The effect of intellectual capital and shariah supervisory boards on social performance of Islamic banks

This study examined Islamic banks' social performance by considering Intellectual Capital (IC) and Shariah Supervisory Boards (SSB) as antecedents. More specifically, it examined the antecedents that can exert the role of IC and governance mechanism of SSB in enhancing Islamic banks’ social performance. Therefore, this study empirically analyzed the effect of IC and SSB on social performance in Indonesian Islamic banks with a sample of 14 Islamic banks throughout the period 2008-2019. To test the research hypotheses, panel data regression model analysis was applied. The results did not establish a positive impact of intellectual capital on the banks’ social performance. This result indicated that the size of intellectual capital might not lead to better social performance. This outcome may be due to IC still being the focus of financial performance such that it has not been utilized to optimize the social performance of Islamic banks. The results also showed that SSBs have a positive effect on social performance. It can be concluded that Supervisory Boards could monitor the social activities conducted by Islamic banks, leading to an improvement in the activities. This study helps to bolster the understanding of the role of IC and SSB governance in enhancing the social performance function of Islamic banks.

When tax practitioners file their personal tax returns: Do attitude, social norms, and perceptual control matter?

Tax revenue is a key source of income for most countries in the world. To maximize tax revenue, it is critical that taxpayers comply with relevant tax laws particularly in a self-assessment filing system. Alas, many countries are still grappling with tax evasion or even tax avoidance issue. A key challenge is tax compliance behavior remains a complex and perplexing topic. While a lack of tax knowledge is pertinently attributable to unintentional non-compliance, the causes of intentional non-compliance are far from clear. This study aims to investigate the factors associated with intentional tax non-compliance by ruling out the variation in tax knowledge explanation. In so doing, this study employs a sample of respondents deemed conversant with tax knowledge. More specifically, this study surveys 104 tax practitioners in Malaysia using a convenience sampling technique and utilizes the theories of planned behavior and free trait to explore how they behave when filing their personal tax returns. The findings suggest only subjective norms is significantly linked to their tax compliance behavior. This study extends the literature on the role of individual factors on tax compliance behaviour among tax practitioners acting in a different persona.

The effect of leadership style and innovation capital on SMEs sustainability performance from a managerial perspective

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face various challenges in sustaining their operations in the global business competition. In line with the resource-based view (RBV), SMEs need to utilize their available assets, including the right leadership style and innovative initiatives, to create a competitive pursuit of sustainability performance. An effective leadership style should be adaptable and flexible, manifesting in different scenarios of varying leadership behaviors. Meanwhile, innovation capital is a valuable asset that may help businesses create value in today's economy and encourage employees to be more creative. However, there has been little empirical research on the impact of leadership styles and innovative capital on sustainability performance from the emerging economies perspective. Hence, this study aimed to test the relationship between innovation capital, leadership styles, and sustainability performance of SMEs. Data were collected from 111 SMEs in Malaysia and analyzed using IBM SPSS. The results revealed that leadership styles and innovation capital have significant positive relationships with sustainability performance. This study contributes to the literature on the sustainability performance of SMEs and helps leaders strategize the appropriate leadership approaches and innovation capital to achieve sustainable performance.

Halal food certification and business excellence: A conceptual paper

The crux of this paper is to hypothesize that Halal food certification improves business excellence, by way of a conceptual framework highlighting the connectivity between both elements. There have been numerous studies focusing on Halal food certification and business excellence along different perspectives, yet there is a scarcity of research that explicitly studied both aspects together. As far as the methodological approach is concerned, analysis of various secondary sources related with the keywords and topic has been adopted. The paper takes the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) model as the groundwork for discussion within the Halal food sector. Based on the literature review, it is propounded that Halal food certification can boost business excellence on the grounds of ethical leadership, holistic strategic thinking and planning, enhanced people management, fortified B2B partnership, effective logistics and supply chain management, and maximised accrued results (customer, people, society and business). The theoretical foundation of this study can support further in-depth research on both elements, and given its conceptual nature, the framework should be empirically tested.

Voluntary and compulsory integrated reporting: Evidence on reporting quality

This study investigates the quality of Integrated Report (IR) in the voluntary and compulsory setting. This study's first objective is to measure IR disclosure quality and assess whether companies comply with the 2013 IR framework. The second objective is to examine whether there is any difference in reporting quality between the IR's compulsory regime and voluntary regime. A sample of 120 international companies listed on the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) websites throughout three years (2014-2016) is selected based on the availability of all data for the analysis. A Total Integrated Reporting Disclosure Quality (TIRDQ) index is self-constructed through quantitative content analysis. The finding shows that the quality of IR improved from the year 2014 to 2016. There is no significant difference in the reporting quality between mandatory and voluntary IR. The findings have implications for policy setters who have mandated or are considering mandating IR.

Environmental management practices in the SME hospitality industry: Mediating impact of managers' commitment to institutional pressures and EMS implementation.

Despite the growing concern for Environmental Management Systems (EMS) in the hospitality industry, the relationship between institutional pressures and environmental management implementation is rarely examined in the small- and medium-scale enterprise hotels (SMEHs) context. Concerning the impact of tourism activities on the environment has been increasing; unfortunately, many hotels are unwilling to develop an EMS, probably due to a lack of resources and knowledge. Little attention has been devoted, especially among the SMEHs in Malaysia. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of institutional pressures on the SMEH environmental management implementation in addition to determining the manager’s commitment as mediating factor. Quantitative research was conducted in this study to establish how managers deal with specific situations using the environmental management system. A total of 313 managers were randomly selected from a total of 1695 registered SMEHs in Malaysia. The results were analyzed using Partial Lease Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) software version 3.2.8 to validate the proposed model and Bootstrapping test to determine the mediation effects of the manager’s perceived benefits and commitment. The initial observation suggested that the majority of the managers implemented the environmental management system were due to regulatory pressures and customer’s pressures. Meanwhile, a smaller group of managers were also keen on the EMS implementation due to their attributes in which they are well aware of the benefits of the system. However, the business owners were found to have relatively low engagement with the environmental agenda. This research aims to contribute to the management and operation advancement towards developing thinking, practice and research within the SMEH industry in Malaysia. Therefore, the findings of this study could provide a framework for assessing existing SMEH industry perceptions and willingness to implement the EMS for a better and sustainable hospitality practice, especially from the decision makers’ point of view.

Non-Muslim travelers influence in choosing halal food

This study aims to examine the factors influencing non-Muslim travellers in choosing halal food in Malaysia. This study used judgmental sampling, and about 384 are randomly selected but only applicable to local non-Muslim travellers. Questionnaires were distributed to respondents at five Malay delicacy restaurants in Kuala Lumpur and were used for data analysis. The statistical analysis for social science (SPSS) was used to analyse and interpret. Regression results show a significant positive relationship between factors of food assurance, acculturation and personality traits in influencing non-Muslim travellers choosing halal food. Of these three factors, food assurance proved to have the most significant impact on halal food choice. The implications and limitations of the study are also discussed.

Factors influencing Nigerians to invest in Sukuk for infrastructure development

This study investigates the factors influencing the intention to invest in Sukuk towards infrastructural development in Nigeria. The study used a quantitative research approach and obtained data through survey method and online questionnaires. Data were obtained in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, from 163 investors and potential investors in Sukuk. The result revealed that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and religiosity have a positive significant relationship with intention to invest in Sukuk. In addition, the finding of the study revealed that the amount of information has a negative significant relationship with intention to invest in Sukuk. Therefore, the result of this study may help Sukuk issuers in identifying the factors that influence the intention to invest in Sukuk among the potential investors. This study contributes to the Islamic financial institutions by confirming the factors that may influence the intention of Nigerian to invest in Sukuk for infrastructural development.

Determinants of Indonesian Muslim consumers’ willingness to pay for Taiwanese snacks

Indonesia is a country that has enormous market potential in terms of the halal food industry. The government has been attracting foreign food manufacturers to venture into the country's market; this includes snacks from Taiwan, one of them being Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks. The public has been highly critical of Shihlin's food products of late due to doubts about its halal status and compliance with halal standards in manufacturing and supply chain activities. The company responded to the public's concern by obtaining the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) halal certification, increasing prices and affecting consumers' willingness to pay. In the form of a case study, this research aims to analyse the factors that influence Muslim consumers' willingness to pay for Taiwanese snacks in Indonesia, specifically Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks. A total of 326 Indonesian Muslims took part in our survey, which data was analysed using SmartPLS. The study results revealed that animal slaughter, halal logos, price consciousness, food quality, and religious commitment positively influence Muslim consumers' willingness to pay for the snacks. The findings can benefit halal food companies in formulating strategies to guarantee consistent compliance of the halal standards in the manufacturing processes. Besides, we urge halal food regulators to provide better clarity in developing the halal and tayyib food criteria to earn better trust and confidence from Muslim consumers.

Mobile payment and e-wallet adoption in emerging economies: A systematic literature review

Against the backdrop of greater smartphone and internet penetration across the emerging markets, electronic wallet (e-wallet) has emerged as a reliable and well-known digital payment method. The main purpose of this paper is to review the growing volume of studies on e-wallet adoption in this region. E-wallet is widely used worldwide, but it has yet to become mainstream in developing countries, including Malaysia. Hence, scholars have conducted numerous studies on e-wallet use, but there seems to be a lack of consensus on the predictors influencing its adoption. This study examines these publications to analyze the potential research gaps, offer a multi-stakeholder eco-system framework and make recommendations for future research. We retrieved scholarly articles on E-Wallet adoption published from 2016-2021 through the Google Scholar and Scopus database. After the screening process in which some papers were excluded, 77 previous studies were reviewed regarding the methodology, findings and adaptation of theories/models. Considering that a large portion of the studies are grounded based on the technology acceptance framework and typically involved drivers and enablers, we call for a distinct approach that draws in other factors into the equation. For instance, future research may divulge the inhibitors to E-wallet adoption and incorporate the external environment and consumer psychological factors as potential predictors.