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The main purpose of this study is to investigate the role of Lean and Six Sigma initiatives on continuous quality improvement in the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH) accredited hospitals. In particular, it investigates the relationship between top management support and teamwork. It also examines the influence of teamwork on Lean and Six Sigma initiatives. In this study, 450 survey questionnaires were distributed to twelve MSQH-accredited hospitals' staff using the Stratified Random Sampling method and received 251 useable responses constituting a 55.78 per cent response rate. The reliability and validity of the research variables were tested based on internal consistency, construct validity and discriminant validity by applying the SmartPLS 3.3.4 software. The relationships among various variables in the model were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Overall, the study's findings reveal that Lean and Six Sigma initiatives positively and significantly impact the continuous quality improvement of MSQH-accredited hospitals. The findings also indicate that top management support has a positive and significant relationship with teamwork and vice versa, i.e. teamwork significantly affects Lean and Six Sigma initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a hierarchical model to rank the challenges faced by the private Malaysian higher education institutions (HEIs) in the provision of quality education and subsequently their corresponding critical success factors (CSFs) to address those challenges. Design/methodology/approach: A sequential mix method was adopted in this study. Semi-structured interviews with 29 participants were initially conducted to identify the challenges and CSFs. This was followed by a questionnaire survey involving 158 respondents to prioritise the identified findings. Thematic analysis was conducted in the qualitative stage, uncovering the challenges and their corresponding CSFs. Data for both stages were accumulated from internal and external stakeholders of Malaysian private HEIs. Finally, the four stages of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) were applied to rank the challenges and CSFs. Findings: The qualitative stage identified eight challenges, i.e. "academics", "facilities", "students", "programmes and curriculum", "competition", "accreditation", "finance" and "research" together with their corresponding CSFs. The AHP enables the ranking of these challenges. "Finance" has been found to be the most crucial challenge and "high competency in managing the institution's finance" as the most important CSF to address this challenge. Research limitations/implications: As the study restricted its focus on Malaysian private HEIs, the results may not be generalised for public HEIs and foreign private HEIs operating in Malaysia. Originality/value: The hierarchical model developed in this study is deemed important for implementation to resolve the prioritised challenges. It spells out the specific areas in which the resources of Malaysian private HEIs need to be prudently disbursed and properly managed.

Academic libraries are currently facing their greatest challenge since the explosion in tertiary education and academic publishing, which began after World War II. The global digital revolution is affecting both the traditional forms of the creation, organisation, and dissemination of knowledge, and the world of tertiary education itself. In the challenging environment, academic library only one way can survive in the volatile competitive market to improve their service quality to meet their customers' expectations. In this qualitative research explored the students' perceptions on IIUM library service quality from the perspective of five students' respond at the main campus of IIUM. Research data were collected through face to face interviews near to the IIUM library. In this study, three important issues were considered regarding the student's perception on IIUM library service quality: (i) Positive and negative perception on library service quality (ii) Perception on technology and human context and (iii) Satisfaction. These three key issues were analyzed based on Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) procedures

Purpose: The paper aims to identify the emerging themes on the challenges faced by the Malaysian private higher learning institutions (HLIs) in the provision of providing quality education. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were purposively conducted with 29 of the Malaysian private HLI internal and external stakeholders ranging from the relevant personnel of the institutions (the quality director, administrators and senior academics), regulatory agencies, prospective employer, students and parents. Thematic analysis was then applied to analyze the participants' responses in determining and clarifying the challenges faced by the Malaysian private HLIs in the issue of providing quality education. Findings: Eight overarching themes were identified, namely, Academics, Facilities, Students, Programs and curriculum, Competition, Accreditation, Finance and Research. Academics represent the most frequent challenge raised by the participants, whereas Research emerged as the least mentioned challenge during the interview sessions. Research limitations/implications: The present paper focused solely on Malaysian private HLIs, and thus, the findings may not be applicable to the foreign private HLIs that are operating in Malaysia as well as to the public HLIs. Originality/value: The findings are expected to provide valuable guidelines to the Malaysian Private HLIs in areas where resources need to be critically disbursed. To the regulatory agencies and policy-makers, the findings could enlighten them on the difficulties faced by these privately funded institutions so that further policies can be designed and implemented to assist these institutions in their operations and long-term survival.

Ediacaran to Early Cambrian sequences are well preserved in several synclines within the Lesser Himalaya. We have conducted multi-proxy geochemical and stable isotopic studies on carbonaceous sediments of the basal Tal Group to decipher redox conditions of the Earliest Cambrian Ocean. Organic matter is immature, predominantly aliphatic and likely derived from marine phytoplankton. The S/C(organic) ratios above 0.4; strong enrichment of redox-sensitive trace elements V, Mo, U and Cd; higher DOPT, U/Th, V/Sc, Mo/Sc and V/(V+Ni) ratios; V/Al–U/Al–Mo/Al systematics and U–Mo enrichment factors indicate anoxic to euxinic conditions of deposition. Large variations (5–7‰) in δ13C likely reflect spatial heterogeneity or vertical gradient in DIC compositions of the Early Cambrian Ocean, and possibly capture the part of Basal Cambrian negative Carbon isotope Excursion (BACE). Finely disseminated texture of pyrite framboids with sizes mostly below 10 µm suggest sulfide reduction within the water column in an open system. Isotopically heavy δ34S values (+4.5 to +22.8‰) overlap with the δ34Ssulfate of contemporary Fortunian ocean (+10 to +40‰), suggesting sulfidic conditions and small size of the sulfate reservoir. Whereas the REE+Y proxies of the same set of samples show seawater-like patterns, with strong HREE enrichment, positive Y and La anomalies and negative Ce anomaly (avg. Ce/Ce* = 0.78), indicating REE uptake by phytoplankton from an oxidized-euphotic surface zone. The combined geochemical and isotopic data suggest a strongly stratified ocean with sulfidic bottom water and oxidized surface water. Episodic shoaling of anoxic deep water onto the surface possibly caused the extinction of benthic Ediacaran fauna, and the surface oxidized zone likely provided the niche for further metazoan radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to identify emerging themes in the Social Commerce Service Quality (SCSQ) that are appropriate for the Malaysian modest fashion industry to improve the online shopping experience for Malaysian consumers. This qualitative research applied semi-structured online interviews that include nine respondents from Malaysian modest fashion sellers, direct and indirect distributors, and buyers. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the participants' responses in determining and identifying the SCSQ dimensions. Eight themes are identified which are Social Interaction Quality, Functional Quality, Design Quality, Information Quality, Privacy and Security, Responsiveness, Personalization, and Communication Quality. Notably, Personalization and Communication Quality are two newly discovered in the Malaysian modest fashion industry context. The results offer helpful guidance for Malaysian modest fashion businesses to allocate their resources prudently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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