Haryani Haron

Cyber stalking: The social impact of social networking technology

Social networking technology provides a social, collaborative and interactive platform for Internet users. The advances in social networking technology improve the socialization among Internet users. Users become more open in expressing their thoughts and sharing information, and along the way this contributes to the rise of internet violations. One of the violation faced by the internet users is cyber stalking. Cyber stalking is an evolvement of a real world stalking; it is harassment and stalking through telecommunication technology. This study employs the qualitative approach in exploring the phenomenon of cyber stalking in Malaysia. A total of 10 cyber stalking victims were interviewed for their experiences. The findings discovered that the factors contributing to cyber stalking include love obsession, love affairs, flirting, and revenge. Four types of cyber stalking are discovered from the study are harassing, threatening, intimidating and impersonating profiles. Cyber stalking victims experienced psychological and behavioral effects such as depression, isolation, anxiety and extreme cautious of their surroundings. In facing the phenomenon they developed strategies such as confiding with family members, close and trusted friends for support. A positive effect of being cyber stalked is the tendency to be more alert during online, and careful in sharing their personal information through the social networking sites.

Usability testing with children: Laboratory vs field studies

Usability testing has traditionally been conducted in dedicated laboratory. Alternatively, field study can be an option to conduct the usability testing. As HCI researchers who work with children, we have experiences in conducting usability tests in both natural and laboratory environments. We tested two different children applications in two different environments: testing drawing applications at their preschool and testing an educational game in our usability laboratory. Thus, this paper highlights our experiences in conducting both usability tests. Although the literature suggests that laboratory and field studies should be done for two different purposes, our experiences have told us that we can actually integrate the steps of field studies into the guidelines for lab tests. These steps are particularly useful for the novice designers and researchers who have never done usability evaluations with children before.

A situational analysis of Strategic Information System Planning in the context of a Malaysian SME

Strategic Information System Planning has been a very critical and important management issues for companies to gain competitive advantages. This research investigated the current situational analysis of Strategic Information System Planning in the context of a Malaysian SME. A single case study strategy is employed in this research to allow an in-depth investigation on the relationships which contribute the subject understanding. Ward & Peppard IS/IT strategic model is adopted as a guideline to conduct situational analysis of the case enterprise. Value chain analysis and Porter Five Forces Model are used as the tools to evaluate the phases in situational analysis. Discussion on the current situational analysis of the case enterprise are divided into three section which are the internal business environment, the external business environment and the internal and external IS/IT environment of the case enterprise. Future research can be conducted in the other aspect of strategic management of Strategic Information System Planning such as the strategic choice and the strategic implementations.

Knowledge Taxonomy for Developing Organizational Memory System (OMS) for Public Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) in Malaysia

Knowledge in organization, supported by appropriate technology will produce organizational memories that provide necessary support for organization to learn and grow. As the scope of organizational memory in one organization is too broad, it is necessary to classify them into acceptable narrower view. Using organization memory computer base literature related, this study found some basic understanding of organization memory system, and produce knowledge taxonomy and metadata as a base to develop organizational memory system in IHL; Malaysia scenario. The taxonomy and metadata is developed base on pertinent literature of organizational memory system model, organizational memory sources types and knowledge management technology. Further study can be conducted to validate and verify the developed taxonomy.

An interpretive exploration on tacit knowledge dimensions in academia

This interpretive study explored tacit knowledge in Malaysian academia. Academicians are important assets in institutions of higher learning; therefore it is critical to understand tacit knowledge which resides in them. The lack of understanding of tacit knowledge impedes the efforts of managing it as a source of competitive advantage. The research employs the grounded theory approach and data are gathered through semi-structured interviews incorporating the critical incidences technique. It is discovered that tacit knowledge of Malaysian academicians is knowledge internalized in their work practices, which is externalized through action strategies in fulfilling the seven performance indicators introduced by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education. Three dimensions of tacit knowledge are discovered, namely the intellectual-affirmation tacit knowledge, self tacit knowledge and social tacit knowledge. Theoretical contributions from this study include a paradigm model of knowledge internalization and a theoretical model of tacit knowledge dimensions in Malaysian academia. Practically, the research highlights the tacit knowledge content of successful academicians which is imperative to improve the performance of an academician and the institution.

Grievances on Islamic Banks: A Survey

There have been numerous complaints and grievances by the customers of the Islamic banks. The banks are being accused of charging high financing costs on their customers. Before remedial action could be undertaken, the root causes of the grievances need to be identified. As such, a comprehensive content analysis of literatures pertaining to the grievances on the Islamic banks has been carried out; the outcome of the analysis is a cause-effect concept map outlining 34 root causes of the grievances. The root causes are further classified under four main causes of grievances: the preference of the banks on debt-based financings, inadequate understanding about the banking products, doubts whether the banks really comply with the Shariah and poor product innovations and service quality at the banks. The findings of this survey could be viewed as the basis for remedial actions to be undertaken by the Islamic banks to address the prevailing grievances.

A Conceptual Review on Technological Intergenerational Knowledge Transfer

By the year 2020, Malaysian population is expected to reach aged population with 3.4 million being senior citizens. The retirement of the ageing people is a concern to most organization as it also means lost of organization’s knowledge. Lack of appreciation of the value of tacit knowledge and lack of planning to capture retirees’ knowledge before they leave put many organizations in a position to suffer a loss of intellectual knowledge that may prove fatal. Therefore this research attempts to review issues that is considered essential in strategizing intergenerational knowledge transfer. In this paper, we reviewed 52 and examined various issued related to intergenerational knowledge transfer. Since transferring knowledge from older people involves lots of challenges due to cognitive decline experience by themselves, we also studied research done in social psychology area and explore their applicability in knowledge transfer practice. We consider social psychology to be a discipline from which theories, models, and research results can be harnessed for knowledge management. Our review reveal important issues in the literature to be considered for successful intergenerational knowledge transfer.

An investigation on predictors of e-learning adoption among Malaysian e-learners

Many higher learning institutions in Malaysia have implemented e-learning because of its effectiveness as a learning approach. However, studies have shown that there are still low adoption rate among e-learners in Malaysia. This study explored factors which influence e-learners in adopting e-learning system in their learning process. The strategy of inquiry is quantitative and the instrument for the data collection is the questionnaire. A total of 165 e-learners from a public institution of higher learning responded to the survey. Findings identified three significant negative correlations between personality traits of extroversion, agreeableness and emotional stability with the adoption of e-learning. High conscientious and openness have a positive correlation on adoption. This study has identified that self-evaluation strategies, comprehension monitoring strategies, self regulation strategies and resources management strategies have a significant positive correlation on the adoption of e-learning in the learning process. Courseware accessibility and design also has significant positive relationship with adoption in e-learning. This study contributes towards new knowledge in the e-learning through the development of an e-learning adoption model. Practical contribution includes insights into the factors and causes deterring e-learner from adopting e-learning in their learning process.

A case study of higher education academics' shared knowledge and classification

This qualitative study aims to explore and describe the types of knowledge shared among academicians in a Malaysian public academic institution. The strategy used is a single case study which aims to gather deeper insights on the types of knowledge. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. A total of 15 renowned academicians were interviewed. Content analysis method was used to extract the themes from the qualitative data. This study found that, the academicians share three types of knowledge, which are Corporate knowledge (includes Disciplinary knowledge and Operational knowledge) Social knowledge (includes Culture knowledge, Spiritual knowledge, Pastime knowledge, and Common Interest knowledge), and Encoded knowledge (includes both electronic and written format). The research comprehensive analysis and findings would expand an area of knowledge types being shared in universities which may still theoretically and empirically not sufficiently covered.

Taxonomy Approach for Organizing Knowledge in Academic Institutions

Knowledge organisation is critical to ensure that knowledge is being distributed widely in an organisation. There are a lot of approaches to organise and manage knowledge. One approach that has been found for so long but has not been explored to its optimum is taxonomy approach. This paper presents how taxonomy approach is able to provide an alternative solution to managing and organising knowledge in the institutes of higher learning (IHL). In the study, qualitative methods namely document analysis using thematic analysis, observations, and semi-structured interviews were employed during data collection. This study highlights the taxonomy concept and approach, and proposes a corporate taxonomy framework in IHL environment. A clear taxonomy concept and approach discussed in this article is for the future development and implementation of the taxonomy in IHL.