Search

PurposeRefractory materials are now used in all major industries that demand high-temperature resistance, including petrochemicals, steel, cement and aviation. Businesses must decrease operating costs, enhance product technology, sell well and manage corporate risks in decision-making, notably supplier selection, to be more competitive. The study aims to determine the key criteria and factors of supplier selection and to evaluate the importance of the key factor of the supplier selection criteria for the refractory materials manufacturers in Taiwan.Design/methodology/approachAnalytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used to rank these factors for the decision maker. The AHP method is suitable for verifying refractory supplier selection criteria and providing references. The weighted loss scores for each supplier are then determined using the relative importance as the weights. Supplier selection criteria are ranked using their aggregate weighted loss scores. The provider with the lowest loss score should be chosen.FindingsProduct quality is the most significant of the five criteria: product quality, production technology, logistics capacity, service capability and supplier background. Professionalism is the most significant aspect of product quality, whereas equipment and capacity are vital in manufacturing techniques. The studies also show that the delivery rate is essential for logistics and service capabilities.Practical implicationsThis research has important implications for refractory suppliers in promptly fine-tuning the production and service to enhance customer satisfaction, which is key to business sustainability.Originality/valueThe application of an AHP technique to a real-world industrial issue is what makes this research unique. This research addressed one of the most critical topics in supply chain operations by offering better judgement for supplier selection via the use of suitable quantitative methodologies.

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the factors that influence young consumers' purchase intention towards dietary supplements (DS) in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachThe supplement industry in Malaysia has been growing rapidly recently due to a paradigm shift in healthcare management, from curative to prevention. Thus, it has sparked interest to conduct a study on the factors that influence young consumers' purchase intentions towards DS. With a response rate of 74.5%, a survey questionnaire was used to elicit data from 149 Gen-Y respondents who consume supplements on a regular basis.FindingsThe results revealed that the influencing factors towards purchase decisions among these Gen-Y respondents aged between 17 and 25 are based on product knowledge and product quality. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are outlined at the end of this paper.Originality/valueThis study offers empirical insights from the perspective of an emerging digital economy on the factors that influence young consumers' purchase intentions towards DS in Malaysia.

PurposeIn recent years, consumers today recognise organic foods as high-quality products which can benefit them in various aspects. The tendency to switch consumption behaviours from conventional to ecological food products or organic food has largely been due to the claims that organic crops are grown in eco-friendly and sustainable environments. Thus, the study highlighted unique results on young consumers' purchasing intentions from a new perspective. The paper aims to investigate the factors influencing consumers' purchase decision towards organic food, particularly amongst Generation Y consumers.Design/methodology/approachThe underlying fuzzy set theory is employed to handle the fuzziness of consumers' perceptions since the attributes are usually expressed in linguistic preferences. Overall, the study focussed on five important aspects – health consciousness, environmental concern, social influencing and ethical concern – that also include twenty criteria that had been identified and introduced after a thorough review of related literature.FindingsThe results reveal that the most important criteria in the selected firm are environment protection, chemical instrument, buying attitude and animal testing. In comparison, the cause group includes criteria such as environment protection, natural food and support for training programmes, whilst the effect group includes production practices, monitoring protections and ethically produced food.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample collection from the study focussed on Generation Y consumers who consume organic food in Malaysia. This could lead to the limitation towards external generalisability. The study will provide numerous advantages to the communities. The policy maker should develop a proper marketing strategy to promote organic food as food that is healthier, better in nutrition and safer for society.Originality/valueUtilising fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) in analysing the fuzziness of consumers' perceptions towards consumers' purchase decision can be expected to expand the breadth of knowledge to both academic and practical.

Purpose This paper aims to discover why such a public partnership project had been successful with a non-profit third-party alliance such as a smart city consortium (SCC) promoting smart city development. Design/methodology/approach This descriptive case study is primarily based on analysing data collected from various texts, public statements, media interviews and three semi-structured interviews with key members involved in the Covid-19 dashboard project. Findings The data and analysis reviews that both interpersonal and interorganisational trust, dedication and proactiveness of the leaders at SCC were major contributing factors to why SCC was able to partner with the Hong Kong Government in the Covid-19 dashboard in the first place and that the success was also a direct outcome of effective mass collaborative knowledge management activities. Research limitations/implications The research in leadership attributes and activities in the non-profit alliance has been few and this collaborative partnership between the alliance and the government is an example of the importance of further research in smart city leadership. Practical implications In deploying projects for mass collaboration and knowledge sharing in smart city development (which is multi-disciplinary in nature). there are still many new and evolving organisational practices and leadership matters that many business leaders and city managers can learn from. Social implications Smart city development projects involve the notion of sharing data in an open environment enabled by software and mediating tools. Successful projects such as this Hong Kong Covid-19 dashboard which serves a diverse audience can further promote the importance of an open data policy regime for the benefit of the public. Originality/value This case study covers a highly original and unique case study with the leaders at the SCC and representatives from the Hong Kong Government.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the link of functional service quality (hospital’s reputation, administrative procedures, trustworthiness, patient-care provider relationship and waiting time), satisfaction and patient loyalty on the obstetrics services in private health-care in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach A total of 419 mothers who had obtained obstetrics services had participated in this study in a continuous and coordinated manner. The study was conducted in 10 private hospitals in Malaysia throughout April 2018. Findings Results show that providing excellent service had increased the level of patient satisfaction and achieved patient loyalty. Patients tend to switch to other obstetricians if they are unhappy with the current services that are being offered. The findings showed that patient satisfaction was found to be mediating the relationship between hospital reputation and patient loyalty; trustworthiness and patient loyalty; patient care relationship and patient loyalty; and waiting time and patient loyalty. However, this study also found that administrative procedures do not influence patient satisfaction significantly. Practical implications The outcome of this study able to assist the management of the private hospitals to have more operational and practical strategies that would enhance their service quality for the betterment in their services for their patients in this competitive industry. Originality/value This paper provides patients’ perception of their loyalty towards obstetrics services offered by private hospitals in Malaysia.

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the effects of high-performance work practices (HPWPs) (participation, training and compensation) on nurses’ job performance (task and contextual) through the mediating role of job satisfaction. As nurses form the bulk of health-care professionals, their performance at work is crucial in determining patient satisfaction regarding care quality. HPWPs have been recognized as having the ability to affect employees’ work attitudes and behaviours positively. Specifically, these practices foster job performance.Design/methodology/approachSelf-administered questionnaires were used to collect the survey data on 639 staff nurses working in large private hospitals in Malaysia. Data were subsequently analysed using the partial least squares method.FindingsThe findings indicate that job satisfaction serves to mediate the relationships between the three HPWPs (participation, training and compensation) and the two dimensions of job performance (task performance and contextual performance).Research limitations/implicationsFirst, as all variables were measured using self-reports, a common-method bias could exist (Podsakoffet al., 2003). Hence, future researchers may want to combine self-assessments and supervisory or peer assessment to improve the validity of the outcomes. Second, the cross-sectional nature of this study limits our ability to make causal inferences. Bias could happen because the study examined both exogenous and endogenous variables at the same time. Thus, a longitudinal approach taken in the future could cross-validate the current findings and provide additional support regarding the causality of the HPWPs-job performance relationship. Third, the data were collected from staff nurses working in large private hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia. Thus, one should be careful to generalize the findings to different health-care professional groups and organizations.Practical implicationsFrom the practical perspective, it is evident from the findings that as job satisfaction is able to enhance job performance and given the need for nurses to provide quality health-care services, private hospital authorities concerned with encouraging greater job performance among their nursing workforce need to provide adequate support to their employees. This could be achieved through the implementation of HPWPs. Perceptions of the extent of a hospital’s HPWPs in terms of participation, training and compensation, have significant and positive effects on nurses’ level of job satisfaction. Therefore, it would be worthwhile for private hospitals to encourage more opportunities for nurses to participate in decision-making regarding their work. In addition, frequent training activities will be able to enhance nurses’ knowledge, skills and abilities, resulting in greater satisfactionOriginality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to investigate the effects of HPWPs on nurses’ job performance in the Malaysian private health-care context. As studies using Eastern samples are relatively limited, the findings from this study would serve to expand the extant literature from a cross-cultural perspective.

PurposeIn recent years, the traditional pastries industry has gained popularity among tourists due to the advantage of the pastries location at UNESCO Heritage city, Penang. However, the little research focussed on this particular industry, and there is lack of evidence of the tourists' experience with the traditional pastries and how these attributes affect their revisit decision.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilizes a qualitative research design to gain in-depth understanding on tourists' thought and their repurchase decision. Secondary data were collected via TripAdvisor with 68 tourists who visited the most popular three pastries shops namely, Him Heang, Ghee Hiang and Min Xiang Tai, which are later analysed using qualitative content analysis.FindingsThe findings revealed that tourists generally concerned about the service quality, value, brand image and atmospherics that could affect their repurchasing decision. Particularly, the staff service quality has been viewed as the upmost important attribute to influence the tourists' decision. Therefore, the pastries shops shall ensure that the staff who serve the tourists shall be well trained to satisfy the tourists' enquiry.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation concerning the interpretation of the secondary data based on the feedbacks and comments of the tourists may derive the bias possibility. Future research might consider the large-scale primary data to extend the findings.Originality/valueLimited research exists on the tourists' experience which affects the repurchasing decision in pastries industry. This study provides valuable information for pastries shops and researchers interested in this area.

Purpose This study aims to discover the influence of researcher competence on University-Industry collaboration via researcher’s domain knowledge. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative data were collected via survey questionnaire by using purposive sampling technique from a total of 121 academicians from all five research universities in Malaysia. PLS-SEM is used to examine multiple structural relationships between the researcher competence, domain knowledge transfers and spillovers and university-industry collaboration. Findings Researcher’s competence serves as a success booster to initiate the collaborative endeavour, and the University-Industry collaboration is found to be substantially influenced by the domain knowledge transfers and spillovers. Research limitations/implications The size of the sample in this study was however constrained by the characteristics and background of the targeted pool of respondents to be generalised to the population of all universities in Malaysia. Practical implications Researcher competence is found to be significant drive to the University-Industry collaboration formation through the development and deployment of domain knowledge transfers and spillovers. Thus, it requires the desire and need for continuous competence development for researchers, and a step change is called for individual principal investigators about extending their leadership across the field of studies and appearing as critical business partners in the University-Industry collaboration. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature by empirically investigating the influence of researcher competence on the University-Industry collaboration via researcher’s domain knowledge. It attempts to show the researcher’s ability to leverage their competencies in increasing the collaborative endeavour in making out business opportunities, which will eventually influence the public university’s sustainability development. In addition, it proves the importance of researcher’s competence and domain knowledge within the entrepreneurial activities, which serves as the significant drivers to ensure successful University-Industry collaboration.

PurposeThis paper aims to highlight a limitation of the understanding of agility within organizations, while providing the reasoning and anecdotal example of an effective setting where agility exists, and how this affects firms’ productivity through focusing on the principle of ownership motivation.Design/methodology/approachThe contemporary thoughts and historical research with anecdotal evidence are gathered from small business owners in the insurance industry.FindingsAgility implementation in firms today is mainly top-down team focused. While bottom-up input approaches are prescribed for firm organizational agility implementation, the mantle of ownership and drive are not imparted to employees. The example of a service industry highlights the possibilities of having agility within the organization implemented by direct ownership of most if not all the operations and functions.Practical implicationsThis paper shares a working example of implemented agility and proposes the application within the broader scope of firm operations, particularly for smaller firms looking for sustainable advantages.Originality/valueIt re-looks at actual implementable agile practices by re-imaging the role of employees into functional business units from the bottom-up, rather than from the top-down, as a different perspective of agility.

Purpose This paper aims to discuss the necessity of building a knowledge management system in today’s knowledge economy by focusing on human capital management, choice of tools, and how knowledge processes affect an organization’s strategic capabilities. Design/methodology/approach Analyzing several theoretical models in the area of knowledge management and explaining how motivation and choice of tools can improve utilization of knowledge management system. Findings Building a knowledge management system is recommended for transitioning into data analytics to capture business trends in the knowledge economy. Motivation and choice of tools are important to determine the utilization of a knowledge management system. Practical implications This paper presents practical issues and provides insights into building and using a knowledge management system in today’s organizations. Originality/value This paper justifies the need of knowledge management system and presents the issues and solutions to integrate knowledge management system into an organization.