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The purpose of this study is to describe cosmetics purchase behavior of young, educated Muslim females in Malaysia and to explore its relationship with certain potential antecedents.

This study uses a survey on a sample of female consumers from four higher education institutions in the urban area of Bangi Selangor, Malaysia. From their respective institutions, 150 respondents were selected through the purposive sampling method. Self-administered questionnaire has been used to gather information from the respondents. The survey data were analyzed using descriptive, t-test and correlation analyses to accomplish the study objectives.

The study indicates that millennial Muslim cosmetic purchase behavior falls under the “Limited Decision Making” classification. The classification is due to the pattern of pro-active behaviors exhibit through the information search for details about ingredients, halal clue, countries of origin, health safety guarantee and the benefits of the cosmetic products. Young, educated female consumers adore branded cosmetic items and show willingness to accept higher prices for the branded items. Despite brand consciousness, they demonstrate a relatively high concern on the halalness of the product. Based on the correlation analysis, all variables were found to be significant and the most significant of them was brand.

Millennial consumers are information technology savvy and have access to vast information about products. As a result, the findings reiterate that millennial consumers demonstrate different purchase behavior, which is worth exploring by future researchers. In addition, other latent antecedents such as religiosity and world view are worth including in future studies.

Cosmetic manufacturers and marketers must ensure that their products signal positive images to fit the expectations of young and educated Muslim consumers. Although brand conscious, such consumers demonstrate prudent behavior in terms of searching for halalan and toyyiban products.

This study adds value in the area of halal product marketing because of two unique focuses. First, it examines the purchase of cosmetic products, which are relatively understudied compared to halal food. Second, it considers the perspectives of educated Muslim millennials, who are expected to demonstrate more specific purchase behaviors than a generalized millennial group. Therefore, the originality of this study revolves around the consideration of these two aspects, which are relevant to contemporary business marketing discussions.

The purpose of this paper is to examine potential determinants of halal perception and to validate the mediating model of halal perception on purchasing decision of Malaysian consumers.

This study uses a survey to obtain the relevant data. The survey involved self-administration of questionnaires to 420 consumers and 96 per cent responded. The questionnaire consists of four sections designed to obtain information on demography, halal perception, determinants of halal perception and purchase decision.

The main finding reiterates the role of credible signals in credence items purchased as suggested by the signaling theory. Halal perception has association with respondents’ purchase decision. Thus, it highlights that halal perception is the mediating variable that intervenes in the relationship of a few independent variables and the purchase decision trends. The independent variables such as manufacturer identity, product label, physical product and packaging as well country of origin are considered to be important extrinsic cues that deliver messages regarding the halal of certain food products. The association of the four variables with halal perception is also found to be significant.

The originality of this study lies in its attempt to explore the role of halal perception in the marketing of food products especially within the scope of a Muslim’s market. Besides, this study attempts to investigate the halal issue based on a specific model that includes potential variables and the intervening role of halal perception.

This paper aims to investigate to what extent knowledge inflows have taken place among professional Malaysian workforces and what the significant employee‐related factors of knowledge transfer are. The development of technology parks at Technology Park Malaysia (TPM), Kulim High Tech Park (KHTP) and Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) is the focus of the discussion.

Data were collected through a self‐administered survey to 300 local professionals; and 51 percent responded. A multiple regression was used to identify the significant determinants of transfer of knowledge.

Knowledge transfer from foreign expatriate, parent and peer subsidiary companies to local professionals is at a moderate level. The overall multiple regression shows that workplace learning, personal time management, symptom of replication, adaptation and innovation, and work experience significantly contribute to the transferring of expertise to local professional employees.

The success of companies in today's competitive economy lies more in their knowledge and intellectual capital rather than other resources. Therefore, transferring new knowledge from foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) to local workforces is a basic step for future sustainable competitive advantage. Empirical evidence from previous research shows that information and communication technology can facilitate the transfer of knowledge. This is not covered in this study.

Training mechanisms must be designed in such a way to promote in‐plant training or employee attachment at the parent company or foreign peer subsidiaries.

The paper shows that the success of knowledge transfer depends on the absorptive capacity, the organizational learning climate and the willingness of foreign expatriates in multinational corporations to transfer knowledge. This is an empirical indication of knowledge inflows within Malaysian technology parks, which is a relatively new topic to be explored.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceived thermal comfort experienced by active Muslim women (AMW) wearing hijabs determined by their experience of comfort sensation while doing sports activities or regular exercises. This study also examines whether the casual hijabs which are widely used among AMW are able to supply the appropriate comfort for active purposes.

This study used the quantitative method using survey questionnaires to collect 100 primary data obtained from AMW respondents who are university students located around the Klang Valley region in Malaysia.

Based on the overall results, this study suggests that the common hijabs that are used for casual applications do not offer sufficient comfort to Muslim women while performing sports activities or regular exercises.

The outcome of this study will help to gain a better understanding on hijab preferences and comfort experienced from the viewpoint of regular hijab users. The information will assist industries to consider the selection of the right materials when developing sportswear hijabs to provide better comfort for more AMW in the near future. The method used in this study is useful to gain information on consumer’s profile and value-added details about the discomfort aspects of hijab which are scarce in the existing literature on thermal comfort.

This study was conducted to explore the type of hijabs commonly worn by AMW while performing sports activities and to obtain their views on the perceived thermal comfort.

The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of 2u2i – two years attachment with university and two years attachment with industry – a new learning mode introduced by the Ministry of Education as a strategy to enhance the employability of university undergraduate degree students in Malaysia.

The new mode of undergraduate degree program requires the university and industry to collaborate on the design of the curriculum and development of student training programs. Based on a series of qualitative discussions, the paper draws on the perspectives of university administrators and selected practitioners from the hospitality and tourism industry who are interested in developing 2u2i curriculum and working together to enhance the overall employability of university graduates. The paper explains the issues and challenges in implementing the 2u2i program at a local public university as a case study in Malaysia.

The 2u2i program provides a significant opportunity for industry to collaborate with the university in enhancing competencies and relevant skills among degree graduates so that they are able to excel in the workplace. Some of the issues and challenges involve bureaucratic procedures, time constraints in developing the program with industry, delay in approval procedures of the program and extra costs highlighted in managing the program with industry. Despite several challenges relating to the implementation of the program, it is important for industry to collaborate with universities in designing relevant curriculum to augment the employability skills of university graduates in Malaysia.

This paper explores different strategies for engaging with industry practitioners so that they are able to work closely with the university in crafting academic curricula in the hospitality and tourism field. This is important because it enhances university graduate employability via a relevant curriculum based on input from the industry.

Purpose – The objective of this study is to assess the level of understanding of family takaful among the Muslim community of southern Thailand.

Methodology/approach – This study used a questionnaire as the data collection tool. It sampled 400 respondents who were selected in a simple way, regardless of whether they owned protection policies or not. The methods used to analyse the data are descriptive statistics and means, and independent samples T-testing.

Findings – The study found that the Muslim community in southern Thailand had a generally low level of understanding of family takaful. However, the differences in the level of understanding between those who participated in family takaful and those who did not were examined. The research findings were then found to indicate that there was a distinction between the two groups: those who participated in family takaful had a clear and positive understanding of it, while those who did not had no clear understanding of it. These are significant differences which signify that participation in family takaful by Muslims in southern Thailand was influenced by their understanding of it.

Research limitations/implications – This study was conducted in the Muslim community in and around Muang District, Narathiwat Province, in southern Thailand.

Practical implications – This study clearly indicates, especially to those involved directly or indirectly in the takaful industry, that there are still many in the community who do not participate in family takaful because they lack understanding and have negative perceptions of it. Those who are involved must make the effort to communicate more in-depth insights to target communities, which could effectively enhance the uptake of family takaful.

Originality/value – This is the first empirical study of takaful in Thailand. It was conducted to determine the level of understanding of family takaful in the Muslim communities of southern Thailand and to compare the levels of understanding of family takaful between those who have participated in it and those who have not.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) of integrated quality environmental management (IQEM) and analyze their impact on operational performance (OP) and environmental performance (EP) in food processing Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan.

The study is based on collecting data using a survey questionnaire through snowball sampling technique. A total of 302 food processing SMEs operating in Punjab, Pakistan, responded to the survey. SPSS version-23 and SmartPLS-3 were used for data analysis.

The literature review identified leadership (LS), employee management (EM), strategic planning (SP), information management (IM), process management (PM), supplier management (SM) and customer focus (CF) as CSFs of IQEM. The results of this study found a significant relationship of all identified CSFs with operational performance in food processing SMEs whereas EM, IM, PM and SM were insignificant with the EP in the food processing SMEs.

Although this study has collected data from one province, the Punjab province, it still relevant in identifying the CSFs for IQEM implementation within food processing SMEs to improve performance.

Despite the wide spread of integrated systems practices in the developed countries, little attention has been placed to implement and assess the IQEM initiatives by organizations in the developing countries. Thus, this study identified CSFs of IQEM based on empirical studies and analyzed their impact on OP and EP of food processing SMEs.

The purpose of this paper is to propose the use of Islamic moral transaction mode as a moderator in sustainable Islamic microfinance banks (IMFBs) business model.

The paper highlighted the major issues of microfinance banks in Nigeria and presented an integrated model that will suffice the long-term survival of the institution. Moreover, regression analysis is also employed to examine the impacts of financial outreach on the Nigerian economic growth.

The authors find that Islamic moral transaction mode will moderate the sustainable Islamic banking business which can influence the sustenance of IMFBs and the well-being of the society through financial outreach.

The paper has empirically tested the impact of financial outreach on growth, and suggested future studies to investigate the existing relationships among the proposed model components. Therefore, further studies have the opportunity to develop measurements that will guide in testing the model, as well as strengthening its components.

Implementing this model will enhance the sustainability of IMFBs and socio-economic well-being of the society through financial outreach. Consequently, this study also suggests other policy measures that will improve the sustenance of IMFBs and the society as a whole.

The paper contributes to the existing literature of microfinance banks by linking the components of the sustainable business model to primary evidence of Sharia coupled with an in-depth link to generosity.

This study aims to investigate the dynamic interaction between interest rates and commercial property financing offered by Islamic banks in Malaysia.

The authors use the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration methodology to analyse the short- and long-run effect of the interest rates and rental rates on commercial property financing of Islamic banks in Malaysia between 2010: Q1 and 2018: Q2.

The findings reveal that changes in interest rates affect Islamic commercial property financing. This indicates that Islamic banks still rely on interest rates as a benchmark without fully implementing Islamic rental rates. This corroborates the subsequent finding, where overnight policy rates influence commercial property financing.

Despite the authors’ attempt to provide insights into Islamic commercial property financing, the study is limited to secondary data; further research can use survey information to obtain other details that are not included in this study. Similarly, this study does not cover the operation and financial lease debate in Musharakah Mutanaqisah. Future studies can examine the challenges faced by the financial institution towards implementing rental rates in other emerging and developing countries using a different methodology.

This study is the first to investigate the dynamic changes in overnight policy rates, average lending rates and rental rates on Islamic commercial property financing in Malaysia using ARDL techniques. The authors uncover the research and institutional implications of Islamic commercial property financing rates and provide policy and future research directions coupled with the proposed modified rental rate to be developed.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which macroeconomic variables affect the Islamic stock market behavior in Malaysia in the post 1997 financial crisis period.

The paper employs the latest estimation technique of autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model approach to cointegration.

The results suggest that real effective exchange rate, money supply M3, treasury bill rate (TBR) and federal fund rate (FFR) seem to be suitable targets for the government to focus on, in order to stabilize the Islamic stock market and to encourage more capital flows into the market. As for the interest rates and stock returns relationship, the paper finds that when interest rates rise either domestically (TBR) or internationally (FFR), the Muslim investors will buy more Shari'ah compliant stocks; thereby escalating the Islamic stock prices.

The results of this study are limited to the post 1997 financial crisis period until the beginning of the year 2006 for a small open economy, Malaysia.

The paper reveals that both changes in the local monetary policy variables and in the US monetary policy as measured by the changes in the FFR have a significant direct impact on the Islamic stock market behavior in Malaysia.

The paper adopts the latest time series econometrics technique to test for cointegration, ARDL. And it is among the earliest attempts to investigate the long‐run effects of the macroeconomic variables changes either domestically or internationally on the Islamic stock market.