Wai Ching Poon

Are travellers satisfied with Malaysian hotels

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the factors that measure different satisfaction levels between the Asian and Western travellers during their stay in hotels in Malaysia. The paper also seeks to analyse the importance of the tangible and intangible factors in the hotel industry.Design/methodology/approach – The research questions are utilised to measure the differences between Asian and Western perception of hotel attributes. A questionnaire with five‐point Likert scale is applied to measure customer satisfaction. Data is analysed using SPSS software by employing factor analysis, multiple regression, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).Findings – Results indicate that there are significant differences between Asian and Western evaluations of hotel quality, with clear indication that satisfaction levels Malaysian hotels were higher among Western travellers than the Asian travellers. Both Asian and Western travellers perceive hospitality as an influential factor in determining the overall satisfaction le...

Exchange Rate Volatility and Exports for Selected East Asian Countries: Evidence from Error Correction Model

This paper examines the relationship between exchange rate volatility and exports of the five selected East Asian economies. A measure of the quantitative proxy of the exchange rate risk is constructed, focusing on the role of moving-average in smoothing the persistence of the risk measure. Vector autoregressive (VAR) model, error correction modelling (ECM), and variance decomposition (VD) are applied to characterize the joint dynamics of variables in both the short and long run. The Johansen results indicate a stable long-run relation between exports and exchange rate. Results show that a great fluctuation of exchange rate volatility has significantly impacted the volume of exports for the economies concerned. To this end, the forecast error VD shows that the innovations of exchange rate volatility have minor impact on export patterns in the study.

Cross-Cultural Validation of Fear of Happiness Scale Across 14 National Groups

A survey of the cultural notions related to happiness and the existing empirical evidence indicate that some individuals endorse the belief that happiness, particularly an immoderate degree of it, should be avoided. These beliefs mainly involve the general notion that happiness may lead to bad things happening. Using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel modeling, this study investigates the measurement invariance, cross-level isomorphism, predictive validity, and nomological network of the fear of happiness scale across 14 nations. The results show that this scale has good statistical properties at both individual and cultural levels. The findings also indicate that this scale has the potential to add to the knowledge about how people conceive of, and experience, happiness across cultures.

River and fish pollution in Malaysia: A green ergonomics perspective

Human activities, such as industrial, agricultural, and domestic pursuits, discharge effluents into riverine ecological systems that contains aquatic resources, such as fish, which are also used by humans. We conducted case studies in Malaysia to investigate the impacts of these human activities on water and fish resources, as well as on human well-being from an ergonomics perspective. This research shows that a green ergonomics approach can provide us with useful insights into sustainable relationships between humans and ecology in facilitating human well-being in consideration of the overall performance of the social-ecological system. Heavy metal concentrations contained in the effluents pollute river water and contaminate fish, eventually creating significant health risks and economic costs for residents, including the polluters. The study suggests a number of policy interventions to change human behavior and achieve greater collaboration between various levels of government, academia, civil society, and businesses to help establish sustainable relationships between humans and ecology in Malaysia.

An insight into the attributes influencing the acceptance of internet banking: the consumers' perspective

Six factors with 42 elements were identified to examine the influences of demographic variables and attitudes towards the acceptance of internet banking in Malaysia using a Likert scale questionnaire. Results revealed that all elements for each factor are significant, except for design factors; whilst convenience and securities were the most important attributes influencing the inclination to accept internet banking services. It was found that demographics as well as occupation background have a high correlation to the tendency to accept internet banking. Conversely, gender, race and marital status appeared to have insignificant influence. Some recommendations on ways to address the impediments were suggested.

Exchange-Rate Volatility, Exchange-Rate Regime, and Trade in OIC Countries

The authors examine the impact of exchange rate volatility on trade in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) countries from 1995 to 2008 using panel estimations to distinguish differences between disaggregate trade, and examine its threshold effects. Results reveal that exchange rate volatility generally has significant negative effect on export and import with lag. However, exports of OIC with flexible exchange rate regime have significant positive exposure to exchange rate volatility. The authors also document a threshold effect for countries with trade value constitutes more than 30% of the real gross domestic product, and the exchange rate volatility becomes significant positive for export but significant negative for import with lag.

Undergraduates’ perception on causes, coping and outcomes of academic stress: its foresight implications to university administration

This study aims to identify the causes, outcomes, and coping strategies of academic stress among undergraduates. Using a sample of 480 business students from eight universities in Klang Valley, results reveal that the major causes of academic stress are due to conflicts and pressures that ultimately cause a detrimental effect on health and performance. While undergraduates most often tend to use avoidant-focused coping strategies to reduce stress, problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies are the preferred choice to alleviate stress. Results provide university administrators with some proactive insights into student services and curriculum design to address excessive levels of academic stress among students.

The utilisation of Fuzzy Logic in Corporate Governance assessment in business economics

Rankings in CG become an important issue to oversee/judge companies who practice governance. Fuzzy Logic (FL) is a powerful tool that has been used in diverse fields of applications ranging from engineering to business or finance. This paper applies the tools of FL to design an approach that will rate the level of application of CG. Financial Disclosure (FD) and Board Structure (BS) will be the key variables that would be employed to achieve this task. The integration of an FL model to CG will be highlighted graphically to enhance the findings of the research.

Research output: evidence from economics departments in the Asia-Pacific region

ABSTRACT This study examines the research output of Asia-Pacific institutions in leading economics journals between 2000 and 2010. Growth has occurred and has been aided by links with institutions in the West. Top performing departments are more highly ranked by peers and located within institutions ranked higher in worldwide institutional rankings. Earlier research suggested that output distribution can be approximated by Zipfs law. We find that the top institutions produce more than predicted. This is suggested to be related to scale economies, as greater numbers of top performing staff generate significant externalities in output. This has implications for research funding in emerging countries in the region.

The corporate governance landscape of Malaysia: then and now

The issue of corporate governance has been much discussed lately, particularly since the beginning of the 21st century. Malaysia has been recognised as among the best in Asia to have installed comprehensive governance framework. This paper offers an insight into the amount of afford invested by the government in establishing a strong governance footing, starting from its independence from the British occupation to today. The review focused on three principal mechanisms, namely the regulatory measures and enforcement; best practices and codes; and institutional support. Lastly, this paper concludes with a synopsis of the community education plan installed to promote integrity among the citizenry.