Mustaffa Mohamed Zain

The Driving Forces Behind Malaysian Corporate Social Reporting

Corporate social disclosure has, since the early seventies, attracted the interest of various user groups. As a result, a long history of research into corporate social disclosure practice is observable in developed countries particularly the United States and Western Europe. However, very little attention has been focused on developing countries. This paper seeks to understand why corporations in Malaysia are disclosing social information in their annual report. Semi structured personal interviews were conducted on ten companies from various sectors to find out the reasons for disclosure. A group of financial analysts were also interviewed to understand the need for information by third party. The interviews revealed that most companies are disclosing social information due to top management awareness together with a desire to comply with the government’s social policy and enhance corporate image. The study also highlights that while accountability seems to be the main emphasis for disclosing social information, legitimization of business cannot be ignored due to different market pressures, government policy and values from those of western countries.

Strength, Durability and Shrinkage of High-Strength Rice Husk Ash Concrete

This paper reports on an investigation on strength, durability and shrinkage of high strength rice husk ash concrete (HSRHAC) with w/b ratio of 0.27. Rice husk ash (RHA) was incorporated either as 10% ‘addition’ or 10% ‘replacement’ of cement. Specimens were subjected to water curing or air-drying and tested up to 180 days. For comparison purposes, concrete containing 10% condensed silica fume (CSF) and concrete containing superplasticizer alone (SpOPC) were also cast. Results shows that with the aid of a polycarboxylic hyperplasticizer, high workability RHA concrete mixtures in the range of 200-250 mm slump ad having 28 days strengths of 80 MPa can be routinely produced. In general, strengths of RHA concrete are higher than the control superplasticized concrete but marginally lower than CSF. Durability of concrete with regards to initial surface absorption (ISA) shows that RHA concrete exhibit similar ISA values compared to CSF concrete. After 3 cycles of wetting in magnesium sulphate solution for 30 days followed by 7 days air-drying, RHA concrete produced similar expansion compared to the CSF concrete but lower expansion than the SpOPC concrete. At 180 days, shrinkage of HSRHAC is similar to that of CSF. Based on the current study, it can be concluded that RHA is just as good as CSF in producing high strength concrete of Grade 80. Since RHA can be produced at a much lower cost than CSF, it is an attractive alternative material in the production of HSC.

Malaysia: Value Relevance of Accounting Numbers

The increasing demands placed on businesses to fulfill its social responsibilities have heightened interests in corporate donations. Corporate donations exist when a corporation donates a portion of its resources to a societal cause. In addition, corporations have developed a wide array of charitable vehicles, namely, foundations, non-profit and association umbrella groups, as well as community outreach programs. Studies on this particular topic have been carried out in other markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom as well as in Europe. Being the first research in Malaysia, the goals of this study were (1) to examine whether stakeholders especially investors consider corporate donations when they determine the value of the firm, (2) to test empirically the determinants (i.e., leverage, firm’s size, and profitability) of corporate donations made by 774 Malaysian Public Listed Companies of the Main Board. Three of the firms’ specific characteristics were derived from agency and stakeholder theories. Firstly, multiple regression analysis was conducted in order to examine the perception of the stakeholders, especially investors, on the corporate donations. Secondly, a logistic regression analysis was conducted in order to examine the determinants of corporate donations made by the Public Listed Companies in Malaysian market. The results revealed that there is a positive relationship between corporate donations and the market value of equity. This study also revealed that there is no significant relationship between the leverage and the corporate donations. This result contradicts the findings of some other researches. However, the study provides evidence that the company size and profitability are important determinants of companies that are more likely to contribute to the society.

Social responsibility disclosure in Islamic banks: a comparative study of Indonesia and Malaysia

Purpose - This paper aims to explore social responsibility reporting of full-fledged Islamic banks in two developing countries, namely, Indonesia and Malaysia. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an important aspect of business society. As such, companies have shown a growing interest in reporting their social and environmental initiatives. Design/methodology/approach - Content analysis of the annual reports for three full-fledged local Islamic banks in Indonesia and three Islamic banks in Malaysia was carried out for the period of 2007-2011. Findings - Results of the study revealed that CSR disclosure of Islamic banks has generally grown both in Malaysia and Indonesia. More specifically, it was found that workplace and community dimensions were the most highly disclosed areas by the Islamic banks in both countries. Research limitations/implications - The current study provides a cross-cultural perspective on social responsibility disclosure in Islamic banks across two countries. The study is limited by investigating a five-year time frame. Practical implications - By discussing the findings according to the stages of growth model for CSR, the authors suggest that Islamic banks can enhance their responsiveness, and transform their role from being CSR reporters of social responsibility to responders. Originality/value - While the tenets of CSR have a lot in common with Islamic moral law (

The Level of Knowledge of Corporate Governance in Federal Statutory Bodies in Malaysia

Abstract This research examines the level of knowledge of corporate governance in Malaysian Federal Statutory Bodies (FSB). Questionnaire survey was used to test and to acquire sincere admission regarding respondents‟ knowledge on concept, principles and practices of corporate governance. The results demonstrate that the population of FSB is at below average level of knowledge of corporate governance, while their sincere admission is at good level of knowledge of corporate governance. There is a tendency for population to admit that they are more knowledgeable than they really are. At the same time, they place high rating on training in order to update their knowledge and practices of governance in public sector.

An Islamic CSR Framework: Perception from Practitioners, Academicians and the General Public

Abstract The aim of this study is to investigate the perception on the use of an Islamic corporate social responsibility ( i -CSR) framework as guidance to navigate CSR activities among Islamic-based organizations and the relationship between a strong overall perception about i -CSR framework and the positive embodiment of Islamic CSR practices. A questionnaire survey was distributed to three (3) main groups of respondents namely: Shariah Scholars and Academicians, Practitioners and Regulators and the General Public . The results of the study revealed that there were no significant differences in the overall perception towards an Islamic CSR framework among the three groups of respondents. However, there is a positive correlation between the level of awareness towards CSR and the positive acceptance of the framework. The results revealed that a strong overall perception about the framework is significantly and positively related to the overall acceptance of Islamic CSR practices.

A Knowledge-based system for mix design of concrete containing pozzolanic materials

Design of concrete mixtures is the process of selecting the most economical and practical proportions of all the ingredients to produce quality concrete. Because of the nature of the mix design process and all the heuristic knowledge that is associated with it, concrete mix design lends itself well to a knowledge-based application. This paper describes a prototype knowledge-based system called HPCMIX that can be used to load the experimental data, develop several statistical models to determine the responses, evaluate the predicted models, and predict the 28 days strength and slump. It can also be used to design HPC mix proportions that are subjected to specified constraints (e.g. strength and slump). It is capable of selecting proportions of mixing water, cement, supplementary cementitious materials, aggregates and superplasticizer, with consideration being given to the effects of air content as well as water contributed by superplasticizer and moisture conditions of aggregates. As most of knowledge-based systems, this system has explanation facilities, can be incrementally expanded, and has an easy to understand knowledge base. The system was tested on a sample project. The system’s selection of the concrete proportions compared favourably with the expert’s selection. The system is very useful for civil engineering students as well as practicing engineers. KEWORDS: high performance concrete; mix design; statistical analysis; knowledgebased system; superplasticizer.

Exploring corporate social responsibility of Takaful organisations through the lenses of an Islamic CSR framework

Takaful relates to a system of Islamic insurance and takaful organisations were established with the desire to offer insurance protection based on the values and principles of Shariah. The aim of this study is to explore the CSR practices of takaful organisations in Malaysia, benchmarked against an Islamic CSR framework. A content analysis of the annual reports of 11 takaful organisations in Malaysia over a three-year period (2010 to 2012) was undertaken to explore the application of the framework. Study findings highlighted an increasing trend in CSR disclosure over the three-year period with the community and workplace dimensions emerging as the focus of the CSR activities by takaful organisations in Malaysia. Additionally, social development pursuits that benefited the community were the most disclosed CSR information.

Islamic Ethical Practices and the Marketplace: Evidence from Islamic Financial Institutions☆

Abstract The marketplace from an Islamic ethical practice (i-EP) would be concerned among other things with the process of getting the right supplies from the right suppliers, performing Shariah compliance processes efficiently and innovatively with the ultimate aim of providing halal, green, ethical and socially responsible products and services to customers. The main aim of this study is to examine the marketplace dimension of 37 Malaysian Islamic Financial institutions for the year 2012. A content analysis of the annual and sustainability reports was employed to examine their current marketplace practices. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to confirm the results and to clarify arising issues. The results of the content analysis revealed that the focus of disclosure for the marketplace dimension was on the stakeholder engagement activities followed by the marketing activities. The disclosure of Islamic principles and values in market-related policies was given the least attention. This suggests that the Islamic financial institutions were not strategically incorporating the Islamic principles and values into the policies related to their marketplace dimension. To a certain extent, the results of the interviews provide support for the results of the content analysis. The interviews performed revealed that the motivation for stakeholder engagement for Islamic institutions was to resolve zakat distribution issues.