Theses & Dissertations

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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14170/188

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Browsing Theses & Dissertations by Department "Universiti Malaysia Perlis"
  • Publication
    Effects of corporate image and service quality on customer satisfaction in the Malaysian takaful industry: trust as a moderator
    (Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), 2021)
    Nur Hafifa Iswati Ishak
    The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of two independent variables (corporate image and service quality) on the customer satisfaction in Takaful industry in Malaysia. Customer satisfaction is one of the secret of success in any business, it is one of a known strategies in the business world and it has become a key element in a business survival. However, customer satisfaction is more complicated in reality than verbally define. The interpretation of customer satisfaction also varies from one person to another person and from one industry to other industry. This is why there is no agreement on one definition that can be best in describing the meaning of customer satisfaction and to accurately fit in every context and measurement. In addition, most Takaful markets in the world is still in infancy stage and it is still being consider as a new industry. Studies on the customer satisfaction in this industry are still limited. Therefore, this study focused on the relationship between corporate image (firm communication, brand familiarity and word of mouth), service quality (functional service quality, technical service quality and ethical service quality) and customer satisfaction. Trust was a moderator variable to test the effect of significant relationships between the independent variable (corporate image, service quality) and the dependent variables (customer satisfaction). A total of 275 response were collected through a survey whilst analysis through SPSS 21 and Smart PLS 3.0 was carried out to examine the relationship between all the variables in this study. The result of the empirical study showed that there was a significant relationship between corporate image (firm communication), service quality (functional service quality and ethical service quality) towards customer satisfaction in Takaful industry in Malaysia. However, trust indicated a non-significant relationship as moderator on the main independent variable. The research framework of this study contributes to the existing Takaful industry fields and literature especially in the customer satisfaction. The findings also offer theoretical and practical implications for the Takaful practitioner as well as for the development of the Takaful industry in the country. Finally, some limitations provide room and direction for future research.
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  • Publication
    Financial attitude, financial literacy, health literacy and financial retirement planning: moderating role of financial advisor
    ( 2024)
    Wan Mashumi Wan Mustafa
    This study identified and tested some factors that affect financial retirement planning among individual SME owners in Malaysia. Concern the world over has been growing about the low retirement savings of many individuals in both developed and developing countries. This situation has been compounded by the low level of financial attitude, financial literacy, and health literacy and has been further complicated by less consultation from the financial advisor, causing most individuals to be unable to make good financial decisions. Individual SME owners from the Northern region of Malaysia, namely Perlis, Kedah, and Penang, took part in the study. The Theory of Life Cycle Saving and Investing and The Theory of Mental Accounting were used to investigate the behavioural factors and possible policy interventions for these individual SME owners' financial retirement planning. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to test the relationships and moderating effects of the constructs used in this study. Financial attitude and financial literacy were found to affect financial retirement planning positively. In addition, the role of the financial advisor moderated the relationships between 1) financial attitude and financial retirement planning and 2) financial literacy and financial retirement planning. With these results in mind, intervention efforts targeting financial attitude, health literacy, financial literacy and the role of a financial advisor will aid policy designed to induce additional financial retirement savings. Implications and suggestions of the findings and their generalisability are discussed, the study's limitations are pointed out, and directions for further research are explored.
      2  17
  • Publication
    Kesan intervensi terapi kelompok tingkah laku kognitif terhadap estim kendiri dan lokus kawalan dalam kalangan penagih dadah
    ( 2013)
    Huzili Hussin
    Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji kesan intervensi terapi kelompok Tingkah Laku Kognitif Standard [CBT(S)] dengan terapi kelompok Tingkah Laku Kognitif Brief [CBT(B)] terhadap skor min estim kendiri (EK) dan lokus kawalan (LK) dalam kalangan penagih dadah. Kajian ini menggunakan reka bentuk kuasi ekperimen yang melibatkan dua kumpulan rawatan [CBT(S) & CBT(B)] dan satu kelompok kawalan (KW) serta empat ujian berulangan iaitu; ujian Pra, Pos 1, Pos 2 dan Pos 3. Seramai 108 penagih dadah telah dipilih dengan menggunakan kaedah persampelan bertujuan. Setiap kumpulan mengandungi 36 sampel kajian. Data dikumpul dengan menggunakan instrumen psikomatriks yang standard iaitu; Internal Control Index (Patricia Duttweiler, 1984) dan The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Analisis ANOVA dua hala ujian berulangan digunakan untuk menganalisis data. Hasil analisis menunjukkan terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan bagi kesan utama antara kelompok rawatan CBT(S), CBT(B) dan KW terhadap skor min estim kendiri [F(2, 20.13)= 20.09, p<.05]; kesan utama antara masa ujian terhadap skor min estim kendiri [F(2.35, 51.74)= 351.17; p<.05]; kesan interaksi antara kelompok rawatan dan masa ujian terhadap skor min estim kendiri [F(4.69,51.74) = 4.23; p<.05]. Sementara itu, dapatan kajian ini juga menunjukkan terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan bagi kesan utama antara kelompok rawatan CBT(S), CBT(B) dan KW terhadap skor min lokus kawalan [F(2, 13.38)= 200.4, p<.05]; kesan utama antara masa ujian terhadap skor min lokus kawalan [F(2.76, 17.22)= 322.77; p<.05]; dan kesan interaksi antara kelompok rawatan dan masa ujian terhadap skor min lokus kawalan [F(5.53, 17.22) = 60.28; p<.05]. Secara keseluruhannya, didapati intervensi kelompok rawatan CBT(S) dan CBT(B) dapat meningkatkan skor min estim kendiri dan lokus kawalan sampel kajian.
      5  41
  • Publication
    Rhetorical structures of the introduction chapters of the engineering discipline PhD theses in Malaysian universities (closed until 9/27)
    (Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), 2024)
    Faharol Zubir
    Writing a thesis is a complex yet crucial aspect of postgraduate studies, demanding high conformity to academic conventions. This is particularly true for PhD theses in the Engineering discipline, which present a unique set of challenges. This study aims to uncover the rhetorical structure of the Introduction chapters in 25 high-ranking Engineering PhD theses from Malaysia, applying Move Analysis based on the Bunton Model. The focus lies on the Introduction section, a part of the thesis often cited as the most difficult to compose. The findings reveal several novel insights: the identification of move-independent steps such as highlighting background information, reviewing prior research, and term definitions; a prevalent focus on claiming centrality and identifying gaps in existing research; the use of discipline-specific linguistic techniques; and the influence of institutional culture on chapter structuring. A distinct rhetorical model for the Engineering discipline in PhD thesis introduction from Malaysia was also discovered. These insights have both theoretical and practical implications, offering actionable guidelines for thesis writers, supervisors, academic writing instructors, and curriculum developers. The study thus fills a gap in existing research, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of the academic writing process in the Engineering discipline in Malaysia.
      32  8
  • Publication
    Security enhancements for person verification using Multi Model Fusion Keystroke Dynamics and soft Biometrics
    (Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), 2021)
    Mohd Noorulfakhri Yaacob
    Biometric is used as a main security fence in a computer system. Human’s biometrics can be categorized into three types: morphological, biological and behavioral. This study focuses on behavioral biometric by studying keystroke dynamics. Keystroke dynamics is used as the user’s second level verification for the systems that use the keyboard to login into a system. Soft biometric is a method by which we can identify human identity based on the physical characteristics or behaviors of a person that are naturally produced. A common problem of system intrusions is that the system fails to identify the real user who signs in using the keyboard when the login is correct. A user’s login information can be stolen, guessed, and recorded by special software such as a keylogger. There is a possibility that someone else tries to break into the system by using brute-force and dictionary attacks. To ensure and improve user’s verification who use the keyboard to enter their logins into the system, this study has used multi model fusion methods to combine keystroke dynamics and soft biometric. This study introduces new soft biometric elements in keystroke dynamics that is gender, race, region and educational level. Keystroke dynamics is used to distinguish typing patterns in each of these categories and uses these soft biometric features to further enhance the verification capabilities. Mathematical formulas such as mean, standard deviation and Scale Manhattan Distance have been used to obtain the score of the imposter and genuine user. Multi model fusion methods have been introduced by integrating the score values of several soft biometric elements from classification with scores obtained from imposter and genuine user to improve the verification process. For identification purposes, Support Vector Machine classification method is used to perform this classification for soft biometric identification. The results show that there are significant differences in the typing pattern in the region category. The highest accuracy achieved is 91.17% in this classification process for the region category. Equal error rate (EER) obtained from a multi model fusion approach is 11.33%. which is to incorporate four features of soft biometrics (gender, race, region and educational level) into the verification process. Overall, it is found that the multi fusion process introduced has managed to reduce the EER values for the purpose of verification in keystroke dynamics.
      11  31