Firdaus Abdullah

Bank Service Quality (BSQ) Index

Purpose – This study aims to design and validate a new measuring instrument of service quality, and ultimately to establish a national service quality index for the banking sector. The primary contribution is the insight offered regarding what factors affect service quality and the BSQ Index, a national indicator reflecting the level of service quality within the banking sector.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 3380 questionnaires were distributed to the customers of 21 commercial and Islamic banks, of which only 1,519 were deemed usable, yielding a response rate of 44.9 per cent. The proposed 29‐item instrument has been empirically tested for unidimensionality, reliability and validity using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.Findings – A factorial analysis suggests that service quality has three dimensions namely “Systemization”, “Reliable Communication” and “Responsiveness”, and subsequent multiple regression analysis revealed that “Systemization” is the most important service qua...

Developing a framework of success of Bumiputera entrepreneurs

Purpose - Entrepreneurship in developing countries is arguably the least studied significant economic and social phenomenon. Previous studies focused on describing the attributes of entrepreneurship rather than providing a framework, in which entrepreneurs and policy makers alike can rationally plan and execute innovative business models. Current issues facing Malaysian entrepreneurs include low level of technology, lack of innovation through research and development, low working capital, and of highly domestic orientations. This led to a lack of resilience and efficiency among the entrepreneurs, thus rendering them ill-equipped to compete globally. This adverse scenario is increasingly apparent among Design/methodology/approach - A survey instrument was used, and a total of 1,500 Findings - The findings confirmed that eight factors are vital to the success of Originality/value - The paper develops a framework to aid the success of

Measuring and managing franchisee satisfaction: a study of academic franchising

Purpose – This paper attempts to explore different approaches of franchisee satisfaction within an academic setting, develop and validate a new measuring instrument, examine the key factors and the intention to remain in the network, and eventually manage the franchise network for long‐term continuity.Design/methodology/approach – The survey instrument was drawn from a multi‐stage process involving extensive review of literature, focus group interviews, pilot testing and validation by the experts before being administered to a sample population consisting top managers of franchised colleges. The new instrument was empirically tested for unidimensionality, reliability and validity using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.Findings – The findings suggest five dimensions of franchisee satisfaction namely social interaction, service support, financing, assurance and competence. Results also indicate that the dimension “competence” which relates to possession of required skills, knowledge and the...

Developing a HospiSE scale for hospital service excellence

Purpose – This empirical survey research aims to identify the dimensions of service excellence culture for hospitals. Ultimately, a measurement tool was developed for hospital service excellence (i.e. HospiSE scale). Design/methodology/approach – The survey research involved qualitative and quantitative approaches in the scale development process. The structured questionnaire was carefully designed after literature review and focus groups discussions. The respondents were employees from the public and private hospitals in Malaysia. A total of 1,558 usable questionnaires were used for the quantitative analysis. The HospiSE scale was empirically tested for reliability and validity through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Findings – This measurement-oriented research had identified three dimensions of service excellence culture for hospitals, namely: employee orientation, patient orientation and competitor orientation. The multi-dimensional measure consists of 21 items. Research limitations/impl...

Design and Fabrication of Polysilicon‐based Piezoresistive Microcantilever For Biological Sensing

This paper describes the fabrication process of a piezoresistive microcantilever sensor that is used as a platform for biological sensing such as salivary amylase‐activity. The 0.5 μm‐thick piezoresistive sensors are made on polysilicon‐based cantilever beam. This surface micromachined microcantilever is based on silicon wafers and fabricated using 0.5 μm CMOS process technology . The range of microcantilevers is 40–140 μm long, 0.5–1 μm thick, and 40 μm wide. The force sensitivity of implemented sensors ranges from 2–10 Pa is corresponding to salivary amylase‐activity adsorbed on the piezoresistive microcantilever.

Factors affecting profit efficiency of commercial banks in Malaysia

This paper attempts to identify some factors that affect the profit efficiency of commercial banks in Malaysia. The profit efficiency of commercial banks in Malaysia, the dependent variable, was estimated using the Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA) on a sample of unbalanced panel data, covering 23 commercial banks, between 1995 to 2007. Based on the empirical results, ICT was not found to exert a significant impact on profit efficiency, whereas competitiveness, non ICT stock expenditure and ownership were significant contributors. On the other hand, the size of banks was found to have significantly reduced profit efficiency, opening up for various interpretations of the interrelated role of ICT and competition.

Developing a service culture-value chain for hospitals

This paper presents the empirical findings of a nation-wide survey to develop a multi-item scale for service culture and linked it to the various consequences from the employee’s and patient’s perspective. The qualitative and quantitative techniques were employment. The Focus Groups was conducted, then a nation-wide mail survey (more than 250 hospitals covered, employee questionnaire with n=1558). The scale development analysis process included various evaluations on the psychometric properties of the scale and AMOS software was used. The Exploratory Factor Analysis and structural equation modeling processes found that 21-item HospiSE scale was made up of three dimensions (i.e., Employee, Patient and Competitor orientations). The results of the measurement modelling process indicated that the multi-item measure has an overall good fit (e.g. GFI = 0.93, CFI = 0.917). The measure was found to be reliable and valid. It was also positively related with employee-perceived service quality and satisfaction. Besides, at the organizational level the findings indicated that service culture has a potential positive association with the patient-perceived service quality of the hospitals A new service culture-value chain was engineered for the benefits of hospitals.

International Business Competence Framework: Internationalized Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) survival in the international world has received many research interest as SMEs success contributes to the countrys economy. Empirical evidence has demonstrated the importance of SMEs to possess business competence in order to gain superior performance in the international market. However, studies on business competence for internationalized SMEs is still limited. The author set out to design a testable hypothesized international business competence framework for internationalized SMEs with a consideration of a multidimensional concept which include international orientation, international marketing skills, international innovativeness, and international market orientation (customer orientation, competitor orientation, interfunctional orientation) against qualitative and quantitative international SME performance.