Vol. 16 No. 3S(I)a (2024)

SMEs continue to be a backbone for the development and growth of the economy in countries around the world. The success of SMEs depends on the effectiveness of EEs. One of the components of EEs that may contribute to the success of SMEs is government support. This paper proposes a conceptualization of the impact of government support (EE component), particularly on financial support and business support for SMEs in Selangor, Malaysia. This conceptual research provides important suggestions for researchers to assess the impact of government support on SME’s business performance and also offers valuable insight for policymakers and other stakeholders to effectively design the initiatives that could enhance the growth and development of SMEs.

The vending machine industry has evolved from conventional to connected machines. Vending machines are currently in wide use and typically involve a remote machine holding a plurality of products or items to be dispensed after receiving money from a purchaser. The industry has gone beyond just delivering snacks and is developing new and sophisticated retail solutions for both large and small companies. In this study, a qualitative inquiry was conducted in one of the branch universities of the largest public universities in Malaysia. A total of three vending machine entrepreneurs were qualitatively interviewed individually. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed to find a common theme. As a result, three challenges were identified: using a lot of paper, being time-consuming, and having no alert process. Contract renewal is significant and should not be taken for granted and it is a far-sighted move for a business manager to use the most efficient process from start to end. The respondent agreed that the current renewal process is redundant and time-consuming. Therefore, the researchers proposed to all the parties to reduce the hassle of renewing the contract. Based on this research, the authority department in public or private universities can develop an innovation in monitoring systems to improve the process. The results can provide suitable coping strategies for business owners to have the best practices for a contract renewal mechanism.

This study investigates the impact of visual stimuli on consumer emotions and purchase behaviour in online shopping environments, using the Pleasure, Arousal, and Dominance (P-A-D) model as a theoretical framework. It investigates how visual aspects, including website aesthetics, product photography, and design complexity, influence consumer pleasure, arousal, and dominance, ultimately influencing purchase intentions. Visually appealing and well-planned visual material makes consumers feel better, increasing engagement and the likelihood of purchasing. Furthermore, it discovers that increased arousal can lead to impulsive purchasing behaviours, yet a sense of power or control increases consumer confidence and satisfaction. The study emphasises the necessity of combining visual and experiential aspects to create immersive online buying experiences. Theoretical implications recommend a more in-depth analysis of the P-A-D model's applicability in e-commerce. In contrast, managerial implications assert visual design optimisation to improve consumer interactions and sales.

Tourism is an important sector that contributes to the countries’ economies. Tourism has a direct relationship with other industries such as hotels, transportation, and retail as tourists who come to the country will spend their money on these categories. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism industry was badly affected and so did the other related industries. Now, people are back visiting attractive places, staying in hotels during their visits, and spending money on food and other items. However, little is known about why people are attracted to visit some places or countries and not others. The study is meant to investigate the factors that lead to tourist satisfaction when they visit a country. A total of 150 respondents answered the survey that was distributed to students, and public and private sector employees in Malaysia through an online platform. The results indicated that accommodation, tourism products and host attitudes were significant in leading to tourist satisfaction. While price was not a significant predictor of tourist satisfaction. The practical and theoretical implications of the study are discussed at length in this paper.

Inclusive education for people with disabilities is gaining importance globally, with improving factors that support the inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education as a key objective. This study explores how societal and environmental factors shape perceptions of disability, rather than viewing it solely as an individual limitation. A non-probability convenience sampling method was employed, involving 279 university students from six different faculties. Data were analyzed through frequency distribution and SPSS to examine the attitudes of non-disabled students toward the inclusion of their disabled peers in higher education. The findings reveal that environmental barriers are strongly associated with the attitudes of nondisabled students toward their peers with disabilities (r = .693, p < .01), indicating that these barriers significantly impact how students perceive and interact with those who have impairments. The non-disabled students identified specific environmental factors that either support or hinder the inclusion of disabled students in university settings. This research highlights the need for addressing environmental obstacles to foster a more inclusive and supportive educational environment for all students.

The takaful industry, a sector that is guided by Shariah-compliant principles, is progressively investigating cutting-edge technologies to improve service delivery and operational efficiency. This study investigates the influence of social factors and facilitating conditions on the intention to adopt drone technology within the Takaful sector in Malaysia and Indonesia. A quantitative research design was employed, with data collected from 68 Takaful professionals. The results were analyzed using correlation and regression techniques. The findings revealed that social influence and facilitating conditions significantly impact behavior intention, while performance and effort expectancy were found to be less important. Additionally, the study integrates Maqasid Shariah principles, ensuring that the adoption of drone technology aligns with Islamic ethical considerations. The study also urges more investigation to investigate the generalisability of these results over many cultural and legal environments as well as the possible impact of developing technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain on the sector.

Transportation is essential for facilitating movement and contributing to economic development. This study aims to measure student satisfaction with public transportation mobility at UiTM Puncak Alam. Understanding the level of satisfaction derived from transportation services is crucial for enhancing student experiences. The main focus of this research is to identify the factors influencing student satisfaction with public transport services, specifically examining reliability, convenience, frequency, and safety in UiTM Puncak Alam. A correlation study was conducted to explore the relationships between these factors and student satisfaction. The research utilized a non-probability convenience sampling method, distributing a questionnaire to 217 students from the Faculty of Business and Management. Data collection occurred over three months, from October 2022 to December 2022, using online questionnaires. The findings indicate that comfort, frequency, and safety significantly influenced student satisfaction. Numerous students expressed their dissatisfaction with the old buses, inconsistent service schedules, and safety issues. These elements were discovered to influence students' selection of public transportation and their overall contentment. The research also highlighted concerns like bus conditions, driver behavior, and punctuality, all of which affect student satisfaction and academic achievement. Based on these findings, the study suggests increasing the bus fleet, enhancing service frequency, and strengthening safety measures to better address student needs and boost their overall satisfaction with public transportation at UiTM Puncak Alam.

When the world was hit by COVID-19, everything changed, especially the norms and regular everyday activities. Through the previous implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO), Malaysians have now developed a habitual behavior of using the internet to casually engage in their daily routines, ranging from using e-commerce to buy necessities to using the Internet to book a health-related appointment with a clinic. In other words, they are now more comfortable engaging with others through a more convenient way of using the Internet as their main platform of communication. This descriptive research has applied a crosssectional approach where it was to determine the relationship between health communication competence and electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) among internet users in Malaysia. This study has selected the required 400 respondents through quota sampling where each of the four regions of Malaysia was represented by 100 samples. The instrument used for this study was a set of questionnaires consisting of three sections, starting from the demographic background, health communication competence and electronic word of mouth. The findings from the descriptive analysis have indicated that Malaysian internet users have fair health communication competence and correlational analysis findings have demonstrated that health communication competence and its components of adherence in communication, critical and participative communication, and active disease-related communication have significant relationships with the dependent variable. Nonetheless, the results from the multiple regression analysis have found that critical and participative communication was the sole and strongest predictor of electronic word of mouth in health information sharing. This research has fulfilled all three objectives and the findings have supported the four hypotheses formulated. Therefore, given the fact that there was scarce research conducted on this study, it will serve as a promising point to further explore the two variables involved.

Bus service around the campus is essential for the movement of students to undergo academic and co-curricular activities. Student satisfaction with the quality of the bus service provided needs to be considered. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between empathy, perceived value, reliability and timeliness and also to examine the greatest predictors among all four variables towards student satisfaction with the quality of bus services at UiTM Cawangan Selangor. In total, 200 undergraduate university students took part in the research as survey respondents. The SPSS version 29 was used to analyze the data. The findings from the analysis revealed that empathy, perceived value, reliability and timeliness were found significantly correlated with student satisfaction. In addition, the reliability was highly significant in determining student satisfaction. The practical and theoretical implications of understanding the characteristics of empathy, perceived value, reliability and timeliness will make university administrators and service providers more concerned with student satisfaction to improve the quality of bus services provided. In addition, the results of this study also aim to provide insights that can be taken into action by the parties concerned in improving service delivery and the overall student experience.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of the digital era, organizations are grappling with the imperative to cultivate and harness digital competencies among their workforce to remain competitive. The 12th Malaysia Plan Mid-Term Review (12MP MTR), under one of the 17 Big Bold Measures calls for strengthening sectors and industries with high growth and high value (HGHV). The call to focus on Global Business Services (GBS), identified as one of the strategic industries on the digital competencies of its future work talent is deemed imperative in producing a future agile workforce. The advent of emerging technologies and the increasing interdependence of various industries on digital platforms necessitate a future workforce that embodies agility in adapting to change. This problem statement delves into the pressing issues surrounding digital competencies and the imperative for a future workforce model characterized by agility. Hence, the main objective of this study is to explore a Digital Competency Model for the Malaysian future agile workforce. Academics and practitioners could also refer to this study to enhance their knowledge of digital competencies and workforce agility using a smart organization perspective.