Semarak International Journal of Entrepreneurship, Economics and Business Development

Unlocking Success: Malaysian PolyCC Lecturers’ Altruism, Enthusiasm and Harmonism in Sparking and Sustaining Student Startups Business

Noraini Hashim — 2024-09-30

This study investigates the personalities of lecturers as mentors to startup entrepreneurs at higher education institutions (HEIs). The problem stems from the need to understand how specific personality traits contribute to effective mentorship. The objective is to explore how altruism, enthusiasm, and harmonism in lecturers influence their mentoring roles. A qualitative approach was employed, utilizing semi-structured interviews with Malaysian Polytechnic and Community College (PolyCC) lecturers who were finalists in the Best Entrepreneurship Mentor Award Category of the Ministry of Higher Education Entrepreneurship Award (MEA) 2021. These lecturers mentor student entrepreneurs who have successfully sustained their businesses. Thematic analysis was conducted using ATLAS.ti 9 to identify patterns and interactions. The resulting Entrepreneurial Mentor Personality Competency Model Framework, with a high inter-rater reliability (Cohen's Kappa value of 0.99), highlights key personality traits essential for effective mentorship. Additionally, the transferability of this model was validated by an entrepreneurship mentoring expert from Coventry University, United Kingdom (UK). This framework aims to guide HEI lecturers in fostering student entrepreneurship, providing a comprehensive guideline to help students achieve their entrepreneurial aspirations.

Influencing Factors of Cross-Border e-Commerce Consumer Behavior-Taking in Malaysia

Hemaloshinee Vasudevan — 2024-09-30

Cross-border e-commerce consumption drives growth, with consumer psychology and behavior varying based on culture, environment, and e-commerce platform systems. Malaysia's diverse and multilingual population necessitates a keen understanding of consumer psychology and behavior for merchants aiming to penetrate the market. This paper explores consumer behavior in Malaysia's cross-border e-commerce, analyzing factors such as perceived value, purchase intention, and behavior theories. Consumers' psychological characteristics significantly influence their decision-making behavior when shopping on cross-border e-commerce, influenced by the shopping experience and online shopping issues. The research provides a contribution reference for nations or businesses to develop a cross-border e-commerce strategy. The study investigates Malaysian e-commerce consumers through a questionnaire survey, utilizing a non-probability technique with convenience sampling, resulting in 508 valid responses. The study is based on herd consumption psychology and consists of three dimensions: informational influence, normative influence, and value expression influence. The study found a significant correlation between crowd consumption psychology's informational influence and consumers' perceived usefulness and purchase intention with a p-value of 0.001, 0.000, and 0.125, while normative and value expression influences were insignificant. The study provides empirical and conceptual evidence to support the government's initiative on navigating international regulations in cross-border e-commerce, a complex yet crucial task. Customs administrations must collaborate with all stakeholders to develop a comprehensive approach for managing e-commerce transactions, focusing on trade facilitation and enforcement. It recommends reviewing the accurate measurement of cross-border e-commerce, which is crucial for making informed policy and business decisions.

Economic and Socio-Demographic Factors that affect Takaful Demand in Malaysia

Zahirah Nordin — 2024-09-30

The takaful sector in the Malaysian context has flourished although still young compared to its conventional insurance counterpart. However, the penetration rate and demand of this industry is still at lower rates set by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). This paper intends to find out the factors influencing the demand in takaful industry in Malaysia. It is done by investigating the economic factors (income, unemployment rate, inflation rate) and socio factors (life expectancy, educational attainment, urban population). The data for this research were retrieved from the Department of Statistics Malaysia and World Bank website. Thus, this study employed these variables to analyze factors impacting demand of takaful in Malaysia across the period from 1991 until 2020 by using time series regression. It is found that urban population has the highest impact as it has the highest coefficient compared to other independent variables. This study also performed Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) to investigate the short and long-run relationship between independent and dependent variable. The findings revealed that there is a relationship between life expectancy with takaful demand both in short-run and long-run. In contrast, there are long-run effects on demand of takaful for educational attainment, income, unemployment rate and urban population but not in the short-run. While no relationship is found with respect to inflation rate. Thus, it is hoped that the findings from this study will give impact and contribution towards the existing body of knowledge.

D’ROOM Designer Professional Solution: Utilizing Digital Applications to Navigate the Gig Economy for Financial Well-being

Amina Syarfina Abu Bakar — 2024-09-30

In an era marked by the rapid evolution of the gig economy, financial well-being has become an ever- elusive goal for many independent professionals. The D’ROOM Designer Professional Solution emerges as a pioneering innovation designed to address this pressing concern. This digital application offers a transformative approach to navigating the gig economy while prioritizing financial well-being. D’ROOM Designer Professional Solution recognizes these challenges and presents a comprehensive solution. By leveraging the power of digital technology, it empowers designers and other gig workers to secure their financial future. This innovative application combines user-friendly features with a robust support system, creating a unique platform tailored to the needs of gig professionals. Key features of the D’ROOM Designer Professional Solution include: Financial Planning Tools: The application offers a suite of financial planning tools, enabling users to set financial goals, create budgets, and track income and expenses. It provides insights and recommendations to optimize earnings. Client Management: Simplifies client relationship management by offering a centralized platform for communication, project tracking, and invoicing. This streamlines business operations, enhancing efficiency and client satisfaction. Resource Hub: The application provides access to a curated resource hub, offering educational content, industry insights, and skill development opportunities. This empowers gig workers to continuously enhance their skills and stay competitive. well-being and Privacy: Prioritizes data well-being and privacy, ensuring that sensitive financial and client information remains confidential and protected. Community Support: Users can connect with a vibrant community of fellow gig professionals, sharing experiences, advice, and best practices. The D’ROOM Designer Professional Solution aims to revolutionize the gig economy by fostering financial well-being and professional growth. By providing gig workers with the tools and resources they need to thrive, it empowers them to navigate the gig economy with confidence. This innovation not only improves the financial well-being of independent professionals but also strengthens the overall resilience of the gig economy itself. As we move forward in this ever-changing work landscape, D’ROOM Designer Professional Solution stands as a beacon of innovation, offering a brighter and more secure future for gig workers in the digital age.

Factors that Influence Students’ Perception towards Customer Satisfaction on Delivery Service

Nurul Izyan Mat Daud — 2024-09-30

Courier business have seen a significant transformation with the advent of digital platforms that offer convenience, faster and efficient to deliver online purchases to customers. Therefore, customer satisfaction directly correlates with the sustainability of delivery services. This study is carried out to analyse the association between delivery services features (delivery efficiency, parcel tracking, smooth delivery, and convenience) and customer satisfaction among students of Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) in Pengkalan Chepa. Non-probability convenience sampling was used in this study and the questionnaires were distributed by Google Forms. The study received a response from 376 respondents from students of UMK. Collected data was analysed using SPSS. The study is implemented descriptive analysis and multiple linear regression to analyze the data. Result showed that all independent variables of delivery services (delivery services, parcel tracking, smooth delivery, and convenience) are significantly affect customer satisfaction. Results also revealed that the most significance factor that affect the customer satisfaction on delivery services is parcel tracking. Therefore, these findings will enhance the quality and sustainability of courier services. It also offers guidelines to industries, policymakers and stakeholders.