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Islamic banking contributes significantly to the total assets of Malaysian banking sector. Yet, many argue that Islamic banking in Malaysia does not receive satisfactory support and participation from the public mainly due to poor awareness of its products and services and misconception about the Islamic banking system. It is timely to study consumers’ awareness of Islamic banking in the hopes of providing useful strategies for and assistance with marketing plans. This study is to explore consumer awareness towards Islamic banking products and services across a diverse set of demographic variables.

A quantitative approach was used in this study. A total of 1,000 questionnaires were distributed via convenience and snowballing sampling method to bank customers in a public university in Malaysia, and 817 responses from the survey were used for the analysis. Descriptive and non-parametric statistics were employed to answer objectives of this study.

The findings of this study are anticipated to provide a holistic and comprehensive marketing insight to improve and strengthen Islamic banking in Malaysia.

This study examines the role of demographics such age, gender, race/religion, education level, occupation and income level in trying to understand the issues of Islamic banks’ product awareness. It is well accepted that the consumer’s attitude or behaviour should be studied among others through understanding customers’ demographics.

This chapter examines the determinants of accountability practices disclosure on the websites of Malaysian local authorities, from the institutional isomorphism perspective.

A content analysis was employed to examine the websites of all local authorities in Malaysia. A modified accountability disclosure index was used to examine the extent of accountability practices disclosure on websites. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the significant impact of institutional factors on the accountability practices disclosure.

The results suggest that, on average, Malaysian local authorities have disclosed 42 items (or 42%) of the accountability practices disclosure on the websites. The implementation of innovation activities, political competition and press visibility has statistically influenced the extent of accountability practices disclosure of Malaysian local authorities on the websites on the premise of coercive isomorphism.

This chapter highlights the institutional factors that influence the extent of online accountability practices disclosure of local authorities in developing countries. The findings therefore enable local authorities to explore the best possible approaches to effectively discharge accountability and to promote greater transparency through the dissemination of information on the website.

This chapter contributes to the public sector accounting literature by introducing new institutional factors that influence the disclosure practice of local authorities in Malaysia i.e. the establishment of the Integrity Unit and implementation of innovation activities under the public sector reform agenda.

This chapter aims to identify, analyse, classify and rank the sustainability indices and internationalisation challenges of the footwear industry in the emerging economy of Iran. This would provide deeper decision-making insights into Iranian footwear businesses. First, a list of sustainability indices and internationalisation challenges was obtained by reviewing the literature. Then, a combination of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approaches was implemented. The initial sustainability indices and internationalisation challenges were screened using the fuzzy Delphi method, keeping a total of 14 criteria. The best–worst method (BWM) was employed to weigh and rank the criteria. The interpretive structural modelling (ISM) technique and cross-impact matrix applied in MICMAC were employed to visualise the conceptual model based on the levels and classification of the important criteria for the internationalisation of the Iranian footwear industry. The 14 criteria were demonstrated to be important in internationalisation. The most critical sustainability indices were reducing hazardous substances in leather tanning and labour education and training. In contrast, exchange rate instability in Iran’s economy and strict chemical regulations for clothing and footwear were found to be the most important internationalisation challenges. Hence, these criteria should be considered in the internationalisation strategies of the Iranian footwear industry. A combined multilayer sustainable decision-making approach was used to analyse the Iranian footwear industry’s essential sustainability indices and internationalisation challenges. Furthermore, implications and insights are offered to footwear businesses for future decision-making.

The purpose of this chapter is to review the risks Islamic financial institutions face in an emerging market context, including risk sharing in Islamic financing and Shari’ah (Islamic law) compliance risk. We explore current risk management practices and establish the link between risk management and the financial performance of banks and the efficiency and effectiveness of financial sectors in emerging markets. Because of their distinctive risk profile, Islamic finance institutions face challenges in risk management. We show that Islamic banking is riskier in emerging markets because of the presence of immature money markets, limitations in the availability of lender of last resort facilities, and deficiencies in market infrastructure. There is also no evidence that Islamic banks have developed effective solutions for managing the risks conventional banks face as well as their own unique risks. We suggest that the countries that do this best are those that prioritize the structure of risk management knowledge and capabilities in a single financial regulator.

Climate change is a global issue with far-reaching environmental, social and economic consequences. As more people become aware of these consequences, pressure is mounting on governments and businesses to implement ambitious and required climate mitigation and adaptation plans to reduce and finally stop making the climate crisis worse. One of these strategies is just transition, which is defined as the call for climate transformation that prioritises the social and environmental needs of workers and vulnerable groups, especially in the context of transitioning away from fossil fuels, while leaving no one behind. This chapter first provides an overview of just transition through a review of the literature and bibliometric analysis. Then, it discusses just transition in policymaking, comprising reactive, proactive and transformational just transition approaches. This is followed by a discussion on barriers to just transition. Finally, the chapter offers a practical example of transformational just transition approach by reporting some preliminary findings from a case study in the coal mining town of Collie on Wilman Boodja, Western Australia.

By employing the GMM and SVAR models in this paper, the effects that bond prices, equity prices, gold prices, and domestic credit have on housing prices were analyzed, using data from 2002q4 to 2015q1 for the ASEAN + 2 countries. The GMM results indicated the significant effects of equity prices and gold prices on housing prices and insignificant effects of bond prices and demotic credit on housing prices in selected Asian countries. Furthermore, findings show that worldwide economic crisis has negative impacts on housing prices in Asian countries. Moreover, Impulse response results indicated that housing prices respond simultaneously and positively to equity prices in all countries except Malaysia and Singapore. Likewise, Variance deposition findings demonstrate the importance of gold prices in fluctuation of housing prices in Malaysia and China especially in the long term.

Introduction: Big data in the insurance industry can be defined as structured or unstructured data that can affect the rating, marketing, pricing, or underwriting. The five Vs of big data provide insurers with a valuable framework for converting their raw data into actionable information. These five Vs are specifically: (1) Volume: The need to look at the type of data and the internal systems; (2) Velocity: The speed at which big data is generated, collected, and refreshed; (3) Variety: Refers to both the structured and unstructured data; (4) Veracity: Refers to trustworthiness and confidence in data; and (5) Value: Refers to whether the data collected are good or bad.

Purpose: Insurance companies face many data challenges. However, the administration of big data has allowed insurers to acknowledge the demand of their customers and develop more personalised products. In addition, it can be used to make correct decisions about insurance operations such as risk selection and pricing.

Methodology: We do this by conducting a systematic literature review on big data. Our emphasis is on gathering information on the five Vs of the big data and the insurance market. Specifically, how big data can help in data-driven decisions.

Findings: Big data technology has created an endless series of opportunities, which have ensured a surge in its usage. It has helped businesses make the process more systematic, cost-effective, and helped in the reduction in fraud and risk prediction.

It is no longer enough to have a technology base to meet customer needs. The competitiveness of the tourism sector is ensured through the innovation capacity that companies can achieve, either through innovation associated with services or through services. The relationship between tourism innovation and business competitiveness in the tourism sector must consider emerging and innovative technologies that appear daily in society. In this context, the information systems applied to tourism must take into consideration the various sectors of activity: accommodation, travel agencies, restaurants and gastronomy, tourist entertainment, transport, among others. In addition to tourism management information system, it must integrate an innovation mechanism, which should be based on the definition of an appropriate business model. The business model that ensures innovation has to integrate design, production, service, and marketing through a new customer relationship, therefore technology must be able to meet the demands inherent in this new model. The purpose of this chapter is to investigate how the concept of Industry 4.0 can affect the development of tourism in Portugal. In this context, it is relevant for tourism that all companies consider the technological drivers of change associated with the concept of Industry 4.0, constituting a technological basis for leveraging tourism companies to a technological environment called ‘Tourism 4.0’.