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We are beginning to observe the growth of Islamic finance beyond the borders of traditionally Islamic markets such as the Middle East and the Far East. The proliferation of such religious financial institutions in non-Islamic and more secular markets has raised some pertinent questions about how these quasi-religious institutions brand themselves in light of the need to balance the conflation of Islamic theology with that of financial economic principles.

The study adopts a process-based qualitative methodology proceeded with an initial data reduction-theoretical conceptualization of the extant literature. This is followed by data display via quote research of participants’ precepts and concludes with a synthesis the extant academic conceptualizations with empirical perspectives.

The findings highlight a framework explaining the interface between Islamic and non-Islamic participation on the branding of Islamic financial institutions in the UK. The findings also set forth a need for consideration of non-religious and purely economic participation in the Islamic financial system in light of branding.

This study derives its incremental contribution by extending the extant academic literature on the branding and consumption of Islamic financial products and services within non-Islamic and secular markets. Furthermore, by adopting a multi-disciplinary, qualitative lens and engaging pertinent individuals within the field, the study provides a rich framework from which to explore the branding of these quasi-religious institutions and the interface between religious and non-religious consumption. This framework puts forth to the leaders of Islamic financial institutions of the between- and within-group interactions in terms of religio-financial consumption and branding.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the possibility of structuring an Islamic option which includes an element of risk sharing as opposed to risk transfer.

The approach adopted in this research involved a combination of a wa’ad (promise) and murabaha (cost plus sale) and examining if they could form a risk-sharing Islamic option. The payoffs were assumed to be dependent on bi-period outcomes.

The paper attempted to create a hybrid risk-sharing option by combining elements of both wa’ad (promise) and murabaha (cost plus sale). The results yielded are dependent on the eventual direction of the market (in-the-money, at-the-money and out-the-money). While the results are not definitive, they do provide arguments for the adoption of a risk-sharing, as opposed to a risk-transfer, methodology when it comes to structuring risk management instruments.

One of the major limitations of this research is the inability to assess the Shariah compliance of the proposed instrument. Shariah compliance is determined by a Shariah Supervisory Board, and every effort has been made to ensure that Shariah financial principles are adhered to in the creation of this structure.

The structure provides some interest arguments in the creation of risk management tools under a Shariah financial framework. The structure illustrates the benefits of having a risk-sharing mode over the conventional risk-transfer stances of most risk management tools.

The paper offers a new way of structuring a risk management tool in Islamic finance. It explores the highly debated area of derivatives in Islamic finance and proposes a new way of creating a risk management tool that involves some elements of risk sharing.

There are ten universal principles of United Nations Global Compact in four areas namely human rights, labour, environmental and anti-corruption, and this chapter will explore the sixth principle of labour standard on elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation, in particular the doctrine of constructive dismissal in Malaysian labour relations. Constructive dismissal is creating a new challenge in labour relation in Malaysia.

This chapter specifically analyses some of the constructive dismissal awards and its implication to labour relations in Malaysia. The methodology employed in this chapter is the analysis of case laws using criterion-based sampling from the Industrial and Superior Court awards on constructive dismissal.

There has been an increasing number of awards on constructive dismissal made by the Malaysian Industrial Court over the last nine years. From the year 2009–2013, the Industrial Court has made 663 awards on constructive dismissal, mostly against employers. With compensation awarded to each employee amounted to as much as 24 months of back-pay salary plus a month’s pay for every year of service, employers can no longer neglect this pressing issue.

The concept of constructive dismissal falls within the purview of section 20 of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 in Malaysia. Constructive dismissal is a ‘deemed dismissal’ if an employer is guilty of a breach of the employment contract which goes to the root of the contract. It arises when a workman terminates his/her contract of employment and considers himself/herself discharged from further obligations because of the employer’s conduct.

With a good understanding of the constructive dismissal awards, it is expected that organizations will manage and treat their human resources as their greatest assets and prevent constructive dismissal claims from taking place. This will eventually help to improve and maintain harmonious labour relations. This chapter is likely to provide insights into the Malaysian labour relations environment for international business operations.

In the context of Malaysian labour relations, studies on constructive dismissal are limited as it is considered as a new area and a specific area of study. This chapter therefore hopes to fill the existing gap in the literature, to highlight some of the recent awards and lessons to prevent constructive dismissal claims from taking place and generally to contribute to the constructive dismissal literature.

In the face of Singapore's land scarcity problem, there is an increasing prevalence of strata‐titled developments providing private housing in Singapore. This paper considers the awareness in certain quarters of certain fundamental aspects of this unique form of property ownership. The particular aspect which this paper considers is the understanding and interpretation of the term “common property” among two important groups of people. The first group comprises those who purchase strata title properties – they are referred to as “subsidiary proprietors”. The second group comprises “managing agents” (MAs), who may be delegated this task of professionally managing and maintaining the strata‐titled development. The findings of a survey are that their understanding of this fundamental term is inadequate. Based on these findings, the paper concludes with recommendations for improving the level of professionalism among MAs through licensing and courses for continuing professional development. This will bode well for the overall state of strata‐titled developments which are not only here to stay, but are expected to increase in number in Singapore.

This study analyses the way various components of intellectual capital (IC), namely, human capital (HC), structural capital (SC), relational capital (RC) and innovation capital (INNC), act as mediators in the relationship between managerial ability (MA) and a firm’s ability to achieve growth.

This study employs data envelopment analysis to quantify the MA of 825 Taiwanese listed electronics companies from 2017 to 2022. The proxies of firm growth are return on asset growth, operating income growth and total asset growth. This study then utilises a three-step mediation analysis methodology to examine the relationships between MA, IC and firm growth.

Findings indicate that HC, SC, RC and INNC mediate the link between MA and firm growth. This suggests that competent managers can capitalise on the potential benefits of these investments to achieve firm growth.

Competent managers can utilise different IC investments to grow the financial performance and strength of their businesses. Managers should continually scan, secure opportunities and adjust their investments in knowledge assets in accordance with the dynamic capabilities view. That is, managers, in general, and operations managers, in particular, can implement guidelines that prioritise IC investments in the future to expedite firms’ development.

This study extends the existing frameworks that study investment variables as mediators between MA and firm outcomes. Most particularly, this study adopts four components of IC for measurement. Moreover, firm performance is measured using dynamic growth indicators rather than static measures.