Nor Balkish Zakaria

Working Capital Management in Malaysian Government-linked Companies☆

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of working capital management of the government-linked companies on their financial performance. Excluding financial institutions, all government-linked companies listed in Bursa Malaysia were analysed, covering the period from 2003 to 2014. The results provide mixed findings depending on the measure used for the profitability. The results provide useful inputs to the government, particularly the policy makers in enhancing the efficiency of the government-linked companies.

How Effective is Board Independence to the Monitoring of Earnings Manipulation

Abstract Earnings manipulation has become an effort of the firms to cosmetically conceal their earnings in order to achieve desired motive. The recent collapse of some large companies resulting partially from accounting manipulation has created an argument in term of the effectiveness of corporate governance mechanism toward investor protection. Effective corporate governance plays a key role to mitigate earnings manipulation. Therefore, boards have fiduciary responsibility to monitor the management to protect shareholders’ interest. They also become an essential element of corporate governance and are considered the main internal mechanism in reducing earning manipulation. The proportion of board independence are also a crucial part to reduce the tendency of earnings manipulation due to their ability to withstand pressure from the firm to manipulate earnings and are better able to monitor earnings process. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between board independence and earnings manipulation by using Beneish profit model. This study employed the data from 372 Public Listed Companies in Malaysia from 2010 until 2013. The result of this study found that board independence has negative and significant relationship with earnings manipulation. These results indicate that higher number of independent directors will reduce the tendency of earnings manipulation. The finding of this study will be fruitful to industry by maintaining the appropriate numbers of directorship (independent non-executive directors) in the companies. Besides that, it may also assist the statutory bodies to strengthen and reinforce the composition of board of director in the companies.

Security, Risk and Trust Issues among Muslim Users for Online Businesses☆

Abstract The study attempts to investigate the robust factors that influence Muslim users’ behavioural intention to use e-commerce transactions by empirically examining the causal link between perceived security and privacy, perceived risks and perceived trust with behavioral intention to use e-commerce. Sample is drawn using stratified random sampling taken from all over Malaysia. Using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this research tries to look at different perspective, whereby the respondents are among Muslims who are obliged to follow the Shariah principles. The four major forbidden elements in buying & selling which are Riba’, Gharar, Maysir and Zulm are believed to be their fundamental judgment in dealing with e-commerce transactions. Results of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) demonstrate that perceived security and privacy as well as perceived risks have a significant relationship with behavioral intention, while perceived trust shows contrary result. The research findings would be useful for companies that engage in e-commerce to design business strategies to cater Muslim users who form one of the largest populations in e-commerce.