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This article discusses the role of university academics as researchers. In present-day society which touts instant gratification, the primary role of a university is being undermined. In Malaysia, academics no longer teach and research as they please but are 'guided' by government agencies and influenced by the priorities of funding agencies. One of the components of academic freedom is the freedom to publish. Academics publish research that pushes the boundaries of knowledge. They choose journals in which their articles will be peer-reviewed, published and read by the communities of interest. However, lately many academics tend to publish in journals based on rankings, in journals reputed to have higher impact than others. Often young academics are puzzled whether they should publish where it matters or where it would quickly boost the key performance indicators (KPIs) set by the university. This article highlights some of these struggles in modern academia and exposes several examples of academic misconduct.

Background/Purpose: The effectiveness of a Business School depends on the extra role behaviours or Organ-isational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) of its committed academics. The social exchange theory postulates that employees tend to display OCB when they know how their organisation would treat them. As B-School academics’ inclination towards OCB is less understood, this study examines the interaction between Procedural Justice (PJ), Perceived Organisational Support (POS) and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) among B-School academics.

Higher education is viewed as part of the national agenda in transforming Malaysia into a high-income nation. This has resulted in a sky-rocketing number of graduates in Malaysia's recent history. Industry relies on higher education as the source of skilled employees, and it is important for industry to attract and retain talented employees in their effort to remain competitive in the market. This article presents an overview of the higher education system in Malaysia that has in the recent years jumped onto the "industry-driven" wagon. The impacts of both industry-driven and society-driven systems are discussed. The article concludes with practical recommendations for higher education institutions in Malaysia to encourage a balanced higher education policy and strategy that can blend industry-driven and society-driven approaches as a joint-agenda for institutions of higher learning.

This research determines and measures factors affecting the consumption of organic products among older adolescents in Lithuania. Previous studies discuss factors were grouped into personal and functional factors according to their impact on the attitude of ecologically conscious older adolescents. Personal factors are explained as the user's personal experience, internal qualities, and personality traits. The study showed that consumers' positive attitude towards organic products is shaped by consumers' personal motivation and available ecological knowledge. Consumers' ecological knowledge is also considered to be one of the essential factors in shaping the positive attitude of ecologically conscious consumers towards organic products. As society faces ecological challenges and searches for solutions to the problem, environmental friendliness and ecologically conscious consumers are increasingly emphasized. Consumers are encouraged to change their attitude towards organic products and to change their purchasing behaviour. However, it is noticeable that emphasizing ecological problems and increasing the assortment of organic products does not encourage consumers to change their consumption habits and purchasing behaviour, therefore, in order to understand what motivates consumers to use organic products, researchers began to analyse the factors that determine the consumption of organic products. Based on recent literature review in this area, three main factors were identified for detailed analysis in this research, which includes ecological awareness, ecological concern, and social norms of older adolescence in Lithuania. Based on the literature review discussion, this research formulates the following objectives and hypotheses for empirical analysis. Using a survey research methodology, data were collected from adolescence across Lithuania and 421 samples were finalized for analysis upon data cleaning and validation. Data was analysed using SPSS software for descriptive analysis and hypothesis testing. Result reveal that both ecological awareness and ecological concerns of older adolescents in Lithuania are strong predictors of their intention to purchase organic products. While personal norms though had some association in descriptive analysis with purchase behaviour, did not show statistical significance in impacting organic products purchase intention. Therefore, the concept of ecologically conscious adolescents consists of the consumer's ecological awareness, whereby the consumer evaluates his/her needs, behaviour and its impact on the environment when purchasing products. Based on this finding it can be stated that there is an influence of the attitudes of ecologically conscious consumers on their intention to buy organic products. Therefore, future researchers may focus more on understanding factors that contribute and promote the development of ecologically conscious consumers in the country. Also it is possible to look into consumer attitudes, how they are formed and what factors lead to the formation of positive consumer attitudes. KEY WORDS: Ecological awareness, ecological behaviour, sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The selection of students at academic institutions has been a challenging affair given multiple criteria that need to be considered by the institution. Additionally, multiple evaluators and decision makers are involved in the student selection process, rendering it inconsistent. The complexity and subjectiveness in such decisions making requires new and innovative approach in order to be more systematic and transparent. OBJECTIVE: This paper presents an innovative methodology for student selection for admission into an Institute of Higher Learning (IHL) using Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Drawing on the success of using these methods in other fields, this study applies the technique and principles on student selection process. METHOD: Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) is used in determining the weights of the criteria by the decision makers which avoids the vagueness and inconsistencies in decision making process and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method ranks finds out the best alternative solution for student selection by calculating the relative closeness from the positive ideal solution. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: This research finds using the hybrid method is effective in student selection for IHL and makes the process efficient and bias-free. This method can be applied to various fields and uses where multi-criteria decision making is involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, researchers and practitioners in the human-computer interaction (HCI) community have placed a lot of focus in developing methods and processes for use in the gaming field. Affective user-centered design (AUCD) plays an important role in the game industry because it promotes emotional and mental communication, hence improving the interaction modes between users and video games. This paper looks at the development of a suitable AUCD guideline to determine if the expressed emotion, semantics, and mental concept of a tangible and intangible video gaming interface are well received by its intended users. Approaching AUCD in video games requires investigating multiple data to obtain a reliable data especially when assessing and interpreting affect and emotion. They present a challenge due to many ambiguities related to affect definition and measuring affective emotion can be very tedious due to its complexity and unpredictability. In this paper, we describe the methods and techniques used to assess affective user-centered design in video games. We also discuss our approaches within the context of existing affective gaming and user-centered design theory and data gathering procedures, including the factors affecting internal and external validity and the data analysis techniques., 1. Introduction In recent years, game studies have shown to be worthy of research attention and have become one of the established domains of research within the field of human-computer [...]

Academic staffs migrate from one institution to another, some within the same country while some academics migrate to foreign institutions. Academic migration to foreign institutions entails greater challenges due to various factors including different national policies, language and cultural adaptations. Based on the theoretical concept of "person-in-environment", this research focused on three factors that would appeal to foreign academics who seek engagement with universities in the European Union countries, i.e. 1) accessibility to rules of conducts at EU universities, 2) understandable languages for foreign academics, and 3) organizational units assisting with the integration of foreign academics. Thirty-one universities from countries within the EU were randomly selected for the purpose of data collection. A formal analysis was carried out on the selected university websites to assess both the presence and the extend of the three factors of this research. The findings show the existence of ethical principles in the universities' internal rules and practical manuals available to help solve situations associated with foreign academics adaptation into the work and social environment. However the availability of such support is not adequately available in all institutions and are limited in many institutions. Comprehensive support is found in the four universities - the University of Limerick in Ireland, the University of Heidelberg in Germany, the University of Malta, and the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Swedish University of Linköping also has rules in place for whistleblowing, paving the way for other EU universities to emulate. The ethics of the 21st century will have to address new situations, and dilemmas in relation to migration, and different values among social, cultural, and religious backgrounds. This article provides guidelines for better integration in the working environment abroad by introducing the three factors for integration, and points out the need to shift basic standards into practice to cater for better assimilation of expats into host country environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gym-goers often socially compare themselves with their trainers as they strive to look as attractive as their fitness trainers. The aim of this study was to better understand this phenomenon in the fitness industry. Relying on social comparison theory and social identity theory, self-identification with a physically attractive fitness trainer was posited to have a strong mediating effect on the relationship between appearance motive, weight management motive and gym-goers' intention to exercise. The moderation effects of gym-goers' age and gender in the direct relationships between appearance motive, weight management motive and exercise intention were also examined. The primary outcome of this study revealed that gym-goers who were influenced by appearance and weight management motives are more likely to identify with physically attractive fitness trainers. Additionally, gender significantly moderates the relationships between appearance motive, weight management motive and exercise intention. Appearance and weight management motives are the primary factors that influence the exercise intention of female gym-goers as compared to their male counterparts. This study sheds new insights into understanding the influence of the physical attractiveness of fitness trainers and its impact on gym-goers' exercise intentions via self and social identification process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women’s share in the business sector in Malaysia and Indonesia lags behind their male counterpart. However, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) could serve as a game changer to empower women startup and entrepreneurs. The acceptance and usage of Mobile ICT in business operations could empower more women-led Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to grow and fulfill customer needs and wants. However, there is a lack of established models to measure mobile ICT’s role in women MSMEs in these developing countries. Through the review of policy papers and relevant literatures, this study presents a framework to assess the adoption of Mobile ICT in women-led MSMEs factoring cross-border networking. Building upon Social Network Theory and Technology Acceptance Model, this study presents a framework and discusses recommendations for further action to empower women-led MSMEs in both countries by leveraging on cross-border networking capabilities between Indonesian and Malaysian women-led MSMEs. This study highlights the strength of international and cross-border networking among women startup and entrepreneurs where mentoring could happen to empower women startups and entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the demand for life insurance in a rapidly developing economic environment in South East Asia, focusing on Malaysia. The study extends the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) by introducing a mediating variable ‘Persuasion’ in examining the demand for life insurance among policy buyers. Fuelled by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the life insurance market is expected to grow significantly and the role of the state and regulatory body to regulate this process would be pivotal. Given the increasing significance of this industry both before and after the epidemic, this study identifies seven research variables from previous literature sources related to finance and international insurance, including financial literacy, saving motives, religiosity, risk aversion, agent, persuasion and purchase intention of life insurance. A causal research design is used to formulate research framework and testable hypotheses for this study. Data collection encompasses face to face interviews with 385 life insurance policy holders between May 2019 and March 2020 by using a survey questionnaire. Data analysis is mainly based on PLS-SEM method by using SPSS and Smart PLS statistical software packages. Results reveal persuasion as an important construct that explains the demand for life insurance, while agent is found to have the highest impact towards persuasion. The study also finds a full mediation effect of persuasion in the demand for life insurance for risk aversion and agent. These findings add new insights to the body of knowledge in life insurance literatures. Furthermore, research is useful for policy makers including government, finance, and insurance agencies; and recommends relevant strategies to further improve life insurance penetration in the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]