Zainudin Awang

EXQ: measurement of healthcare experience quality in Malaysian settings

Purpose – The customer experience quality (EXQ) cannot be measured by using traditional tools to investigate service quality. There is a need to use new tools to directly measure EXQ from a customer perspective. The current study aims to contribute in this domain of knowledge and validate EXQ scale by linking it to marketing outcomes of satisfaction, loyalty and word of mouth in Malaysian private healthcare settings. Design/methodology/approach – The authors collected data from 330 randomly selected Malaysians, visiting private hospitals in the city of Kuala Lumpur. The data analysis is performed by confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modelling – SEM – procedures. Findings – The results reveal that two dimensions of EXQ scale moments of truth and peace of mind are highly valued by customers. Furthermore, the EXQ perceptions significantly contribute to satisfaction and loyalty. In a mediating relationship, the customer satisfaction is found to be a positive and significant variable. Prac...

The impact of life satisfaction on substance abuse: delinquency as a mediator

Abstract The objectives of the study were two-folds: firstly, to ascertain the effect of life satisfaction on substance abuse among Malay youth. Secondly, to identify the role of delinquency on the relationship between life satisfaction and substance abuse. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed among youths at the youth programmes using a two-step sampling technique: area sampling and systematic sampling. The research hypotheses were tested using Structural Equation Modelling. The findings of the study revealed that there is no significance relationship between life satisfaction and substance abuse. There is a significant inverse relationship between life satisfaction and delinquency. Moreover, delinquency has a positive significant influence on substance abuse. The use of Bootstrapping analysis proved that delinquency plays a full mediating role in the relationship between life satisfaction and substance abuse. This study concluded that to reduce substance abuse, efforts should be undertaken to reduce delinquency behaviour by increasing youth life satisfaction.

Talent development model for a career in Islamic banking institutions: A SEM approach

Abstract Presently the Malaysian Islamic banking brand name has surged drastically into the mainstream platform. In the meantime, in order to cope with this situation, Islamic banking institutions (IBIs) require more positions to be filled, currently needing a 200,000 workforce by 2020. However, to date only a 17,621 workforce are available in the IBIs which constitutes 11% of that required. This connection has dragged IBIs to the different dimension of issues that is talent shortage. The effect of the problem has made many Islamic banking education and knowledge service providers (IBEKSP) offer an Islamic banking programme in order to confront the situation. Despite Malaysian IBESKP producing abundant graduates nowadays in the job market, Malaysian IBIs still address the issue that they face a critical shortage of talent. Therefore this article attempts to propose a specific talent development model for Malaysian Islamic banking graduates. These data were evaluated by a group of Malaysian undergraduates regarding talent development current practice in university. This study used a structural equation modelling method and it was found that the proposed variables of the study have a positive impact on talent development.

An evaluation of measurement model for medical tourism research: the confirmatory factor analysis approach

Medical tourism has become one of the most important sectors generating foreign exchange for Malaysia. The government has intensified its effort to promote the country as a popular destination among foreign travellers seeking medical care outside their country. Thus, rigorous research is expected in this particular field. In line with that, this study intends to validate the measurement model for medical tourism research. The mixed method study begins with qualitative approach and ends-up with the quantitative analysis. The medical tourism constructs involved are human capital, physical infrastructure, and patient satisfaction. In the qualitative phase, personal and focus group interviews were conducted to generate items for the respective constructs. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) has validated the measurement model of human capital, physical infrastructure, and patient satisfaction for unidimensionality, validity and reliability. Therefore, these measurement models can be assessed for the future research improvements.

The assessment of the performance of covariance-based structural equation modeling and partial least square path modeling

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is the second generation statistical analysis technique developed for analyzing the inter-relationships among multiple variables in a model. Previous studies have shown that there seemed to be at least an implicit agreement about the factors that should drive the choice between covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) and partial least square path modeling (PLS-PM). PLS-PM appears to be the preferred method by previous scholars because of its less stringent assumption and the need to avoid the perceived difficulties in CB-SEM. Along with this issue has been the increasing debate among researchers on the use of CB-SEM and PLS-PM in studies. The present study intends to assess the performance of CB-SEM and PLS-PM as a confirmatory study in which the findings will contribute to the body of knowledge of SEM. Maximum likelihood (ML) was chosen as the estimator for CB-SEM and was expected to be more powerful than PLS-PM. Based on the balanced experimental design, the multivariate normal data with specified population parameter and sample sizes were generated using Pro-Active Monte Carlo simulation, and the data were analyzed using AMOS for CB-SEM and SmartPLS for PLS-PM. Comparative Bias Index (CBI), construct relationship, average variance extracted (AVE), composite reliability (CR), and Fornell-Larcker criterion were used to study the consequence of each estimator. The findings conclude that CB-SEM performed notably better than PLS-PM in estimation for large sample size (100 and above), particularly in terms of estimations accuracy and consistency.Structural equation modeling (SEM) is the second generation statistical analysis technique developed for analyzing the inter-relationships among multiple variables in a model. Previous studies have shown that there seemed to be at least an implicit agreement about the factors that should drive the choice between covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) and partial least square path modeling (PLS-PM). PLS-PM appears to be the preferred method by previous scholars because of its less stringent assumption and the need to avoid the perceived difficulties in CB-SEM. Along with this issue has been the increasing debate among researchers on the use of CB-SEM and PLS-PM in studies. The present study intends to assess the performance of CB-SEM and PLS-PM as a confirmatory study in which the findings will contribute to the body of knowledge of SEM. Maximum likelihood (ML) was chosen as the estimator for CB-SEM and was expected to be more powerful than PLS-PM. Based on the balanced experimental design,...

The development of comparative bias index

Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is a second generation statistical analysis techniques developed for analyzing the inter-relationships among multiple variables in a model simultaneously. There a...

You abuse but I will stay: The combined effects of job stress, customer abuse, and emotional intelligence on employee turnover

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the combined effects of customer aggression, job stress, and emotional intelligence (EI) on job satisfaction and organizational turnover among managers from a developing country, i.e. Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach Data are collected from 230 respondents working as bank managers in Pakistan by means of a cross-sectional survey. The collected data are analyzed by employing a structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. Findings The employees perceive that job stress positively influences emotional exhaustion among employees. Furthermore, EI negatively influences job exhaustion to minimize the potential to lead it through to organizational turnover. Originality/value The combined effects of customer- and organization-related elements have been scarcely investigated – the heart and soul of contribution regarding this research. The moderation of EI to lessen the emotional exhaustion is a significant contribution to this study. Finally, the context of Pakistan’s banking sector is also unique to this study.

Developing the patients' loyalty model for medical tourism industry: the case of Malaysia

Medical tourism is nothing new for certain develop and developing countries. This industry is a good money generator to help economic growth and balance of payment of a country. This paper will identify several issues faced by Malaysia in its quest to remain competitive in this industry. The study is aimed to determine which factor is the most importance in providing a high contribution towards medical tourism. This research work assessed four dimensions under human capital construct, and also four dimensions under the physical infrastructure construct. The study also included one mediator construct linking the relationship between each exogenous construct and the intended endogenous construct namely the behavioural loyalty. The study employed stratified sampling method to obtain random sample from foreign tourists seeking treatments in three cities namely Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Penang. The study utilises partial least square path modelling (PLS-PM). Finally, the result revealed that human capital, high technology, physical infrastructure, and patient satisfaction have positive impact on patient loyalty. Furthermore, the human capital construct was seemed the most importance factor in contributing to the success of medical tourism.

The influence of green practices by non-green hotels on customer satisfaction and loyalty in hotel and tourism industry

Environmental issues are one of the most pressing global concerns the world has currently to address and which has become most critical recently. Malaysia is having to determine its own response to contemporary problems such as water pollution, air pollution, waste disposal, climate change, global warming, deforestation and haze which have plagued Malaysia for some time. Green practices are an important aspect to be explored in the hotel industry. This study aims to measure the impact of green practices in non-green hotels on customer satisfaction and their loyalty. The structural model of the inter-relationships among green practices, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is developed and executed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The study found that Green Practices in the hotel industry have a significant effect on Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty. Furthermore, Customer Satisfaction mediates the relationship between Green Practice and Loyalty. Thus, hoteliers, of both a green and a non-green status, need to show concern and to participate in conserving the environment to survive in a competitive environment.