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The COVID-19 pandemic had brought drastic economic, social and technological changes in society. The drastic changes and uncertainty in the environment had forced various industries to evolve effectively to cope with the unexpected change and subsequently bounce back to regain business success. For instance, private higher learning institutions face steep challenges due to the shortfall of organisational capabilities. The study aims to examine the role of leadership capabilities and organisational resilience in regaining organisational success among higher private learning institutions in Malaysia.

According to the dynamic capabilities theory, organisational resilience and leadership capabilities are among the highest order of indicators for organisational success. Subsequently, this study examines the mediating role of leadership capabilities on the relationship between organisational resilience on organisational performance. The dynamic capabilities-based framework was tested using the structural equation modelling technique with the use of partial least squares approach. Data were analysed using 120 responses.

Based on the 120-questionnaire survey received, this study found that organisational resilience and leadership capabilities contribute significantly to the performance of private higher learning institutions. In addition, this study found strong support for the mediating role of leadership capabilities to promote performance. The findings have both theoretical and practical implications for post-disaster organisation resilience development.

The work focuses on values that would have an impact towards organisational performance, which is an important factor of survival in an unpredictable environment. The findings are limited by the indicated constraints used in this study.

Organisational survival techniques would provide managers, owners and leaders effective techniques that can be implemented to extend and improve the organisation's life cycle. The focus on organisational resilience and leadership factors would greatly improve the overall sustainability and performance of the organisation.

The study contributed by showing the importance, use and interaction needed from organisational resilience and leadership capabilities for them to survive when there is a sudden change in the environment. The timing and uniqueness of the data during the pandemic illustrates how organisations can survive with high levels of weightage towards resilience and leadership. This research is different from other studies as it had examined the impact of values and resilience and leadership in organisations.

The recent development in integrated reporting (<IR>) demonstrated a potential government tool for decision-making in allocating resources and developing sustainable policies for higher education institutions. This paper aims to examine the extent of the disclosure level of <IR> content elements in the annual reports of Malaysian Public Universities (MPUs). Additionally, the relationship between the disclosure level of <IR> content elements and the specific characteristics of MPUs is investigated.

The study performed descriptive statistics analysis for each component of <IR> content elements. This idea is achieved by examining the annual reports of MPUs between 2016 and 2018. The relationship was also investigated using ordinary least squares, fixed effect and lagged models.

The findings showed an increasing trend in the disclosure level of <IR> content elements in MPUs’ annual reports, supported by institutional theory. Furthermore, RUs exhibited a significant positive relationship with the disclosure level of <IR> content elements, whereas university size and report conciseness are insignificant variables.

The study adds to the body of knowledge in public sector accounting and has significant implications in the industry. This implication is specific to achieving sustainable development goals within the context of a developing country, paving avenues for further MPU reporting studies.

Prior literature proposes that integrated reporting (IR) drives integrated thinking (IT), enabling an organisation to create value for stakeholders in both quantitative (economic performance) and qualitative manners (beyond financially-oriented information). Fraud triangle theory also predicts that earnings manipulation may also affect the creation of value. Thus, this study seeks to provide empirical evidence on the relationship between IT, earnings manipulation and value creation.

This data sample comprises of 497 observations from 2014 to 2018 of the top 100 market capitalisation of Malaysian public listed companies (PLCs) in Bursa Malaysia. This study used an index score for IT variable and Beneish’s M-score as a proxy to detect earnings manipulations and to classify the companies into non-manipulators and manipulator companies. Value creation measurements consist of four variables under shareholder's value creation and one variable represents value creation through innovation.

The findings show that IT is significantly related to value creation, whereas earnings manipulation had no significant relationship with value creation except for value creation measured using Tobin's Q ratio. The alarming finding is that a fraud predictor, namely earning manipulation, measured by Beneish-M, is not a predictor of whether companies are creating better or less value.

This study is among the early literature that provides empirical evidence of the relationship between IT and value creation. Furthermore, this paper adds to look at the association of earning manipulation and value creation.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate and find out the impact of cash flow on changes in dividend payout decisions among non-financial firms quoted at Bursa Malaysia as compared to earnings. There has been renewed debate in recent finance and accounting literature concerning the key determinants of changes in dividends payout policy decisions in some jurisdictions. The conclusion in some is that firms base their dividend decisions on cash flows rather than published earnings.

The research made use of panel data from 1999 to 2012 at Bursa Malaysia, using generalized method of moments as the main method of analysis.

The research finds that Malaysia non-financial firms consider current earnings more important than current cash flow while making dividends payout decisions, and prior year cash flows are considered more important in dividends decisions than prior year earnings. We also found support for Jensen (1986) in Malaysia on agency theory, that managers of firms pay dividends from free cash flow to reduce agency conflicts.

The research concludes that Malaysian non-financial firms use current earnings and less of current cash flow in making changes in dividends policy. The policy implication is that current earnings are dividends smoothing agents, and the more they are considered in dividends payout decisions, the less of dividends smoothing.

If dividends smoothing is encouraged, it could lead to dividends-based earnings management.

The research is our novel contribution of assisting investors and government in making informed decisions regarding dividends policy in Malaysia.

This study aims to identify the negotiation parameters of needs for Halal talents in Malaysia and proffer solutions on the sustainability of halal talents in Malaysia.

A focus group discussion was performed among seven Halal talents from the industries of various schemes. Using the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) analysis approach, a functional model, as well as causes and effect analysis, is generated by the participants. The model is translated into a contradiction matrix to obtain the necessary solutions in developing a sustainable framework for Halal Talents in Malaysia.

The cause-and-effect analysis reveals that poor career path, lack of training and poor salary structure are experienced by the participants.

Having had vast categories of halal industries, this research focuses on nine schemes under halal certification JAKIM which excludes banking and tourism.

It is suggested that the implementation of mutual benefits should be in place to enhance positivism among Halal talents in the near future.

Unlike the social science approach, the use of TRIZ analysis provides a substantial framework of sustainability among halal talents in Malaysia.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the institutionalization process of the performance management system (PMS) in a Malaysian government‐linked company (GLC). The study specifically looks at the changes brought by the GLC transformation programme introduced by the government.

An explanatory case study method is used whereby data are collected through semi structured interviews, document reviews, informal conversations and observations.

Despite attempts to link the organisational activities to the system through the business operating plan, the data reveal that the PMS‐related activities have somehow been viewed as a routine mechanism for appraising the employees' performances and become decoupled from the organisational activities. Thus, the new PMS did not really change the way organisational members view and do things in the organisation.

This study shows that the intention to institutionalise a new practice may not be materialised if there are not enough forces to support the change. The adoption of the new PMS practices may be due to isomorphic pressures to mimic other organisations in the same environmental field leading to ceremonial adoption of the practice.

This research provides evidence to the government that the process involved in transforming the organisational culture of a government‐linked organisation by using accounting tools might be time consuming, costly and subject to resistance. Hence, any change management programme introduced in a government‐linked organisation should have strong top management support, good financial standing as well as a reliable technical backup to the programme.

The purpose of this paper is to help better understand the translation process of the management control system (MCS) of privatised solid waste management (SWM) towards creating a stable network.

Drawing on the actor network theory (ANT), the case of a privatised SWM was studied. Data were collected from all entities involved in the privatisation process of SWM, which include Department A, Corporation X and the private sector concessionaire. Six documents were reviewed, 20 interviews were conducted and two observations were carried out.

The findings reveal that the control mechanism of SWM is complex, involving the interaction between human and non-human actors. Non-human actors include the key performance indicators (KPIs) and the concessionaire agreement (CA), which are the main control mechanisms towards creating a stable SWM network. Essentially, stability is achieved when the KPIs and CA can influence the activities of both intra- and inter-organisational relationships.

This paper provides a better understanding of the translation process of the MCS that adds to the stability of the network of a privatised SWM from the lens of the ANT.

Purpose – This chapter reports on a rapidly growing trend in the analysis of data about emerging market (EM) economies – the use of baseline models as comparisons for explanatory models. Baseline models estimate expected values for the dependent variable in the absence of a hypothesized causal effect but set higher standards than do traditional null hypotheses tests that expect no effect.

Design/methodology/approach – Although the use of baseline models research originated in the 1960s, it has not been widely discussed, or even acknowledged, in the EM literature. We surveyed published EM studies to determine trends in the use of baseline models.

Findings – We categorize and describe the different types of baseline models that scholars have used in EM studies, and draw inferences about the differences between more effective and less effective uses of baseline models.

Value – We believe that comparisons with baseline models offer distinct methodological advantages for the iterative development of better explanatory models and a deeper understanding of empirical phenomena.

Based upon the E‐VALUE model developed, this paper aims to investigate the impact of e‐commerce usage on business performance in the tourism sector.

A cross‐sectional survey is carried out on 165 Malaysian firms involved in the tourism sector (hotels, resorts, and hospitals engaged in health tourism) through the use of a structured questionnaire.

The structural equation modeling results indicate that technology competency, firm size, firm scope, web‐technology investment, pressure intensity, and back‐end usage have significant influence on e‐commerce usage. Among these variables, back‐end integration is found to function as a mediator. E‐commerce experience (in years) is found to moderate the relationship between e‐commerce usage and business performance.

The paper focuses on the tourism sector in Malaysia and concentrates only on the management perspective of e‐commerce adoption.

The results provide insights to the Malaysian tourism sector and other organizations of similar structures of how they could improve upon their e‐commerce adoption and/or usage for improved business performance.

This paper is perhaps one of the first to investigate e‐commerce usage in the tourism sector using a comprehensive set of variables through an interactive, comprehensive and multi‐dimensional theoretical model (the E‐VALUE model) in investigating their influences on business performance.

This paper aims to improve the understanding of the institutional pressures that shape the intention to adopt waqf accounting and reporting. The study seeks to answer two research questions as follows: what are the challenges in the adoption of waqf accounting and reporting in waqf institutions; and how do institutional pressures influence the adoption of waqf reporting in Malaysia. Drawing on the work of DiMaggio and Powell and Scott of institutional theory, this paper provides empirical evidence of institutional pressures on the adoption of waqf reporting in Malaysia and the challenges faced in adopting waqf accounting and reporting.

This study uses qualitative research method with an explanatory case study approach. Data are collected through semi-structured interviews with the accountants of State Islamic Religious Council and Customs of Terengganu, an informal conversation with the Deputy Director of Accountant Generals Department of Malaysia and document reviews, mainly the Malaysian Accounting Standard Board Research paper.

The findings show that coercive pressure such as government regulation contributes to challenges in the adoption of waqf accounting and reporting. Normative pressures contribute to challenges in formulating standardised waqf accounting and reporting, whereas mimetic pressure contributes to challenges in the comparability of the waqf accounting and reporting among the state Islamic religious councils in Malaysia. In the efforts towards the standardisation of waqf accounting and reporting practice, a similarity of the process of the standard implementation or the institutional isomorphism of the State Islamic Religious Council in Terengganu is strongly influenced from the result of the mandate of its Board members and Fatwa council members (coercive isomorphism and religion logic) and minor influence from the normative isomorphism (the result of the participants’ education and profession) as well as the result of imitating other State of Islamic Religious Councils (SIRCs) because of the ambiguity of the process or certain practice.

The study contributes to the knowledge by extending institutional theory and the possible role of religion logic in Islamic perspective to organisational behaviour and accounting development in SIRCs. This study is limited to the understanding of the challenges in the adoption of waqf accounting and reporting but could also be applicable to the adoption of other accounting standards or regulations.

This paper offers key implications for research, in improving the understanding of contextual factors and decision to adopt waqf accounting and reporting. The standard setter needs to be aware of the influence of contextual factors that shape decision towards standardisation of accounting and reporting for waqf.

The interplay of institutional pressures and implications of religion logic provides an interesting approach to understanding the waqf institutions’ intention to adopt accounting and reporting for waqf.