Journal of Contemporary Issues and Thought

Human Management Competencies of Manufacturing Firms: A Pilot Study from Malaysia

Rajaletchumy a/p Mani — 2023-12-31

The Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0 is capable of triggering revolutionary (strategic) and evolutionary (operational) changes. Nonetheless, assessing human management competencies in Industry 4.0 has largely been a challenge. Thus, this empirical study aimed to understand the employee competencies and skills needed in Industry 4.0. The scope of the study involved electronic and electrical small and medium Malaysian manufacturing firms. Utilising a research framework based on the human capital theory, a questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey technique was adopted to collect pilot study data from 100 respondents. The results highlighted that competencies of threshold, distinguishing, task requirement, communication and language, and creativity and innovation are necessary to gain employment in Industry 4.0. Additionally, creativity and innovation competencies are considered more important among respondents. The outcome of this pilot study bridged the theoretical gap and provided original contributions to current literature. As a recommendation, the findings can act as a stepping stone for managers and organisations transitioning towards Industry 4.0.

Vocational Business Education Undergraduate Curriculum and Students’ Empowerment for Sustainability in Nigeria

Olusegun Ezekiel Alao — 2023-12-31

The prevailing occurrences of youth and graduates unemployment in Nigeria and the need to eradicate the associated crises through empowerment for sustainability necessitated this study. The study aimed to assess the Business Education undergraduate curriculum for students’ empowerment and sustainability of the Nigerian economy. The study answered two research questions and tested two hypotheses. The descriptive survey research design and mixed-methods approach were employed. The sample size of the study consisted of 727 penultimate and final-year undergraduate students of Business Education and 25 lecturers in South-West, Nigeria. The research instruments used were questionnaires and focus group discussion schedule. An average index of 0.89 was determined for the internal consistency of the research instruments using Cronbach Alpha scale reliability. The research questions and hypotheses were analyzed using Mean, Bar-graph, Independent Sampled T-test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Post-Hoc graphical statistical tools, all at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that the Business Education undergraduate curriculum in Nigeria lacked adequate innovative pedagogical strategies that are capable of empowering students for achieving the sustainability of the Nigerian economy. Therefore, some of the recommendations were the practice of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), urgent curriculum review, and the adoption of innovative pedagogical strategies.

Utilising ‘Toh’ Models in Reducing Misconceptions in Orbital Hybridisation among Matriculation College Students

Amal Harun — 2023-12-31

The concept of hybridisation is one of the most difficult concepts for chemistry students to grasp at all levels of learning. Research showed the students conceptual difficulty ranged from their lack of the pre-requisite knowledge for grasping the topic hybridisation to chemical bond formation and orientations of atomic orbitals. This study investigated the difficulties and misconceptions held by matriculation students about atomic orbitals and hybridization. A total of 88 students were used in the study in Negeri Sembilan Matriculation College. The participants responded to multiple choice and constructed response questions on hybridization at the start of the research. They answered the different set of questions but same difficulties level at the end of a two weeks treatment period. The responses were analyzed and response categories established on their misconceptions. The post-test was to assess their gain in conception at the end of the treatment period after using TOH Model. The findings showed that matriculation students' knowledge of atomic orbitals and hybridization was seriously distorted. Suggestions have been made for more effective teaching approaches to ensure better understanding of the concept and encourage active learning among students.

Sustainability and Performance: A Study of Malaysian Waqf Institution

Amira Jamil — 2023-12-31

As waqf has become a well-known and prominent socio-economic instrument across the world, it has caught the interest of researchers and policymakers. However, the performance of waqf institutions in Malaysia has been afflicted with inefficiency issues in recent years, particularly in waqf management. Despite the fact that the development of waqf institutions has been positive, there are still some problems that prevent them from reaching their full potential. There has been little research into the factors that can influence the sustainability and performance of waqf institutions. Therefore, a series of three case studies were conducted with Malaysian waqf institutions utilising the protocol discussion to study the factors influencing their sustainability and performance. Three propositions are revealed as a result of the findings, namely (i) transparency; (ii) governance and controls; and (iii) digitalisation. In summary, the current study has added to the waqf literature in terms of sustainability and performance, which will benefit policymakers and future research.

Current Trends in Malaysian’s Green Purchasing Behaviour in Supporting Green Economy Movement

Trianna Rosli — 2023-12-31

The Malaysian 2021 Budget reflects the government’s commitment to spurring the green economy with the emphasis to drive public awareness towards environmental conservation agenda despite the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it was recognized that contradictions exist between attitude and customer behavior balancing between lifestyle and environmental issues. Thus, the inconsistencies had created gaps between the two consumer interaction styles which would not be beneficial for market institutions and their customers. Hence, it is important to investigate how consumers interact with the representatives of marketing institutions with the customers’ environmental attitude lifestyle to understand and narrow the green purchasing behavior gap for the survival of the business organizations and the satisfaction of the consumers. Therefore, for this study, a newly developed measurement tool, Environmental Quality Awareness (EQA) was utilized to test the assumptions and to recommend appropriate solutions to narrow the attitude-behavior gap. The research collected 321 Malaysian respondents who are aware of and used household technology products related to the green economy. The data was analyzed using Partial Least Square - Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) method. The result indicated that 70% of the EQA framework integrated constructs are supported by the relationship of environmental quality awareness and environmental attitude towards green purchasing. The remainder of 30% of the framework shows a non-supportive hypothesis on the relationship of environmental quality awareness towards green purchasing. Hence, the study indicates that when people are aware of environmental quality and possess an environmental attitude towards sustainable performance, they will eventually lead to trust and purchase green products, thus hence supporting the green economy drive.

Crime Prediction Using Geospatial Intelligence System for Crime Preventing

Hasranizam Hashim — 2023-12-31

Crime prediction relies on significant amounts of various data sources and is analysed through mathematical models, predictive analytics techniques, and machine learning algorithms to identify patterns of crime. To date, there has been little research conducted to examine and extend which repeat and near-repeat victimisation within crime hotspots can be collocated for crime prediction (Chainey et al., 2018). Therefore, this paper aims to identify crime patterns using crime prediction with repeat and near-repeat analysis. This study employed the GIS tool, namely, repeat and near-repeat analysis as the primary methods. Historical crime: all types of data used in the years 2015 and 2016 are analysed. The area of study is Petaling Jaya, Selangor. By using repeat and near-repeat analysis, the results reveal that there is a significant (p=0.01) and a meaningful near-repeat victimisation pattern were found in the study area. The most over-represented space-time range that is significant is the zone from 1 to 100 metres and from 0 to 7 days from the initial incident. The likelihood of another crime incident is approximately 22% higher than if there is no discernible pattern. The most over-represented repeat victimisation range that is significant is the zone from 0 to 7 days after an initial incident. The likelihood of another incident is approximately 78 percent higher than if there were no repeat victimisation patterns. This result also shows there are five local hotspots as prediction zones in the study area. The importance of the study is that it provides useful information for assisting law enforcement in improving crime prevention strategies using geospatial technologies.