Customer Engagement and Loyalty Issues in Omnichannel Fast-Food Industry

Building on Social Exchange Theory and Congruity Theory, this study aims to examine the relationships between channel integration quality (i.e., channel-service configuration and integrated interaction) and congruity (i.e., self-brand image congruity and value congruity) towards customer engagement; as well as the impacts of customer engagement on customer behavioural loyalty (i.e., repurchase intention and positive WoM). Adopting convenience and snow-ball sampling methods, a total of 151 valid questionnaires were collected and analysed using SPSS 25 and SmartPLS 3.0 software. Congruity aspects play significant roles in influencing customer engagement, while channel integration qualities do not. This result could be attributed to the unique characteristics of the fast-food products and Malaysian fast-food consumers. Importantly, customer engagement influences both transactional (i.e., repurchase intention) and emotional (i.e., intention to spread positive word of mouth) loyalty positively. The findings provide useful insights to both academicians and practitioners to plan for different omnichannel strategy in the effort to increase customer engagement and desired post purchase behaviours.

Can Family Ownership Strengthen the Relationship Between Intellectual Capital and Performance in ASEAN High-Tech Firms?

This study investigates the positive relationship between intellectual capital and firm performance. It examines whether family ownership can strengthen the relationship between intellectual capital and firm performance of firms in high-technology industries in ASEAN. The data was collected from the BvD OSIRIS database and company annual reports from 2008-2014 and conducted on five countries in ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. The final sample used in this study consists of a total of 1,310 observations. This study uses panel data regression model analysis, i.e. fixed effect regression and random effect regression. The results showed that intellectual capital has a positive relationship with financial performance. The result proved the role of intellectual capital in increasing firm finances and its importance as one of the primary resources in competing in the AEC challenges and as the firm's primary driver for the firm's success. It is not found in the relationship between intellectual capital and market performance. In the interaction relationship, the result is contrary to the alignment effect that becomes our previous prediction. The result is consistent with the entrenchment effect and indicates that family ownership can weaken the relationship between intellectual capital and financial performance. There is no evidence about the relationship between the interaction of intellectual capital and family ownership on market performance.

Impact of Leadership Styles toward Employee Engagement among Malaysian Civil Defence Force

It is a fact that organization’s success and failure heavily depend on employees and employee engagement is found as one of the important indicators to engage work force in any organization. It has been repeatedly discussed by researchers in the past years and it was established that employee engagement is affected by variation in leadership styles. Many drivers regarding employee engagement have been identified, thus making the concept of employee engagement clear and more understandable for the employer. It also impacts employee performance and wellbeing as found by the past researchers. Leadership style also play a significant role in employee engagement. Leadership style is usually associated with the engagement of an employee and became the most important driver that may create culture of employee engagement in the organization. Leadership style also helps to drive optimal level of productivity in an organization and maintain employee trust. This study aims to identify the engagement level of employees in Malaysian Civil Defense Force and its relationship with leadership style. This research used Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) as a research instrument. SPSS software package for social sciences version 22 was used to analyze the data in this study. Finding of this study shows that leadership styles have a significant impact on employee engagement especially transformational leadership has a significant relationship with employee engagement. Therefore, from the findings of this study, it is suggested for the future researchers to use the mix method in collecting data so that the findings will be more accurate and detailed and can be generalized.

How Has the Indonesian Stock Market Performed During Covid-19 Outbreaks?

This paper analyzes the stock market reaction towards the Covid-19 pandemic by using a sample of Indonesian listed firms. In general, we document a significant negative cumulative abnormal returns when the Indonesian President announces the first case of Covid-19 in Indonesia. This effect remains ten days (weaker) after the announcement. However, we only find a short-term effect on the finance industry. While the explanation is still unclear, the investors may observe that the economic impact on the finance industry may arise in the long-run.

Cybercrime Threat Landscape amid the Movement Control Order in Malaysia

The COVID-19 pandemic has evolved rapidly and affected almost all the world's countries, creating unprecedented chaos on human lives, physical health, mental wellbeing, and the world economy. During this time, digital space has become an indispensable global means of communication, entertainment, and social interaction. However, high reliance on digital tools increases the risk of being prey to cyberattacks. In order to explore the cybercrime threat landscape, empirical research was conducted to examine the shared experiences related to cybercrime threats during the enforcement of the Movement Control Order in Malaysia. Data was collected using an online survey among 332 respondents across Malaysia. The finding stipulated that most of the respondents comprised females aged between 18 and 28 years old. The result also indicated that majority of female became victims of online phishing/malware distribution [(M = 0.58, SD = 0.13); t (113) = 2.24, p = 0.02] and online sexual harassment [(M = 0.56, SD = 0.11); t (107) = 2.38, p = 0.01]. The understanding of cybercrime experiences faced by the public during MCO is essential to help law enforcement agencies to stay vigilant on issues related to public safety and security during unprecedented conditions.

Unraveling Determinants of Webrooming Behavior: A Qualitative Inquiry

Webrooming, a practice whereby consumers research for products online prior to making their final purchase offline, represents a prevalent form of shopping behavior in the current retailing landscape. This study aims to explore the determinants for and against the adoption of webrooming behavior among Millennials. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were employed to collect data. Data were analyzed through theoretical thematic analysis. Results unveil a number of important themes, categorized based on consumers- (i.e., need for touch, need for interaction, price-comparison orientation, and product knowledge), channel-related factors (i.e., online search convenience, perceived usefulness of online reviews, perceived helpfulness of in-store salespeople, immediate possession, perceived risk), situational factor (i.e., product category), as well as experiential outcome (smart-shopping perception) that arose from webrooming. Considering the limited research on webrooming, this study advances the theoretical understanding on the determinants of webrooming, and offers managerial insight for retailers to deal with this popular shopping phenomenon.

Factors Affecting Intention to Use Food Order-Delivery Feature of Ride-Hailing Applications: The UTAUT Approach

Since ride-hailing platforms in Indonesia provide food order-delivery feature, there has been a change in public spending behavior from conventional to electronic, even on the most basic element, i.e., food. The purpose of this study is to identify critical factors affecting consumers’ adoption of ride-hailing applications to buy food using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) approach. This study uses a cross-sectional design with a non-probability sampling method. Data was collected from self-administered questionnaire, resulting a total sample of 315 respondents across Indonesia. The respondents are GrabFood and GoFood consumers and the food order-delivery feature of Grab and Gojek (the ride-hailing applications). The study employs PLS-SEM technique to analyze the relationships among variables. The findings show performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions positively influence behavioral intention to use food order-delivery features in ride-hailing applications. On the other hand, effort expectancy does not influence behavioral intention. The results corroborate the role of food-order feature of ride-hailing applications in the change of Indonesian consumer behavior. Referring to the study results, theoretical contributions and practical implications are provided.

Knowledge Management and Organizational Performance: The Neglected Role of Institutional Accounting Practices

The study highlights the part of institutional accounting practices in the relationship between specified KM capabilities and institutional performance. A theoretical model was tested based on the insight from literature and knowledge-based theory (KBT). The data collected from a survey of 322 staff in knowledge-based organizations (KBOs) were analyzed to test the extended model using partial least squares structural equation modeling approach. The result depicts that greater levels of specific KM infrastructure and process capability would positively influence institutional accounting management practices and, consequently organizational performance. Unlike KM process capability, KM infrastructure capability has a positive and significant impact on organizational performance. The study provides a new understanding to management and practice on the vital role played by institutional management accounting practice in KM success in Malaysia. The research offers fresh insight into further studies in diverse settings. The research is insightful as it deviates from the over-researched context in KM literature to extricate the role of accounting in the business KM strategy.

Do Individual Factors Matter? Examining Auditor Judgement Bias and Public Accounting Firm Size

Auditor personality is a topic of interest within the accounting field due to the scarcity of research on accountant personalities in Indonesia. This research aimed to examine the moderating effect of public accounting firm size, personality traits and locus of control on the correlation between role conflict and auditor judgement bias. The sample comprises auditors who work at public accounting firms in Java province and the study uses regression analysis as its method of analysis. The result shows that only internal locus of control has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between role conflict and auditor judgement bias. This indicates that auditor personality and public accounting firm size do not affect auditors’ professionalism in making judgements.

Loss of Employment, Lockdown Measures and Government Responses in Malaysia during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Note

In this paper, we use daily administrative data from January 25, 2020 to December 31, 2020 to examine the relationship between job losses and the Malaysian lockdown measures. The Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach is used to estimate both the long-run and short-run models. The results of the Bounds F-test for cointegration reveal that there is a long-run link between job losses and the Malaysian government lockdown measures (both linear and non-linear). The positive association between job loss and lockdown measures shows that as the lockdown gets tighter, more people will lose their jobs. However, as time passes, especially in conjunction with the government stimulus package programmes, job losses decrease.