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The customer experience quality (EXQ) cannot be measured by using traditional tools to investigate service quality. There is a need to use new tools to directly measure EXQ from a customer perspective. The current study aims to contribute in this domain of knowledge and validate EXQ scale by linking it to marketing outcomes of satisfaction, loyalty and word of mouth in Malaysian private healthcare settings.

The authors collected data from 330 randomly selected Malaysians, visiting private hospitals in the city of Kuala Lumpur. The data analysis is performed by confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modelling – SEM – procedures.

The results reveal that two dimensions of EXQ scale moments of truth and peace of mind are highly valued by customers. Furthermore, the EXQ perceptions significantly contribute to satisfaction and loyalty. In a mediating relationship, the customer satisfaction is found to be a positive and significant variable.

Healthcare marketing policymakers should emphasize on recruitment of frontline staff – individuals with strong interpersonal skills and expertise who are able to create a memorable customer service experience.

The study is an original contribution to the existing body of knowledge – generally in services marketing literature and specifically in the field of healthcare marketing with a focus on customer experience in a developing country context of Malaysia.

The purpose of this study is to gather the perceptions of the Shari'ah committee members on what and how they safeguard and strengthen their independence in fact and independence in appearance during the discharge of their duties.

Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 13 Shari'ah committee members from 13 different Islamic financial institutions (IFIs).

Based on the Islamic worldview and agency theory, the findings suggest that safeguard measures within the context of the Shari'ah committee are strengthened by the following factors: presence of competencies, personal characteristics of the Shari'ah committee members, board engagement, role of the chairman in the Shari'ah committee and accountability to God. Based on the agency theory, it can be suggested that the characteristics of the Shari'ah committee and the presence of an effective governance structure are able to minimise threats to the independence of the Shari'ah committee and enhance its effectiveness.

The insights from this study highlight that proper and fit criteria need to be enhanced to ensure the independence of the Shari'ah committee members when performing their roles for IFIs. Moreover, it shows that board engagement and chairman involvement in overseeing the Shari'ah committee in the discharge of its duties is able to improve the independence of the Shari'ah committee both in fact and in appearance.

This study contributes to the evidence on safeguard measures in the Malaysian context, which is highly regulated in relation to the Shari'ah governance practices in IFIs. This evidence could be considered by other Shari'ah committees in different contexts.

Inter-organizational trust has a vital role in any external trade relationship. However, there are not many studies relating to growth strategies and inter-organizational trust in firms in emerging markets. The purpose of this paper is to identify and compare the effect of external growth strategies on the organizational performance of companies and to examine the mediating role of inter-organizational trust between growth strategies and organizational performance.

Data were collected from 240 senior managers from public listed companies (PLCs) in Malaysia and were analyzed using analysis of a moment structures.

The findings indicate that growth strategies have a significant effect on organizational performance. Strategic alliances and acquisitions also have significant effects on organizational performance. Moreover, inter-organizational trust fully mediates the effect of growth strategies on organizational performance.

As purposive sampling was used, selecting only managers with experience of the issues concerned, any common findings are likely to be generalizable to managers in similar situations.

Building inter-organizational trust among companies and relying on strategic alliance and acquisition, rather than merger, will sharpen their competitiveness and enable them to survive and thrive.

The increase in organizational performance of PLCs will have a significant effect on employment and on gross domestic product (GDP), which will have a beneficial effect on citizens.

Studies that are related to these variables in emerging economies are still in their infancy. This study compared the effect of external growth strategies and contributed to the literature in the area of trust and external growth strategies.

Document management system is an essential approach that should be managed well to ensure an effective and faster overall working process in an organization. Hardcopy documents has been one of the items that most organizations need to manage in a safe and secure manner due to the high dependency on most of their working procedure especially in government organizations. Hence, we proposed a new framework to improve the weaknesses of the existing document management procedures in government organizations. Our proposed framework integrates the implementation of an NFC system in this research due to its secure short - range communication, and the peer-to-peer communication capability in most mobile devices. Besides that, most existing government organizations within Malaysia could easily implement such technology for their internal usage as this technology is cost effective due to its availability on existing mobile devices on most Android based devices.

Despite extensive research on supply chain management (SCM), the literature lacks a perspective to empirically assess the importance of poverty alleviation in social business. Using resources dependence theory, the purpose of this study is to analyze to ascertain whether financial innovation has a powerful solution for business sustainability and, hence, poverty alleviation in developing countries. This study reviews the financial innovations offered by Dompet Dhuafa Republika in integrated supply chain management (ISCM) of smallholder livestock business through Tebar Hewan Kurban (Spreading Sacrificial Animals) program to overcome capital and marketing problems at the farmer level and distribute Qurban meat to the recipients.

This study was conducted using descriptive qualitative method. The data were obtained through a field survey, by interviewing two crowdfunding-based investment companies, 250 partner farmers, program managers and assistants, marketing partners, donors/consumers/person who sacrifice and Mustahik (recipients of Qurban meat) involved in program implementation, using purposive sampling method. Focus group discussion was conducted with selected panelists to validate the results of the field survey.

The results of this study showed that the Tebar Hewan Kurban program provides greater benefits to farmers, while increasing the distribution of Qurban meat to be more equitable. The role of moneylenders and middlemen can also be eliminated. Donors feel satisfied because their goals are fulfilled in the Qurban ritual. Program implementers and investors also got decent returns. ISCM is very feasible to be developed on a wider scale, to improve the welfare of farmers or fishermen.

This study used a set of samples of the assisted areas from only one institution, which may lead to institution-specific results. Although the sample is small, the results of this study are expected to provide new insights into the implementation of the Qurban, which will provide more profits and benefits for partner farmers. In broader practice, the program flow is worth considering compared to similar programs in other institutions, in Indonesia or abroad. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic situation, the field survey and focus group discussion were carried out online.

The results show that ISCM is able to increase the income of farmers. Practically, this program can be duplicated in similar institutions, as well as in government or non-government organizations, in Indonesia and abroad, that have the same context and activity.

This study offers several social contributions by exploring how and why ISCM can eliminate the role of moneylenders and middlemen, increasing the small farmers' income, providing reasonable profits to parties involved in marketing and satisfying donors and equitable distribution of Qurban meat.

This study contributes to the literature by confirming the higher impact of ISCM in social business on poverty alleviation. Therefore, this paper provides an alternative solution to increase the income of small farmers through the supply of animals for Qurban or other religious rituals through ISCM arrangements.

At the end of this case study, students should be able to identify issues relating to the external and internal environment of a business; explain how traditional marketing differ to social media marketing strategy and how digital marketing could be applied for frozen food company, identify alternatives to address the production capacity issue and challenges of contract manufacturing; identify and discuss measures that a company could adopt to effectively manage the working capital; apply various business management tools, concepts and theories in different decision-making settings – tools or concepts such as Porter’s five forces, SWOT analysis, PESTEL; and use analytical and logical skills through problem solving.

This case presents Khir, CEO of Mamart Food, facing several challenges in the post Covid-19 pandemic. Mamart Food is a SME manufacturing company located in Peninsular Malaysia. It competes in a frozen food industry. The case highlights the turbulence which Khir had to face due to the production capacity issue. He had the dilemma of balancing between the opportunity to boost sales and the capacity to meet demand. The dilemma emerged during the Movement Control Order in place and was expected to continue in the post MCO period. Quite a number of frustrated stockists over the unmet demand have started to aggressively voice out their dissatisfaction. Seeing the growing number of complaints, Khir had to act fast. Being the CEO, Khir must resolve the tension between Suliana, the production manager and Hisham, the sales and marketing manager. Failing which, it could be detrimental to the survival of Mamart Food. The most effective strategy for Mamart Food therefore needs to be formulated immediately.

This case is designed mainly for final year students in Accounting or Business undergraduate programmes.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This study aims to identify weaknesses in current internal control systems in protecting customer data and the drivers that motivate employees to steal customer data and the impact of customer data theft on the organization.

A case study approach was taken to investigate and analyze internal control system weaknesses. One organization that involved investor and treasury services was selected as a case study in this research. A mixed method of data collection, specifically survey questionnaires and observations, was used.

This study revealed that employees are aware of the policy to protect customer data in their organization. Ironically, customer data theft still occurred despite the company having an internal control system. The main concern was the attitude of the employees to adhere to the policies in place, which becomes the major cause of internal control violation. Employees tend to ignore policies and standard operating procedures, providing opportunities for data theft and fraud to occur, although they realize this will result in a severe impact on the reputation of a company.

The results provide further confirmation of the fraud triangle theory, i.e. opportunity on the possible causes of the data theft and fraud, supporting prior empirical research and surveys conducted by researchers and global professional firms on fraud. This study, however, was conducted on only one organization with limited participation from employees because of the sensitivity of the nature of the topic.

This study provided recommendations that can be a reference for companies and regulatory bodies in preventing customer data theft cases, such as regular training and awareness campaigns to the staff, stringent recruitment policies, close monitoring on the accessibility of customer data and continuous use of advanced technology to prevent a data breach.

This study is original, as it focuses on an organization that operates in the financial services industry, which is one of the most attacked sectors for data theft and cybercrime activity globally. Furthermore, this kind of research is rare in fraud literature, particularly in developing markets such as Malaysia. The findings of this study are inferred from the direct observation of the organizational and employee work environments, activities and behaviors, which are private and confidential and difficult to access by researchers for publication in academic journals.

The main value in a culture of tolerance is wasatiyyah. The fragility of relationships and misunderstanding between Muslim and non-Muslim communities occurs when attention to values of tolerance which need more attention on moderation was not practiced especially in the life of a new Muslim convert community. Thus, the practice of moderation is one mechanism proposed by the government to ensure a harmonious continuation of life in a religious community can be achieved. For that, a qualitative study design was used to describe the current status of a phenomenon that occurs among new Muslim converts. The purposive sampling method is used to determine the applications of wasatiyyah in new Muslims’ life tolerance at Kota Kinabalu (East Malaysia) and Kuala Terengganu (West Malaysia). Although the study was conducted at two different locations, there is a relationship between religious phenomena that occur in the new Muslims community in Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to see the practical concept of moderation in the life of new Muslims and their relation with Muslims and non-Muslims. The results showed that the value of moderation was applied in the aspect of tolerance. The application of Wasatiyyah in practice of tolerance had helped non-Muslims family members to change their attitudes and perception towards Islam. This study suggests the values of wasatiyyah in the life of religious tolerance, need to be nourished especially in multiethnic society when sharing a living places, education and employment for better social development as well as a well-being pluralistic society.

The study was conducted through descriptive data qualitative methods. Purposive sampling was used which refers to a group that has the characteristics of samples required by researchers (Mohd Najib Abdul Ghafar 2003). This study applies the method of in-depth interview with the selected new Muslims around Kota Kinabalu (representing East Malaysia) and around Kuala Terengganu (representing Peninsular Malaysia/West Malaysia). Thus, data accumulation involves new Muslims (new Converts) from various ethnics (Sabahan and Sarawakian) which comprise Kadazandusun, Murut, Rungus, Sino and Iban. Secondly, those are from the Peninsular Malaysia which includes Chinese and Indian. Whereas in Kuala Terengganu, data accumulation involves new Muslims from various ethnics (Chinese, Indian, Sarawakian and others). The result of the interview is shown through descriptive narratives which display the practice of tolerance in the form of supportive interaction from the non-Muslim families towards the new Muslims in Islamic lifestyle.

The concept of wasatiyyah has nurturing tolerance among Muslim, newly Muslim and non-Muslim as well as fostering harmony among the diverse ethnics in Malaysia. Based on the discussion, it was observed that the concept of wasatiyyah had a great influence on the relationship among Muslim, newly Muslim and non-Muslim, as it had a strong link with the value of akhlaq that have been embedded in the Muslim community. The wasatiyyah is the main element that shapes the relationship, and it is the results of interaction with social norms, for it has bred certain social values that include tolerance, compromise, modesty, respect and cooperation as transpired when they (Muslim and newly Muslim) interact among themselves or with other communities. Furthermore, the main goal for the concept is to maintain peace and built well-being in the society as well as bracing racial ties in Malaysia, especially among Muslim, newly Muslim and non-Muslim.

Tolerance is a culture that founded the co-existence of pluralistic society in Malaysia. The culture of tolerance can only be built if ethnic tolerance and religious tolerance is accepted as a common practice – Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The description of wasatiyyah in the practice of religious tolerance among the families of new Muslims is the platform towards the acculturation of tolerance in the societal life from different faith and ethnics. It can be said that the higher the tolerance of ethnic, the higher is the religious tolerance, which is manifested through the application of wasatiyyah between people from different religions. This situation is highlighted in the relations of Muslim, newly Muslim and non-Muslim in Sabah and Terengganu where the culture of tolerance is apparent in the life together. Extensive interaction through encounters, acquaintance and co-existence that shape the friendship, brotherhood and kinship is the best formula in nurturing the culture of tolerance in the pluralistic society of Malaysia. Perhaps, the concept of wasatiyyah may be implemented in the whole aspect of life in the context of Malaysia. It is because the term wasatiyyah has the main sources of Islamic epistemology as well as sustaining the well-being pluralistic society without destroying the differences.

This study aims to examine the relationship between emotional bonding (e.g. brand love, brand commitment and brand trust) and consumers’ awareness and consumers loyalty to conventional and Islamic banking products in Indonesia.

The sample consists of 585 Muslim and bank consumers obtained through a survey study and using structural equation modeling to test the research hypotheses.

The empirical results indicate that brand love, commitment and trust have significant and positive effects on consumers’ awareness and loyalty. Furthermore, as the mediator variables, consumers’ awareness partially mediates the relationship between emotional bonding and consumers’ loyalty.

This study was validated by Indonesian Muslims; therefore, future study is needed to validate across the region and sector.

This study enlightened the bank managers from a marketing and psychological context. The bank managers need to enhance the control and promote their brand and products to improve their relationship and consumers.

This study provided the Muslim consumers' decision-making process by developing and testing a model of emotional bonding and consumers’ perspective toward bank products.

The issue of tax evasion through fraudulent financial reporting committed by companies is a major concern facing the tax authority in Malaysia. As such, the purpose of this study is to propose a cohesive model of predicting tax evasion from the perspective of fraudulent financial reporting amongst small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) taxpayers.

The proposed model for this study is designed to explore the extent of the relationships between the independent variables: family ownership firms, company size, presence of tax professionals, company’s duration in business and frequency of tax audits and the moderating variable, i.e. tax audit officers’ level of competence; and the dependent variable, i.e. tax evasion from the perspective of fraudulent financial reporting. This study is grounded on four theories: agency theory, political cost theory, economic deterrence theory and competency theory. Data will be gathered from actual audit cases resolved by the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia. Ordinary least square regression analysis is proposed for the investigation.

This study anticipates that family ownership firms, company size, presence of tax professionals, company’s duration in business and frequency of tax audits could be associated with tax evasion amongst SMEs in Malaysia. This study further proposes that highly competent tax audit officers could mitigate the relationship between frequency of tax audits and tax evasion practices amongst SMEs in Malaysia.

This study should be able to provide a cohesive model of predicting tax evasion from the perspective of fraudulent financial reporting amongst SMEs in Malaysia. Research on fraudulent financial reporting amongst SMEs is very limited, especially involving the level of competence of the tax audit officers; therefore, this study should contribute to the tax evasion literature by providing a comprehensive model of predicting tax evasion through fraudulent financial reporting using a Malaysian tax setting.