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In 2015, Bursa Malaysia Berhad (BMB) issued the first edition of the Sustainability Reporting Guide (SRG 1.0) to aid Malaysian public listed companies (PLCs) in preparing corporate social responsibility reporting (CSRR). After receiving users' commentaries, BMB issued the second edition of SRG (SRG 2.0) in 2018. Given the major amendments in CSRR regulatory guidelines, there is a need to analyze the readability of CSRR in light of the new guide and to investigate the combined effects of SRG 2.0 and the assurance of CSR information on the readability of CSRR.

This study employs two readability indices to compare the readability of CSRR ex-ante and ex-post the implementation of SRG 2.0 across a sample of Malaysian PLCs that maintained their market capitalization among the top 100 companies.

The practical findings of the multivariate regression revealed that the readability of CSRR is reduced after the introduction of SRG 2.0. Meanwhile, the readability of CSRR is positively influenced by combining the effect of SRG 2.0 and CSRR assurance.

This study provides empirical evidence that the amendment to CSRR has made CSR reports more challenging to read and thus reduces their communicative value. Therefore, in their quest to mandate more CSRR information from companies, regulators might need to consider advocating that such data is reported in a readable manner. This study also shows the influential role of CSR information assurance in enhancing the readability of CSRR.

This study helps assess the readability of CSRR among Malaysian companies after the adoption of SRG 2.0. It also contributes to the literature on CSRR, as the readability of such reporting within the context of Malaysia has not been widely examined in previous studies.

This paper aims to examine the extent of ethical values information disclosure on the top 100 Malaysian and Indonesian companies’ annual reports using coercive isomorphism under the institutional theory.

Using the content analysis, the presence or exclusion of ethical values information disclosed on 100 Malaysian and Indonesian companies’ annual reports using a newly developed Ethical Values Disclosure Index is carried out.

The results of the analysis found that Indonesian companies on average disclosed 31 items under study compared to 27 items disclosed by the companies in Malaysia. The results suggest that Indonesian companies are more vigilant in the code of ethics, companies policy on ethical issues, monitoring program and accountability, ethical performance, ethical infrastructure and organizational responsibility aspects, whereas their Malaysian counterparts are better in reporting governance and integrity committee or board of directors.

The findings may not be applicable to other countries in the same region, nevertheless, revealed the importance of adequate ethical values disclosure in determining the level of ethical behavior.

Companies in Indonesia are coercively pressed by various influential stakeholder groups to address ethical issues. The less disclosure regarding corporate ethical behavior may indicate that unethical practices continue to be a problem in the Malaysian corporate sector.

This paper adds to the literature by examining the elements of ethical values adapted mainly from the professional bodies that regulate the accounting profession and other organizations using the institutional theory, particularly in two countries.

This paper examines the relationship between the extent and quality of the four dimensions of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) namely community, environment, workplace and marketplace with the long-run share price performance of Malaysian initial public offering (IPO) companies.

This study utilised secondary data by the content analysis of the annual reports and Datastream of 115 IPOs listed from 2007 to 2015 in Malaysia. The IPO’s performance was determined by calculating the return measures under the equally weighted and value-weighted schemes of the mean abnormal returns and buy-and-hold abnormal returns covering the three years post-listing using the event-time approach.

The findings demonstrate that Malaysian IPOs experience substantial overperformance and underperformance when both the IPO performance measures are benchmarked against the matched companies and market. The results indicated that the extent and quality of the community and environment CSRD dimensions are positively and significantly correlated to the IPO’s performance. On the other hand, the extent and quality of the workplace and marketplace CSRD dimensions are negatively and significantly correlated to the IPO performance.

Malaysian regulators could benefit from these findings in their endeavour to carry out a reform process on CSRD to improve its quality. The results of this study are important to investors, regulators, non-government organisations, communities and policymakers. They also enhance the understanding of companies about the importance of disclosing greater CSR information to improve their performance and profitability.

To the researchers' best knowledge, this study provides new insights into the association between CSRD and the performance of Malaysian IPO companies, which is considered important.

In this paper, the implementation of lean manufacturing and six sigma practices among Malaysian manufacturing SMEs toward achieving sustainable performance was investigated. Furthermore, intention to implement IR 4.0 technologies among manufacturing SMEs was also examined.

The primary data were collected from 120 manufacturing SMEs across Malaysia using organization as the unit of analysis. The data were collected using the six-point Likert scale questionnaire.

Based on research findings, about 86% Malaysian manufacturing SMEs implement 6s. Nevertheless, lean and 6s has an influence on sustainable performance among Malaysian manufacturing SMEs. Only about 32.5% Malaysian manufacturing SMEs have the intention to implement IR 4.0 technologies. This study results imply that IR 4.0 technologies implementation among Malaysian manufacturing SMEs are still at infant stage though lean and 6s concept is known by the manufacturing SMEs.

This study has implications for future researchers to explore application of IR 4.0 technologies among manufacturing SMEs. Therefore, there is need to create awareness about the application of IR 4.0 technologies suitable for manufacturing SMEs in order to remain sustainable for local and foreign competitors. From the perspective of system theory, there is an interconnection network across each department in a whole system. More so, sustainable performance can continuously change and improve the system in any organization.

From the view of SMEs policy makers, this study should be use to encourage SMEs to adopt technologically inclined practices. Accordingly, this research recommends government bodies to help support the implementation of sustainable practices due to their sizes and inadequate resources involved. Therefore, the role of government in providing suitable policies that could be beneficial to manufacturing SMEs toward achieving sustainable practices cannot be overlooked. Through proper government support, Malaysian manufacturing SMEs will be able to survive both locally and internationally and also gain competitive advantage.

The main contribution of this paper includes integrated effect of lean manufacturing practices and six sigma implementation among manufacturing SMEs and prioritizing implementation of IR 4.0 technologies to be executed by manufacturing SMEs.

The growing demand for halal products has attracted small and large companies looking to secure their market share in the lucrative global halal market. However, it is difficult for resource-constrained firms, such as small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to compete internationally. Therefore, drawing from a resource-based view, this paper aims to examine how intangible resources affect the export performance of Malaysian SMEs exporting halal food and beverages (F&B) products.

This study used a purposive sampling technique, and respondents were reached out by mail. Out of 517 local SMEs exporting halal-certified F&Bs contacted, 193 firms responded, and only 188 responses were eligible to be used for data analysis. The partial least squares structural equation modelling technique was used to conduct the analysis. The data underwent measurement and structural model evaluation to confirm the hypotheses postulated.

Based on the data analysis conducted, it was discovered that intangible resources, namely, international orientation and marketing capability, significantly influence the export performance of Malaysian SMEs exporting halal F&B. However, the influence of cultural intelligence on export performance could not be demonstrated.

This paper fills the gap of the need for more attention to SMEs in developing countries, especially in the halal industry. This research paper also contributes to international business and halal studies by promoting an understanding of intangible resources as strategic resources for SMEs to create competitive advantages and elevate their export performance in the emerging global halal market.

This study compares the motives of holding cash between developed (Australian) and developing (Malaysian) financial markets.

For the period 2006–2020, the t-test, fixed-effect and generalised method of moment (GMM) model have been applied to a sample of 1878 (1,165 Australian and 713 Malaysian) firms.

The empirical results reveal that firms in developed financial markets hold higher cash compared to the developing financial markets. The findings confirm that motives to hold cash differ between developed and developing financial markets. The GMM findings further show that cash holdings (CH) in Australia are higher due to higher ratios of cash flow, research and development (R&D) and return on assets (ROA), and lower due to larger dividend payments. In the Malaysian market, however, cash flows and R&D are ineffectual, ROA falls and dividend payments rise CH.

The study helps managers, practitioners and investors understand that firms' distinct economic, institutional, accounting and financial environments are important. To attain the desired outcomes, they must thus comprehend and consider these considerations while developing suitable liquidity strategies.

To the authors' best knowledge, this is the initial research demonstrating how varied cash motives and their ramifications are in developed and developing financial markets. Therefore, this study identifies the importance that CH motives varied among financial markets and that findings from a particular market cannot be generalised to other markets because of the market and financial structural variations.

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of green technology innovation on sustainability performance with the moderating effect of innovation capabilities in the Malaysian manufacturing listed companies.

This was a quantitative study and carried out by applying a research survey. The questionnaire was used to collect the data from 204 Malaysian manufacturing companies of the “consumer products and services” sector listed at Bursa Malaysia, incorporating a five-point Likert scale. All the hypothesized relationships were tested by using the partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The empirical results showed that the comprehensive adoption of green technology innovation significantly promotes sustainability performance including economic, environmental and social performance. In addition, innovation capabilities significantly and positively moderate the relationship between green technology innovation and sustainability performance.

The scope of this study is specifically confined to the Malaysian manufacturing listed companies, operating within the consumer products and services sector listed at Bursa Malaysia. Consequently, the findings of this study may not be generalized to manufacturing companies of the different geographical contexts.

The findings of this study may help the top management and policymakers of the Malaysian manufacturing listed companies to scrutinize green technology innovation and innovation capabilities to achieve higher sustainability performance.

This study magnifies and provides new insights into the extant literature by developing a comprehensive research model that concurrently tests the direct and moderation effects between green technology innovation, innovation capabilities and sustainability performance. Additionally, this is the first study to examine the influence of green technology innovation on sustainability performance with the moderating effect of innovation capabilities in the Malaysian manufacturing listed companies. This distinct approach significantly bolsters the originality of this study.

The global cooperation and cooperation between nations at differing stages in anti-money laundering (AML) is critical. To improve the effectiveness of international cooperation in AML, it is essential to diversify international cooperation mechanisms and improve the capacity of law enforcement officers in the field of preventing this crime. This paper aims to provide a comparative analysis of mutual legal assistance (MLA) and extradition within the AML legal framework in Palestine and Malaysia. It investigates the gaps and weaknesses in Palestine’s AML legal framework and offers recommendations to address them.

The present paper is solely legal. The method adopted in this research paper is qualitative research with an emphasis on the doctrinal mechanism. As a result, it concentrates on procedures, protocols, legislation and policies.

The Malaysian AML legal framework offers a clearer and more comprehensive framework for MLAs and extradition than the Palestinian AML legal framework. This framework is supported by laws that meet the basic requirements to support the issues of AML international cooperation. Both countries agree that the absence of a “bilateral or multilateral agreement” is not considered a reason for rejecting international cooperation in the field of AML with foreign countries. Moreover, the Malaysian AML legal framework divides the roles well between the law enforcement agencies and the competent authorities competing to Palestine.

This paper would be beneficial for the Palestinian legislative, policymakers and law enforcement agencies to make international cooperation, especially with MLAs and extradition effective.

From 2000 to 2021, the Malaysian corruption perception index demonstrated a declining tendency, identifying Malaysia as a highly corrupt nation. Corruption in the nation has become a social cancer that has impacted the workplace and political climate. Using Dewey’s (1937) theory of education and social change, this paper argues that anti-corruption education is a tool for reforming the corruption culture of a nation. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to explore and understand the current anti-corruption education in Malaysian educational institutions.

The results of this study were derived from a qualitative content analysis of 20 Google News articles, an interview with the sole implementation agency, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and a literature assessment of MACC publications. Due to a dearth of preceding study and journal publications on the topic, this type of qualitative content analysis of news has been applied in prior studies.

The results indicate that anti-corruption education has been implemented in the primary, secondary and higher education institutions in Malaysia. Nonetheless, the concept and implementation are inadequate, superficial and insufficient. The analysis advises more inclusive techniques for delivering anti-corruption education for social transformation.

Prior research has focussed on laws and regulations to prosecute the corrupt, but has underrated the ability of education to alter the corruption culture. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first journal paper, written on anti-corruption education in Malaysia. This study sets the way for further anti-corruption education studies in the future. This line of research will provide insights for the nation’s policymaking, which aims to create a nation free of corruption and capable of sustaining itself.

The study aims to examine the association between corporate transparency and firm value (capital market effect) and investigate whether auditor choice moderates this relationship.

This study uses the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (2017) data set, which provides scores on anti-corruption commitment, organisational transparency and sustainability of Malaysia’s top 100 listed firms. The methodology entails an ordinary pooled least square regression method for empirical research.

The positive association between corporate transparency and firm value is more evident in anti-corruption and sustainability initiatives. More importantly, government-linked companies have higher scores. Firms with enhanced anti-corruption commitment are more likely to have higher firm value, and this relationship is more evident for politically connected firms. This study also finds that auditor choice is associated with the firm value in the sampled listed firms.

The findings provide implications for investors and regulators on the role of corporate transparency in an emerging capital market.

The study recommends that emerging market regulators continue enhancing corporate governance codes and practices to improve reporting transparency for listed firms.

This study contributes to the growing literature on sustainability disclosures by incorporating corporate reporting transparency, explicitly relating to firms’ commitment to anti-corruption, organisational transparency and sustainability.