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This article discusses the role of university academics as researchers. In present-day society which touts instant gratification, the primary role of a university is being undermined. In Malaysia, academics no longer teach and research as they please but are 'guided' by government agencies and influenced by the priorities of funding agencies. One of the components of academic freedom is the freedom to publish. Academics publish research that pushes the boundaries of knowledge. They choose journals in which their articles will be peer-reviewed, published and read by the communities of interest. However, lately many academics tend to publish in journals based on rankings, in journals reputed to have higher impact than others. Often young academics are puzzled whether they should publish where it matters or where it would quickly boost the key performance indicators (KPIs) set by the university. This article highlights some of these struggles in modern academia and exposes several examples of academic misconduct.

Higher education is viewed as part of the national agenda in transforming Malaysia into a high-income nation. This has resulted in a sky-rocketing number of graduates in Malaysia's recent history. Industry relies on higher education as the source of skilled employees, and it is important for industry to attract and retain talented employees in their effort to remain competitive in the market. This article presents an overview of the higher education system in Malaysia that has in the recent years jumped onto the "industry-driven" wagon. The impacts of both industry-driven and society-driven systems are discussed. The article concludes with practical recommendations for higher education institutions in Malaysia to encourage a balanced higher education policy and strategy that can blend industry-driven and society-driven approaches as a joint-agenda for institutions of higher learning.

This study examines the demand for life insurance in a rapidly developing economic environment in South East Asia, focusing on Malaysia. The study extends the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) by introducing a mediating variable ‘Persuasion’ in examining the demand for life insurance among policy buyers. Fuelled by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the life insurance market is expected to grow significantly and the role of the state and regulatory body to regulate this process would be pivotal. Given the increasing significance of this industry both before and after the epidemic, this study identifies seven research variables from previous literature sources related to finance and international insurance, including financial literacy, saving motives, religiosity, risk aversion, agent, persuasion and purchase intention of life insurance. A causal research design is used to formulate research framework and testable hypotheses for this study. Data collection encompasses face to face interviews with 385 life insurance policy holders between May 2019 and March 2020 by using a survey questionnaire. Data analysis is mainly based on PLS-SEM method by using SPSS and Smart PLS statistical software packages. Results reveal persuasion as an important construct that explains the demand for life insurance, while agent is found to have the highest impact towards persuasion. The study also finds a full mediation effect of persuasion in the demand for life insurance for risk aversion and agent. These findings add new insights to the body of knowledge in life insurance literatures. Furthermore, research is useful for policy makers including government, finance, and insurance agencies; and recommends relevant strategies to further improve life insurance penetration in the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Airbnb is a home-sharing mobile platform that enables tourists and local hosts to connect. Airbnb mobile app allows hosts to list down the space available for rent and allow tourists to look for accommodations that are often more localized. Historical cities are often engaging tourists using traditional hotel reservation methods such as phone reservations or booking by travel agents, however, given digital disruption more local businesses are adopting technology in their business. This motivated the current study to assess the rate of peer-to-peer technology pervasiveness in historical city tourism, particularly for hotel booking using Airbnb app. This research investigates the factors that predict tourists' behavioural intention to use Airbnb app when they travel to the historical city of Malacca in Malaysia by adopting the Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) model and by critically evaluating the exhaustiveness of the theory to measure tourists' use of a mobile app. Partial Least Square analysis was used to test the research model, construct path model and to validate research hypotheses. The results from a sample of 200 tourists who visited and stayed in Malacca show that price value and social influence have high significant positive influence on their behavioural intention to use Airbnb app when booking accommodation in the historical city. In contrast, hedonic motivation and habit were found not significant, potentially due to the short-term and occasion-specific usage of Airbnb app not forming enjoyment in the process of usage, which raises concerns on applicability and relevance of UTAUT2 theory to measure user adoption of a mobile app for tourism. A peculiar finding in the study is the significant negative influence of facilitating condition to behavioural intention, for which we explain a plausible cause in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: School counselling interventions have a substantial impact on students' educational and personal development. Individual and small group counselling, classroom guidance and consultation activities seem to contribute directly to students' success in the classroom and beyond. Aim: This paper attempted to study impact of counselling services in universities in Melaka state, Malaysia. Method: The research was carried out in four universities in Melaka, with a total sample of 564 students. Findings: The results showed that all research variables tested (awareness, resources, counsellor, management policy and effectiveness of counselling) were rated more highly in public universities than in private universities, with each variable achieving a p‐value of <.05. Implications: All research variables tested (awareness, resources, counsellor, management policy and effectiveness of counselling) were rated more highly in public universities than in private universities. It is possible that this is because public universities follow Act 580 of the Counselling Act, which makes it compulsory for public universities to have counsellors, while this is not the case for private universities. Employing a counsellor is an additional cost and it may be that there is more reluctance to invest in the welfare of students in the private sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research describes Knowledge and Innovation Management (KIM) dimensions and processes that are practiced in corporations in Malaysia. Specifically, KIM dimensions and KIM processes were measured and their relationship towards company financial and non-financial performances were determined. Data was collected from 300 large corporations operating in Malaysia. The analyses suggest that KIM dimensions and KIM processes are significantly practiced by corporations and these constructs (KIM dimensions and processes) have significant impact towards firms' financial and non-financial performances. This paper raises awareness and provides empirical evidence for the systematic implementation of KIM in organization, which are vital for firm performance. As empirical studies that tests and validates KIM principles in corporations are rare, this research provides valuable insights into the critical role of KIM in organizations as well as paves path for further exploration in the field of organizational performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates and determines the most crucial factors that impact electronic commerce (EC) adoption among home-based business (HBB) owners in an emerging economy i.e. Malaysia and developed economy i.e. Singapore. An empirical survey research was conducted and 150 home-based business owners participated from Malaysia and Singapore respectively. The research is descriptive and causal in nature, interviews and data collection from both countries were conducted between June 2017 to April 2018. Data analysis was done using statistical software SPSS version 24 and SmartPLS 3.0. Findings reveal HBB owners' IT knowledge, risk perception and online trust are significant predictors of their EC adoption and online trust is found to be the most important factor that contributes to EC adoption collectively for both countries. HBB owners from both countries are found to have different sets of ranking for EC adoption drivers as indicated by the importance-performance map analysis chart. The governments' role in encouraging HBB ownership in the wake of Industry 4.0 can be enhanced in both countries. HBB Owners could be empowered with the right training, awareness and policy that is HBB friendly. Especially in Malaysia, risk perception is still a significant hindrance for HBB owners to engage in EC. This study pioneers in comparative EC adoption research between a developed and an emerging economy who are neighboring each other and share rich history together. The results assist in understanding the dynamics of EC in this region as well as pave paths for further research inquiries, especially with the advent of Big Data and increasing numbers of HBB owners in both countries powered by Social Media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study identifies and prioritizes the crucial Web Usability Factors (WUFs) for websites from 36 industries. 400 respondents participated in the web evaluation and more than 12,000 data points were collected and analyzed using Multiple Linear Regression. Seven WUFs were tested, i.e. Use of Color and Font, Use of Graphics and Multimedia, Clarity of Goals in Website, Trustworthiness of Website, Interactivity of Website, Ease of Web Navigation, and Downloading Speed of Website. Results reveal that every industry has a different set of crucial WUFs. The research compared and discussed its results with previous studies such as Agarwal and Venkatesh (Inf. Syst. Res. 13:168-186, ). Moreover, students' preference for Web usability was compared with that of general Internet users. The study provides a simple method to measure web usability and to determine which WUFs are important for a specific industry with consideration of the users' role. Practitioners can use the results as a guide to design usable websites for specific industry. This study is the first that comprehensively examines the WUFs of students by employing a very large sample size across various industries, thus yielding more specific and meaningful results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to meet the rising global demand for food and to ensure food security in line with the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 2, technological advances have been introduced in the food production industry. The organic food industry has benefitted from advances in food technology and innovation. However, there remains skepticism regarding organic foods on the part of consumers, specifically on consumers' acceptance of food innovation technologies used in the production of organic foods. This study measured factors that influence consumers' food innovation adoption and subsequently their intention to purchase organic foods. We compared the organic foods purchase behavior of Malaysian and Hungarian consumers to examine differences between Asian and European consumers. The findings show food innovation adoption as the most crucial predictor for the intention to purchase organic foods in Hungary, while social lifestyle factor was the most influential in Malaysia. Other factors such as environmental concerns and health consciousness were also examined in relation to food innovation adoption and organic food consumerism. This paper discusses differences between European and Asian organic foods consumers and provides recommendations for stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]