Review of Hotels’ Survival Strategies during COVID-19 Pandemic in Malaysia

The study is about the strategies to help the hotel industries survive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since this pandemic never happens before, the hotel industries are not ready to face such challenges in the business. Since the COVID-19 first outbreak, many businesses were affected and experienced a dramatic drop in the sales and revenue which no exception for hotel industry. For that reason, a study regarding the strategy or plan on how to make the hotel industries survive and avoid shutting down was conducted to help the business which had reached a dead end. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyse the hotels’ strategies to survive during COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, the secondary data method was used to obtain data from recent studies by other researchers from academic journals, articles, and websites from the trusted sources. There are three strategies that was often applied by hotels in other countries which are cutting cost, becoming a quarantine hotel, and having pricing strategy. These strategies had shown a positive result and suitable to be applied by the hotels during COVID-19. The findings of this study can help the top management of the hotels to find the solutions on how to generate revenue and to sustain longer in the industry. Plus, hoteliers also can come out with a new polished strategy in the future and help them winning the battle against COVID-19. Keywords: COVID-19, Hospitality Industry, Hotel industry, Strategies

Factors Affecting the Culture of Innovation in the Activities of Innovative and Creative (KIK) / Innovation Group at Pahang State Secretary Office, Kuantan

The aim of this study is to identify the factors that influence the culture of innovation in Pahang State Secretary Office, Kuantan through the activities of the Innovative and Creative Group (KIK) /Innovation. This study also intends to find the relationship between involvement and cultural factors of creativity and innovation in the Pahang State Secretary Office. Based on the study and knowledge gained from relevant literature, a conceptual framework is gradually built. The sample technique used to fulfil the study's goal was stratified random sampling. The sample size of respondents from the Pahang State Secretary's Office, Kuantan selected is 103 out of 140 total population of the Pahang State Secretary's Office consists of KIK / Innovation group. Descriptive analysis of the data collection found that the framework is dependable and delivers what it was designed for, with significant item-to-total correlations and regression analysis for the dimensions studied and a high Cronbach's alpha value. This methodology is used in this study since it is a convenient way to gather information from respondents. The information was collected using a questionnaire provided. Cronbach Alpha coefficients were used to assess reliability. There were four independent variables and one dependent variable in this study. Studies have found that change management and learning greatly influence and influence engagement and innovation culture. Research in the future should look at how a culture of innovation can be used as a driver to develop creativity and innovation in organisations. Keywords: Creative and Innovative Group, Innovation Culture, Creativity

Understanding Purchase Intention for Different Personality Traits in Social Networking Services

What prompts users to readably purchase online compared to others is a beneficial insight for successful marketing campaigns. Purchase intention forecasts actual purchase act thus is desirable to be scrutinised. Furthermore, in social networking services settings, ample factors surface to observe purchase intentions from the user’s standpoint. While there are many facets to an individual makeup, understanding personality traits could be an excellent interplay in explaining purchase intention. The Big Five Factor Model (BFM) is utilised to predict the effect of personality traits in the aspect of business, specifically in the angle of purchase intention in social networking services (SNS). Personality traits (N=133) from the Big Five Model were found to be significant for SNS users’ using multiple regression analysis. Descriptive analyses were included to interpret the data. The value of this study showed that as a group, personality traits were significant on purchase intention, and proved that different versions of a similar message could be churned in a campaign to maximise conversion. The findings can fine-tune marketers’ way of handling different types of messages conveyed in SNS, and this research empirically investigated different personality types drawing from Big Five Model to understand purchase intention in SNS. Keywords: Personality Traits, Social Networking Services, Big Five Model

Innovative in Teaching Mandarin through Scaffolding Strategies

The arrival of advanced communication and information technologies has changed the method of teaching and learning in the 21st century. Thus, different types of impactful teaching approaches have been applied by educators to ensure that the focus of education is not only to deliver knowledge but also to cultivate students’ problem solving, creativity, collaboration and communication skills. In view of a subject which is totally new to students, they need time to learn and practise the skills learned which include listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, the credit hour for the particular subject is only two hours per week, which is a challenge for the lecturer to guide students in achieving the learning outcomes of the subject and to implement the teaching and learning process. Therefore, the scaffolding teaching method was chosen as an action research to see the impact on student’s learning. The focus of the study was Introductory Mandarin Level 1. The new roles of teachers were applied through a mechanism including self-learning, group discussion, and presentation. Lecturer had designed and created self-learning notes as a reference to help students understand the particular lesson, facilitated students using effective questioning skills and summarized the lesson at the end to scaffold students’ learning. At the end of the semester, students were required to answer a survey questionnaire regarding teaching and learning. This approach gave a positive result which showed that it managed to motivate students to participate in class. Students enjoyed the activities in class and were more active and confident to express their ideas as they understood the topic well during their discussion rather than one way lecture in the class. Keywords: Scaffolding, Google Slides, Google Classroom, Online Distance Learning

Bolstering Transformation Delivery through Employee Engagement and Innovative Work Behaviour in Malaysia Public Services: A Conceptual Paper

The debut of National Transformation 2050 validates that Malaysia is committed in standing tall amongst the developed nations. Over the years, numerous transformation programs have been introduced to enhance the wellbeing of the nation and its people. Among the agenda is to overcome challenges in public services delivery which include the improvement of services by the counter service team and frontliners as well as the enhancement of reliability and integrity, issues of productivity, and many more. Public servants are an important source of innovation for an organisation that needs to be continuously nurtured. To accelerate the outcome, engagement was reportedly found to be the key enabler for sustainable success in any change or transformational-related event. Fostering employee engagement will nurture many prodigious advantages such as augmenting people’s innovative mindset and will greatly enhance the likelihood for a successful transformation program to happen. Along with the derivation of theoretical concepts guided by Social Exchange Theory (SET), the proposed concept is further reinforced through the best practices obtained from developed countries that have adapted best practices in employee engagement and innovation. The critical key area to a developed nation is always the wellbeing of its public services. In shaping Malaysia to be one of the most prominent figures in the future, everyone needs to be a builder. Keywords: Public Services, Transformation, Engagement, Innovation

Factors Influencing Students' Motivation in Online Learning for Arabic Language Courses at UiTM Perlis Branch

Online learning applications are an important medium in Arabic language education to replace face-to-face teaching and learning nowadays. Therefore, this study aims to identify the applications of students' interests in online learning and the factors that influence students' motivation in online learning for Arabic Language courses. This study used a quantitative study design using stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a questionnaire instrument and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics software. This questionnaire used the Likert Scale 5 measurement of Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Not Sure, Agree and Strongly Agree to identify the applications that students are interested in online learning and the factors that influence their motivation in online learning for Arabic language courses. The sample involved in the study was a total of 216 students who took Arabic language courses at Universiti Teknologi Mara Perlis. This study suggested that lecturers should use Google Meet, U-Future, WhatsApp, Telegram and Google Classroom applications in teaching Arabic. Meanwhile, the main factors that influenced the student’ motivation in online learning for Arabic language courses are the frequent use of online materials provided as well as the recorded lecture videos. Keywords: factors; students' motivation; online learning; Arabic language courses

Factors That Influenced the Effectiveness of Training Program Organised By the Public Training Institutes in Eastern Region of Malaysia amidst the Outbreak of COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aims to find the relationship between the factors that influenced the effectiveness of the training program in the Public Training Institute located in the Eastern Region of Malaysia amidst the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic from early 2020 to date. Many PTIs have to strive in maintaining their operation during the pandemic with limitations of movements and changes in teaching approaches. The data was collected by using a set of questionnaires that was distributed online through WhatsApp (using a GoogleForm link) to all of the respected respondents that consist of training participants. The data was analysed by using Pierson Correlation Coefficient. The study discovered that all the factors (Improvement in Knowledge and Skills, Content of Courses, Training Approaches, and The Performance of Facilitators) have a strong association with the effectiveness of the training program during the pandemic. Thus, all factors have given effect to the level of effectiveness of the training program in all PTIs across the Eastern Region of Malaysia amidst the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Keywords: Effectiveness, Knowledge, Content, Approaches, Performance

Turnover Intention in Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs): A Case Study of Recreation Society at Kuantan, Pahang

The hidden cost caused by employee turnover is inevitable. In filling in the vacancy of a position, the causes of turnover will affect the cycling systems. Low turnover rate is essential to an organization’s human resources department as it shows an excellent indicator of budgeting and training cost. This study aims to examine the significant relationship between the factors namely organizational commitment, job stress, job satisfaction and reward satisfaction with turnover intention among committee members in recreation society at Kuantan, Pahang. The sample size of respondents from this society selected in Kuantan, Pahang is 169 from 316 of the population sizes. Stratified random sampling technique was chosen in achieving the objectives of this study because it is a systematic data collection method. The data for this study was collected from the questionnaires distributed to the respondents by using Google form. Altogether, there are four independent variables and one dependent variable. Statistical Package for Social Science version 23 (SPSS) was employed to perform data analysis of the study. The study discovered that organizational commitment, job stress, job satisfaction, and reward satisfaction have significant relationships with turnover intention. These factors like organizational commitment, job stress, job satisfaction and reward Satisfaction are suitable in predicting and analysing organizational behaviour regarding human resource management. Hence, it is crucial to study turnover intentions in organizational management. Keywords: Non-Governmental Organisation, Committees Members, Turnover Intention, Organisational Behaviour

Youths’ Intention towards Online Food Delivery (OFD) Services in Kota Kinabalu

The business of online food delivery (OFD) services has grown rapidly over the years and more so during the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, a significant amount of research works relating to OFD services have been conducted, however, not many have focused on the intention of using OFD services especially from the youths’ perspective. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine youth’s intention of using OFD services. The study applied a quantitative approach and the unit of analysis for this study is the youths between 18 to 40 years old, as the potential users of OFD services living in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Through the cross-sectional data collection approach and purposive sampling technique, 346 samples were collected via an online survey questionnaire. The survey questionnaire was adopted from previous studies with minor modifications, validated and pilot tested. A total of 346 responses were collected and analysed using descriptive and multiple regression analysis. The results indicated all the predictors (convenience motivation, time-saving motivation, price-orientation motivation, and hedonistic motivation) significantly affect youth’s intention towards OFD services. The study contributes to the existing literature on OFD and practical implications to the food industry, food delivery services, and marketers from the youths’ perspective. Keywords – Intention, Online Food Delivery, Youth, Convenience Motivation, Time-Saving Motivation, Price-Orientation Motivation, Hedonistic Motivation

Service Quality and Client’s Satisfaction: A Case Study among Employees at a Government Agency in Kota Samarahan towards Counter Services in Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) Kuching

The study of service quality and clients’ satisfaction has been used by organisations to deliver better services to their clients. While many studies have been done on this topic from the perspective of the public towards the government service, there were few emphases from the perspective of the government servants (G2G) towards the government services offered by other government agencies. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between service quality and clients’ satisfaction among employees at a government agency towards counter services at Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) Kuching, Sarawak. The study includes all five elements of Service Quality Dimensions (SERVQUAL) which were Tangible, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy. This study includes all employees of a government agency in Kota Samarahan, Sarawak. Questionnaires were distributed to respondents through Google Form with a returned rate of 88%. It was found that empathy and responsiveness variables had a strong and positive correlation with Clients’ Satisfaction while Assurance, Reliability, and Tangibility had a moderate and positive correlation with Clients’ Satisfaction. These findings implied that clients were more satisfied with services that were handled with care and discretion as well as quickly resolving unexpected issues thus providing insights to government agencies to improve their services. Keywords: Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy