Bahaman Abu Samah

Addictive Facebook Use among University Students

The Facebook has become an essential part of almost every university students’ daily life, and while a large number of students seem to get benefits from use of the Facebook by exchanging information for educational goals, make friends, and other activities, the literature indicates that this social networking site can become addictive to some university students’ users, which is one of the today’s higher education matters. The aim of this study, therefore, is to explore the phenomenon of Facebook addiction among university students. Qualitative study using interview is used to gather data from nine International postgraduates of Universiti Putra Malaysia and the data established three themes (Compulsion to check Facebook, High frequency use, and Using Facebook to avoid offline responsibility) relied on the participants interviews. The findings from these three themes showed that these users considered their Facebook dependency, are known as salience, tolerance, and conflict. These results also lead to the conclusion that like most activities, moderation and controlled use are key. So, the best approach to preparing students for life in a knowledge-based society is to help them exercise self-control and achieve a level of balance when using Facebook. It is believed that the findings of this study would help other Facebook researchers by contributing to the limited academic literature in this area.

Fostering knowledge sharing behaviour among public sector managers: a proposed model for the Malaysian public service

Purpose – This paper aims to propose a conceptual model of knowledge sharing behaviour among Malaysian public sector managers. Design/methodology/approach – An extensive literature review method was used to identify and analyse relevant literature in order to propose a knowledge sharing model. Findings – The authors identified three potential predictor groups of knowledge sharing behaviour among Malaysian public sector managers. The groups are intrinsic motivational factors, extrinsic motivational factors and organisational socialisation factors. The paper proposes organisational commitment as the mediating variable between the identified predictors and knowledge sharing behaviour (knowledge donating and knowledge collecting). Research limitations/implications – The paper offers a number of propositions, which leads to a knowledge sharing model. Future research should validate and examine the predictive power of the proposed model. Practical implications – Upon model validation, the paper could offer prac...

The process of social adaptation towards climate change among Malaysian fishermen

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of social adaptation to climate change among fishermen in the East Coast Region of Peninsular Malaysia.Design/methodology/approach – A set of questionnaires was developed based on the individual adaptive capacity framework on social adaptation to climate change developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Based on multi‐stage simple random sampling, a total of 300 registered fishermen in the East Coast Region of Peninsular Malaysia were chosen as the respondents.Findings – The fishermen surveyed had a high level of adaptation with regards to two aspects: first, environmental awareness, attitudes and beliefs; and second, local environmental knowledge. In contrast, they showed a low level of adaptation with regards to three aspects: attachment to place; formal and informal networks; and attachment to occupation. In addition, the fishermen had a moderate level of adaptation in relation to ten other aspec...

Technology and school leadership

As the demand for schools to become more effective and efficient learning communities increases, the need for principals to cultivate broad‐based, skilful participation in the work of leadership is essential. It is important for educational leaders to recognise the significance of their role in technology implementation and utilisation. They should be proficient in the use of technology and then provide leadership in the use of technology for administrative, instructional, and learning functions. Relatively few studies have empirically examined the level of computer use by principals, their perceived computer competence and their leadership style. This paper will report on these issues from an initial analysis of baseline data gathered from 30 secondary school principals in Tehran, a large province in Iran. Findings indicate that school principals spent a few times a week working on their computers and they had moderate levels of information technology competency. This paper also suggests that transformational leadership can help school leaders increase successful use of technology in schools. Hence, policy makers must design professional development programmes, such as leadership studies, in order to teach the components of transformational leadership: idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration to future administrators.

Knowledge sharing is knowledge transfer: a misconception in the literature

Purpose The paper aims to clearly differentiate knowledge sharing (KS) and knowledge transfer (KT) besides exemplifying their interconnections to minimize the current confusions in the knowledge management (KM) literature. Design/methodology/approach An extensive literature review method was used to analyse relevant literature on both KS and KT to clearly delineate their differences and their interconnections. Findings The paper found that KS is a subset of KT (using personalization strategy), whereas KT as a whole is a broader concept, if compared with KS. However, KS is not one of the immediate processes involved in KT (using codification strategy). The processes involved in KS and KT differ according to the strategy used (in KT) and perspective chosen (in KS). Other findings include KS (unidirectional) as reflective concept (viewed so far), whereas KS (bidirectional), KT (personalization) and KT (codification) as formative concepts. Research limitations/implications The findings of this paper were based on the review of selected relevant articles only. Practical Implications The paper will minimize the current confusions in the KM literature and will assist future researches on both KS and KT to ensure what these concepts entail to avoid construct underrepresentation. Originality/value As compared to previous attempts, the present paper has shown the interconnections between KS and KT, as well as the differences based on the two perspectives of KS (unidirectional/bidirectional) and the two strategies of KT (personalization/codification), and such effort is new in the literature.

Eating Behaviour, Body Image, and Self-Esteem of Adolescent Girls in Malaysia

This cross-sectional study was undertaken with 489 secondary school girls, ages 15–17 years, to examine disordered eating behaviours of adolescent girls in Malaysia and to estimate associations with body weight, body-size discrepancy, and self-esteem. Dietary restraint, binge eating, body image, and self-esteem were assessed using the Restrained Eating scale of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire, the Binge Scale Questionnaire, the Contour Drawing Rating Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, respectively. Pearson correlations estimated associations between variables. There were 3.1% underweight, 9.8% at risk of being overweight, and 8.6% overweight girls. A total of 87.3% were dissatisfied with their own body size. Dietary restraint and binge eating were reported by 36.0% and 35.4%, respectively. Body Mass Index (r = .34, p < .01) and body-size dissatisfaction (r = .24, p < .01) were significantly associated with dietary restraint and binge eating, but self-esteem (r = −.20, p < .001) was significantly associated only with binge eating.

Influences of individual-related factors and job satisfaction on workplace deviant behaviour among support personnel in Malaysian public service organizations

Workplace deviance has become pervasive in most organizations today. This cross-sectional study examines the influences of individual-related factors and job satisfaction on workplace deviance behaviour among 429 support personnel in Malaysian public service organizations. Samples were randomly selected using multi-stage cluster sampling. The findings of the study indicated that agreeableness, negative affectivity, conscientiousness, emotional intelligence and job satisfaction predicted the organizational deviant behaviour. The same variables, except for emotional intelligence, also correlated to interpersonal deviant behaviour. Implications and suggestion for future research are discussed.

Do Children With Different Attachment Type Perceive Different Parental Rearing

Abstract This study examined the likely direction of influence between perceived parental rearing and attachment type among first grade school children. Measures of perceived parental rearing and attachment type were administered to children through interview (n=120). The results revealed that securely attached children perceived their mothers as warmer than insecurely attached children. Ambivalently attached children perceived their mother as overprotective, anxious and less warm. More so, avoidantly attached children perceived their mothers as less warm and less protective. Further findings indicated that, ambivalently attached children perceived their mothers as overprotective and anxious than avoidant children. These results provide new insight into the direction of effects between attachment and perceived parental rearing during childhood. Future studies may consider moderating variables which may affect the relationship between perceived parental rearing and attachment style.

Individual adaptive capacity of small-scale fishermen living in vulnerable areas towards the climate change in Malaysia

The present study attempts to identify the individual adaptive capacity of small-scale fishermen living in coastal areas that are vulnerable to the climate change in Malaysia. This study is quantitative in nature and involves a total of 240 respondents from four areas in Malaysia. It can be concluded that small-scale fishermen in Malaysia have adaptive strength in two aspects: namely formal and informal networks; and environmental awareness, values and attitudes. Although the fishermen were found to record a high mean score for three other adaptive aspects – local environmental knowledge; attachment to job; and attachment to place – this actually demonstrates their adaptive weaknesses. Employability is another area of concern, as it emerged as the fishermens weakest adaptive aspect. This study demonstrates the potential of alternative skills, managed retreat, accommodation and protection, information management, periodical assessment and access to credit to produce progressive adaptive capacity of small-scale fishermen in Malaysia.

Quality of life in rural communities: residents living near to Tembeling, Pahang and Muar Rivers, Malaysia

The main aim of this study is to identify the quality of life (QoL) among communities residing near the Tembeling, Pahang and Muar Rivers in Malaysia. This quantitative study used a constructed questionnaire as main tool to collect data on the QoL of river communities. A total of 240 villagers were selected as respondents. The results indicated that the dimensions of settlement, safety, involvement and social relationships, as well as education scored highest, while dimensions of physical environment, financial and job security yielded moderate scores. Dimensions of infrastructure facilities yielded a low mean score. Recommendations are provided, in the hope that our results may be useful for strategies that could enhance QoL of these river communities.