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In this advanced era of Industrial Revolution 4.0, as an element of cyber physical systems, the Internet of Things (IoT) has been applied in many different industries; however, its adoption in the construction industry is still limited to a few applications. This study uncovers, identifies and assesses the challenges of adopting IOT in construction projects. The challenges have been identified through the briefed literature review and a survey instrument from construction industries in Malaysia.

In this study, the quantitative research approach has been used and data have been collected through a questionnaire survey for construction practitioners. Whereas, respondents to the questionnaire are practitioners from the Malaysian construction industry. The method of sampling implied is random sampling technique whereby the final sample size is 132 participants. Moreover, the gathered data has been analysed using univariate approach via standard deviation and average index in SPSS Software 22.0.

The results of this study indicated the most dominant challenges are lack of safety and security, lack of documented standards, lack of benefit awareness, improper introduction of IOT and lack of robustness in connectivity. This study also examined that the awareness of construction practitioners toward the understanding of IOT and its possibility to be applied and extended in construction projects and determined that construction practitioners are aware of IOT benefits to improve the efficiency of construction projects.

The study presents a better understanding of IOT in the construction industry and their potential challenges, which helps the construction policymakers to avoid encounters related to challenges and provide education-based campaigns to educate construction practitioners on the concept and importance of using IOT in the construction sector.

This is a unique study because of its nature in this advance era of industry 4.0. Furthermore, it is specifying the latest trend associated with IOT in the construction industry and addressing the challenges of implementation, which is crucial to exploit and take advantage of the full potential of IoT benefits.

The purpose of this study is to examine the contributing factors that affect consumer behaviour of Islamic home financing in Malaysia. The effects of perceived religiosity on property, perceived Islamic debt principle and perceived maqasid on homeownership on consumer behaviour are examined. Furthermore, the effects of perceived religiosity and consumer behaviour on religious satisfaction are also investigated.

Using the theory of Islamic consumer behaviour (TiCB) as a baseline theory identified from the literature, this study proposes a conceptual model of consumer behaviour of Islamic home financing in Malaysia. Data from the 205 usable questionnaires are analysed using partial least squares (PLS).

The PLS results suggest that perceived religiosity on property, perceived Islamic debt principle and perceived maqasid on homeownership are instrumental in determining consumer behaviour, thus revealing these factors as “Islamic factors” that represent the TiCB. Furthermore, the effect of consumer behaviour on religious satisfaction is also significant, implying that good behaviour makes people happier – seeking pleasure for doing well that is blessed and approved by Allah (S.W.T).

Two limitations are available for future studies. First, this study included only Malaysians in East Malaysia, suggesting that further testing of the proposed model should be conducted across different geographies to determine the generalisability of this study’s findings. Second, this study’s contributions are narrowed down to the factors examined. These limitations, however, provide directions for further future research.

The results provide directions to bank managers to effectively manage Islamic home financing services for the benefit of their customers. Islamic home financing products tend to be used by consumers if the patronage factors investigated are considered more profoundly.

This study examines the behaviour of consumers of Islamic home financing using the proposed framework derived from TiCB.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the validation of the ASEAN+3 financial cooperation agreement among its members. In particular, it examines the long- and short-run relationships among the stock market indices of eight countries: China (CH), Japan (JP),Korea (KR), Malaysia (MY), Indonesia (ID), Philippines (PH), Thailand (TH), and Singapore (SG).

The study applied a global VAR and vector error correction model (VECM) model to investigate this relationship using daily data over the period from first March 1992 to end of September 2013. The study period has been separated into pre-1997/1998 financial crisis period (1992-1997) and post-1997/1998 crisis period (1999-2013).

The findings show that the stock markets in the ASEAN region are integrated during both periods of financial crises. However, the markets are moving toward better integration, particularly during the post-crisis period. This is supported by the results of the error correction which indicated that most ASEAN+3 stock market indices adjust quickly within the short run to a shock in the long-run equilibrium relationships in the region during both the pre- and post-crisis periods. In addition, the results of the VECM causality test showed that a short-run relationship exists among the ASEAN+3 stock market indices.

The results of this study therefore have two implications: first, for investors in terms of construction of the portfolio diversification strategies across difference stock markets in Asian region, and second, for policy makers, as the study presents an understanding of financial exposure in their countries as consequences of changes that occur in the other stock market indices in the ASEAN region.

The investors can find the potential sectors for the portfolio investments.

The paper is one of the pioneers to examine the validity of ASEAN+3 financial cooperation agreement.

The purpose of the research was to examine the effect of strategic orientation on organizational innovativeness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, in order to highlight the constructive role of strategic orientation, the study also observes the intervening role of strategic alignment and moderating role of strategic flexibility.

Data were collected from 209 owner/managers of SMEs through self-administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, correlation and hierarchical regression were used for testing the study hypotheses.

Results revealed that strategic orientation is positively related to SMEs innovativeness. Strategic alignment mediates between the strategic orientation and innovativeness link. Furthermore, the findings also established that the association between strategic orientation and strategic alignment is stronger when SMEs are strategically flexible.

Organizational innovativeness is of vital importance for SMEs strength, especially in the context of developing economies. Although researchers have acknowledged several antecedents of SMEs innovativeness, however, it is still unclear how strategic orientation influences organizational innovativeness. Moreover, the study focuses on another important element of strategic alignment through the integration of goals and strategies to achieve innovativeness.

The purpose of this paper is to improve the socio-economic condition of low-income households in Malaysia, many products and services are available, including access to working capital and enterprise development training programs. This study examined the impact of access to working capital and micro-enterprise development training programs on household income and economic vulnerability among participants of development initiatives in the eKasih (national poverty data bank) in Peninsular Malaysia.

Adopting a cross-sectional design, the authors collected data randomly from the selected 300 micro-entrepreneurs from the list of development organizations available in the eKasih (national poverty data bank) located in four states of Peninsular Malaysia. Quantitative data were collected through structured interviews with the respondents from October to November 2017.

Both the length of participation and total amount of economic loan were found to increase the household income. However, there was no positive and significant impact of total number of training hours on household income. Interestingly, length of participation was found to reduce the level of economic vulnerability, except total amount of economic loan, and total number of training hours.

Despite the overwhelming empirical evidence, the findings indicated that the impact of enterprise development training programs was inconclusive. The effect of total amount of loan on economic vulnerability was also inconclusive. Hence, both policy makers and development organizations should understand how their programs benefit the poor households that can be improved through new implementation strategies.

This paper aims to delve into the factors influencing the adoption of Islamic Fintech and investigates the potential impact of Religious Orientation.

The study uses a questionnaire to collect data from 291 Jordanians, using Structural Equation Model – Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) to evaluate the research model and test hypotheses.

The outcomes of the Smart PLS path analysis revealed that several factors significantly influence the adoption of Islamic Fintech. Notably, perceived risk, financial literacy, trust and convenience were identified as pivotal determinants in shaping individuals' decisions to adopt Islamic Fintech. Additionally, the study unveils the noteworthy role of religious orientation as a moderator, impacting the relationship between perceived risk, financial literacy, trust and convenience concerning the adoption of Islamic Fintech.

This study contributes fresh insights to the existing literature concerning the adoption of Islamic Fintech, enhancing the understanding of the key drivers in this domain. Furthermore, it emphasizes the practical implications of religious orientation in shaping individuals' attitudes and behaviors pertaining to Islamic Fintech adoption.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of competition in the Malaysian Islamic banking industry and the market structure of the industry by focusing on the particular impact created by the entrance of fully fledged foreign Islamic banks plus the introduction of Islamic subsidiaries of existing conventional banks in the country (domestic and foreign ownership).

Using a sample of 16 Islamic banks in the country that operated between 2008 and 2015, this paper measures the competition among the Islamic banks using the Panzar-Rosse Model and by looking at the market structure of the industry using the k-bank concentration ratio and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index.

The study found that between 2008 and 2015, the Malaysian Islamic banking industry operated in monopolistic competition conditions with a moderately concentrated market structure. The introduction of foreign Islamic banks caused the market structure to become more competitive and less concentrated by comparing the results that include foreign Islamic banks against the results generated with a subsample of domestic Islamic banks only. Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM’s) financial reform and the liberalisation of the financial system were proven to induce competition making the financial system more resilient, competitive and dynamic. The Islamic banks have recorded consistently increased annual performance with the under-performing Islamic banks catching up on the top performers.

Very few research studies have focused on the market structure and competition of the Islamic banking industry in Malaysia, especially using recent financial data; this study will contribute to filling the existing gap.

One of the most challenging issues businesses face today is seeking ways toward gaining competitive advantage (CA). Although previous research considered several aspects in this regard, the literature has largely overlooked the process of gaining CA via knowledge-based marketing (KBM) capabilities. This paper aims to conceptualize KBM, to develop a new scale for KBM and to examine how to gain CA through KBM.

Drawing from the related literature and building on the concept of KBM, this paper conducted a mixed-method approach. After reaching a pool of items using qualitative methods, this paper developed new scales and validated them. This paper developed the model by highlighting the antecedent role of KBM toward CA. In the quantitative phase, using data collected from both public/private and manufacturing/service firms, this paper classified the extracted items into five critical factors. Moreover, the relationship between KBM and CA was tested.

The results indicate that KBM construct consists of five critical capabilities, including market research, competitive intelligence, supply chain management, customer relationship management and new product development. Moreover, there is a positive and significant relationship between KBM and CA.

The traditional ways to achieve CA no longer work. Instead, success in the existing business context necessitates firms to seek CA through their knowledge capabilities. Previous research did not fully address KBM antecedents toward CA in a comprehensive model. By developing a new scale for KBM, this paper tested its relationship with CA, which has hitherto received scant attention in the field of knowledge and competition.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives (social responsibility, economic responsibility and environmental responsibility) on Jordanian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (JPM) industry’s business performance.

This study follows a quantitative descriptive design. The data were collected from 116 managers working at seven JPM organizations by questionnaire. After confirming validity and reliability of the tool, the statistical analysis means, standard deviations and t-values were used to test implementation and finally multiple regressions were used to test the hypothesis.

Results show that there are relationships between CSR variables, and all the three variables are strongly related to business performance. The results also indicate that the three sub-variables together affect JPM industry’s business performance. The environmental responsibility has the highest effect on JPM industry’s business performance, followed by the economic responsibility, and then the social responsibility.

This study was directed toward pharmaceutical industry in Jordan. Generalizing the results to other industries and countries is questionable. Therefore, further research on other industries and countries will help mitigate the issue of generalizing conclusions.

CSR should be formulated clearly within JPM corporate strategy. The elements of CSR need to be integrated with the present performance management criteria, leadership development programs and organizational development programs, and a champion for CSR needs to be assigned.

The CSR initiatives should be derived from local culture and match with international initiatives because CSR is the responsibility of every person.

Still the topic of CSR is not well implemented and does not have priority by Jordanian companies; therefore, this study may be considered as one of the few studies dedicated to study this topic and create awareness about it in Jordan.

The objective of this study is to investigate whether the institutional environment is associated with the adoption of integrated reporting.

The sample of the study is based on the firms included in the list of Fortune Global 500. The logistic regression analysis was run to test the proposed hypotheses.

The findings indicated that the code-law orientation and strength of the institutional quality are significantly associated (i.e. positively and negatively, respectively) with the integrated reporting of Fortune 500 companies. Firms are motivated for more transparency in stakeholder-oriented and weakly regulated contexts. Thus, stakeholder pressure is more influential than shareholder interest in motivating or forcing firms to issue integrated reports. Besides, there appears to be a trade-off between the public sector and the private sector in terms of ensuring an accountable and transparent business environment. If the public sector does not undertake its role in ensuring a transparent business environment, the private sector fills the gap. The results are robust to alternative sampling and methodologies.

This study implied that the stakeholder orientation of countries fosters the transparency and accountability of firms. Corporate behavior is impacted by the institutional strength or weakness of nations. The institutional theory provides an appropriate ground to understand drivers of corporate reporting practices of firms beyond firm-level characteristics.

The adoption of integrated reporting framework by Fortune 500 companies can be leveraged to alleviate concerns about their social and environmental impacts. Policy-makers in the countries which have a weak institutional environment force or encourage their firms to increasingly meet the transparency and accountability demands of society.

The research findings might play an encouraging role in that various stakeholders (i.e. customers, public, civil organizations and press) should undertake active roles and responsibilities to encourage firms to behave in socially and environmentally responsible ways.

This study adds to the literature by examining the influence of the institutional environment on the adoption of integrated reporting, using recent international data, and focusing on the largest companies according to the Fortune's annual Global 500 list. This study is one of the first to examine the association between a set of governance characteristics (i.e. board size, board independence and board diversity) and integrated reporting adoption.