Malaysian Management Journal (MMJ) Vol. 5 No. 1 & 2 June / December 2001

Exchanges Between Residents and Tourism Development

Kalsom Kayat

School of Tourism Management
Universiti Utara Malaysia

Dennis D. Propst
Department of Park, Recreation and Tourism Resources
Michigan State University

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

This qualitative study focused on utilizing a combination of social exchange and power theories to explain exchanges that occur between residents of Langkawi and tourism development on the island. The guiding question for this inquiry was "what role does power play in social exchanges that occur between residents and tourism development?" Findings revealed that social exchange is useful in examining residents' attitudes towards tourism as residents indeed based their attitudes on the evaluation of the returns that they receive from the exchanges. More importantly, the findings indicated that residents' general values, their dependence on tourism, and their ability and willingness to adapt moderated the influence of power an residents' evaluation of tourism impacts.

Keywords: Tourism impact, attitudes of residents, social exchange theory, power, values, and in-depth interviews.

The Role of Management Accounting in Competition Policy : The Case of the Inverness Route

Tengku Akbar Tengku Abdullah
Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

Although competition policy is an important area for accounting research, contributions from management accountants are lacking. This article aims to show that management accountants can help clarify a number of issues in competition policy using diagnostic tools such as analytical constructs and concepts of cost to establish relevant facts and cost. Accordingly, this article demonstrates that the employment of such diagnostic tools can give insights into anti-competitive behavioral issues in competition policy, as illustrated in the Inverness route case.

The Relationship Between Quality Management Practices and Productivity in Revenue and Cost Management : A Study of Local Authorities in Peninsular Malaysia

Khairul Anuar Mohd. Ali
Faculty Science and Technology
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Rushami Zien Yusoff & Zakaria Abas
Quality Management Institute
Universiti Utara Malaysia

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

The globalization and liberalization of the world economic system have brought us to an era where global competition is highly intense. The introduction of new technology and systems has greatly affected the performance of organizations. Quality is widely recognized as one of the important disciplines and strategies for competitiveness. This study examines the relationship between quality management practices and the productivity in revenue and cost management in local authorities. Three hundred twenty managers from eighty organizations participated in this study. Disproportionate stratified random sampling was used as the sampling technique from the population frame and the data were gathered through self-administered structured questionnaires. The results of the regression analysis showed that only two constructs among the seven quality management practices were found to be significantly related to productivity in revenue and cost management. The construct for employee focus has a positive association with the productivity in revenue and cost management whereas process management has a significant inverse relationship with the productivity in revenue and cost management. Thus, local authorities need to address these two constructs in order to achieve a higher level of productivity in revenue and cost management.

Keywords: quality, management practices, revenue, cost management, local authorities.

Attitude Towards Zakah on Employment Income : Comparing Outcomes Between Single Score and Multidimensional Scores

Kamil Md. Idris
School of Accountancy
Universiti Utara Malaysia

Ahmad Mahdzan Ayob
School of Economics
Universiti Utara Malaysia

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

Study on attitude towards regulated social activities have been carried out in many areas (such as tax and zakah payment). However, many of these studies applied a single score of attitude in their analyses. Such a procedure, to some researchers is considered less informative, especially in the study of a complex attitude which has several dimensions. Many researchers have suggested that attitude towards a complex object should be studied by decomposing the object or issue into smaller and less complex elements on the basis of component parts, specific functions, or particular contexts. Thus, this paper offers a comparative study of outcomes between attitude measured by a single summative score and attitude measured by multidimensional factor scores. The object of attitude in this paper is zakah on employment income by eligible Muslim. In the first approach, a total of 24 items of attitude were used to represent the single score of attitude. In the second approach, principal component analysis with varimax ratation was first applied to determine the underlying dimensions of attitude. Each dimension was then named and treated as anew variable, each measured by the factor scores. Both approach were applied separately to an analysis on compliance behavior of zakah on employment income. Results suggest that attitude measured by multidimensionality scores is more informative as compared to the single summative score. Futher, the use of multidimensional scores in multivariate logistic regression improved the goodness of fit of the model over that of the single score of attitude. Thus, this improvement affects the interpretation of the whole model with respect to the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable, which is zakah compliance.

Keywords: Attitude; Zakah; Compliance Behaviour.

Disclosure Practices Among Unit Trust Funds in Malaysia

Ku Nor Izah Ku Ismail, Shamsul Nahar Abdullah, Mahamad Tayib & Nor Asma Lode
School of Accountancy
Universiti Utara Malaysia

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

This study examined the level of transparency among unit trust funds in Malaysia. Unit trust funds were the focus of this study due to its nature: unique, heavily regulated and rapidly growing. The study investigated the extent of disclosure in relation to the various mandatory and voluntary requirements and the roles of the specific characteristics of trust funds in explaining their level of disclosure in the annual reports. The findings showed that the level of disclosure increased rapidly within the period of study suggesting that trust funds were becoming more transparent. With regard to the funds' specific characteristics, the study showed that the influence was not consistent. The model best explained the disclosure level during the pre-mandatory period, i.e. 1996. During this year, the variables 'sponsor of the fund' and 'auditors' significantly influenced the disclosure level in the predicted direction. In the other years (1997 and 1998), the explanatory power of the model was very low as suggested by the significant reduction in the adjusted R2. One argument was that during this period, the revised Guidelines had been issued and thus the model could not explain much the variation in the disclosure level as a large amount of the items in the study were already mandated.

A Survey of Malaysian Experience in TQM

Salleh Yahya, Lailawati Mohd. Salleh & Goh Wee Keat
Faculty of Economics and Management
Universiti Putra Malaysia

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

This study documents the experience of Malaysian firms in the implementation of TQM. Issues being explored and documented are years required to fully implement TQM, benefits of TQM, the different kinds of TQM training conducted, and reasons for not adopting TQM. This paper also shows that adoption of TQM leads to improvement in organizational performance, and that the involvement of employees and senior executives is important to support TQM execution, irrespective of a firm' s paid-up capital and years of operation.

Keywords: TQM, factors, benefits, performance, adoption.

Rationality of Insurance Firms' Forecasts : Results of Unbiasedness and Efficiency Tests

Muzafar Shah Habibullah
Faculty of Economics and Management
Universiti Putra Malaysia

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

Many applied studies have tried to test the implications of rational expectations hypothesis on survey data. This study provides evidence on the rationality of economic forecasts made by insurance firms in a developing economy-Malaysia. Our unbiasedness test results suggest that anticipated gross revenue and employment are unbiased predictors of actual gross revenue and employment respectively. Furthermore, our efficiency tests results indicate that insurance firms utilized relevant information efficiently at the time the forecasts were made.

Monetary Policy, Development of Financial Market and Banking Lending : An Analysis of the Bank-Lending Channel in Malaysia

Noor A. Ghazali & Aisyah A. Rahman
Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Abstract Ɩ Full Text

Recent resurgence of interest in understanding the transmission mechanism of monetary policy focuses on two main channels of explanation, i.e. the money and credit channel. This paper investigates a version of the credit channel, i.e. the bank-lending channel for the Malaysian economy. The bank-lending channel assigns a critical role for the supply of bank loans in transmitting the effect of monetary policy on real economic activities. The study analyzes the effect of monetary policy on the ability and willingness of Malaysian banks to issue loans with respect to the development in the open financial market. Specifically it argues on the changes of the pattern of influence as progress in the open financial market takes place. A multivariate system analysis of vector auto regression (VAR) is used. The results show that prior to the progress in open financial market, the monetary authority has a direct influence on supply of loans of banks. However, this direct influence lessens as the open financial market develops. Loans are more affected by interest rates spread that dictates conditions in open financial markets. Thus, the ability of the monetary authority to steer real economic activities is subjected to development in the financial market.

Malaysian Management Journal (MMJ) Vol. 5 No. 1 & 2 June / December 2001

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