations as a common thing. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the intentions for engaging in academic dishonesty among degree students in public higher education in Malaysia by explaining the most prevalent predictors of academic dishonesty, which are attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, ethical behavior, and moral reasoning. A total of 346 respondents were involved in this study, composed of degree students from accountancy, surveying, plantation, applied science, marine science, business and management, computer science, and sports science programs. Results illustrate that subjective norms were found insignificantly related to the intentions to be involved in academic dishonesty because the respondents have treated cheating as common norm and considered it not weird to be involved in cheating. Attitude, perceived behavioral control, ethical belief, and moral reasoning were found to be significantly related to academic dishonesty intentions.

The objective of this research is to study the predictors that affect knowledge sharing intention among academic staff in public higher education institutions. A total of 120 questionnaires were distributed among academic staff at 4 public higher education institutions in Malaysia. Collectively, 97 usable responses were returned. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the data. The finding indicated that attitude, subjective norm, and self-efficacy were positively and significantly related to knowledge sharing intention. Future research should consider the type of knowledge that is being shared. In addition, it would also be interesting to compare public and private universities in terms of knowledge sharing intention among academic staff. This chapter gives a clear explanation of the predictors that determine the knowledge sharing intention among academic staff. Thus, top management can implement a practical plan to support those determinants.

Over the last 20 years, writing processes and products have dominated much of the teaching of writing in the English foreign language (EFL) classrooms. Even though an extensive body of research about process writing in the first-language practices exists, very little description of second-language classroom practices comes through that involves the instructor and the students in a writing class. As such, this study will attempt to provide descriptive data regarding the writings of eight undergraduates from a tertiary institution, who in their written work have different levels of proficiency in the English language. Each participant’s L1 and L2 writing processes and products were described and analysed to identify similarities and differences. In addition, their writing processes and products were also compared as part of a multi-case analysis to see consistencies and inconsistencies among subjects, besides seeing the quality of the products. The participants were also observed and interviewed to get clearer pictures of the problem they face in ESL writing. This study also aims to explore how this process in writing may help L2 learners who are relatively unskilled in writing English. It is designed to discover the various kinds of influence that this approach has on the subjects and how they respond and become accustomed to it. It is also designed to explore what changes the participants undergo after being exposed to this approach. It provides a descriptive account of what second-language writing looks like in a classroom where the instructor employs this approach to teach writing. The insights generated by the description and analysis of the data collected for this study can be used for a variety of purposes, to better understand writers of second-language learners, to help ESL curriculum and instructional practice and to provide useful insights for educational language policy-making.

Mental health disorder (MHD) is a serious public health concern, as it is responsible for a large proportion of global disease burden. MHD is defined as a serious mental health condition that affects mood, thinking and behaviour. The objective of this study is to examine the sociodemographic, lifestyle and health factors associated with MHD. From the economic point of view, MHD is a health disinvestment as it has negative effects on health. Hence, we expect that sociodemographic, lifestyle and health factors can affect MHD. Based on a nationally representative data, we develop a logit model to estimate the probability of acquiring MHD. Our findings show that age, gender, ethnicity, education, marital status and self-rated health are significantly associated with MHD. Specifically, age and being male are negatively related to the likelihood of having MHD. Compared to Malays/Chinese and well-educated individuals, Indians/others and less-educated individuals are more likely to have MHD. In terms of marital status, married individuals display lower odds of acquiring MHD than their unmarried counterparts. It is also interesting to find that individuals who self-rate their health as good or fair have a lower tendency to develop MHD compared to their counterparts who self-rate their health as poor. In light of these findings, several policies directed towards reducing the prevalence of MHD are suggested.

The ongoing erosion of trade barriers and the development in universal trade have made the analysis of trade patterns an important area in global economics. This study focused on the development of natural rubber products in Malaysia. It presents both numerical and geometrical approaches to analyze the intra-industry trade and trade pattern of natural rubber products in Malaysia. In addtition, the adjustment pressures associated with the natural rubber product industry are identified. The reason behind this study is the inactive demand of natural rubber products in this country compared to the other countries such as Thailand and Indonesia. This study will use the Azhar and Elliot index (AE index) as the numerical tool and the industry trade box as the geometrical tool in demonstrating the import and export activities of natural rubber products. The applicability of this approach will be expressed using the statistics of import and export values of natural rubber product industries in Malaysia from the year 2000 to the year 2014. The existence of adjustment pressures is identified for each of the natural rubber product industries. Results showed that there were several products that have been identified as net importers such as tires, inner tubes, footwear, and industrial rubber goods, whereas the rest of the products which are latex goods and general rubber goods were recognized as the net exporter. Overall, Malaysia has been identified as the net exporter of natural rubber products.

Social skills and self-awareness can be seen as important elements that influence job satisfaction. These elements have direct impact on job satisfaction and thus will enhance productivity of work in an organization. Besides that, past studies had proven that job satisfaction is important to sustain workers’ loyalty, and it is also a factor that drives toward happiness and positivity in the working environment. This study focuses on the relationship between social skills and self-awareness toward job satisfaction. A total of 148 questionnaires were distributed among employees of sports organizations in the Klang Valley. The data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 22. Pearson correlation was used to determine the relationship between social skills and self-awareness toward job satisfaction. In addition, multiple regression was used in determining the influence of social skills and self-awareness on job satisfaction. The results proved that both social skills and self-awareness were significantly related to job satisfaction and that both social skills and self-awareness influence the level of job satisfaction among sports employees in the Klang Valley. For future studies, they could focus on identifying the mediating factors that influence emotional intelligence and job satisfaction.

Sports psychology is a field that involves the observation of behaviour and how it affects sports performance. This research examines the levels of mental toughness and motivation in relation with the performance and achievement of amateur golfers in Malaysia. The sample consists of 80 amateur golfers who participated in the 48th Malaysian Amateur Closed. Purposive sampling was employed for this study. The Mental Toughness Questionnaire 48 (MTQ 48) was administered to measure mental toughness aspects, which were commitment, control and confidence, while the Sport Motivation Scale 28 (SMS 28) was administered to measure motivation aspects, such as intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and amotivation. The findings showed that the highest mean score for mental toughness aspect was commitment followed by confidence. Meanwhile, the highest mean score for motivation aspect was intrinsic motivation followed by extrinsic motivation. The findings of this study have implications for coaches, sports psychologists and athletes themselves in understanding the importance of psychology aspects towards achieving their goals. It is recommended that future studies in this area should examine a larger sample from different types of sports.

The present study aims to investigate whether athletes’ perceptions of specific coaching effectiveness mediate the longitudinal relationships between perceptions of specific transformational leadership behaviour and athlete outcomes. One hundred and seventy-four team-sport athletes (rugby = 35, basketball = 46, football = 93) participated by completing psychometric measures of the study variables at two time points (retention rate = 93.5%). Data analyses revealed athletes’ perceptions of their coach’s motivation effectiveness at Time 1 mediated a positive effect of coach’s individual consideration behaviour at Time 1 on trust at Time 2. The findings of this study suggest athletes’ perceptions of their coach’s transformational leadership behaviour (individual consideration) may at times influence athlete outcomes (trust) through changes in athletes’ perceptions of their coach’s effectiveness (motivation effectiveness).

Report writing is one of the two tasks in the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) writing paper. In order to write a good report for Task 1, several conventions must be adhered to, which can be arduous and challenging for students. As the application of many technical terms is crucial, it was deemed necessary to inject an innovative and novel way to teach this serious subject matter in a lighter way. The researchers prepared a comic book of 23 pages on the plot of report writing, with several characters in a classroom setting. Standard comic book conventions of spoken and conversational language were used in the presentation of the comic book. An action research on a class of 15 students was conducted; the students were given the comic book to reinforce what had been learnt in the previous 4 h of instruction on report writing. The use of comic book in the 5th and 6th hours of instruction showed that it was a welcome and refreshing change for the students, as it injected fresh interest in learning report writing and added variety to instruction. Pre- and post-comic reports written by students indicated improvement in several aspects, namely, organisation of paragraphs, verbs to show trends, report title, inclusion of key features and word count. As a whole, students agreed that the comic book is primarily effective as a follow-up material for classroom instruction or as reinforcement and revision, due to the many technical terms which need to be mastered through overt instruction.

The implementation of university-community engagement projects is neither novel nor is it in the mainstream in many universities in Malaysia. This paper describes a university-community cross-border engagement programme involving a Malaysian university and a community in Thailand. The challenges the team faced and lessons learnt from a series of four project phases are detailed. The chapter concludes with some recommendations for future cross-border civic engagement projects to ensure that they can work as intended and may contribute towards a stronger ASEAN.

Competitions for a place in Malaysian public universities are becoming increasingly fierce. Every year many students graduate from public or private institutions of higher learning. In 2016 alone, approximately 3 million students graduated in Malaysia with a bachelor’s degree. Trade box analysis is a geometrical tool commonly used in the study of intra-industry trades between nations. The objective of this research is to modify and apply the trade box analysis approach in analyzing the competitiveness between genders in the enrollment of five main public universities in Malaysia. The data of Malaysian students’ enrollments at these universities from the year 2010 to the year 2016 are used in this study. The five selected public universities are the Universiti Teknologi MARA, Universiti of Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Utara Malaysia, and Universiti Putra Malaysia. The outcomes of the analysis as seen in the university gender intakes box showed that the ratio of female students to male students’ enrollments to the five universities was about the same throughout the analyzing years, that is, female 65% to male 35%. The total number of student intakes differs between these universities, with UiTM having the highest number of students’ enrollment. In the year 2016, the enrollment for UiTM dropped drastically, but the ratio of female to male students did not change much. The highest total number of student intake for UiTM occurred in 2013; for UM, 2011; for UKM, 2016; for UUM, 2010; and for UPM, 2011. The total number of student intake in UiTM was about 5 times higher than the other universities,’ except in 2016 where it was about 2.5 times higher.

Election studies in Malaysia are not a new academic discipline; it has been conducted by a number of experienced scholars, particularly those from the field of media and communication whose focus was analysing and understanding the behaviours of the Malaysian voters. In conducting election studies, a researcher will select a method that can be used to measure the impact of media, campaign strategies, media selection or other factors that can influence voters’ decisions. Therefore, the survey is one of the most popular methods used in political communication studies. Meanwhile, in Malaysia research on by-elections has become significant and is always frequently carried out by researchers in this field. Our study in the by-election in the parliamentary constituency of Sg. Besar has demonstrated that with a guided research framework, findings of election studies can be used to predict an election result and as one of the campaign strategies to win the election.

While small in numbers, the Chinese Muslim community in Malaysia has its own unique role to play in the country’s economic activity. This study reviews the current state of economic involvement of the Chinese Muslim community in Malaysia with the aim of understanding the issues and challenges facing the community. In achieving this objective, the study conducts a critical review of the literature, focusing specifically on the various aspects of the community’s economic involvement. The study hopes to provide inputs to the relevant authorities and NGOs on further improving the socio-economic well-being of the Chinese Muslim community in Malaysia.

The financial services provided by the banking sector play a vital role in business activities in Malaysia. Motor vehicle financing is one of the products being offered to the public. Due to the publics’ positive perception or belief in Islamic banking operation, a large number of conventional banks offer the Islamic system of loan. Therefore, the specific objective of this paper is to determine the performance or competitiveness of Islamic car financing compared to conventional car loan, namely, hire purchase, in Malaysia. The constant market share analysis (CMSA) is adapted to decompose the change in loan into two aspects, namely, the competitive effect and the growth effect. The secondary data of car loans from 2011 to 2014 are used in the study. The findings show that Islamic car financing is becoming more competitive and expected to surpass the amount of conventional loans starting year 2018. However the growth effect for Islamic car financing is still lower.

This study is designed to examine the effects of psychological capital and proactive personality on academic performance among undergraduate students. A quota sampling approach was used, and self-administered questionnaires were distributed to undergraduate students from different faculties of a private university in Malaysia. Based on data from 390 undergraduate students, the analysis by using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling showed that psychological capital and proactive personality are positively related to academic performance. Appropriate training programs, activities, and talks can be designed to enhance students’ psychological capital and to shape proactive personality. The chapter concludes with limitations of the study and suggestions for future research.

Various researchers have found that the value of educational technology is directly linked to the educators’ capability; the more knowledgeable the educators are on technology, the more the students are able to understand them. Technology in education is purposely designed to help both educators and students in knowledge transfer and knowledge gain simultaneously. In many aspects, technology in education is supposed to prove that education can be delivered effectively and efficiently. However, there are cases in which technology in education can be frustrating and annoying for both parties. Government and university management have invested a lot of money to ensure that educators and students can really benefit from technology. In spite of huge investment on educational technology tools (hardware and software) over the past decade in various education initiatives, the potential of technology usage in university level has not reached the desired level among educators and students. What is the missing link for the realization of the expected return-of-investment? The outcome of this study proposes an educational technology standard to be applied in university setting using TPCK (technological pedagogical content knowledge) as the basic framework. The research hopes for university management to review and regulate the educational technology efforts prepared to uplift the standards of teaching and learning to be in compliance with the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015–2025 (Higher Education). However, this chapter will only discuss a part of our standard development while highlighting the various ETC/ICT prominent standards that are used as the benchmarking standard for our future proposed standard.

The awareness of sustainability issues has gained greater prominence in today’s investment. Moreover, fueled by the emerging practice of sustainability, the accounting framework opened a window, shifting sustainability from a “concept” to a “transformative practice.” SROI plays a crucial role in attaining performance excellence and sustainable growth as it not only recognizes benefits from the investment but also continues to prove, improve, and become more sustainable. Therefore, transformation of “investment as usual” and building of a more sustainable future will be a good milestone in SROI. Sustainability in SROI can be achieved through the triple bottom line (TBL) approach which captures the essence of sustainability by measuring the impact of investment based on the three important pillars: social, economic, and environmental elements. The importance of integrating sustainable return ((i) social, (ii) economic, and (iii) environmental) into considerations in every investment is to give it the same priority. This chapter defines sustainability as the intersection of TBL in the case of Sungai Muda Flood Mitigation Program. The SROI methodology provides a way of expressing social, environmental, and economic return in a mixed-method framework which involves both qualitative and quantitative data using monetary ratio. This study found the net social benefit comprising of sustainable return to be positive. Hence, the program is a beneficial social investment and brings a huge impact on the individual, community, and society. Consequently, SROI provides a certain toolset for stakeholders that intend to measure sustainability using a ringgit-oriented approach and to engage in social investment in today’s economic age.

In many countries, microfinance has been proven to be an effective tool in enabling the low-income segment of the society to borrow and kick-start small businesses. There are three important microfinance institutions in Malaysia, namely, Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), Yayasan Usaha Maju (YUM), and Tabung Ekonomi Kumpulan Usahawan Niaga (TEKUN). In accordance with Islamic law, any element of usury must be avoided entirely in economic transactions, hence resulting in the imposition of management fees on the borrowers instead of interest. This chapter seeks to study the issues and challenges faced by Islamic microfinance institutions in the Malaysian context.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept has a long and varied history. In the West, there has been extensive literature highlighting CSR that concentrates on natural environmental management and social and cultural differences. However, such research is lacking in the Malaysian context. This study tries to investigate environmental management in Malaysia’s banking sector and how bank managers perceive environmental risk in their credit financing assessment process. Malaysia was chosen for this study as it has dual banking systems (conventional and Islamic banking), which allows to investigate the performance of environmental management of both types of banks. For these purposes, the questionnaire survey was conducted to the managers and executives in the corporate banking department where their main task is to evaluate and recommend credit financing approval. The findings via questionnaire survey suggest that, generally, Malaysian banking viewed natural environmental issues as a secondary factor in credit evaluation. Their view towards natural environmental risk is also significantly influenced by racial groups and religious affiliations. In conclusion, the study showed that social and cultural differences may influence the perception of environmental management.

In many countries, the tourism industry contributes significantly to economic growth and development. Growth in the tourism industry, however, might lead to environmental problems. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are believed to be one such problem. Given such a scenario, it is reasonable to see that in recent years, the issues of tourism, CO2 emissions and economic growth have become the concern of many parties – policymakers and researchers in particular. In the literature nonetheless, there are two opposing views pertaining to the relationship between tourism and CO2 emissions and tourism and economic growth. In the growth model, tourism and CO2 emissions are believed to have a significant positive effect on economic growth. On the contrary, the CO2 emissions model asserts that economic growth and tourism industry contribute significantly to CO2 emissions. Utilizing the panel data econometric technique to analyse the data of 30 selected countries across 19 years (1996–2014), this chapter shows evidence of the relationship among tourism, CO2 emissions and economic growth. In the growth model, the level of CO2 emissions significantly affects the economic growth, while for the CO2 emissions model, total tourist arrivals and the level of energy consumption are statistically significant in affecting the level of CO2 emissions.

Physics and Mathematics are two closely related fields in the world of Science. Although they are closely related, these two fields have distinct identities. The distinction between these two fields has influenced the learning process in Science programmes at institutions of higher education. The main objective of this study is to identify the relationship between the two disciplines and how their influence affects students’ overall performance. In order to learn Physics, students need basic knowledge of Mathematics. The dependence on Mathematics to understand Physics and its interrelationship have been identified since secondary school level. This is because mathematical concepts that students acquire can be applied in Physics such as functions, derivatives, equations and other aspects with a similar concept. The role of Physics and Mathematics courses is evaluated to determine whether both subjects affect students’ achievement for the Science programme. Data were acquired from 45 students undertaking Part 3 Diploma in Science (AS120) at UiTM Cawangan Sabah. These students took up Physics and Mathematics in the first and second semesters. The instruments used in this study included students’ grades in Physics and Mathematics as well as their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). The data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 software, while a regression analysis was used to identify the relationship between Physics, Mathematics and students’ performance (CGPA). From the findings, it can be established that there is a highly positive relationship between Physics and Mathematics with students’ CGPA. It shows that students’ achievement in both fields will be early predictors to determine their CGPA. Moreover, Mathematics also provides a positive relationship with the learning of Physics, and it appears that students’ performance in Mathematics can predict their Physics’ result.

The objective of this study is to explore strategies to improve teaching and learning experience so that students develop higher-order thinking skills. The theoretical framework is based on Dewey’s (The Educational Forum, 50(3), 241–252, 1986) theory of human experience and education as well as Schon’s (Harvard Business Review, 62, 58–62, 1984) reflective practitioner. Hence, Schon’s reflective practitioner is about teaching, whereas Dewey’s theory of human experience and education is about learning. This is the first cycle of an action research, qualitative longitudinal study where students were surveyed at three stages: first, in the middle of the semester while they are still learning; second, right after they have taken the final exam; and third, after 5 years. Narrative inquiry and phenomenology are used as methodology for analysis. Findings indicated that students are not interested to learn because they don’t think it’s important for them to understand the course. This is because they can memorize and cram before the exam and get good grades. In addition, the result indicated that former students realize they lack the ability to solve problems. Thus, they are not able to apply what they have learned in university to their jobs. However, findings indicated that if they forget certain facts, they can always look it up on the Internet; but the most important thing that they value is the soft skills that they barely develop during university years. Therefore, it is imperative for educators to incorporate higher-order thinking skills so that students can develop the ability to handle issues and apply the skills in their work.

The mind is a powerful medium of storage, but often accessing the correct information is hindered by the way humans store and extract the information. Early studies on learning skills amongst students in higher institutions have shown that students in number-related programmes such as accounting and banking have difficulties comprehending theories and concepts quickly. Further investigation in UiTM Perlis, using an analysis of past exam questions and related grades, shows the weakness of accounting students in remembering the concepts and theories pertaining to specific topics. This is an appalling condition as the theoretical topics make up forty percent (40%) of the total grade. Therefore, this exploratory study was conducted to identify an instrument to facilitate the understanding of theories and concepts amongst these students. Amazingly, the study which used qualitative approach has educated researchers on the improved technique to teach these students. The study was able to show that MAK was able to activate the students’ brain through the students’ ability to visualize and recall the relationship between concept and theories when they were able to create their own acronyms.

Reading skill is a basic necessity in children’s early education. In Malaysia, most children are exposed to reading activities as early as 4 years of age. Without it, they will struggle to achieve academically not only in reading and writing but also in areas such as mathematics, sciences and social studies. Therefore, early diagnosis of children’s reading difficulties is very important so that teachers and parents are aware before the children start their prime education program. Inability to read or write a simple word or sentence when they are in primary school is an early symptom, and they need continuous support from teachers and parents in order to be able to continue their learning as normal children. This paper is about an empirical study to determine a score or band based on assessments of reading activities conducted on over 90 pre-school children. The assessments encompass all three learning domain components, namely cognitive, affective and psychomotor. The children’s performance ability is analysed through an observation method. The range of scores is analysed, and the criteria for the assessments are validated by a psychologist.

In 2013, the minimum wage policy was executed in Malaysia. Despite the minimum wage at RM900 per month, the citizens still suffer low purchasing power. The introduction of GST in Malaysia effective April 1, 2015, despite being beneficial to the country, has taken its toll on the public. In addition to the existing escalating price problem, the significant sudden drop in ringgit value has pushed the public to voice their concern over another financial crisis similar to or worse than the Asian financial crisis. The ability of people to hold money and to survive in this economy is worrisome. Therefore, this study is conducted to (i) determine the long-run effect of real income, fixed deposit rate, savings deposit rate, and exchange rate on demand for money in Malaysia and (ii) examine the direction of relationship between real money demand and its independent variables from 2003 to 2015 (quarterly). Using a multivariate framework, this study employs money demand function. The estimated results postulate that there is a long-run relationship between real money balance and all independent variables. A bidirectional relationship between real money balance and GDP is also detected.

This chapter aims to investigate the factors that influence the locational choice decision of Malaysian outward foreign direct investment (FDI). The study used panel data which consists of 34 countries, and the period of study spans 2000 and 2009. The Hausman–Taylor estimates reveal that income level of host countries and geographical proximity are the crucial factors that are taken into account when selecting the location to invest abroad. Investors are attracted to countries with high income and proximity. The findings of the study have some important implications on the strategy of internationalization of firms.

In an era where organizational survival depends on gaining every competitive edge, the study of citizenship behavior is particularly relevant. Thus, the success of educational institutions critically depends on the educators’ willingness to go beyond the call of duty by exhibiting organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). This chapter aims to investigate the relationship between Islamic work ethics (IWE) and OCB. Religiosity, effort, work obligation, and collectivism were selected as dimensions in IWE. Data were collected from a sample of 130 employees from educational institutions through hands-on and online survey. Data were analyzed using SPSS, and multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Results revealed that religiosity, effort, and work obligation have a significant positive relationship with OCB. However, collectivism was not related to OCB. It is recommended that for future research, a wider range of respondents should focus on other areas as well and also other work settings.

Transboundary haze has become almost an annual environmental issue in the Southeast Asia region, especially for Malaysia due to the Indonesian fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra. Consequently, this has also become one of the main regional concerns for environmental security of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). However, ASEAN has continually failed to effectively mitigate haze through regional engagement known as the ASEAN Way, which consists of consultation and consensus and upholds sovereign right and non interference policy. Adherence to these principles by member states has undermined the haze mitigation efforts and raised a big question mark as ASEAN has used all diplomatic channels but was not successful in addressing the problem. Since the haze issue does not only affect Indonesia but also neighbouring countries, the ASEAN Way practices need to revamp addressing transnational issues. Therefore, this chapter has reviewed 40 relevant articles and reports with the aim of providing secondary data support that argues the ASEAN Way of regional engagement has become a challenge to various nontraditional security issues with the main focus on transboundary haze pollution.

The music industry generally has experienced upsurge in the sales of pirated music CDs especially in Tanzania. While this trend continues, very limited studies have been conducted in developing countries. This study is therefore one of the few attempts to investigate the influence of self-regulatory efficacy on the purchase behaviour of consumers in Tanzania. The casual model was empirically tested by using partial least-square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). A survey of 491 Generation Y consumers as the main music users in Tanzania was carried out. This study was conducted using an intercept survey method at selected malls in the former capital city of Tanzania (Dar es Salaam). The result reveals that self-regulatory efficacy positively influences purchase behaviour among the selected respondents. Implications of the findings were presented.

Takeover and acquisition have been part of the business world for centuries. Due to the rapidly growing economic and environment challenges, companies have to face making decisions concerning these engagements. It requires careful and wise decision-making since the job of a company’s management is to get the most out of its shareholder value. The Malaysian law imposes a requirement on the bidder who obtains control over the target company to make a mandatory offer simply to protect the shareholders of the latter by giving them the opportunity to participate in benefits accruing from mandatory take over and be treated equally in relation to it. The mandatory offer, deeply rooted in the UK law, finds its way into Malaysia through law transplantation. A combination of library and empirical research carried out by the author is employed as the methodology in this chapter. The authors argue that the implications for implementation of a mandatory offer in particular in Malaysia and other ASEAN Commonwealth countries do not bring the same result as expected in UK due to the concentrated shareholding nature in ASEAN companies as opposed to the dispersed shareholding structure in UK companies. This chapter highlighted the pros and cons of a mandatory offer and its future in takeover laws.

Waqf is one of the charitable trusts whereby the beneficiaries get the benefits not only as an individual but also as a community. This is aligned with the good Muslim attitude that is always promoted by Islam. However, the level of waqf participation in Malaysia is considered low. Past literatures suggested social culture, promotion, and awareness influence participation in consumer decision, including waqf. Also, attitude plays an important role as a moderator between determinants and consumer decisions. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the moderating impact of attitudes in the relationship among kinships, peers, waqf administrator, promotion, and awareness toward waqf participation. A set of questionnaires were administered to 200 people residing in Selangor. The data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression. The results revealed that awareness has a significant relationship with waqf participation. Also attitude moderates two of the relationships: determinants (peers and promotion) and waqf participation. The paper concludes with discussion and several recommendations to the respective authorities.

Floods are the most common disaster occurring in many parts of the world. Malaysia is historically a flood-prone country, but a combination of climate change and urbanization has seen the country experience increasingly frequent and severe floods in the recent decades. The estimation of flood damage is an important component of risk-oriented flood design, risk mapping, financial analysis, and comparative risk analysis. However, research on flood damage modeling especially in commercial retail business has not received much attention in Malaysia. This study has developed a model to estimate cost of flood damage in the commercial retail business sector. The 2008–2013 Malaysia flood data have been used in developing the model. This includes data from three states in Malaysia, namely, Kedah, Kelantan, and Johor. Data were collected through questionnaire, personal interviews, and site visits from 417 respondents. Regression modeling was employed to ascertain significant factors and quantify the size of effect of these factors on flood damage of retail business. Results indicate that the flood damage cost model can be used in estimating the cost of damage in the retail business sector in Malaysia. The model is a contribution to the study of economic analysis of flood. This model can be used by policy makers in the planning of future retail business from the aspects of flood preparation and mitigation.

This chapter describes teaching and learning experience in civil engineering education, in particular, highway engineering, using the problem-based learning (PBL) approach. In this approach, students were divided into several groups with one student in each group assuming the role of the project manager, while the rest play various roles in the working team such as model developer and designer. The groups were given problems related to real case conditions. The group members needed to discuss ways to solve the problem and, eventually, come up with a scale model based on their solution. Using self-administered questionnaires after the learning process, surveys were conducted to gauge both the students’ and instructors’ perceptions on the effectiveness of the PBL approach in engineering learning based on the outcomes of the students’ learning. The results indicate that the PBL approach has positive impact on students’ learning, both in their technical training and soft skills enhancement. Such positive impact may have some pedagogical implications for engineering education.

Counterfeit business has recently attracted considerable attention. A large part of that comes from the sports world, where the sale of counterfeit goods is growing. This study examines factors influencing intentions of student-athletes at public universities in Perlis for purchasing counterfeit products. The hypotheses were tested using the independent t-test and MANOVA (multivariate analysis of variance), at the significance level of p < 0.05. The results indicated that perceived financial control exerts the greatest impact on student-athletes’ intention to purchase counterfeit sporting goods, although factors of perceived behavior and subjective norms also affected the decisions. The male youth-athletes showed higher positive attitude in relation to subjective norms and perceived behavior control to purchase counterfeit sports products. The youth-athletes perceived the same intention to acquire counterfeit sports products in relation to subjective norms, perceived behavior control, and perceived financial control, irrespective of their monthly family income. This investigation can help marketers and policy makers to understand the key influences on student-athletes’ behavior toward counterfeit sporting goods and thus to create effective marketing campaigns and anti-piracy strategies.

The primary purpose of this empirical chapter is to examine the relationship between psychological empowerment and affective commitment among academic staff in Malaysian public universities. This study investigated the relationships among four cognitions of psychological empowerment and affective commitment. Past empirical studies indicated that affective commitment is one of the most critical organizational commitments from staff toward institutions. Primary data were collected from academic staff currently attached to Malaysian public universities. The selection of samples was based on four universities in Malaysia by adopting the stratified sampling technique. A total of 203 usable samples were successfully collected. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was adopted to conduct the confirmatory factor analysis and path co-efficiency analysis. Results revealed that except for meaning cognition, the remaining three cognitions were found to be significantly influenced by affective commitment. Several recommendations were highlighted to improve affective commitment of academic staff as well.

The history of grammatical knowledge of Arabic and English has seen several stages of development; this is shown through many literature reviews. The significant difference is that the Arabic grammar has not changed as much as English due to its information being mainly from the holy book, the Quran. Arabic and English were chosen for this study because the two languages are in the same typology system, that is, inflectional language (also known as the flectional language), which is a language that changes the word; it is called تصريف in Arabic. In addition, both are foreign languages that are chosen to be learned in Malaysia. Therefore, this chapter discusses the history of Arabic and English grammar from their beginnings through their developmental periods. The meaning of grammar for both languages is also discussed.

Warrant is one of the financial instruments providing assistance to investors as a security hedging that authorizes the holder in buying or selling underlying stock of the issuing company at a certain amount, price, and time. Trading warrant is a risky investment since the company must know the appropriate price, while the broker equally needs to have knowledge about warrant due to the price, which tends to be undervalued or overvalued during the pricing process. In this study, the trinomial model is adopted as an extension of the binomial model. The objective of this research is to study trinomial model and historical volatility in pricing call warrant and compare the warrant model price with the actual price. The relative pricing error is calculated for valuation of the warrant price, and moneyness is calculated to identify whether the price is reasonable for investors to buy the underlying shares.

The conception of workplace fun includes socially taking part in interesting and spontaneous positive occasions in the working environment; such occasions are crucial in refining associations for workers. In spite of the fact that fun and also amusingness can both be enjoyable, fun at work incorporates to some degree a distinctive range of activities. Academic studies have connected workplace fun with employee performance, job satisfaction, expanded creativity and development and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), while mainstream press articles have made the connection of workplace fun to the decreased truancy as well as job burnout. Hence, this research has been conducted to identify which types of workplace fun, namely, personal freedom, socializing with co-worker and organizational culture, have significantly contributed towards employee engagement. Based on the result, socializing with co-worker and organizational culture have positive and significant relationship with employee engagement, whereas personal freedom has negative relationship with employee engagement.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is an individual’s ability to determine their own and others’ emotions, distinguish different feelings, using them in guiding thoughts and controlling behaviours, and be able to adapt with the surroundings. This study focuses on the tendency of EI among gifted and talented students. A total of 46 students (27 males and 19 females) participated in order to determine their domains in EI. The Quick Emotional Intelligence Self-Assessment instrument containing 40 items has been used to measure the emotional intelligences’ domains among the students. The instrument consists of items representing four domains of EI, which are emotional awareness (EA), emotional management (EM), social emotional awareness (SEA) and relationship management (RM). The results showed that the highest domain of EI among gifted and talented students is SEA (29.1%). The second highest is RM (26.9%) followed by EM (23.9%) and EA (20.1%).

This study conceptually examines the direct ownership structure (government ownership, foreign ownership, and institutional ownership) relationship with the performance of nonfinancial companies in Oman. It also explores audit quality as a moderating variable between the relationship of ownership structure and firm performance (return on assets). It adopts leverage as the control variable and provides recommendations for future research toward the end of the chapter to further explore the issues examined.