Mohhidin Othman

Total factor productivity efficiency changes in a Malaysian hotel chain

This paper investigates the changes in total factor productivity (TFP) of a Malaysian hotel chain during the period of 2002–2008. TFP change is measured by Malmquist index, using data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. The data were collected from eight hotels under the chain. Overall, the results revealed that the TFP of the hotel chain has slightly increased by 0.8% over the time period. Within the chain, four of the hotels experienced positive TFP change while the others experienced TFP decline. The hotels were segregated into quadrant of efficiency which give a two dimensional view of the hotel efficiency. Technological change is found to be more important factor of TFP growth as compared to technical efficiency change. As such, it is recommended that hotels which experienced negative growths of technological change improve their efficiency through investment in new technology or upgrading the necessary skills.

Halal Malaysia Logo or Brand: The Hidden Gap☆

Halal logo is the most common graphic mark use for Halal Malaysia which is a symbol to indicate the product or business is certified Halal by JAKIM. This is also an indication that the product or business is Shariah compliance. The issue of whether Halal Malaysia is logo or brand has not yet being highlighted in any previous study. However, discussion on Halal logo is more predominant where Halal logo was found to have a significant impact on consumers decision making but such findings merely scratch the surface on the importance issues of Halal branding. Using the qualitative in-depth interview, different findings have emerged pointing to the serious issues in relation to Halal Malaysia brand equity that need to be rectified immediately. Such a problem has never been discussed before because previous findings showed that consumers possess strong awareness toward Halal logo and Halal logo itself has become the main cue that determine consumers final decision making. This has lead to an illusion of strong brand equity which concealed the hidden problem and without proper acknowledgement such problem can lead to serious complication for instance equity dilution. Indeed, Halal Malaysia from logo point of view is very important in determining consumers awareness and recognition but the issue is only focusing on the surface. On the other hand, brand offer wider perspectives which focus more on the underlying problem or opportunity because brand has value that require constant audit and maintenance in order to ensure its survival.

Conflicting Semiotic and Halal Cue Signal for Halal Malaysia Brand Equity

Halal Malaysia brand (HMB) has become a symbol of trust and an importance cue for Halal purchase in Malaysia as it provides an indication that the product has not only met with a strict syariah regulation but the brand also helps to eliminate consumer’s doubt through its quality assurance system. However, it is still unclear to what extent consumers really rely on this cue during their purchase decision especially when the product itself is a familiar product or high tolerance product. On the other hand, it is also difficult to speculate on whether a product that carries ambiguous cue can be effectively marketed using HMB. This study will look into the impact of conflicting semiotic cues on whether the presences of HMB cue on these products are really matter. Hence, this research aims to facilitate our current understanding of HMB equity. This study is an exploratory in nature, thus a qualitative method was used to identify consumer’s reliance on HMB during their purchase. A total of 23 semi-structured interviews were carried out with Malay Muslim consumers. Visual aids consisting of various picture of products in the market that carry both familiar and ambiguous cues are chosen as a projective technique are used to aid the interview process. Findings from this study clearly showed that ambiguous semiotics cues emit a stronger signal than HMB cue and it also has a potential to overwrite HMB signal. Semiotic ambiguous cues also carry other negative association that caused for negative spillover that does not favoured towards HMB equity. Furthermore, brand equity evaluation using semiotics ambiguous cues also highlighted other underlying issues that have never been highlighted before and potentially jeopardize HMB equity in the future.

Fourth order solutions of singularly perturbed boundary value problems by quarter-sweep iteration

In previous studies, the effectiveness of the second-order quarter-sweep finite difference approximation equations has been shown in solving singularly perturbed boundary value problems. In this paper, however, we investigate the application of the fourth-order quarter-sweep finite difference approximation equation based on the fourth-order standard central difference scheme. To solve the problems numerically, discretization of the singularly perturbed problems via second-order and fourth-order finite difference schemes is proposed to form the corresponding system of linear algebraic equations. For comparison purpose, we also discuss on how to derive the basic formulation and implementation for the family of Successive Over-Relaxation (SOR) iterative methods such as FSSOR, HSSOR and QSSOR in solving the corresponding linear systems generated from the fourth-order discretization schemes based on full, half- and quarter-sweep cases. Some numerical tests were conducted to show that the accuracy of fourth-order finite difference schemes via the corresponding GS methods is more accurate than second-order schemes.