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Scholars propose that students should be empowered when using social media in problem-based learning (PBL) as it is expected to provide positive learning experiences. Nonetheless, even though the use of social media has been described as empowering in PBL, not much research has measured students' experiences of the empowerment offered by multiple scaffolders through social media. In this study, 84 final-year undergraduate management students from a private university in Malaysia participated in a simultaneous within-subject experimental design to solve a business decision-making problem on Facebook. For eight weeks, multiple scaffolders, including an instructor, two business experts, and three to four peers, were present in each closed Facebook group. The students then answered a questionnaire following the PBL activity. Anchored on the Structural Empowerment (SE) Theory, this study evaluated the students’ perceptions of the SE provided by these scaffolders. Subsequently, the relationships among the scaffolders were measured. The results were analysed descriptively and inferentially. Overall, the students reported positive learning experiences but perceived that the instructor and peers provided more SE than the business experts. However, the business experts’ comments on the students' work and discussion points accelerated their problem-solving tasks. Furthermore, the SE provided by peers, instructors, and business experts correlated significantly, suggesting each scaffolder relied on each other when scaffolding. The findings indicate that all scaffolders, including the more experienced ones, should depend on the SE provided by other scaffolders to enable students to complete the complex business problem-solving tasks in PBL.

PurposeThis study investigates the influence of inter-firm linkages between small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large firms on the relationship between an SME's creditworthiness and its access to finance.Design/methodology/approachSurvey questionnaire was distributed to 456 SMEs in the manufacturing sector in the Selangor and Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur regions and a total of 145 useable responses were gathered. Investigation into the possible differences in the effect of creditworthiness – and its dimensions – on access to finance for SMEs with and without linkages are examined using Partial Least Squares-Multi Group Analysis (PLS-MGA).FindingsIt is found that the relationship between creditworthiness and access to finance is significant for both SMEs with and without links to large firms. However, no significant difference is found in the effect of creditworthiness on access to finance for both types of SME. Further analysis on the five different dimensions of creditworthiness shows statistically significant differences between SMEs with links and those without for the dimensions of collateral and condition. This implies that alliances formed between SMEs and large firms do not have much of an influence on the overall creditworthiness but do influence the collateral and condition of the SME.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the understanding of the effects of interfirm linkages on SME creditworthiness and access to finance. To the authors' knowledge no such study has been conducted on links between SMEs and large firms, especially in a developing country such as Malaysia.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to empirically assess the relationship between the dimensions of creditworthiness and access to finance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia, with creditworthiness as the mediating variable. The lack of empirical research on the relationship between creditworthiness and access to finance forms the motivation of this study. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaires covering various characteristics of the firms, their access to finance and creditworthiness were distributed to a total of 456 SMEs in the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor region for this purpose. A total of 158 responses were returned, of which 145 were usable responses and the relationships are tested using SEM-PLS. Findings This study finds that an SME and its owner’s character have significant influences on access to finance. An SME’s condition and its ability to provide high quality collateral are found to be highly significant in influencing its access to finance. Capacity is significant but its significance is low, while capital is insignificant. Creditworthiness has a significant positive influence on access to finance. Originality/value This study contributes to the important yet under-researched issue of access to finance for SMEs. It highlights the issue of character of applicant as an important dimension of creditworthiness that can significantly influence access to finance for SMEs.

Background: Studies have acknowledged that social media enables students to connect with and learn from experts from different ties available in the students’ personal learning environment (PLE). Incorporating experts into formal learning activities such as scaffolding problem-solving tasks through social media, allows students to understand how experts solve real-world problems. However, studies that evaluate experts’ problem-solving styles on social media in relation to the tie strength of the experts with the students are scarce in the extant literature. This study aimed to explore the problem-solving styles that the experts portrayed based on their ties with the students in problem-based learning (PBL) on Facebook. Methods: This study employed a simultaneous within-subject experimental design which was conducted in three closed Facebook groups with 12 final year management students, six business experts, and one instructor as the participants. The experts were invited by the students from the weak and strong ties in their PLE. Hinging on the Strength of Weak Ties Theory (Granovetter, 1973) and problem-solving styles (Selby et al., 2004), this study employed thematic analysis using the ATLAS.ti qualitative data analysis software to map the experts’ comments on Facebook. Results: The experts from strong and weak ties who had a prior relationship with the students showed people preference style by being more sensitive to the students' learning needs and demonstrating firmer scaffolding compared to the weak ties' experts who had no prior relationship with the students. Regardless of the types of ties, all experts applied all manner of processing information and orientation to change but the degree of its applications are correlated with the working experience of the experts. Conclusion: The use of weak or strong ties benefited the students as it expedited their problem-solving tasks since the experts have unique expertise to offer depending on the problem-solving styles that they exhibited.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to measure the influence of six university qualities, namely academic quality, academic staff quality, management quality, industrial linkage quality and facilities’ quality, on students’ total experience (STE) and emotional attachment.Design/methodology/approach– Judgmental sampling is used to collect data from a sample of 489 undergraduate students of a private higher academic institution. The data are then analyzed using structural equation modeling.Findings– This study finds that only management quality forms a significant direct relationship with emotional attachment, whereas facility quality and industrial linkage form a significant relationship with emotional attachment only when mediated with STE.Originality/value– The results provide important findings to researchers and management of higher education institutions for future research directions.

This paper examines the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) usage, internal relationship, supplier-retailer relationship, logistics services and inventory management on convenience store suppliers- performance. Data was collected from 275 convenience store managers in Malaysia using a set of questionnaire. The multiple linear regression results indicate that inventory management, supplier-retailer relationship, logistics services and internal relationship are predictors of supplier performance as perceived by convenience store managers. However, ICT usage is not a predictor of supplier performance. The study focuses only on convenience stores and petrol station convenience stores and concentrates only on managers. The results provide insights to suppliers who serve convenience stores and possibly similar retail format on factors to consider in improving their service to retailers. 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The importance of inventory management, internal and external relationships in improving customer service levels have been established in manufacturing companies. However, there were few studies on the role of inventory management, internal and external relationships in improving customer service levels in the retail industry. This paper aims to address the gap by empirically investigating the effect of inventory management, internal and external relationships on customer service levels in the retail industry. The data was collected using self-administered structured questionnaire approach to a sample of retailers to assess their business practices with distributors/suppliers. Final results on 507 usable data-sets of retailers revealed that the participative behavior internally between various functions and inventory management influenced the level of customer service in the retail industry. The direct effect of external relationship on customer service was found to be not significant.

To sustain in online environment, firms needs to have a well formulated market orientation plan. A market oriented firm needs to be customers focus, being able to understand and meet the real needs of its consumers. This paper selected there cyberpreneurs from Malaysia with aims to understand the way they formulate their market orientation for their online companies. Each cyberpreneur has embarked a very remarkable milestone in their online business. Targeting niche market and being the first mover in their respective industry that operates online business are the firms' main market orientation success. Lawyer and student are among the background profiles of the cyberpreneurs.

This study measures the influence of six university qualities, namely academic quality, academic staff quality, management quality, industrial link quality and facilities’ quality on emotional attachment. A sample of 489 undergraduate students of a private higher acadecmic institution was collected. Using structural equation modeling, it is found that management quality, academic program quality, facilities quality and industrial link quality form significant relationship with emotional attachment. The results provide important findings to researchers for future research directions and management of higher education institutions (HEIs).