Theses & Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collection

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

Browse

Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 5 of 99
  • 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.
  • Publication
    The impacts of economic growth, investment and environmental degradation on public debt in ASEAN-5 countries
    (Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), 2024)
    Amri Sulong
    The steady growth of public debt in ASEAN-5 for more than two decades creates a risk for these countries, as some have experienced downgrades from rating agencies. This study investigates the factors influencing public debt in the ASEAN-5 countries (Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand), focusing on key independent variables: economic growth, investment, and the novel inclusion of environmental degradation. The research uncovers significant findings using the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) method on 26 years of data from 1996 to 2021, guided by the Two-Gap Model framework. Both economic growth and environmental degradation are positively associated with public debt levels, indicating that public debt tends to increase with economic expansion and worsening environmental conditions. Conversely, investment negatively impacts public debt levels, suggesting that higher investment may help reduce public debt. This study provides new insights specific to the ASEAN-5 group, which has not been extensively explored. This result offers valuable considerations for policymakers aiming for sustainable and fiscally responsible regional development.
  • Publication
    Factors influencing strategic quality planning and organisational performance of Co-opbank Pertama Malaysia Berhad
    (Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), 2024)
    Mohd. Shah Rizal Ahmad@Abdullah
    The banking industry, known for its resilience, has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including Co-opbank Pertama Malaysia Berhad. Key factors influencing organisational performance include leadership, employee motivation, training, customer cooperation, quality commitment, and strategic quality planning. Despite their importance, limited research has examined these factors together, particularly in Malaysian banking and Co-opbank Pertama. This study uses the Resource-Based View (RBV) Theory to explore direct and indirect relationships between these factors and organisational performance. Data were collected through 38 Likert-scale items, distributed via email to 500 Co-opbank Pertama employees, achieving an 85.4% response rate with 341 valid questionnaires for analysis. Findings show positive and significant relationships between leadership, employee motivation, training, customer cooperation, quality commitment, and organisational performance. Strategic quality planning also positively influences performance and partially mediates the relationships between these factors and performance. This study highlights the importance of strategic quality planning in enhancing organisational performance, providing insights for the cooperative banking sector in Malaysia. It suggests that improved leadership strategies, employee motivation, and engagement are crucial for successful quality planning. Future research should explore different contexts, including other banking institutions and industries, and consider mixed-methods approaches to deepen understanding. In conclusion, this study contributes to the knowledge of strategic quality planning's impact on organisational performance in Malaysia's cooperative banking sector, offering valuable insights for academia, practitioners, and top management at Co-opbank Pertama.
  • Publication
    The antecedents of electronic banking services adoption in Jordan
    (Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), 2019)
    Tamara Adel Muslem Al-Maitah
    Despite the rapid growth in technology and the research effort given on investigating the adoption of electronic banking services, both banks and academic researchers in developing countries perceive the problem of low-level adoption of electronic banking. The vast Majority of studies which have investigated the adoption, acceptance, or intention to use electronic banking, have agreed that customers ‘trust is one of the most important impediments that have frustrated the success of the adoption process. Therefore, in developed countries, customers’ trust became the pivot of research studies that investigated the electronic dealings between customers and new IT/IS innovations. Recently, a few researchers have started investigating online trust in developing countries. Although electronic banking services have been widely adopted in developed countries, there is still low usage in developing countries such as Jordan. The aims of this quantitative research are to empirically determine the significant antecedents of electronic Banking Service Adoption, as well as to explain how the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOIT) is being used in determining the antecedent of electronic banking in Jordan. Using an adopted survey instrument, (5-point-likert scale) is used. Were eventually used to another analyze the data using mainly. The Partial Least Square (PLS). The findings of the research reveal that the structural model was run to test the proposed hypotheses which results in significant relationship between all proposed constructs and the adoption of electronic banking, except complexity found insignificant. It was also revealed that perceived trust moderate the relationship between relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, observe ability, trial ability, Service visibility, System Reliability and the adoption of electronic banking. It can be concluded that DOIT is found to be a good and suitable underpinning theory to explain electronic banking antecedents in Jordan by achievement of model goodness of fit, This study contribute to the body of knowledge by extending existing literature to identifying the factors influencing the acceptance of electronic banking among banks customers, developing a comprehensive model which contributes to online customer literature by extending the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOIT) to include the Task- Technology Fit (TTF) model, perceived trust and applying them to the context of electronic banking, extending existing literature by applying the developed model to Jordanian customers, contributing to technology acceptance theories by showing the role of the task- technology fit’s dimensions in the acceptance of electronic banking, Contributing to the electronic trust literature by examining the role of customer trust in the context of electronic banking and how it might be increased. The research study also discusses past empirical findings and its practical applications and implications for Jordanian contexts. The current study provides a cornerstone for the adoption of new technological innovations in developing countries, especially electronic banking services. Furthermore, the study provides a set of academic and practical implications, and discusses the research limitations and future directions.
  • Publication
    Measuring latent variable on total quality management (TQM) and sustainable performance in Malaysia hotel industries using multi criteria decision making (MCDM) approach: a sequential exploratory mixed method design
    (Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), 2018)
    Sin Kit Yeng
    The hotel industry is labour intensive and characterised by features such as high staff turnover, unique end service/product, as well as transient labour force. The industry is also dominated by a few large hotel organisations and many small organisations. Evidence from various sources suggested that large firms are more likely to implement Total Quality Management (TQM) programs than small firms. Benefits of TQM include increased employees commitment, enhanced job satisfaction and motivation among employees, improved organisational performance and the list goes on. Nonetheless, there is no empirical evidence that academicians evaluate the outcomes of TQM phenomena within Malaysia hotel industries especially for four and five star hotels. This research set out to explore these issues by evaluating TQM phenomena implemented by four and five star hotel organisations within Peninsular Malaysia. Therefore, this thesis adopted a sequential exploratory mixed methods approach which was reflected in the evaluation methodology. The first phase collected qualitative data from hotel organisations through semi-tructured interviews. The aim of Phase 1 was to identify what TQM practices were implemented, and to identify the possible new latent dimension inherent within the hotel entities. The results of phase one showed that business ethics emerged as a new dimension that need to be emphasised within hotel industries in order to sustain in longer period. The conclusion of Phase 1 also identified the relationship between TQM and sustainable performance, TQM and business ethics, business ethics and sustainable performance, as well as mediating effect of business ethics between TQM and sustainable performance. The second phase of the research measured the presence of the intended outcome identified from Phase 1 and focused on the relationship between the constructs. The relationship between TQM and sustainable performance, TQM and business ethics, business ethics and sustainable performance, as well as mediating effect of business ethics between TQM and sustainable performance were found to be statistically positive and significant. As a result, the research recommends that hotel organisations that adopt effective TQM and conduct business ethics as core element, will lead to increased sustainable performance.