Salmi Mohd Isa

Service quality, client satisfaction and loyalty towards audit firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between audit service quality, client satisfaction and loyalty to the audit firms. SERVQUAL model was used to measure the perceptions and expectations of public listed companies on the services received from audit firms.Design/methodology/approach – The five dimensions of SERVQUAL, i.e. reliability, assurance, tangibility, empathy and responsiveness was used to measure the service quality of audit firms. The research was conducted using primary data. Questionnaires were sent to 500 public listed companies listed in Bursa Saham Malaysia for year 2005.Findings – The public listed companies were satisfied with the tangible dimension but were dissatisfied with the other four dimensions. The most dissatisfied dimension was empathy. Customer satisfaction was found to partially mediate the relationship of reliability and customer loyalty.Research limitations/implications – The small sample size is a limitation of the study. Also, the study examin...

Measuring social performance: reconciling the tension between commercial and social logics

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the implementation of microfinance programs in three Malaysian development finance institutions (DFIs). Its main concerns revolve around how these DFIs measure and manage their social performance and how they reconcile their competing social and commercial objectives which are driven by particular logics. Design/methodology/approach - This paper analyzes the ways in which the DFIs selected for this study measure and manage their social performance. The data were acquired from two sessions of focus group interviews, a series of semi-structured interviews, and extensive reviews of documentaries. The institutional logics perspective is used to explore the interplay between social and commercial logics in shaping the view and use of social performance measures in the three studied DFIs. Findings - Although these DFIs have consistently offered formal microfinance programs to designated target groups, their ultimate focus has been on measuring financial as opposed to social performance. Hence, performance appraisal is mainly aligned with the breadth of outreach, rather than its depth. Nevertheless, there appear to be conflicts between the need to accommodate both breadth and depth, due to the competing demands of the two objectives. The rivalry between these two competing demands, which represents the interplay between social and commercial logics, is resolved through reconciliation, that is, by making one objective compatible with the other. Originality/value - This paper examines the ways in which the DFIs in the study measure and manage their social performance, a topic that is, currently, not widely explored. This study contributes to advancing the knowledge on the link between institutional logics and organizational practices, particularly in understanding the extent to which the Malaysian DFIs assign importance to social performance when designing and offering microfinance programs.

Tour Operators Contribution Towards Sustainable Tourism: A Review from the Literature

Sustainable tourism is growing nowadays and it involves destination, product, process and place (3Ps) of tourism. These are areas of importance for current practices of tour operators. However, current practices by tour operator are lacking in fostering sustainability. This paper illustrates some literatures and the linking of terminology namely supply chain management (SCM), corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ecotourism towards sustainable tourism. The review of the literature is useful for better understanding of the significant contributions of tour operators in implementing sustainable practices in tourism industry.

Does Sports Athletes Credibility Affects Attitude toward Advertisement among Consumers in Penang, Malaysia: A Structured Abstract

Advertisement endorsed by celebrity such as actor, singer or sport athletes have been adopted as an advertising strategy by many companies. This is due to an endorser credibility play an important role in influencing consumers’ attitude toward advertisement and their purchase behaviour. Previous empirical research found that there is a significant relationship between source credibility (i.e. expertise, attractiveness and liking) and attitude towards advertisement (Clow, James and Stanley, 2008). Source credibility refers to credibility of the endorser, spokesperson or individual in an advertisement (Clow et al. 2008). In addition, a study by Yan, Ogle and Hyllegard (2010) found that source credibility has a direct effect upon attitude toward advertisement among generation Y consumer. Moreover, Yoon, Kim and Kim (1998) conducted a study on the effect of source credibility on attitudes and behavioural intentions. The study is aimed to examine the effect of source credibility namely expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness on attitude and behavioural intention to both Americans and Koreans. The result shows that perceived attractiveness is more significant than expertise and trustworthiness in term of influence attitude toward advertisement (Yoon et al. 1998)