Innovation of Businesses, and Digitalization during Covid-19 Pandemic

This empirical study aims to examine the customer awareness and experience in both commercial and Islamic banks in the UK. It pays attention to the quality of services and the available support given to the customers. Banks pride in their financial services and support for customers. The banks’ mantra is about treating customers as priced assets and providing them with all the necessary support and guidance. Undoubtedly, the customers’ awareness of what the banks offer to them in terms of money safety, transfers, loans and interest rates are very important. The study utilises a questionnaire and focus group of 18 respondents with customers who use both banks to gain an understanding of their experiences. Evidence suggests that there is a general understanding of the banks’ services and commercial banks in particular expose their services more widely using various communication channels. The study found that some customers are aware of the specific charges and the interest rates. However, some were unaware of the services offered by the Islamic banks in relation to mortgage and interest rates and this had impact on customers’ satisfaction and loyalty. The study concludes that both commercial and Islamic banks need to do more to increase their customers services provisions in order to attract and retain existing customers. Offering customers and making them aware of a range of products and services tailored to their needs is way forward to acquire new and to increase customer retention.

This paper investigated the parameters that influence Islamic Banks’ financial performance in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei, and Singapore. The past decades have witnessed the positive expansion of Islamic banking in Southeast Asia but a discernible drop in their profitability and assets growth may denote poor performance. This requires investigation. This quantitative study examined the factors that may influence Islamic banks’ financial performance, and found Assets Quality, Liquidity, Debt Funding and Equity funding as the significant parameters in determining Islamic banks’ financial performance among the countries examined. Also, GDP Growth Rate and interest rate were the only external parameters with positive influence on Islamic banks’ financial performance. Notably, Inflation and Tax rate were not significant in determining Islamic Banks’ financial performance. Accordingly, management should strengthen the practices and implementations of the profit loss sharing (PLS) based instruments among the examined Islamic banks. Hence, disparities could be decreased while the economic opportunities could be improved, particularly those that could greatly contribute to the capital build-up and the creation of economic growth.

The study aims to analyze the reality of the governance of waqf (Endowments) institutions in Saudi Arabia. It includes defining the governance principles of waqf institutions in KSA, measuring the extent to which the waqf institutions adhere to those principles in addition this study helps determining the predictive factors affecting the levels of commitment to the principles of governance in waqf institutions in KSA. The study relied on mixed research method (qualitative and quantitative). The interviews were conducted with nine experts and specialists in governance and Endowments, and questionnaire was also built, where quantitative data was collected from an intentional sample and collecting responses from 307 people from endowers (waqif), waqf managers, and specialists in waqf institutions, then the data were tested using SPSS and Smart-PLS. The study concluded the formulation of five principles of governance in the waqf institutions: the availability of an effective framework related to governance, the protection of the rights of the endower and the beneficiaries from waqf, the definition of the powers and responsibilities of the guardian council, the level of transparency and disclosure, and the protection of the rights of stakeholders. The results showed that all axes and paragraphs had a general arithmetic average greater than 4.00 and an approval rate higher than 80%, indicating the importance of these axes to adhere to the principles of governance in waqf institutions in KSA. ​It also revealed predictive factors affecting levels of commitment to applying the governance principles, as the results showed the presence of demographic variables influencing statistically significant differences in the total commitment to the principles of governance. These factors are represented in the age of the waqf, the bodies supervising the waqf institutions, the number of members of the council guardian, and the periods of convening of the council of guardian; While the variables: the size of the endowment, the type of endowment, according to its banks or according to its origin, have no significant effect.

This paper aims to develop a model to enhance social justice through zakat in Bangladesh by utilizing donation-based crowdfunding. Whilst being one of the most populous Muslim majority countries, Bangladesh still lacks a centralized policy regarding zakat. Zakat collection and distribution in Bangladesh follows an informally coordinated model which is inefficient. In the absence of required government engagement, solutions are needed to optimize the underutilized potential of zakat.To accomplish this objective, this research employs a qualitative approach. It is found that integrating zakat into a donation-based crowdfunding model is an innovative Islamic fintech approach that can contribute towards improving the socio-economic potential of zakat in Bangladesh. The proposed model has the potential to improve the socio-economic situation of zakat recipients, which can lead to an increased standard of living and enhancement of social justice. The results of this study may enhance the efficiency of zakat and its effects in Bangladesh.

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the Islamic waqf system in the contemporary Islamic societies and the significance of applying institutionalized systems for efficient administration and governance of waqf institutions. The study has been classified into theoretical and practical aspects. The theoretical aspect treats the concept of waqf, its classifications, the institutional development of the beneficiaries of contemporary waqf, and the legal and Shariah frameworks governing them. It highlights the major emerging and new waqf beneficiaries in the fields of education, health and relief. On the other hand, the practical aspect conducts a field study of waqf institutions.The study adopted both the inductive method and the descriptive approach employing the face-to-face interview method for collecting data as well as telephone interviews with interviewees. A number of conclusions emerged from the research, including a keen interest in waqf work and management practises, as well as an emphasis on the supervisory function. In addition, the concept of legislative stalemate was proposed. The study also discovered that current legislation and the renewal of jurisprudence provided waqf banks, as well as the general public, the freedom to develop successful new and creative banks to support their work.

Takaful is one of the leading sectors in Islamic financial institution in the recent times as it has received wide acceptance among Islamic financial institutions. This paper addresses the Shariah issues related to possibility of using Zakat fund to establish micro-Takaful. Contemporary Muslim jurists opined that Takaful is based on Tabarù contract. This study analyzed two major shariah issues: the first of which is permissibility of delaying the distribution of zakat fund to the recipients (Asnaf). The second: the possibility of taking from the Zakat Fund to establish the micro-Takaful fund for the recipients. This study adopts inductive and critical analytical approach to explore whether Zakat Fund can be used to establish micro- takaful fund. The study concluded that there is no Shariah issue in utilization of Zakat Fund for micro-Takaful in so far it is dedicated and exclusively for the Zakat recipients (Asnaf). The research recommends the relevant authorities and institutions to set a framework within which this structure can be applied in contemporary time.

This research aims to identify the extent of Kuwaiti Islamic banks adhere to the use of Islamic financing tools in their financial operations. The study population consists of all (5) banks listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. As for the study sample, (100) respondents were selected from Financial managers, accountants and workers in finance and investment departments work in these banks. The questionnaire was used as a tool for collecting primary data. The results showed that Kuwaiti Islamic banks adhere to the use of Islamic financing tools represented in Murabaha, Musharaka and Mudaraba in their financial operations to a high degree. The study recommended that Kuwaiti Islamic banks should be encouraged to play a more role in Murabaha operations and find appropriate solutions to technical obstacles and culture-related procedures that prevent the provision of Islamic financing through Murabaha.

Waqf organisations are not only known as a religious organisation, but also as a non-profit organisation (NPO) that are responsible and accountable to manage endowment funds and properties of the donors (waqif) to address socio-economy issues. Despite their growing prominence, they have not yet achieved their fullest potential in exerting their accountability to stakeholders. This could be attributed to the limited disclosure on how they measure and report their social impact and values. Disclosing appropriate information on the impact of waqf can garner support and increase confidence from the public to continue to invest in waqf. This paper attempts to investigate how waqf organisations can learn from NPO’s experience in the adoption of performance measurement systems (PMSs) that address the issue of accountability to their stakeholders. On the back of these issues, this study attempts to propose the need for social impact measurement (SIM) to measure performance to enhance organisations’ accountability towards their stakeholders. The study adopts an integrative or critical review of the literature in areas of accountability, PMS for NPOs and waqf organisations, and analysing the missing link that waqf organisations can learn from the practice of NPOs, particularly in the introduction of SIM. It is hoped that this paper is able to provide significant insight on the importance of SIM to be introduced in waqf organisations in efforts to discharge accountability to all stakeholders.

This paper focuses on presenting a working model by combining the concepts of Waqf and smart Sukuk that works under the contract of Ijarah. Therefore, it can be referred to as a waqf based Ijarah Smart Sukuk model. In a study conducted by Che Zuina Ismail (2015), it is found that due to several reasons such as bureaucracy and lack of transparency in waqf administration, Waqf has lost much of its dynamism. Due to these reasons and several others, many waqf properties are either lying idle or in a dilapidated condition, which has led to Awqaf's effectiveness and role being questioned. There is a need to broadly advertise the significant role played by Awqaf as an instrument of social welfare. Hence, this model is suggested for the development of waqf properties and to revive the role of Waqf in society's social well-being. By using the qualitative method, this paper also highlights the issues or challenges involved in the practical application of the smart Sukuk or Ijarah contract, including possible Shari'ah issues. The paper's policy implication suggests that the states adopt this technologically advanced and Shari'ah compliant working model to target the development-related issues of waqf properties. This paper will also offer the existing and upcoming professionals in Islamic finance a broader perspective about smart Sukuk and hopefully encourages them to develop a favourable framework for smart Sukuk and other smart contracts, which is currently lacking.

Islamic banks have been bombarded with the accusations being the same with its conventional sides. Consequently, the public are not convinced with the title ‘Islamic’ that Islamic banks have been carrying. Despite a growing literature on the reporting practices of Islamic banks, there is a need of research on the role of Islamic banks in zakat distribution. This descriptive, content analysis examined the annual reports and financial statements of Islamic banks to explore information that can be found in these documents. Documents from year 2018 until year 2020 was searched using their individual website and downloaded. Results indicated that Islamic banks do not disclose much information on zakat distribution, since it is considered as voluntary disclosure. Annual reports and financial statements are means of corporate communication to the public. Thus, disclosing such information is recommended.

Effective on 31st January 2016, Development Financial Institutions (Amendments) Act 2015 (Act 618) introduced major amendments to Development Financial Institutions Act 2002 (DFIA 2002) for enhancement of the legal and regulatory framework for Development Financial Institutions (DFIs) in Malaysia. The new Part IIIA DFIA 2002 inserts Shariah Requirement to realign with the provisions of Part IV Islamic Financial Services Act (IFSA 2013). Prior to these amendments, the conversion of Bank Pertanian Malaysia Berhad (Agrobank) to Islamic DFIs on 1st July 2015 was previously regulated under the ambit of Section 129 DFIA 2002. At the date of conversion, the remaining conventional loan assets of Agrobank amounting to RM59.2 million were permitted to be treated as Non-Shariah Assets where its income has to be recorded as liability and to be channelled to charity. This paper tries to analyze the current laws and regulations regulating conversion of DFIs to Islamic DFIs under DFIA 2002 and the legal issues and challenges faced by DFIs on conversion. This study also gathers information from library research and webinars related to this topic. The study finds Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN), SME Development Bank Berhad (SME Bank), Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad (Bank Pembangunan) and Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Berhad (Exim Bank) have to obtain written regulatory approval from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to convert from Islamic Banking Window under Section 33B(1)(b) to Islamic DFIs under Section 33B(1)(a) DFIA 2002 with permission that certain percentage of unconverted conventional loan assets remain as Non-Shariah assets and become liabilities after conversion. This study shows that Section 33B(1),(2) and (3) DFIA 2002 incorporate the new stringent requirements for conversion of entire business of DFIs with literal interpretation that 100% of its assets must be in accordance with Shariah.

This research examines the adequacy of financial inclusion in the northwest and northeast of Nigeria and the role of Islamic finance in deepening financial inclusion in those identified regions. By adopting qualitative analysis, content analysis is used to determine the status of financial inclusion in Nigeria. The study relies on secondary data collected from official documents, working papers, articles, e-books, relevant websites, and online resources. From this study, it is found that providing all necessary accesses to financial products and services to all members of Nigerian society is important for financial inclusion. Such accesses must be done in an efficient, effective and sustainable manner. Based on the findings, it is recommended for Islamic banks in Nigeria to provide more allocations for equity-based Islamic financial contracts in their financing activities. Moreover, it is necessary for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as the main regulator of banking and finance industry in Nigeria to consider and issue guidelines and regulations that can expand the country’s financial inclusion through Islamic equity-based financial contracts and products.

Islamic Estate Planning (IEP) is an important task that Muslims need to participate to make sure individuals that will be left behind are taken care of. Despite increasing literature on the importance of this planning in Malaysia, there is a lack of study for the role of Islamic banks in this area. This study examines the IEP products that are available in Malaysian Islamic banking industry. It is observed that there are a lot of opportunities for the Islamic banks to offer IEP related products and services. Consequently, this study suggests further improvements for the Islamic banks in enhancing their offering of IEP products and services.

The role of Waqf in socio-economic development is becoming increasingly important. The success of a waqf scheme depends on the involvement of the public in making contributions. Therefore, this study will look at the role of waqf in the higher education sector where the factors that influence the involvement of HLI staff will be identified. Based on the TPB, four factors have been identified, namely attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control that can influence the involvement of HLI staff. A new variable, OC, will be tested to see its effectiveness in this TPB model.

The article is dedicated to development of the concept of digitalization of economies of developed countries in current conditions in terms of the changing technological orders. Such countries as the USA, the UK and the countries of the EU were chosen for the research on the basis of some common features of development, in particular the level and the way of development, quality of life of people, mentality. The national models of the USA and the UK have been characterized and overall characteristic to the national economies of the EU-countries has been given. The level of digitalization of the economies of the chosen countries has been estimated. It has been shown that the mentioned countries have become the world leaders in the process of digitalization thanks to their commitment to the scientific and technological progress integrated into culture and mentality of people and thanks to the well-thought government policies. In terms of pandemic that has recently occurred in the world the digitalization has transformed into the tool of providing the economic development. The restrictions in movement of people have made it possible to communicate and to provide management of all spheres of economy and the business running via digital technologies. The production relations have obtained the new forms. The developed countries of the world showed themselves to be ready to meet the challenges thanks to the digital technologies widespread. The new technological order is being formed in current conditions where the digital forms of providing economic development become crucial.

Digital transformation refers to redefining the business process via digital technology. The innovation and digital revolution have remarkable effects on the global economy by affecting organisational relevancy in the marketplace. SMEs are considered as a nation’s growth engine and seriously affected due to tech-adaptation challenges that arise at a fast pace such as COVID-19 outbreaks severely affected the SMEs businesses by the drop in demand and scarcity of resources all across the globe, including ASEAN region such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippine, Thailand etc. Thus, to begin with digital transformation, enterprises must be aware of the factors influencing it as only few countries are lagging in digital transformation in the ASEAN region. This paper aims to highlight the factors influencing the digital transformation of SMEs focusing on internal and external factors. The Innovation and Technology Adoption Theory was selected as the underpinning theory for this research, along with the holistic Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) Model as the chosen framework to reflect technology adoption theory. The present study raises some practical implications for policymakers, government and industries. It will help accelerate the rapid adaptation of digital technology for SMEs and directly affect the growth of SMEs. The present study singled out that organisational, technological and environmental factors provide a widespread view of digital transformation of SMEs.

Bangladesh completed its fiftieth birth anniversary in 2021. Before being partitioned in 1947 as the eastern part of Pakistan, modern Bangladesh was a major political segment of Bengal of undivided India. A homogenous population, overwhelmingly Muslim majority inherits the ‘sunny signs’ of tolerance, peace-loving, hardworking, competitive, and material wellbeing. India, on the other hand, a much-diversified non-homogenous country majority being Hindu still retains the imprint of Muslim rule—the marvelous “Taj Mahal” one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Today’s India is the fifth-largest economy in the world with around 1.4 billion population having a good technological and professional base. A comparison between these two sovereign countries may always remain debatable. Since both societies are striving for a common goal of a higher standard of living for their citizens, an attempt to compare the relative performance in the area of economic development using some universal indicators may shed some light on policy implications. This may generate a spirit of healthy enthusiasm and competitiveness among the citizens of these two countries and the people living around them in particular and other developing nations in general. After all, we are living in an era when science and technological developments made the entire world a global village and when mutual research, feedback, collaboration, and cooperation are increasingly warranted for a better world.

Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is a digital form of central bank money, and is different from traditional reserves or settlement accounts balances. In line with the digital technology era, CBDC has gained interest among the majority of the countries. Central banks in a number of countries have started experimenting, piloting, launching, and have laid their direction on CBDC. However, the development of CBDC in Malaysia is still behind compared to many other countries in the world. This paper aims to present the current status of CBDC in Malaysia. To achieve the goal, this paper explores literature reviews on CBDC, countries’ milestones on CBDC and Malaysia’s Central Bank stand on CBDC. This review found that Malaysia’s Central Bank has no intention for the immediate plan for CBDC in Malaysia. However, Malaysia’s Central Bank continues assessing the CBDC potential, especially in the digital assets and payments space. This study also found that Malaysia’s Central Bank participated in a cross-border payments trial under Project Dunbar.

In order to increase the level of public welfare in Ukraine, it is necessary to implement a national strategy for sustainable development to ensure the unity of its components: consistent economic development, social progress, environmental security in their interaction and mutual influence, balance and integration. The goal of the sustainable development strategy is to ensure a high quality of life of Ukraine’s population, to create favorable conditions for present and future generations and to stop the degradation of natural ecosystems by implementing a new model of economic growth based on sustainable development.The problem of sustainable development has become an important component of the domestic and foreign policy of many states on different continents. An important part of the problem of sustainable development should be noted. Its severity does not subside over time, but rather grows. The efforts of the world community towards the implementation of sustainable development are inadequate to the threats produced by the next step of human civilization. A change is required in the development paradigm itself, which was formed in the distant past and does not correspond to modern realities, which, first of all, include the depth and speed of changes in the conditions of human life. The innovative world needs innovative approaches to defining the fundamental foundations of its modern development.

This study investigates economic sectors’ opportunities based on strategic economic sectors, both the strength of the backward and forward linkages of economic sectors in an economic region and among economic regions. This study uses the Input–Output Model (IOM) and the Interregional Input–Output Model (IRIOM). The data are Input–Output Table and Interregional Input–Output Table in 2016. The results by using IOM show that, in terms of economic area, Aceh province has several strategic economic sectors and economic sectors’ opportunities (competitiveness) nationally based on dispersion power and sensitivity power. Generally, the electricity and gas procurement sector; and wholesale-retail trade, car repair, and motorcycles sector are the main economic sectors for Aceh province.The result of the IRIOM used, the electricity and gas procurement sector is an important economic sector for Aceh. This economic sector can absorb the output produced by other economic sectors, both from Aceh and also from other economic areas (North Sumatera province). Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector is an important sector for North Sumatera. However, trade between the two economic areas has not been profitable for Aceh. North Sumatra greatly benefits from this interregional trade. This condition underlines that the level of economic dependence of Aceh is high on the economic sectors of North Sumatra. The negative consequence of this trade form is the increasing level of economic inequality between the two economic regions. It is necessary to build a strong concept of domestic trade between mutually beneficial economic areas by applying the specialization of certain economic sectors of each economic region. In general, such policies can produce the formulation of a cycle of domestic economic interrelationships that revolves around the mutual benefit of all economic regions in Indonesia. At the same time, the policy has a positive effect on economic strength between regions and the national economy as a whole.

The digital insurgency is troublemaking the association between banks and their customers and new features constantly seem to upgrade client experience. A digital transformation procedure comprises of innovative technology application developments, just as company aspects, for example, C-suite executives uphold, digital transformation strategy, product innovations, HR systems and organizational changes. The practical implications of this research study show digital bank customers are more satisfied than traditional bank customers during COVID-19, digital banking services are cheaper than traditional banking services, Product innovation plays major role in digital transformation and also note that most of the customers are preferred to use digital bank services rather than internet banking, POS terminals, Credit Cards, Debit Cards & ATM Machines.

This paper addresses the main issues of Technopreneur, knowledge and digital economy and their possible role in economic development in Palestine. Human capital is a main pillar for knowledge economy, in addition to other pillars like appropriate infrastructure and policies. In general, Palestine has limited natural resources. However, it has high percentage of educated individuals with university and post-graduate degrees especially in technology-related studies. This forms a good base for proper human capital for future knowledge economy. Several initiatives and efforts have been carried out to promote entrepreneurship and technopreneurship in Palestine as a mean to contribute to economic development and advancement, however without official stated strategy or policy. Digital economy, together with Technopreneurship spirit would form the base for economic development in Palestine. This could be achieved through the adoption of a proposed framework of possible policy and strategy, which addresses the connections between various elements of such framework.

Distrust to zakat institutions is one of the causes zakat funds not reaching the potential amount in Indonesia. Blockchain technology, with its capability of tracing, can provide transparency information. The Blockchain-based Zakat can potentially overcome distrust issues to zakat institutions. However, the legal status of cryptocurrency is still skeptical. This study aims to see the feasibility of CBDC can be implemented in blockchain-based Zakat in Indonesia. The method used in this research is the qualitative method. An extensive literature review method was utilized to identify and analyze the relevant literature in order to propose the model. This study suggests Blockchain-based Zakat with the use of CBDC and BAZNAS as the zakat agencies.

The Covid-19 pandemic has created an opportunity for Vietnam to digitalize economy faster in many industries, especially banking service. Hence, this research paper aims to discovery the main determinants affecting the digital banking service adoption of Vietnamese people during the Covid-19 time. Conducting an online survey with 513 respondents during the social distancing period owing to the 4th wave of corona virus spreading in Vietnam, the researchers analyze the role of Covid-19 as a reason to create a dilemma situation pushing people to choose digital banking services to keep them be safe in the pandemic. Basing on the theory of consumer behavior models, the study indicates five determinants which influence the adoption of digital banking services in Vietnam in the context of Covid-19 spreading, as follow: banking service safety, online shopping preference, recommendation, bank marketing and acceptant of perceived risk. Basing on the results of data analyzation, the affection of banking service safety and online shopping preference contributes significantly to the rise of digital banking service adoption during the corona pandemic. And to be avoiding to the threat of covid-19 infected, people surveyed intend to accept the risk caused by digital banking services. These findings can contribute to understanding consumer behavior under the affection of situation (such as disaster or pandemic) comprehensively, help Vietnamese banks to build stronger strategies to enlarge their digital banking service market shares.

In times of crisis and budgetary pressures, world governments (specially from emerging economies) look more decisively for alternative sources of income generation. One such alternative is the so-called “sin taxes’’. Many factors affect individual attitudes toward “legal vices” such as smoking, alcohol, gambling, plastic consumption, or consumption of beef, with religion having the greatest impact. Taxing the consumption of products or activities that pose a threat to the health of people and that cause damage to the environment has resulted in a lucrative, controversial strategy with variable results in the governments that have implemented it. This paper aims to use Scopus and Web of Science to systematically contrast how developed economies have implemented such types of taxes, which challenges those countries have faced and which lessons they can share with under developed countries. In the same way, this paper will present how, sometimes, taxes on sins do not discourage unhealthy behaviors nor are they a good way to increase government revenues.

In this chapter, the researcher explored the available literature about the two variables of the study which are digital banking as the independent variable and bank performance as the dependent variable. Previous research indicates that though digital banking is a new trend in the world of banking, it has been a significant issue and due attention is given to it since it significantly contributes to enhancing the image of the banks as well as satisfying the changing requirements of the consumers. Though bank performance can be measured by different indicators, prior research ensure that operational performance and financial performance are the most outstanding. The relationship between applying digital banking and improving bank performance has been proved in many of the studies that were reviewed while a few proved there was no relationship.

Public practice accountants (PPA) play a significant role in aiding small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to sustain on business performance. Previous literatures has discovered that the PPA is the first choice among SMEs to seek advice for help them to achieve their business objectives. This paper purpose is to extend a conceptual framework based on the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB) to a new construct that has never been tested before. A conceptual framework was developed to highlight the relationship between SMEs in selecting PPA as business advisors (BA). Furthermore, this research will implements DTPB from the owner-manager’s (OM) perspective with identify the attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control factors affects the intention-behavior on selecting public practice accountants’ advisory services. Finally, this paper contribute a specific and theoretically grounded prediction of how antecedents variables influences selecting advice services provided by PPA as an added value and the most beneficial resource.

This study examined the impact of economic vulnerability on strategic orientations (i.e. sales orientation, consumer orientation, competitive orientation, emotional orientation and business orientation), and the effect of strategic orientations on the performance of the micro-enterprises in Kelantan Malaysia. This study used a cross-sectional design and collected quantitative data through structured interviews from 450 micro-entrepreneurs in Kelantan, Malaysia. Economic vulnerability has significant negative effects on the dimensions of strategic orientation (i.e. Sales Orientation; Consumer Orientation; Competitive Orientation; Emotional Orientation, Business Orientation). Moreover, both competitive and business orientation showed significant positive effects on micro-enterprise performance. This is the first known study to test the relationship between economic vulnerability and strategic orientations. This study is further unique because of its focus on micro-entrepreneurs of emerging economies, a context missed by most previous studies. Apart from extending current literature, this paper could have significant policy and practical implications.

The minimum wage is a contentious and divisive subject, with numerous viewpoints and studies. Therefore, the global economic crisis that lasted from 2018 to 2019 had a significantly different impact on economic growth in developed and developing countries. The main objective of this paper is to examine the impact of minimum wage implementation on economic growth in developed and developing countries during the recession period. This paper used a method where its data was retrieved from the World Development Indicators (WDI) database as main sources from 2015 to 2019. 20 countries from developed and developing countries were selected with a similar frequency of minimum wage determination which is monthly rate. The results shows that, there are different impact of minimum wage on economic growth in developed and developing countries, where the implementation of the minimum wage has a direct and long term impact on the developed countries, as it has a positive impact on the economic growth. Based on this empirical data, it appears that not all economic conditions during a recession, such as growth, employment and unemployment, would improve as an implementation of minimum wage, due to uncertain effects.

Infrastructure and innovation have become a key elements of sustainable long-run economic growth and had been explained in endogenous growth theory. The analysis draws of infrastructure quality and innovation data for ten countries. The estimation data is from 2008 to 2020. The empirical analysis involved the estimation of the cointegration test, dynamic OLS, and long-run estimation coefficient. The finding shows that the spillover effects of infrastructure indicate the highest effect on long-run economic growth, but the effect of innovation could not be denied due to a positive and significant coefficient. Thus, government and policymakers should play a significant role in developing infrastructure to sustain economic growth.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is one of the most practical types of foreign investment. FDI contributes to job creation, foreign exchange earnings and national income escalation, improving semi-skill and skilled labor. Based on our knowledge, this paper is the first study attempting to investigate the effect of political stability on the FDI in Turkey using an econometric approach. Achieving this objective, a co-integration analysis was conducted between the FDI and its determinants in the short-run and long-run including “macroeconomic indicators” and “Political Stability (PS)” in Turkey. Using annual data from 1974 to 2017 via Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model. The results confirm the positive correlation between Gross Domestic Product (GDP), openness, domestic savings and political stability and FDI inflows. They also confirm the negative impact of energy consumption, population and inflation on FDI inflows.

The informal economic sector in the country is moving towards a more dynamic and competitive economy. This sector is significant because it can help generate economic growth and provide housewives with employment opportunities. The informal economic sector includes unregistered and unregulated, but not illegal, business activity. The informal economic sector's concept and characteristics, such as accessibility, low capital utilization, and small operating levels, have made it thrive among Malaysia's housewives. The increase in the number of housewives in entrepreneurship shows that they are mature in running a business. Thus, it can be seen from the perception of housewives the factors of the challenges faced by housewives in running their business, the opportunities in their business operations, and the prospects for such success, focusing on four aspects: human capital, social capital, financial capital, and psychological capital.

Under the guidance of the rural revitalization strategy of China’s government, the battle against poverty paid off to some extent, promoting the comprehensive development of the deeply poverty areas effectively. Nowadays, the local rural revitalization has reached a critical point since the coming “Post 2020” era. Having analyzed the current situation of rural poverty revitalization in Shangzhou District of Shangluo City, Through a large number of investigations, literature research, quantitative and qualitative analysis and other research methods, I found that there are still problems on weak foundation for poverty alleviation, difficulty in poverty alleviation, low population quality, backward perspectives, imbalance in industrial investments. Besides, there are many causes of poverty, and the task of returning back to poverty is arduous. In addition, the local income is limited and there is a large capital gap. From this perspective, it is proposed to increase government policy guidance, actively promote large-scale industrial development, promoting the diversified and integrated development of poverty alleviation industries, strengthening vocational training and education for poor households, doing a good job in poverty dynamic management, eliminating multi-directional financing from the source, strengthening project management. These would aid it in attaining a complete victory in rural revitalization.

Digitalisation of work is a process connected to the usage of certain devices like laptops, smartphones and tablet computers combined with access to the internet. Digitalisation has led to the transformation of how work can be done and where it can be carried out. It leads to the rise in new jobs and working conditions such as flexible working arrangements (FWAs) and gig/platform workers. It is the objective of this paper is to examine the influence of digitalisation upon the working conditions based on the employment legislation currently enforced in Malaysia. This study raises two questions: firstly, to what extent the jobs and working conditions in Malaysia are influenced by digitalisation? Secondly, whether existing Malaysia’s employment legislation can accommodate the changes to the jobs and working conditions resulting from digitalisation? It is submitted that the traditional working conditions (permanent staff, permanent office and fixed working hours) are no longer suitable to cater who are involved in the digital economy. This paper is written utilising analytical methodologies with the secondary descriptive data drawn from previous literature on the influence of digitalisation on job and working conditions. It is concluded that the existing employment legislation does not provide sufficient protection to the new forms of employment created by digitalisation. It is therefore recommended that a suitable policy is urgently needed to enable better protection to those who fall within the non-standard forms of employment.

The article presents the main results of the study of the volume and structure of foreign trade of Ukraine and its place in international trade operations, outlines the main tendencies of export and import transactions in agricultural products and commodities. Quantitative and price indices of trading conditions have been analyzed in order to diagnose the place and importance of Ukraine in foreign agricultural markets and to outline ways to optimize the structure of foreign trade operations. Indices of terms of trade «price» and «quantitative» characterize the extent to which a country wins (loses) by changing the price (quantity) of goods in foreign trade with a particular country (countries) for the relevant period of time.The indicator of the terms of trade measures the relative dynamics of export prices over a certain period and is calculated for the analysis of foreign trade activity, which is measured by the ratio of average export earnings of goods and average costs of imports over a certain period of time. The results showed that in 2018, the price index of terms of trade decreased by 2.2%, quantitative - increased by 2.9%, ie terms of trade slightly deteriorated. The positive fact is that in 2017, all the goods selected for the study were competitive in the foreign market, which confirms the positive value of the RTA indices for these goods. The most competitive in the world market is sunflower oil. The study concluded that it is established that development of foreign markets, expansion of export orientation of production, which should become one of the main factors of economic growth of the majority of industries, are extremely important for the agrarian sector of the economy of Ukraine. Always the one who has the processing industry wins. The pace of development of manufacturing should exceed the rate of GDP growth in the country. We need to have at least 5% growth in 20 years to make up. Therefore, in the coming years, the processing industry should develop at a rate not lower than 7–8% annually.

This paper investigates the factors influencing mobile payment adoption and its contribution to financial inclusion, which seems sparse and lacking in the literature. Over 75% of Palestinian adults are excluded from financial services by banks and other non-bank financial institutions, so mobile payment is expected to bridge this gap. A quantitative approach was employed using 307 questionnaires designed based on the theory of planned behaviour and reflective model for measuring financial inclusion. In data analysis, a structural equation modelling in AMOS was applied to data elicited. It was found that all direct paths within the model were supported, except for the paths between subjective norm and mobile payment intention. The proposed model supports the mediation role of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control between beliefs and mobile payment intention. Additionally, with successive increases in mobile payment usage, financial inclusion moved further to increase. Precisely, the growth of mobile payment usage by 1% can improve financial inclusion by 0.60%. Taken together, the structural model can explain 36% of covariance in financial inclusion for mobile payment. The originality of this research lies in empirically investigating the potential role of mobile payment in fostering financial inclusion in Palestine, which would contribute to the efforts that intended to overcome the financial exclusion faced by the majority of Palestinian, which benefits the researchers, public, business community, and policymakers.

Although wide ranges of studies are available on manufacturing sustainable performance issues, literature on green human resources management (GHRM) practices and their impact on manufacturers’ sustainable and operational performances is scarce. This study aims at identifying GHRM practices and assessing their impact on sustainable and operational performance. This current study adopted systematic literature and a content analysis approach for the development of a conceptual model. It has been found that the most influencing GHRM practices are green recruitment and selection, green training, green performance evaluation, and a green reward system. The uniqueness of this study is the evaluation of the GHRM practices with sustainable and operational performance in a single study. Moreover, the paper highlights that manufacturing organizations must focus on GHRM practices to deliver enhanced sustainable performance besides operational performance to achieve competitive advantage. For future studies, there is a need to empirically verify the proposed conceptual model presented in this paper. This study adds to the literature in the area of GHRM by advocation to tackle environmental challenges across the globe.

Bibliometric analysis technique was used to ascertain the prominent authors, authors’ cooperation, prominent research journals, contributing countries, and organizations to see the progress made in mindfulness research. Web of Science was used to identify published works for the last 16 years (2005 to 2020) and data were analyzed through VOSviewer software. It was found that the concept of Mindfulness is mainly associated with high-reliability organizations (HROs), where accidents are inevitable. Much research is needed for mindfulness constructs in other industrial settings, as this research domain is still new and needs explorations. Its application in other domains of social sciences is also limited. Few new industrial sectors have been proposed to be included in Perrow’s (1948) model. Geographical inequality was observed in the publication. Slight movement from high-reliability organizations (HROs) to other less hazardous organizations was also observed for mindfulness research. Our research is unique as bibliometric analysis on mindfulness constructs is almost non-existent in the present literature. Our study contributed to the present knowledge of the body by providing a holistic view of mindfulness research for over 16 years. We also highlighted the geographical inequality for research and pointed out that more collaboration for mindfulness constructs is needed. Our research also unraveled other industries which are somewhat associated with mindfulness constructs and need further exploration. Our findings would be helpful for future research to better operationalize and relate mindfulness constructs in other fields of interest.

This article sets out to study the associations between strategic human resources management (SHRM) practices, supply chain management (SCM) implementation, and small to medium enterprise (SME) firm performance in Palestine. An instrument was constructed, followed by detailed research confirmed by human resources management (HRM) and SCM experts’ viewpoints. Several SMEs in Palestine conducted cross-sectional surveys that included both direct and postal questionnaires. Three hundred two usable surveys were returned. SEM was used to study the results. These data show that SHRM practices indirectly aid small and medium-sized businesses by implementing SCM. SCM implementation further explores if it mediates such interaction. It showed that SCM implementation has a total effect on the performance of SMEs. These data indicate that if SHRM standards are not in place, SCM won’t boost SME performance. This study found the vacuum in SCM research by observing that SMEs lack SCM knowledge and incorporate SHRM practices into SCM implementation in SMEs. SCM adoption mediates the influence of SHRM practices on SMEs’ company performance.

The article examines the problems of integration of natural resources into the zone of market influence. The analysis of researches on these questions is carried out, the problem moments are allocated. An algorithm for integrating natural resources into the market environment has been developed, which provides for the natural resource to go through stages with a change in their positions and the formation of market asset features. Possibilities of incorporation of land resources into the market, the potential of business development, and formation of the market of natural resource assets are investigated. The parameters of capitalization of natural resources and the concentration ratio of financial and economic regulation are calculated. Ways to strengthen the potential for integration of natural resources into the market area of influence have been developed.

This paper explores the impact of human resource management and knowledge management on innovation performance, the relationship mediated by open innovation mindset. Thus, this study targeted the Jordanian SMEs as a population of the study, the researcher reviewed around 50 articles published in the last five years to catch up with latest findings. The findings approved the need of the SMEs in Jordan for such factors to develop the industry and contribute in the economy development, which means there is an innovation performance issue in the industry. Human resource management found as one of the top factors effect innovation performances in Jordanian SMEs, knowledge management as an essential factor toward activate and enhance the human resource presence in the firms. Finally open innovation mindset found as not studied and explored factor in the industry, which indicates an issue in the implementation of innovation performance in the country. Furthermore, the researcher recommends the future research to hold studies on open innovation mindset as well empirically examine the role on open innovation mindset role in Jordanian SMEs industry. This could clearly figure out the role of open innovation mindset on the implementations of innovation performance in Jordanian SMEs.

This paper explores the insight of Malaysian family business roles in cultural heritage management. By discussing the various definitions of the family business, this paper presents the attribution of this type of business model toward the sustainability of cultural heritage in this country. The broader perspective from various literature has been compiled, and it showed the significance of family business activity in heritage management. This study aims to explore general guidance for navigating critical modelling decisions to develop a business foundation in the family business and transgenerational entrepreneurship related to heritage management. The essence of business foundation in family business usually involves the dimension of simple business organisation or ‘smallness’, survivability, resilience and mobilise in economic factors and competitive succession. In this context, family business research has undertaken considerable efforts to understand better continuity and succession and how existing businesses set their foundation in businesses primarily related to heritage-based tourism products in Malaysia. To capture and explain how families bring new transgenerational entrepreneurship, streams of values to their heritage tourism-based business activities to survive and prosper across many generations were investigated. Based on critical reading of previous literature, the existing theoretical foundations are discussed briefly. In conclusion, tourism activities may offer a powerful strategy for preserving tangible and intangible cultural heritage and at the same time enhanced family business-related. Family business involvement in heritage tourism nurtures its growth and makes it more sustainable for a more extended period.

The study aimed to identify the indicators to develop a sustainable tourism model for community-based tourism (CBT) in highlands based on socioeconomic elements along the west coast of Sabah. The development of the sustainable tourism model for CBT in highlands used the triangle sustainable model and triple bottom line approach. Both qualitative and quantitative approach was used to find the outcome of the study. The qualitative approach deals with the role of the primary education institution in providing the education for enhancing the CBT meanwhile the quantitative approach was aimed to measure the training provided by the institution of higher learning. The study revealed that the formal, informal, and non-formal education was able to prepare the younger generation to be the tourism ambassador of tourism in the village, but the effectiveness of the training modules conducted by the institution of higher learning was below satisfactory.

The Covid-19 outbreak in 2020 has caused hard time for the physical retail store. As to recovery, to increase profits retailer need to look for alternative way to improve shopping value. Past studies had identified several customers-oriented on store environment attributes impact consumers perception. However, until today there are no specific guidelines available regarding creating a good store design mainly after the post-pandemic on the retail stores environment context in Malaysia. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify and propose the influences of various store environment physical exterior design factors in retail stores and study their effect on customers behavior. The study applied qualitative research methodology a case study which employed observation and interviews, on a selected fashion retail store.The results shows that behavior intentions among customers included store choice and purchasing can be induced by creating unique shopping experiences with the help of store environment physical exterior design factors. Therefore, to give little attention to the store environment physical exterior design elements by the retails owner are important without set aside the safety SOP to stay advantages in today’s competitive market.

Commercialization of research by academic entrepreneurs have been recognized as an important driving force for technology transfer and wealth creation yet the level of success of commercialization of inventions (innovations) for IT products from higher institution to industry is questionable. There is a paucity of agreed commercialization in terms of execution processes to support inventions of prototypes and products moving from laboratories to the right market. This research aims to investigate the commercialization of research outcomes for IT products from the research centers to facilitate the commercialization objective. The analysis is carried out based on selective case studies in the technology and science park with venture capitalist and firms from industry in the commercialization program engagement. The commercialization of technology and products are investigated based on resource based perspective and dynamic capabilities based on selected case studies. The research outcomes are expected to offer a research commercialization model and practical contribution for successful commercialization and licensing among academics’ entrepreneurs.

Today’s societal challenges, the pandemic, require new approaches to the organization of modern education, which is becoming increasingly digital and based on blended and distance learning with the introduction of modern information and communication technologies. The use of interactive distance learning methods, which are based on purposeful and controlled intensive independent work of a student who can study in a convenient place, according to the chosen schedule, is relevant and needs to be disseminated. The purpose of the work was to develop a consulting system for interactive provision of knowledge and scientifically sound answers to the client in rural tourism. The research is carried out on the basis of methods of system analysis, SWOT-analysis, monographic method, as well as statistical and sociological research, economic and mathematical modeling. The scientific novelty of the work is the deepening of organizational and consulting proposals for the provision of interactive educational and informational support in rural tourism. As a result, created an interactive educational and information support system based on the optimal combination of computer hardware, computer networks, software, operating systems and databases, which are aimed at the accumulation, storage and transmission of large amounts of information for processing and use. The importance of creating educational and information systems in rural tourism with the use of interactive consultations with the necessary recommendations to quickly meet customer needs is emphasized. The variety of types of rural tourism and forms of accommodation complicates the search for a place to rest, which indicates the need to improve methods of information support in this area. The prospect of using an interactive consulting system of educational and information support for the development of rural tourism indicates the need for computerization of rural areas.

This article presents the results achieved in the process of a comprehensive solution to an important problem: the development of the theory and methodology of management of a higher educational institution based on an innovative approach. The theory of management of a higher educational institution, as a complex socio-economic system, based on the study of the causes and general patterns of the development of universities, which implies the implementation of its competitive advantages by the university on the basis of an innovative approach, has been developed and supplemented. It has been substantiated that the genesis of innovative approaches to the development of the system of higher professional education is an example of an increase in the stability of the system in the evolutionary period of development—the preservation of a certain specialization of subsystems, which consists in the development of new, including distance learning, forms of training by operational subsystems, while maintaining the traditions of scientific research. Activity and continuity of scientific knowledge in conservative subsystems. The methodology of management of a higher educational institution based on an innovative approach, methodological approaches to improving the management system of a higher education institution have been developed, a system for assessing the competitive position of a higher education institution, including determining the features of the development of a competitive situation in the educational services market, has been proposed. The made theoretical generalization of the formation of competitive universities in the market of educational services deepens the content of methods of applying self-organization laws to socio-economic systems, methods of managing business processes of a university based on innovative approaches. The inclusion of the main provisions of the theory of self-organization in the management system will contribute to the best interpretation of the process of transition of a university to a new qualitative state in order to develop appropriate principles, methods and forms of its management. The developed methods allow the systematization of information material on the innovative development of the university; optimization of the distribution of funds, promptly responding to constantly changing conditions. The distinctive features of this article are the consideration of the process of functioning of a higher educational institution from the point of view of innovative and synergistic approaches, as well as the formalization of the transition of the higher education system to a new qualitative state with the development of innovative forms of educational technologies and the preservation of the traditions of scientific activity, the continuity of scientific knowledge. The application of the developed methodology will be able to contribute to increasing the stability of the university system by developing new, innovative forms of teaching by operational subsystems, while maintaining the traditions of scientific activity and the continuity of scientific knowledge by conservative subsystems. This will make it possible to form higher educational institutions of a new type—innovative universities, whose activities will be carried out within the framework of the priorities and targets of the state for the development of education as the most important resource for the formation of a new economy based on knowledge, which, in our opinion, is a solution to an important national economic problem.

Gamification has numerous educational benefits, including increased student engagement, motivation, and understanding as it provides a fun and enjoyable learning environment, resulting in high academic performance. In non-game contexts such as education, gamification employs game-based elements such as mechanics, aesthetics, and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, improve learning, and solve problems. Prior research has primarily examined the effects of gamification on young adults, whereas other demographic groups, such as older adults, have received less attention. A well-designed gamification framework is required to create effective gamified learning experiences because using a poor framework can negatively affect student learning and motivation. Therefore, this study proposes a conceptual model that can be used to investigate in the relationship between gamification in education and self-efficacy and their effects on academic performance among Palestinian students and which also takes into account the potential moderating roles of gender and age in that relationship.

This study examines the effect of perceived impact on learning in universities in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. This study emphasizes the external and internal individual factors that affect the perceived impact on e-learning. Individual external factors analyzed in this study were educational system quality, instructor quality, and satisfaction. The internal aspect is continuance intention; This research is a survey research with the respondents being university students. While the method used is quantitative. Data were collected through a questionnaire. This study used data gathered from 150 students. Data analysis uses the structural model with Partial Least Square-SEM 3.2.9. The results showed that the perceived impact on the learning model was accepted.

Whenever we find people differences the possibility of miscommunications, misunderstanding between them will appear; which could lead to different form of conflicts, therefore, Conflicts are unavoidable and inevitable in students’ daily life. So when they happen, leader’s role is not to prevent them but rather to resolve, reduces and manage them in an effective manner. This study aims to investigate the influence of the group leader’s conflicts-handling style in reducing conflicts among students. A model was developed and tested by self-administered questionnaire to the Palestinians universities students-Southern West Bank. The study is limited to the perception of the respondents of the study. The study and data gathered were as of 2020.The study aims to: 1) examine whether the group leader’s conflict-handling style reduces conflicts among students 2) explore whether the group leader’s negotiation skills reduces conflicts among students 3) determine whether the group’s collective decision making reduces conflicts among students, and 4) pinpoint the moderating role of emotional intelligence in reducing conflicts among students.A total of 600 questionnaires were distributed, with 510 being returned complete and valid. Results of the analysis suggest that the collaborative conflict-handling style is suitable to reduce conflicts among students. Moreover, collective decision making and having group leaders with good negotiating skills and high level of emotional intelligence were proved to be factors of reducing conflicts among students. Meanwhile, little differences in response based on various demographic indicators were observed. In order to reduce conflicts among students, efforts have to be put by universities to train students on several management and communication skills that would play a role in reducing the gap of trust among them. On the other hand, future research has to focus on the Islamic perspective of conflict management, and on how to prevent conflicts from happening rather than how to handle them as they occur.

The purpose of this study is to look at the factors that contribute to the success of online learning in Malaysian higher education institutions. To evaluate the results, 352 samples were gathered and analysed using the Smart-PLS-Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. Usability, technological competence, financial aid, and the function of the lecturer all play a part in motivating effective online learning for higher education institutions, according to the report. Except for technical abilities in online learning, all elements affect sustained good efficacy. The result revealed that all direct relationship were supported by the data except technical competencies. The study will help improve the online learning system and the study higher education institution are increasingly adopting learning as both an alternative channel for existing student to traditional classroom learning and as a way to expand their reach to new student. Adopting online learning and associated technology necessitates a considerable investment in terms of personnel, money, energy, and space, all of which must be justified by administrators and those in positions of educational leadership. For the recommendation, ministry of higher education should ensure that student can assess the internet and web where ever they are and ensure this is a the successful factors of online learning among higher education student.

In the current study on entrepreneurship education, lecturers, structured seminars, and individual written assignments are used to describe two major entrepreneurship programs and courses. The majority of these latter courses are instructor-led, with little student interaction. From a more contemporary perspective, it is critical to experiment with and learn from one’s own experiences in order to educate entrepreneurs. As a result, more innovative approaches to education are gradually emerging, including project-based, action-based, and apprenticeship-based learning. Several institutions have launched entrepreneurial apprenticeship-based learning programs in the last few years, primarily for management students. Due to Malaysia’s lack of structure and credit opportunities, entrepreneurial apprenticeships at public universities remain uncommon and thus under-researched. Thus, the contribution’s study topic is how program stakeholders can organize apprenticeship-based learning and the effect this has on graduates’ readiness to start their own businesses. Thus, the technique used in this study is to conduct a review of the current literature on entrepreneurial learning in order to gain a better understanding of the entrepreneurial apprenticeship-based learning component of the 2u2i program. Second, the case of an entrepreneurial apprenticeship program for graduates near University Malaysia Kelantan, a public university with a strong entrepreneurial cluster, is examined to gain insight into the impact of apprenticeship on entrepreneurship education in general and non-business subjects in particular. For this purpose, a case study was created based on interviews with graduates and mentors. Overall, the results will serve as a model for entrepreneurial education and training in a university setting, which will benefit those interested in developing entrepreneurship education course concepts.

Understanding safety culture in an organization can make a significant contribution to changing employee attitudes and behaviors in relation to workplace health and safety. Many studies have shown the importance of element that leads to broad behaviors, or culture actions, that are considered essential to the development of a positive safety culture in a workplace mostly in high-hazard industries, but less is done in the education sector. The aim of this research paper is to identify areas of improvement that can be addressed by managerial decisions and also policy activities in the Malaysian education sector, in creating academic organizations as a safe workplace for teachers and students. Therefore, this study was to analyze the relationship between factors that contribute to safety culture, analyzing through the Importance-Performance Matrix Analysis (IPMA) what the aspects to improve by the management to increase a safe working condition in the education sector, using PLS-SEM. Data were collected from 447 academic staff from Vocational Colleges using a cross-sectional survey by using a multi-stage sampling. Several components such as safety training, safety knowledge, PPE, safety communication, safety rule and the influence of peers significantly contribute to the positive safety culture in vocational training as the managerial need to keep up the great effort in bringing these element in this sector. Malaysian Ministry of Education should place OSH Education as a separate course in curriculums of vocational and technical schools at all levels. Furthermore, legal regulations must be included in OSH Education so that all staffs and students grasp the legal status and importance of OSH.

The aim of this study is to contribute theoretically and empirically to entrepreneurship education to enhance entrepreneurial intention (EI) among graduate students through a questionnaire on our designed educational workshop. Using theories of intrinsic motivation and the investment model, we built an extended causal model of EI based on the global entrepreneurship monitor. The survey was given to 189 graduate students from 25 universities in Japan, and 10 new factors associated with EI were extracted by exploratory factor analysis. With these factors in mind, we designed a business plan competition as part of an entrepreneurial workshop for graduate students and ran it for three academic years to evaluate its impact on changes in students’ EI. Finally, we made suggestions for improving entrepreneurial education in universities.

The national unemployment rate is calculated as a proportion of the entire labour force that is unemployed. It is usually regarded as a significant measure of a country’s labour market’s performance which has resulted in graduate unemployment and necessity of actions should be taken on this matter. The low job placement rate can be attributed to their low level of work preparation. The largest numbers of graduates are produced each year, and business-related research should focus on unemployment. This study explores on Stakeholder’s perceptions of work readiness among graduates from universities in Malaysia. There were 424 respondents where replied to the online survey which is divided by 311 students which is divided to 274 full time student and 37 part time student and 113 non-students. This study utilized an exploratory mixed method design. The investigation seeks to identify the required ecosystem, manpower needs, facilities as well as support system required to ensure the ease of graduate transition from the Institution of Higher Learning to Industry 4.0 and beyond. The study is aimed at ensuring that current work readiness of today’s graduates can be transferred to Industries of tomorrow. Employers place a high value on graduate’s work readiness, according to focus group discussion made by the researcher.

Technology can change the way students learn, become a powerful motivation, and trigger the learning process. This article discusses mobile augmented reality technology in education. Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) is more effective in providing students with a positive, effective, and powerful learning experience. The researcher looked for Google Scholar and Scopus articles from the year 2015–2020. This advanced technology can help people communicate with each other’s senses and experience applications, thereby stimulating consumers’ interest through natural interaction. Researchers have been studying ways to incorporate enhanced environments into education so that students can participate in real-world environments. Related topics of the study are also mainly discussed: the past reviewers of systematic reviews, augmented reality education, Mobile Augmented Reality software development kits, Augmented Reality technology, user interfaces in Mobile Augmented Reality, and the future of Augmented Reality in education. Mobile augmented reality has aroused increasing interest in academia and industry. The real world and virtual information work together to create new educational opportunities. The research results indicate that augmented reality has various potentials and advantages and can be added to the field of education.

The study has aimed to investigate the students’ perceptions of Knowledge Management (KM) and their efficiency throughout the pandemic in online learning. Data was collected from both undergraduate and post-graduate students of University using structured questionnaires. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software 23.0 version was used to analyze the students’ perceptions of KM and its effectiveness in online learning. The findings revealed that online learning perspectives in gender and age varied across students. The bad connection to the internet and budgetary challenges are causing students to not join the online class during the pandemic. The majority of the students are not yet ready in synchronous delivery mode, and thus it is recommended that the University authority can offer an alternative means of teaching to maintain academic excellence in the uncertainties of this pandemic.

The problem of student attrition or better known as a dropout from completing courses in tertiary education institutions become more alarming, especially in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Current research has stressed that one of the critical factors that contribute to students’ attrition is academic difficulties. Students were found to be poorly prepared for learning activities, lack self-regulation skills, weak academic knowledge and specific study skills that could impede progress towards learning goals. However, the reason behind this phenomenon is still unexplained and the evidence in the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) context is still scarce. Therefore, such difficulties signify the needed to understand in-depth students’ experiences and motivations to allow for a better understanding of the issues and challenges faced by the students particularly in ODL learning and delivery. In the nutshell, this study is expected to provide a robust theoretical framework to mitigate dropout risk as well as to offer practical guidelines to assist students learning throughout the completion of university courses.

Covid-19 has led to universities and schools lock down across the world. Education has transformed dramatically from physical classroom learning to e-learning, whereby teaching is done remotely on digital platforms. During the pandemic, several solutions had been suggested in order to foster e-learning. Augmented Reality (AR) is a promising solution which plays a distinctive role in e-learning and has turned to be one of the most interesting learning approach. This research investigated the students’ attitude and acceptance toward utilizing augmented reality applications in e-learning under the “Technology Acceptance Model” (TAM). Results indicate that perceived ease of use, user satisfaction, perceived usefulness, attitude, social influence, environmental variables, perceived enjoyment along with perceived the quality of AR-based applications including the quality of the system, services and information are determinant factors. Additionally, findings indicate that there exists a significant influence of gender differences on the acceptance of AR-based applications in e-learning among female and male students.

In Malaysia, many university students have different views on saving management based on different factors. Therefore, this study aims to examine the intention and behaviours towards saving among Malaysian students. A cross-sectional design was adopted to collect quantitative data from 307 Malaysian students and universities in Klang Valley. Furthermore, the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was applied, followed by an extension of TBP by embedding the constructs involved in the behaviour of saving. The results indicated that financial attitude, financial socialisation, financial capability, and self-control have a positive and significant effect on saving intention and behaviour among university students in Malaysia. However, financial education did not have a significant impact on saving intention and behaviour. Notably, the results offer a guideline to policymakers and awareness campaign to increase saving behaviour and financial management. The relevant agencies should focus on improving financial attitude, financial socialization, financial capability, financial education, and self-control towards saving intention and behaviour for their future planning in education and life.

Leading a public university is unlike managing a corporate organisation. The landscape of a university differs not only in the core business of disseminating knowledge, but university of today and the future is required to sustain in terms of financial, ability to generate certain amount of income, producing high research impact and innovative products that can be churned into commercialisation activities and money; and applying technology in teaching and learning, and work methods. Thus, the needs for a public university to have Vice Chancellors of certain qualities and abilities beyond academic standing is crucial in the next decade. Hence, this research proposal aims to examine a new requirement of a leader in the public universities of Malaysia that is known as resilience leadership. Resilience leaders are referred as leaders who are able to lead in unpredictable environment and be able to cope with the rapid changes within the the criteria and elements that constitute in resilience industry. Since, resilience leadership has not received much attention in the context of higher education industry, therefore it is timely for this study to examine the key elements that constitute to the new ‘breed’ of leaders in managing the dynamic public universities in Malaysia. The study will focus on leadership capability of the Vice Chancellors in leveraging diversity and change to thrive public universities to greater heights. The outcomes of this study is towards development of university resilience leadership quality framework, positioning leadership in the context of education industry. In addition, the findings will have policy implication on the future university leaders, succession planning programmes and measure for effective resilience leadership which can benefit the Ministry of Higher Education, AKEPT, and universities’ talent development centres.

This survey was carried out to identify levels of acceptance and teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of Google Classroom in the process of learning and facilitation. Specifically, this study focused on examining the levels of knowledge, implementation skills, and teacher’s readiness to use Google Classroom. This study was based on the quantitative approach using a survey methodology. The research instrument was based on a questionnaire consisting of five-point Likert scale. The study sample comprised 106 teachers who were randomly selected from several schools in Malaysia. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze respondents’ responses in terms of frequency and percentage. The findings revealed that a majority of teachers were found to have positive perceptions of the usefulness of this application. They also demonstrated high levels of acceptance and readiness to use such an application in their teaching practices. However, some respondents demonstrated some reservation in using Google Classroom, which could be attributed to a lack of infrastructure, technical assistance, and expertise or knowledge to support virtual learning in their schools. As such, relevant agencies or parties must address these problems by providing such schools with sufficient infrastructure, reliable technical support, and specific training to ensure Google Classroom could be used as a tool to create online virtual learning environments in which teachers can teach and students can learn engagingly and interactively.

This study is conducted to analysed factors that influence financial management literacy among the undergraduate students. Among the factors examined are family background, financial management literacy, social influence and personal factor. Online questionnaires were distributed to undergraduates’ students that are currently studying at universities located in east coast states in Malaysia. Using SPSS 24.0, descriptive analysis, bivariate analysis, and multivariate analysis were performed, and the data collected from 381 undergraduates. The results have demonstrated that financial knowledge has the highest and is positively significant relationship with financial management literacy among the undergraduate’s students at east coast universities in Malaysia. This is followed with family background that shows significant positive relationship with financial management literacy. Looking at the results of correlation analysis, financial knowledge has higher impact on personal attitudes and vice versa, compared to all other independent variables. The findings of this study highlighted the importance of establishing financial knowledge to youth and it need to be demonstrated from home and continuously involving family, peers, and community. Furthermore, this study proved that knowledge is the beginning of a person to become literate of what he/she is doing.

This study aimed to reveal the reality of using social networks for educational purposes. The results of the study revealed that the increasing use of social networks and their entry into various fields, including education, led to a change in educational philosophy; So, what is known as education through social networks officially appeared, and many faculty members in international and Arab universities and schools began using education through social networks as a method to create an interactive learning environment in which the student is an active element participating in educational responsibility, and the results revealed that Facebook is one of the alternative means for shy students to be able to express their ideas inside and outside the classroom and allows students to collect and express their ideas in writing before committing in their own words.

E-Learning has been introduced in the economy after the revolution of technologies that increased in many sectors and that has become a necessity in the current period of life specially during the COVID-19 pandemic. E-learning is illustrated in using the electronic communication to deliver education between educators and learners which helped institutions and universities to implement innovative features and techniques in order to enhance interactions between students and educators and make it more flexible in time and place for both. In this research paper, we have examined and investigated the implementation of E-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and how that has affected the E-learning process, explaining the significance of E-learning and specially in understanding accounting. Furthermore, this research study obtained to one more objective that is identifying some of the major challenges while understanding accounting through E-learning particularly during COVID-19 crisis. This study’s design was to adopt the examination of the implementation of E-learning during COVID-19 on the dependent variable which is understanding and studying accounting. The findings of this research study that the E-learning during COVID-19 has been increased and more consumed by many sectors, resulting from the need of minimizing direct contacts between educators and learners. Besides that, there was found that there might be some various challenges facing E-learning during COVID-19 and specifically in understanding accounting.

This research aims to identify the causation of online game addiction among university student. This study tested three hypotheses, namely (1) Relationship between psychological factor and online game addiction, (2) Relationship between technological factor and online game addiction, (3) Relationship between media factor and online game addiction. This study obtained a sample of university students, using a questionnaire survey was conducted on 105 samples. The factors are developed from justice theory. The quantitative methodology is adopted for this study and the result shows that all the variables are supported by the carried out the analysis.

This study aimed to understand entrepreneurship education and the relationship with student intention towards entrepreneurship. In the past, study shows that entrepreneurship education is irrelevant towards the intention of entrepreneurship and there is inconsistent finding on the influence of entrepreneur education towards entrepreneurial intention. The TPB has been adopted with EE and ERM to provide a more holistic study in the Malaysia context. The method of cross-sectional study designed and collected quantitative data from a total of 235 university students through an online survey for this study.Findings of this study revealed that entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial role model has a significant positive effect on ATE, SN, and PBC. Furthermore, ATE and PBC have a significant positive effect on EI among university students in Malaysia. This is an important reference for entrepreneurship programmes and courses to understand if their pedagogy and environment provided in the institute are encouraging entrepreneurship intention.