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The entrepreneurship phenomenon has attracted enormous attention all over the world from almost all sectors; economic, politics, social, psychology, finance, management and even religious institutions. Many initiatives are taken at all levels to accommodate and ultimately generate successful entrepreneurs but at the same time, problems in entrepreneurship remain. To policy makers, understanding issues and problems of entrepreneurship are to help their quest to influence entrepreneurial behaviours to facilitate national policies. The findings revealed that 66.2% of the Malay entrepreneurs ventured into business with no entrepreneurial culture. Currently, however, there is a significant change with 78.4% have acquired and practised entrepreneurial culture. The analysis of the findings has also succeeded in establishing the correlation between entrepreneurial culture and entrepreneur and business performance and addressed the two key issues. The first key finding infers that the Malay entrepreneur who has a successful business has acquired the entrepreneurial culture. The entrepreneurs generally acknowledged that entrepreneurial culture is an important factor that impacted their performance. The second finding has no definitive conclusion about the impact of entrepreneurial culture on business performance. The hypothesis tests indicate that there is no correlation between entrepreneurial culture and change in business income. This implies that change in business income is not influenced by an entrepreneurial culture. On the other hand, there is a positive relationship between entrepreneurial culture and change in business capital, suggesting that as the entrepreneur's entrepreneurial culture strengthened, they tend to increase their business capital. As for the result of business turnover, considering the analysis of the case study and in-depth interview, the study suggests concluding that there is a positive correlation; implying that entrepreneurial culture does influence the performance of business turnover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The government's agenda towards an e-inclusive society in Malaysia are not without challenges; one of which is the digital divide. The empirical evidence from a cross-sectional investigation showed that 52.2% of the sample population are without internet access. Consequently, the impact and effect of non-internet access will be a paradox in attaining esociety. By understanding the impacts of the e-disadvantagedamong rural communities and the poor, policymakers can develop a strategy for an inclusive society that leverages technology to support access for socio-economic assistance at the federal, state, and local levels. This can further democratize the government-to-citizen relationship and accountability for the government's Economic Transformation Program (ETP). Lastly, suggestions for policymakers as well as for future research to deeply understand this research gap on democratizing e-government system and information access will be described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to provide preliminary insights on the demographic and economic indicators of poverty and social exclusion in Malaysia. Misled reports on similar areas were the motivation for the research project as the need to identify the hard-core poor is crucial for all stakeholders. From the initial input of 100 survey data, demographic indicators were drawn from those living in the rural areas (75%) and urban locations (25%). The findings show that income and education factors consistently fulfill the criteria under economic indicators with 100% earning incomes below RM1500 per month (equivalent to USD483.9). Furthermore, only 65% of the respondents studied up to high school hence, citizens experiencing economic hardship are in existence regardless of location. Reporting the findings of this study is significant for the government to focus on the identification of the type of development programs available to assist the disadvantage communities in Malaysia. By giving them proper training and other entrepreneurial opportunities, the government will eradicate the citizens' dependence on subsidies while ensuring that communities are socially included and not deprived on any national initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many government agencies have had to resort to outsourcing because of the lack of advanced information and communication technology (ICT) expertise and skills. Technology diffusion and the training of staff for high-end customized systems require outsourcing vendors to be on hand most times as detailed in the contract. Once the contract ends, agency staffs are left on their own to man the system and ensure the return on investment. Limited literature and the paucity of similar projects has resulted in this study, thus, the purpose of this research is to identify the backsourcing challenges faced by government agencies after the termination of the outsourcing contract. A cross-sectional approach with triangulation was designed for data gathering and analysis in answering the research questions. A two-phase non-probability sampling ensured the scope and right data collection technique. The preliminary findings from interviews showed that government agencies are not ready for back-sourcing and the customized system implemented will not be fully utilized. Details on the challenges faced by the agency will be elucidated in the paper, however, it is recommended that the gradual relinquishing of the ownership be done a year before the contract ends. Planning and monitoring of the project is mandatory for the success in efficient knowledge transfer and effective usage of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Electronic banking channels are playing an increasingly significant role in the financial sector particularly with regards to online transactions. However, there are some segments of bank customers who prefer to conduct their banking transactions the tradition way because of security and trust aspects. No doubt for the younger generation who are technology savvy, the use of e-banking facilities are beneficial to them as time and effort are saved. But there is an increasing concern by the banks' administrators as not all the customers are into online banking and this study is significant because of the need to know the factors which contribute to the e-banking usage. Therefore, this study was proposed firstly to determine the highest contributor among computer self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and security with usage of e-banking. Then, the second objective is to study the relationship between computer self-efficacy and usage of e-banking facilities. Last but not least is to compare the level of perceived ease of use of e-banking facilities among genders. The researchers are using probability and non probability sampling technique as well as face-to-face method for distributing questionnaires to the respondents. From the findings of this study, it was found that computer self-efficacy is the highest contributor among the factors that lead to the usage of e-banking. Meanwhile, the other factors are also influencing towards the usage of e-banking facilities. This study has identified the factors which have a say can influence the urban dwellers in Shah Alam to utilize the e-banking facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Antarctic Treaty 1959 is the body that governs the Antarctic continent which plays an important role of preserving Antarctica's pristine environment. The Antarctic Treaty utilizes several environmental agreements namely Madrid Protocol to minimize the negative impacts of activities in the icy continent. Malaysia has been continuously expanding the Antarctic based research executed by local scientists since 1980s. Furthermore, Malaysia has officially joined the force in preserving the Antarctica's environment in 2011 by acceding the Antarctic Treaty and the Madrid Protocol. Thus, persistent efforts have been carried out in developing Malaysia's Antarctic Act to comply with both the Antarctic Treaty and the Madrid Protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With the current global conditions and erratic climate changes, people should be prepared for the worst as no place is safe from nature's wrath. Preparing for disaster, especially flash floods, requires collaborative efforts from the citizen, local authorities, state and federal government. Natural disaster can happen at any time and anywhere, so by anticipating and preparing for a known occurrence, life and property losses will be reduced. Then again how prepared are the residents? Thus, the objectives of the research are to identify the level of people preparedness towards disaster and determining the relationship between preparedness and disaster anticipation. From a sample size of 150 residents of Segamat, Johor, the results revealed that there is a moderate level of preparedness among the people. In addition, there is a positive relationship between mass media and people preparedness towards disaster. The empirical evidence showed that the people of Segamat should be better prepared for flood as this can minimize their property losses. When the people do not practice preparedness towards disaster and adopts a lackadaisical attitude towards a predicted natural risk, they may suffer unexpected losses of property and lives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Attempts to test the impact of different boardroom characteristics relative to Triple-Bottom Line (TBL) performance in Malaysia has been limited. This study will offer such insights using a relatively new dataset from the Asian Sustainability Rating Index 2009. Using correlation tools, the study found no relationship between board characteristics and TBL performance, thus, this suggests that alternative control mechanisms should be created to steer the board's decision to maximize the interest of stakeholders. It showed that the board's incentive to maximize TBL performance is still lacking as compared to financial performance. The implications from the results are: companies can improvise the existing metrics of evaluating good governance from the non-financial stakeholder perspective in Asian Sustainability Rating Index and the control mechanisms can benefit Malaysia or any developing countries in the improvement of sustainability rating such as FTSE4good that has been established in the United Kingdom. Lastly, the findings offer additional information relating to TBL scenario in a different quality of board governance to interested parties by providing empirical support from the Asian perspective relating to TBL scenario in different corporate governance environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Science Diplomacy: the use of scientific collaborations among nations to address the common problems facing 21st century humanity and to build constructive international partnerships to deal with the common problem that is applicable to deal with the common problem internally or internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Malaysia's political scene has been full of requests and demands for apology from errant politicians on certain sensitive issues. The media has had a field day covering the various politicians' resentment, annoyance and even rage at the slightest provocation of inadequacy or other accusations on the victim's part, and a righteous stance on the accuser's part. Name-calling and gutter politics are common news every week. Winning the war of words has become rhetoric when ego and stubbornness prevail. What triggered these psychological and behavioral tactics? Are these actions a well-thought plan or just charges of emotion? These are questions relevant to behavioral research and through literature ferreted, some situations can be explained through relevant political theories. Therefore, this paper will provide insights into past research projects that show the coordinated human behavioral elements manipulated by politicians to gain political mileage using the media. At the end of the day, who would gain the support of the citizens and the grassroots? Would he or she be the one who publicly apologize or would a non-apology be better for affiliated political party?. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this study was to assess the educational divide and computer literacy among primary school students located in a rural school as well as an urban one Specifically the places are in Sabak Bernam and Shah Alam, Selangor. Demographic profiles play an important part in determining the education divide between the schools such as family background, income, parents' educational qualification and other socio-economic factors These in turn would affect the computer literacy of the units of analysis A total of 120 Year 6 students in the two primary schools in Sabak Bernam and Shah Alam participated in this study. Questionnaires were distributed to students in the presence of the respective class teachers, hence, the returned survey for ms was 100%. Using SPSS to analyze the data, the results indicated that the educational divide and computer literacy are significantly low. This evidence brooks well for the government and continuous support for primary schools is recommended in line with the Prime Minister's agenda of "People first, performance now". [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Enterprise information systems (EIS) are commonly adopted by large corporations rather than small ones because of the former's financial ability. However, in the Information Era, non-adoption is not an option for any firm size hence, the aim of this paper is to assess the adoption of EIS in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. One thousand questionnaires were sent to the respondents that were identified through purposive sampling technique. Two hundred and twenty or 22% completed ones were returned. The findings revealed that 48.8% of the SME's in Malaysia have implemented the EIS platform between 2003–2005 and 28.8% have been utilizing the enterprise system before the year 2000. This implies that SMEs are early adopters of EIS and as such, should not have any problems with efficiency and productivity. Maintaining the organizational performance through information and communication technologies utilization would further enhance the SME's competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Malaysia's constitution requires a general election to be held at least once every five years, the next one being the 13th General Election (PRU13) scheduled for 2013. However, the prime minister can also request for Parliament to be dissolved at any time within that five years. Politicians, especially from the ruling coalition, are scrambling to ensure another victory in PRU13. Similarly, the opposition will try their best to win through the democratic process of voting. Hence, the current political scenarios have continued to see remarks, insinuations and even outright accusations on certain issues among the politicians so as to gain public attention. Some will even go to the extent of digging dubious pasts of the individuals and engaging in character smearing resulting in court cases to prove their innocence while others will demand for public apology. However, not all politicians will apologize and non-apology will drag the case for an indefinite time. The unwillingness to apologize requires much thought and deliberation in the amygdala. Consequently, through purposive sampling and the analyses of preliminary interviews with politicians and political analysts, this paper will propose and provide insights into the construct of a variable framework that will form the foundation of neuropolitically-based non-apologetic behavior among politicians in Malaysia. Understanding the politician's unwillingness to publicly apologize will demystify the situation and the rakyat will be well-informed of the behavioral and psychological reasons behind the non-apology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The research project was inspired in tandem with the government's motto of “People First, Performance Now”, the One Malaysia (1Malaysia) concept, and the 10th Malaysia Plan. Neighborhood network is realized through information and communication technology (ICT) access and usage. This in turn provides the common ground for communication, public access to government services and best of all, social networking. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to assess the readiness for setting up a neighborhood network in a sub-rural residential area of Klang, Selangor. The results showed that the residents are not socio-economically ready to have a neighborhood network because of computer illiteracy, lack of education and income disparities. Other implications include local social and weak political representation. The backlash from this societal exclusion is that the 1Malaysia concept on citizen integration will remain a myth. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The government's transformation plan to have connected citizens through broadband access was the motivation for this research. Native minorities or orang asli in Perak, Malaysia formed the sample size for this cross-sectional study. The findings evidenced that 30.8% of the respondents are illiterate and only 5.2% are computer literate thus, substantiating the myth of digital inclusion among the minorities. The policy implication of the research provides justification for revamping social and technology inclusion among the natives. also, political will would retard the myth and rhetoric in promoting access for social inclusion and citizen development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper is not about the human responses and interactions with the natural system, which is what biophilia is all about; but on the psychological attachments of his built environment of the workplace. The super-ordinate goals, in which stakeholders win, would be achievable if people are not taken for granted, but recognized as sovereign, living in sovereign state. By the same token, reinventing a governing concept to overlap existing workable culture is a waste of resources. Unfortunately, today, the market forces, which aspires to enhance state-business collaboration has instead, re-enforced an alarming growth of elitist individuals among the decision-makers. There exists a danger of infiltration by monopolistic corporate bodies represented by the business élites masquerading as interest groups or by the power élites propagating their own ideology. It would be an economic catastrophe if those running the government support these minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Digital Age presents challenges for working adults returning to school to further their studies. Through the blended learning mode, the students undergo limited face-to-face interactions and the rest is impartedvia a learning management system or computer-based system. As the students are scattered all over Malaysia, usage of ICT ismandatory. Because of this mandate, many adult students have complained and requested for more traditional teaching rather than through e-learning. Catering to the students' wishes would defeat the purpose of having a computer-based education initiative, thus the purpose of this study was to assess the attitudes of adul tstudents toward the use of ICT in their learning process. The scope of this study was limited to adult students registered in 19 distance learning programs offered by the Institute of Educational Development (InED) ofUniversiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). Through stratified random sampling, 500 students were e-mailed requesting them to complete an online questionnaire. After two months of deploying the e-survey, the returned responses were 253 or 50.6%. The questionnaire consisted of two parts with the first part being allocated for demographic variables. The second part operationalized the four attitudes, which were usefulness, confidence, liking and anxiety. The output from the parametric analyses of the forty attitude statements resulted in mean scores that ranked the independent variables from lowest to highest. The lowest ranked was computer usefulness, followed by liking, confidence in using computers, and anxiety towards computer usage. Thus, the empirical evidences showed that adult students were not comfortable with using computers or interact with a computer-based learning system. Consequently, they would have difficulties in their pursuit of higher education. Therefore, it is recommended that InED administrators conduct special workshops to train new students on the use of the learning management system as well as ensuring that this training session is compulsory for all adult students before the semester begins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]